ext_15551 ([identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] quigonejinn 2006-12-04 01:49 am (UTC)

5) Five times Edrington fell in love.

1. Five and a half, when he got his first pony. It was an early sixth birthday present because young boys should ride to their fifth birthdays. Edrington has a very clear memory of being wild with delight when he was led out onto the gravel drive and saw the gray standing there, already saddled and at least a full foot taller than him at the withers.

2. Nine, which is the first time that he got a pack of hounds of his own.

3. Nine, same day. Over field and heath and hedge, almost out of his mind with excitement. Cold air, a cold feeling in his hands and legs, and then hot blood oer the over the forehead and cheeks.

4. Fifteen. With female parts and sexual practices entirely expected of a young, goodlooking man.

5. In the normal course of things and in complete honesty, it would be the first time he watched his men go down into battle -- the drums and smoke and shouting that every born Army officer fall sin love with, but for Edrington, it was bound up with a realization of what it meant to be a man, to serve King and Country. To hold responsibility for something entirely within your hands.

The first time he felt it was when he was sixteen. Childhood pets live a long time, but like all things, they come to an end. Edrington did the job himself and shot his old childhood horse himself with a musket that a groom loaded for him.

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