A Faded Redcoat

I. Opinions and Seperation

The Atwood home was quiet. The silence was deafening to Cathleen, who was sitting in the spacious and lavish living room. Her father, Lawrence, had inherited most of their family's fortune from his father, Solomon. Solomon, previously a member of Parliament, was filthy rich. He passed just months before the birth of Cathleen's older brother, Thomas. Therefore the Atwood children were born into a life of high class society in the also inherited land in which they owned in America.

The Pennsylvania colony treated the family well. Another favorable benefit of the province befell among the fact that the Pennsylvania delegate wanted to reconcile with the British even though war was inevitable. Cathleen and Thomas, along with their other two younger siblings, Elizabeth and Isaiah, were brought up to be fervently loyal to King George III. No one expected how much those beliefs would be called into question as time went by however.

Cathleen waited rather impatiently for her father to return with news regarding political dilemmas. It had been a little bit over a year since the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and still, a few delegates wanted to amend ties with the British.

It's a little bit late for that, Cathleen thought. If only the colonists had a lick of common sense, they would've just obeyed the King and there would be no need for bloodshed.

Her only hope for now was that maybe delegates would side with her father.

Suddenly, Cathleen's quaint ears perked up as she listened to the sound of hooves pounding against their cobblestone road. She immediately stood up from her comfortable position and walked as calmly as she possibly could to the door, which proved to be exceedingly hard because of the excitement she had to keep at bay. She had waited an hour for the results and in her mind, that was far too long.

Lawrence Atwood strode up to the house with a deep frown etched across his chiseled face. It wasn't at all the same expression he left with. Before he rode off to meet with some delegates, he had an aura of arrogance, sure of himself that he would persuade the powerful men to see reason. He smoothly dismounted the sleek black steed and gave it to one of their slaves to take to the barn. Cathleen understood his name to be Kitch. She often visited them in their quarters, but stopped after her mother scolded her for doing so.

"Did they at least listen, father?" She inquired hastily, wanting to know already. By the look on his pale face, she didn't have to ask if it went well. She could conclude that something, God forbid anything too drastic, occurred.

"They didn't even wish to see me! Can you believe it? Those shameful rebels have their fingers woven around that Congress like a... a noose to a criminal's neck!" Lawrence's feet moved quite quickly into the elaborate abode as he made his long way into the family's wine cellar in the back. Cathleen followed him such as a puppy on a leash to witness him angrily hoisting a lustrous bottle of alcohol above an intricate, slender glass. Grabbing the wine, almost like it would disappear, the livid man downed it's contents in a flash.

"You could always try again with first gaining their trust," Cathleen spoke surely and slowly, trying desperately to calm her father down so he didn't become drunk.

"No," he responded quieter this time. He laid a gentle hand on her small shoulder adorned with baby blue, scratchy material and gazed straight into her marble gray eyes inherited from her mother. "There's talk of a declaration that will state that the colonies are fully separated from England. The Patriots recently won a battle in South Carolina at Sullivan's Island and Turtle Gut Inlet in New Jersey. I suspect it won't stop there. I'm afraid that this pointless war is far from over and there's no coming back from it."

Cathleen's triangular face fell at the the news. The thought of anything happening to her friends if they went off to fight against the rag tag band of rebels frightened her, but aside from being scared, her blood boiled at the idea of it also. Feeling weak and helpless didn't suit her. It never would. Indeed, Cathleen would always try to keep it that way.

_____________~~~~~~_____________

AN:
Hey my lovely readers! I've been wanting to do a story about the American Revolution for a while now, and I've just had the inspiration to do so. I thank you all for reading because it really does mean a great deal.

Q: How do you like Cathleen as a character so far?