Rabbie was tripping with eagerness, and the big redheaded one looked down at him with amusement in his eyes. "Are ye alright there, wee Rabbie?" The man was enormous, and Rabbie had to drag his stare away from the long sword the big Scot had by his side. "Red Jamie" was famous, and a good friend of the Prince himself. Rabbie looked at the young boy beside him, unsure what to say. He started talking fast and stumbled in the words. Jamie squatted down in front of him and smiled, he didn't look so scary then. Rabbie took a deep breath.

It was late September, and the British were waiting just a stone-throw away. They could see fire burning and hear talking when the wind blew their way. Some said it was five thousand men waiting, with Sir John Cope in the lead with a hundred canons. This had been a long time coming, the clans that had been at Glenfinnan in august said it was only a matter of time before prince Charles sat on the throne and down with King George. Rabbie had been dead still while his Uncle Gregor, that had been present at the Clan-gathering, told the story. The light had flickered over his bearded face, and Rabbie thought he could see tears in his uncle's eyes.

"When the Cameron's came down that hill... Aye, the look in the Prince's eyes. He knew that he was loved and awaited. And then Tullibardine read out the manifesto and everyone knew that Scotland would soon be free from the English."

At this, he saw his Da roll his eyes and whisper something to Rabbie's older brother. Rabbie ignored them. To meet a Prince! A real Prince.

Now, almost a month to the day later, they were here, right at his doorstep. Rabbie couldn't believe his luck. Mam had said that he wasn't allowed near the battlefield, but he had snuck out. No way that he would miss this, when his brother and father was among the men fighting. His brother was only five years older than him, and he knew just as much, or just as little as him about how to shoot a gun or yield a sword. In fact, they didn't have any of that. They were armed with pitch forks from the farm, but the Murray in charge had thanked them for their sacrifice and said that their help was priceless.

He'd tried to find his father, but it was dark, and the Scottish army counted around 2500 men. He'd been standing bewildered outside the church, searching for someone that could take him to the Commander, when a boy much younger than him, spoke to him with a heavy French accent. Rabbie had explained and the lad ran into to church murmuring something about his Mistress. Some minutes later he came out with a pretty lady in tow. Her strange, but kind eyes had met his and he started speaking. Without further ado, she had said that Fergus, the lad, would bring him to her husband, who was preparing the fight at the front line. They had to make way through hundreeds of men, Rabbie marvelled at the fact that Fergus could find his master among all these soldiers. The small boy lit up and pointed at a tall man, with flaming red hair. When Rabbie recognised the big man, he'd been starstruck. He'd seen him in town, talking to the prince and the generals. Now he thought of something his mam had said about his wife. Some said she was a witch, and he could almost believe it. When she looked at him, she saw straight into his soul, but that was what had gotten him this far, so she was alright, he guessed.

"There's a path."

Jamie nodded for him to continue.

"There's a way around the marsh, and it isn't visible from the field. You have to know about it to know it's there."

Jamie took his big hand and grabbed his shoulder.

"Come with me, lad."

Next thing he found himself in a small cottage filled with men and their arms. The smell of the men hit him as he walked in, but that just added to the excitement. He saw Murray, O'Sullivan and the prince himself in the far end of the room. They appeared to be arguing. Murray threw his hands in the air and shouted angrily to the two others, but the prince just shook his head and looked at Murray over his long nose. Red Jamie frowned at them but didn't say anything. Instead, he brought Rabbie to a big table that took up most of the space. The table was filled with maps, drawings and lists. Jamie searched through the papers and motioned for him to get closer.

Rabbie recognized a drawn map of the area. He could make out Seaton Village, where he lived. Preston Village was drawn in, and the Tranent Churchyard. He'd heard rumours earlier that there'd been a regiment stationed at the churchyard that had been under English fire. The Red coats were positioned along the Tranent to Cockenzie Waggonway, with walls on the one side, canons on the other side and the marsh in front of them. Rabbie had grown up here and him, his brother and his father had spent many nights and days hunting on the marsh.

He ignored the men arguing and concentrated on the map. He laid a dirty fingertip on the paper and looked up at Jamie.

"There. It isn't on any map, but we use it when we hunt. It's narrow, most of the time you can walk only one at a time, but it widens further down, then you can get three men in the broad. It ends here." His finger followed an unmarked route as the other men gathered around the table to see what was going on. Clanranald downed what was left of his cup and burped. "What's this, Fraser?"

