“I was ordered to come home because of Paul’s death,” Colin explained. “If it were up to me, I would still be in the Army.”
“I see.”
“Do you?” Colin asked, his voice rising. “Because I feel as if I abandoned my fellow soldiers.”
John gave him a sympathetic look. “You did no such thing,” he said. “Besides, you were injured.”
“Everyone was injured, in one way or another.”
“It is time for you to start healing.”
Colin shook his head. “I’m afraid that is impossible.”
“Why?”
“I have seen too many horrible things to ever think I could go back to how I once was,” Colin said. “Quite frankly, I have done terrible things in the name of the Crown.”
“You were duty-bound.”
“I was, but it still taxes the soul.”
John took a step closer to him. “You have done your part in the war, but your mind still seems far away. It is time for all of you to come home.”
“You don’t know what you are asking of me,” Colin said.
“I know precisely what I am asking of you.”
Colin shifted his gaze away from his brother. “I should have been killed, but I survived when others did not.”
“It is not uncommon for soldiers to feel this way.”
Colin turned towards the footmen and abruptly ordered, “Leave us.”
Once they were alone, Colin faced his brother. “What I’m about to share must remain between us.”
John grew serious. “I understand.”
Colin hesitated before he started speaking, his words coming out slowly. “It was my third assignment, and I was partnered with Sam Burkard. We were ordered to sneak into the enemy camp and search the officers’ tents for documents that might aid in the war.”
“That seems rather dangerous.”
“You take risks when you are at war,” Colin said. “Sam and I succeeded in finding documents that informed us of troop placement, but we weren’t so lucky when we departed from the tent.”
“What happened?”
“A guard saw us and sounded the alarm.”
“How did you escape?”
Colin pursed his lips together. “Sam shoved the documents in my hands and told me to run,” he shared.
“And did you?”
“I tried to argue with him, but he was adamant,” Colin said. “He told me that I was the fastest runner, and I had a better chance of escaping to deliver the documents.” He hesitated. “When I heard the French soldiers approaching, I turned and ran deeper into the woods.”
John watched him closely, but didn’t say anything.
“I went back to our camp, and I waited all night for Sam to come home. But he never did.” Colin sighed. “The next morning, I went in search of him, and I found his body hanging from a tree near where I left him.”
