Yay! Liberty's Kids season starts all over! Anyways, here's chapter 12! I know you've all been waiting for it! So here it comes!

Oh, and a friendly little reminder. I don't own Liberty's Kids. :)

Chapter 12: Independence Day

"Aah!"

Cecile's moans of anguish woke Sarah up early that morning. She looked at her bedside clock and read: 3:40am. I wonder what's wrong with Cecile, Sarah thought. She lit a candle and walked down the hall to Cecile's bedroom. She knocked on the door. "Cecile? It's me, Sarah. May I come in?" A click in the doorknob told her that she could.

"Is something wrong?" Sarah asked. "I feel like I swallowed about 20 pairs of scissors and I don't know why!" Cecile said in a guttural voice. "Owww!" Sarah smiled. She lifted up her covers and Cecile screamed.

Right in between her legs was a small pool of blood.

Cecile was breathing heavily. "Aaaah! It hurts, Sarah! Why is there blood in my bed? Am I dying?" she asked. Sarah giggled. "No, you're not dying. That's perfectly normal in all girls. I suppose I'll have to give you the clarification my mother gave me," Sarah said. She then instigated an explanation about menstruation, and how you can prevent that "little pool of blood". "But why am I getting a lot of pain?" Cecile asked. "That's normal. It just means that the blood is being released," Sarah elucidated.

"Thanks, Sarah," Cecile said, giving her a big hug. She went back to sleep. Sarah went back to her room, blew out her candle, and once again fell asleep.

Cecile woke up at 6:30 to a hot July morning. She washed up, put her new lilac dress on, and went downstairs. She found Sarah in her usual baby blue riding dress, said good morning, and started to help her make breakfast. But first, she took her new ring off so it wouldn't get lost in the dough for their bread.

Sarah noticed the gleaming ring that Cecile put in her pocket. "That's a beautiful ring. Did it belong to one of your parents?" she asked. "No," Cecile replied. "I got it as a gift last night." "From Henri?" Sarah presumed, and Cecile nodded. Sarah stirred the dough while Cecile added some cinnamon to the batter. "He must really like you to give you such a pretty ring as that one," Sarah commented, and Cecile said, "Mm-hmm."

She wiped her hands on her apron and added the yeast to the batter. She covered the batter with a cloth and they let the yeast rise. Then they put the batter in the oven and let it bake. Later Cecile made some pancake batter and added blueberries to it. She cooked them on the Franklin stove and put a stack of pancakes on a small plate.

James woke up a couple of hours later. He, too, washed, dressed, and went downstairs to find two young ladies in eye-catching dresses. "Good morning," he said drowsily as he walked over to Sarah and Cecile. Henri came over a few minutes later and walked over to Cecile, her lilac dress shining with loveliness. "Where is it?" Henri whispered to her. "In my pocket. I didn't want it to get covered in dough," she whispered back. The two boys sat down at the table and waited for the girls to wash their hands and sit down with them.

"So, Henri," James said slyly as he buttered some cinnamon bread. "What were you whispering to Cecile about?" "Hmm? Oh, I was just asking her where she put something," he answered. "And I told him it was in a safe place," Cecile added. "So what was the something?" Sarah asked. "Sarah, you saw it this morning," Cecile said. "Oh, right." "So what is it?" James asked. Henri looked at Cecile and nodded. She took the ring out of her pocket, put it on her finger under the table, and put her left hand on the tabletop. James gasped, his eyes wide with admiration.

"When did you get it?" he asked. "I got it while I was in France," Henri replied. "And he gave it to me last night. The only reason you didn't see it was because he told me to open it when I got into bed," Cecile said as she cut up a pancake. "Then what?" James asked, intrigued by this story. "Then I opened the box and I found the ring."

"Wow," Sarah whispered.

At last, the four were done with breakfast. "Wait," Henri said as Sarah, James, and Cecile got up to leave. "I never explained the worth of the ring. It's not just a little gift for nothing." Everyone sat down again, patiently waiting for Henri's explanation.

"Everyone, this ring is a token of my and Cecile's friendship. If I ever forget to bring a gift for a birthday or for Christmas, just look at the ring and you will be filled with the feeling of comfort. It's a feeling of comfort because you know that you are surrounded by people you love and are loved by," Henri said kindly. Cecile smiled, and the four of them got up from their seats. Cecile was humming "Through My Own Eyes". She went upstairs to her room and began to write in her diary.

