The Patriot's Curse, page 22
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I noticed that. When we left Williamsburg, it was May of 1774, and when I asked Mr. Kirby’s son about the month and year, he told me that it’s currently late March of 1775. We missed almost an entire year.”
Theo shook his head as his brows furrowed in confusion. “It really felt like we were only gone for a month or so.”
“I know, but apparently not,” I said, pursing my lips. “Something happened in the Triangle, and we skipped ahead in time.”
“How is that even possible?”
I had considered that same question so many times since Thomas Kirby had told me what day it was. The thought sent chills down my spine, and saying it out loud made the concept even more horrifying. It made my head spin.
“I don’t know how it’s possible,” I said finally. “But it happened.”
Theo sighed. “It didn’t take me long to figure it out,” he said. “I had to find a way to get Benedict and William to tell us what we missed while we were gone.”
“We missed a lot,” I said.
Theo nodded, and once again, our carriage fell into silence.
The quiet gave me a few minutes to think about where we were headed and what we might be in for once we got there. Whether or not I wanted to, we were already thrust head-first into this revolution, and I could learn to fight for freedom. Or I could die trying.
“Do you think about him? Thomas, I mean?” Theo asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen in the carriage.
My heart lurched.
“I think about him often,” I said sadly. “I miss him, Theo, and it kills me inside to know that I couldn’t save him.”
Tears pooled in my eyes as the emotion came flooding back. Since Thomas’ death, I couldn’t escape it. Each time his name was brought up, tears sprang to life.
Grief was a funny thing. It came in waves like the ocean on a stormy day. It gripped me and flooded me at random times.
“Morganne,” Theo said, reaching across the carriage toward me. He untangled my hands from the quilt and squeezed them in his own. “I’m sorry for what I said to you on the ship. It wasn’t fair to you, and it’s not your fault that Thomas died.”
The tears spilled onto my cheeks then, leaving traces of wetness over my face. My power seemed to cool with Theo’s touch, but the sobs followed. My body shook with grief. When Theo swapped to the seat beside me in the carriage and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, the sobs intensified. I leaned into his chest, burying my face into his shirt. He held me, letting me cry.
“I don’t blame you,” he whispered into my ear. “He died because he was a hero. He saved Carver’s life.”
“But I couldn’t save his,” I managed to croak out between sobs.
Theo pulled me in close again, holding me as tightly as possible without suffocating me. My body shuddered as the grief overtook me again. I had held in my emotions for so long that once that door was opened, the grief flooded out.
“It’s alright,” Theo said, holding me.
He wasn’t letting go, and I wasn’t going to pull away. In that moment, I needed him more than he would ever know.
The carriage suddenly came bumbling to a stop, causing the two of us to jump. My tears dried up quickly as the confusion of the moment sobered me. Theo moved to the window, peeking outside.
“We stopped,” I observed aloud.
He nodded, staring out of the carriage windows.
“There are soldiers,” he said.
“Soldiers?”
Theo nodded. “British soldiers.”
Chapter
Thirty
People piled into the sanctuary of New Church, and an air of tension suffocated the room. Theo, sitting quietly by my side, held my hand, keeping me together as the dizziness of our mission left me drained.
We had tried and failed to find Patrick before this meeting was supposed to happen. He had been elusive, stating he needed to work on his plan for the meeting. His words were vague, but Theo convinced me to hold off and not press him for more information.
“Who are these people again?” I asked Theo as we found an empty seat in the sanctuary. The chatter around us grew louder as people came in to take their seats. Out of everyone who had entered the church so far, I was one of three women present. Most women chose to stay out of politics. I was like most women, unfortunate for me.
“They’re part of the Virginia assembly,” Theo explained. “Benedict told me that this was the second Virginia Convention.”
“The second?” I asked. “Did we miss the first one?”
Theo nodded. “It happened in August of last year.”
August. It happened during our time at sea, trapped in a time warp that caused us to miss months of our lives.
I took a moment to inspect my surroundings, watching as people talked aimlessly in preparation for this meeting. We had been told very little about it, but Benedict had insisted we come. It was important, he had told us. And since Patrick was giving a speech, it was our best chance to catch him before he went north to Lexington.
“Is this seat for me?” someone asked, sitting down beside me.
I turned to find Benedict with a smug grin on his face. When I didn’t offer anything in return, he leaned forward, getting Theo’s attention.
I was accustomed to being overlooked, but something about Benedict’s attitude toward me rubbed me the wrong way. A growl of frustration settled in the back of my throat.
“This meeting has been in the works for a while now,” Benedict said. “I’ve just been antsy with anticipation for it.”
“What is the end goal here?” Theo asked. Though I was obviously sitting between them, Benedict acted as if I weren’t there at all. Again, I was frustrated.
“To convince the assembly that we should go to war, I suppose,” Benedict said with a shrug. “I suspect Patrick will be successful in his efforts. He is quite the orator.”
“I’m interested to hear what he has to say about our goals,” Theo said.
He beamed.
