Chapter 1

Not sure if this will go anywhere...but its always a possibility. Tell me what you think!!

The cannons boomed in the distance. Charles Town could not hold the flood back any longer; the British forces were there in the harbor and they were overpowering the Continentals fiercely. Charlotte Selton nervously packed her belongings as her servants rushed around the beautiful house she'd now known for all her life, so many happy times with her family, especially her sister, Elizabeth.

She'd moved out for a time when she was married to John Selton. Yet 1771, on a sea voyage, a strong hurricane had hit the area. For days there was no sign of his ship, the Invincible. Then finally, broken slats of wood began washing up on the Charles Town shores. John Selton was never found. Charlotte was devastated, seeking consolation in needlework and books. A widow at 26, she moved back in with her parents. Mr Putnam, who had built the house that they lived in, then died in his sleep a year later. And then, a year after that, Elizabeth died giving birth to her daughter, Susan.

But that Elizabeth's death was already 7 years in the past. Charlotte continued to live at the Putnam mansion in general comfort. She even reluctantly allowed herself to be courted by a man by the name of Wilkins. He'd courted her sister many years before and was unsuccessful. He was also unsuccessful with Charlotte. After the tiresome trial of courtship, Charlotte vowed she'd not be pursued by any men for a long time.

Another cannon shot threw her back into reality. Her slaves were running around getting everything into the wagon to escape to Drakespur, the Selton plantation on the banks of the Santee. There seemed to be, all of a sudden, some chaotic unrest in the streets. Charlotte ran to her balcony. People were in a panic: the British had taken the city. Charlotte watched in paralyzed terror as the masts of the warships flying the Union Jack could be seen looming over the houses of Charles Town. Soon, British soldiers flooded the streets.

Charlotte ran back inside to finish packing. If they got out soon, perhaps they'd be unnoticed.

"Butterfly," she asked her lady's maid, "has Matthew hitched the wagon yet?"

"Yes, Miss Charlotte," she replied, carrying a chest out of the bedroom, "everything is nearly packed. You want your hat and shawl now?"

"Yes, Butterfly."

Butterfly nodded, "I'll get them for you as soon as I put the chest into the wagon, Miss Charlotte."

Charlotte finished up packing and looked around her bedroom. She silently prayed it would still be here when she would return. If she would return. She found herself out on the balcony again, watching the ominous, insidious parade march past her home. From her balcony she could also see, in the distance, the assembly flag change to the Union Jack. Feeling light headed, Charlotte was thankful when Butterfly came back to pin her hat to her head and put her shawl about her shoulders. In spite of the suffocating heat, Charlotte shivered as the chaos grew.

The situation was too real, too intense. Charlotte shut out all sound, all sight. In a whirl of blurry confusion, she was ushered down the stairs and out the back door to a waiting wagon. The cannons had come to an eerie halt and there was no more action in the streets. With Matthew at the reins and a few other servants in the wagon and on horseback, Charlotte felt a little safer, yet they were not out of the woods yet. They moved swiftly through the streets to get out of the city as soon as possible.

As they passed through, Charlotte looked at the city in a haze. She was scared. Scared of the unknown future--what would become of her? Her family had left her a considerable fortune but without a man by her side, she had no security.

If only John was here. If only he had his arms around me. He'd know what to do. Everything would be fine. Everything would've have been so very different. So much happier. But John isn't here. I have to fare this storm alone. I've lost everything. My world has fallen around me and now it lays lifeless at my feet. ...Just get to Drakespur...just get to Drakespur...

Charlotte wiped away a few stray tears that rolled down her cheek as she left Charles Town. Right before they got to the edge of the city, she spied a group of men ahead of them. They had green jackets and large bearskin caps. Charlotte did not know that they were the most efficiently brutal force the British military had to offer.

"I order you to halt," an officer brought himself, on horseback, in front of the wagon, "I am Colonel Tavington of His Majesty's Green Dragoons. "