TITLE: The Revolution
AUTHOR: Dylan Shelby
DISCLAIMER: I don't own them, please don't sue.
SUMMARY: In 1776 Rebel Richard O'Connell will meet his match, a woman, Evelyn Carnahan.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is all documented and I will set links for the sites where I got my information. On a more personal note I have never been to Boston nor Philadelphia, so all of my descriptions are from pictures that I have seen.
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Nature abhors a hero. For one thing, he violates the law of conservation of energy. For another, how can it be the survival of the fittest when the fittest keeps putting himself in situations where he is most likely to be creamed. - Solomon Short
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Boston, MA
Dec. 16, 1773
It was cold. Bitter, biting, freezing, frost-biting, cold. Richard O'Connell had to wonder if him and the Sons of Liberty had really lost their mind and instead of throwing tea over the side, should throw themselves. "Are you coming Rick?" he heard a hiss. "Yes, I'm coming." he replied. He looked down at himself, and had it not been such a very serious situation he would have laughed at himself. It was serious however and it only reminded him of what he was there to do. Stop the Royal government.
Rick O'Connell had a personal vendetta against the government and anything the Sons of Liberty could think to stop them Rick signed up for. He followed the men into the ship to find the tea so they could throw it over. He ventured down and they had found It. He was about to help them when he noticed that his "friend" Bernard, or Bennie as he liked to be called was no where in sight. "Have you seen Bennie?" he asked Jack. Jack Dawes shook his head, "No I haven't, but you know Bennie, probably just trying to find some other way to rip the British off." That was exactly what Rick feared.
Not Bennie ripping the British off, but ripping the wrong people off. It was bad enough that they had been spotted, sure they were dressed as Indians, but come tomorrow morning they were surely going to figure it out. If they recognized anyone it was probably going to be him. He had been one of the most outspoken citizen of the colonies and the Royal crown knew his face. If Bennie got something he wasn't suppose to, then with his luck he was going to be blamed for it.
He searched a little further down still trying to find Bennie, but only found more tea. He lifted the heavy crates and walked up the stairs to throw it overboard. Each time trying to find Bennie. It took them a good long time to get all the tea over, but after it was done it had the most fragrant smell. "I heard something, come on lets go!" someone shouted and Rick followed the crowd to get off the ship. He had made it down the dock and was walking towards his home when he heard a familiar voice, "That's him, that's the one." Bennie said to a redcoat pointing at him. "Time to run." he called to no one in particular and ran as fast as he could.
~*~*~*~
Boston, MA
June 12, 1774
"Oh no you do not! You get back her Johnny!" a voice rang out over the tavern. Everyone that was eating or drinking stopped to see what the woman was yelling about. A little boy with dark brown hair came running through the tables and around the tavern clutching within his grasp a book. "Johnny Scott you get back here right this instant!" the voice shouted and soon the woman with whom the voice belonged came running out. Johnny ran as fast as his little six year old legs would let him, but Evelyn Carnahan was much more clever and faster than he and caught up with him.
He squealed with delight when she scooped him and started tickling him. "That is my book Mr. Scott, and you know better than to take that book." she admonished, but before she had a chance to take the book he threw it across the room. "Mr. Jonathan Kyle Scott, how dare you!" she screamed in her perfect little British accent. Johnny started laughing and she finally let him down. He was about to go after it when the door opened and a very tall man walked in. The little boy shrank back to hide behind Evelyn.
Evelyn looked up and it took everything she had not to shutter. He looked around until he spotted her. "Evelyn." he said in a very commanding voice that made her cringe. She moved away from Johnny and he ran behind the bar. "Yes Mr. Teps." she said. "I've given you leave to call me Ira." She looked down, "Yes, Ira, I know, I just forget." He smiled at her stuttering, "No harm, is your mother here?" he asked. "My step mother is not here Ira. She is at the house, work here does not appeal to her." Evelyn replied finding her resolve and words in her anger. "Very well. I shall go see her." he said and then turned around.
Everyone in the tavern had been watching the entire production and had understood the fear of Evelyn and Johnny. Ira Teps was not someone you wanted to mess with. He had never been mean to anyone. Hardly an angry word had come out of his mouth. It was his smile however. It betrayed the fact that the man was cunning and ruthless. He was an extremely rich man, a merchant before his rights had been revoked by the Royal government. He still did it of course, everyone here did, but he was the reason that pirates had a bad name.