The more he sat among the growing revolutionaries, the more excited his demeanor became. His face was glowing. I knew that he still grieved his brother, but something about the thought of freedom from the king kept him going.
“And what about you, miss?” Benedict said, eying me with a strange gaze. “What do you think about the revolution?”
Now he talks to me?
I cut my eyes at him.
“I don’t make it a habit to get involved in matters of government or royal rebellion,” I explained.
“So you captain pirate crews instead?” he asked, raising a brow.
“Something like that,” I snapped back. Theo covered a laugh beside me, his shoulders shaking.
“Well, suit yourself,” Benedict said. “You’re missing out on all the fun.”
He leaned back on his bench, putting his feet up on the side in a distasteful manner. I wasn’t a stranger to uncivilized men. I had been a captain of a ship after all. But something about his manner in the church at that moment was too much. It annoyed me to my core.
Before I could turn to Theo and ask to swap places, the room fell into a quiet. A few men were walking to the front of the church slowly, exchanging a few strained words with people as they passed. It seemed the like church was suddenly still and waiting. A slight buzz filled the air with anticipation for the proceedings. His disrespect was blatant.
“Those men are notable,” Theo whispered into my ear, getting my attention again. He pointed to the group now sitting down at the front near the pulpit. “You know Patrick Henry, of course.”
I nodded. “And the others? Is that Thomas Jefferson?”
“Yep,” Theo said with a grin. “Thomas Jefferson, Peyton Randolph, and George Washington.” He pointed out each one for me.
The silence that had fallen over the church only seemed to deepen as a man stepped up the short stairs to the pulpit. He cleared his throat—his voice echoing off of the walls. The room stirred only slightly as people adjusted their positions to get a better view or grow more attentive.
The atmosphere changed suddenly to one of seriousness. A chill raced across my arms as I listened.
“We are gathered today in the sight of God and man to speak on behalf of an important matter in our lands,” the man said.
I didn’t recognize him, and it was too quiet for me to reasonably ask Theo without drawing attention to myself.
The man continued to speak, but my mind drifted elsewhere. With everything we had gone through and the treasure being stashed away in a hotel room across town, I couldn’t focus on the men who were speaking. The Assembly members were coming and going, giving speech after speech about government and matters that I had never found interest in understanding. I tried to understand their words, but I wasn’t meant to know the matters of government.
I was meant to be on the water.
Theo tried his best to help me understand some of the speeches. He explained who was speaking and what they were trying to convey. It was no use. Theo was much more invested in the words being spoken than I was, and when I stifled a yawn, Benedict leaned over to me with a smirk on his face.
“Matters of government aren’t really for women anyways,” he said.
With a shoulder shrug and a smug look, he turned back to the current speaker who was introducing Patrick Henry to the crowd.
I rolled my eyes as I fought against the rising frustration and burning power in my body.
As Patrick took to the pulpit, I sat up a little straighter. While I didn’t know the other men, I had been introduced to mister Henry. I trusted his thoughts. I trusted him.
“No man thinks more highly,” he began. His voice was calm and collected, though I suspected he must have been nervous. His words held a heavy weight on the Assembly, and it was crucial that he make his points in a motivating light.
Patrick continued on for a moment, expressing his respect of the men who had spoken before him. He paused, taking a good look at the room around him. I felt small under his scrutiny, though I knew I was just one of many who were listening to him.
“This is no time for ceremony,” he said dramatically.
Theo grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly. Glancing at him, I saw a man focused. Theo wanted to change the colonies for the better, and I saw, in that moment, a man who sought freedom for the people of our colonies.
I tuned out much of Patrick’s speech then as I watched this man whom I had fallen in love with all over again find a purpose beyond sailing. He knew what he wanted. I just wasn’t sure what he would do to get it. Theo was a pirate, after all, but maybe he was more of a revolutionary now.
Patrick cleared his throat, getting my attention once again.
“Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace,” he said again, raising his voice. “But there is no peace.”
I sucked in a breath.
“The war is actually begun,” he continued. All eyes and ears were on Patrick Henry then. “The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms.”
I turned to Theo, eyes wide. “He’s going north isn’t he?” I asked in a quiet whisper.
Theo nodded. “In a few days, so are we.”
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?” Patrick asked the crowd. A slight murmur waved over the people as his words began to sink in. “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
Theo pushed a plate in my direction without saying a word. I barely looked up, grabbing my napkin and placing it in my lap. I was so hungry—starving actually. The delicious smells of the food wafting from the kitchen of the small dining tavern made my mouth water in anticipation.
“You’re really quiet tonight,” Theo said.
I took a tentative bite of the roast beef, chewing slowly as I thought.
“Are you questioning whether to get involved or not?” Theo asked, raising a brow at me.
I eyed him for a moment. “Maybe.”
He laughed, taking a bite of his own meal. We had decided to eat before going to our rented hotel rooms for the night. It had been two days since Patrick’s speech in New Church, and I had not stopped thinking about the final pieces of his speech since. Apparently, I hadn’t been as well at hiding my thoughts as I had believed.
