Chapter 1

July 1782

Williamsburg, Virginia

Emeline Claiborne was without any question the most beautiful young girl in Williamsburg. She was tall and thin, her vibrant red hair outlined a face with delicate features, and her eyes were the color of the ocean. She had suitors asking her father's permission to court her since the young age of eleven. But she refused every single one of them.

Emeline was also unusually intelligent, she spoke French and Latin fluently, practiced advanced mathematics in her free time, and read as many books on history and art that she could lay her hands on. She was by all means a liberated woman, she had reached "enlightenment" and perhaps this was why she had refused every offer of courtship and marriage she had received. She couldn't be bothered with marriage as it would mean her very little freedom would be taken from her.

She disliked the company of people and would rather go riding her horse or left to contemplate philosophy to herself. She had a free spirit and spent most of her time outdoors.

However, when she was around people, she would often offend them with her fiery temper. Most people agreed that while Emeline Claiborne was beautiful she had an unflattering personality. She was not a mean person, no, Emeline was quite the opposite she had more tolerance and love than most people, she was however not afraid to express her feelings honestly and sometimes brutally. Had she been born at a later time she would not of been thought upon as being unpleasant but in 18th century Virginia, her behavior was deemed inappropriate for a young woman.

The only people that Emeline allowed herself to get close to were her doting parents Henry and Elizabeth Claiborne. Both of who had been born in England. Her father was a close advisor and friend of the governor of Virginia, and his loyalties lied with the King.

Many people were often shocked at the thought that Emeline was in fact a loyalist because her mannerism screamed PATRIOT.

What she lacked in people skills she made up for in her ability to calm horses. Her quite nature made her approachable by even the most difficult and stubborn of horses. She was known throughout Williamsburg for her ability to "cure" horses of their fright of the harness or saddle. She was possibly the most puzzling and intriguing person that lived in Williamsburg.

The Claiborne family sat at their dining room table on a particularly beautiful July evening.

Henry talked about his day at work with the Governor. Elizabeth replayed the events of her ladies sewing circle, and the young Emeline talked about the horse whom she had just begun to work with.

They were the portrait of a perfect Loyalist family. The father, who worked for the Governor himself and who was well acquainted with members of the parliament back in England. Nationalism for his beloved homeland ran strongly through his blood. The mother, who was a doting wife and mother, stayed at home and kept house, sewed everyone's clothes and she had a never endless supply of gossip. Lastly there was their daughter, who loved her parents dearly, she was beautiful, intelligent, and knew exactly how her future home should be kept.

As the dinner conversation shifted towards talk of the ongoing war, the family held firm to their beliefs, every single on of them agreed wholeheartedly that England was their motherland and that it should remain that way.

As dinner ended and night began to fall Emeline kissed her parents foreheads and bade them goodnight.

She slipped out the back door and began her traditional leisurely walk down the Duke of Gloucester Street. She loved Williamsburg most when it's streets were empty, she loved those times in the mornings when everyone was still asleep and those times in the evenings when everyone was returning home and going to sleep.

She walked at a slow and steady pace. Humming to herself. The air outside was slightly breezy but it was still that perfect and wonderful summer night. She kicked up dust and gravel as she walked down the street. The windows of the houses were darkened. She continued to walk as she entered the business part of town.

She could hear the rowdy laughter wafting out of the tavern. She would pause occasionally to peer in the windows of the many shops lining the street.

She stopped abruptly at one of the general stores; she could hear hushed voices coming from inside the store. She pressed her nose up against the class to see what was happening inside. She could make out several dark figures lifting boxes and sacks of sugar and flour and moving them out the back door.

This puzzled Emeline, she knew the shops owner, he was a good friend of her fathers and a loyalist. The owner was currently on a commissioner trip. She continued to peer in the window trying to distinguish who the men were. She decided to slip around the back of the building to see where they were taking the boxes. She crept slowly around the side of the shop. She poked her head around the corner cautiously and she could immediately see that they were loading everything onto a wagon. She could see the men more clearly and she noticed immediately that some of the men were wearing patriot military uniforms.

