Alfred tried to travel north quickly, but the roads were essentially dirt trails and full of ruts. Occasionally a carriage that belonged to a wealthy family would rumble past him, but that was rather infrequent. Traders too passed by with their goods, seeking better markets. He struggled into Annapolis two weeks after he left the Virginias. All of the food he had brought with him had run out a week in so he had resorted to scavenging berries and other edible plants, and, if he passed a farm, taking some eggs if there were chickens or vegetables from the garden if there weren't. Still, when he arrived in Annapolis he looked like a raggamuffin.

He stopped in the center of town by an inn. Walking around to the back, he found a water trough with decently clean water. He was so focused on washing his face and hands, he didn't notice the 8-ish year old girl walk out of the inn. She was wearing ankle length pants and a loose cotton shirt belted at the waist. Her shoulder length brown hair was held back with a rag tied around her head like the pirates Iggy told him to avoid. Alfred jerked up when he heard a giggle right behind him.

"Silly, you aren't a horse." she laughed.

"No, of course not," he responded sulkily.

"So what were you doing in the water trough?"

"I was washing myself. I was filthy."

"Why don't you just come in and get a bath then?"

"I've no money."

She laughed again, rather loudly, but still a delightful sound. "How'd you get here then?"

"I walked."

"From where?"

"Williamsburg. It's on the James River. In Virginia"

"That far! You're mad!"

"I guess… I just kinda felt like I had to be here? I don't really know."

"Well that's a stupid reason if I've ever heard one." she sniffed.

"Who are you to decide if reasons are stupid or not?"

"I'm the best fisher in the whole colony." she said, puffing out her chest, before muttering "If people would notice me."

Alfred looked at her with undisguised awe, "Your parents let you go fishing?"

"No. I take care of myself. I live down by the water. If I need anything, the church has charity for the poor."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

She grinned again. "It's alright. Nothing you can do about it."

With that, she turned and flounced back into the inn. Well, flounced as well as she could while wearing pants, which was very well mind you. Alfred finished washing up before wandering around Annapolis some. By evening, he had ended up in the shipyards, watching men and boys build and repair ships for fishing, oystering, and trading across the sea.

~~A few days later~~

Alfred had been spending his time wandering the docks, watching and listening to the sailors in the bars; stealing food, mostly breads and fruits, off of stands; and searching for the girl he'd met at the inn. The sailors were coarse and vulgar, but they had wonderful stories of their experiences. Especially pirates. Iggy hardly ever talked about pirates, though he was often sailing around 'on business'. The food was fine, though it tasted sweeter as a fruit of his own labor. Iggy always said stealing was bad, but he had no money and no one would hire a child and pay them well. The girl, however, remained elusive. Alfred, when he could gather the courage, would ask the sailors about her, but none of them were willing to answer.

Finally, he gave up on finding her. If she didn't want to be found he wouldn't seek her out. Probably. Come Sunday, Alfred made his way to a Catholic church for a change. England only ever took him to the Anglican services. Alfred didn't understand it, it was the same God no matter where you went He shouldn't care how you went about worshiping him. The service was nice, essentially what he was used to. On his way out after the service had ended he saw the girl again. She was hurrying out a side door and looked like she was about to be sick. Alfred ran after her, into the side courtyard. She was hunched over the bushes dry heaving.

"Hey, hey. What's the matter? It'll be alright." murmured Alfred, rubbing her back.

"I'm fine," she said in a bit, after she'd finished and wiped her mouth, "I'm fine."

"Here, why don't we go to your home. I'll make sure you're recovering, and everything."

~~Swoosh (those scene changes George Lucas uses in Star Wars)~~

She had a two-room house, if you could call it that, near a personal dock into the bay. A small sailboat was moored there, and the dock was covered in empty crab traps. Inside the front room was a small cooking area, consisting of a counter over cupboards and a fireplace. There was a table and chair against the opposite wall, and the rest of the area was filled with half-built traps, broken traps in the process of being repaired, an assortment of nets, and many varieties of knives. The back room had her bed and a wardrobe.

Alfred laid her on the bed, which she protested, but Alfred was insistent. Finally she sank down into the sheets. Alfred took the chair from the other room and set it next to the bed.

"So do you know why you're sick?" he asked finally.

"Yeah."

"You gonna tell me?"

"No. It doesn't involve you."

"But I carried you all the way here. The least you could do is tell me why you're sick."

"It doesn't involve you boy. Let me be."

"Fine then. I'll make you something light to eat, and stay with you tonight."

"That's absolutely unnecessary. I can take care of myself."

