The Price of Love

Chapter 11

Alex's PoV

I stare across the Hudson River, watching the small specks that are people milling around upriver. We arrived across the river from Albany just a few hours ago, and we've stopped to rest the horses. I rub my chin thoughtfully, my eyes narrowing. We'll have to ford the river ourselves, and our horses can thankfully come as well. We should cross soon. But is that really the best course of action? Logically, no. I'd be best to cross at night so we can establish a camp without the enemy finding out nearly as quickly. Crossing now might result in us losing our advantage, that being surprise. Wait until nightfall. Cross then. I nod slowly. I squint up at the sun. Dusk will fall in nearly three quarters of an hour. We'll cross the river in an hour and a half. I jump nearly a foot in the air when I feel someone's arms wrap around me from behind. I automatically raise my fist, but let it drop to my side when I see it's just John. "You're jumpy." He remarks.

"You caught me in the middle of thinking." I say, faintly annoyed, tilting my head back against his chest to look up at him. "We'll be crossing the Hudson in an hour and a half, once night falls." He brushes his lips across my cheek.

"You're amazing, you know that?" He says softly. "We're going to win the war because of you. I can feel it." I feel a small spark of happiness that he used 'we're' and not 'you're'. Like he really is one of us, which he is. He's an American soldier by his own choice, just like the rest of my men. I stand on my toes and plant a kiss to his lips, smiling happily. He ruffles my hair slightly with a small chuckle. "I love you."

"And I, you. God, promise me you'll never die." I mutter, a cloud of fear passing over me. "I'll keep you safe." I promise, stretching up again to kiss his nose.

"I won't die, darling. I promise I won't." He says, rubbing his thumb over my cheek. I feel my cheeks heat slightly at the pet name. "I won't die if you don't."

"It takes a lot to kill me." I chuckle. "I won't be dead for a long time, I hope. You never know in war." Suddenly solemn, I sit in the grass, my legs crossed and staring broodingly out at the water. "But what'll it take?" I say softly to myself. "How many men will have to die to win our freedom?" It's a question that plagues me every second of every day. And the answer always looks grim. John sits beside me, close enough to be close, but not enough to make any of the soldiers suspicious if they see us. I'm itching to cross the river. Itching to fight. But I have to wait a long time more for that. I sigh, a strand of my hair fluttering in front of my face. I'm bored. I've thought of nothing but battle plans for the past two or so days. I need something else to do. But I don't have anything else to do right now. But we don't move out for an hour and a half. So I must drown in boredom for an hour and a half. Just great.

---

It's finally time to cross. I hold onto my stallion's reins and wade into the cold, dark water. The Hudson is four feet deep at most, resulting in just my head staying above the water if I stand on my toes as I walk across the bottom of it. I walk across carefully, wary of slipping. My horse splashes water all over my head and I have to reach out and snatch my hat out of the water before it floats away about halfway across. I hold it between my teeth as I traverse across the rest of the river. After about five more minutes, I scramble onto dry, firm land. I sigh in relief and turn to watch my men follow me. They're all taller than me, so it's easier for them. Within half an hour, everyone's come to shore. Remaining absolutely silent, I lead them deeper into the trees that surround the river banks. Besides a few soft sounds from the horses, we make zero noise. We travel a mile into the woods before we stop to rest the horses and set up a camp. I clap my soaking hat on my soaking head and unpack the tent from my horse. "We set up camp here." I say in a low voice to the soldiers near me. "I need a squad or three to patrol the area and make sure it's safe, then stand guard." I order. I start setting up the tent, driving the pegs deep into the soft earth. I tie my horse to a nearby tree, patting his flank. He knickers softly and nuzzles me. I smile and take the packs off of him, retreating into my tent with them. I take a swig of water from my canteen, checking the water level. It's about two thirds empty. I can refill it in a little bit. I lay down on my back on the grass inside my tent, staring off into space. There's no way that it's logical or tactical to attack soon, we need to wait a few days. We don't know how many British there are, where the concentration of them is highest, nothing. I'll send some men down to scout around and report back in an hour. I push my hat over my head, blocking out all light filtering in and throwing myself into a comforting darkness. Should I myself go into town? I wonder. We all have a change of clothes, civilian clothes, but would I be recognizable? I haven't gone to Albany in a few years. As long as I'm careful, I should be fine. And I wish to scout out Albany myself. The only real problem I can foresee is not putting up a convincing act, or the slim chance that a Redcoat recognizes me. I've killed almost every single one I've been in battle with, so the odds are slim. I think I can pretty safely do it. But right now, it might be a smart idea to sleep. Even though I don't really need it. I push my hat off my head and pull off my dirty blue jacket. I pull it over my body, using it as a blanket. I roll back onto my back and close my eyes. I hear someone else, presumably John, enter the tent.

"Going to sleep?" He asks humorously. I open my eyes and glare playfully at him.

"Trying to." I respond. "I probably won't be able to sleep, but I know I need to try. For a few hours at least, until I take a turn on watch duty." He lays down across from me, cringing slightly at the dirt. I smile at him and he reaches over to me and caresses my cheek.

"Go to sleep, dearest." He whispers. "You need it."

"I'll try. But only for you, dear Hawkins." I take his hand off my face and kiss it. "You need sleep too." I say gently. "More than me." I let go of his hand. "Goodnight John."

"Goodnight Alexander." I close my eyes and try very hard to snag a few hours of sleep.

John's PoV

I feel so bad for lying to him. About who I am. He doesn't deserve that. My stomach is tied in knots of anxiety. I've been gone for three days now, my dad will be flipping out. He's probably pronounced me dead by now. And blamed it on New York. I wince at that. Alex's soldiers would never kill a non-soldier, I've come to realize that very quickly. They wouldn't even arrest someone from South Carolina unless they found out any military plans. I watch him as he seemingly sleeps. But I can tell he's awake by how his eyelids flicker and his hands and mouth twitch. At least he's trying to sleep though. He rolls over onto his side, facing away from me. I watch him for a while longer as he tries to sleep, until I myself succumb to the blissful darkness.

---

I wake up hours later to the sound of faint rustling. "Alex..? Is that you...?" I yawn.

"Go back to sleep John, I'm just taking my shift on watch duty. I'll be back sometime after dawn." He murmurs, his silhouette hanging over me. I feel his lips press warmly against my cheek for a few seconds, then he's gone. I roll over and close my eyes. If I know him, I doubt he got any sleep. I hear a pair of voices conversing softly outside the tent, recognizing one as the distinctive voice of Alex. I've figured out that it's not really just a Manhattan accent, but it has an undercurrent of what I know to be a Brooklyn accent. He talks fast, and he'll drop some r's and his t's are normally more pronounced. I find it fascinating, I haven't heard anyone with an accent like his yet. South Carolina accents are all the same. But New York accents are all different. My life's changed so much in the past three months. In just that short period of time, my whole perception of the word around me has changed, for the better. Thinking over this, I quickly fall back asleep.