Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in the movie, The Patriot. All rights reserved etc.
A/N: would like to say a special thank you to bizziebee and HiddenOperaAngel for their reviews. It's really encouraging and I truly appreciated it! More reviews will be very helpful! Love constructive criticism
Fading between light and dark, Alex caught glimpses of faces looking down at her, each one seeming to be different from the last. Is this how it ends? Am I dead or alive, or perhaps neither heaven nor hell will take me? No more thoughts passed through her mind as blackness enveloped her once more.
Some hours later, Alex awoke to the smell of human flesh, the metallic taste of blood thick within the air. So this is it, I'm in hell. Please may it be purgatory, I don't know what I've done wrong, but if stealing the brownies from the fridge that were meant for the school picnic was so great a sin, in my defence; they were delicious. Opening her eyes, the vision was blurred and feeling the dizziness return, she slumped back down onto the bed. Sweating and pale-faced, she tried to make out the faces that were surrounding her.
"She lost quite a lot of blood, I managed to extract the bullet and sew up the wound, and the laudanum I administered should be close to wearing off…" said the man to her right. She could make out that he had powdered hair and his white sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, covered in…"Blood!" Alex gasped, her mouth open in horror as she turned to the other side and tried to rise, frantic to get away from the stench of death that engulfed the area. Before she could run, two hands pushed down on her shoulders reawakening her to the pain in her left arm. Her face screwed up in frustration and pain, she made a last futile attempt to fight the force that was pushing her down, but eventually gave up knowing that in her current state, there was no way she could put up any sort of decent resistance.
"Lord Cornwallis wishes to discover the reason as to why she had arrived during the middle of his meeting. This girl could know valuable information, and if so, could cause irrevocable damage to the campaign here in South Carolina. We need to find out what she knows, who she was working for, and then she will be hung. She must stay alive till then!" another man shouted.
"I don't have the time to look after her, those men moaning out there are waiting their turn to receive medical treatment! I don't have the facility to keep watch on a spy or for her to take up hospital room!" the man Alex perceived to be the doctor, shouted.
"Then we will move her to Fort Carolina, where she can be easily watched. You, lieutenant, inform…" The man continued to issue his orders as Alex struggled to clear her mind. But once again, she fell out of the light and into blackness.
Something warm rested on her face, opening her eyes, Alex looked out into the clear, sun-filled sky, a gentle breeze gliding into the room. So lovely, the way the nature here is almost perfectly preserved. It's such a nice change from the city. Sitting up, she felt a pain shoot up her left arm and winced, making a mental note to put no weight on it for the time being. Slowly, she got out of the bed and walked towards the door, her right arm reaching out for the handle. Suddenly, the door burst open and hit her right in the face. "Can you stop hurting me! Who the hell bursts through doors like that? Why…" but she couldn't finish her sentence as the man she recognised as the owner of the voice in the hospital said "She's awake, inform my Lord General that the prisoner is ready for interrogation." Not knowing what to do, Alex backed away slowly from the man and crouched in the far corner of the room. The next minute, two more soldiers filed in and proceeded to bind her hands, the coarse rope cutting into the skin. All suspicions aside, I accept the fact that it is not the twenty-first century. Far-fetched as it is, I have no other way to explain what is going on around me…"OUCH! Not so rough, it hurts!" she said to the soldier who looked up at her dimly and shrugged, finishing his work.
Once complete, he stepped back and pushed her in front, following the other man who led her down a hallway and stopped outside a room with an imposing mahogany door. Knocking the door, the man then entered with Alex in tow, sitting her down on a chair placed in front of a desk. The same man who had pointed his finger at her yesterday stood facing out the window. Dismissing the others, the man who she had followed here stood behind her chair with one hand on her shoulder. To comfort or to restrain, she didn't know.
Turning around, the older man met her eyes in a manner that made it clear that insolence would not be tolerated. "I am General Lord Cornwallis, commander of His Majesty's forces in South Carolina. General O'Hara tells me that you have recovered sufficiently from the hospital, so that interrogation may proceed. I advise you to cooperate. Should you decide not to, I need not remind you the consequences for obstinacy." He said, sitting with his hands clasped in front of him.
For lack of a better response, Alex simply had her eyes fill with tears. Twenty-two was far too young to die, least of all in a time when she had no family Well…that's alive…yet.
"So, shall we proceed? Your name?" asked Cornwallis.
"Alexandra Horatia Thurston." whispered Alex, her mouth dry from fear. Her tongue felt limp in her mouth, as if no will of her own could conjure it to move.
"Can you repeat that, please?"
Wetting her lips, she attempted to speak in a loud, clear voice "Alexandra Horatia Thurston" Mother, why Horatia? They read out names at execution…hopefully I'll die of embarrassment first.
"What were you doing in my head quarters, Miss Thurston?" he asked, not unkindly.
Well, better lay down all the cards. "It's the Right Honourable, if you please my Lord." She said, her mind racing trying to formulate a plan.
"You are not American?" he said, looking up at O'Hara in confusion.
"No, sir. British born and bred." She said evenly.
"Then may I ask what you are doing in his Majesty's colonies, in clothing that…well, is hardly decent for a woman, let alone for one in your status. Do you have any proof of your lineage?" he asked, all the more kindly now.