Evelyn went and pried Johnny from the back of the bar and took him to the back where she had been trying to read to him. His mother, Emma Scott, had a few things to do and Evelyn volunteered to help and watch Johnny. Normally Johnny wasn't that much trouble, but without his mother's watchful glances he had gone wild. However when he saw Mr. Teps he knew to behave. That man scared him. Evelyn was walking toward the room when she heard someone calling, "Miss, here is your book." he said. She turned around and her breath left her body.
He was beautiful. He was tall, over six foot, with honey brown hair and big green eyes, almost brown. She was still staring at him when he tried to hand her the book. "Miss?" he said again. She regained her composure, but not before her cheeks were blushing. "Thank-you..." she said. "O'Connell, Rick O'Connell." he said. She took the book from him and their fingers touched, and she looked up at him again. "Thank-you, Mr. O'Connell." she said and turned back. "May I ask your name?" he called out. She turned around and smiled at him, "You may, It is Evelyn Carnahan." she said. "It was a pleasure to meet you Evelyn Carnahan." he said, turning around and letting her go back to the room.
She was so lost in thought that she screamed and fell out of the chair she was sitting in when someone tapped on her shoulder. "Evie?" he asked. "Jonathan! You scared me half to death!" she screamed. "I'm sorry old mum, didn't mean to, what were you doing?" he asked. "I was watching..." she looked around trying to find Johnny, but could not. "This little guy?" Jonathan asked pulling on the arm of the little boy. "Yes, thank you." she said. It was then she truly realized that it was Jonathan there. She gave him a hug, "What are you doing here?" she asked. "I am home Evie, for good." Johnny started struggling so Jonathan let him go and they both watched him as he ventured toward the dinning area.
"Why are you home for good?" she grilled. "Just got tired of sailing the ocean and decided to come home." he answered. "I don't believe that for a moment, but until we get to talk again I will let you off of the hook." "So where is our dear stepmother?" "She is at home, work is not for her." she answered. "Good good. How are you doing old mum?" he asked. He had been worried about her, but although Evie was small she seemed to be able to hold her own when it came to their stepmother." "I am fine. It has been hard lately, but I am doing okay." They were still watching Johnny, but started walking toward the front when they heard him cry out for his mother.
Emma Scott looked upset. It was an understatement, but that was the only thing Evie could bring to mind. "Emma what is it?" Evie asked. Emma picked her little boy up. "It seems there is now going to be some type of congress something or other in Philadelphia on September 5th and my husband believes he should be among them." she told her. "I'll come by tomorrow afternoon, I need to get back home. Thanks for watching him Evelyn." she said and left. Evie looked to Jonathan who looked to her, they both shrugged their shoulders and walked over to the bar.
~*~*~*~
Philadelphia, PA
September 5, 1774
Evelyn had resorted to trickery to be at the First Continental Congress as they had called it. She had begged her uncle, Oliver, but he had denied her with no other reason than she was a woman and a loyalist. She wasn't a loyalist, not really. True she had only left England a little over eight years ago, she hated England. It was a source of pain for her. Not that Boston was any better, but at least the memory of her parents didn't consume her. Her mother had been killed nearly fifteen years ago, when she was merely five years old. Her father when he commended the colonists for their actions had been murdered eight years ago when she was twelve.
It had never been solved. When Evelyn was eleven years old her father had married Angelica Moon. A very beautiful woman who Evelyn did not like. She was mean to Evelyn when no one was around and she had never believed her grief over the death of her father. However her past was a completely different story and she was here because she was a woman and she wanted to help or so she thought.
She had to disguise herself as a man, which was hard to do especially since her hair was a long mass of very brown curls. She refused to cut it just so she could sneak into a convention however. She had stolen some of Jonathan's clothes and ridden on his horse, Thebes, behind her uncle's carriage the entire time to Philadelphia. She had laughed at the thought that Angelica would have to run the tavern while they were away. Angelica might run it into the ground, but that really didn't bother Evie. She was more interested in her uncle's school and the fact that he wouldn't let her teach more than one little segment in it.
