A Collection of Turn: Washington's Spies Drabbles

What Are Brother's For: Benjamin & Samuel Tallmadge

Premise: Benjamin Tallmadge loses his memory, it is up to his younger brother to help him.

Samuel had an expression of alarm written upon his face. He swallowed a thick lump rising to clog the back of his throat. His tired azure eyes swelled with tears. How couldn't Ben remember after all they had been together. As children they had been practically been joined at the hip. Where Ben went, his shadow, Samuel followed.

He peered into the pools of aquamarine, his gentle fingers coil around Ben's arm. "Ben.... listen, I know you be really confused right now. But I'm Sammy. Your little brother... your shadow. Where you went I usually followed... and even know I still be following your footsteps. I'm the better looking Tallmadge and you're the smart one. We figured that out between us..." he softly offered. (mildly teasing about them having decided)

"Our dad, he is a Reverend. You know the scriptures and several languages thanks to him. Well, I mean, you knew several languages. And you went to Yale with a man named Nathan Hale and I kept all of your letters. I've read them and re-read them daily.....time and time again until the next one would come....." He gently released his brother's arm and reached over to his own saddle pack and pulled out a thick bundle of bound parchment. He slipped them into Ben's hands. "If....if I can't describe who you are..... to you, perhaps these will help..."

He then sat down before a rather clueless looking Ben and continued. "We hail from Setauket, Long Island, New York. We be friends with Abraham Woodhull, Selah Strong, Annie Smith-Strong, and Caleb Brewster. But Caleb, he be like our elder brother. He be just as worried about you as I be......" Samuel expressed.

"When we were kids, you let me sleep with you. We protected each other from the Monsters of the Sound and the night. You always knew just what to say in order to ease my nerves as well. When you got sick, I got sick. When you and Caleb got into trouble, I did too. We used to climb fences at Caleb's uncle's orchard, play apple-ball..... I always seemed to get the better of you two in that game because I was a much smaller. But it never much matter who won so log as it ended in laughter rather than tears." He cracked a smug smirk at the remark.

Samuel also commented, "you saved me from the sick animal that I was almost bitten by. I thought it was a friendly doggie.... but it was a wild animal. And when Beekman pushed me and took my school books, you were right there to defend me. You kept me from being trampled by the spooked horses that time we thought it be a good idea to play hide in seek in the middle of a thunderstorm. And we once put a mouse in Beekman's boot just to watch his reaction... and told him raisins were little mice droppings because he tried to feed us all horse-dung pies. He might have been the terror of Setauket but you, me, and Caleb be his worthy opponents. You also broke up a fight between me and Beekman and because he gave me a bloodied nose, you gave him a black eye. Father was sooooo sore at us but you tried to argue Beekman, if he be as good a Christian as he claimed, ought to have turned the other cheek. That be one lecture I distinctly remember. I don't think I had ever seen father get so red in the face and it must have taken him close to a whole hour to explain the truth behind the passage to the both of us. I don't think it caught on much because the three of us continued to get into our fair share of scuffles," Samuel chuckled. Boy, at those times things didn't seem as nearly impressive or as humorous as they did now that he and Ben were nearly grown.

"We used to play in the Sound. You saved me once when I followed you two in the water and I didn't know how to swim too well at that point. You and Caleb took most of the summer to teach me how to properly swim..... so it would never happen again," he fondly recalled. "You also made sure to keep your eye on me ever since then....... but now it be my turn to look after you, elder brother and I won't take no for an answer."

Samuel felt like he was rambling and ran a shaky hand through his own hair. "You be a Major in Washington's camp, head of intelligence. You be working on a project with Caleb and given light of the circumstances Mrs Strong and Caleb have filled me in. So until you get your memory back, I be "temporary acting head of intel". But between you and me I think Caleb likes working with you better.... than he likes working with me. Which makes your recovery all the more imperative" he adds with a smile.

"If....if y...you have any questions.... I be more than happy to try and answer them.... for you," he adds. His brows knit slightly as he peered up at Benjamin. Samuel had hoped he hadn't overwhelmed his elder brother.

((to be further edited and possibly added to))