Page 51 of The Unknown Birds

“No, sir. Sorry, sir. Only a touch clumsy this morning is all.”

“Why’s that?”

“Bit numb. I’ll stamp the cold out before breakfast and get the blood moving properly again.”

The officers’ faces contorted into matching scowls that mirrored Rook’s.

“You can’t feel your feet?” Lieutenant Napier snapped.

“I’m fine, sir.”

“How long have they been numb?” the captain asked, and Ashley glanced nervously at Tom.

“I’m sure I heard the captain ask you a question,” Napier said.

“Just this morning,” Ash replied, glancing from face to face. “Maybe a little bit last night. I can’t remember.”

“How did they look? When you changed your socks this morning? Any redness?” the captain pressed her.

“I didn’t⁠—”

“Last night then?” Davies interrupted with rare impatience. “After your run.”

“I—I forgot, sir.”

“Yesterday morning?”

She shook her head.

“Private, when did you last change your bloody socks?” Sergeant Major Chapman bellowed.

Ash tried to think back through the fog of embarrassment and endless days of rain, but she was so tired. It might have been the day before yesterday. It might as easily have been last week.

“Private?” Lieutenant Napier prodded.

“I can’t remember, sir.”

“Did you suffer a head wound yesterday?” Chapman demanded, but the captain held up a hand for silence.

Ashley was so ashamed, she wished the muddy earth would open up and swallow her alive. No wonder none but Tom had discovered she was a girl, when her hygiene was the worst of the whole lot. What must Rook think of her now?

“I suppose I didn’t see much point when they’d just get drenched all over again. I thought it was safer to keep my dry socks dry for when it stopped,” she tried to explain, cheeks burning as she stared down at her bloated soggy boots.

“Didn’t see the bloody point?” Sergeant Major Chapman sputtered, but Captain Davies quieted him once more.

“I’m certain Private Ashley sees the point most clearly now,” he said softly. “Tomasson?”

“Sir?”

“Please assist Private Ashley to the forward dressing station immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Really, it’s nothing,” Ash protested.

“I pray that’s true,” the captain said, turning to continue down the line.

“They’re just cold,” she told Tom as he shouldered her rifle along with his own. “They’ll be fine before we even reach the dressing station,” she added, glancing back at Rook as Tom led her away.