Adella took a few quick steps to the end of the porch.
"William!" Panic filled her voice.
William's entire face slackened. He stared at her for a few moments before he spoke.
"Adella? Wha…What are you doing here?" he demanded.
She ignored his question.
"Don't do this William," she called, still rooted into place. "We were just helping everyone."
A red coat pushed past them on the porch, bumping into her as he hurried down the steps.
"Sir I found Rebel Dispatches!" he called out.
William stared at her for a moment longer still seemingly in shock, before he glanced down to take what the red coat had found.
"Who carried these?" he demanded.
"It was me," Gabriel announced.
Panic filled Adella's body. She watched as people shouted and Ben tried to stop Gabriel from going forward.
"He's a spy and will be hanged," William announced.
"He's not a spy!" Ben erupted.
Adella looked back to Ben. His face was a mixture of confusion and shock.
Red coats moved forward to grab Gabriel.
She looked back to William, helplessly. She watched his eyes drop from her face to the children that now clung to her skirts as if he was thinking. She passed her son to Margaret who gingerly took him.
"Hold him for a moment," she said quietly.
Adella took a few steps down the porch steps. "William, please have mercy on them," her voice was full of emotion. She stepped off the porch and began slowly approaching him. "For me."
"Adella!" Ben called after her cautiously.
"What have you done?" William demanded.
Ben grabbed her hand, attempting to stop her from approaching the dragoons.
"Ben… wait," she turned back to him. But he shook his head at her.
"I need to speak to him. He won't hurt me," she whispered, but suddenly she was unsure. She had never seen him like this. She glanced back to the porch where Gabriel was being detained. The red coats around him looked back to William as if they were awaiting more orders. She gently pulled her hand from Ben's.
Adella started again towards William's horse. Her heart ached in her chest.
"You're a traitor," he spat. He pulled the reigns to keep his horse from stepping forward and the animal snorted.
"Why am I a traitor? Because I got married-"
"Because you're supporting the traitors and caring for them. . You share a bed with one," his words were cold.
"William, what's happened to you?" She stopped near his horse.
"What's happened to you? Look how quickly you were willing to throw everything away for…which one of these enemies do you call your beloved?" his words were cold and sharp.
"She's my wife," Ben stepped forward. "Don't touch her."
William redirected his gaze from her and back to Ben's.
He forced a laugh. "Hm. I see. This is your father's friend? This is who you chose over me?"
"No," she stammered. "I didn't-"
"Go ahead. Tie him up. He's a spy and will be hanged," William motioned to the red coats on the porch who then pushed Gabriel to leave the porch.
"No!" Adella erupted. She reached up for his arm that held the horse's reins, but he quickly latched onto her wrist with his other hand. "Do not do this because you are angry with me!"
He pulled her close to the horse, nearly lifting her from her feet so that he could lean close to her.
"This has nothing to do with you…Though you left me. You have come here to marry this rebel and have his child."
"No," Adella closed her eyes to keep the hot tears in.
"You know I loved you," she whispered. "We need to talk somewhere privately. I must tell you-"
"Will," a voice nearby interrupted her.
"Borden!" she called out desperately as soon as she met his eyes."Tell him I was there when he was injured!"
"He is a dispatch rider and that is a marked case. He cannot be held as a spy," Ben interrupted.
"Oh we're not going to hold him, we're going to hang him," William responded with a smile. "Perhaps you should have taught him something of loyalty."
"Colonel I beg you to reconsider, by the rules of war," Ben said quickly.
"Would you like a lesson sir, in the rules of war?" William lifted his pistol and cocked it.
He moved his pistol from Ben to the children still standing on the porch. "Or perhaps your children would."
Adella stood in shock. He still her her arm with his free hand.
"No lesson necessary," Ben answered, defeated.
"This is where you belonged all along! Go to your pathetic husband," William snapped at her.
"You don't understand. You left and my father died. I found out that I was-"
"Sir, what of the rebel wounded?" another soldier interrupted her.
"Kill them."
"William!" Adella shrieked.
Her words nearly choked her at the sound of William's pistol exploded.
"Noo!" Gabriel's voice broke the air. "Thomas!"
Adella saw Thomas fall, and immediately her knees buckled. Had William not been holding her arm, she was sure she would have fallen to the ground herself. She had not seen Thomas rush forward to help Gabriel. It was as if he had just appeared off the porch. He had moved so quickly.
She watched helplessly as Ben ran forward to catch the falling boy.
"Stupid boy," William muttered.
"What have you done?!" Adella shrieked. She jerked herself away from him and the horse, falling to the ground on her backside.
William's eyes met hers and he shook his head in disgust.
"I'm not the traitor," she mustered the words as she clenched her jaws to keep a sob from leaving her throat. "Why would you kill a child?" she demanded.
He glared back at her.
Adella finally turned away from him. She crawled to her feet and rushed toward the other crying and frozen children, taking Eli back from Margaret.
"Don't look," she pressed Susan against her body to hide her eyes.
Ben was now on the ground, holding Thomas.
Adella heard shots around her as the other wounded soldiers were killed. She saw the flames beginning to take the house, and she saw the teary, surprised expressions on the children's faces.
She felt her heart break in her chest.
Ben laid Thomas down gingerly and looked up at her.
"It was him, wasn't it? The boy is his?" Ben's eyes were wide and his words furious.
Adella couldn't muster words to answer him.
"All of you stay here," he demanded as he turned toward the house.
"What are you doing?" She called after him.
Adella clutched Eli in her arms tightly as Ben disappeared into the flames.
By now, the red coats were leaving.
She glanced around nervously, looking for William and then back to the house.
Ben ran out, hands full of weapons she had never seen before.
"Wha-" She stared back into Ben's crazed eyes, unable to speak, unable to move.
"Yes, I see it now. You and him," he muttered as he handed weapons to Nathan and Samuel.
"I'm sorry," she stammered.'
"Nathan, Samuel, you both come with me," he ordered.
"Adella, take them to Charlotte's."
"What are you going to do?" she demanded.
"Now!" his words were gruff but demanding.
"Let them come with me. Don't make them part of this," she hissed.
"No, they are coming with me."
Adella felt completely numb as she watched Ben and the two boys disappear into the woods. She carried Eli on one hip and Susan on the other. Margaret walked by her side, holding tight hands with William. She turned and took one last look at the burning house behind them. She wanted to collapse onto the ground but she knew she had to get the children to safety.
"Come on,it's gonna be okay," she finally mustered the words, though she wasn't sure if they were for the children or herself.
