Going Home (Sharpe and Veronique)

Sharpe, Veronique and Harper had made their way back to England and it had been with great joy that Sharpe and Veronique had found themselves back on English soil. Harper, as an Irishman, actually felt slightly more uneasy being in England than he had been in Portugal and Spain. But there was nothing for it, he had to leave his uneasy best friend in the company of Veronique and hope that his lover would discourage any 'well meaning' bobbie from moving Harper off to the nearest jail cell.

Leaving both outside Horseguards, Sharpe had reported in, eager to be told that he could return home... and finally be at peace with Veronique by his side.

But no.

No.

They didn't release him.

Thousands of returning soldiers and officers had been released from service, dropped like they had the god-damn plague, but not him. Oh no. Not Major Richard Sharpe! He was pulled into a 'very important' meeting with 'very important' people who 'explained the situation'. But all he heard was that he, and Veronique and Harper, were still in service to the crown.

And were being posted to Yorkshire. Back to his childhood home... but it wasn't his home anymore. But to be honest it was expected. Jane and her insipid little boyfriend had pushed for his new posting to be as far away from London as was possible for them. So here he was, marching out of Horseguards with a dark scowl, back to his faithfully waiting partners,

"We're not relieved..." he told them with a scowl, "We're being assigned to Yorkshire. Apparently there's unrest up there and they need people up there... namely us... questions?"

Veronique had decided that she would send for her brother Sebastian, up from London, so that he could come and join them in Horse Guards, after all there might be bad news, despite Sharpe not wanting to admit it. They had been so successful in battle they were bound to be kept on doing some other duty, and if she managed to get Sebastian up here she could go about being herself and he could fill in her place.

To be honest he would be happy to at least have some of the service to the crown under his belt, he had been beginning to feel a little bit guilty about letting his little baby sister do all of the work. Hopefully he should be here by the time the day was out.

Unable to stop herself from laughing when she and Harper continued to banter about all of the other people walking past them, making fun of their features or their mannerisms. It was a relief for the Chosen Men to know about who she was, they had known after the events of the Colonel...because they had decided it was for the best.

Hearing that Richard was returning, Veronique frowned softly when she heard the worst had in fact happened and they were still conscripted into the army. To command some Yeomanry in Yorkshire? She almost scoffed at the notion and Patrick in fact did.

"Well...why on earth would they keep all three of us in commission, we specifically asked to be released did we not?" she sighed "There must be those who wish to stay on that could use the position they have given us...did they say how long we were to be stationed up there, what our arrangements for lodgings were?"

Sighing softly she ran her hands through her longer hair; "All is not lost, I sent for my twin, they should be here within the day." she stated with a knowing smile.

Sharpe was getting bloody tired of being at the beck and call of fat lords who had nothing better to do with their time than to try and make as much misery in the world as they possibly could. Or at least that's how Sharpe saw them. But being a promoted man himself he was bound to see thing differently to the other officers.

Harper decided to answer Veronique's question as he could still see the ugly anger bubbling beneath the surface of Sharpe,

"Well wha' yer've got'a understan' Veroni' is tha' ter's a lot'a peopl' in tha' ther' buil'in' who wan' Maj'r Sharp' here te be gone." he told her with a growl or annoyance, "No' leas'a whic' woul' be tha' whor' he us'd te dat' a whil' bac'. Befor' he knew yer wer' a wom'n, back in portug'l."

Sharpe sighed a little bit at the description of Jane. To be honest it was true. She was a good digger and a whore. She had stolen all of his money, money he had fought long and hard for over the course of two major wars, and become the mistress of the first noble-born man to walk into her life, primarily for the money she had been flaunting.

When Veronique mentioned her twin he smirked a little bit as he led them round to their horses again, ready to ride to wherever they were going to be meeting 'Veronique',

"I'm looking forward to finally meeting your sister, the young Veronique." he told her with a smirk as Harper chuckled, "Think she's been pulling off those dresses you bought her?"

Veronique tilted her head to one side when she heard Patrick explaining why Sharpe was being sent away from London, and she had to admit that she hadn't even thought about the woman that he had been married to a few months ago. Although, now that the woman did cross her mind a sneaking feeling of guilt crept through her, should they really have embarked upon a romance while he was still, technically, married?

Steeling herself she resolved that yes, yes they had every right to do that! She had broken the marriage before Sharpe had even known she was a woman, that she had known she had feelings for Sharpe! She was the betrayer and now, Richard was moving on, moving on with her who would never betray him like that.

"Hm. That woman irritates me." she commented casually "I would not like to meet her, but, I can understand why she would want Richard gone, I expect, you will be looking for the money that she made off with of yours." Veronique nodded "Well, I could always go about finding her for you if it's that important to you, I want to help."

