Sunflower

"When your past catches up to you."

Rose Anne had been laid down in a small woven basket lined with as many blankets as she could find that were soft enough. Keziah was still working through her grief but having the baby was helping her keep focused on what mattered, not what happened. Keziah was in the middle of preparing a simple dinner - rabbit stew with extra potatoes and carrots. It was her father's favorite. She was also cooking up some apples in a bit of sugar and butter. Keziah had taken off her cap, it was slung across the back of a chair, and she hummed softly when the baby started to stir.

Her father had come in a little bit after William had. He was smiling warmly at her and he put a large hand on her head. "So much like your mother when she was your age. Is the little angel giving you any problems?" He asked with a slightly sad smile. He'd lost his son and daughter in law not too long ago but had gained a granddaughter so it was a little bittersweet.
Keziah shook her head. "No papa. She is a wonderful angel." Edward studied his daughter for a long time. She resembled her mother greatly but there were some traits of him in there. It was hard to believe that the woman in front of him was once as small as the baby in the basket.

"Papa?"

The sound of his daughter's voice brought him out of his daydreams and he simply smiled at her before giving William a look from the corner of his eyes. While they may have had a chuckle in the yard, he would be watching him closely around his daughter. Keziah didn't need a fool to promise her everything but fail to deliver. Just because he had done what was asked of him didn't give him a free pass. "I was just thinking. That is all." Edward said, turning back to his daughter. He tugged on the end of her long braid when she turned around to stir the stew.
"We shall have a service for your brother and sister. Samuel was well known here in Lexington." Edward said. His voice was laced with sorrow and his daughter could only nod.

When Rose Anne started to cry and Keziah made a move to get her, Edward shook his head and scooped her up instead. The baby was beautiful and he couldn't help but to wonder if Samuel had felt the same love for his daughter when he held her the first time, as Edward had holding his own daughter for the first time. He considered the Hessian for a moment before moving closer with the baby. Edward would still be hard on him. He was a stranger and yet Keziah seemed taken with him, but if he proved himself then things would be different.

((Excuse the short post again. Dreadfully tired. Anyways feel free to control Edward in any way you see fit, so long as he's shown as a bit traditional. He isn't as strict as most father's were but he's definetly got some ground rules he has to lay down.))

"When your past catches up to you."

Hearing that Boston was pretty much gone crushed her. She sat there dumbly, staring down at the little baby in her arms. This little girl was an orphan and it made her heart heavy. Having lost her own mother, Keziah knew that there would always been questions that Rose Anne would have. What was her father like? Her mother? Had they loved her? Well Keziah could already tell her those answers. Samuel was a good man who always tried to help those he could. Elizabeth was a beautiful woman who had been Keziah's dearest friend…and yes, they had loved Rose Anne even before she had been born.

She tried to picture the baby with Samuel's features. Dark hair like her own, like his, and the gentle dark eyes of her brother. Samuel must have praised God that she took after her mother. They had joked that they already had one mousy little thing (Keziah) and they didn't need another in the family. She took a deep breath and looked up at William when he spoke of Rose Anne needing a father. Well, he was right there. At least in the sense that she needed a father to keep the boys away until she was old enough to marry. Keziah gave him a look that was a cross between a glare and embarrassment.
She didn't need a husband. She could live her life out here, on this old farm as a recluse, that way she didn't need to explain to people how she had a child but no one to support them.

Keziah sighed softly, moving to burp the baby. Even her brother naming the child was unusual. Given that many children died so young meant that names for them didn't come about until the parents were sure they wouldn't die. Even then there was no guarantee that the child would reach adulthood. Samuel must have thought that they were all going to die. That made Keziah tear up. She didn't think that she had any more tears until that moment. She glanced down at the baby as she burped her over her shoulder before glancing back at William.

"I don't know how they do things in your time." She admitted, "You never told me that much about it. What you ask of me is a lot. I have lost my brother, and my dearest friend so soon. I need time to grieve." Keziah knew that some men would find her to be unreasonable for making so many demands. "And surely they want you to fight for them." There was the question of him going back to where he came from. Keziah didn't want to set herself up for disappointment, to build something with him and to have him gone in the blink of an eye.

