Of Wildflowers and Gunpowder

Chapter 1

"Excuse me, sir," I said as I approached the coffeehouse owner, slapping a substantial amount of British money down on the counter before him, "I was wondering if you could direct me to a Mr. Robert Townsend. I'm told that he is your partner here; I need to speak to him."
Mr. James Rivington narrowed his eyes at me and replied warily, "To what purpose?"
"He is...a childhood friend of mine. I wanted to speak with him in private about my family. Is he here, sir, or should I take my money elsewhere?"
He shook his head urgently, pulling the money closer to himself and smiling impatiently. "No, ma'am! I will fetch him right away. Don't go away," he called as he retreated to the back, pocketing the money greedily.
A few minutes later, he poked his beefy head back out and motioned for me to follow him.
"I hope you'll excuse my appearance," I said, trying desperately to make him less curious about me, "I traveled all the way from New Jersey. I am on my way to Virginia to visit my father but since I was here I just knew I needed to see my old friend Robert. I hope you don't mind."
I had, in fact, come from New Jersey, but Rivington's Coffeehouse was my final destination. I had no family left anywhere, let alone in Virginia.
     He smiled and looked at me sideways as he unlocked one of the boarding rooms. "Don't worry, my dear, I promise I won't say a word."
I panicked. He must have known that I had been lying. Robert still had a chance to escape if I stalled, however.
"Ah, say a word about what, sir?"
"You know, your little meeting with Mr. Townsend! I won't let anyone come in on you two, I promise."
It dawned on me. He thought I was a dasher that had come to sleep with Robert. As I tried to explain to him that that certainly was not the case, he laughed loudly and closed the door, saying, "No need to explain. He will be with you in just a moment."
I sighed and collapsed in exhaustion onto the bed, trying to calm my shaking hands. It could have been so much worse, I told myself, things are going fine.
The door swung open and Robert appeared in the doorway, looking relieved when he saw that it was me. I stood to greet him and he gently kissed my hand.
"My dear Louisa," he murmured, "even more stunning than I last remember. I hope you bring good news."
Smiling at his lively show of flattery, I pulled out the sealed letter from the pocket beneath my gown and handed it to him, "From General Washington."
I stood silent as he read it, watching his expression for any sign that it was something to be concerned about.
     He pocketed the letter and groaned as he sat on the bed, rubbing his face in exasperation.
     "I'm being stretched thin here," he said, "I just finished working to uncover this counterfeit issue, and now His Excellency has asked for me to take even greater risks. I don't know how much longer I can keep asking questions of these British officers, Miss Adams."
I nodded, adjusting my cap in the gilded mirror absentmindedly. "I think the General is afraid of losing his chance to win back New York. It's all he has spoken of for weeks now. At least, that's what Major Tallmadge says."
Robert and I were silent for a little while, both of us understanding what a failed attempt at retaking New York would mean for the Continental Army.
"And how are the two of you?"
"Pardon?"
"The Major."
     "Oh," I said softly, "he is well, healing from his injuries, and still beating everyone at checkers."
Robert smirked. "And the two of you?"
I smiled a little and fiddled with one of the buttons on my dark blue riding habit. "It is hard—in this war, this environment. There are too many risks and dangers, too many people around to question our every action. I am already looked down upon because I'm a woman staying with the Continental Army. The last thing I want is for Major Tallmadge's reputation to be damaged because of me."
"So will you wait until the end of the war?"
"Perhaps. Nathan Hale is convinced we are already secretly married, because he says that the Benjamin he knows would never be able to wait so long to marry me."
Robert laughed heartily.
"Speaking of which," I mused, cracking a small smile, "your partner thinks-"
"I can't stand the man."
"He thinks that we are...lovers, I suppose."
Robert shook his head with an incredulous grin, saying, "He has no tact, that is certain. I apologize if he embarrassed you, Miss Adams, he is just-"
     I held up a hand to stop him. "Do not trouble yourself over it! It could be much worse. Have you learned anything new the past few weeks from the soldiers?"
     He shrugged. "Not really; they seem slightly frustrated with the lack of communication with the officers. Nobody really knows anything. I did, however, see Major André with General Clinton yesterday, you know him, yes?"
I nodded. André was responsible for the death of my family.
"Did you hear anything mentioned at their meeting?"
"The only thing I could gather was that they were speaking of a person. Neither of them liked him very much but they were willing to work with him because they had no choice. I'm still working on that but I hopefully I'll have the whole story for Washington soon."
Robert stood and began adjusting the window curtains and cleaning dust from the glass absentmindedly. "You ought to get back downstairs, Louisa; I am sure Rivington has already told the entire company in the coffeehouse that his partner has won the heart of a mysterious woman from out of town. It would do well for you to not to object to his beliefs too harshly, it is better for him to think we have committed a trivial controversy than treason."
I laughed at his sly grin and curtsied. "You are perhaps the strangest Quaker that I have ever met. I look forward to our next meeting, hopefully after this accursed war is won."
He bowed deeply and glanced out the window at the dull sunset. "Are you sure you will be safe, riding alone at night?"
     "Of course. I'll be back in New Jersey and mending Benjamin's breeches by sunrise, I'm sure."

Edit: Okay I started writing this story years ago now and IM CRINGING SO HARD. For anyone just starting to read this, I promise it gets a lot less lame as the story goes on and a lot more gets explained. At the time when I started writing this, I had no idea the support I would get for this story and I didn't know I would still be working on this at this point WITH A SEQUEL:) SO STICK WITH IT I LOVE YOU ALL THANKS FOR READING!!
also, if you're worried because this chapter only has Robert Townsend, don't worry. You're gonna have PLENTY of Benjamin Tallmadge, Hamilton, G-Wash, Lafayette, Caleb Brewster, John André AND EVEN SOME NATHAN HALE

Edit again haha: I just went through and reworked this chapter because it SUCKED and it's been like 2 years and I know so much more than I did when I first wrote this....yeah this chapter is kinda short sorry BUT THANKS FOR READING

Edit AGAIN:
So I calculated the word count of this book and it's 51,231 words!! THATS MORE THAN MANY OF C.S. LEWIS' CHRONICLES OF NARNIA NOVELS!!! Not gonna lie I'm super proud of that...now onto counting the sequel;)