Divided We Fall

Chapter 1: A Short Homecoming

Chapter 1: A Short Homecoming  

    “Abigail Davids! You get down from there this instance!” “But Mother, I want to see what the colonist do when the British troops get off the ship!” “Well climbing a tree is not an acceptable thing for a young lady to do!” My mother says as she wipes her hands on her apron. “Fine.” I mutter as I jump down, “I never get to have any fun!” I huff up the steps to our house. “Oh and Abigail be a dear and put your new dress on.”  “Mother really why can’t I just wear this.” “Young ladies do not wear their brother’s breeches and shirts.” my mother reprimands as she disappears into the kitchen. I groan as I walk up the stairs and turn the corner to my room. I see my mother has laid out my new dress on my bed. It’s purple with a green design swirling around it since Mother says it makes my green eyes look ‘stunning’. When I pull the dress over my head I’m careful not to let my blonde ringlets catch on the buttons. When I was younger it happened all the time and I would have to scream until my mother came and carefully untangled them. I glance at myself in the mirror. The dress fits my long lean body and my eyes really do look nice. I walk out of the hallway and run into Thomas my youngest brother. "George is chasing me! He's the cowboy and he chasing me the fearless Indian!" Thomas yells in my face. George comes flying around the corner and collides with me and Thomas. We all fall to the ground in a heap. The twins wiggle around in my arms trying to break free. The boys suddenly stop laughing and I look up to see the face of my second oldest brother Matthew scowling down at me. "Abigail, won't Mother be mad that you're playing in your new dress?" "Yes Matthew. What are you reading?" I say as I brush my dress off and stand up. "It's a pamphlet about England and it's rule. It discusses the political relationships and..." "Why read about stuff when you can watch it happen?" "Always a pleasure to see you Andrew." Matthew says with a bit of hostility that I only seem to notice since George and Thomas run over and embrace Andrew's legs. "So Andrew if you’re here that means dad home right?" I ask hopefully. It’s been almost 8 months since Andrew and father left to England. Andrew and I had never been very close, but my father and I were a different story. Since I’m his only daughter he treats me like his princess. I couldn’t wait to be alone with him, so we can laugh and talk just like we used to. "Yes he's downstairs." Andrew says as he tries to untangle the twins. As we walk down the stairs I look at my four brothers. We're all different but we are family and nothing can change that.

"We're just going to have to keep a look out for... Hello children." My father looks over at us. “How were your travels Father?” I ask politely. “They were delightful my dear Abigail. Matthew how are your studies?” My father glances at my brother. “Excellent, Father. They really…” Matthew is interrupted by a knock on our door. “General Davids, I carry a dispatch from General Gage demanding your and Captain Davids’s presence immediately.” a soldier informs my father when he opens the door. Andrew and father put on their bright red coats and grab their rifles. My father looks at us and ensures he’ll be back soon. As he walks out the door my mother tries to distract and tells us she needs more bread. She hands Matthew some pounds and we gather our coats and gloves and are about to head out when my mother looks at me, “Abigail, are you forgetting something?” I turn around to see her holding my bonnet and groan as she ties under my chin.

I realize how much I love Boston as I walk through the streets escorted by my brother. The bustle of people moving in and out the shop amazes me. Everywhere you look there is something happening, something being sold, or someone talking. Matthew leads me over to a wooden stage of some sorts. “Matthew where are we? The bread store is farther down this way.” “I know. Please just be quiet and watch. We’ll only be here for a few minutes.” Matthew whispers as a man takes the stage. “We protest the high tariff of tea by giving England a tea party and they punish us with these laws! With these Intolerable Acts!” I quickly learn these are the men who dumped tea off a ship into the harbor. How could Matthew, my soft spoken brother, have anything to do with these men. “This is the last straw! We can’t stand for this anymore! Now is the time to stand up and fight! Let’s destroy these lobsterbacks! I’m through with these redcoats!” The man on stage yells and the crowd burst into clapping and hollering.

All of sudden a sea of red surrounded the crowd. I felt myself being separated from Matthew. Some of the angry men started punching and kicking the soldiers. Everywhere I looked there was chaos, but Matthew was nowhere to be seen. I run into a soldier and fell to the ground. I looked up to see his fist about to come down on me. I scream in terror and he stops. “I’m sorry Ma'am. I didn’t mean… Abigail?” I look up into the bright blue eyes of John Gage. “John? I mean Captain Gage it’s been awhile.” The sound of someone punching a man’s jaw right next to us breaks our glance. “It’s not safe here. Come on,” John says as he leads me away from the crowd. He runs over to his horse and hoist me up onto it. I wrap my arms around him as soon as he jumps up on to the horse. I pull him close, enjoying the scent of his freshly pressed jacket. I remember the last time I saw him, he was wearing his red coat. He was headed to England with my father, Andrew, and his father General Gage. I can still feel him squeezing my hand and telling me that he wouldn’t forget me. It felt like he was going to say more, but his father called him over to board the ship.

The horse stops suddenly and I recognize the Gage’s house. John helps me down and we walk up the steps to the house. We both skip over the wobbly step in sync and laugh. This used to be the house I played in and went over to dinners every Saturday. The friendship between our families had existed since our fathers served under the same captain. Walking through the doorway I saw nothing changed. “It’s good that some things stayed the same. A lot’s happened since you left to visit the King. The New World used to be full of promise, but now there’s just a bunch of rage.” I say sadly. John looks at me sympathetically, “Things will change soon. Eventually the rebels will release that they can’t fight the crown of Britain.” “John who are you with?” the voice of General Gage comes from the study. “Why don’t you come and see father?” John said grinning. As the general walked around the corner a smile lit up his face, “Abigail, it’s been so long! How are you doing darling?” “I’m doing fine and how are you General Gage?” I say as proper as I can. He laughs and says, “I see you’re mother has been trying to make a lady out of you. But you know the rules. In this house you can’t be who ever you want! In fact why don’t you stay for dinner?” “That would lovely… I mean yeah.” He smiles and writes out a note to send to my mother. “General, will my father and brother be joining us?” “No they’ve been sent down to Concord to deal with a little problem nothing serious.” General Gage says as he hands the note to a messenger, “Why don’t you two head outside and chat until dinner is ready.”