CHAPTER 29

“Are you still refusing to talk to me?” I huffed out. Henry, stubborn as a mule, had not said a word to me since the night before and all throughout the morning. I contemplated returning the silent treatment to him, but I thought he would be more annoyed if I talked to him. To be fair, I was the one that kept information from him, but I didn’t think it was as critical as he made it out. “I told you that a war was coming. I told you that Jumonville had my notebook.” Excuses, Murray. That’s all you’re giving. Excuses.

He grumbled. “You held back so much information from me. I took care of you for the past two weeks. You just met Tanaghrisson, you informed him of critical events. You trusted someone you had only met before you trusted me.”

“He already knew about me. You told me yourself, and you failed to mention that you were to take me to him. He can help me get back the notebook.”

“Not only that,” he continued, making no response to what I said. “You easily gave Tamhas away. You didn’t know that woman and you just handed him over, like he meant nothing to you.”

“Tamhas didn’t know us, either. He wasn’t mine or yours to begin with.” I could feel my face flush with anger. My neck burned hot as the fire spread throughout my body. “I’m not equipped to take care of an infant. Are you? If we meet up with Washington. If we find out where Jumonville and Bouchard are. If we get the book back from Jumonville. That’s a lot of ifs, and none involves carting an infant into the middle of this… this… madness.” My arms flailed about. Louis huffed with agitation.

“Damn you, woman.” That stopped me and Louis in our tracks. I was taken aback. I held my breath as I waited for his next outburst. Louis jerked from Henry’s nudge and started walking. He took a deep breath. I could feel the exhale on the back of my neck. Apparently, Henry had better anger management skills than I. “What more can I do to gain your trust? What is it going to take to get you to show a bit more compassion?”

“You have it,” I said as I half-turned to look at him. “I just didn’t know how much you could handle knowing. I still don’t know why I’m here. I would have thought if the powers-that-be wanted me here, I would at least know why. All I was just supposed to do was to do some research. That was it. I didn’t ask for any of this.” Tears threatened to erupt. “As far as Tamhas is concerned, well, that was a coincidence. I took care of him until we found someone better equipped to care for an infant.”

“That is what I mean.” Henry’s voice louder and angrier than I had heard from him before. Apparently, I tested his power over his emotions. I cowered. Would he strike me? “I’m not sure if you have noticed, but you weren’t the only person taking care of Tamhas. It’s not all about you.”

That stopped my breath. My blood and frustration surged up my neck. “You’re right. It’s not all about me. If you haven’t noticed,” I said with a decided emphasizes on “you.” My frustration rose to meet Henry’s level and volume. “I am trying to save the future of the United States and get my notebook back from Jumonville, so he doesn’t kill the future President Washington. All the while, we kept getting sidetracked with side quests. Mistress Lovett’s, Tamhas, Tanaghrisson, and that little floozy at the tavern.” I rubbed my forehead. “I don’t belong here. I just want to go home. To my time. To my quiet and lonely house. To Hannah and my friends. To running water and showers. To flushable toilets and toilet paper. To cars. To electricity. To grocery stores on every damned corner. To my bed. This… this…” I flailed my arms around to emphasize everything around us. “This is stupid.”

Frustration, anger, and lack of understanding the world around me, it all crashed to a head at that moment. My face burned hot with anger. Tears pricked at my eyes and there was no way I was going to swallow it down. I cried. I wanted to cry forever.

Henry was quiet. I didn’t want him to say anything. At that point, there was nothing he could say that could make the situation better. The tears and snot flowed. I looked down at the sleeve of my dress and contemplated to use it to wipe my nose. I pulled my scarf out from around my shoulders to use that instead. Before I could remove it, Henry handed me one of Tamhas’s clean cloth diapers that had been tucked away in the bag. My face ached from the crying. I knew I was going to end up with a headache that I wouldn’t be able to get rid of without a pill or two from my medicine cabinet. Damn this place and the lack of a bottle of aspirin. My nose was raw from the blowing. I felt stupid for crying. I felt emotionally weak. The time travel and all that surrounded it took its toll on me.

