The next morning, James and his troop set out to meet the other troop. It took half a day to journey there. The general was an Indian man called Singh. (KHAN, SWEETIE, IS THAT YOU) Right away, he showed Jamie and James his plans.  

"That is our target, the German eleventh division." He said. "At the moment, bivouacked three miles to the east of the Menin Road. We have been watching them, and they have pitched tents for the night and lit cooking fires. Knock them out and we could slide behind the German lines and come at them from the south at Geluveld." 

"Excellent." Jamie said. James looked at the plans through his magnifying glass. "Numbers?"

"About 600, infantry." Singh said.

"Twice our size." James was instantly alarmed. 

"Regiments of horse and men, the advantage is ours." Jamie said. 

"And we have surprise on our side." Singh said. "But the sooner we move, the better. We have no assurance they'll still be there tomorrow morning." 

"Right, good." Jamie said as Singh left. James couldn't stop the churning in his stomach. His thoughts all focused on Victoria. "So, today it is. Charlie, tell the men."

"Salisbury formation?" Charlie asked.

"Salisbury formation." Jamie nodded. "We'll charge through them and secure the ground from behind."

"The grass the the left is taller than we are, it's perfect cover." Singh said, making a reappearance. 

"Excellent work." Jamie said. "Time spent on reconnaissance is rarely wasted."

"Thank you, Singh." James said quietly as he and Jamie left. "Jamie! They have no idea we're coming?"

"Not having scruples, are you, Jim?" Jamie teased. 

"No, I understand, the surprise is everything." James said. "But, if it must be done, let's do it quickly."

"This is about Victoria, isn't it?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, it is." James said. "I just...what if I die? Who will take care of her?"

"Her parents will surely take her in." Jamie said.

"You know what I mean." James said. Jamie sighed.

"I assure you, James, if you die and I make it out of this, I will take care of Victoria for you." Jamie said. 

"Thank you very much." James said. Some of the weight was lifted from him shoulders. He looked towards Charlie, who was staring at his saddle with a sort of blank expression on his face. "Are you alright, Charlie?"

Charlie jumped and looked at James. He mustered up a smile. "Never been better! Literally. Never better."

James walked up to Joey. "Hey, Joey. My bonny boy!" He patted Joey's neck. "We're alright, aren't we, Joey? Eh?" James thought for a moment. He took out something that Albert had hooked to Joey's bridal when he was first sold.

When he had finished getting Joey tacked up, James mounted him. He looked at Victoria's picture and clenched the locket tightly in his gloved hand. He took one last glance and then turned to listen to Jamie.

"Gentlemen, it is an honor to ride beside you. Make the Kaiser rue the day he dared to cross swords with us. Let every man make himself, his King, his country, and his fallen comrades proud." Jamie said. James didn't care about all the other things. He would only want to make Victoria proud. "Be brave! Fear God! Honor the King!"

"Fear God! Honor the King!" James shouted along with all the other soldiers.

They rode to where they would be hiding to take the Germans by surprise. The grass was even taller than the horses. James mounted Joey. He pulled the locket out of his shirt and looked at Victoria's picture. He smiled down at it before snapping it shut and tucking it back inside his shirt. He pulled out his sword on Jamie's command and looked around at his fellow soldiers. 

"Good luck, my friends." He said. 

"Forward, walk!" Jamie shouted. The soldiers gently kicked their horses and started walking forward. James' heart began to pound. "Forward, canter!" The horses moved a little faster, as did James' heart. The horses ran out of the grass. James saw the Germans begin to run. He was at the front. He gave the orders to charge.

"CHARGE!" He screamed. 

Joey tried to avoid the tents that all the other horses were jumping across. James didn't mind. One less way for him to fall off. He slashed a German's throat with his sword. He gulped after he did it and regretted it. What if that soldier had someone like Victoria to return to? What if they had children? This wasn't right. James decided to refrain from killing anyone unless he absolutely had to. Joey tried to jump over a table, but ended up just tipping it over. 

James suddenly heard something that made his heart stop. The sound of machine gun fire. Okay, maybe he should have killed some of those other Germans. He felt sick as he saw his friends being blown off of their riders. He saw a machine gun aimed right at him. All time slowed down. He didn't know what to do. He was going to die.

Victoria, I love you. He thought.

A bullet suddenly whizzed past Joey's head. Naturally, Joey got very scared. He turned around to run. James wasn't going to stop him. In the process, James felt a bullet hit his shoulder. He let out a shriek of pain. He gripped the reins tightly with his other hand. Another bullet hit his lower back and he screamed again. He could feel Joey running and turning. The horse must also be terrified.