There was a pounding on the desk as the fifty-six delegates, plus one, were called to order. They were each seated in rows of the colony in which they represented. Evie got a seat in the very back and prayed no one saw her.
She had been listening to remarks all day and it was getting boring. It wasn't until a familiar voice spoke up that she paid attention. "No! We should be preparing for war! King George is not going to let his colony that he considers to be a bastard son free. It would give us too much power. He has yet to even try and work with us. John Adams tried and still nothing. We can no longer sit by passively, we must get ready and prepare for war!" The crowd cheered and booed, but Evelyn really didn't hear them she was paying attention to Rick O'Connell. "Is this because of your father?" some smug man said.
"Part of it yes. They killed him and if that had happened to you you would want them gone as well." Rick replied trying his best to reign in his anger. "Gentlemen," her uncle warned. Both men sat down and John Adams stood up, "Rick is right. We need to prepare for war, but we also need organization. We are not going to do much good if we do not start acting like the country we are trying to become." He paused for a few minutes and then continued, "I believe we should start to make committees, something to keep track of what we should be doing and who is doing it. However, before we start on that it is getting late and I say we part for the evening." There were cheers for that and although Evie tried to slip out quickly, she was shoved by the other men trying to get out and fell to the floor.
She saw someone's hand and took it. "Thank-you." she said in her manly voice. "Your welcome, Mr..." he looked at her and she looked at him, "Evelyn?" he let out in a shock whisper. "Mr. O'Connell?" she asked realizing she was caught and wasn't at all happy with it. "What are you doing here?" he asked out. He didn't wait for her answer, but pulled her away from the building so that no one else there could see that she was a she. "I wanted to see what was happening. It is very important to me and I don't care if I am a woman. I am still entitled to know what is happening to this country!" she shouted the last part, tired of the battle that went on between the sexes.
For the life of him he couldn't understand her. He looked up to heaven to see if God had any words of wisdom, but it was apparent he wasn't going to share. "Where are you staying? Does your uncle know you are here?" he asked. "I am staying at the Inn on fifth street and no he does not and there is no reason for him to find out." she told him. "I'm staying at the Inn there myself, which is good because now I can keep an eye on you."
"I resent that remark. I do not need your help." she said. "Look, we don't have a choice. Let's get you back and we can think of something then." he said and didn't give her a chance to protest. They were walking past one of the taverns where many of the men were going, "Hey Rick, whose that?" William Dawes asked. "It's my cousin, Ethan." he said. "So are you going to join us?" he asked. "Thanks, but I haven't seen Ethan in a long time, we were going to go and catch up." William nodded his head, "Very well. I will see you tomorrow." "Yes, have a good night." Rick answered.
Evie was seething by the time they made it back to the Inn. Rick didn't care and threw her into her room and locked the door. The men here were probably looking for some female companionship and if they found her there was no telling what they would do. He went downstairs to get a drink and think about the mysterious creature that despite everything he was falling for. It wasn't until he was going up the stairs that he noticed something was wrong. He ran up the stairs to Evie's room only to find the door wrenched opened and a man attacking Evelyn.
He went into overdrive and started beating the man. He was grabbed from behind and it forced him into the small table that held a candle. The candle moved back and forth and finally fell over onto the bed igniting it. Evelyn screamed for Rick to help her and he rammed his head back and heard a yowl of pain and then went towards Evelyn who screamed "Look Out!" and he turned around to see another man come after him. He hit him and was hit in the jaw, he struck the man in the groin and kicked him in the stomach. The fire was had captured the entire side wall and if he didn't get Evelyn out they were going to be engulfed in flames themselves.
He didn't even think he just grabbed her and through themselves out the window. He tried to protect her as they went flying from the second story to the street below, but he knew it hurt her. He looked up to see one of the men on fire coming hurtling towards them and with quick reaction moved him and Evelyn out of the way. He heard the man's neck break the instant he hit and rolled to shield Evelyn even further. It wasn't until everyone came out screaming and running that he realized the entire Inn was on fire and there was going to be no way to salvage it. He stood her up and they looked at the building and back to one another and at the same time spoke, "It's your fault."
End of Part I.