I Heard Him

April, 1775

Father and John had to become part of the militia. That left Mother and Alice and I, home.

I remember the most beautiful morning of Lexington. The sun rose after I woke up. Canons did fire in the night, but I imagine the sound is from the militia, Father and John doing their best to help the country. I heard Mother coming down.

"Nora, why are you awake so early?" said Mother. I was staring out the window, as if I expected Father and John to come home. Mother came over and hugged me.

"Nora, today we must stay inside. No farm work for us."

I looked up at her. My eyes were filled with excitement. If today would be an easy day, that was just what I needed. I kept staring out the window.

Alice came downstairs hours later. Mother had made something yellow for breakfast. I heard the horses coming closer. When I ran outside, there she was. My good friend Anne. She was twelve, like me.

"Nora! We can do so much today. I planned it all last night!" she said with pure excitement.

"We can go on the road and visit others!"

"Mother said we must stay inside, because of it all." I said.

"Well then we may bake! How about apple pie?" said Anne.

I agreed and we began to bake. I got the flour, sugar, and swatted some flies from our mixing bowl. In the end, I added some of our dried apples as the top crust. As we baked our apple pie, I clearly remembered Mother's worrisome face. I asked her what was wrong, but she insisted I pay more attention to Anne, since she was my guest. I knew not to question her further, because, from past experiences, if I am told to stay out of some conversation or topic, I must. Anne later showed me how to properly make fancier dresses for my dolls. She pinned little sparkly paper pieces with old small nails to the waistline of each new dress. We tied old yarn into ponytails on the doll heads. Mother made a small lunch out of potatoes and corn. Anne decided she wanted to write to someone she admired in school. I couldn't help thinking how wild and open-minded Anne really was. While she was writing with my stationary, I took my time to make her a present before she had left. I put one of the dolls we worked on in a small box, and tied it with one of the ribbons. She had just finished the letter. I couldn't help but laugh when she read the letter out loud. It seemed she vomited her love onto the paper, yet didn't realize what she had actually written. Her face was hilarious. She was quite the dreamer.

"And my heart spills out to you. My eyes bulge with love. My veins explode with the sight of you. And finally, my eyes swim with delight. I hope yours do too." I read. "You don't finish with 'I hope yours do too'." I laughed.

Anne didn't find it as funny, but she noticed the box and I gave it to her, saying it was a present for her. She smiled and her carriage arrived. I said goodbye.

"Nora, it's late." said my mother with a tired and impatient voice. I didn't mind her. I kept staring out the window.

"Nora."

I ignored her.

"What if a redcoat saw you staring? What if they thought you were a night spy?"

I still kept staring. Not one word was said. My mind, elsewhere, had thoughts of John. He was just nineteen, still a boy, in Mother's mind. I was happy to tell myself that he was strong and he'd be alright. But the grave thought of death entered my mind many times, but I blocked it away with activities, like hanging around with Anne. I knew Father was alive. He's done this before. John hasn't.