Ben and Caleb continued to ride on toward the north. Their mission was important though Ben tried not to dwell on the fact that they were the decoys.
Having Silas join their garrison was a blessing in disguise as Caleb and Ben were able to learn much about how Setauket was fairing in the war. It also brought them news of Elizabeth which Caleb had avoided asking Abe and Anna about. They were talking about her marriage as they travelled.
"Brooks died in the raid on Connecticut," Silas reported. "Heard all about it the first few days on the Jersey."
"You're sure?" Caleb asked.
"Very, he was on the list of the deceased men when it came to the ship."
"Hear that?" Caleb asked Ben. "She's free. Elizabeth's free." Ben couldn't stop grinning. He knew she was safe from now on until the war was over. Being a widow of an officer meant she wouldn't be expected to remarry.
Ben halted the company when some militia men approached the troops. They brought with them a man they claimed to have come across from Setauket. It was a man they instantly recognized. They asked him what he was doing in Connecticut.
"Bloody back named Simcoe," he answered. "Ever since he's returned he's had it in for us Whigs. He's arrested your father and Lukas Brewster too."
"Your father, my uncle, that's quite the coincidence," Caleb said to Ben.
"On what grounds could they be arrested?" Ben asked.
"Conspiracy," their old friend replied. "But that's not the worst of it. They had a trial to make the hangings official and Elizabeth took the blame for all of them."
"Elizabeth? Why?" Ben needed to know.
"Little Woodhull was interrogating them both. It got pretty vicious. Suppose she couldn't help it but now they'll hang her and send the rest of them to the Jersey. I cut out just in time."
Ben thanked their friend and turned to Caleb. He knew they had to do something. They were too close to Setauket to let the redcoats killed everyone they cared for. He also couldn't stop thinking about Elizabeth. She was going to sacrifice her life for his father and hers. He needed to save her if it was the last thing he did.
"How many whale boats can you round up?" Ben asked him.
"To carry all this lot?" Caleb returned the question.
"Aye," Ben responded.
"We're going home?" Caleb inwardly cheered. He wanted to see their friends and family liberated as much as Ben did.
"We're going home."
Elizabeth slept very little the night before her execution. She laid in the dank basement and thought of Ben. She thought it strange that now she would choose to remember the way he had held her on their last night together. She tried to close her eyes and return herself to that night but only found herself becoming more upset that she would never see him again.
She heard the door open and footsteps on the stairs. She scrambled to her feet but the man who came into her vision sported not a red coat but a blue one. She pondered who this man could be until she saw his face.
"Ben?" she whispered weakly. He swiftly unbolted the makeshift cage she was being held in and threw the door open. She ran to him and wrapped her arms firmly around his neck. "You're alive," she said. Ben pulled her closer to himself snaking his arms around her waist.
"God, I've missed you," he said. She stiffed a little in his arms but he didn't have time to ponder the reason because more footsteps were heard above them.
"We have to go," he said. She silently agreed and followed Ben up the stairs.
"Wait Ben," she stopped him. "They've fortified the church, with pews and gravestones."
"Gravestones?"
"Yes, my mother's and yours'," she told him. He felt his anger swelling. They returned to the ground level of the tavern. He reached for her hand but she wouldn't take his. He tried not to feel slighted.
Abraham was speaking up against the Continentals when they surfaced. Ben commented on Abe's wife and child and Elizabeth could tell by his tone that there was something else going on. When Caleb grabbed Abe to take him for a "private talk" she knew this was no chance meeting.
She fought the urge to go with them, especially when Ben looked back at her. But she knew it was too suspicious to have all of them together. Instead she stood by the door knowing that everyone in the room thought her a murderer.
When they resurfaced, Abraham looked oddly determined. He grabbed the white flag of truce and started walking towards the church. Once inside, she could only wait. Ben and Caleb were by her side for a moment before they started towards the line awaiting the answer from Major Hewlett.
Suddenly Simcoe came charging out of the church dragging her father. Ben paused only a moment to gauge Elizabeth's reaction but she remained stoic though partially confused. It wasn't until Simcoe shot Lukas that she showed any emotion at all.
"No," she whispered completely inaudibly as she fell to her knees.
Caleb had a very different reaction as he jumped up and prepared to storm the Captain who had gone back inside the church. Ben tackled him, pleading that he relax.
By the time Caleb got free, they were releasing the rest of the captives unconditionally. After making sure the prisoners had really been released, Ben found Elizabeth. Her face had gone white and she made no sound. Caleb ran up to help carry his uncle and Elizabeth willed herself not to look as they passed. Ben hugged her close though she only froze in place.
"Let's get out of here," he whispered. She didn't nod nor offer any response. She only followed him to the shore. She boarded a boat with Caleb grateful it wasn't the one her now dead father was on. Ben stopped to embrace his father and it wasn't long before they all set sail.
When Anna jumped out of the boat and headed back for Setauket, both Ben and Caleb were relieved. Their ring could remain intact and both Abe and Anna had achieved great standing in the town.