Of Wildflowers and Gunpowder

Chapter 11

     A little while later, we had barely walked half a mile and it was mostly because of my injuries.
Getting impatient, I told Lafayette, "Just go ahead...I don't think I'll be able to make it by nightfall at this pace. Once Washington knows of what is happening, you can send a horse back for me. We can't run out of time, Lafayette. This is of utmost importance."
     He tried to argue but I wouldn't listen. "Wait for me by the dock on the Hudson," he told me, pointing down the hill to where the trees cleared and the river was barely visible, "stay safe; don't do anything dangerous."
I nodded and began to make my way down the hill as Lafayette turned and jogged away, obviously in terrible pain.
Out of breath and desperate to sit and rest, I was halfway down the hill when I heard the beating of hooves and rustling of dead leaves not too far in the distance.
     I scrambled to retrieve the incriminating letters from my dress, knowing that without them I would simply be considered a crazy woman with a grudge against Arnold. The man appeared by the dock wearing a Continental Army uniform with his back turned to me as he dismounted the horse.
     Calling out to him and clutching the letters eagerly, I gathered up my petticoats and raced down the hill as fast as I could.
   "Sir, please! I have important information that must get to General Washington, could you take me-"
     He turned around and I stepped back in shock. Benedict Arnold.
"General," I choked, my nerves going cold, "I am so sorry, I...ah....never mind me, sir."
"Miss Louisa Adams?" He panted, his face red and sweaty even in the cold weather, "I thought you had been captured by the British in Brooklyn."
My whole body was overcome with fear and I stumbled over my words. "Well yes, sir, I-I escaped. I apologize, General Arnold, for my interruption of your work. Good day, sir." I tried to walk away but he grabbed my injured arm and I cried out, twisting away from his grip.
"Let me see those letters, Miss Adams."
My heart raced but I kept my voice calm and lighthearted as I replied, "These are personal, sir, my apologies. Not too interesting." Once again, he held out his hand and ordered me to hand them over but I refused.
"Give me the letters," he demanded angrily, grabbing my wrist and digging his knee into my stomach, causing me to double over in pain. He wrenched the papers from my clenched fist and quickly overpowered me.
     Tears streamed down my face as Arnold read them, his own hands beginning to shake. Without another word, he pulled out his pistol and motioned for me to kneel on the ground.
     "Please," I begged him, "I'll let you get away! You can tie me up or even knock me out...I don't care! I just," my voice cracked when I felt the cold metal barrel on my jaw, "I need to stay alive."
     I thought about how far I had come. How many close calls and narrowly avoided disasters I had been through. All to die within walking distance from my safe haven? I had raised my hopes too high to be struck down like this for the last time.
     My only consolation was Lafayette, knowing that he had probably already made it to the fort and warned Washington. Maybe he could console Benjamin as well when they learned of my death. When they sent a rider back for me, they would find my dead body here and I could only imagine the guilt that Lafayette would put on himself.
     Benedict Arnold cocked the pistol and I closed my eyes, ready to die. The gunshot rang out but I felt no pain. More noises; the frantic moving of feet and hoofbeats. A shout. I opened my eyes and began to process what had just happened. That gunshot wasn't Arnold's.
      Paralyzed with adrenaline, I stumbled to my feet as Benedict Arnold raced towards the dock, his gun still pointed back towards me. From behind, more shots were fired and I turned to see Alexander Hamilton on his horse, a fierce look in his eyes as he gained on the traitor escaping by a rowboat.
     A million things ran through my mind but the one that stayed with me was the thought of actually seeing Benjamin once again.
Hamilton looked tense as he watched Benedict row downriver and out of harms way, but he quickly snapped out of it and turned back to me.
"Miss Louisa," he said quietly, putting a calloused hand to my face, "I am glad you're alright. We must get you back to headquarters." He picked me up and helped me onto the horse, climbing on behind me.
       "Are you going to send someone after Arnold?" I asked him weakly as we rode.
"He will be in enemy territory any moment now. It would be suicide to send soldiers after him but I am not sure what the General is planning to do. It will be okay, Louisa. You have provided a greater service to this nation than you will ever know."
We arrived a few minutes later at Arnold's estate and he helped me inside gently. Washington was in the drawing room and Lafayette was sitting down as a doctor attended to him. Hamilton whispered the news of Arnold's escape into Washington's ear anxiously. He nodded solemnly, trying to hide his emotions and focus on the remaining tasks.
Out of breath, I accepted the General's outstretched hand and he offered me a grateful smile, full of grace and elegance, as he kissed my hand.
"I am forever indebted to you, Miss Adams. Your sacrifice and skill has saved this army."
I thanked him and handed him the accursed letters, watching him slowly shrink as he read them. He had lost one of his closest men to the enemy; it must have hurt him.
Lafayette smiled at me from the couch and I mouthed the words "thank you."
"Your Excellency," I breathed anxiously, "where is...Major Tallmadge?" The General and Lafayette exchanged smug glances and he replied with a light laugh, "He is upstairs in the third bedroom to the left, writing to Culper Junior and Agent 355 in New York. He is warning them that Arnold may know of their identities."
     Lafayette added, "I imagined that you would find great pleasure in telling him yourself. I did not mention you at all." My heart skipped a beat and I grinned like a little girl.
As I made my way up the chestnut staircase alone, Washington sent a servant for another doctor to help me. I knocked gently on the closed door and he responded, "Come in."
He was slouched over a pile of papers with his back to me, his head in his hands. "Caleb, I need you to-"
"Benjamin." He looked up in surprise and his eyes widened as he rose from the chair.
"Louisa," he whispered, running to me and picking me up in his embrace, spinning me around ecstatically. "I thought-" He pulled away and held my face in both hands, tears welling up in his eyes.
"I ran away. The Marquis de Lafayette found me in York City and helped me get here. I had to warn you about Arnold."  
He nodded and put a finger to my lips, knowing I was going to tire myself out of I kept talking. "Just rest. You are hurt!" He exclaimed, putting a hand to my bandaged arm.
I laughed. "This wound is the least of my worries, Ben. A doctor is on his way." He helped me onto the bed and sat beside me, keeping one arm around me and the other gripping my hand as if it were his last chance to ever hold me.
     "I thought I would never see you again, Lou. I was," he took a deep breath, "I was prepared to write a letter to the Tories asking for your body. Out of all the prayers in my life, begging for your miraculous safety must have been the most desperate."
Putting my head on his shoulder and pulling him tight, I whispered, "I'm here now. I'm here now. I'll be with you forever, I promise."
The door opened tentatively and a doctor came in, followed by General Washington and Colonel Hamilton. I knew the doctor, we had worked together many times in the infirmary and he smiled warmly at me.
"Major Tallmadge," Washington said, "I am sorry to interrupt but you are needed with a prisoner regarding Benedict Arnold immediately."
Benjamin looked at me reluctantly but I shook my head, saying, "I will still be here when you get back. Go and serve your country."

