When his head was clear enough to make sense of things, William found himself conflicted about Keziah's presence.  He had hoped she'd escaped their captors, yet if she had, he wouldn't have known whether or not she ultimately was safe.  At least now, with her sitting beside him -- apparently unharmed except for some signs of having struggled against their captors -- William knew that she was safe.

The ride continued for what seemed like hours and dozens of miles.  In reality, he could have counted the miles traveled on his fingers.  It was sometimes hard to imagine the differences between modern and [i]ancient[/i] warfare sometimes.  In William's time, drones and jet aircraft flew thousands of miles to attack their enemies on distant continents; but in this day and age, sometimes foes could be within sight of one another and still be out of firing range.  Hell, in 40 years when the World War One battle lines were drawn in France, the Allied and Germany troops would sometimes be close enough to one to sing together yet not a single shot was fired for hours, days, even weeks sometimes.

They were finally tossed into a cellar jail cell, where William quietly -- mostly non-verbally -- reassured Keziah that she would be okay.  He was conflicted about this as well: how much interaction should he show with Keziah?  In the eyes of the Patriots now holding them, he was the enemy.  Did he really want them thinking that he and Keziah were friends?  As far as he personally, did he really want them to continue to think he was a British-employed Hessian?  Would they believe him is he claimed otherwise?

In the end, William kept pretty much quiet, except -- when possible, without eavesdroppers -- to reassure Keziah again that all would be well.  When they took her away, he just stared, unsure of whether to speak out or not.  It was quite a while later that another Militiaman -- the Sergeant who had visited the one armed man back at the cabin -- came in to get William and lead him away to a house that now bore a hand written sign, [i]2nd Essex County Militia Regiment[/i].  Inside, a distinguished looking man in a Colonel's uniform gestured William to a chair, then relieved the guards with the exception of the Sergeant, who stepped back to stand at the door.

"Can I offer you anything, sir," the Colonel asked.  "Water...?  Food...?  The lady of the house makes a meat pie to die for ... figuratively, that is."

William simply stared, unsure and -- quite honestly -- a bit scared.

"My men tell me you are a Hessian deserter, a British mercenary," the Colonel continued when it was obvious that William wasn't going to respond.  "They tell me that you have information about the British occupation of Boston."  He hesitated for a reaction from William but again got nothing.  He continued, obviously threatening William though vaguely and without a harsh tone, "Information that might make keeping you alive something to consider."

William took a moment while the Colonel finished carefully pouring steaming water into a delicate tea cup that obviously belonged to the lady of the house and not an Officer on the move through the countryside.  When the man looked back to him, William announced with a firm voice and an obvious lack of German accent, "My parents came from Massachusetts ... but were of Prussian descent.  We -- my parents and I -- traveled to Hesse-Kassel, to the family estate on the Fulda River, when I was but 9 years old.  My father had been led to believe that he'd inherited some family property, but ... after we'd arrived, we learned that that was, in fact, not true.  I was forced to train for the military, becoming what you describe as a mercenary for the Hessian Army."

He hesitated to let the Colonel absorb the information, then continued, "I assure you, Colonel, I did not join the Hessian Army by choice.  I did not come to America ... to the Colonies, to aid the British Army in defeating your noble cause by choice.  I [i]am[/i], as you say, a deserter.  I wish to apply for asylum in the United--"  

William hesitated, realizing he was getting ahead of history.  He began again, "I would ask that you allow me to either join your fight against the British ... or free me to become a citizen of the great--"  He paused again: State wasn't a used word yet, so should he say Commonwealth?  Or Colony?  No, the people of Massachusetts were fighting to [i]no longer be[/i] a colony.  He continued in the simplest manner, "I wish to be a citizen of Massachusetts again, as I was when I was young."

The Colonel seemed to be hanging on and considering ever word from William's mouth.  And after he'd had a moment to sip at his tea and sit behind the wood plank table that now served as his map desk, he declared to William, "You will be taken to Continental Army headquarters in--"  The Colonel hesitated, as if the location of the HQ was a secret.  He continued with a firm voice that showed pride for simply being able to speak of the man, "You will be interrogated by none other than the Commander of the Continental Army, General Washington ... and ... if he decides that you are worthy of such benefits, you will get your wish."  He sipped at his tea again, his gaze firmly upon William, then said, "And if not ... I'm sure that you will find yourself hung high as a traitor ... and returned to the soil of your native Massachusetts ... as a corpse."

The Colonel gave the Sergeant a knowing glance, and the latter man -- bigger and stronger than an ox -- moved forward to easily lift William from his seat.  William quickly and desperately asked, "[i]And what of the woman I was brought in with?[/i]"

"What of her?" the Colonel asked casually, again sipping at his drink.

"What's going to happen to her?" William asked, struggling against the Sergeant's attempts to move him toward the door.

"What do you or I care?" the officer asked, again casually as if entirely unconcerned.

"[i]She's my wife![/i]" William spat out suddenly, before he'd even realized he was going to say it.  When the Colonel gave him a slight look of surprise, William continued, "We'd been betrothed to one another as children ... and when I returned, I searched for her ... I found her, and we got married."

"You got married...?" the Colonel asked doubtfully.  "Between arriving to lay siege to and occupy Boston ... and today ... you located your long lost promised ... and got--"

"We were [i]getting[/i] married," William corrected.  He was scrambling for anything that might keep him and Keziah together at this point.  "When I found her again ... when I found her, we were planning to escape to the south ... to get married ... to join the revolution.  Please, Colonel.  She's a nurse.  I'm a soldier with information about the British.  I beg you.  Let us stay together, and I promise you ... you will gain benefit from our union."