The Traitor's Stain (wattys 2019)

Chapter Thirteen: Setauket, Long Island

Ophelia was cleaning the store up when Isaac came in, a list in hand.

"Good afternoon, Isaac," she said with a nod, putting her broom up against the wall. "What can I get for you? More salted meat, perhaps?"

"No, miss," Isaac said. "Just a few odds and ends, before we ship out." He handed her the list. "Do you have these things?"

Ophelia looked at the list. Bandages, starch, tread, needles...

"I should have most of this," Ophelia said, looking back up at him. "Mind if I ask when you're leaving?"

"The end of the week," Isaac said. "Why?"

"Just in case I have to order some of this stuff from someone else," Ophelia said as she wrote everything down in her ledger. The secret ledger, where she kept the purchases made by soldiers. She closed the ledger once she was done and looked back up. "I think I have everything, though. Do you mind helping me find it all? Beth's out at the butcher's shop."

"Of course."

Ophelia went over to the side, where she kept the sewing supplies. One week. She - Ben, Caleb, and everyone else in the network, as well - had just a week to do... something. Anything about the troops moving from Setauket to wherever they were going.

She looked up and out the window...

And frowned, squinting. Caleb?

Sure enough, standing on the other side of the street was Caleb, hiding in an alleyway.

He gave her a friendly wave, as if he were just greeting a neighbor and not a spy/smuggler/whaler who was told he'd face the hangman if he ever stepped foot in Setauket ever again, greeting another spy who was working with America and Britain at the same time and praying that the latter wouldn't get wise to it.

"I found the bandages, but I'm not sure where the rest of this is," Isaac said.

Ophelia didn't respond: she was still staring out at Caleb, trying to decide whether he was an idiot, insane, or both for coming into town so brazenly.

"Miss?" He asked. "Miss, are you okay?"

She turned to look at him, blushing. "I'm fine. Just fine. Don't worry. When have I not been fine?"
He frowned.

She held up the thread, needles, and starch. "I found this. You said you found the bandages, right? What does that leave on that list?"

"Well, that's the last one I think you can help me with," Isaac said. "Do you have gunpowder, by any chance?"

"No," Ophelia said. "No: I'm afraid I haven't had any gun powder for a long time."

They aren't just moving somewhere: they're attacking!

I've got to get to Caleb!

"How much for this?" Isaac asked.

"Ten pounds," Ophelia said.

He pulled the money out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Thank you," Ophelia said. "Do you need any help?"

"Don't worry; I can manage," Isaac said. He tipped his hat to her. "Good day, miss."

He walked out of the store.

Ophelia waited one second. Two. Three. Then, she rushed over to the window to see if Caleb was still there.

He wasn't: he'd disappeared, like a thief in the night.

She frowned. Where in the world did he go-

"You aren't holding a rolling pin this time, are you?" Someone asked from behind her, making her heart just about leap out of her chest. "Because that hurt like hell."

Ophelia sighed and put a hand to her chest as she turned around. Sure enough, Caleb was standing right there, that stupid, toothy grin on his face.

"Damn you, Brewster," she said as she smacked him on the arm, making him chuckle. "You just about scared me to death!"

"Oh, come now," Caleb said. "It wasn't that close: to me it just looked like a slight heart-attack."

"Well, what do you want?" Ophelia asked. "You're going to get me in trouble, being here!"

"With that lobster that just walked out?" Caleb asked. "Don't worry about it: I bet I could take 'em if it came down to it."

Ophelia crossed her arms in front of her, unamused.

"Alright, alright," Caleb said. "Geez: between you, Anna, and Selah, it's a miracle nobody in this town has died from a lack of humor!" He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Ben's getting things ready, but he needs more. Specifically, he needs someone willing to row out in the Sound. And I, personally, need someone willing to man the thing with me."

Ophelia frowned. "What thing?"

"That's top secret," Caleb said as-a-matter-of-fact. "Suffice it to say, it's pretty cool. At least, it will be, once that bastard Hamilton gets out of my hair: and people think I'm obnoxious."

"Well, tell Ben that he has just under a week to find people to do... whatever it is you're doing," Ophelia said. "They're moving out at the end of the week. And... I think they're going to attack somewhere."

Caleb frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"They need gunpowder," Ophelia said. "And before you make some smart remark about armies tending to need that, I find it rather convenient that they need it now, just before they take troops out of here."

"Ah, 'Phelia: you know me so well," Caleb said. "I'll be sure to report it. Don't suppose you'd be interested in operating a row boat later on this week, now, would ya? Maybe you can convince your British friends that you're going across the river to get supplies or some other bullshit excuse."

"Maybe," Ophelia said. "When are you planning this... thing?"

"You know, that would be a great question for Ben," Caleb said. "Apparently, I'm not need-to-know."
"Are you not need-to-know, or did you forget?"

"... probably the second one," Caleb said. "Don't matter. Are you in or are you out?"

Ophelia didn't respond for a second. Did she really want to get that involved? She couldn't even seem to deal with her current role. Could she really get more involved than she already was without losing her head.

"I'm in," Ophelia said mechanically, like an automaton. "Just get the details and get out of my store: the last thing I need is for someone to see you here."

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Hello, one and all! Long time, no see. I wasn't planning on that, but midterms and getting "The Assassin's Blade" ready for publishing took over my life. But, I'm back, now, and I have a lot of exciting news for everybody.

First off, "The Traitor's Stain" has been breaking hotlist records right and left, namely in Alternate History. At the time of writing this, we're at the 12 spot on the list, which is really exciting. With all the exciting things that have been happening, and as an apology for not posting in forever, I'm just going to keep posting today until you either get completely caught up on what I've got written or it gets time for me to go to bed. Whichever one comes first. 

I'll be doing the dedication on the last chapter I post today, so stay tuned: there's more excitement coming your way, tonight :D