Chapter 4

June 1780

Sarah rolled over and went to snuggle closer to James, but he was not there. She sat up and looked around the room and did not see him. Where is he? Sarah got out of bed and lit a candle and went downstairs to the sitting room. She found James sitting in the armchair by the window and staring out.

"James, are you alright?"

He looked up at her. "I'm fine, Sarah. I just couldn't sleep."

"Would you like some tea?"

"Thanks."

Sarah went into the kitchen to make some tea for James and herself. She was worried about James. She had a feeling that something was wrong and that he did not want to talk about it. She knew that if she waited long enough, he would tell her the problem. She poured the tea into two cups, added some sugar and took the cups to the sitting room. She handed James his cup and sat on the sofa near him. She sat quietly and waited. He sighed.

"There is something on my mind, Sarah."

"I thought so. What is it?"

He looked back out the window for a moment then turned to face Sarah. "Ever since we got married, I've been thinking about my parents. I wish they had been there. "

"I wish they had been there too. They would have been very proud."

"I never even knew them. I've been thinking about it a lot and I want to find out some information about them. Will you come with me?"

She reached across and took his hand. "Of course I will, James. Where should we begin?"

"All I know is that I was born in York, Pennsylvania and that I was only a few months old when they died. I think we should travel to York and check the city archives for newspapers dated close to my birthday."

"That sounds like a good plan to me. We'll leave tomorrow."

James looked up at her and smiled. "Thank you, sweetheart. This means a lot to me."

Sarah leaned over and kissed James' cheek. "That's what families do for each other. We better get some sleep if we're going to leave tomorrow."

They both stood up, hugged each other and went upstairs to bed.

Two days later, James and Sarah arrived in the town of York. They booked a room at a hotel and unpacked their things.

"I guess we had better go over to town hall," James said. Sarah nodded in agreement.

York Town Hall was a short walk away. They entered the large brick building and approached the man sitting at the desk in the lobby. "May I help you?"

"Yes," James said. "I am a journalist from Philadelphia and I would like to look at some information from the town archives for an article I'm working on."

"Of course, sir. Feel free to look. Let me know if you need anything."

James nodded at the man and took Sarah into the archives room. She looked at him and shook her head at him. "What?" James asked. "He would not have let me in for our true reason. They don't give access to the archives to just anyone."

Sarah shook her head again as they approached a large bookshelf with newspapers on it. The papers were organized by year and then by month. They took out the stack of newspapers under the year 1761 and then removed all of the papers under the month of March. There were 4 of them. As Sarah flipped through one of the papers, something caught her eye: James' last name!

"James, look!" Sarah exclaimed. "Your birth announcement!"

James looked over her shoulder and read the announcement. "It has my parents' names on it. Thomas and Charlotte Hiller. And the location of their farm: #7 Brook Road."

"That's on the outside of town," Sarah said. "We passed Brook Road as we came into the town yesterday."

They put the papers back where they found them and left town hall. They saddled up Caesar and headed to the outside of town.

"James, if the house burned down, how will we know where we are headed?"

"Remember the number seven in the address? That means the seventh plot on that particular road."

"Oh."

They soon arrived in front of a plot of land with many maple trees on it. They dismounted and tied Caesar to a tree. James took Sarah's hand and they walked through the trees. Then they saw something. As they approached, they saw the burned out remnants of a house. The wood was singed and what was left of the walls was only a foot high. James froze and stood staring at the ruins of the house. A tear rolled down his cheek. He never thought he'd be here. Sarah put her head on his arm to comfort him, then something caught her attention. She looked and saw two white objects to the east of the house. She could not make them out from this distance.

"James, what do you think those white things are?"she asked pointing.

"I don't know. They look like pieces of an old fence. Let's go look." They walked toward the white objects and tried to make out what they were. Eventually, they were close enough to make out what they were looking at. White crosses sticking out of the ground. Graves. They both froze where they stood. Sarah gasped. James just stared. Neither of them figured that there would be graves there. Sarah looked up at James. His gaze was fixed on the graves of his parents.

"Would you like some time alone, darling?" Sarah asked. James nodded. She kissed him on the cheek and walked back to Caesar to wait for James. She knew that he needed to be alone to get closure on his parents' death.

James walked to the graves and knelt on the ground by them. He picked up a clump of dirt and squeezed it. Then he threw it into the trees nearby.

He hung his head. "I miss you both so much," he said to the graves. "I wish I had known you for a little while. I wish you could see me now. I work in Dr. Franklin's print shop in Philadelphia. I also got married five months ago. I know you would have been so proud if you had been there. I will try to always make you proud of me." As he said this, two doves flew by and landed in a nearby tree. He knew that his parents were watching over him and that they were very proud. He wiped tears off of his face with his sleeve. "I love you both." He kissed his fingers and then touched each cross. He got up and looked at the crosses one more time before he turned and walked back to where Sarah and Caesar were waiting.

"Are you alright, James?"

"I'm fine, Sarah. I feel better now. I was able to say goodbye to them and I know that they are proud of me."

Sarah smiled at him.

"Sarah, can I ask you something? I realize that it might be too soon for this question, but I want to ask anyway."

"Of course, James."

"Would it be alright with you if we named our future children after my parents?"

"Of course it's alright with me. I think it is a wonderful idea." They hugged each other and then climbed onto Caesar and headed home.