And she told him this too. She told him about how scared she was that he wasn't going to be there, that he wasn't supposed to be here with her. Sure she fancied the man; he was nice and quite a good story teller and he had fulfilled his promises to her as best to his abilities…but would he always be here with her? When Rose Anne had burped, she cradled the child to her chest as she waited for his response. "If you can stay, here with me. Here with us," She gestured down to Rose Anne, "Then...I would ask that we can court. I still do not know you as much as I would like."

Keziah felt a pit form in her stomach when she realized that perhaps she had presumed too much and he had been talking about one of the soldiers he was with. There was no going back now and she couldn't think of a good apology, so she sat there quietly with red cheeks. If she wouldn't have had Rose Anne cradled in her arms she might have run away.

"When your past catches up to you."

Being back in Lexington with her father, Edward, wasn't so bad. It was sort of quiet, being back on that isolated little farm. They weren't in Lexington, but rather a few miles away on some lonely little road that led straight to their farm. Just out beyond the pastures were the graves of her mother and stillborn brother, marked with only a stone bearing the names "Margaret Black" and "Baby Black". Keziah went out there a lot, to pray and to talk. Her mother had died just a few years before Keziah had married Charlie, so she missed out on the advice that she would have been given. She missed her mother terribly and had even asked the grave on advice still, knowing that she would always go unanswered. Her father had never remarried. He'd loved her mother so very dearly.

When she wasn't out at the graves, she was tending to the house and ensuring that her father was well fed. She had told him about William, about how he'd been injured and she even kept his story as a Hessian soldier. Of course it more or less had to be altered because she'd never been betrothed to anyone until Charlie had asked to marry her. Keziah had even taken to watching down the road to see if they were coming back. Her father had worried for her, and for his son. Samuel was a good man who'd been so happy to have started his own family.

Edward could remember when he had started his own. Margaret had been so happy but she had been hesitant. He understood that. It was risky having kids, especially since they were so far away from town. Having his daughter come back was a blessing. Edward wasn't as young as he once was and he found that one cold mornings his joints were stiff. His daughter helped around the farm and had even told him a bit of what was happening in Boston. The first few nights she was here, he had held her tightly to his chest as she cried. It reminded him of when she was a little girl and she would have a nightmare.

Their days passed quietly, and even though the silence was comfortable there was a thread of anxiety that laced itself throughout the days. They never spoke of Samuel, of the possibility that he or his wife never made it. Edward hoped that they did.

It was almost two weeks later and still no word. Keziah knew it didn't take that long to get back to Lexington. She wondered briefly if a soldier would come by bearing bad news for William's wife that he didn't make it back. She was out tending to the small patch of flowers when a sound, the sound of footsteps, caught her attention and she looked up. The soldiers were here! In the arms of one there was a little bundle of cloth and she felt her heart pick up its pace. "Papa!" She yelled, knowing that Edward would be able to hear her. He was just in the small barn tending to a few things. A few seconds later he came hobbling out of the barn, ready to fight whatever had frightened his daughter. Instead he caught sight of the militiamen. Keziah had raced towards them and once she found William she slung her arms around his middle. "Thank you!" She pulled away with a smile that slowly fell when she didn't see Samuel or Elizabeth. The soldier with the bundle came forth and showed her what he carried so carefully: a tiny baby girl.
"No…No…" Keziah whimpered. If this baby was here, alone with just the soldiers and William then that meant…No….

Keziah broke down, sobbing and holding the little bundle close to her chest. Her father stooped low next to her, trying not to cry as one of the men delivered news that they had found the family friend that Keziah had told them about. That family friend had told them that the day of the attack, when Samuel and Elizabeth raced to their house for safety, she had gone into labor and had passed from complications. Samuel had stayed for a little while, mourning over his wife's early death, before leaving the baby with his friend and heading outside. He hadn't been seen since but they combed the city for his body and never found it so there was still hope he was alive. Edward took the bundle from his daughter and thanked the soldiers before offering them some food. It was the least he could do to thank them.