July 4, 1787---America has been free for 11 years. I just got a beautiful ring from Henri. Although I got it last night, today it became beautiful because it's a token of friendship.

Cecile closed her diary and began to sing.

"I'm looking at life
Through my own eyes.
Searching for a hero
To idolize
Feeling the pain
As innocence dies
Looking at life
Through my own eyes

Hoping and praying
For a brighter day
I listen to my heart
And I obey
How can I see it
Any other way?
I'm looking at life (looking at life)
Through my own eyes."

Where did that other "Looking at life" come from? She couldn't have possibly sung it. She was already singing the other part. She sang the song again.

"I'm looking at life
Through my own eyes.
Searching for a hero
To idolize
Feeling the pain
As innocence dies
Looking at life
Through my own eyes

Hoping and praying
For a brighter day
I listen to my heart
And I obey
How can I see it
Any other way?
I'm looking at life (looking at life)
Through my own eyes."

It was a boy's voice! She was sure of it. She looked up---and there was James, her one-man audience.

"You---heard---me?" she said. "Oh no, oh no, oh no! Well, uh, what did you think?" she asked uneasily, drumming her fingers on her writing desk. "Well, um," James said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "I liked it." "Really? You did?" she asked. "Yup." James nodded with approval. "You have a knack for singing and writing." "And you have a talent for sneaking up on people, you know that? You shouldn't be a journalist. You ought to be a spy!" They both laughed.

"Hey, wait a minute," she said, looking at the bottom of his shirt. She sighed exasperatedly. "Did you get stuck in the printing press again?" she asked, her voice having a mix of both sprightliness and suspicion. James laughed nervously. "Y-yeah," he said. "I did." "And you actually managed to get out by yourself?" she asked, thinking that it was too hard to believe. "It may sound hard to believe, but yeah, I did." Cecile laughed. "Mission accomplished!" she said.

"Now what?" she said after a while. "Hmmm...well, the paper's already printed out and sold. There are no more stories, it's July 4th...maybe we should go out and celebrate," James said. "My treat." "Yeah! I'll go get Sarah; you go ask the Marquis if he and his family would like to come with us. But you don't have to pay for everything. We don't even know what we're doing." "Actually," James said. "I've been planning something special for this holiday. You'll see later."

"Oh, that reminds me. I have a riddle for you. You're going to love this one. Is there a 4th of July in England?" Cecile asked, looking a little triumphant. James gave the obvious answer of a Patriot. "No." Cecile laughed. "Yes, there is! Look at a British calendar! There is a 4th of July, but it's just plain old July 4th!" James growled and chased her out of her room and down the stairs. He caught her at the bottom step and Cecile called, "Sarah! He's got me! Aaahhhh!" James set her down at the bottom of the stairs. Sarah appeared from behind the stairs and said, "What's going on?" "Nothing," James said. Cecile nudged him and hissed, "Liar."

James tried to pick her up again, but she ran out of his reach and into the printing room. He chased her again and finally managed to grab her. "See?" Cecile said during her moment of defeat. "You should be like this more often." "How?" James said, trying to tickle her till she surrendered. She giggled. "More fun and out-going!" she said in between laughter. "You can let me go now." He set her in a chair and went up to his room.

Fortunately, Sarah could come, and so could the Marquis and his family. They spent the day riding their horses in their little field, and when night fell, James disappeared for a few minutes. "Anyone see where he went?" Henri asked. "Nope," Cecile said. "No," Sarah answered. Suddenly, they all saw a tall blond boy with a sparkler in hand. "Come on!" he said. "Where are we going?" Sarah asked. "To the harbor! They always do a light show!" James said happily. "Wow, James. When you said something special, you meant it!" Cecile said, amazed at all the sparklers and fireworks.

"Here," James said, handing her a sparkler and lighting it for her. "Wow!" she breathed. She whirled the sparkler around. It started out brilliant and bright. Then it lost some of its sparkle, and finally died. "Hmm," she said. "This sparkler is like human life."

"How's that?" Sarah asked. "Well, you start off being born as a playful and sprightly baby. Then, as you grow into an adult, you lose some of the sprightliness. Finally, as you become elderly, you've lost so much sprightliness that all that's left for you to do is wither away and kick the bucket," she said thoughtfully. "Try it again with another sparkler. This one won't work again."

