"Phil," Nathaniel whispered softly, struggling to be as quiet as he possibly could. He reached out to grab his friend's hand. "Philip."
Philip looked up at him, pulling his hand out of the other man's grasp. "What?" His annoyed voice's volume matched Nathan's, though they both still felt as if they were waking up the other men in the tent.
"Do you hear that?" Nathan's eyes scanned the sleeping men around them, making sure none of them stirred. "It sounds like General Hester. And… I don't know who that is."
Philip put his ear at close as he could to the source of the sound. Nathaniel was right. It did sound like the general.
"Not to worry. They will be there tomorrow. Have the men ready."
Philip couldn't help but reach over and give his friend's hand a squeeze. This was really bad. He knew that Nathaniel had a wife and child on the way to get back to… He had to get him back home.
As the voices stopped and the footsteps faded away, Philip reached over and shook Julian awake, explaining what had happened in a hushed voice.
"Find the other general," Julian told him.
Philip blinked. "Other general?"
The older man nodded. "General Burke. He doesn't do much for our group, but he is in this area… I'm sure you can talk to him really early tomorrow morning."
"I guess we can try that… Nathaniel, do you think you could stay up and wake me in several hours? Then you can go to sleep and I will talk to General Burke." Philip offered, sighing in relief when his friend nodded. The Hamilton put his head on the pillow, and drifted back to sleep.
"Richard, put it down." Alex stood his ground, never once letting an ounce of fear show. Richard could fight. Of course he could have joined the military with Philip. He just didn't want to. He wanted Philip out of the way, and he obviously didn't care if it was temporarily or permanently.
"Alexander, you look so cute right now. Put the crop down and let the big kids deal with their own affairs," Richard snarled at the younger boy, taking a jab at him.
Alex screamed as the bayonet impaled his hip. He fell to the ground as Richard pulled it back out. Blood pooled around him. "Really, Richard?" He choked out. "You are going to fight a kid?"
Richard took a step toward him, but the door flew open just in time.
Aaron stood, gun at the ready, using every ounce of his self-control not to shoot as he aimed it at Richard. "Leave him alone," He said simply, quickly making his way over to Alex and kneeling at his side. He made sure to keep an eye on the man on the other side of the room.
Really, Aaron had two options. First, he could go after Richard and leave Alex there. But, with the condition the boy was in, leaving him alone and untreated for any amount of time could prove perilous. The parent in him made him go with the second, which was immediately getting Alex medical care. It was more important.
"Can you walk?" He asked, though he knew the answer was no.
The teen shook his head, so Aaron picked him up, trying to spare him from as much pain as possible. He carried him out the front door and sent Theodosia to the Hamiltons house to let them know what had happened.
"Mom, yes, I am going to live." Alex struggled to get through to his mother. He was on bedrest, yes, but the doctor had already said that nothing too bad would come of this.
"I just worry about you, sweetheart," Eliza said, planting a kiss on her son's forehead.
Alex shook his head. "Please, mom, don't do this."
Eliza got quieter. She leaned in closer, whispering, "Are they really getting along?"
Alex looked to where his mother was gesturing. To his (and everybody's) surprise, he saw his father talking to Aaron Burr. How the heck? Well, Aaron had possibly saved his life… But his father would never want to acknowledge that.
"I… I suppose I should thank you, Mr. Burr." Alexander Sr. twiddled his thumbs, wishing he didn't have to do this. Yes, he was extremely grateful that somebody had been there to help his son. But why, out of all people, did it have to be Aaron Burr?
"Don't mention it," Aaron said awkwardly. "He did help me save my daughter, after all."
"Where did she run off to, anyway?" Alexander was struggling to keep the horribly awkward silence away.
"She didn't 'run off' to anywhere. She was kidnapped. By a certain Richard Price."
"Richard?" Alexander couldn't believe it. He had known Richard ever since he and Philip had become friends. When they were ten! "Why would he do such a thing? He didn't seem like the type."
"Apparently… he was interested. Very interested. Interested enough to just take what he wanted…" Aaron grit his teeth. He had never felt so angry. Never.
Theodosia dried herself off and got dressed. After all of that, a warm bath was definitely what she needed. "John? Louisa?" She stepped into the main room. "John?" She peeked around the corner. "Louisa?"
She bit her lip and ran up the stairs, opening her brother's door. "John?"
Nobody.
She hurried across the hall, opening the other bedroom door. "Louisa?"
Once again…
Nobody.
A/N: This one jumps around a lot. Sorry. I couldn't write to save my life this week. Grr