     ********
     "Mister John Anderson, isn't it?" Benjamin said to the prisoner dressed in warm civilian clothes and sitting with perfect posture in the chair.
     "You have already found the letters concerning General Arnold; I suppose I am already a dead man," he continued, "so I believe it is to my benefit to tell you the truth. I am Major John André of the Royal British Army."
     "Major Benjamin Tallmadge," he replied. A look of surprise came over André and he examined his captor closely. "Louisa Adams. Do you know her?"
     Benjamin's heart raced and he eyed this man warily. "Why do you need to know? She is no concern of yours."
     He pursed his lips. "She was assigned to my living quarters in Brooklyn. She wrote to you, didn't she?"
Major André regretted leaving her with Captain Simcoe, knowing that she had probably endured terrible evils at his hands and he would probably never see her again to apologize.
     "She did write to me...yes." Benjamin was unsure what to say. "But, Mister André, there is something you should know. She is here. Louisa escaped and just arrived here less than a day ago, severely injured. She might not survive, Major André. Was that your doing as well?"
He was stunned. Louisa is free and I am the prisoner, he thought. "Major Tallmadge, any injuries were not from me, I promise. I treated her with the utmost respect...I didn't lay a hand on her," he exclaimed, looking down at the ground, "but she spoke so fondly of you. I suggest that you hold her close, I have never seen a love like this."