Patriots: New York

Chapter Twenty One: Invitation to the Ball

The month of October ended and before I knew it it was November first, my sixteenth birthday. No one would know that except maybe Zeb and Isaac, but I still remembered and really felt like now I was not a child anymore.
Danny's leg had been healing steadily, though he had grown quite ill. I cared for him and tried to keep his fever down best I could, but it was not easy. He was calm and collected through it all.
That morning I asked him, "Danny? Just curious...I know I've asked plenty of times, but how old are you?"
He smiled, "Sixteen. Of legal age to be in the army."
"Since when?" I asked.
"Since today, actually," He laughed softly.
"Well, happy birthday!" I exclaimed. "That's funny. I'm sixteen today too!"
He grinned. "Well, that takes care of my problem of saying 'you too' to 'happy birthday.'"
I laughed. "I have that problem too."
"I don't feel that different, but it's nice to know that I'm legally allowed to be in the army now."
"I wish the age was older," I sighed, "But at least it isn't younger."
He shrugged, as if not voicing some disagreement.
"Sixteen years ago today my Ma and Papa hadn't left Ireland. They were still living in some little village near Galway," I remembered.
"You were born in Ireland?" he asked.
"Mm hmm," I nodded. "Can't you tell by the accent?" I laughed. "Mine is very subtle compared to my Ma's."
He laughed. "Yeah, I guess if I think about it. It's not very prominent."
"It may have even gotten thicker being here with Art and Conall and Vincent. Mr. Walden has hired a nearly all Irish staff." I laughed. "We have the best drinks anyway."
"Yeah, your drinks are good," he agreed
"I can't prepare them as well as my Ma could," I sighed sadly, thinking of her, "My goodness...it's been nearly nine months since I left."
"You should write to her."
I shook my head furiously, "No no no no..."
He held up his hands in surrender. "Alright..."
"I'm sorry, it's just...when I left we weren't on the best terms..."
"That doesn't mean she doesn't want to hear from you. Hell, you're her daughter."
"Yes, and I abandoned my family and their plan to marry me off to Private Morris, who was supposed to take over my father's store," I muttered.
"That doesn't matter! She probably thinks you're dead. Any daughter is better than a dead one."
"She has four others," I muttered.
"Oh, alright, replacements are fine," Danny said shortly.
"I don't know how they're doing. I was helping by making money, but then without that...I hope they didn't send my sister to those horrible people!" I burst out.
"Sorry, nevermind. Shouldn't have said anything," Danny mumbled.
"No, you're alright. Do you feel any better this morning?" I asked.
"Yeah, a bit."
"We ought to dose again with the laudanum," I said hesitantly.
"It's not that painful, I can do without it."
"Mind if I have a peek at it?" I asked.
"Go ahead," he said.
I unwrapped the bandage and looked at the wound. It was still very painful looking and swollen at this point. "Are you sure it isn't too bad?"
He nodded. "I've gotten used to it."
"Danny...no. We'll try one more dose, alright?" I asked.
He shook his head. "I really don't want to. The fever's worse than my leg."
"Just a few drops? It's still really bad," I said worriedly.
"Fine, if you really think it's necessary."
"I think it is," I whispered, taking up the bottle.
"Alright," he sighed.
I gave him a very small dose. "There. That's not so bad, is it?"
Danny did not reply.
"Danny?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure, it's fine," he mumbled.
"You haven't felt depressed with it, have you?" I asked. "Or any changes that have made you think you're getting sick in the head as well?"
"No, I just don't think getting a fever is worth it because that's more pain than my leg."
"We'll try it today," I said, "then if it still isn't too painful I'll stop giving it to you."
"It's not like we haven't tried it before," he muttered.
"I just don't want you to be in too much pain," I sighed.
"Thanks to this damn medicine I will be."
"It doesn't actually hurt you does it?" I asked.
"Repeated fevers aren't as painless as you'd think," he said shortly.
"Does it give you headaches? How does it hurt you?" I asked nervously.
"Yes, it gives me headaches, makes me unbearably hot then unbearably cold and shaking all the time. I'm far better without it," he snapped.
"I'm so sorry," I said gently, touching his cheek with the back of my hand, "You are awfully hot."
