The Untold Story of Mary Seymour

Chapter 6

There was so much chaos happening that I didn't know what to focus on. I saw Sam standing down the street, watching as well. That was when I realized there was nothing for us to do, we couldn't do anything. We caused this mess, without even thinking about it, and from Sam's expression he knew it too.

I quickly turned around and made my way back to Paul's shop. When I got there, I started to pace. Hutchinson was going to come after us next, the leaders of this market. I never thought I would begin to panic, but I could feel the fear taking over. My body became cold, and started to shake. There was no way that any of us could come back from this.

I jumped when the door was swung open, but it was only Sam and Paul. Sam looked concerned, but angry as well. Paul just looked like he was lost in thought. The next person to walk in was my brother. John made eye contact with me, but he said nothing.

Sam slammed a fist on the table, startling all of us. "This is all our faults. We screwed up."

"There was no way we could predict that one of our own would rat us out to Hutchinson. There were so many other ways for this to happen, Sam," Paul said calmly.

"That's not the point, Paul. We need to fix this now. We need to fight back," Sam said through gritted teeth.

"No, what we need to do right now is think this through. Calmly," John suggested. "Sam, you are running on anger, and that won't help this situation at all. It will make things worse. I think we should wait a few weeks for things to die down. Then we pick up right where we left off."

"There is no where to pick up from, Hancock. All our sellers got arrested just now. In case you forgot. And our buyers will be too scared to even think about doing this again if we pick it up again in a few weeks," Sam yelled.

"I am aware of all of that, but we can find more," my brother made his point.

"Are you blind John? There is no finding more. There is no going back, because we have no one left to trust us. We promised these people protection, and a job. One slight mishap and it is all gone. Just like that! What we need to do now is make a plan!" Sam spoke, so sure of himself.

"What kind of plan?" I said above a whisper, but he still heard me.

Sam's eye reflected all the anger he was feeling, but he was finally realizing that I was in the room. "We need to boycott all the stores that are loyal to the crown. We will make people stop buying from them, and then they will we buy from us. We build the market up after that, but we need more support."

"Boycotting will only cause more problems with Hutchinson. He will never back down, Sam, if we don't give him a reason to. Think about it before you do something reckless. Now I need to leave before they see us all together. Mary, are you coming with me?" John looked at me as he put on his coat once more.

I looked at Sam, and nodded. "Go, Mary. Your brother is right. If they come for me, and see us all together, they will know that you're involved too. I am sorry for putting you into danger."

John opened to door for me. I looked at Sam before I left, and said, "None of this is your fault."

I could tell Sam didn't believe me, but I walked out before he could respond. On the way back home, John did not say a word to me. "Are you mad?"

"Yes Mary I am. I wake up to find you gone, with no note saying where you went. I've been looking for you all morning. Then I come into Sam's district and there is so much chaos. People being arrested, and I begin to worry that you have been caught. I am your brother and I swore to protect you when you first arrived. I should have never let you become involved with this," John sounded so defeated.