“What’s the name of your regiment, sir? Mama couldn’t remember,” David finally asked in a whisper.
So that was the question he’d been eager to ask. His speech was troubled. The boy stammered and drawled as if he were scared of being punished.
Ethan set aside a pile of clean dishes. “I’m a captain in the Seventh Royal Fusiliers.”
Cora slanted him a fleeting, warning glance.
David stopped drying a pot. “Royal Fusi… Fusiy…” He shook his head. “Difficult to say. I speak funny, don’t I?” He frowned, resuming his work.
Ethan took the dry pot and placed it on a shelf. “No, you don’t. I reckon that once your facial muscles become stronger, you’ll feel more confident. I couldn’t pronounce my ‘r’s when I was eight. The physician said I had to strengthen my throat muscles. He was right.”
David showed his wide smile, and two dimples appeared on his cheeks. Ethan couldn’t help but smile back. Cora instead found the soapy water suddenly fascinating, her lips pressed tightly in a flat line. What did he say wrong?
When darkness crept across the camp, Ethan escorted Cora and David to their tent. David kept yawning, slogging behind. His eyelids drooped, and his head nodded off.
“You’re going straight to bed.” Cora held his hand.
“I don’t want to go to sleep right now. I want to walk to the river and see the stars…” He didn’t finish the sentence as his eyes fluttered.
Cora stumbled when her son could barely stand so tired he was.
“Another day, laddie.” Ethan scooped him up in his arms without thinking.
The gesture came naturally. David sagged against his chest, breathing softly, his body limp.
“He’s asleep already.”
“He does that,” Cora said. “The first time it happened, I was worried, but it seems normal for him.”
“It’s a gift. I wish I could do the same.”
“You said you didn’t like children.”
“I don’t. But you said David was special, and I agree.” Ethan put a hand on David’s back. The child’s breath feathered on Ethan’s neck.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“I don’t mind carrying him.”
“No, I mean, for not making fun of him.” She caressed David’s head. “You know his muscles aren’t the problem, don’t you?”
“I do.” He doubted David’s problem was physical.
“I always tell him he’ll speak flawlessly soon, but other people laugh and make fun of him. It’s hard for him. He’s afraid to speak in front of strangers.”
Yes, Ethan reckoned David had gathered all his courage to talk to him. “Children can be cruel to other children. They say what they want without thinking about the consequences.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t talking about children.”
“Adults can be cruel too.”
Her eyebrows knitted together. “Indeed.”
Something cracked in his chest when he laid David down on the bed. He tucked the blanket around the boy, and after that, he didn’t have any excuses to stay in that tent. David stirred in hissleep, muttering something. It was odd to think Ethan wouldn’t see him again soon. Or never.
Cora shifted her weight when he closed the flap of the tent. “I guess you’re leaving tomorrow,” she said.
“At dawn. London then Southampton.”
