Charlotte carefully lifted an enormous pastry to her mouth and bit, squeezing cream out of the puff, where it plopped, dangerously close to the edge, onto the plate she held under her chin. She looked up at Sukey from the comfort of the floor and the giant cushion on which she sat, raising her eyebrows as though to suggest "See? It fell on the plate." Then she looked down at her lap, where a heavy silk napkin was strategically spread, further indicating that her garments remained protected.
Sukey sighed, turning back to her embroidery, a beautiful pattern she had created by hand as she worked, an assortment of colorful flowers on a pair of pockets she had made for Charlotte. She looked up at the clock on the mantle again. Nearly 10:30. Another hour and a half to wait, but at least Charlotte would be on her way and then Sukey could retire. She wouldn't; she would wait for her charge until she returned from the dock, and this suspicious meeting with her shifty cousin. Abraham. Sukey wondered what was wrong with that boy. He always seemed ready to crawl out of his own skin. She hoped this meeting wouldn't spell trouble for Charlotte.
It was growing late, especially for someone who rose near dawn, and Sukey was tired. She appreciated the fact that Charlotte had already attempted to dismiss her several times, only to discover that Sukey would wait up in any case, so Charlotte invited Sukey to sit up with her, which she had. Charlotte was seated happily on a large circular cushion laid out on the rug, a book beside her, taking a brief break to enjoy leftover desserts. Sukey had allowed her to take off her top robe and stomacher off, to breathe a little in only her chemise, stays, and petticoats. Her topmost petticoat, displayed through the front opening of the robe, and made to match, lay beside it flat on her bed where it couldn't wrinkle. Charlotte had been at dinner with Great Aunt Catharine most of the evening, though by now Charlotte's hostess had long since retired until morning. Charlotte rose and went around to the little vanity where Sukey had placed one of her jewelry boxes. She searched around for her most prized necklace, slightly less ornate and decorative than some of the chokers and necklaces she possessed. It was her favorite, a tiny, delicate golden anchor, which she sometimes wore on a chain of fine gold, though most often on a thin ribbon chosen to match her dress. She fussed around through an open box on the top of her dresser, looking through the various cuttings of ribbon to find the one she was looking for. She found it. A thin, muted nautical blue silk ribbon which she threaded onto her anchor's tiny golden loop. She tied it carefully around her neck and shuffled through some of her trunks, still gradually being unpacked and organized, looking for some of her preferred personal effects. She found her treasured scarf, and wound it around her shoulders, standing in front of the mirror at her vanity, running her fingers over the embroidered shapes she had lovingly created with threads in the fabric. A gentle breeze blew through one of her open windows, and she shrugged the scarf off, folding it in half and placing it in front of her pillow on her bed for safe keeping. Then she returned to her cushion to finish her dessert.
At quarter to midnight, Charlotte, dressed fully in her silk gown patterned with flowers, and covered by a Monaco blue woolen capelet, made her way as quietly as possible out the door and down the hill towards the dock. From the top of the hill, at the corner of the back raised veranda, Sukey kept watch for Charlotte, listening so she could hear any potential sounds of distress or something gone awry.
Charlotte could feel the settling dew as it slowly dampened her hem and stockings. She slinked through the uneven grass in the darkness, the moon creating fascinating patterns on the hillside as it cast through the nearly naked tree branches. Despite the fact she had expectations of who she would meet, Charlotte was nervous. Had she not been by the sea, she likely would not have been as composed. She was soothed by the sound of the rolling of the waves and the sharp pleasantness in the salty breeze of the ocean. Turning back every few steps to cast her eyes towards the house, Charlotte made her way to the oak tree. From her high vantage point, she could see the dock, empty. Carefully, she picked her way down the steep embankment in the dark. Alone for the time being, she chose to sit herself carefully on top of one of the wooden posts holding the dock in place, conveniently high enough for her to gently lower herself onto the rounded top without tipping herself over into the water. A crashing sound, and the cracking of leaves and branches could be heard down the embankment, and she saw a thin figure making his way along the wooded part of the beach which had not been cleared.
Charlotte whispered "Abraham!" sharply, and he whistled in reply, picking his way over rocks and stones as he came up to the dock. He came to the place where the dock met the grass and the sand and climbed atop, nodding at Charlotte and walking down the dock to take a seat on the post opposite her.
She noticed Abraham fidgeting a bit with his hands as he waited, gazing skyward with a worried expression marring his face. Charlotte pressed gently against the left side of her capelet with her right hand, listening for the reassuring crackle of the parchment inside. Once she lifted her hand away, reassured, she noticed, looking up, the shape of a small rowboat coming across the sound. She glanced over at Abe, who was focused on the very same. He seemed not to be concerned, only reactive. As the small craft approached, the lapping of the water on the oars could be heard, and a soft whistling, carried over on the wind. Abe stood up, heading to the edge of the dock to cup his hands around his mouth and whistle in return. Charlotte stood back in the shadow of the trees hanging over the dock in the tiny inlet, waiting respectfully to be reintroduced. She fiddled with her hair self consciously, left down below her ears, the remaining portion still pinned to her head. Sukey had let her take most of the heavy bulk off her head. She heard the muffled voices of the two boys, Abe's quiet and cautious, Caleb's as boisterous as she remembered. Caleb climbed the ladder up to the surface of the dock, and the two approached Charlotte.