"It's okay, Joey, it's okay!" He shouted. "Joey, calm down!"

James didn't know where Joey was taking him. Between his blood loss and the pain, he was dizzy and couldn't see very well. He was aware of someone pulling him off of Joey very roughly. It had to be Germans. He caught sight of Jamie being taken prisoner. Where was Charlie? Where was Joey? Where was he going? He felt himself being sat down in something. All he wanted was to lie down and sleep. He forced himself to stay awake. He knew that if he fell asleep, he might never wake up again. 

You'll be alright, James. I love you. Victoria's voice said in his mind. Just stay awake, darling. 

--------------------------------

(A few days later)

Victoria heard a knock on her door. She opened it. Albert was standing there. He looked like he felt uncomfortable about something. 

"Mrs. Nicholls...um...I think this is for you." He said. "It came to me, probably purely by accident." 

"Thank you." Victoria said, taking two letters and a sketchbook from him. Her heart soared. This was James'! She opened the sketchbook and saw two pictures of James' new horse. "Well, I think these are yours."

"Thank you." Albert said. "I'll, uh...I'll go now."

"Thank you for delivering these!" Victoria called. Albert just nodded back at her. 

Victoria shut the door and eagerly opened the first letter. 

My beautiful wife,
                Words cannot describe how much I miss you, my love. I hope you're doing alright. If you need to know how to do anything, just write me and I'll let you know how as soon as I can. I love the locket. I'll be able to look at it and think of your beauty when things get hard. I tried to draw you, but it didn't turn out too well. I feel awful. I'm entrusting this picture to you so you can burn it. Jamie would never let me live it down.

               You may be wondering why the ribbon I've included has been attached along with the picture. I know it's nothing valuable, but I won it for you. You see, we were doing a practice charge today and the goal was to pull ahead and snag this ribbon.

              Jamie just came in and told me that there will be a battle in a few days. I've decided that if I survive, I will make some sort of excuse and come home to you. I don't want to be here anymore. If I don't come back, I'm so, so sorry, darling. I love you more than anything.

Your loving husband,
               James.

Victoria grinned broadly. The second letter must also be from him telling her that he would be home soon. She eagerly tore it open.

Dear Victoria Nicholls,

        We regret to inform you that your husband, Captain James Nicholls, was reported missing in action. We hope to find and return him to you soon. God be with you.
    ~ Sergeant Perkins

Victoria read the letter several times. That couldn't be true! James couldn't be missing! He had promised that he would come home! He had promised her! She shook her head, softly repeating "No," over and over again. Victoria sank down, to the floor and buried her head in her knees. She started sobbing. She just wanted James home. All she wanted was him to walk through the door and call out her name. Bailey came up to her and pawed at her leg. Victoria pushed him away. She clutched her locket in her hand so hard that the pattern engraved on it left marks on her palm. At least there was still the chance that James was alive. He still might be able to come home. He might still come home to her like he had promised.

-----------------------------------------

James woke up. He had blacked out from the blood loss. He was lying on a mat in a tent. Everything flooded back. At least he was alive. How long had he been out? His shoulder hurt; so did his lower back. Where was he?

"Well, it looks like you've pulled through." A German voice said. James sat up and looked at the doctor sitting beside him. 

"How long have I been out?" He asked.

"A few days." The German said. James felt for his locket and was relieved to discover he still had it. "What is that?"

"It's a picture of my wife." James said, deciding that honesty was the best option at this point. "I'm a prisoner of war now, aren't I?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so." The doctor said. "Once you've healed, you'll be forced to do work. A friend of yours begged for you to be given the best treatment and said that he'd do your work, as well as his own."

"Which one of my friends?" James asked.

"His name is Jamie." The doctor said. "He's a madman, is you ask me."

"A madman indeed, but a loyal friend all the same." James said, laying back down. "Oh, thank you, Jamie."

"Why would he do that?" The doctor asked.

"He knows how special Victoria- my wife- is to me." James said. "I need to return to her."

"Well, that will be a very long, hard road for you." The doctor said. "I'll be back in the evening to make sure you're not dead."

The doctor left. James hoped that Victoria had gotten his letter and that Joey was okay. All he wanted was to see her one more time. The first thing he was going to do when he got out of here was tell Jamie thank you. Then he would go see if he could find Joey. James closed his eyes and dreamed of coming home.