Her protests, however, fell on deaf ears, as Alfred made his way to her fireplace and began scrounging up a light crab broth. They ate together in the bedroom, Alfred happily chattering about his experiences in Annapolis.

"Mary." she interrupted him suddenly, "My name is Mary. I was named after the Queen."

"Alfred." he grinned at her, "An old King."

"Well Alfred." she looked him dead in the eyes, "I feel's though I can trust you."

"Well sure I'm trustworthy. I ain't gonna sell you out! Well, unless it's something awful like."

"I'm the Province of Maryland." she said, looking away.

Alfred launched himself up onto her bed and tackled her into a hug. She let out a surprised laugh, but hugged him back equally as hard. Alfred suddenly held out his hand to shake. When Mary did, he said in a nice official voice, "Hello Province of Maryland. I am the British American Colonies. It's wonderful to meet you!"

They both talked late into the night, enjoying each other's company. She was a wonderful storyteller, and was more than willing to share tales of her exploits at sea. Alfred was pretty sure most of what she described was exaggeration, but it was entertaining to listen and imagine.

They ended up spending two weeks together, Mary taught Alfred how to lay crab traps and how to barter and sell the crabs once they got them. She also taught him how to sail in her boat The Oriole, but he got horribly seasick easily. Soon though, Alfred felt the call again, this time more to the east, across the Chesapeake. When he mentioned it to Mary, she only grunted. (She didn't really like her neighbors).

She did however help Alfred pack all of his belongings into a small sack. (He didn't have much, only a spare set of clothes and a little money they'd made off of crabs). Once he felt satisfied that he had everything, they went out to The Oriole. He really didn't want to sail, but he'd figured about a week to walk, and Mary had figured about 2 days (if the winds were right) sailing, so he accepted the necessity of convenience.

Two days later, a horribly seasick Alfred was deposited in New Castle by Maryland who, as soon as she knew Alfred would be alright, turned and sailed back to her territory.

A/N

So I realized that I left something out of the Virginia Chapter, so I'm going to add it here, before moving it back for the next chapter. That something is the actual history I'm pulling from (loosely).

Virginia:

Virginia was finally founded in 1607 after a couple failed attempts. The colony's charter was granted to the Virginia Company, a joint stock company, in 1606 by King James I. Virginia was named after Queen Elizabeth, the virgin queen. The original goal of the colony was to find gold, so they followed the example of Spain, and sent only men. They didn't have the skill set required to take care of themselves, no farmers etc. Instead they demanded tribute from the Native Peoples and wasted all of their time digging for gold instead of planting food. Jamestown, where they settled, was a very poor place to live. It was swampy, and had little access to potable water. Many of the settlers died of mosquito borne diseases and starvation. The settlers didn't get along very well with the local Native people (who's chief was Powhatan). Political issues between the groups led to many years of war between them. Things finally looked up for the colony at the discovery of tobacco. This was a cash crop in much the same way as sugar was in the Caribbean. The growth of tobacco encouraged migration, and to support this the Virginia Company offered land to those who traveled, especially indentured servants. In 1619 the Company also created the House of Burgesses, that oversaw local laws. It answered to the crown, but was essentially an independent local government. Eventually, because the indentured servants only served for a set number of years, and were then "free", the colony switched to slave labor. This was because the released indentured servants demanded land of their own and the aristocracy didn't want to be overthrown. Bacon's Rebellion was the deciding factor in this. When the tobacco market crashed in the 1660's slavery became more set in the colony as did the power of the plantation owners. Virginia became a royal colony in 1624.

Maryland:

Maryland was founded in 1634 after King Charles I (successor to King James I) granted a charter to Cecilius Calvert (Lord Baltimore) in 1632. It was intended as a refuge for English Catholics, since they were facing persecution in England. It to was a plantation colony, and relied on tobacco, however fishing was also important to the economy. Baltimore quickly became an important city for trade in the region. Political strife caused Baltimore to grant the settlers a representative assembly. Baltimore encouraged the passage of the Toleration Act (1649) to protect Catholics, but religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics was still very frequent. There was also disagreements between colonies, from 1631 to 1657 Maryland and Virginia fought over the placement of the border, though this was also religiously motivated, as Virginia was protestant. Still despite this conflict, Maryland ended up very similar socially to Virginia. Maryland later had a conflict with Pennsylvania over the border which resulted in the Mason-Dixon Line (which defined which states were southern and which weren't). Maryland also claimed some territory that was New York's in 1672, but this didn't go anywhere as the crown gave it to New York. Maryland became a royal colony in 1689, when the charter was withdrawn.

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