Now that they were being led around to the horses she realised a lot of her questions had not been answered, which included what they were doing about their accommodation. Gently she patted her horse on the nose, giving it a little token of affection so that it might behave itself on their way back to their rooms.

"You are in luck, she should be at our inn sometime this evening, she was aiming to get here for dinner." she stated with a little laugh "I am sure that she would look...a picture, in those dresses that I sent her home."

With very little effort she pulled herself up onto her horse; "I guess we should talk more about this in our rooms. I would dare you both to a race but, I doubt that the people would appreciate seeing two men crying when they lose." Veronique winked.

Harper laughed at Veronique's first statement in regards to Jane while even Sharpe, still in a bad mood, cracked a grin. Oh irritating for Jane's middle name! She had been irritating when they had been seeing each other and after they had separated she had become even more irritating. Sharpe had no idea where she learnt it all but it was scary to think that people could be that annoying, irritating and bitchy all at the same time. It was rather frightening,

"She irritates everyone young Sebby." he teased her a little bit before sighing a little bit, "My bank has already told me that she has lost all of my money. How she could have whittled away my life's fortune in less than a month is beyond me but she managed it none the less. All I want... is to know that I will be paid back. Or else I'll just have to take it out of the hides. Something about 'honour' that stuck with me I guess."

Realising that he had not answered her question about accommodation when she mentioned meeting up with her brother at an inn, he mounted his horse quickly,

"Speaking of inns, apparently we're going to staying in one up in Yorkshire. All paid for by his majesty the king of course..." he told them both with a little chuckle before smirking, "Well I don't know... Veronique is a stunning woman. Purely from what you've 'told' me of course."

He was teasing her and they all knew it so it was good fun. He smirked a little bit and they rode together to their inn. Arriving at the inn he looked around, looking for a carriage in particular,

"So do we think that she'll arrive early?" he asked before shaking his head, "Not arriving early? Tut tut, I heard that was a big part of being a lady."

Veronique thought that Richard was going to say something like that if she was honest, it seemed like a big part of who he was. He had grown up with that sort of culture and she loved it because it was so different to her own, she could appreciate him for his differences and she felt like she was coming to love him, although they were so separate from each other in some things. They had shared one of the most harrowing and rewarding experiences possible, battle, and war.

"How about we try that less extreme method first? Although it would be sure fire way for horse guards to stop trying to send you and us on pointless messages I have to admit." Veronique joked, sending a smirk sideways towards the boys as they rode together down the street back to their inn.

The weather was fine, although cold by their standards, riding all day in the Spanish heat was nothing compared to what the people here would consider a hot snap. The British summer was as hot as the night times in Spain Veronique thought to herself with a smirk. Tipping her hat to a group of women who were gossiping and pointing, they all giggled and hid their heads.

"I think I'm actually going to miss doing that." Veronique sighed softly "Although its a god send to get this goddam itchy thing off me finally."

Rolling her eyes she jumped off her horse and tied it to the feeding post by the inn, to be honest she had no idea when he intended to arrive, it could be a few hours yet, or only a few minutes. It was best that she went inside though to change and get ready for the swap over between them. It would be heaven to finally be free of the bandages.

"Actually Veronique has never been a very ladylike female, I blame the parents." she joked as they went inside the inn, passing the owner with a friendly wave of the hand "She should be along in the next few hours of course... it is hardly an exact art."

Sharpe would have pouted at the very idea that he couldn't have his 'satisfaction' had he not thought that it would be an extremely silly thing to be doing when he was in the middle of a crowded street. He had a reputation to uphold after all, he couldn't go around pouting, it was just undignified for any man, let alone an officer. Harper laughed a little bit,

"Ah boy yer' ruinin' the maj'rs fun!" he joked, teasing both of them at the same time, "Yer kno' how te maj'r ge's abou' his reveng' an' stuff. It's his only hobby outsid'a soldi'rin'!"

Sharpe wanted nothing more than to smack Harper round the face right now... and the smug look on the Irishman's face as he moved his horse so that Veronique was between them, let Sharpe know that the man knew it. He chuckled a little bit,

"You enjoy making young women gossip and have to fan themselves young Sebby?" he teased Veronique with a wink, "We'll make a ladies man out of you yet boy. But don't let me hear you disrespecting the uniforms... not until we're off duty anyway."

Tying up the horses, Sharpe chuckled a little bit and muttered an agreement in the first statement to Harper, who laughed a little bit and agreed. They quickly hid that they had spoken at all, both looking like naughty schoolboys who were caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing. Sharpe nodded,

"So I guess this is an occasion for me to have a bath and..." he swallowed in mock-disgust, "Shave..."