Free Aleksey's Kingdom by John Wiltshire Page A

find all manner of unlikely things, and my brewing argument with Captain Rochester was forgotten.
    I rose from the table and went down to the river, intending to wash before eating. I had not gone far out of sight of the encampment when I sensed someone just ahead of me. I had an arrow notched and ready when I heard a gasp—female—and lowered my weapon. Mary Wright gave a small curtsey and apologized for startling me. I told her she should not have wandered so far away from the protection of her family. She glanced around nervously at the towering trees and nodded, curtseying again. I expected her to follow me when I turned around, but she put out her hand and touched my arm. “Sir, could I impose upon you to keep a watch while I…?” Naturally she wanted to wash and do other things I suppose women do equally as men. I nodded. What else could I do?
    I went a little way back behind a dense bush and squatted down between her spot at the river and the path from the camp. I heard some rustling, and then to my surprise a dress appeared, thrown across the bush, and then some more garments— unmentionables . I was very taken aback. In my experience, women wash very cleverly and furtively without appearing to take off a single item of clothing. I had always assumed it was some secret knowledge passed down from mother to daughter. I had been a doctor, so I was not wholly unfamiliar with the fairer sex. Even examining a female, I had never once seen one undress, but fastenings had mysteriously been loosened for access here and there. So this uninhibited shedding of clothing struck me as very odd.
    I was debating returning to the camp for some reinforcement when I heard another gasp from the direction of the young woman and then a soft cry for assistance. I rose uncertainly. “What is wrong?”
    “My foot is trapped. I cannot rise.”
    “Are you decent?”
    “Oh, sir, the current is strong here. I cannot swim.”
    Fuck! I pulled some of the clothing off the bush, holding it out in front of me as I approached. I saw a figure in the water, and then it screamed, “Do not throw my gown! It will get wet, and I do not have another!”
    Fuck! I pulled off my own shirt and then threw that in the direction of the white flesh. When I was sure it had been donned, I waded into the river. She had indeed got her ankle between two rocks. Quite how she had achieved this was a mystery to me, and it came free very easily when I persuaded her to try twisting it in the opposite direction to the one she had been trying. I carried her out of the water and placed her down upon the sandy bank. “Can you stand unaided?” I was such a gentleman sometimes it surprised me. She tried but collapsed against me. I was naked from the waist up and could feel the warmth of her skin through the soaking shirt she was wearing, and some alarming points of hardness brushing against my chest. I bent and retrieved her own clothes and thrust them at her. Before I could stop her, she had stripped off my shirt and was handing it shyly to me.
    “Why did you…?” Aleksey’s voice faltered, as well it might. I don’t think in all the years he had known me that this was a scenario he had ever expected to encounter. I was about to laugh and explain, but Mary Wright gave a small cry of distress and began to struggle against me, which was odd, seeing as I was not holding her in any way and was only trying to get her to cover herself.
    “Please, sir, Your Highness, help me. I was… and he… oh….” She sank upon the ground, sobbing, still naked, her dress bunched in her fists. I stood looking down at her, my wet shirt in my hands. For once, I was entirely speechless. I looked mutely at Aleksey, suddenly very anxious as to what he might say about this little scene.
    He was looking at her distressed state very closely. He came over and crouched down by her, seeming to ignore me, which cut me to the quick, I confess. I could not see this having a good outcome. Aleksey