Stars

Chapter 43

The ride to Virginia was long and tiresome. Isabella's mind kept wandering back to little John who was left with a wet nurse and a nanny, trusted friends of Ben's family, back in Boston. Once she was no longer needed after this battle, she would return to Boston straight away to retrieve him. She also was not allowed to ride with Ben. He led the brigade on his horse while Isabella was forced to sit in the wagon with the other women at the back of the formation. The only time she could see him was when they camped out some evenings. She could be thankful that they were almost done with the weeks-long travel. They were predicted to reach Yorktown by this evening. 

Hours on the road passed until columns of smoke were seen rising in the dusk sky. As they crested the hill, countless white tents peaked through the trees and Isabella knew she was home. Upon arrival, Ben immediately went to find the General and Isabella helped the other woman set up tents and put away supplies. 

By nightfall, Isabella had still not seen Ben so she decided to look for him herself. She wanted to know what the plan was. She made her way through the camp, her cloak wrapped around her as the Fall, night air was getting cold. She did a double take as she walked past two tall men talking intently outside of a tent. She knew the familiar faces. "If it isn't Colonel Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette." 

They looked up from their maps and when they realized who it was, they engulfed her in a hug. 

"Bella!" 

"Mon ami!"

"Oh how I've missed you guys." She said as they let go. "And I believe congratulations are in order for you Colonel." She said to Hamilton. "I hope your baby is healthy as can be." 

He smiled at her with pride in his eyes. "I would love for you to one day meet him."

"I think you need to do that first," She said to him. 

She turned to the Marquis. "And I am told it is because of you that we have the French Navy on our side." 

"Oh you flatter me, " Lafayette said. "I have been told about your-" 

Hamilton cut him off with an elbow to the rib cage. He gave Lafayette a look. "He doesn't know what he's saying. His English is getting spotty." 

She knew something was up but she didn't have time to press them about it because she saw Ben making his way towards her. "I must be going now, Gentlemen, but I expect a full update of what I have missed eventually." 

They wished her goodbye and she walked over to Ben. "I have some people I'd like you to meet." 

She followed him to a tent where two women were talking. "Anna Strong," He gestured to a lady with dark hair and dark eyes to match. "And Mary Woodhull." The other woman had blonde hair and fair blue eyes. "This is the General's niece, Isabella Washington." 

The women greeted her and she immediately felt welcome with them. It turns out that Mary was Abe's wife and both her and Anna were integral parts of the Culper spy ring. After a little while of talking to her new friends, it was time for her and Ben to retire for the night. It was awfully late and Mary needed to find her husband and son anyways.

Ben led her through the maze of tents to his. "If you don't mind, I gave your tent to a soldier in need of one. I thought just one would suffice for the both of us." He gave her a cheeky smile. 

"One tent is perfectly fine with me." 

~~~

24 hours later and Isabella was in the medical tent as blasts from cannons soared overhead and not so distant explosions rocked the earth under her feet. The medical tent was significantly closer to the battle this time. There were hardly and patients at the moment. The soldiers were protected under the cover of night. So Isabella and the other nurses were prepping supplies and tending to a few minor wounds. Every now and then she heard shouting from voices she knew was Hamilton and Ben. They were in charge of overseeing the trench digging and fortification. 

"Dig, men! Dig!" 

An explosion from a cannon sounded nearby and it shook the flimsy cots in the tent. 

"They're firing blindly, don't be intimidated!" 

Another explosion. 

Isabella popped her head outside of the tent. The star-filled night sky was in stark contrast to the fires from cannon ball impacts and the yelling of men. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she saw two men carrying another towards the tent. She knew the middle one was injured badly because of the trail of blood trickling behind him. Isabella called to the doctor to be ready as they rushed the man inside. The rest of her night followed a similar pattern as this one and before she even knew it, the sun was beginning to peak up from the horizon. Not once, however, did the cannon blasts stop. With the coming daylight, Isabella prepared for more patients. Now, after all, the British could see what they were shooting at.