When things calmed down and the soldiers had food in their bellies, Keziah had taken the baby into the house and was holding her carefully, marveling at how beautiful the little bindle was. The family friend had also given them a letter for Keziah, and from it she had learned that before he left, Samuel had given the baby a name - Rose Anne.

"When your past catches up to you."

Keziah was tired, both physically and mentally. Today had been draining and nothing she did seemed to keep her from thinking of her brother and Elizabeth. The possibility that they were unharmed was what she clung to. Until they came to her or -- oh, that's right...Samuel and Elizabeth didn't know where she was. They didn't know that she'd been taken as prisoner along side as stranger she claimed to be her husband. Were they worried? Very likely, but she didn't think they were so worried now that war had reached their door and they had to stay alive.

The nurse didn't know why she hadn't pulled away before the kiss could even happen. She should have. Keziah did kiss back, reaching up and tangling her fingers into the hair on the back of his head. But she as quickly as she had returned the kiss, she was pulling away from him with scarlet cheeks. She didn't meet his eyes, instead she busied herself with tending to the flames of the fireplace. It had been a while since she'd last kissed anyone. Her last suitor hadkissed her, many times, and he even tried getting intimate with her but she had always declined his advances. After a while of silence, she looked over at William. "I want to return to Lexington. To my father." Perhaps if she was there rather than here then things would be better. She didn't want to get drug into this war anymore. Yes she believed in the cause, of an independent country, but she didn't want to see young men dying or to hear their wailing when they woke up and realized they were missing limbs. She was a midwife, she brought little babies into the world, she didn't send their fathers out of it.

"I...I want you to come with me." She turned to look at him once she was done with the fire. Her hands were twisted together and she looked off to the side of the room. "If this battle that took place today wasn't supposed to happen...then..." she didn't think he could go home. To his time, not hers. "But before I go to Lexington...I want to find Samuel and Elizabeth." Keziah needed to know if they were dead or alive. It'd certainly calm her down if she had answers.

"When your past catches up to you."

Seeing him break down that quickly was hard and it made a lump form in her throat. Keziah hadn't seen a man cry like that since her mother had died. Her father had cried harder, sobbing for nearly two days, and Samuel had cried that hard but for a lesser time than her father. However, she hadn't seen any of them cry since then. Keziah wondered if he'd ever seen wounded soldiers before, ones with wounds that you could only hope they would be able to survive. She was shuffling over to him on her knees in no time. Keziah hugged him tightly and carded her fingers through his hair. "It's okay." She said to him, "They are safe with Him now." Keziah had told that to Samuel after their mother had died.

The nurse stayed that for a long time, until he calmed down and she could pull away. Keziah thought of her brother and his wife and she found herself wiping her eyes and cheeks. At the moment she didn't know what she would really feel. She should be angry at him. It had been his plan to sabotage the guns at night but he had failed and now innocent civilians were dead. At the same time though she knew it hadn't been his fault, perhaps this was always how this was meant to end, rather in the way the books in his day spoke about it.
Keziah got up to make supper when she was sure he wasn't going to cry anymore. The booms from the guns outside broken what could have been thought of as a comfortable silence. It was unnerving but there wasn't much she could do about it now.

Diner was a simple meal of boiled meat with some hunks of break from the basket that the nurse had brought the other day. She would have used other things like vegetables but she didn't have much of an apatite and she didn't think that he would either. "What are we going to do now?" She asked as she handed him a plate. Keziah didn't even know if her brother and his wife were even still alive and now I was too late to warn them and chances were they were hiding in in the homes of friends, or possibly somewhere else. Keziah had settled in the chair opposite of him and ate quietly. She had no clue if they could go out there and find Samuel and Elizabeth or even how long it would take them to gain control over Boston.

((Forgive the post. I'm extremely tired right now.))

"When your past catches up to you."