Jamie looked with distaste at the nearly drunk clan chief. His tartan had spots of food and drink, and probably vomit as well. Rabbie looked at the difference of the two men and thanked the Lord that he had put Red Jamie's wife in his way. No way that she was a witch then, right? 

"Rabbie here knows a way down the hill and through the marsh. He says that he can show us it." His blue eyes met Rabbie's. "Even in the dark?" Rabbie swallowed, "Aye, I could do it with my eyes blindfolded, sir." He couldn't wait to tell this to his brother, he would be so mad. Jamie squeezed his shoulder and gave him a short smile. Then the men started discussing and that led into quarrelling. Every one of them had an opinion. At last, the prince looked at Jamie. "Friend James. What do you think?" Jamie looked at Rabbie and the back at the prince. "I think this is our best chance. If we move fast and silent, we get the element of surprise. My guess is that the English think we will wait till the morning with the attack. If we can get down there and in position before the sun rises, the English will never know what hit them."

The prince nodded in approval. "Then our faith is in your hands." Rabbie felt the seriousness of the situation settle down on him, after all, his family were out there. He gave a salute and saw the men smiling to each other.

Late September in Scotland can be nice, but most likely it's cold and rainy. Rabbie stamped his feet to keep warm and tried not to think about the task ahead of him. It was the middle of the night and he'd been awake almost 24 hours, but the adrenaline kept him afoot. There he was, surrounded with what would surely become legends when all this was over, this battle would go over in history. Jamie kneeled in front of him, the kilt he wore was an old fashioned one. "Now, Rabbie. Are ye ready? Ye have to move swift and silent." He nodded back, and gave a "Yes, Sir", but his voice seemed thin. The plan was for him to lead the way down and then get the hell out. There was a thin, angry-looking man beside Jamie who blew through his nose and shook his head. "When a small laddie leading the way down a hidden path is our best chance...That should tell the little prince something." Jamie shot the man a cautious look before he gave a smile. "For king and country, Murtagh, for king and country." Jamie, towering a head above everyone else, checked his men and the surroundings. Rabbie didn't know what he looked for, but he seemed satisfied. With a worried look in the direction of the village and a grim look down at the field, he motioned with his hand that it was time to go. Rabbie's heart was in his throat, but he walked with what he hoped looked like confidence. He did know the road like the inside of his sporran.

Try as you might, but it's impossible to move an army in silence. The night sky was clear, and the fog that usually was omni-present had kept abay. He stooped down to wait for Jamie, but he didn't have to wait long. Rabbie pointed ahead of him and put his lips close to Jamie's ear. "This is the last bit, just a little more and we're down on the marsh itself." Jamie squinted through the dim lightning. "They'll for sure notice us before we've got all the men out, but we'll have to try." His blue eyes blazed down at Rabbie, and he was a bit surprised to see the laughter in them. "Mr Anderson, you've been a true hero. Now get home to your ma." With a light push in the opposite direction, Jamie tried to get him out of the way.

Rabbie took a hesitant step, he didn't want to leave now that the action started, but a stern look from the man convinced him that he wouldn't be allowed to stay. "Good luck, Sir. God be with ye." Red Jamie smiled and saluted him before he turned is attention to the front line, still invisible in the night.

He could see Jamie ordering his men to sit down, they were supposed to wait until dawn to attack. It would be cold and dark, no fire's permitted. He saw some of the men taking a silent sip of a flask they pulled up from the inside's of their kilt, some ate whatever food they'd got their hands on. In the silence they could hear the English- men talking when the wind was right. Rabbie was struck of the similarities, and for the first time he thought of the soldiers of the other side of the dike as humans. Someone's dad or husband. Or brother. He felt the weight of his actions on his shoulder, but God would surely forgive him for protecting his own family. Rabbie took a chance and sat down at the outskirts of Fraser's men, hoping no one would notice him. He'd gotten this far, no way that he would return home. With a quick prayer for his family, especially his mother, he rested his head against his knees and fell into an uneasy rest.

The whispers ran through the group, Rabbie woke with the feeling of not knowing where he was, but he was quickly brought up to date. His heart beat so loud that he was afraid it would alert the Red coats. What was he doing here, he didn't even have a weapon! The men moved silently, hunters as they were, and the progress was slow but steady. A stop signal came and Rabbie lurked down. It was still dark, but there was a change, you could feel the dawn coming. He thought he could make out a shadow against the dark sky, was it Fraser? He looked around him, no one else moved so he remained still. There was a change in the wind and suddenly they heard voices quite clearly.

