Chapter 1:
A United America
"Emmett James Swan don't you dare track mud in here!" his mother, Renee, admonished.
"Yes ma'am," Emmett said, poking his head through the open window.
"Wash up, dinner's almost ready," Bella told her brother, as she set a loaf of freshly baked bread on the table.
"Great! I'm starved," Emmett said, before plunging his filthy hands into the wash basin.
"Where are your father and brother?" Renee asked, setting down a plate of fried ham.
"They're still in the field. Father says he wants to finish plowing before the sun sets," Emmett said, wiping off his face with an already soiled towel.
"That man," Renee said, shaking her head. "He's going to work himself to death. You should have stayed to help," she scolded, furrowing her eyebrows at her youngest son.
"Jasper said it was all right if I went in," Emmett said, averting his gaze from his mother's intense glare.
"Fine," Renee said, exhaling an exasperated breath. "Sit down."
Isabella cast her brother a sympathetic look. Her mother had always been exceedingly tough on him because of his childlike personality and simple outlook on life. Jasper, on the other hand, was the apple of their mother's eye. He was Isabella's twin and Emmett's antithesis. Jasper had an ear for music and played the violin exceptionally well. He loved to read and had been at the top of his class in school. He would have gone back to England for college if Renee had had her way, but a crop failure had shattered all of her hopes. The Swan's simply could not afford to send their eldest child abroad. At first, Jasper had been devastated. A bookworm, he wasn't particularly cut out for farm work. Plus, he had had Oxford on the brain for such a long time; it was hard to dissect that desire from his mind. After a couple of years though, he had settled into his new life and had since become quite content or so it would seem.
"They're coming in now," Renee said, catching sight of Charles and Jasper through the window. "Put that bread down! Where are your manners?" she snapped at Emmett.
"I thought she said I could start," Emmett whispered to his sister.
"Forget it Em. She's just having a bad day." Isabella said.
"She's always having a bad day," Emmett muttered under his breath.
Isabella patted him on the shoulder a strained smile on her face.
"Dinner smells great," Charles Swan's voice boomed as he came through the door. He and Jasper hurriedly washed their dirt stained hands and faces before making their way to the table.
"How are my girls today?" Charles Swan asked, before taking his seat.
"Just fine," Renee said briskly, before taking her own seat.
Jasper cast his sister a "what is her problem" look and Isabella responded with an "it's the same thing as usual" look.
"So," Charles Swan said, once everyone had a steaming plate full of ham, mashed potatoes, and green beans, "We managed to finish plowing the south field today."
"That's wonderful," Renee said without much enthusiasm.
"I couldn't have done it without my sons," Charles said, beaming.
"Emmett nearly cleared half of the field himself before lunchtime," Jasper chimed in.
Jasper was always trying to boost Emmett's station in their mother's eyes.
"So Jasper," Renee said, changing the subject. "There's a dance coming up in town and I think you and Bella should go."
"Mother," Bella began.
"Now Bella, you and I both know; that you and Jasper are much too old to be single. I was already married to your father for four years when I was your age."
"Mother I am only twenty! I'm not some old spinster!"
"Bite your tongue girl!" Renee hissed.
Bella blinked back the tears that threatened to fall from her brown eyes. She felt Emmett's large hand enclose around hers and she smiled up at him gratefully.
Seeing his sister's distress, Jasper turned to face his mother.
"Listen mother, I'm not going to be around long enough to court anyone."
Everyone at the table went silent. Not even the clank of a fork against a china plate could be heard.
After a moment of silence, Jasper spoke again, "I'm going to enlist."
"What?" Renee shrieked.
"I'm joining up with the Virginian militia to fight the Regulars."
"No you are not!" Renee said, nearly jumping up from her seat. "Charles, tell him! Tell him he can't go!" she cried, pleading with her husband.
Charles Swan was silent for what seemed like an eternity, his face furrowed in concentration. Finally, he said, "I can't force him to stay."
His words sounded more like an apology than a statement. He looked over at his son, pain in his eyes.
"Charles!" Renee cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I can't force him to stay because that would make me a hypocrite."
"What do you mean father?" asked Bella, who like Emmett had been too shocked to speak.
