The Traitor's Stain (wattys 2019)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Setauket, Long Island

Ophelia tried to go about her life as normally as she could, but with Otetiani around, it was nearly impossible. She was beyond paranoid, which was something she'd be over, by then. Every move she made, she wondered if he'd seen it. She never actually saw him around when she did things for Ben and his network of spies, but there was always that suspicion that he was somewhere in the shadows. Watching. Waiting for the prime opportunity to strike. Mealtimes were the worst. They'd been awkward with Private Connors, as well, but they were a... different sort of awkward. She always thought that Private Connors wanted to talk with her, but he was never quite able to get the words out, it seemed. It was obvious to Otetiani didn't want to say a word. Even Constance, who always seemed to blindly trust everyone around her, seemed weary of him: when he was around, she grew quiet, and wouldn't become her talkative self again until after he'd left.

"Where's Private Connors?" Constance asked a few days after Otetiani had arrived. "Why did he get replaced by that Indian? Did Private Connors do something wrong? Did we?"

"I don't know," Ophelia responded to each of those questions. "This isn't normally a punishment: the Indian just needed a place to stay, and Colonel Erikson thought that our house would be the best place for him. That's all, I'm certain of it."

The certainty was, of course, a blatant lie, but she couldn't let her see that. Like most children, Constance fed off of the energy of the people around her, especially Ophelia: if she saw that her mother was scared, she would be absolutely terrified.

"I don't like him," Constance ended that conversation. "I want Private Connors back: I bet there's a better house for him to stay in."

I do, too, Ophelia thought to herself after that. But, that would just end up being one of the many sentiments she kept to herself: she had to pretend that she was as neutral as Noah wanted her to be.

Thinking of him was the only thing that kept her sane, those days. The only thing that kept her from completely coming apart at the seams with anxiety at her current situation. She had to be strong, work hard for Ben's network: if she did, the war would end sooner, and Noah would get to come home, soon. At that point, that was all she wanted: she wanted all of the fighting and the fear that came with it to end, so she could go back to her old, boring life.

Sometimes, it felt like it would never end. Like that war would just go on and on for years, and that Constance's generation would have to finish what Ophelia's generation had started.

Ophelia tried to not spend a lot of time wherever Otetiani was. Of course, that was hard, since he lived where she worked. Whenever she could, she tried to get away from the store: she did laundry, made deliveries to a few loyal customers, took walks around town. Most of the time, she ended up at the Strong house, especially at lunch time. They were a comforting presence: both of them were involved in Ben's group, and they knew about Otetiani, what he might be there to do.

"Do you think he knows what we've been doing?" Anna asked about a week into Otetiani's living in Ophelia's house.

Ophelia sighed. "I don't know, Anna. I really don't know." She looked to Selah. "Abraham and Caleb went to New York, didn't they? What did they find out?"

She didn't like the look on Selah's face. He knew something, and he didn't want to say it.

"He knows, doesn't he?" Anna asked.

"They still don't know," Selah said. "They talked to some of our people, and one of them knew who he was." He leaned forward. "You ever heard of the Connecticut Wolf, Ophelia?"

She had. In fact, she was confident that most people in Setauket had heard of him, especially the Patriots. "He's the one who kills soldiers in the woods, right?"