Red, White, and Prussian Blue: Chapter 4

You let out a big breath as you walked out of Washington's cabin. You looked back at the door and you looked forward again. What did he mean by 'you won't have time.', you asked yourself. You shrugged and looked around for von Steuben, like Washington told you to. You found him drilling a group of soldiers again. You walked over to the practice field and your eyes widened in horror as the men stabbed straw-filled dummies with their bayonets. Your throat closed up as you thought of what it would look like if the dummies were actual men. You shook the thought away and you took a deep breath.

You can do this, you told yourself.

You slowly walked as far away from the soldiers as you could; making your way toward Steuben. You finally reached him as he barked out an order in French, "Plus vite! Vous n'aurez pas de soldats britanniques maudits comme ça!"

You jumped at the ferocity in his voice. Captain Walker repeated the command, "Faster! You won't get any British soldiers like that!"

You decided you had a better chance of getting Walker's attention. You tapped his shoulder. He looked at you over his shoulder. "Ah, Miss ______, what do you need?"

You grinned. You liked Walker; he saved you from Beilschmidt a couple times. "Well, it seems that I'm Baron von Steuben's maid now. General Washington told me to find him and well, here I am."

Steuben said something in German. Walker looked confused. Steuben sighed and repeated what he said in French. You suddenly felt bad for the soldiers, and for Steuben. It must be hard to switch languages like that, you thought. Walker looked at you with a grin. "He said, 'I remember you. You're the tidy nurse.'"

You looked at Steuben and smiled. Walker said something in French. Steuben nodded and he actually grinned at you. You stiffened and tried to stay calm. He still made you nervous, even though you liked him. Steuben said something in French. Walker looked at you and translated, "He just wants you to go to his quarters while he's out here drilling the men and tidy things up. You can do whatever you want when you're done each day."

You looked at Steuben again and you nodded, "I'll be sure to do that sir."

Walker translated and Steuben grunted in satisfaction. He waved you away. You backed away and waved to Walker. Walker smiled and waved back before turning back to the drilling soldiers. You picked up your skirts to keep them out of the slush and you made your way back to the cabin you were staying in.

Martha was sitting on her 'cot'.  She smiled as you walked in. "You look better. What happened?"

You grinned. You liked this girl. She reminded you of Polly. "Well, I get to work for Baron von Steuben, and help out the wounded soldiers still of course."

Martha nodded and said, "Well thank goodness. That man's desk is a disaster. I used to have to clean it."

You looked at her in surprise and you giggled. Martha giggled with you. "I just hope that Beilschmidt doesn't bother me." you said.

Martha looked at you in surprise. "Really? He was polite to me; then again, Steuben was always in the cabin when he was."

You looked at her in shock. Beilschmidt? Polite? Those two words were never going to go in the same sentence. You shrugged and went to bed.

Apparently you had a disaster to fix tomorrow.

******

You yawned and rubbed your back as you walked to Steuben's cabin the next morning. Those cots were awful. You sighed and stood straight. You had work to do, no point in whining about a bad bed. You looked up at the crisp, early March sunlight shining through the Valley. Your face fell as you thought about your father.

"Is he alright?" you whispered.

"Who is alright Fräulein?"

You frowned. Why now, you asked the heavens. You looked over your shoulder to see Beilschmidt. He was carrying a lot of papers and envelopes. Your eyes widened on a red mark on his coat. He saw where you were looking and he grumbled, "Don't worry Fräulein, it's not mine."

Your eyes became the size of saucers. "So, you…um…"

"Yes, I took care of those, what do you call them, Redcoats. At least I had to; to give Jones time to get you away at least."

You looked at him in shock. He seemed irritated and deep in thought, not like his usual obnoxious self. You looked down and asked quietly, "Do you know what happened to my father?"

He looked up at you and his eyes narrowed. He sighed and said, "I didn't see Fräulein, entschuldigung. I'm sure the Briten are just keeping him in some prison somewhere."

You nodded and kept walking, Beilschmidt walked beside you, not to your surprise. You looked at him out of the corner of your eye. You sighed. Even if you couldn't stand him, you should at least thank him. You knew that you couldn't have done what he did in that situation.

"Thank you…for yesterday." you said quietly.

You looked at him and Beilschmidt looked at you in mild surprise. He grinned. "Keine Ursache." he replied.

You nodded. Even though you didn't know what he said exactly, you guessed what it was. You walked to Steuben's cabin. Beilschmidt looked at you. "You're the 'maid'?" he asked.

You nodded. His obnoxious grin came back. "Have fun while I just sit there Fräulein."