"I'm just going to go back to sleep," he said quietly. "Think that'll be the best medicine."
"Alright. Get your rest," I said.
I stepped outside of the room and realized how cold I felt myself. I had a very nice spring and summer frock on, but I had no winter dresses with me, and just a light shawl to wear. What was I supposed to do now that it was November and the snow was not far away? That did not matter now. Now I had to keep working and taking care of Danny.
A few weeks later Zeb came in for the first time in a while. It was late at night, almost closing time.
"Evening, Zeb. Can I get you a drink?" I asked.
"Sure," he sighed. "I'll just take some ale."
"Coming right up!" I said cheerfully. I grabbed a mug and filled it and gave it to him. "You seem to be in low spirits. What's troubling you?"
"I assume you have heard of General Philip Schuyler?"
"Oh yes indeed," I said flatly.
"You know the man has more money than you can imagine?"
"I bet."
"Well, he's throwing a Christmas Ball at his house on Christmas Eve," Zeb sighed.
"And the problem with that is...?"
"It's all my comrades are talking about. It reminds me so much of the dances I would go to with Penelope when she was alive. They all want me to go, but-"
"Then you should, Zeb! It would be a lovely time, and it would keep your mind off the war! And it would get you out of the cold!" I said excitedly. "Penelope wouldn't want you to mope all your life! She would want you to enjoy yourself!"
"I don't know...who would I take?" He asked.
"There are plenty of lovely women in New York. Every woman dotes over you the moment she lays eyes on you!" I said.
"I don't know," he sighed. "I would want to take someone who I actually know and care about a lot. Someone who is a lot of fun, who likes to dance, who is kind and loving enough to make me remember Penelope without it being too painful."
"Well, Zeb..."
"There's probably no one out there like that who would be interested in going with me though..."
I thought of Audrey. She would probably like to go, "Zeb, I actually know a girl who..."
"Of course! How could I be so stupid?! She's right in front of me!" He exclaimed.
Before I could say anything more he took me by the hand and looked me in the eyes. Those gorgeous blues stared straight into my own.
"Liza," he said, "Would you accompany me to General Schuyler's Christmas Ball? It would mean the world to me."
I was a little too shocked to answer smoothly, but I managed to get out, "I-I would l-love to."
"Great," he sighed with relief. "Thank you so much!"
"You're very welcome, Zeb," I said slowly, "When is it?"
"Christmas Eve," He repeated. "Wait, you ought to go home! For Christmas! You've never been apart from your family on Christmas!"
"Zeb, I can't leave. I-I can't face them...and it's November...the seas are worst in November I hear...and even if I could face them, they wouldn't want me coming back here. I have to be here, for Ben...for Danny...for Conall...for Mr. Walden...I just can't do it," I said shakily.
"You can face them, Liza, but you're right, sailing is dangerous this time of year, and by land would take forever. You do have some sort of cloak or coat or something, right? You look cold," he observed.
"I'm alright, Zeb," I said quickly.
He gave me a hard look.
"Well, I am."
"Liza, I've known since you were a child of seven. I know when you're not fine," He persisted.
"I have a shawl," I said, pointing to it on the wall.
"That won't keep you warm when it starts to snow," he said flatly.
"Why? You don't trust my knitting skills?" I asked playfully, trying to lighten him up.
"I don't trust light yarn in freezing temperatures," he said plainly. "You didn't plan to stay this long, did you?"
"No," I sighed, "but now I'm sort of stuck here, aren't I?"
"No. You can go home when the weather clears up," Zeb said sternly.
"But my agreement with Ben..." I whispered.
"I'll talk to him and explain your situation," he offered.
"I don't want to go back home, Zeb! I made a commitment that I want to honor! I like it here a lot better than there anyway!" I burst out.
His jaw dropped. "What?!"
"Yep. Ben commissioned me, he lost his best friend, I'm not quitting on him. This is the first time I actually feel like I'm helping in the war!"
"That doesn't matter! The war shouldn't be your business!"
"Why? Why not?! It's my country too!"
"You ought to be back home in Boston with your family, where there is peace!"
"What good am I where there is peace?!"
