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Page 34
"Come along, Milson." This was a new voice, higher but still masculine. "We are wanted inside the fort at the parade ground for drilling. Did you not hear the call to arms?"
"Of course I did hear it, but the sergeant can wait."
"Aye. No sense seeming too eager to listen to His Highness's commands, eh?"
"That is your opinion, Jacko, not mine. But this lady looks to be hurt."
A dubious snort erupted from the man called Jacko. "Lady, is it? Besotted wench be more like it."
Mariah felt a rough tug on her ann, pulling her to her feet. She stumbled but made her seemingly boneless body stiffen.
She forced her eyes open again, squinting at the glare. Two men stood before her. They wore faded red coats, trimmed with frayed piping, from which high white shirt collars emerged. Their trousers were beige and short, ending just below their knees. Dark stockings hugged their legs before disappearing into boot tops. One sported a black three-cornered hat pushed back from his face, and both had long hair tied back at their necks with leather thongs. Each held a long-barreled gun.
"Please." Her voice sounded muzzy even to her own ears. "I'm afraid I lost track. What movie are we shooting?"
The two men looked at each other. "What is this 'movie'?" asked Jacko. "Be it some new game to shoot in this pestilent backwater?"
"A game?" Mariah was puzzled. But a little came back to her. She was outside the Blockhouse in Pittsburgh. Wasn't she? She looked at the building beside her. It seemed lighter in color and less weathered than she recalled, but, yes, it was the Blockhouse.
"Hush!" said Milson to Jacko, peering around as though making certain they had not been heard. "The sergeant would run you through should he hear you complaining thus."
Jacko snorted again. "The sergeant can go and be hanged." At a nervous movement from his companion, he glared at Mariah. "My compatriot and I would deny all, miss, should you carry tales to our commander."

 
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