Sarah lit a sparkler and held it. It, too, started out bright, then lost its sparkle, and died. "She's right," Sarah said. "You know what my dad used to say?" Cecile said. "He said that if you ever made a wish on a firework, then it would come true. Look, there are a few now!" she cried, pointing to the ebony blanket that was the sky. Flowers of glowing brilliance exploded, and they all made wishes on them.

"I wish........."

"You know," Henri said, "I didn't really run away. I went off with my parents on a ship." James nodded and put his head down. Cecile gave James a perplexed look. "What?" she said. "That's how Henri became an orphan," Sarah explained. "A plague hit the ship, killing almost half of the passengers." "...Including Henri's parents," James finished sadly. "The captain of the ship said that I could be the cabin boy in order to pay off the debts," Henri explained. "I washed the floors, I brought him food, and if I did one little thing wrong, he would throw me in the hold for hours." Cecile gasped.

"You were a slave?" she said in astonishment. "But, then, how did you manage to escape?" "That's where me and Moses came in," James said, beaming. "James, it's 'That's where Moses and I came in,'" Sarah automatically corrected. "Honestly, why bother being a journalist if you're not even going to use accurate grammar?" "That's what I said! Not about the grammar, but that he shouldn't be a journalist. He has every characteristic for being a spy! He's sneaky, cunning, and quiet!" Everyone laughed affably.

"Anyway," James said, trying to take the oral limelight. "Moses and I went onto the very ship Henri was on because we were getting parts for the printing press. There, we found Henri behind bars. Moses took the handle for the press and pushed the bars open. We then took out the parts, laid them under straw and put Henri in instead," he said. "Wow, and you escaped with him right under the captain's nose?" she asked, enthralled. "Yup, right under the captain's nose. Although I'm not so sure if we made a good trade, meaning taking Henri instead of the printing press parts," James teased. "Hey!" Henri said playfully.

The four of them sat down on the side of the harbor, swaying their legs over the murky ocean. "Hey!" Cecile said suddenly. "Hay is for horses," Sarah said exasperatedly. "Better for cows!" James said happily. "Pigs can't eat it because they don't know how!" Henri exclaimed gleefully. Cecile laughed. "Anyway, I just realized my wish came true!" she said. "It did? How?" Henri asked. "Well, I wished that somebody would tell me the truth about something, I just wasn't sure who or what," she admitted.

"I wish my wish would come true," Sarah grumbled under her breath. Suddenly, as if she had spoken her wish aloud, James shifted closer to her. Not too close, but close enough for him to wrap an arm around her shoulder. Sarah smiled a little bit and said, "This is the 11th year we've been free from England and their dreadful society." "Dreadful society is right," James agreed, and without warning, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"So how did you two meet?" Cecile inquired, a little puzzled.

"We didn't really meet on the best terms," James said.

FLASHBACK

"Take that!" Sarah shrieked as she whacked the blond boy in the head with her pillow. Feathers flew everywhere. James collapsed on the ground. "What hit me?" he moaned.

"You'll never take me alive!" Sarah yelled at him. "Take you? Where?" James asked. "Wherever Indians take people," Sarah replied.

James stood up. "I'm not no Indian. None of us are," he said. "You're not an Indian. Who taught you grammar?" Sarah corrected. "Who taught you to whack people in the head?" James retorted. "My apologies," Sarah said, taking a book out of her pillow. "I thought you were here to kidnap me." "Kidnap? I'm a journalist for the Pennsylvania Gazette," James explained. "Now, what do you have to say about the tax protest?" "Is that what this is about? Disgraceful. That tea is private property of the king." "So you think it's okay to tax colonists without a say in Parliament?" James asked her disbelievingly.

Sarah went on about saying that colonists should be loyal subjects to the king. "And you can quote me on that," she snapped. "Mr....What is your name?" James was looking more conceited than ever. "Hiller. James Hiller. And who would I be quoting?" "Whom may I be quoting? If you're going to be a journalist, you ought to treat your words with more care," Sarah reprimanded. "Just tell me your name, will you?" James said, annoyed. "I've got work to do." "Phillips," Sarah said. "Miss Sarah Phillips of London, England." James spelled out her name. "S-A-R-A-H P-H-I..." he paused, a shocked look on his face. "Sarah Phillips? You're Sarah Phillips?!"

END FLASHBACK

"You met during the Boston Tea Party?" Cecile asked, shell-shocked. Everyone except Cecile nodded. "So how did you two meet?" James asked slyly.