"You'll be with your family, a group of people who love and care about you! There is no longer a British Military presence in Boston. It's about time you lived away from fighting and bloodshed and all that comes with it." He said firmly.
"I'm fine here."
"No, you're not."
"Yes I am. I promise."
"Liza, you've been through the unthinkable here already. You went through the unthinkable in Boston! You need time to heal. Your family can help with that."
"How? By fussing? By locking me away? By pity? If there's one thing I can't stand in this whole world it's people having pity on me! It's a lot easier for me to deal with all that's happened here than surrounded be people who will worry."
"Do you not think people here worry about you?!"
"Well, very few people I meet on a daily basis actually know me!"
"That doesn't mean the people in this city who love you don't still worry about you!"
"They shouldn't!"
"They do though!"
"Why?!"
"Why? Liza, now you're just being ridiculous!"
"That's true. I'm always being ridiculous!"
"You are not."
Just then Vincent came out of the kitchen. "Could you two maybe, I don't know, shhhhh?!"
"There's no one here but us!" Zeb exclaimed.
"Yourselves and me," Vincent stated matter of factly.
"You're right, Vincent. I'm so sorry. We shouldn't be fighting," I sighed.
"Damn right you shouldn't be," He said, tapping me on the nose.
"Well, Zeb?" I sighed.
He looked around and made sure Vincent was out of the room before cradling my face in his hands and softly saying, "Liza, I care about you a lot, you know that?"
I nodded sadly.
"And there's no one I want more than you to escort me to the Christmas Ball."
"If you really want me there so badly..."
"I do." He said, kissing me on the forehead. "I ought to get going. Be good for me?"
"I will," I promised.
"Alright. Goodnight, Liza."
"Goodnight, Zeb."
Once he left I decided now was as good a time as any to write Eleanor now that I knew my Christmas plans. I grabbed some parchment and a quill and ink and sat down at a table.
Dearest Water,
I wrote.
I am very sorry it has been a long time since I last wrote to you. I have been quite busy and lost track of time. It is now November, I am sixteen years old, and I know Christmas is coming soon. I hope this letter reaches you by then. I am safe and happy in New York and you have no need to worry about me. I'm sorry I will not be back this year at all. It is now too late to sail and I also have a million things to do here. I'm taking care of a wonderful boy named Danny who was wounded while scouting in the woods with Isaac. He's a lieutenant now, did you know that? He also has a lover, Miss Margarita Schuyler, daughter of General Philip Schuyler. I have been invited by Zeb to attend the Schuyler Christmas Ball he is having for soldiers. I have no idea what I'm going to wear or anything of that sort, but I have been invited. I fear this Christmas will feel lonely and empty without you and the family, but I simply can not get back at this time. I am so sorry. You will be fine without me though. You never needed me much anyway. Do you know what ever happened to Amaka and her fiancé Cyrus? If they have come to New York, they have not found me yet. Traveling for them would have been quite dangerous and I hope to God nothing has happened to them. I hope to hear from you soon. I am with you in spirit.
Merry Christmas,
Fire
I took a deep breath and sealed up the letter with sealing wax. I put it in the mailbox and dressed for bed. The next morning I took care of Danny and worked as usual. I began teaching Conall to read on my dinner shift break. I wrote out the Hail Mary on a sheet of paper. He looked at it, puzzled.
"Do you know what it is, Conall?" I asked.
"No," he said.
"It's the Hail Mary prayer. See? The letters form the words. You know the words. Now can you see what they look like?"
"Sort of..."
"Here," I pointed to the word grace. "What does that say?"
He took a deep breath and thought for a moment. He silently mouthed the words to the prayer and pointed to them as he went along, stopping on grace. "Grace." He said unsurely.
"Very good!" I said with a smile. "You know what that word looks like now. Could you recognize it other places?"
"Maybe," he shrugged.
"I bet you could. Would you like to try sounding some words out?" I asked.
"I guess."
"Alright. Start here, at the beginning of the prayer."
He said it swiftly and flawlessly, it then he sighed, "But I did not read that. I knew it already."
"Well, that's a start. Let's try reading something else," I said, picking up a pamphlet.
Conall looked at the title. "Fa-far-farm-e-r...farmer?"
