"Papa! Papa! You forgot your hat!" Bella called out as she ran down the front steps of the house, waving her father's tricorne hat as she held her skirts and petticoats out of the way with the other, despite this, she still almost tripped over her own feet as she rushed to her father, who had paused in the act of mounting his horse.
"Slowly there, Bella. We wouldn't want you falling again," Charles said with amusement as he made his way towards his daughter, taking the hat from her hands. "Thank you, child. I'd forget my own head if it wasn't attached to my body."
Bella forced a smile as she watched her father put the hat on his head, covering his mussed up salt and pepper colored hair, but there was no way she could fool her father. Seeing the look in her eyes he sighed. "There, there now, Bella. I will be home before you know it."
Blinking back her tears she nodded and said, "Yes, papa." She was frightened, but she was doing her best not to show it. With her father gone and her brother away at school, she knew it was up to her to handle most of the duties of the farm. But, that wasn't what frightened her. What frightened her were the whispers she heard between her parents when they thought she had gone to bed. She knew that they were worried about the winds of change that were blowing through the colonies.
Her father was a quiet man and he tried to live life in peace on his farm with his family, but the atrocities happening everyday around them started to creep into their everyday lives. She could still remember four short years before when the Horrid Massacre had happened. Her own friend Alice's cousin, poor Sammy Maverick, had been struck and killed when the King's own men had shot into a crowd. Sammy had been murdered along with four others and over six had been wounded. Poor Sammy had only been seventeen at the time, the same age she was now. Her father had been incensed at the incident and it was the first time she had ever heard him express any shame towards his past as an officer with His Majesty's Royal Army. Bella had only been thirteen when her father stopped speaking of his ties to the military with a sense of pride. A lot of things had changed about her father after that day. She remembered her father's heated discussions with Mr. Adams, the neighbor who had defended the soldiers involved in the Massacre. It was one of the few times she had heard her father raise his voice. He and Mr. Adams were getting along well now though. In fact, the two of them were taking the trip to Philadelphia together along with Mr. Cushing, a local lawyer and merchant, and two others. While her father claimed that he did not want to court trouble, he also said that a man had to stand for what was right and that something had to be done to stand up in opposition of Intolerable Acts instituted by the British Parliament.
Yes, there was trouble brewing, and her family was right in the middle of it.
"You be good and help your mother," Charles said before he kissed her forehead. In that brief moment, she could sense that he was frightened too, but by the time he turned and mounted his horse he was smiling at her from under his mustache. "I'll see you soon!"
Nodding again, Bella lifted her hand in a small wave and watched as her father rode off in the direction of the Adams' farm.
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It had been over a week since her father had left to Pennsylvania and Bella was already tired. In addition to her regular chores around the farm, she now had more work due to her father's absence as well as the fact that her mother was continuing to sulk. She understood that her mother was worried and that she missed papa, but it was a bit ridiculous that she couldn't help more around the farm and house, insisting on staying in her room.
As she hauled the last of the root vegetables she had been able to pick through the back door into the kitchen she sighed when she noticed that dinner wasn't ready despite the fact that her mother had promised to cook so she could do what needed to be done all day outside.
"Mama!" her voice rang out through the house as she hung her outdoor apron on the pegs by the door.
"Goodness, child, why are you yelling? I was just in the parlor," said Renee as she walked into the kitchen, fiddling with one of her earbobs.
Bella was surprised that her mother had not only finally left her room, but that she was dressed in one of her nicer dresses with some of her finer jewelry. "I apologize, mother, I…I just thought you were going to make dinner."
"Oh! Yes, well, we've been invited over to the Brandon's. Didn't I tell you? You really should get ready, we're expected within the hour," Renee replied with a smile before she drifted out of the room again.
Shaking her head Bella put some water to heat on the stove so she could clean up a bit. It wouldn't do to show up at the Brandon's smelling like manure and soil. Alice might be her best friend, but the fact that she was the only girl in a family of four brothers combined with the fact that her family was a bit better off than Bella's meant that Alice had very little concept of what it was to do chores.
She took the heated water with her to her bedroom and put it in her wash basin, cleaning up as much as she could considering there was not time for a full bath. She hurried to get ready, doing the best she could in the short amount of time they had. It came as no surprise to her that her mother had forgotten to tell her about the dinner. If it weren't for the fact that the invitation had finally gotten her mother out of her bedroom and that she was going to be spending time with Alice, she would have preferred to just have fallen into bed with no supper.
Slipping into a clean petticoat and corset followed by one of her nicer gowns, she styled her hair simply before heading downstairs, happy to find that her mother had had asked one of the farmhands to pull the wagon around to the front of the house.
As she climbed into the wagon, taking the reins, she hoped they would have a good evening.
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Dinner had been the usual boisterous affair that it was at the Brandon's. Renee had failed to inform Bella that all four of Alice's brothers were going to be in attendance, and all the Brandons together made for a loud, animated bunch. Bella, never the one that liked to be the center of attention, had listened as the conversation at the dinner table ranged from the going-ons of some of Boston's finest families to how the boys were doing at the various professions or school. One thing that was never discussed was politics. Mr. Brandon did not approve of women being included in such discussions.
As the evening progressed and they moved into the parlor, and at one point when Alice went up to her room to get some fabric swatches to show Bella, Alice's oldest brother, Garrett, came to sit by her. Of all of Alice's brothers, Garrett was the one that Bella knew the least. He was a year older than her own brother and had usually been away at school whenever she visited Alice.
"Let me guess," Garrett said with a kind smile as he settled next to Bella, "Alice has gone to get some sketches or fabric to show you and get your opinion."
Bella smiled and nodded. "She tries to get my opinion every time we get the chance to visit. Unfortunately, I don't think Mrs. Brandon shares her proclivity towards keeping up with the latest fashions."
Garrett chuckled. "No, mother is not the type, but we all still try to indulge her since she is the baby of the family…and the only girl, but there is only so much advice a brother can give about dresses."
"I don't think I'm that much help either," Bella confessed, "I think she has her mind made up before she even asks my opinion."
Garrett laughed. "You're probably right." He smiled bright at her, his blue eyes twinkling. "You have both grown up so much."
His words caused Bella to blush and she let her eyes wander about the room, noticing her mother and Mrs. Brandon looking their way and talking quietly across the room. Something about the way that they were looking at her and Garrett made her feel a bit unsettled and she turned her head, realizing that Garrett had said something.
"Pardon me?" she asked, having missed what he had said.
"I was wondering if I might come by the farm tomorrow," Garrett said with a smile.
"Oh, well, I'm afraid you mustn't have heard. Papa is away in Philadelphia on business…," she stopped when Garrett chuckled softly and shook his head. "Forgive me," he said, "I should have been clearer concerning my intentions. I meant to ask if I may come to your home tomorrow…to call on you."
A/N: This is just a new story I'm trying out. I'm trying to fit in the history the best and most accurate way I can. Please let me know what you think! The more reviews I receive the more motivated I'll be to continue!