A Country Divided : Through Blood United

Women's Roles in the War: Dauntless

    My black dress swayed from side to side as I approached my friends, my curly hair bouncing up and down and the white collar of my dress doing the same.

    "Hey, Dauntless," Naomi chuckled. "Ready for the day?"

    "Yeah," I replied without turning my head toward her. I opened the front door to our small, three-story apartment. "As long as you never call me that again. We only say our nicknames outside of the apartment."

    Naomi rolled her eyes as she and Amber followed behind me into the Mapleville streets. "Alright, alright, you weirdo."

    We quickly zig-zagged through the streets of the small town of Mapleville, Maryland, anxiously waiting for one of the armies to march past. We all held buckets of cold water and crackers that weren't filled with worms for the soldiers to feast upon.

    After a long wait, the army finally came. Their navy-blue wool uniforms told me that they were on the Northern side, and they all marched together in complete uniform. It awed me, knowing that just a few months back before I was kicked out that the Northern army struggled to wake up at the same time.

    Naomi, Amber, and I-or Infamous, Patience, and I-handed buckets of water and food to the soldiers all while cheering happily. While we cheered, we listened in on the soldier's side conversations to see if any rumors were being passed around. I knew that listening in on the Northern army wasn't necessarily the best idea, but it was good to see what was the talk of the town.

    "Hey, have you heard of Evangeline Freebourne?" One of the soldiers whispered to another, causing me to step back, obviously caught off-guard.

    The other soldier nodded his head. " You mean the one that abandoned her family to save one slave?"

    My face then fell cement solid with no emotion as I continued listening on their short conversation as they passed me. I could not let them know that they were talking about me.

    "She disguised herself as a boy and enlisted in the army," the first soldier said as he scanned the troops with his head. "She could be any one of us."

    I couldn't hear their last sentences because they finally passed me and my friends. After several minutes of marching, the last row of the Northern militia finally passed, and Naomi, Amber, and I began to head back to our apartment.

    As we steadily weaved through the city streets. I noticed a familiar face pass by in the corner of my eye. Once I saw those bright golden eyes, I turned around, the wind blowing my hair to the side revealing my eyepatch.

    "Milo?" I called out to the man, sure that he wasn't my long lost friend that had a crush on me. "Is that you?'

    The man turned around, and I quickly noticed it really was Milo. He didn't change a bit, and his cheerful smile was plastered onto his face, showing me that he was excited to see if it was me. I could tell that he recognized my voice, even though it matured a bit.

    "Evangeline?" he shouted back in my direction. I loved the way he said my name. With his British accent, he made my real name sound more graceful that it should be.

    I ran over to him, my arms outstretched and ready for a hug. Milo then started to sprint over to me, and we both crashed into a tight hug, none of us showing no signs of letting go anytime soon

Milo and I both then crashed onto the town road, my dress becoming red from the dust. I didn't seem to mind, as I finally reunited with one of my best friends after not seeing him for a month.

After laughing happily for about a minute, Milo and I finally stood up, both of us examining each other.

"You haven't changed a bit!" I exclaimed cheerfully, still scanning Milo's face and body.