She drew back and knew she had to tell her father that the men were robbing the store but she tripped over an empty crate and fell down with a large crash. She scrambled to her feet quickly.

A few of the men turned and hollered, "Who's there?"

Emeline was shaking with fear. One of the men ran to where she was hidden behind the wall. She closed her eyes and tried to remain silent but the man turned his head around the corner and immediately saw her.

"What the hell do you think your doing"? He said as he grabbed her arms and began dragging her inside the store.

He pushed her into a chair and tied her arms to the side of the chair and her feet to the legs of the chair. The room began to fill with more men. They were all grumbling.

"Who is that", "Do you think she saw what we were doing?" "Is she a loyalist".

One of them turned to face her and asked, "What's your name"?

She looked at the man and screeched, "I'm not telling you, you filthy thief!"

The soldier was quick to slap her across the face. She felt a sharp stinging pain trickle up the side of her face and she could feel the urge to cry but she thought to herself I must not cry, I cannot cry, I cannot cry in front of these thief's.

She heard the room silence when a young man of tall and muscular stature entered the room; he had dark brown hair, and eyes the color of chocolate.

"Frankie! We do not abuse our prisoners!" He yelled at the man who had slapped her.

He stepped forward to Emeline and grabbed her chin to look at her cheek.

"You'll be fine, it doesn't look like it will bruise".

She remained silent. He turned to face the other men.

"Do you know who she is?"

They grumbled "No".

He turned again to face Emeline.

"What's your name?"

She spat at him "I'm not telling you dirty thief my name!".

The captain was taken aback by her response. Emeline noticed a smile creep onto his face.

"Feisty I can tell, never mind, I think I know who you are, your Henry Claiborne's daughter".

Noise erupted around the room.

"CLAIBORNE! You don't mean the Governor's advisor!"

The captain turned to face them "Aye".

"We should take the girl hostage Captain, her family is very wealthy, and they would pay a hefty price to have their daughter back".

Emeline could feel tears forming in her eyes. The Captain nodded.

"Get the horses ready".

The soldiers began filing out of the room. The Captain walked towards Emeline again and took out a knife to cut her ropes. He grabbed her hand and pulled her outside.

He whispered into her ear "I promise that I won't hurt you".

It was an empty promise on The Captains part for he had no idea what was to come in the future; he didn't know that they would hurt each other.

He began to lift her up onto a copper colored thoroughbred but she yelled at him "I know how to mount a horse!" He put her down and she swiftly mounted the horses back. The Captain mounted the horse after her.

"I'm not riding alone?" Emeline asked.

"No, this is my horse, and I'm not going to risk having you run away"The captain replied.

The rest of the soldiers mounted their horses and Emeline could see her life being left behind. They rode through the night and into the dawn. Emeline had to fight to keep her eyes open. As the sun was rising they approached a large white farmhouse that was surrounded by smaller homes which must have been slave housing at some point.

"This is where my troops base themselves at".

Emeline remained silent, but she could see the soldiers dismounting their horses and returning to their homes. The captain led her inside the farmhouse and large, elderly women came bustling out.

"Hello dear my name is Martha, I'll show you to your rooms".

Emeline followed Martha up the stairs and down the hall to a bedroom facing the woods behind the house. The room was simple. There was a four-poster bed, a clothing press, and a writing chair.

"Ben wanted me to tell you that you are free to go wherever you want to on the grounds, we'll eat breakfast in about an hour".

Martha nodded and left Emeline alone. It was too much to take in for Emeline. She wasn't in Williamsburg anymore; she didn't know where she was. Her family was probably already looking for her but she wondered how long it would take them to find her. She wasn't frightened by her captives except for the few of the more rowdy soldiers. She could tell that Martha was a kind women but she still wasn't sure if she could trust the Captain, Ben was his name, he wasn't harsh, he was surprisingly calm, their was something about his eyes that shined with kindness but also with sadness. She willed herself to sleep for a few minutes trying to forget everything that had happened in the night.