Against the Stars

Chapter 46

Ginny found herself in a restless sleep that night. NO matter how much she tried her mind would not let Ben go. She kept imagining him out on the battlefield standing on top of a hill beating a drum. Then out of nowhere, a musket ball would come and tear through his chest.

She could see him falling to the ground, blood spilling out of the wound. He would lay there helplessly slowly bleeding till he was no more. That image haunted Ginny. The image replayed time after time as Ginny tried to fall asleep.

Eventually though, Ginny fell asleep simply because her body could no longer stay awake. She doze into a restless nightmare filled sleep.

That night, she dreamt that she was on a battlefield. A battle had not ended long ago and smoke hung in the air. Ginny wandered through the red, blood stained

That night, she dreamt that she was on a battlefield. A battle had not ended long ago and smoke hung in the air. Ginny wandered through the red, blood stained grass. Puddles of the thick red blood that had not been soaked up by the grass nearly caused her to slip.

A patch of yellow caught Ginny's attention. She stepped carefully over a few bodies to she arrived at the owner of the blonde hair.

The other was a short, don't boy. His gun law at his side, freshly polished and unused. A musket ball was shoved halfway into the gun, and the powder horn last on its side, is contents spilled on the

ground.

The boy’s uniform was torn and too large for him. His bag hung over his body and his water jug had tipped over.

His blonde hair was slightly stained with blood, from a puddle he was laying in. Ginny peeled back his turn jacket to reveal a large gun wound in his chest.

The bleeding had stopped and a large spot of dried blood surrounded the wound. Since the bleeding had stopped, Ginny had a feeling the boy was dead, or he soon would be.

Suddenly, Ginny felt a hand grasp hers. She looked down to see the dying boy pull her hand away from the wound. The boy’s eyes fluttered opened gently. They were bright blue. Ginny knew the boy.

Ben.

“Oh Ben,” Ginny moaned, but Ben shook his head. He brought her hand to his lips, kissed them gently. “I love you Ginny,” he muttered softly. Then his eyes closed and he took his final breaths.

Ginny woke up crying the next morning. Her body was racked with chills and image of her nightmare would not leave her mind. Ben could not go to war. She could not bear to see him dead.

Ginny lay in bed for a moment, her heart pounding. She needed to do something to stop Ben from going to war. She couldn’t let him die.

Ginny flung herself out of bed.  She had to leave now. She couldn’t bear waiting any longer. She needed to talk to Ben. She got dressed with haste and then tore down the stairs.

Ginny slipped out the door before anyone saw her. She didn’t need anyone slowing her down. In her haste, she had forgotten her cloak, but that didn’t matter.

Ginny dashed through the crowded streets best she could. Today though, it seemed surprisingly crowded. She didn’t care; she was determined to reach Ben.

A large crowd had gathered in front of The Black Horse Brewery, the local tavern. It seemed some people were being thrown out from last night. Two of them looked horrible, all red in the face.

Ginny pushed her way to the front of the crowd trying to see what was happening. Apparently those two hot heads thought it would be a good idea to fight.

They had their fists up and were all ready to go. Suddenly, one of them yelled, “For England!” ran and landed a solid uppercut to the other man’s face. It was an exchange of punches for there.

They fought for a moment then the other one screamed, “For the colonies! and punched the other man square in the stomach.

The second man came thudding to the ground, landing right in front of Ginny’s feet. He glanced around, looking for options. When he saw Ginny, a sly smile appeared on her face

The man reached over and grabbed Ginny’s ankle. Ginny cried out as the man used her ankle for support and pulled himself up. Next second his hand was around Ginny’s throat. The crowd let out a large gasp. Some people moved to help her, but the dueling men sent them backwards. 

Ginny soon found herself being shoved into the middle of the circle. “Hit me, the girl gets it,” the man holding Ginny said. His words came out slurred and were barely understandable.

The other man did not seem at all fazed by Ginny. He charged still, only this time, his blow hit Ginny. She nearly fell as she took the punch to the cheek. The crowd gasped, and tried to help, but once again they were shoved back.

The hold around Ginny’s neck tightened and she had to gasp to breath. She felt light headed and she knew she would pass out soon.

Then, a voice rang through the air, “Let her go!” everyone seemed taken aback by it. People glanced around trying to find the source of the voice.

Ginny already knew the voice.

Lottie, whose baby was coming any day, shoved her way through the crowd. “That’s my sister you idiot!” Lottie cried, storming towards the man.

Ginny felt the hand released from her neck. She gasped trying to breathe again. Lottie pulled her into a hug. The crowd sighed in relief, and then dispersed, leaving Lottie alone with Ginny.

“Oh Virginia, are you all right?” Lottie coed. For once, Ginny didn’t mind being called Virginia.

“I’m all right Charlotte, I’m all right.”