Every Rose Has a Thorn (The Patriot Romance story)

Chapter 11

A week passed and Clara had healed up nicely, she waited outside the tent and by her lover's horse, Tavington mounted his animal and put his helmet on.

"Please stay safe, William." Clara whimpered, Tavington gave her a smile, leaned down and kissed her.

"I make no promises my love," He paused when she saw her sad face, "But I'll try."

Clara nodded her head, satisfied by his answer, she held his hand, not wanting to let him go.

"I'll be back before you know it, love." He says and rides off, the Green Dragoons following behind their leader. Clara clutched her necklace and tilted her head to the side.

"I miss you already." She whispered, before going into their shared tent, she put on pants and his blouse along with a coat she had bought in town awhile ago. She put on her boots and left the tent. She went to collect ripped clothes from soldiers and started to sew them by a tree. She hummed a tune to herself as she concentrated on her work, she did about 5 coats, 3 pants, and 4 shirts. Clara looked up and around, she spotted someone she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Mr. Wilkins?" She muttered to herself, her heart pounded, why was he wearing that uniform? Why was he with the British army? Why did he leave the militia?

She got up once she heard two soldiers respond with, "Yes Captain."

Wilkins walked away and she stormed over to him when he had walked to a spot where no one could see him, "YOU FOUL LOATHSOME TRAITOROUS LITTLE COCKROACH!"

Clara slapped the man hard across the face, his face turned to the side but Wilkins did nothing about it, "I deserved that." He whispered.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? HOW DARE YOU BETRAY YOUR NEIGHBORS!" She slapped him again, harder this time.

"I deserved that too."

Clara stopped and was fuming with anger, she was pissed off, "Clara, listen..."

"No!" She shouted, "Captain?! Is that what you are?!"

"Clara-"

She slapped him again, Wilkins hung his head in shame, "Captain Wilkins of the Green Dragoons? You belonged to the Militia!"

Wilkins went quiet, he never liked seeing her upset and this made his heart fall with guilt.

"How long have you been here?"

"Perhaps a month now..."

"You bastard." She cursed, furrowing her brows with pure anger.

"Clara I'm-"

"Let me guess! I'm sorry?" She snapped, "Is that what you were going to say?"

The captain sighed.

"Clara, I'm sorry!" She mocked him, "Clara I'm sorry for betraying you, your family, and everyone that you grew up with."

His breath hitched and he kept quiet, letting her have her rant.

"I trusted you! My father trusted you! He gave you a house when you were without one! And how do you repay his honesty?"

The only sound besides her yelling was the sound of a cold wind blowing through the trees.

"My mother trusted you! She cared about you!"

"Well she's dead now." Wilkins snapped, they both glared at each other for a good few minutes before Captain Wilkins stormed off, heading back to his own tent. Clara went down to the river and threw stones into the water, taking her anger out on the rocks. After minutes of that, she went back to her work and finished sewing up the clothes and delivering them back to their rightful owners. After she went to the stables and saddled up Aries. She mounted the horse and trotted out.

"I'm going out for a ride, telling Tavington if I'm not back by when he comes back." She said to some Red-Coats who were warming up by the fire. They nodded and she took off into the woods, unsure of where she wanted to go, she just wanted and needed to clear her mind of everything. She found a road and headed one way, not familiar with the path, she continued down the road, taking deep breaths along the way. She made it to a burnt down town, she stopped the horse and looked around.

"Good heavens, what happened here?" She asked Aries who snorted in response, she continued and looked around, all the shops and houses were burnt to the ground. She looked around and once again she got that uneasy feeling in her stomach, but she continued on. She looked around and saw an old oak and people hanging from it.

"Oh good lord." She whispered, covering her mouth, she got down from her horse and walked towards the series of people hanging from it.

"Loyalist Militia Traitors." She read from the sign that was hung on the wood. Her eyes widened and she fell to her knees.

The Green Dragoons were on their way back, Tavington looked around but couldn't find his love.

"She went out for a ride." A red-coat says, turning to the Colonel, Tavington nods and sets out to look for her. He rides for a long time and finds her by a tree, he quickly rides over and jumps down. He sees her on her knees, her body shaking.

"What's wrong love?"

Clara pointed up at a body hanging from the tree, a sign scribbled on their chest.

"Captain Solomon White."

"Oh good lord," He whispers and looks down at his love who was still sobbing on the ground. He holds her and she continues to cry, "It-"

He didn't know what to say, he didn't know how to comfort her from this incident. He loved her but he was lost. He figured to just stay quiet and if she needed it, be the shoulder for her to cry on. He just sat next to her, staying silent, eventually Clara stopped crying and just buried her head in his chest. Tavington wrapped his arms around her and they just embraced each other for a long time.

"Ready to go?" He whispered after 10 minutes passed, Clara looked up at him, her face red, hot, and had tears streaming down. She nodded her head and he picked her up, placing her on his horse, he tied a lead around Aries' neck and tied it to his saddle for the horse to follow. William mounted his horse behind Clara and wrapped his arms around her front as he flicked the reins so they could go home. Clara continued to let tears run down her face, wiping them every once awhile.

They eventually made it back to camp, William got off his horse and helped Clara off, she was quiet the whole way home.

"Bordon, take the horses to the stables," He ordered the Captain who nodded his head and led the animals away.

Clara and William made it to their tent, she got changed and laid down. William frowned at her but changed himself and laid down, Clara faced her back to him, the scars from the flogging visible to him. He sighed, wanting to move close to her but he didn't. He blew out a candle and fell asleep.

Clara cried herself to sleep that night.