"Well," Cecile said. "We've been friends since we were four years old, I think." Henri nodded. "Four? That's an early age!" Sarah exclaimed. Cecile bowed her head. "Wait a minute. Four years old?" James said. "Your parents died when you were four years old. Are you saying that the man who saved you was...?"

"...My dad," Henri finished. "He brought her home and gave her a place to stay. We've been friends ever since. Then I left two years later with my family."

"Wait a minute," James said, feeling his pocket. "Somebody put something in my pocket." James took a small parcel and a piece of paper out of his pocket. First he read the note to himself.

"Dear James,
Please take this cracker as a token of my gratitude for bringing me over to America, and for being such a great friend. I know it'll remind you of someone very close to you. I hope you like it!

Your friend, Cecile."

He unwrapped the parcel to find a small cracker. He pulled the two ends. The cracker exploded, sending bits of confetti into the air. He looked inside both halves of the cracker.

Inside the half in his right hand, he felt something hard. And cold. And round. He felt a hole in whatever it was, so he put his finger through it. He took his hand out of the cracker.

There, on his right middle finger, was a piece of gold made exactly to look like his late mother's ring.

"It's beautiful!" he said, twisting the ring every which-way to look at its perfection. "Moses helped me make it," she said. "After Sarah told me about the incident with her locket and your ring, I thought maybe you could use a little kindness. Do you like it?" James didn't know what to say. "I love it! But where did you get the gold?"

Then Henri looked at Cecile's arm. "What happened to your bracelet?" he asked. "What bracelet?" Sarah asked. "Oh, remember that day when we met Moses and his children?" Cecile asked. Sarah nodded. "That night, when I went to bed, not only did I find a ring, but I also found a bracelet that belonged to my mother. Henri didn't even tell me he had it." She gave him a why-didn't-you-tell-me-you-had-it look. He gave her a because-your-mother-told-me-to-give-it-to-you-when-the-time-was-right look.

"It used to be a full loop," Henri said. "What happened?" Cecile showed them the bracelet that was now a semicircle. James just looked at her. He knew what she had done. She used the gold from her mother's bracelet to make it. "How come you used only half?" he asked. "Because there was so much that we only needed half to make the ring," she answered. "But I gave you the more important part of the bracelet. I gave you that part that my father had engraved." "What did he write?"

"He wrote, 'I love you, Sarah'."

James was clearly in tears now. Each time a firework exploded, you could almost see droplets of water running down his face. "James, don't cry," everyone said. James looked up. "How can you not cry," he said, "when someone has given you a gift from the bottom of their heart just to make you feel better?" Sarah gave him a Look. "That happened to me, remember? You used your ring to make a locket for me. I didn't cry. Well, not in front of you." "Aha! You did cry!" James said.

Suddenly, a girl with brown hair and blue eyes rode up to them. She was riding on the cart that she had attached to her horse, Star. "Need a ride back, Mr. Hiller?" she asked. "Hi, Sybil," the four of them said. "So would you like a ride to the print shop? That's just where I'm headed." "Sure." "Hop on!" she said happily, and the four of them got onto the cart behind the horse. They rode off to the shop in silence. James and Sarah watched the light show while Henri and Cecile fell asleep on their shoulders: Henri sleeping on Sarah's, Cecile sleeping on James's.

"Happy Independence Day, everyone."

When they got to the print shop, James carried Henri into the print shop, while Sarah carried Cecile. "Thanks again, Sybil. I don't know how we could repay you," they said. "It's no trouble at all," Sybil replied as she took the cart off of Star and carefully put it back in its rightful place. "Happy Independence Day, Sybil." "Happy Independence day to you, too. Hyah!" she said, and she and Star were off. "Bye, Sybil!"

James carried Henri up to his room and laid him there, while Sarah took Cecile up to her room and laid her on her bed. "Hold on," James said to Sarah. He took out a piece of foolscap and his pencil.

"Dear Cecile,
I don't know how I could possibly thank you for such a wonderful gift. I assure you, it will mean more to me than anything in the world. Trust me, this ring has the same value as my love for Sarah (and you know how much I love her). Thanks again for everything.

Your everlasting friend,
James"

He went up to her room and set it on the bedside table beside her clock. "I hope she finds it," he said to Sarah.

That night, James crawled into his bed knowing that he wouldn't wake up with a guilty conscience.

French lesson!!!

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