The booms had woken him first. Samuel shook his wife awake and ushered her to a safer room in their home. It had been a few days since his sister had come up missing, along with William and the one armed soldier. A neighbor had informed Samuel that the militia had taken Keziah, but how could he believe that Loyalist? They would say anything to discredit the militia. Samuel had looked for days but to no avail and now there was a war outside, closer than he'd ever remembered it being. The booms were loud and even though his home wasn't as close to the wall as Keziah's little house was, he could hear the sound of fighting.

Elizabeth was crying as she crouched behind one of the dressers in the room. Her baby would be here any day and with Keziah gone and a war going on outside of their door she didn't think that she or the baby would make it. Samuel was a doctor but beyond his knowledge of her…he wouldn't know what to do. He was a smart man but there was only so much he knew. Childbirth was still very much a women's job. And seeing a strange woman's intimate bits was…well it wasn't very appropriate.

He held onto his wife tightly as he thought of a way out of this mess. He'd find his sister, or he'd find that blasted man that had likely drug her into this mess in the first place.

Samuel eventually decided to have Elizabeth go out the back door and escape through the garden. Even in the current state she could make it across the garden. He followed after her and prayed to God that they'd be safe.*

---

Hours passed, most of them had been spent tending to the soldiers as they came in with all sorts of wounds, the next worst than the last. Keziah was exhausted but she didn't stop, not until the doctor came over to tell her to get a drink of water. Her hands were bloody as were her clothes and she had a few streaks of his in her hair and on her face. Samuel and Elizabeth weren't among the few civilians that had escaped and ran to the camp. Hopefully they were alright.*

She wondered what her husband was doing right now. How could he have slept through the night when he'd been so concerned about keeping history the way it was. Keziah didn't see the problem honestly. Boston wasn't controlled by the British, or rather in a few more hours or days it wouldn't be. When she was excused so another nurse could take her place, she was escorted back home by a guard. They were silent the entire way there and he left just as she reached the door. The usual guards were in their posts. She ignored them, to tired at the moment to care or say a few kind words.

The nurse heat some water and prepared herself a bath. The blood on her clothes had soaked through and made her skin feel uncomfortable. She scrubbed the blood off of her and out of her hair. For a little while she just sat in the water, thinking over what she'd seen today and how many they had lost despite their best efforts. Keziah finished with her bath and quickly dried herself and changed. Rather than put on a dress, she took some of the clothes that belonged to her husband. Trousers felt a little funny but nothing that she couldn't get used to. Keziah sat in front of the fireplace, knees pulled up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around them. She stared into the flames and sighed. She wished that none of this had ever happened.

(* Samuel and Elizabeth are still alive.)

"When your past catches up to you."

Keziah Wilkinson (nee Black):

21 years old (Born spring of 1754)
5'0
Petite
Mousy; rather plain features; brown hair tucked under frilled cap.
Green eyes
Marital status: Widowed (married winter of 1770, widowed early spring of 1770.)

Samuel Black:

31 years old (Born summer of 1744)
6'1"
Well built
Dark hair and eyes; slightly curly hair cropped short, no facial hair.
Marital status: Married
Missing

Elizabeth Black (nee Bayer):

25 years old (Born winter of 1750, died May of 1775 in childbirth)
5'3
Petite; heavily pregnant
Light, fine features; pale blonde hair and blue eyes.
Marital status: Married
Deceased

Edward Black:

65 years old (Born spring of 1710; England)
5'7
Heavy set; beer belly
Gray hair (was dark brown in youth), dark eyes.
Marital status: Widowed

Family

Margaret Black (nee Baker)
Samuel Black (Daughter-in-law Elizabeth)
Keziah Wilkinson (Former son-in-law Charles Wilkinson)

Baby Rose Anne Black

2 weeks old (born May of 1775)
18 inches long, 6 lbs.
Fine blonde hair, still gray eyes. (Will later settle to a murky dark blue)
Presumed to be orphaned

Coming soon/Mentioned only characters:

Charles "Charlie" Wilkinson:

20 years old (Born late summer of 1750, died early spring of 1770)
Blond haired and blue eyed
Deceased

Margaret Black

43 years old (Born Fall of 1726, died late summer of 1769)
Dark haired with green-brown eyes.
Deceased

"When your past catches up to you."

