Keziah couldn’t believe their luck that they actually bought the story. Perhaps it was because they’d both thought of the same cover. Claiming to be a married woman would stop most men from making advances. A lot of soldiers were young and always fighting, always marching, so finding a nice girl probably was a little tough. She fiddled with the sleeves of her borrowed dress in a nervous manner. They were a little too long so they had been rolled up; the lady that she had borrowed them from was taller than she was.  When the Colonel had given the Sergeant orders to find them a home, she glanced at William with a small smile. Perhaps things would work out well for them after all. However, before they could be escorted to their new ‘home’, the orders were given that if one ran then the other would be killed. Essentially it was a fantastic way to ensure that they’d stay, if not for their duties then for each other. Keziah had to give him credit for that plan. When they were allowed to leave, they were separated, Keziah was led to where the wounded soldiers were being tended and well…she didn’t know where they’d taken William. Hopefully he’d be safe. 

She was introduced to the doctor and other nurses who were buzzing around as they patched up the soldiers. Now she understood what the Colonel meant. Just as they stitched one soldier up another was ready to take his place. Keziah worked on one man who was holding a bloody scrap of cloth to his eye. They had been unable to save it. She fixed him up as best as she could, cleaning the wound and applying new dressings before having him lay propped up on pillows. She moved on to the next soldier, and the next, and the next. She frowned when she realized that the doctor had to amputate his leg. The doctor was hesitant and Keziah realized that the poor man was probably no older than she was. He was shaking and his hands and clothes were covered in the blood of other wounded soldiers and he looked at Keziah with a lost expression when she mentioned that he needed to start cutting now. 

She walked him through the amputation in the end and even taught him how to sew the arteries closed. The doctor hadn’t told her thank you but she didn’t expect him to. After that she had aided the other nurses with minor wounds and giving water or wiping someone down or changing bandages. It was midafternoon when the Sergeant came back, ordering her to follow. Keziah wiped her bloody hands on her apron, grimacing when they still came back bloody. 

She was taken to a house not far from the base that had been set up. For the first time she realized that this had likely been a small town or even a settlement. The house that had been given to them was small, a bit smaller than her own home. She wasn’t going to complain though, a home was a home. Keziah took a moment to look around the house. It was furnished well enough, there were a few things missing but they could live without an extra chair or even a door to the bedroom. Either they had never been there or had been taken to use as firewood by the soldiers. There was one bed, as was expected. The soldiers did think that they were married after all. None likely knew that they had been captured in separate rooms. She wondered briefly if the man she was captured with was okay. She didn’t have to know him to be concerned for him. 

Keziah was left to her own devices for a little while. No doubt it was either because the soldiers were talking about what to do if either of them ran, or some other thing unrelated to them. Keziah found that she was exhausted. Twenty four hours ago she'd been sitting alone in her home with just her roaring fireplace for company and now she was here, in the Continental Army's camp, or at least once of them, with a man she was pretending was her husband but in reality she had no clue who he was beyond the name he'd given to her.