The Scarlet Thief by Paul Fraser Collard Read Free Book Online Page A

to a nightmare of flesh and blood, the bones of his spine gleaming as the sun finally dragged itself out from behind the thick, grey clouds to make a tardy appearance on the parade ground.
    The punishment was complete.
    The example had been set.
    Jack crept back from his dreams. Back to the horror of an unjust punishment robustly delivered. His back ached from standing stationary for so long, the dull pain in the pit of his spine throbbing and sending spasms down his legs. The misery of the moment was complete.
    Jack turned his head and looked at Slater.
    Slater was staring straight at him.
    Jack flinched as he met Slater’s stare. He would have turned away, his fear instinctive. Yet, instead, he felt his hatred come alive, coursing through his veins.
    Slater’s mouth twisted into a grin, the smug look of a job well done on his face. He lifted one hand and pointed his thick forefinger directly at Jack. There was no misunderstanding the words Slater mouthed at him.
    ‘You’re next.’
    Jack walked out of the barracks. It was a relief to leave the cloying atmosphere of the battalion behind and not for the first time he was grateful his officer had taken a suite of rooms in town rather than staying in the rooms allocated to the officers in the barracks. The liberty to leave the barracks was something to be savoured and Jack felt the freedom act as a balm to his raging emotions.
    The punishment had cleared his mind, the display scouring away the doubts that had dogged him since Sloames had announced his departure.
    He would not stay with the battalion, not with Slater looming over his future and with a posting to the Indies in the offing. It was time to leave the life of a garrison soldier behind and become the fighting redcoat he had always dreamed of being. He would go with Captain Sloames and face the challenge of a campaign.
    But he would not forsake Molly. He would ask Captain Sloames for permission to marry her. They would be apart but it would not be forever. The war would be short, perhaps even over before Christmas. Then they would be together.

Jack whistled tunelessly as he carried the bundle of soiled shirts. Even the tart smell of spilt wine and sweat could not dampen his happy mood. He had left Sloames to lie in his stinking pit. His captain had staggered home just after the dawn and Jack had helped to strip him of his clothes before abandoning him to sleep off the wine-induced stupor that the night’s excess had brought on.
    He walked to the laundry doing his best not to break into a run. He might not have been dressed in the armour of a fairytale knight but he was determined to rescue Molly from the future she so dreaded.
    He could already picture her face when he asked her to marry him. He imagined her delight, the sparkle in her eyes when she said yes. He might only be an orderly but he would prove to her that he could succeed and make good the ambition that burned so brightly inside them both.
    He turned to the corner and walked towards his new future with a smile on his face.
    Then he heard a scream.
    The sound was so sudden, so unexpected, that Jack wondered if he had been mistaken. The barracks were quiet, most of the battalion’s redcoats out on a day’s march. A scream of such horror simply did not belong in an empty army barracks on an English spring morning.
    Then it came again.
    Jack shook his head to clear the fog of disbelief. He looked around, half expecting to see other redcoats come stumbling out of the barracks, summoned by the dreadful sound.
    No one appeared. The peaceful sounds of the spring morning returned as if they had never been interrupted.
    His body lurched into motion without conscious thought, his hard boots hammering into the ground as he raced towards the laundry. He never thought to discard the bundle of dirty washing he still carried in his arms. His only thought was to reach Molly, to make certain she was not the source of the nerve-jangling sounds.
    The outer door to the