The Lost Schuyler

Chapter 7

December 15th, 1778

Angela was in the middle of telling her side of the story when it came to Lee's stupidity when the 'Revolutionary Set' heard someone yelling. They followed the yelling and saw Charles Lee talking with a small group of people. Angela heard Lee say 'Washington' once and knew what was being said. She turned towards Laurens and rolled her eyes. She decided to cut in before things got too chaotic.

"What's with all the commotion?" Angela asked over the loud group of men. All the soldiers turned towards her and saluted before all talking at once. Angela could only hear the littlest of things. "Washington is the worst!" and "New General! New General!" Angela looked at Lee with an irritated expression.

"Listen, everyone," Angela starts, emphasizing on 'everyone' to get Lee's attention, "General Washington isn't the worst. He's, in fact, more sensible than all of us here. He knows the British more than anyone in this camp. Not only that, but he treats all of us like family. He only wants us to be safe and prepared." While Angela spoke, she was staring straight at Lee. "So don't listen to Charles Lee. If he doesn't have the courage to lead his troops successfully then he shouldn't, and nor should y'all, be talking about our wonderful General." Once Angela finished, most of the soldiers cheered as Lee quietly snuck away from the crowd.

"Should we tell Washington?" Lafayette questioned as the crowd slowly disappeared. The group nodded and made their way to Washington's tent.

    Angela and Alexander went into the tent and immediately saw Washington at his desk, looking at letters from Congress. "Your excellency, we would like to report misbehavior performed by Charles Lee," Hamilton announced. Angela nodded in agreement as Washington looked up in curiosity. "Sir, Charles Lee has drowned your name in lies," Hamilton stated, Washington chuckled but went serious soon after. "My name isn't worth your time. We have a war to win, let's let it go." Angela and Alexander were sent out a few minutes later.

    "So what'd he say?" Laurens asked as soon as they came out of the tent. Angela just shook her head. Laurens grew angry "Ugh! If he's not going to let y'all do anything then I'll do something about it." Laurens growled as he stormed off to find Lee, the rest of the group chasing after him as he did so.

    "Lee!" Laurens called out once he found him. Lee turned around in confusion only to grow annoyed at the sight of Laurens and his friends close behind. "What do you want, Laurens?" Lee questioned in a bored tone. "I challenge you to a duel. The 23rd." Laurens announced. Angela couldn't just let this happen.

"Laurens! You don't need to settle this in a duel! Can y'all ever just talk it out-" Angela was cut off by Alexander's booming voice that could never learn to be quiet "I volunteer as Laurens' second." Angela couldn't help the look of disbelief that grew on her face. Her friends were losing their heads.

Lee smirked "Fine. You want to duel? We can duel." Angela felt sick just by looking at Lee's sinister gaze. "Good. See you on the dueling ground." Laurens declared before marching off with the 'Revolutionary Set'

    Angela was furious with her friends "What is wrong with y'all!?" She yelled when they got to the stables. Lafayette and Mulligan stayed quiet. Hamilton just shrugged and Laurens looked down like a kicked puppy. "The 23rd is around the damned corner and God forbid you or Lee backs out." Angela rambled before calming down. She looked at Laurens who nervously stared back "Lose this duel, and I swear to God I'll kill you even if you survive the bullet." Angela threatened before pulling Laurens into a hug.

    The 23rd had arrived and Angela was probably more nervous than Laurens was and he was shaking. Angela was forced to stand on the sidelines while the duel commenced. A man in a brownish-purple outfit came and stood next to her. She was really nervous but curious about who this man was. "Who are you?" The mysterious man turned towards her with a small smile "Aaron Burr, a pleasure to meet you." Burr greeted with a hand out to shake it. "Well, I'm Thomas Allen. Nice to meet you as well." Angela responded, shaking Burr's hand.

    "The duel will commence after we count to ten!" Lee's second, Evan Edwards, announced. The two seconds counted down in unison as Laurens and Lee took the same amount of paces away from each other. When the seconds reached ten, Laurens and Lee turned around and shot at each other. Angela flinched at the gunshot but was scared when she realized Lee was wounded. Laurens stepped forward to lend a hand to Lee but Lee got back up and requested a second round.

    Angela could see the look of disapproval on both Edwards' and Hamilton's faces when Laurens agreed. "I don't think this is a good idea. You got shot. Let's let this duel go." Edwards tried to say but Lee kept insisting that they went again. Edwards sighed but went back to his position before counting down with Hamilton once again.

    The soldiers took ten paces and once they reached the tenth pace, they turned around and shot at each other. Angela couldn't help but flinch again. She saw Lee fall to the ground. She ran over to Laurens and grabbed his gun before chucking it farther into the woods. "Lee, do you yield?" Burr was at Lee's side in seconds, helping him up and hoisting him up by the shoulders. "You shot him in the side. Yes, he yields." Burr responded while Laurens just shrugged. "We gotta clear the scene before the General comes!" Burr tried to yell but Hamilton and Laurens were too busy celebrating.

    Angela saw Washington in the distance "Here comes the General!" Angela shouted before hiding behind a tree. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" Washington's voice boomed through the woods and probably beyond. Angela flinched for the third time that day.

    It seems that Laurens went into hiding as well because the only person that was called out by Washington was Hamilton. "Hamilton, meet me inside." Angela heard Washington leave and she quickly got out of her hiding spot with Laurens. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Alexander." Laurens cried out in guilt. Hamilton just smiled and started walking towards Washington's tent, the other two following suit. Angela and Laurens waited outside Washington's tent. They heard muffled yelling and the only thing that they could clearly hear was "CALL ME SON ONE MORE TIME!" They looked at each other with a worried look, knowing it was Hamilton. Not long after they saw Hamilton sadly walking out. They followed as he grabbed his bag from his tent and started walking towards New York. Laurens started begging and pleading for Hamilton to stay. "Please! Don't go! Why didn't you tell him it was my fault?!"

Angela couldn't bear seeing her best friend basically begging for the love of his life to stay. Hamilton smiled at Laurens before turning around and continuing his walk back to New York.