"Yes, what do you mean father?" Jasper asked.
"I'm going with you."
"Charles you can't!" Renee cried. "What will become of us?"
Charles looked across the table at his distraught wife, "Emmett will stay."
Emmett looked up from his plate, his blue eyes wide, "Come now father!" he cried. I'm coming with you!"
"No Emmett you're staying here," Charles said sternly. "Besides, you are too young to enlist."
"I'm seventeen!"
"You're too young," Jasper said coldly.
Emmett recoiled at his brother's harsh words. He looked down at his full plate, twirling his fork around in his mashed potatoes. Bella could tell that he had tears welling up in his eyes.
"When do you leave?" Bella asked, after an eerily long silence.
"Tomorrow," Jasper said.
"So soon?" Bella asked.
"It won't be long before King George sends more regulars and we need to be ready."
"The Hell with King George let him have the colonies. What do you care?" Emmett said tartly, narrowing his eyes at his brother.
Jasper stood up abruptly, shoving his chair aside. Reaching across the table, he grabbed his brother by the collar and hoisted him up.
"Jasper let him go!" Charles shouted.
Ignoring his father's order, Jasper tightened his hold on Emmett's neck. "You have no honor! No sense of pride or responsibility," he snarled. "You're just a little boy, who has no idea what freedom means."
With that, Jasper released Emmett, who crumpled to the floor coughing and crying. With one last venomous glare at his brother, Jasper strode from the house.
"Jasper! Wait!" Bella cried, running after her brother.
"Bella leave him alone," Renee shouted, who was kneeling on the floor to tend to Emmett.
Sick to death of her mother's orders, Bella kept running. She ran into the setting sun after her twin.
"Jasper! Stop! Please!" Bella shouted.
Jasper turned to look at his sister. The sunset casting a pink glow over his features. Despite his obvious masculine appearance, Bella could still see herself in her brother's face.
"What do you want Bella?" Jasper asked his voice weary.
"I just want to know why you're doing this. Is it because you couldn't go to college? Do you need adventure in your life?"
Jasper rolled his eyes and looked up towards the heavens. "Did you not just hear what I said to Emmett?"
"I couldn't miss it," Bella said, frustrated with her brother's hostile tone.
"Well then, there's your answer," Jasper said, turning to walk away.
"So that's it then. You're just going to leave your family to die, while you and father live out some hero fantasy?
Jasper turned on his heel. "Do you think this is some kind of impulse Bella? Do you think I'm doing this for the glory or to get my name written down in some history book?"
Before Bella could answer, Jasper continued, "I've thought about this long and hard. I have thought about the consequences. I know I might die. I know I might suffer, but I will know that what I died for mattered. America will be united and free."
"That's a wonderful dream Jasper," Bella said. "But let's be realistic. The regulars are more powerful than you'd ever imagine. They have more soldiers than we could ever hope to have and with more weapons to aid them. You'll be fighting a one-sided war and all of your hopes and dreams will be for naught."
"I thought you of all people would understand," Jasper said.
"No Jasper, I could never understand a reason for war."
Bella watched as her brother turned and walked towards the river that ran down the north perimeter of their land. Soon his body was engulfed with darkness and Bella decided to return to the house.
When she entered, everything was back to normal or so it would seem to an outsider. The dinner mess had been cleared from the table. A fire was crackling in the hearth. Her mother was knitting in her rocking chair and her father was cleaning his musket at the table. The only person missing from the scene was Emmett.
"Where is Emmett?" Bella asked.
"He went to bed," Renee said, not looking up from her sewing.
"I think I'll do the same," Bella said. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," both Charles and Renee muttered simultaneously.
Before Bella retired to her room, she sneaked down the hall and knocked on Emmett's door. When he didn't answer, she turned the handle and walked in. Emmett was sitting by his open window, the light breeze ruffling his brown hair.
"Em, are you all right?" Bella asked, taking a seat on the bed.
When he didn't respond, Bella strode over to his side and knelt down before him. Taking his hands in hers, she gave them a squeeze. "Emmett, look at me, please."
Emmett didn't acquiesce to her request right away, but after a couple of minutes he turned his blue eyes upon her.
