"Wake up ya dumb bastard!" Caleb yelled at the captured officer. He furiously slapped the man until he finally showed some life in him. Ben stood back amused. He couldn't deny that Simcoe deserved the brutality that Caleb was showing him.
"It must be torture to live like you do," Simcoe sneered making Caleb even more enraged. "So close to your home but unable to set foot in it." Ben took a moment to think about what leaving Setauket had meant. He hadn't known the full extent of what could happen until he had seen Abraham a few weeks ago.
Ben couldn't believe how Abraham had fallen right into his path. Here he was, in need of an inside man and his childhood best friend happens to come straight to him. He knew that Caleb had already done his part and now it was only a matter of loyalty.
Caleb and himself didn't often receive much news from their old town of Setauket anymore. They had once caught wind that Abraham had married Mary, a girl Ben had only met once. And that Anna had become the wife of Silas Strong. This had come as a huge surprise to them as Abe and Anna had been deeply in love when they left.
"Captain Tallmadge," one of the guards greeted him at the door. He never quite got used to the feeling of being called "captain". He nodded and descended the stairs to where Abraham was.
He was shocked to see several officers practically drowning the farmer.
"Enough! That's enough!" he commanded. "I know him; he is not a spy."
"Ben?" he heard Abraham call out, though his head was in a brown sack. The officers left him alone with Abraham. After Ben had removed the sack, the two men embraced warmly. "Look at you! So this is where you went!" Abraham exclaimed. Ben laughed a little.
"And you!" Ben returned. "A married man!" Abraham nodded a bit sheepishly but Ben did not want to push it. "So how is Setauket these days?" he asked to ease the tension.
"Not great," Abraham answered honestly. "But I guess that's what you expect when redcoats take over." Ben nodded. He had another question he wanted answered but he hadn't the nerve to ask. "She's okay," Abraham added. Ben suddenly didn't want to know why Abraham sounded so grim.
"Look, I have a signed letter from Governor Trumbull to release you," Ben said pulling the paper out of his coat pocket. It was a sudden shift in conversation but Abe was grateful he didn't have to explain to Ben what had happened to Elizabeth. "We just need to know who your contact was at Frog's Point."
"I can't do that," Abraham insisted.
They grappled for a few minutes until Ben was convinced that Abraham would not betray Caleb.
"Why are you really here?" Abe asked after a time.
"I told you, I have a permit," Ben replied and then paused a moment. "Look, we're of a mind that if you can smuggle cabbage, you can smuggle something more important," Ben whispered.
"You came to enlist me?"
"I came to recruit you." Abraham had to refuse. "Abe, I remember who you are, even if you have forgotten," Ben said. He could see that the Abraham he once knew was buried too deeply to be retrieved quickly so he set his friend free. He couldn't find it in his heart to interrogate him any longer.
"There's one more thing," Abraham said turning back to Ben. "They married her off. She didn't have much of a choice." Ben punched the wall.
Ben's head snapped up in attention though it gave up his inner thoughts. "Oh, yes, I remember! Benjamin Tallmadge! You're the boy who left a young lover in Setauket. A certain cousin of yours," he said looking at Caleb.
Ben wanted nothing more in that moment than to kill the Captain but he needed information.
"This isn't about us," Ben interjected. "This is about information that you're going to give us." Simcoe laughed.
"She made a pretty bride too," Simcoe continued to taunt. "Sad but pretty." Ben needed to steer the conversation away before he let his anger get the best of him.
"You can make this end," he said to Simcoe. "Just tell us what we need to know."
"All you need to know is that your little girlfriend is currently another man's whore," he replied. "You see, it's not your town is it? It belongs to our king. Just like Mrs. Elizabeth Brooks belongs to her husband."
"That's it," Caleb said pulling out his gun. "Ben, I think we're done here."
"No," Be stepped in between Caleb and the officer. "I'll do it." He stepped to draw his sword when General Scott came charging down the stairs. Simcoe chuckled a moment. He smiled inwardly suddenly remembering that Johnathan Brooks had been with him when they attacked the rebel safe house. His body likely rotted with the rest of them. He looked at Captain Tallmadge who looked not only angry but upset. The boy didn't need to know how his love was a widow. Simcoe made a mental note to take care of that once he returned to Setauket.