"The demons of my past seem to have resurfaced in this damn war. Why?
WHY did I have to do that so many years ago? In my perpetual youth, I felt the need to be a hero. Well, now I'm a hero of war's past. And I stare at my son…who…inherited that
same foolishness from his father…" He then began to weep. He regained his composure
"Now it seems time has taken its payment for my own
sins. My fortune I have spent years
building up? Two of my sons? MY WIFE?
What more payment do you WANT of me?"
He stopped for a second to realize that he was arguing with
nothing. He began to tear apart what
little was in the tent to vent his built up anger. He accidentally tore the bag off Gabriel's body. Out spilled the flag that Gabriel had been
working on for many weeks. Martin
stopped in surprise, and picked up the flag.
He ran his fingers over the flag, like it was a hand-stitched quilt from
his old plantation house. It had blood
on it from when Gabriel first found those tattered scraps of that American
flag.
"The cause." He
muttered. He cocked his head to the
side and continued to examine the flag.
"The cause," he said a little louder.
"My son, I thought you have died in vain. But if we win this war, we shall become legends. No, your sacrifice was not in vain. Someday, they shall speak upon us as gods,
despite that we all suffered heavily in this war." A single tear rolled down Martin's face, as he took Gabriel's
body to a quite spot under the trees.
After burying Gabriel's body, he took the flag and found an abandoned
tent pole. He quickly attached the flag
to the pole, and mounted his trusty steed.
"Thank you my son.
You have helped me see a higher purpose in your death. Now, it shall be avenged, and your death,
along with others who have been slain for the cause, will not have been in
vain. You died for others, in the future. Future Americans…" Martin pulled out his
tomahawk (the closest thing he had to a sword), and touched it to the
boot. Since they days of mounted
commanders, this was the highest salute possible from a higher officer. Martin put the tomahawk back in its proper
place, and then rode off at full gallop to catch up with the rest of the
militia. He knew General Greene and
Henry Burwell were gonna need all the support they could muster against Lord
Charles Cornwallis.