Henry pulled Louis close to a stream. We were always close to one, as they were spread throughout the area. We dismounted in silence. I left him to tend to the horse. The water was cool and allowed respite for my face that was hot from tears and the midday sun. If I stayed here much longer, I would have to invent air conditioning. The multiple layers of clothing did not help keep my body temp down. I wanted to strip down, lay in the stream, and just cool down. That would have been another distraction to my mission—a distraction that I couldn’t afford.

“Feeling better?” Henry asked as I walked over to where he sat in the shade while Louis nibbled on some grass. He sat on the ground, leaned against a tree, with his eyes closed as if he was taking a nap. I joined him against the tree.

I threw a stone towards the stream. Thud. Missed. “I’m sorry for my outburst earlier. It’s all been… it’s been…”

“Overwhelming,” he finished my sentence for me.

“Yeah,” I said as I scrunched my face up to hold back the tears that threatened to make their reappearance. A deep sigh escaped. I picked up another small stone, tossed in my hand a few times and lobbed it towards the stream again. Plop.

“You know,” he began. He placed his hand on top of mine. “You are not doing this alone. We are partners in this adventure.”

“Ah, yes. If I remember correctly,” I sat up, looked at him, and gave a smile. My anxiety and tears were disappearing. “It was you that told the floozy’s dad that I was your wife. You’re stuck with me now, buddy.”

“I need to ask. You’ve used the word floozy twice to describe the barmaid, and by the tone in your voice, am I to assume that is not a compliment to her?”

I snorted out a laugh. The term might have been old-fashioned for me, but I had to assume that it wasn’t even a word used in the eighteenth century. “Harlot?”

“Ah, I see.” He looked down at my hand firmly placed in his.

“Well, she called me old, and she looked as though she wanted to eat you alive.” I had to pause for a moment. I wasn’t sure my twenty-first century colloquialisms would translate very well to an eighteenth-century man. I sat up straight and turned towards Henry. “Not really eat you, but she wanted to devour you. With passion. Nibble on your bits.” Open mouth, insert foot. “Oh, geez. I’m not as tactful as the women from this time. I don’t think I’m saying it correctly.” I had sunk back into the tree.

“Oh, I think you’re doing well.” I could feel his shoulders shake from trying to stifle his laughter from me. “Are you well enough to continue to Wills Creek? We will need to stop tonight, but if we leave early, we will arrive midday.”

“Right. No more distractions. Let’s do this.” I smacked my hands on my thighs. Henry offered a hand to help me up. “Thank you. I know this could not have been on your schedule of things to do for the Regiment. Is this going to cause problems for you? Am I going to cause problems?”

Henry took Louis by the reins. “No need to concern yourself. I’m sure Lieutenant Colonel Washington will understand.”

“I hope so.” Skirts tucked in to prevent chaffing, and we were on our way. I leaned forward in the saddle and stroked Louis’s neck. I hoped Washington’s ambition to make a name for himself would not clash with Henry’s help. The last thing I wanted to be around was a struggle for power.

As we approached Wills Creek the next morning, I felt uneasy. I shifted in the saddle. I shifted again. My stomach clenched tight on itself. I twisted my ring around my finger. Another shift in the saddle. The camp consisted of rows of tents and a couple of small buildings. There must have been at least a hundred men milling about.

“What is it?” Henry placed a hand on my shoulder. “You’re making Louis want to jump out of his skin.”

“I want to jump out of my own skin. I’m sorry, Louis,” I stroked his neck in a pathetic attempt to calm us both down. “I know this place.”

“Future or present?”

“Present, well, sort of. I walked through here with Jumonville’s unit. Off in those woods over there.” I pointed beyond our rallying point. “Fort Ashby is a couple day’s walk from here. Well, when Fort Ashby will exist, it will be not too far from here. Over those hills, somewhere.” I took in a deep breath. “We need to meet with Washington.”

“I need to meet with Washington. You need to be patient.” He rubbed my arm to reassure me he had a plan.

I snorted. “When have you known me to be patient?”

Henry belly laughed at my comment, which caused heads to turn in our direction.

“You might want to stifle your laugh, my lord. You don’t want to bring too much attention to us.”

“Your being here is going to be more attention than either of us can manage. We need to find Lovett before I find Washington.”

Sergeant Lovett was a man in his early sixties, stocky, gray hair, and seemed like a perfect fit for Mistress Lovett. He took care of Louis and offered us a bucket of clean water to wash up before heading to find Lieutenant Colonel Washington.

