Folios/v7/Time-landscape-2019/MS-147
Katy was celebrating a poker victory against a sulking Matthew when a bugle sounded. A sailor then explained briskly that there was an opportunity to bathe if they wished. Katy was delighted. After a fortnight of hot weather and confined conditions, she felt really grimy.
It was only when the soldiers’ wives went below deck to wash in private that she realized what it meant. The men started undressing on the deck without a care in the world.
Katy tried to look away, but she was surrounded by naked men of all shapes and sizes, cleaning themselves with warm water and soap. Then Matthew stood up, unbuttoning his waistcoat.
“What are you doing?” she asked, panicked.
He shot her a strange look. “I’m going to wash, Kit. I suggest you do the same. We might not get another chance for a while. We are not due to disembark for another week.”
Katy felt like she was going to explode from embarrassment. She watched in open-mouthed horror as Matthew pulled his shirt over his head.
“Can’t I go somewhere private?” she asked.
Matthew tipped a bucket of water over his head as she desperately tried to keep her eyes above waist level. Everywhere she looked there were … men’s parts.
“Why would you want to do that? There are no women here, Kit. Everyone’s the same. Just get on with it.”
She began by slowly washing her hair – something she could do fully dressed while only risking looking a bit strange. Most of the men had finished washing by now, and were standing around talking. They were still naked. She reached under her shirt and quickly cleaned her armpits, neck and shoulders as best she could, which wasn’t very well at all.
“Kit! What are you doing?” Matthew asked. “Don’t be ridiculous – just take off your clothes. Does it look like anybody cares?”
She didn’t know what to do. She grasped for a plausible explanation. “I can’t,” she whispered.
“What? Why?”
“I – I can’t… Matthew, please. Don’t make me!” She gasped. She couldn’t breathe. What was he going to do when he found out?
Up until then he had been baffled, but now he stepped towards her, looking worried. “Kit, what’s wrong?”
She couldn’t get out of this. She was going to have to tell him. He was going to work it out for himself at this rate. She stepped closer and made sure no one was within hearing distance.
“Matthew…” She exhaled, took a breath.
And then she turned and ran.
> Progress in time-landscape 1854 may be affected by the actions of subject allocation “KATY”
“How did you find out about Katherine and Matthew Galloway?” Kate asked Matt as they walked to her grandparents’ house.
“My brother. A while back he found an article online about our uncle, saying he was a terrorist. He confronted our dad about it and Dad admitted it was true. He’d always told us that his brother had died in a lab accident. After that we just started investigating. My brother’s good online. He’s … um” – Matt lowered his voice – “kind of a hacker.”
Kate spun round to face him. “That is so cool. You mean he’s, like, an actual political activist?”
“It’s kind of stressful, actually. He’s pretty famous, in all the wrong ways. On forums and stuff. I’m always worried he’s going to get caught.”
“Wait, is he famous-famous? Would I have heard of him? What’s his name?”
“Well, he’s called Tom, but online he’s known as Spartacus.”
“What?” Kate stopped in her tracks, and Matt turned back in surprise. “Your brother is Spartacus?”
It was her guilty secret, but she was obsessed with conspiracy theories. Any hint of a hidden agenda made her instantly suspicious. She always felt that there was something shady going on. Spartacus was one of the best-known hackers. He was dedicated to trying to reveal the conspiracies of the government. Kate followed all of his posts almost fanatically.
“… Yes?” Matt said, hesitantly.
“No way.” She bounced a little on her toes. “I don’t believe it!”
“Urgh.” Matt sighed. “You know who he is. I should have known you were into this stuff too. The hair – it’s a dead giveaway.”
“He’s only been my idol for the last three years or so! He’s amazing!” Kate gushed, choosing to ignore the hair comment. Suddenly this drama seemed a lot more fun. “Can I meet him? Please? Please?”
“I’m not sure. Kate, do you have a crush on my brother?”