She'd been well on her way to dream land when he suddenly rolled over onto her. Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red than when she'd caught him nude. This was certainly not proper but so the guard watching through their windows. "I'm going to stone them." She muttered, more embarrassed that they'd been peeling rather than their current situation (which indeed was awkward, and she felt mildly bad about the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach.)
She watched him curiously as he got up to turn off the lamp. Seeing what was underhis trousers was...well what were those things. She'd seen men's undergarments but...they didn't look like that. Before she could voice her curiosity about what he was wearing, the alerted the guards to the fact thay they knew they were watching. Her face burned in shame and she hid her face with her hands.

When he returned to the bed she couldn't help but laugh a little. "My darling hero husband needs to come back in one piece." Her heart beat just a little faster when he called her missus. It had been a while since she'd heard anyone call her that. When he climbed back into the bed beside her, she did curl closer, but kept enough distance to be comfortable. "I do want you to come back. Safely. If I find you on one of those cots used for wounded soldiers I'll be very upset. And a smart man doesn't upset his wife." Keziah told him. "And if...if you come back then maybe, just maybe something can be started here." She gestured between them. "Not that. I'd like other things from you too."

Keziah couldn't help but feel a sense of freedom around him. The last man she'd been courting had been very much about male dominance and keeping her in line. Why she ever thought she'd marry him was beyond her. Perhaps she had been lonely. Charles hadn't minded her temper, and when she'd ask too many questions and ask forbooks he'd oblige. Hell he didn't even mind giving her control either. They had been married for a few months but had courted long before that. The way that William was treating her reminded her of Charles. But he wasn't her late husband, she knew that, and she wasn't going to imagine thay he was Charles. It wasn't fair to either of them.

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and bid him a good night before rolling over and going to sleep.

---

She was awoken the next morning by the faint sounds of booms. It wasn't uncommon to hear canons, even when she did live in Boston so it didn't strike her as off until she realized that she'd been sleeping pressed against William's side. In her sleepy state she couldn't remember why her waking up tucked under his chin was a bad idea. Then it hit her thay he must not have gone out last night. "William get up!" She yelled, hurrying out of the bed and grabbing the nearest overcoat she could find. She slipped it on, mostly to provide herself with some modesty just in case the guards were to peep through the windows again.

Keziah wondered where the guards were, they should have alerted them to this. William had helped recover those howitzers after all. She looked out of the windows nervously and wondered if her brother and his wife were okay. Keziah pushed her hands through her hair when she thought back to her nightmare the day before. It did little to settle her, in fact it made her worse. But maybe there was a chance that it was just another skirmish and not the Patriots retaking Boston a little too soon.

"When your past catches up to you."

She had wanted to argue that the Patriots using those guns would be a blessing, that maybe he was wrong about this war, at least in Boston, lasting for years. She didn't though, not when he asked her for help. Keziah chewed on the inside of her cheek as she went over the options. She could help him and leave Boston to the Redcoats, or she could simply persuade him to stay, or possibly even tell a soldier…but that'd end badly for her, wouldn't it? She wouldn't make it home and frankly she didn't want to think of the other possibilities.

"Samuel and Elizabeth live in South Boston." She pointed out, now thinking a bit more clearly. If the soldiers stormed the wall tomorrow then her brother and his wife would get caught in everything. She knew that they needed to get out of Boston and go somewhere safe so that baby of theirs could grow up without having to worry about soldiers fighting right in front of them. "If you find a way to help them…yes, I'll help you. Just please save my brother and his wife." They, along with her father, were the only family that Keziah had left. She didn't want to lose them.
She watched William quietly, still biting her cheek. Perhaps changing history wouldn't be so bad, would it? Keziah had no clue how to change history, how much change could be brought about by two guns? She didn't care to think of the possibilities, instead she observed the men talking.

