MATCHBOX WAR || LAFAYETTE

{hamilton, laurens, and lafayette}

After she had told Washington of her current predicament, she left his tent only to meet the curious stares of the men. They were expecting a man to emerge, the rich one they had thought of before hand. Nobody had been expecting a woman. Ellis collected her things from the carriage and slung her gun across her back. She thanked the rider and wished him a safe journey to wherever he went.

She pivoted on her heel and walked past the men, toward the tent where she knew Mulligan slept. Honestly, the men staring wasn't anything new to her. She pushed open the flap of the tent and quickly spotted her childhood friend.

Ellis dropped her things near the foot of his cot. She clicked on the nearest oil lamp and then screamed, "Honey, I'm home!"

Mulligan flailed his arms and rolled off his cot while the others in the tent woke up looking rather grouchy. Ellis giggled and set the lamp by the foot of the cot. "Who the hell are you?" the man to her right grumbled. Definitely not a person.

With one look, Mulligan was up and tackled Ellis with a joyful scream of her name. She laughed as they fell backwards, hitting the floor. "Mulligan! I haven't seen you in a long time! You've gotten stronger!" Mulligan helped her from the floor and she looked around at the bewildered men in the tent. "Who are your tentmates?"

He pulled himself away from her and she composed herself. "That's Marquis de Lafayette," he pointed to the man on his right. He was starting to wake up now and see who had caused the disruption. "Mulligan," Lafayette grumbled. "We told you to stop bringing women into the tent at night."

Ellis looked at him. "How many women have you brought back, Herc?"

     Before Mulligan is given the chance to respond, she's introducing herself to the men. "I'm Ellis Jameson, a soldier just like you, misters." The man on her left shot up. "You're the one whose been sending those letters to Washington!"

Ellis looked puzzled. "Yes, and who are you? Why have you been reading my letters?"

He shot up. "I'm Alexander Hamilton." He held his hand out. "Pleasure," she replied and shook his hand.

"Who is this last fellow?" Ellis asks. "That's Laurens," Hamilton replied. The man sat up lazily and held out his hand. "John Laurens." Ellis took his hand in hers and shook it. "Ellis Jameson, pleasure."

"So, Jameson," Lafayette spoke up, his French heritage showing. "What brings you here?"

"Well, of course, the same as any of you," Ellis spoke up, "I'm a soldier, if obvious. A now ex-spy."

"How'd you get out of being a spy?" Hamilton asked. Ellis' face fell. "My step-father joined the British army. My mother was soon to follow him as a nurse. I couldn't continue to do my work there without being sought out, sadly."

     "Does that mean you're stationed here?" Mulligan asked. "It means I'll be here 'till Washington sends me somewhere else, yes."