Darling of the Dragoons (Colonel William Tavington)

Chapter 5- First Day

Athena looked at herself in the mirror, honestly... the uniform didn't look too bad on her, the pants definitely made her ass look great. She struggled with her hair before grumbling. 

"Are you ready?" Colonel Tavington came through the door and saw her struggling with her hair. He rolled his eyes and went behind her, he took the wrap and tied her hair in a proper queue. 

"There, learn to do it yourself." He said before going back to the door, "Collect everything you need, we'll be riding back to camp today, be prepared to ride a horse for an hour." 

Athena nodded her head and packed up her things in a burlap sack that Lord Cornwallis gave her. She went outside and saw all of the Dragoons talking by their horses, she turned red and walked over to her horse. She felt a tap on her shoulder, she turned and saw an older man with a warm look on her face. 

"Captain Solomon White," He said, "You must be Athena Walker." He shook her hand, she smiled.

"Oh yes." She nodded, "Pleasure to meet you Captain White," She bowed her head. Solomon smiled, he saw a few of the Dragoons snickering at her and he shot them glares and they stopped. 

He helped her on the horse and smiled, "I'll ride next to you if you want, to keep you company." 

"That would be sweet of you, thank you." She said as she fixed her satchel, he got on his horse and rode close to her in the back. Colonel Tavington all the way up in the front. 

"Is he always like that?" 

"The Colonel?" Solomon asked, "Like what?" 

"Like... uh... someone shoved a beehive in his breeches." 

Solomon laughed and shook his head, "Mostly, he'll warm up to you eventually... he may seem real cold hearted but he... cares about us, even if he doesn't show it much." 

Athena chuckled and kept her eyes in front of her as they rode, the bright sun made her sweat through the bearskin helmet. Her horse was rather sweet and would turn his head to look back at her every now and then. She stroked his brown mane and smiled back at the horse, after a look ride, they arrived at camps. She noticed a few of the men staring at her, Solomon led her to his tent where most of the older men stayed. 

"We'll try to pitch up a tent for you tomorrow," He said as she placed her things on a cot, "But for now, you can stay in here." 

"You're not gonna try and... do anything while I'm sleeping... right?" Athena asked in a cautious voice. Solomon laughed and shook his head. 

"Of course not dear," He said with a smile and sat next to her on the bed, "I have a wife and two beautiful girls back home in England." He pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to her. The words in a messy handwriting write. 'We love you papa! And miss you, come home soon!' Little hearts decorated it. He put the note back in his breast pocket and patted it. 

"I promise those two girls I'd be home and I'm going home to them." 

"That's very sweet of you sir." 

"Thank you, um... by any chance... do you know how to cook?"

"I wouldn't say I'm great at it, but my mother always told me I did pretty well." 

"Do you think you could maybe cook something tonight?" 

Athena laughed and shook her head, "Of course I can, I can cook and sew clothes in case you were wondering." 

"You're a keeper." He ruffled her hair, "Come on out, when you're ready, mkay?" 

"Alright." 

A few minutes later, she stepped out and found out where the cooking was, she dug through before making some stew, she could handle a few spices and soon she was serving it to all the men. 

Athena crossed her fingers, hoping they would like it. Solomon took the first bite, he tasted it and let it sit for a few minutes, he nodded and smiled. Soon all of the men were eating with big grins on their faces. She let out a sigh of relief and smiled. 

"Good they like it..." She mumbled, Colonel Tavington took a bowl and sniffed it before taking a bite. He turned to Solomon and said something she couldn't hear, the older man nodded towards Athena. Colonel Tavington looked over at the girl and gave her an approving nod. She smiled and headed over to sit next to Solomon. 

"Where's your bowl?" 

"I'm not very hungry." She said truthfully, "But I'm hoping you like it?" 

"Like it? I love it!" Solomon smiled and ruffled her hair, "You cook very good."

"Thank you." 

The two spent most of the night talking and chatting away, Athena headed to the tent and laid down in the bed. 

"Maybe this won't be so bad...."