"Bella, I just want to prove to mother that I'm a man like Jasper, but no matter how hard I try..." Emmett's words were cut off by the sob that ripped through him.
"Listen to me Em," Bella said, wiping away her brother's tears. "You are a man. You are the man of the house now. Mother loves you very much. She's cross with you because she has such high expectations for you," Bella said, fudging the last part.
"Expectations that I can't fill," Emmett sniffled.
"Stop it, stop feeling sorry for yourself. You know in here," Bella said, tapping Emmett's chest, "that you are a decent man, a good man, a strong man."
Bella wrapped her arms around Emmett's broad shoulders, patting him on the back.
"I love you Bells," he said, dampening her dress with his tears.
"I love you too Em," Bella said, finally allowing her own tears to break free.
When Bella finally retired to her own room, she collapsed on the bed, still fully clothed. She knew that sleep would not come to her easily, so she sat up and walked over to her desk. Lighting a candle, she looked down at her unfinished sketch. It was a picture of Jasper on his horse. He looked so stoic and strong. Picking up her charcoal, Bella began to add a uniform to Jasper's paper manifestation. She felt tears burn in her eyes as Jasper, the soldier, stared back at her. A wave of anger came over her and she crumpled the paper, violently throwing it into the corner. Sobbing, she dived into her bed, burying her face into the pillow to drown out her wails. Sleep eventually came to her, but it wasn't one of peace.
Bella dreamed that Jasper got shot in the leg. A military doctor tried to take the bullet out, but couldn't because it was embedded too deeply in the flesh. Eventually, the leg turned gangrene and the doctor was forced to amputate it.
Bella awoke just before the saw came in contact with the skin above Jasper's knee.
"Jasper, what are you getting yourself into?" Bella whispered to herself, before forcing herself from the bed.
As she descended the stairs to the kitchen, Bella heard her mother and father arguing. She halted at the bottom step, not wanting to interrupt them.
"This is your fault," Renee's voice accused.
"My fault? Pray tell me why," Charles hissed.
"You planted these delusions of grandeur in his head. You told him the tales of when you fought against the French!"
"Listen to yourself Renee! Jasper is twenty years old! He knows what he's doing! What's done is done! We're leaving after breakfast."
Bella listened as her mother burst into tears and her father stomped from the house, the kitchen door slamming behind him.
Cautiously, Bella entered the kitchen. Her mother was seated at the kitchen table, her face buried in her hands.
"Mother?" Bella asked. "Are you all right?"
Renee looked up, her blue eyes brimming with tears. "No, I'm not all right. My son and husband are going to get themselves killed."
Bella walked over to her mother and wrapped her arms around her. "They'll be fine mother. They are very strong men."
"I wish I could be as sure as you," Renee said, choking on her tears.
"They'll be fine," Bella repeated, wishing to God it was true.
Breakfast went by far too quickly. Bella's heart felt heavy in her chest as she watched her father and brother prepare to leave.
Jasper swung his musket over his shoulder and turned to face his sister.
"Bella, stay strong," he said, embracing her.
"I will," she said, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"And Emmett," Jasper said, turning to his younger brother. "Take care of our girls."
"I will," said Emmett, trying not to cry.
"The horses are saddled and ready to go," Charles said, entering the room.
"We should be on our way then," Jasper said, his face firm.
Bella knew her brother well enough, that he was trying to keep himself from losing control. Jasper wasn't one to let his emotions show.
"If we leave now, we should reach Winchester by nightfall," Charles said.
Turning to his wife, he said, "I love you."
Renee could only nod as her husband wrapped her in his arms. When he finally disentangled himself from Renee's arms, he looked down at his only daughter.
"Bella, take care of your mother for me."
"I will father," Bella said, her tears finally breaking free.
"I love you," Charles said, cupping her chin. Kissing her forehead, he turned and left, Jasper at his heels.
Renee, Emmett, and Bella watched as the two men rode off into the Virginian morning. They watched until they were only two black specks on the horizon.
"Please dear God let them be safe," Bella whispered to herself, before shutting the door.
A/N: I need a Beta. If you're interested please PM me. I know my grammar is horrendous, so if anyone would like to help me, I would be truly grateful.