Reaching round the back of her neck, she attempted to unclasp the necklace that hung around her neck, but her bound hands wouldn't let her get a grip on the clasp. "My Lord, would it be possible for my hands…I can't get this necklace…"
"Yes, of course. O'Hara, see to it at once." Immediately, O'Hara began to untie the ropes around Alex's hands. Once free she immediately held her bruised and bloodied wrists and began massaging them, trying to ease the ache that had settled there. Reaching back, she managed to unclasp the necklace and gave it to O'Hara who promptly stepped up to Cornwallis and handed it over.
"Mother didn't think a signet ring was appropriate for a young lady, so I was given this instead. It's the family crest." She said, hoping that this may convince him not to hang her That's great Alex, you show one guy what your closest friends don't even know. Maybe you'll get death by firing squad instead…Reminds me of that Blackadder episode when….PAY ATTENTION MIND!
Shaking her head, she looked back at the General, who appeared satisfied with what she had presented.
"My dear, I am sincerely sorry for the way you have been treated. But how does that explain your sudden appearance in my office yesterday?"
"There's only one type of woman that would be sniffing around officers like that, my Lord." said O'Hara looking at Alex with absolute disgust.
Horror struck, she stared at him with her mouth open and her temper soared. She hated that bloody woman for getting her into this mess, asking her to 'look at a few artifacts', my arse, more like every single one in the house! She had been shot, given laudanum, hands bound together, humiliated by her mother's absurd naming and she had... "ENOUGH!" she shouted. Shocked, the two men could only stare as Alex sprung up and began pacing the room.
"I don't know why, or for what purpose I came here. I have no idea where I am! I don't even come from this time, please," she gasped looking at Cornwallis, "I went to boarding school for seven years before I went to University at Oxford. I have a degree in history and have since been doing research for various persons on the origin and history of certain artifacts. Before that I was working at the British Museum for Christ's sake! It was 2006 when I left, see? I have proof!" she frantically started to tear off her wrist watch and gave it to Lord Cornwallis. "Look at my clothes, denim, made in Argentina—it's not even a country yet! And this, too! My driver's license and credit card, they cannot be from this time." She sobbed, all the while taking these items and putting them on the desk. "Do you not understand? I WANT TO GO HOME. MY FAMILY ISN'T EVEN ALIVE, and I feel so lost…" she finished weakly, collapsing to the floor crying.
Cornwallis and O'Hara stared at the items in their hands, unable to believe their eyes. "You cannot ask me to believe this," Cornwallis whispered. "This is just…not natural."
"I'm not asking you to determine whether or not it's natural, I'm telling you the truth. I have no other explanation." She sobbed. Scared, hurt, and under the threat of death, her emotions wracked her body, making her body retch with sobs.
"My dear, please. Stop. All my lessons say that I cannot believe this ludicrous tale, but," he said walking over to her, "it appears that there is no other explanation. I think it best that we do not have the men know, outside of O'Hara and I, hm?" he said, lifting her chin with his finger.
Her eyes met his, the gratitude seeping out of themAlex looked up for a moment longer, and what she saw scared her like nothing else. Cornwallis' eyes changed from kind to angry, and pushed her away, Alex tumbling to the ground.
"I have never known anything more absurd in my life. Tales full of rot! Wrong times and nonsense of nobility, you shall not deceive me, madam!" His eyes burned with anger. Shocked at the change, Alex could only beg "My Lord, please tell me the date, I can tell you what will happen next in the war. Please!"
"So now you're a gypsy soothsayer as well as a lady, yes? I will not tolerate such lies and insolence!" he shouted, his voice taking on a harsh quality that wasn't there before.
"Please, what year is it? That's all I ask!" Alex begged, her hands together whilst O'Hara held her back from the desk.
"1778." He spat out.
"1778, 1778….think Alex think" she shouted. "Ah! I know, I know you're going after Greene's armies, the battle will take place in the …." As she shouted, Alex thought I want to live! He must believe me now.
"So you're saying that you know the outcome, and the location."
"Yes! I also know you will have an officer transfer in, Washington is deliberating…" she continued
After several minutes of silence, Cornwallis said. "You have told me nothing that has led me to believe that you are nothing more than a spy. Take her away." He said dismissing Alex.
Throwing her last trump card, Alex shouted "Your wife sir, Jemima. She's dying sir, isn't she? I know you wished to be there for her but you couldn't as often as you liked. It was a broken heart more than anything else sir, I'm sorry she was so bedridden in the last weeks of her life. Your children haven't even come home from school, have they?" she said.
Cornwallis froze, and turned. "What did you say? How did you know about, Jem…" but he couldn't finish his words. His eyes were filled with emotion.
"Sir, please. Send one troop of infantry around the back of the hill. Colonials will be stationed there, and will fire down on your troops. It is imperative you claim the hills. Please, and I know Sir Henry Clinton was more than a hindrance to your campaign." She said, quietly. "Please, just remember that."
O'Hara turned to take Alex away but Cornwallis stopped him, "Wait," he said "take her to the guestroom on the east side of the house. I place her under your custody, O'Hara." Turning to Alex, he said, "So, she will die?"
Looking into his eyes, she said "Yes, sir."
"Very well. O'Hara, please…" motioning to O'Hara to take Alex away, he sat down at his desk, hands trembling.
A/N: I'm sorry for any historical inaccuracies. If there are any gross errors, let me know. If not, please forgive for the sake of fiction. –EponaRegina.