You scowled and it took every ounce of your willpower not to slap him. Obnoxious Beilschmidt was back. You stopped yourself from stomping into the cabin and you tried to keep your composure. You stopped dead in your tracks when you saw the chaos on Steuben's desk. At least, you thought it was his desk; it was too covered in papers to tell. You walked over to it and you picked up some papers. You saw the wood underneath and you dropped them again. It was his desk alright. Martha wasn't kidding when she said it was a disaster.

Beilschmidt chuckled obnoxiously. "Good luck Fräulein."

You noticed a small rock acting as a paperweight on top of a big pile of letters. You grabbed it and threw propriety out of the window.

*******

Beilschmidt was still grumbling about certain Fräuleins and their anger issues three hours later.

You grinned smugly as you set another set of letters neatly on the corner of Steuben's desk. You studied the one on the top. It was all in German. You blew a loose lock of hair out of your face and you glared at it. How does it always get out, you asked yourself. You stood back and grinned at your work. Half of the desk was all in order now. Your shoulders slumped when you looked at the other side. No wonder Washington said you would have no time. You blew the loose hair out of your face again and rolled up your sleeves.

You picked up a pick pile of papers; you couldn't react in time when some envelopes and papers slipped from your grasp. You put the papers down and squatted down to get the ones you dropped. You picked them up, making sure to keep them in a neat pile on the chair. You heard Beilschmidt snicker.

You grumbled about obnoxious Prussians, just loud enough for him to hear, of course.

You noticed an envelope you missed under the desk. You picked it up and turned it over to see what it was. Your eyes widened when you saw Beilschmidt's name on the receiving end. "Herr Beilschmidt?"

"Ja Fräulein?"

"I think I found some of your mail."

The letter was suddenly plucked from your hands and you looked up to see Beilschmidt scowling at the piece of paper. He ripped it open as you stood up and smoothed your skirts out. His crimson eyes scanned the paper. His lips silently mouthed the words as he read. Your eyes kept flitting back to the blood stain on his coat. You wished he would wash it out or something, it was giving you an uneasy feeling. His eyes narrowed and he suddenly threw the paper.

"Scheiße!" he snarled.

He started to stalk around the shack. You backed against the wall. The look on his face was scaring you.

He suddenly swept all of the papers off the desk with a growl. "Verdammt!" he shouted.

He slammed his hands on the desk and his head drooped, letting out a deep breath. You suddenly realized that you squeezed yourself in the corner. You tried to gulp down the lump in your throat. You opened your mouth and tried to say something; nothing came out. He suddenly started to laugh. The lump in your throat got bigger and your heart started to pound. You didn't like this laugh. It sounded, almost evil.

"You caught me Fräulein! You found my ultimate, personal reason to be here!" he said, still laughing.

His face fell and he turned away. You saw his shoulders slump. You were scared. You had no idea what he was talking about, or why he was acting this way.

You took a step forward. Your footstep on the packed down floor sounded like a thunder clap in the silence. He looked at you over his shoulder. "Mir lied, Fräulein."

He turned to face you. You clutched at the knot holding your shawl around your shoulders. You studied him, wondering if the obnoxious attitude he usually had was hiding something underneath. Your face fell when you realized that you actually were caring if he was in pain somehow. You almost sighed. This had to be the last man you wanted to think about like this. But, you saw the frustration and anger.

Now you were curious.

"What do you mean?" you asked, not caring that your voice shook a little.

He smiled with no mirth. He looked down and said, "You're not the only one who has a family member in hostage because of this verdammt war."

You were confused. "What?"

He sighed and sat down in his chair. "Before the Hessians were sent over here, my bruder and I were a part of them. The funny thing is, the night we planned to escape and live our own lives was the night they decided Hessians were going to be a part of the fight against the Colonial resistance. I escaped. Ludwig didn't."

He looked away and he leaned his forearms on his knees. You put two and two together in your head. "So, you joined Steuben, because you want to know where your brother is?" you asked, tentatively.

He looked at you and he chuckled with no humor. "You know Fräulein, I knew you were smart. My bruder and I were planning on running away back to Prussia. Fate decided otherwise. The new plan is to help you colonials win this war. Then, my bruder and I can live here in peace, if I find him in time. I don't even know if he's alive."

He looked away again and he dug the heels of his palms into his eyes, taking deep breaths. You looked down at the paper he was reading. You picked it up and held it out to him. He looked up at you and he took it. "Again, mir lied Fräulein. I just came upon another dead end."

He stood up and looked at the mess of papers on the ground. "Well, since I un-awesomely destroyed your good work, I should let my awesomeness help, eh?"

He looked at you with a small smirk. The obnoxious Beilschmidt was back. You sighed and asked, "You confuse and infuriate me Herr Beilschmidt, but I'll accept your apology this once."

He chuckled and squatted down, picking up papers.

You grinned and squatted down beside him.