"Charlotte," Abe began. "I trust that you remember my friend, Caleb Brewster."
Charlotte smiled, stepping forward.
"Well, hello little troublemaker. I see you're lovely as ever," Caleb said.
Charlotte laughed. At the conclusion of her last visit to Setauket she had orchestrated a last goodbye meeting in the woods, a midnight rendezvous between herself, Anna, Caleb, and Abraham, where they drank stolen liquor and sat out under the stars talking of all manner of things before they had to sneak back. They had all nearly been caught, sneaking back to their respective homes in the hours near daylight. She'd been known as troublemaker ever since.
"Hello, Caleb," she said, grinning.
"So this is the new agent you've brought me, Woody?" Caleb asked.
Abraham nodded. "Show him your papers, if you would," he said to Charlotte.
Charlotte reached inside her capelet and removed her passes, handing them over to Caleb. He perused the sheets of heavy paper, and looked back up at her.
"These allow you passage anywhere in the colonies." He said. He nodded, satisfied if not a little impressed, then looked up at her.
"I remember you being sympathetic to the cause." He said. "I trust your sentiments haven't changed?"
"They have not. If anything, they have intensified. My eldest brother remains at home, but my three remaining elder brothers all serve with the 12th Virginia. My brother is Captain Theodore Adams." She hoped to illustrate with this detail that she while she was an exception as a relative of Abraham's who would be working against the crown, in her own immediate family she was very much in line with the beliefs of her relatives, and had come by her patriotism in an honest manner of cultivation.
"Charlotte will be dining with officers in the coming weeks, and I believe it was mentioned would be traveling to York City as well." Abraham mentioned.
Charlotte nodded. "Frequently, I imagine. Aunt Catharine likes the opera, and the theatre, and now that I'm here as a kind of companion, I will be attending events with her wherever they might occur. I also received a letter from a childhood friend who moved from Virginia to New Jersey, and had heard I was coming to live in Long Island. It was waiting for me here when I arrived, and I now have an open invitation to visit her whenever I like. So I could travel to New Jersey on urgent matters with relative plausibility." Charlotte had been happy to hear from her friend Martha White, who was staying with cousins as she would soon be marrying the son of a magistrate. "I believe she resides in a place called Morristown."
Caleb nodded, impressed.
Abe introduced a concern. "I'd like to avoid having Charlotte make contact too frequently, if it can be helped. She'll be safer, I think, and you, Caleb, if most of your communication can be dropped and not delivered in person."
Charlotte spoke up "but I would be quite willing to make contact if I felt it necessary to pass along key information."
Both boys stared at her for a moment, and then nodded.
Caleb ran his thumb and first two fingers along his beard, scratching a bit at his chin.
"Well, you know, Abe, I'm just the first test…but how would you intend to deliver any information that might be delivered?"
Abraham was about to explain that he and Charlotte had not had much occasion to discuss exactly how the intelligence would be dropped, when he realized his cousin was answering.
"I had opportunity to explore the grounds last afternoon. There's an old anchor in the little captain's cabin on the east side of the hill, an old ship's bell as well. They've been using it for storage. I'll hang the bell on the end of the dock if I'm leaving intelligence, I'll hang the anchor if I need to make contact. If I leave a letter, I will tuck it inside the deep hole in the oak tree, underneath bark and debris."
Both boys were staring at Charlotte again, and she pursed her lips, realizing she probably had spoken far too much.
Caleb nodded. "I'll take this to the handler," he said to Abraham.
He looked at Charlotte again. "I'm sure he'll be…." he paused, smiling devilishly at her "extremely pleased."
Caleb recalled Charlotte as a cute, plucky girl from her visit when they were younger, but she'd grown into a splendidly attractive and unconsciously graceful young creature, and he was already completely convinced that his best friend was going to trip over his own feet falling in love with her. He found the notion both refreshing and amusing.
"Well, I must be off then," Caleb said, turning to descend the ladder.
He waved to Charlotte, who called quietly "Goodbye, Caleb," and just as soon as he had arrived, he had pushed off, was rowing away, and was gone.
Charlotte and Abraham turned to one another and smiled.
Charlotte reached out and patted Abe on his arm. "You're doing a very noble thing," she said.
"I pray that I am," he said.
"You are," she replied.
Being without a sister, and alone now without Thomas, Charlotte could easily see herself adopting Abe as another brother. Abe turned and jerked his head up to the house.
"You'd better go before someone sees you," he said.
She nodded. "You as well."
Abraham fixed his cocked hat on his head, nodding. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Charlotte whispered. She headed up the hill towards the house, holding her dress away from the damp grass as much as she could. Abe watched until he could no longer see her climbing the hill towards the estate, and stepped onto the beach, running along the beach before disappearing into the woods.
When finally Charlotte was tucked safely into her bed, as the moonlight spilled through the curtains she had insisted should remain open, she lay awake, thinking, studying the shadows etched across the floor. The lacy frills of her nightgown's cuffs felt scratchy on her cheek as she fiddled with the anchor around her neck. It was only some time later that she finally fell into a restless sleep.