Her cheeks flared red when she caught what they were talking about. It was convincing enough, many men wished to spend a night with their wives before going off to battle. Hell she'd eve heard the other nurses talking about the advances made by soldiers. When the Sergeant's eyes wandered lower than her own, she narrowed her eyes and turned away from him. Well she was a bit of a hypocrite, right? She'd let William see her in her nightclothes and he was a stranger (somewhat at least.) But to the men guarding their borrowed home, they were married and that meant in their minds that William had seen her in much less than her nightgown.

Keziah stared up at him owlishly, her blush coming back even worse. She bit her lip and looked away. "I…" She really didn't want to do that, but he hadn't pressed her before, like the other day when he came back in his new uniform. She sighed and stood up, reaching out and tugging him a little bit closer by his shirt.

"We're not doing that. It isn't proper but…We are supposed to be husband and wife, are we not? Well then, listen to your wife." Keziah unbuttoned his shirt quickly and examined the gun shot wound from when they'd first met. "I say you're healing nicely. Remember to keep it clean. Wouldn't want you to get those…ah…what were they called? Those little things that you can't see…" Keziah grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bedroom. Her exhaustion hit her once she crossed through the doorway and she climbed into the bed, holding her arms out to him. It wasn't appropriate but if it kept the guards from getting suspicious then so be it. Plus she'd love the chance to catch them peeping through the windows.

She yawned, and once he was next to her in the bed, she curled close to him. For a little while she told him about her childhood near Lexington. Surely his childhood had been quite different than hers. All she had to play with were sticks and dolls made of old scraps of cloth with eyes made of dark colored string. Keziah's eyes felt heavy midway through the talk and she tried her best to stay awake.

"When your past catches up to you."

She listened to him, taking a few sips from the flask herself. It was probably a good thing that they had the flask in the first place. His story was hard to swallow. It was interesting, learning about all of these things that were to come. She tried picturing the things he talked about and she was sure whatever her imagination cooked up wasn't going to compare to the real thing. When he spoke of wars, especially the one that was going on now, she frowned. Why did war always have to happen? This war wasn't pointless, they'd be a free country. She was particularly interested in his personal history. She had invited this kan into her home, so she felt entitled to know something about him. The alcohol loosened his lips and she watched him carefully.

When he spoke of marriage and how he'd never settled down she couldn't help the bitter look that she got. "My husband told me the same thing. That I was a good woman and he didn't think himself as worthy." Keziah started telling him about Charles. How they had met (ironically they'd met as children. He had been Peter's cousin, an orphan from an early age who had gone to live with his aunt and uncle on a farm near Lexington.) She told him about the wedding and how blows had nearly been thrown because the men brought out alcohol. Keziah explained how her mother-in-law had been displeased that her son had married so young, and that his bride had been five years younger. Even now it was a bit uncommon to find a young bride. Most tried to put off marriage for aslong as they could.

"He died a few months into our marriage." She'd been keeping her voice low so their guards wouldn't hear. "He got sick with a fever. I...I tried everything I could have to save him and I failed. How can you call me a good woman when I let my husband die?" She asked him, her whisper straining with the effort to not cry. Keziah feared that she'd spoken too much and she moved away, into the bedroom. When she looked outside through the lone window in the bedroom it was nighttime. Keziah sifhed and pulled off her frilled cap before tossing it to the side and bringing her braid over her shoulder so she could untie the ribbon that held it.

She sat on the edge of the bed, blinking away her tears. When none fell she shuffled around the room and changed into her night clothes. It was a bit awkward that the soldiers could peer into the room if they chose to look through the windows.

After she was changed, Keziah went back out to sit by he fireplace. She was a bit bothered by the fact that this man was still a stranger, even though she knew everything about him, or about as close to everything as she could get. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that he wasn't even from now. Keziah pulled her long, loose hair over her shoulder and played with the ends. "Will I ever get home?" She asked him, dropping her hands from her hair and twisting them together in her lap.