"Yes, go on."
"R-re-re. F-uh-t-eh-d. Liza, this doesn't make any sense to me." He said, frustrated.
"There's a little rule there about how to pronounce the u. You see that e there?"
He nodded.
"Well, when there is a vowel, a consonant, and then an e, the first vowel's sound is long." I explained.
He looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about.
"Do you know what vowels are?"
"No."
"Well, vowels are the letters a, e, i, o, and u. Everything else is a consonant."
"Is that a consonant?" Conall asked, pointing to a period.
"No, dear, that's a period. It ends a sentence. Consonants are letters that are not vowels. I should have been more clear."
"This is a lot to learn, Liza. Can I go play now?"
"Where? It's too cold outside. You might as well work on reading when you'll be inside anyway." I said.
He sighed and looked at the page again. "What do you mean long sounds?"
"Well, vowels have short sounds like "a"in cat, "e" like in egg, "ih" like in kit, "aw" like in odd, and "uh" like in mud. When they are changed by silent e's, they have long sounds like "eh" like in gate, "ee" like in feed, "ī" like in alive, "oh" like in vote, and "oo" or "yu" like in flute or in this case the word is 'refuted.'"
"That's confusing!" He huffed.
"It is, but you can figure it out." I looked over the farmer refuted pamphlet of Alexander's. the writing style was far too intelligent for Conall to learn to read on, and the King Arthur book was not much better with its old tongue. I wished I had a reader like the kind I learned on to help him read.
"No, I can't. It's too hard," he fretted.
"I'm sorry, Conall. The reading material I have really is quite difficult..."
"Can I go play now?" He asked quickly.
"Fine, just stay out of trouble," I sighed.
"Alright!" He called as he ran into Danny's room.
"No Conall! Don't bother him..."
"Good afternoon, Liza!" Audrey's elegant voice said from behind me.
"Oh! Good afternoon, Audrey," I said, a little flustered. "I ought to tell you, it would be better for you if you used the back door when coming in here."
"Oh, alright. Is Danny in?" She asked.
I laughed, "I haven't let him leave his bed since he got here."
"Of course," she nodded. "I brought him another pie."
"Oh! He'll love that!" I exclaimed.
"Wonderful! May I give it to him?" She asked.
"Of course," I said, "he's right in there."
She nodded and went in. They clearly exchanged some words of thanks and she came back out. "So, how have you been?"
"I've been well," I said.
"Do you have any plans for Christmas?" She asked curiously.
"Yes actually. I've been invited by an old friend to attend General Schuyler's Christmas Ball in Christmas Eve," I said uneasily.
She gasped, "Oh Liza! That's wonderful! You're so lucky! My parents always go to that, but I don't know any soldiers who would ask me. They're all friends of my father, so old if you know what I mean. I wish I could go..."
"I know quite a few young soldiers. What if I could get you one?" I asked.
"Oh no no! I could never ask you to do that!"
"Are you sure? Danny has an older brother and two cousins who are all very attractive and kind..."
"Oh Liza, I could never...I may still be able to go with my parents this year. Do not worry about getting me a soldier to go with."
"Alright. If you are really sure," I surrendered. "I just don't know what I would wear. Would this be alright?" I asked, motioning to the frock I was wearing.
Audrey looked a little alarmed, "Umm, to the Schuyler Estate?"
"It's dreadful, isn't it?" I sighed. "I've only one dress. I don't know what I'll do! I can't go looking like a barmaid in the midst of a bunch of aristocrats and soldiers!"
Her face lit up, "Well, fret no more, Liza! I have a whole closet full of dresses that you can borrow! I could fix you up for the ball just wonderfully! What do you say?"
"Oh Audrey! That would be wonderful!" I exclaimed. "Thank you so much!"
"You are quite welcome! You could come over next week and try some thing out!" She offered.
"That would be great! Thank you!" I breathed in disbelief at her generosity.
"Well, I ought to head home. See you then!" She called as she turned to leave.
"Goodbye, Audrey!" I called after her.
I was so excited I was tingling all over. I would not have to look like the scum of the street on that special night! I would be able to look like the classy young Miss I wanted to be seen as! Finally something was going right.