I don't own The Patriot

Being out in nature during the afternoon hours always gave Catherine satisfaction. The last time she had been out from her chambers had been displeasing, even after Tavington had slightly interrogated her about the whereabouts of her 'lover.' Now that he was nowhere in sight, she thought that she could enjoy these couple of moments of freedom before she headed back. Taking a deep breath, she leaned her back against the bark of a tree and busied herself in weaving a flower crown. It was a silly little activity for someone her age to be occupied in, but it reminded Catherine of the days before the war where she would weave flower crowns for Alice. Anna however did not wish to participate in such activity but at least Catherine had someone who appreciated a bit of nature's artwork.

She didn't know how long she had been out in the field when she noticed her maid approaching her. "Ms. Smith," Briar Parsons greeted her with a smile, "your tea is ready."

Her previous maid had never served Catherine tea before, so this was a nice surprise coming from Briar. Catherine stood up on her feet and followed Briar back into the building. "I must say," Briar said as she looked at the flower crown that was looped around Catherine's wrist, "what lovely patterns of flowers you have weaved together."

Catherine chuckled and held the flower crown over to Briar. "I always made one for my youngest sister. She would think she was a little princess with that around her head."

"It is quite lovely," Briar commented as her eyes looked down at the flower crown.

Catherine tilted her head to the side and smiled before she placed the flower crown on Briar's head. The young maid almost protested at Catherine's action only to have the woman look at her with admiration. "It's no bonnet but it really suits you," Catherine smiled.

Briar couldn't help but smile at such a warm gesture. It was difficult being a maid, and being ignored the majority of the times whilst she silently did her duties, but she appreciated such kindness. "I shall cherish it Ms. Smith. Now come along before your tea gets cold."

Reaching the premises of her room, Catherine tucked into her hot tea. It was a luxury that she rarely had after the start of the war and of the fact that it was suddenly prohibited in her household before the death of her parents. Just that one sip of the hot water infused with various herbal blends put her mind temporarily at ease. It was quite the calming experience, even when she glanced outside her window and looked at the afternoon sun's rays making its way into her bedchambers. Though, it felt rather lonely having tea all by herself. Catherine looked over her shoulder when she noticed Briar making the bed ready for Catherine's afternoon nap. The flower crown that she had given her was placed onto the dresser next to her bed. "Would you care to join me for some tea Ms. Parsons?" she asked.

Briar slowly looked up at Catherine and shook her head. "Heavens no," she shook her head, "if Lord Cornwallis found out that I'm not performing my duties as a maid, he would be quite angry with me."

"Oh..." Catherine responded dejectedly, "it was not my intention to get you into trouble."

"I thank you for your generosity," the maid said and walked over to the table that Catherine sat next to.

She had finished her tea and was ready to partake in her afternoon nap, which was mostly one of the things that she looked forward to after not having much to do during the hours that she awoke. She had been so used to caring for her sisters that it had felt strange to her to not do it anymore...and it pained her that she never got to know of their well-being. Getting up from the chair, she made her way over to the window and looked out yonder from the field of the headquarters. What lied beyond there were only thickets of trees, tall as a giant and threatening to not letting her get through to her freedom.

"Being in a brown study, miss?" Briar interrupted her inner thoughts. Catherine turned her head and looked over at the phrase that she wasn't too familiar with only to be welcomed by a smile from the maid. "Something on your mind?"

What good would it do if Catherine was to splurge all of her wishes towards Briar? It wasn't as if she was going to make them come true. "Nothing of the sort," she responded with a shake of her head, "perhaps a good nap will make me feel better."

"Come along," Briar motioned with her hand, "I'll help you into your nightgown."

Anna had never felt relieved to finally be back at Shanty Town. The community was just as busy with one another as they first time that she had arrived, but there was one mission in her mind and it was to see the well-being of her little sister. Upon her and Gabriel's arrival, the two were welcomed by Gabriel's brothers and sisters and his aunt.

"You cannot believe how thrilled I am that you made it back safely," Charlotte said with a look of relief upon her eyes. "What delayed you arrival? I thought you were going to make it back soon?"

