Hellen

“Well?” I questioned when we reached a decent distance away from my sister and other brothers.

“Well, what?”

“The story! Tell me what happened to your arm!”

“Oh. Right. That. Alright. Here goes. Okay. So, some nine months ago, remember when I told Mother and Father that I was going to the country to visit my friend, Oliver Frederickson?” I nodded. “Well, I was really stowing away on a ship to try and get to the colonies.”

“So, you did exactly what we’re all doing now?”

“Yes. Anyway, it turned out to be a ship belonging to the colonies. They found me before the ship set sail. They carried muskets and swords and spoke with deep, startling voices. ‘What’ve we got here?’ one asked me. They conversed for several minutes about what to do to me. I didn’t dare move a muscle. I had a feeling that these men could kill me without even trying. As it was, I had no weapons, little money for bribery, and no combat skills.”

“Wait. Philip, are you saying they could’ve shot at you and you didn’t try to get away?”

"Hang on, Hellen, I’m getting there. They eventually decided that they would let me off with a warning, but their idea of a warning was a long, deep cut across my forearm.” He lifted his right sleeve again to display the scar. “One of the men—John Paul Jones, I believe his name was—he warned me never to mess with the Continental Navy again, or they’d kill me. I ran from the ship, as fast as my own two legs could go.

“I didn’t dare run home, from fear of Mother’s reaction to my bloody arm and my having returned from “Oliver’s estate” so quickly. I hadn’t even been gone for the length of time the journey to the countryside would’ve been. So, instead of returning home, I snuck into the stables at the Vanderson family’s farm. I rinsed my arm with the horses’ drinking water and stole one of their horses. I didn’t take a saddle. I did take a rein, however. I didn’t have something to use in its place. I rode downtown. That probably wasn’t my best decision, seeing the fact that I had just stolen a horse, and a rein, and trespassed on a farm’s property. Either way, I still rode downtown so I could visit the tailors. My arm was beginning to bleed again, so I rinsed it with a bit of water from a puddle. That was another bad decision since the water was filthy. Anyway, I went into the tailor shop and spent a small amount of money that I had to purchase a new long-sleeved shirt. It was a cheap shirt that looked like it belonged to a family with little wealth, but it was doing me good.

“My next stop was at the hospital. I needed to bandage my arm. I didn’t know how I would manage to find some. My only hope was to sneak in and just find something to work with. I ended up finding a roll of something that looked like a bandage, so I carefully wrapped it around my arm until my wound was completely concealed. The material was thin, so immediately, there was a narrow line of blood seeping through it. I ignored it and left the hospital to find that the horse had disappeared. I looked around, searching for the horse that I needed to return. I saw some horse tracks in a patch of mud. I followed them and spotted the horse galloping away. There was someone on its back. It looked like a woman. ‘Why would a woman need a horse?’ I wondered aloud. I started running towards them.

“The horse stopped running around a half-mile away from the Vanderson family’s farm. The woman looked left and right, clearly confused about why the horse stopped. Eventually, she looked behind her and her eyes fell upon me. I froze with fear as I realized who she was. I was looking at Cadence Vanderson, the rude daughter of Sewell and Bree Vanderson. I don’t know if you’ve met them, Hellen, but let me tell you, they aren’t people you want to get caught stealing from. They run a farm, but they’re rich and know people of high authority. I knew I was doomed. I turned and was about to dart away when I heard the sound of galloping hooves approaching me.”