“It’s alright to want to help,” Theo said. “It’s not the end of the world if you change your mind.”
“I don’t want to fight in a war,” I said, waving my hand toward him. “I’ve done enough fighting at sea, especially lately.”
Theo shook his head. “You don’t have to use weapons or be on the front line to fight the war, Morganne,” he said.
His voice was quiet, low and soft. Though many of the people were in support of a war, there were still those who strictly opposed it. The Loyalists, they were called.
I wasn’t yet sure which side I was on yet.
“You can go home,” Theo said filling the silence that had fallen between us.
I considered his offer. Did I want to go home? Did I want to ignore what I knew was coming for the colonies? If the colonies were about to be bathed in war, I didn’t want to be alone. Besides, I would be in as much danger at home as I would here.
“Maybe,” I said hesitantly. “Maybe I just want to stay with you.”
Theo paused mid-bite, eying me over the top of his fork.
“With me?” he asked. “I thought you were through with me after the incident in the Gulf.”
“I thought so too,” I said with a meek smile. “Turns out, I can’t live without you.”
Theo grinned, putting his fork down. “Funny,” he started. “I can’t very well live without you either.”
A swell of joy filled my heart. I couldn’t contain my grin. After all of this time that we had been apart, it took incredible circumstances to make us realize that we couldn’t be away from one another.
Or maybe it wasn’t the circumstances.
Maybe we already knew deep down that we were meant to be together. Maybe the circumstances just intensified our longing.
Theo reached across the table, grabbing my hand gently. “Come with me to Lexington,” he said.
“What’s in Lexington?” I asked.
“Hopefully, the start of freedom,” Theo said.
The confidence in his tone exhilarated me.
Theo wanted freedom. He wanted liberty. He wanted it for me and himself and the rest of the colonies. I couldn’t help but be excited with him. His passion was contagious.
As he went into a long speech about what freedom would mean to the colonists, I listened intently. Though Patrick had made many of the same points only a few days ago from a formal stand, coming from Theo’s mouth, the facts made more sense. The revolution made more sense.
For a moment, I could picture a world where we weren’t forced to pay incredible taxes—where we weren’t under the thumb of a legislation that didn’t even know what the colonies looked like.
A sense of patriotism washed over me in that moment, and chills covered my arms. Was I really going to do this?
“Alright,” I said, interrupting Theo’s speech. “I’m coming with you.”
Chapter
Thirty-One
April 6—a full ten days later—we arrived in Lexington. Theo and I had spent our time familiarizing ourselves with Lexington and planning whether or not to travel on to Boston. Many of the other patriot leaders had gone to Boston or back to Williamsburg, and now we stood in the balance wondering what to do next.
Theo had left me in a small bed and breakfast room while he went to meet with a group of revolutionaries. Being a woman, I wasn’t permitted to join this particular meeting, regardless of me being the one who had found the treasure.
I wasn’t angry about not being included. It gave me time to think.
My eyes glanced over the letter from Patrick Henry again. He had retrieved the treasure from us, which we had carefully hidden away while we traveled. After his speech, Patrick had told me of his plans to travel back and stay in Williamsburg because of rumors of unrest growing in the area. His words of uncertainty left a sour taste in my mouth and chills on my body. And with his most recent letter in my hands, I realized just how bad things had gotten. My town was a part of this revolution whether I wanted to be or not. I knew in that moment that I had made the right choice to stay with Theo.
I glanced at the door, dark with only the shadows of my oil lamp flickering across the wood. My knee bounced nervously as I waited for Theo to come back with news. The treasure was now out of my hands, and I worried about what might come next.
The curse had not harmed anyone else after the incident with Grady. Because I was the one who handed Patrick the treasure, the curse was broken. I had used my treasure as I saw fit. I had taken care of my people just as my grandmother had told me to do when the time came.
Sucking in a breath, I stood to my feet anxiously. My skirts swirled around my feet and ankles as I started to pace the wooden floor. Nerves controlled me, awakening my power. I sighed for what felt like the twentieth time in just a few minutes. It was taking too long.
The knob to the small inn room began to rattle as someone inserted a key. I plopped down in the chair near the bed, trying not to bounce my knee and seem overly anxious. Picking up the book I had haphazardly discarded on the side table, I pretended to be deeply engrossed in the reading.
I was lying. If Theo knew me well enough, he would know it too.
“Morganne,” Theo said excitedly as he slipped into the room. His shadow covered the lanterns glowing in the hallway outside, and for a moment, I could only make out his silhouette. “You’re not going to believe the meeting we just had.”
I stood up, anticipating his discussion. Crossing the room, he swept me into his arms, squeezing me in a tight embrace.
He took my breath away.
“What happened?” I asked as Theo set my feet back on the solid ground.
Theo plopped down on the edge of the bed, loosening the collar around his neck. He looked too stiff in colonial clothing instead of the loose garments he typically wore on a ship. His new look was growing on me, though, and I found it rather attractive.