“If I thought I was nervous about anything before, I certainly am now.” I spun my ring around my finger. I wanted to throw up. We walked through the camp to find the young man that would, one day, become the first President of the United States. If I could keep him safe from Jumonville and Bouchard. “What are we going to tell him? We can’t tell him I’m some woman from the future you picked up on the side of the road.”

“Right. We will tell him the abridged truth. Simple. Yes?”

“Yeah. Simple.” I didn’t believe him or myself.

The first thing I noticed about George Washington was that he stood a little over six feet tall. The second was he was young. I could not imagine Hannah or any of her friends leading this many men into battle. He was attractive and had a charming presence about him. Our introduction was quite formal. He bowed to me, and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. The 2019 version of Amelia had to think about customs and courtesies that were out of my realm of working knowledge. Curtsy, Murray! I grabbed the sides of my red coat and my indigo petticoat and gave a curtsy that I was sure would make the queen of England proud. Well, she probably couldn’t care less what my curtsy looked like. It wasn’t like I was going to meet her. We hadn’t discussed what I was supposed to tell him. I obviously couldn’t tell him I came from two hundred sixty-five years in the future and that my notebook could end up being his demise.

Thankfully, Henry spoke up and explained that a French detachment had captured me, escaped, and warned the soldiers at Fort Prince George of the impending danger.

“The rest of the troops from the fort arrived over a week ago. Why have you taken so long to join us?”

“We ran into a few complications along the way,” Henry said. Washington gave him a look, contemplating how much he believed what he had to say.

“You’ve been with the Regiment for a couple of months. Do not let this reflect the rest of your career,” Washington was direct. This arrogant kid is going to be our first president?

“Are you…” I burst out. Henry raised his hand to silence me. He was right. That was not my fight, and it could have been disastrous for him and me.

“Does the lady have something to add?”

“No. I mean. Yes.” Henry shot me a look. I had to fix my outburst. “Lieutenant Colonel Washington, I unwillingly spent a great deal of time with a French detachment in and around this area. They took me from nearby, on their way to the fort. They moved through the woods around this area to avoid being seen. Captain Spencer gracefully helped me recover from the immense abuse.” I shifted my weight and twisted my ring. “Are you, I mean, do you have any plans to take back the fort?” I didn’t want to meet up with Jumonville soon and hoped that we wouldn’t trek to Fort Duquesne.

“Madame, I appreciate your candor and your willingness to help. Please note that I cannot discuss our troop movements with you.” Washington looked down at his papers. “Captain Spencer, when you have the opportunity, you may escort Mistress Murray to safety.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Washington, sir, if I may,” I began. “Jumonville has in his possession something that it very near and dear to my heart. I must retrieve it from him. I suspect my departure from him will not be the last time I see him. I would like to accompany you, Captain Spencer, and the rest of the troops until I can get it back.”

Washington turned to Henry. “Captain, you have already taken on responsibility for this woman. If I allow this to happen, she will be under your charge.” Washington looked at me. “Do I make myself clear?”

With that, a couple of bows, curtsy, and a thank you later, Henry escorted me back to the tents where we had met up with Lovett. “Is he what you thought he would be?”

“Well, sort of, I guess. I wasn’t expecting him to have an accent like that.”

Henry laughed. “Whatsoever do you mean?”

“Well, you have a little bit of an English accent. Do I know what part of England? Nope. I guess you’ve lived in the colonies long enough to start losing your accent.” I looked over at him. He looked bewildered. “I live near Fredericksburg, the same Fredericksburg that Washington is from.” I leaned in close to whisper, “just a couple of hundred years in the future.”

“So, you expected his accent to be the same as your accent?”

“I don’t have an accent.” I looked at him. I was confused.

“You have an accent.”

“I, uh, I suppose I do.” I shrugged. I hadn’t thought of me having an accent. I just thought I sounded American. I realized that was an absurd and egotistical way of looking at it. “I just didn’t expect it to sound the way it does. It’s like part English, but not. I don’t know what I was expecting, it just wasn’t that.”

“You truly are a fascinating woman, Mistress Amelia Murray.” Henry smiled and shook his head. “And it seems you are even more so my responsibility.”

“I’m beginning to think I’m just weird and that I will be your demise.” I twisted a smile.