Oh the usual. Getting ambushed by the British, staying in the infantry, watching a house burn Anna wanted to count off on her fingers about their journey but Gabriel had already taken his opportunity and spoke.

"Some of the colonists needed some assistance back at the infantry when we went there," Gabriel replied to his aunt, "Anna was kind enough to help those who were wounded."

So it wasn't a complete lie on what he had said. Anna did help out just a little, but another part of her also believed that Gabriel probably didn't want his aunt to worry about them anymore than she had to.

"And your father?" the woman asked, "how was he?"

He had seemed very fatigued with a bit of agitation, which could result in anyone having to fight in the war. "He seemed to be handling himself well," Gabriel responded. Even though he wouldn't let me fight alongside him like before.

At least everyone was faring well during these tough times. The only thing that Charlotte could do in order to help Benjamin while he was away was to look after her nieces and nephews just like she had done after the death of her sister.

"How about my sister?" Charlotte then looked over at Anna who had asked that question. "How is she?"

After Anna's departure, Alice had not been doing well with her health. The moment that Charlotte had seen those droplets of blood on the napkin, she had immediately done her best to find a physician in Shanty Town. However, it did not seem that the same practices were shared between the physician of Shanty Town and those back home. "She has struggled after you left," Charlotte said to her.

Anna felt a stomach flipping when she heard that. "She has gotten worse? I have to go and see her!" she was about to head towards the shack where she had last left Alice but she was held back by Charlotte's gentle touch upon her shoulder.

"Someone is already with her in there," the woman assured her, "the last time I checked, she was sleeping."

I can't believe this Anna thought as she put a hand over her forehead and paced a little before her feet became planted upon the sand. "Do we know if she will get better soon?" Anna asked.

Charlotte shook her head in response before saying, "not yet."

It was extremely infuriating to the colonel that through all of the interrogations that he had gone through and the amount of people that he had threatened to kill, and did, none of them had said anything about Benjamin Martin's whereabouts. Now that he had Cornwallis's reluctant order to find Martin, none of his tactics had been working and it seemed like people were willing to die in order to keep Martin safe. However, the civilian rebels were the least of his concerns and their unwillingness to participate. He already had someone within his grasp that he had tried to get information from and he was going to try and extract as much as he could by any means necessary. It was only a matter of time that he would be able to break her, though he knew that he couldn't get rid of the problem that was riding next to him...for the moment. Any fool was able to know the feelings that James and Catherine harbored for one another, but Tavington was no fool. He was able to pick up James's sudden willingness to let her go when he was about to throw her in the church. Why had it been this particular woman that James had yelled for not to be thrown to her death? Simple answer and one that the colonel knew. His disappointment in Wilkins still lingered when he had still not gotten any information out of her. Now the colonel knew where the captain's loyalties lied, but how sure could be on that?

The cavalry arrived at the British infantry to check the whereabouts of their soldiers, any debriefing that needed to be done, or even if there was information about the rebel army. Tavington dismounted off his horse and immediately walked over to Wilkins who was ready to head into a tent to at least try and get some rest after a couple of exhaustive raids.

"A word captain," Tavington stopped him as Wilkins walked away from tent and followed the colonel where he led him into a secluded area where others wouldn't be able to hear.

"Sir?" James inquired as he looked at the colonel and what he wanted.

"As you can see, we have been very unfortunate in finding Benjamin Martin. All those that have been loyal to him have either fled or are dead," he coldly looked at James before continuing, "now remind me captain, where do your loyalties lie?"

This was the first question that Tavington had asked James ever since he had joined the Dragoons. "To king and country," he answered with any hesitation in his voice.

"I have found that to be quite questionable lately," the colonel continued, "when we head back to headquarters, I would like to question Ms. Smith." He did not need to remind James as to why he was going to do it even after James had said to him that she may know more than he did about Benjamin Martin.

James furrowed his brows as a pit formed in his stomach. He knew of Tavington's brutal tactics and he wasn't going to put Catherine through that. "How are you going to question her?"

"Oh I shall not be the one questioning her," Tavington said, "you will and I will be watching. Then we'll see where your loyalties lie."