She blushed pink, and avoided his gaze. “What? Of course not.”
Matt raised his eyebrows at her.
“OK, maybe a little,” she admitted, going even redder. “I used to, anyway.” She started babbling, embarrassed. “He’s really famous on the Internet! His blog is amazing. He’s made people start really thinking about what the government tells us. He’s a huge part of history. Plus, he’s really funny.”
Kate looked at Matt, hopefully, but he just shook his head like he was ashamed to know her, and carried on walking. She had to jog to catch up.
Katherine was balancing on her tiptoes so she could peer out of the mottled glass window of the castle’s supply room and watch the militia dig out the moat far below. The soldiers were thigh deep in muddy water as they steepened the sides of the river banks. It had started raining and they resembled miserable drowned rats. Considering how arrogant they had been at the meeting that morning, Katherine couldn’t say she felt sorry for them.
The garrison had been stationed in the castle for years, and working there was not easy. The castle was on the northernmost side of the city, facing Scotland. It was set into the high stone wall that surrounded Carlisle. As the colonel had observed, the ancient buildings were in bad repair, and they were cold; the roughly hewn stone walls were stained with dripping water. Cannons had stood on the battlements for decades, ready to fire at any attacking enemies through the narrow slits in the parapet. Now they were rusting and broken, and Katherine and Matthew had been assigned the task of renovating them.
They had been given a better job than the men below, though, Katherine decided, contented. She knelt down on the stone floor beside Matthew, who was diligently rubbing off the endless layers of rust on the first in a long series of ancient cannons. She poked the metal. A bolt fell off in a gust of orange dust.
“I presume this is not as glamorous as you were expecting, My Lady?” he teased.
“I preferred you when you were half asleep. You were much nicer.” After a pause, she added more seriously, “It is exactly what I was expecting. I didn’t think the Rebels would be firing at us immediately. The most vital things are often the dullest.”
She meant what she said. She didn’t mind the work. She had known that it was going to take a while to find out if Matthew was planning anything and this was a good opportunity. He probably wouldn’t do anything while she was around, but if she kept a close eye on him, he might give something away anyway. Matthew continued rubbing rhythmically at the metal. She tried not to watch the movement of his shoulder, the tight play of muscles under his shirt.
“At least this is something you can help with,” Matthew added, “which is fortunate. If we had been given duties digging out that moat, you would have struggled.”
“I’ll have you know I am an expert at trench digging,” she said. “It’s an important skill for a young lady. I would struggle to find a husband without it.”
He grinned. “I should hope so. I would be wary of a wife who was unable to dig a perfect tunnel.”
“My point exactly, Matthew, thank you. If even you require such a talent, imagine the demands of a man who actually has standards.” It was so nice, talking to him while dressed as a boy, without having to worry about what anyone would think if they saw them.
“You think you are a lot funnier than you are, you know,” he replied, not looking away from the cannon.
“I am extremely amusing! I don’t think you are listening properly.” Matthew was struggling with a stubborn patch of rust, and she leant closer. “You have to rub it harder, or nothing will happen,” she offered.
He snorted, and mumbled something under his breath. She frowned, trying to work out what he’d found funny. “What?” she asked.
He looked up with a naughty grin. “Said the actress to the bishop.”
What actress? What was he talking about? “Oh,” she said in confusion.
He seemed to realize his mistake, because he looked ashamed. “It’s supposed to be funny. I expect you wouldn’t have heard it before. It’s something the servants say a lot.”
She nodded, memorizing the joke so she could try to work out why it was funny later. Then she stuck her head inside the barrel of the cannon to pull away some of the looser layers of decay. The barrel immediately began to fill with dust, and she pulled out again quickly, trying not to sneeze. Matthew quickly moved his eyes back to the cannon, focusing too carefully on the metal, and she knew that he had been laughing at her.
Servants were strange.
Folios/v1/Time-landscape-1745/MS-3