"What's that?" An English voice said, and then nerve-wrecking silence.

"Ahh, yer seein'things. Nothin'up there but furze bushes. Never mind, lad. There's the damn lot of'em, sure, and in this dark, they could be the whole bloody Highland army, for all you can see."

The man beside Rabbie snorted out a laugh but was stopped before it got too loud. Two minutes went by without incident and Rabbie felt his shoulders relax. Too late, apparently, there was some commotion from the far left, men speaking with alarmed voices and shuffling of feet. The sound of weapons being drawn. Then, almost right in front of him the voice from earlier.

"Hey? What's happening?"

The words was like a signal, the men around him drew their weapons and crouched down. As one they started toward the voices and suddenly there was a loud boom to his left. A canon being fired! Rabbie moved with the others, not sure what to do. No one said anything to him, they all had their focus forward. He tripped in something and felt bile rising up his throat when he saw it was an English soldier. He looked so peaceful, but with a grim resolve, Rabbie kneeled down to grab his musket. It was war after all. When he removed the weapon, the man gave a small moan and Rabbie leaped to his feet. He'd been sure the man was dead. Reflex made him push the bayonet attached to the musket into his soft upper body. The man opened his eyes with a surprised look that turned into panic. The feeling of the blade hitting flesh and muscle was an eerie one, different than animals somehow. It seemed Rabbie had been fortunate with his sudden attack, the light in the man's eyes died out as he grabbed after the musket. The weapon almost fell out of his sweaty hands, but he got a better grip and swallowed the vomit down. He'd killed a man. What would his mother say?

The dawn was near, and he could make out more and more of the surroundings. The grass seemed alive, but he realised it was crawling with soldiers. He saw Fraser raise his sword in the air and scream something. The Highlanders roared back and started running towards the English. The sight of so many fierce-looking men, swords and axes in hand, screaming their lungs out, made the English halt and look at each other with deep fear in their eyes. Some tossed their weapons and ran in the opposite direction, but many stood and prepared for the fight. The sound of blades hitting blades was much louder than Rabbie would have thought, but the sound was soon overturned by the sound of men shouting. The sound of the canons crept closer, and the air was filled with smoke. Rabbie raised his musket, but didn't know what to aim for, no one stood still long enough for him to get a good shot. He could feel the weapon shaking in his hands, this was no good. Tears in his eyes, he threw it to the ground and looked around, feeling the panic come crushing down. There was the sound of running footsteps ahead of him and he thought of his mother as the Englishman raised his sword. He wanted to die with his eyes open but flinched as the man came closer. A thin voice shouted something he didn't understand and then he felt not a sword, but a body crash into him. The impact made him fall backwards, landing with the body on top of him. He opened his eyes and met the dead eyes of the man that had attacked him. Rabbie wiggled to come loose, and someone helped him. Finally, he could stand up and he recognised the wee lad that had brought him to Red Jamie. The boy stared at the dead man with a shocked expression. Rabbie tried to talk to him, but he didn't respond. Slowly he turned away from the body and dragged a sleeve across his face to wipe away some snot. "I killed a man." His eyes were big and round. Rabbie realised that he too had killed a man, things had happened so fast that he'd almost forgot about it. How could he do that? As the two boys stared at each other, they realised that the sound of fighting had diminished. Was the battle over? Who had won? His eyes were swimming and his breath came in shallow puffs. Rabbie knew he had to say something, and he grabbed the little boy. "Thank you. You saved my life." Fergus was his name, he remembered it now. That was the last thing he knew before he passed out.

He woke up in a bed, a lady leaning over him. He recognized the amber eyes and gave a small smile. She smiled back and stroke his hair with cold fingers. Around them, the church was bustling with activity, men in all kinds of conditions laying everywhere. Some talked amongst them, but most were busy moaning alone. As he looked around him, he thought of the battle. It was nothing like the tales. It was dirty, frightening, loud, filled with blood and gore. Why did people think of it as heroic? He prayed that his father and brother had survived. Just as he had that though, the lady spoke with a gentle voice. "I happened upon your father earlier, he had a wound in his thigh, but he and your brother are safe." How did she know what he was thinking about? Relaxing into the bed, he tried to speak.  "Did we win?" The lady looked around the room filled with wounded men with sad eyes. "Yes. We won this time."