Never Shall Be Slaves part four

[dolevalan]

Title: Never Shall Be Slaves
Co-author Credit: abnormal_sea
Fandom(s): Richard Carstone is from Bleak Houseby Charles Dickens. Tom Jones is from the novel of the same name by Henry Fielding. Danny Sloane (Arthur's younger brother) also makes a brief cameo appearance.
Rating: PG-13, overall, for violence and some language.



Tom and Richard walked for a few days with quite a few near misses along the way. It was the middle of the afternoon on the third day now, in the middle of some godforsaken forest, and Tom was standing watch while Richard slept. He was bored silly and trying to occupy himself by composing his autobiography in his head. He had just gotten to chapter three when he heard something unusual. "Sir," Tom hissed and nudged Richard.

Richard came out of his light sleep, sitting up quickly but quietly. "What is it?" he asked, voice low.

"I'm not sure." He listened again. "It sounds like people, sir. I could hear laughter."

Richard listened, for a moment, hand on his gun. "Approaching?"

"I think so." Tom walked forward and crouched behind a bush to look out. He spent a long time watching very intently. "Sir." He turned to Richard. "You should come see this, sir." Richard carefully and quietly moved forward to Tom's side.

Tom had a large grin on his face and pointed towards a small lake. At said lake there were quite a few teenage girls in various states of undress. "Would you take a look at that swimsuit, sir?" Richard just sort of... stared for a moment, then stifled a relieved laugh.

Tom continued happily gazing at the scenery and would have been perfectly content to do so for quite some time. But one of the girls looked up and promptly shrieked when she saw him. "Es tut mir leid!" He stood up, blushing, and apologizing profusely. Richard quickly ducked down into the bush, tensing a bit.

When the girls that saw Tom was a young soldier they came over and immediately started chatting with him. They were staying at their an older woman's farm, helping to work it for her as part of their youth program. And oh, wasn't Tom handsome? Would he mind staying for the night? It was only just around the corner...

Tom tried explaining who he was and why he was alone in the forest. Eventually it came to the point where he mentioned his 'prisoner' and he pulled up Richard to show them. Richard had hidden his gun when the girls approached, and as Tom hoisted him up, attempted to look weary and beaten down, in which effort he was aided by his open collar, dirty clothes, and five o'clock shadow. Part of him wished Tom had just left him hidden, but there was nothing to do now but make the best of it.

There were many gasps and a few of the girls started whispering about the respective merits of Richard. Tom heard them and had to control himself so that he wouldn't laugh. The girls continued chatting and pulling the two men towards the house where they were staying. Tom tried to throw Richard a helpless look. His German was running out and if he declined the offer they might get suspicious.

Richard nodded to Tom subtly, and then said, hesitantly as if he were afraid of Tom, "Do any of you girls speak English, by any chance?" There were quite a few giggles. They spent the rest of the trip up to the house mimicking his way of speaking.

Once at the house, an older woman met them and began fussing over Tom. She shrieked when she caught sight of Richard and whirled on Tom for an explanation. He opened and closed his mouth, all of his German forgotten. But the girls quickly began telling his story, with quite a few embellishments of their own. Tom nodded at various parts. The woman seemed to accept this and seated Tom down at the table while she went to fetch food. Richard was given a cushion on the floor.

"Sorry, sir," Tom mouthed at the first possible moment. Richard shook his head to Tom. He tentatively smiled at a girl now and then if they looked his way, though he looked rather beaten down. A hopeful prisoner, but a prisoner nonetheless.

Tom laughed and chatted and flirted like there was no tomorrow. It was interesting to note how little that he actually spoke, mostly he nodded in agreement or happened to have a mouthful of food when he was expected to speak. And they loved him. The woman blushed and ruffled his hair affectionately, the girls blushed and giggled, and the few smaller children looked on him as a god.

The children also seemed highly interested in Richard. One of them, a small boy of about six, came up and poked Richard. "Bist du ein Jud?"

"English," Richard said, with a hangdog smile. Tom was distracted, but if he hadn't been, he might have noticed how much smaller and younger Richard looked in his current attitude. The little boy thought this information over and then poked him again.

Tom turned when he heard Richard speak and noticed the little boy. He scooped him up with a laugh and gave him his dogtags to play with. The child smiled and started marching around the house. Tom was glad. He wasn't sure it was quite right for commanding officers to be poked. It didn't matter what Richard looked like or what he was pretending to be. Richard was his superior and he still saw him as such. Richard went back to watching, trying to look unimposing and tired. The latter was rather easy, as his sleep had been light and sporadic.

It was late before the lady of the house extended the offer of a bed. Tom graciously accepted and also bravely agreed to sleep with the captured Englishman in his room. He also told them not to be alarmed when Richard spoke to himself at night.

When they were finally led to the room, Tom locked the door and collapsed onto the blanket that had been prepared for Richard. "I'm so sorry, sir," he whispered.

"Don't be. If we play this right, you could talk them out of a lot of food," he whispered. Then, considering, "Or maybe it would be best to take it and leave while they're sleeping."

Tom lay back on the blanket, his head thudding against the floor. "I'm dressed in a dead man's clothing, impersonating a nazi, dining with the enemy, and imprisoning a superior officer."

Very quietly, but firmly, "All of which constitutes following orders, cadet. If there is blame, it is mine." Richard glanced at the door with a frown. "If we run, they may report us, but if we stay, they may try and help you turn me in."

Tom smacked himself on the forehead. "God! I've backed us into one hell of a corner!"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Jones. Your acting was top-notch, and we would have needed food eventually." Richard chewed his bottom lip, considering.

"Did they feed you enough, sir?"

"Yes, I'm alright, thank you." Richard sat down, leaning against the wall. "You did well enough, cadet, under the circumstances, which I think we can both admit are not the most ideal." A small smile.

Tom raised his head off the floor a little. "You can have the bed, sir."

"There's no sense being foolhardy. They might have a way to unlock it themselves. But thank you anyway, Jones."

Tom flopped back. "I'd feel bad not letting you, sir."

"Just think of it as part of an act, Jones." A slightly larger smile, a bit on the wry side. "If it will reassure you, I will note that you refuse to enjoy a moment of it."

"And be sure to write that in the official report, sir." Tom smiled back.

Richard caught himself before he laughed. "First thing I write down, Jones."

Tom mimed writing and said in a stuffy voice, "Cadet Thomas Jones did not (underline) enjoy sleeping in an actual bed for the first time in almost a week."

"Nor did he take the least pleasure in the advances of several pretty girls who seemed quite fond of him."

"Neither, it may be noted, did his commanding officer."

Richard shook his head, with a smile. After a moment, he asked, still in a whisper, "How's the shoulder doing?"

"Better than it was. I think it's starting to mend itself."

"Good. That means you've probably escaped it getting infected, thank God." Richard exhaled, leaning his head back against the wall and looking at the ceiling. "I think it may be better to risk staying. It doesn't seem like they suspect anything, and we're in the middle of nowhere. They may give you food before they send you on your way, and no one gets notified of anything amiss."

"Yes, sir. They may even send us off with a kiss."

"At least the brunette, hm?" Richard settled against the wall, making himself comfortable enough to get some sleep.

"Yes." Tom moved off the floor and worked his way over to the bed. He really did pretend to not enjoy it. Out of habit, he pulled the quilt around himself so that only his face showed. "Goodnight, sir," he said a little apologetically. In a few minutes he was fast asleep.