Sirens | An AMC'S Turn: Washington's Spies Fan Fiction

Two

Summer 1770

Liza and Anna stood on the porch of Whitehall, watching as the boys chased one another back and forth across the lawn. Caleb tackled Abe and Ben leaped onto his back, sending the three of them toppling down into the grass. When Abe crawled over and rested at Anna's feet, she gently nudged him. Liza smiled at the pair of them, but stopped when she realized Ben was staring directly at her, his eyes fixated on hers with an element of wonderment behind them. Liza could feel a blush begin to creep up her cheeks and prayed that he couldn't see from where he was still wrestling with Caleb.

Later that evening, when the five of them were ankle-deep in the water behind the Tallmadges' home, Anna put an arm out to stop Liza from swimming farther out with the boys, who were oblivious to the girls as they were comparing the size of their trousers at the moment of the water's impact.

"Are you okay, Lizzie? You're awfully quiet, even for you," her friend queried. Liza sometimes hated the fact that no matter how hard she tried to hide her emotions, Anna Strong could always see behind the facade.

"Of course! Why?"

Anna gave Liza a knowing look. "I saw you and Ben earlier. Don't pretend that was nothing."

Liza thought for a moment, counting the number of ripples that flowed from where her skirts billowed out around her.

"You know I have feelings for-"

Liza's friend nodded in earnest. "For Selah, I understand. But you know I am betrothed to him. Sometimes, Lizzie, love is terribly inconvenient. No one knows that better than I," Anna whispered. The raven-haired girl turned her head to watch as the boys dived in and out of the water, her eyes trained on Abe as he laughed at something Caleb had said. "Ben has always been sweet on you, even if your attention was elsewhere. Give him a chance, Lizzie girl." Anna embraced Liza before kissing her cheek and sending her off towards their friends. Liza, despite all her effort not to, returned again and again that night to Anna's words. She examined Ben as he laid on his back, allowing the current to push him farther out to sea. His hair floated around him like a halo, and Liza caught herself smiling. She loved Selah, but Anna was right. Sometimes love was terribly inconvenient indeed.

-

1776

Liza dreaded Whitehall dinners ever since she was a girl. Her uncle always made it a point to criticize her father for his Patriot sympathies or question James' decision to study medicine rather than the law. Such dinners would usually result in her and Abe escaping out of the servants' quarters and running down to the water's edge. Tonight was no different, although the two of them did not have to convince Aberdeen to fetch their cloaks on their way out of Whitehall. They simply walked out the front door, telling their fathers that they wished to catch up.

Liza fell into step with her cousin, who she could tell was troubled by an invisible weight. Stopping at the water, Abe placed a hand to his forehead, rubbing at the knife cut he received from the Continentals who had attacked him a day prior.

The silence between the two of them made Liza wish more than anything that the men in her life would be candid with her. She read the silence much better than they believed she could, and she knew her cousin was in trouble. The way his eyes darted from tree to tree told her more than any words he could say aloud.

"Cousin, speak true. What is the matter?"

Abe let out a sigh and dipped the toe of his shoe into the water. "I saw Caleb and Ben two days ago."

Liza froze. "What do you mean you saw them?"

"I traded my cabbage with Caleb for a bolt of silk and twelve pounds, across the Sound. Ben was the one who got me out when the Continentals captured me for selling on the black market. Lizzie, Ben asked me for something in return...I'm so conflicted," Abe confessed, grabbing Liza's hands in his own. He placed his forehead against hers, as they did when they were children. It was Liza's turn to let out a sigh before separating from her cousin.