Without Ben, Felicity's life proceeded almost uninterrupted; she saw Elizabeth and played with her brother and sisters. She went to lessons, helped her father at the store and her mother and Rose around the house. With Ben gone, Mr. Merriman did not travel as much and when his wife could spar her, she sent Felicity to help her father at the store. She knew that Felicity loved working there and Mr. Merriman enjoyed her company. Felicity liked working with father at the store, but part of her liked working with Ben better. She missed the teasing, the conversations and the checkers with Ben.
The Merriman's store was a center of information. Customers and traders came in with news about the war and the colonies and the soldiers. Felicity's ears always perked up when a regiment was mentioned. She strained to hear any bit of news possible about Ben. She treasured the letters she received from him and longed to see him again. The letters that had come frequently at first, had slowed and Felicity and her family worried about Ben's safety. Elizabeth tried to assure her friend, but really all she could do was be there for her.
Marcus just finished unloading the crates off the wagon and brought them into the storage room. There Mr. Merriman unloaded the supplies while Felicity stayed in front, helping the customers. Stacking the shelves, Mr. Merriman sighed to himself over the minimal supplies he now stocked and the few customers he received. The war had been hard on commerce. Supplies were difficult to get because of the war. He had stopped selling items such as tea and loyalist customers stopped buying from him.
The jingle of the bell above the door interrupted Felicity's thoughts. It had been a slow day and she was lost in daydreams about her horse and Ben. Every time she thought about his soft kiss her cheeks became hot and her heart skipped a beat. She still couldn't believe that he fancied her. Elizabeth had confessed that since the Governor's Ball that Ben had escorted Felicity to, three years ago, she had always secretly thought that Ben fancied Felicity and Felicity him. Elizabeth just quietly waited for her suspicions to play out.
"Good day Miss Merriman," Elizabeth greeted cheerfully, shaking the rain off her cloak.
"Good day Miss Cole. Does your mother know you have come out in this rain?" Felicity questioned, assuming a more proper position at the counter. When Felicity was younger, anytime she would come into the shop her father would pretend she was a grand lady, a tradition she and Elizabeth loved to play at.
"I had the coachman deliver me straight to the door, I would have had one of the servants come but I needed a new feather for my hat and I wanted to make sure one was picked out properly." Elizabeth claimed, assuming a haughty tone.
"Ahhh yes, you have come to the right place. We have just received some fine feathers from the Indies and Persia. And this one," Felicity pretended to present a large feather, "is from a peacock in Caribbean. I do believe it should meet your fancy."
Giggling, Elizabeth lost her composure for the game, "Oh Lissie, the Caribbean? Persia? The Indies? Can you imagine how wonderful life must be in such exotic places?"
"I've heard a little from the ships that do trade with Father. They are much different from here. They are hot like summer all the time with water so blue and sand white as snow. They have beautiful flowers and animals like nothing we have seen in Virginia!" Felicity said wistfully.
"Mother said that many Loyalists have settled in the Caribbean. And Canada too. Canada is like the colonies they say, but the Caribbean is paradise."
"Has your Mother been talking about leaving Virginia again?" Felicity asked in a worried tone.
"A little, especially since Master Cooke was tarred and feathered and his house burned to the ground. She is worried. Father left us here because he believed we would be safe, but now she is not so sure. Lissie, do you know what happens to a person when they are tarred and feathered?"
"Oh Elizabeth, you need not fear, the Patriots would never do that to women and children!"
"Lissie! They shouldn't be doing it at all!"
"Elizabeth, what a lovely surprise! To what do we owe this pleasure too?" Mr. Merriman interrupted, emerging from the back room.
"Father, Mrs. Cole is frightful after the tarring of Mister Cooke—she is thinking of leaving Williamsburg!" Felicity and Elizabeth looked at Mr. Merriman with sad eyes.
"Both sides of this conflict inflict pain on others to scare them into submission. Both Loyalists and Patriots alike will burn each other's property, hang their enemies, and tar and feather the traitors. War is not glorious. In these times many a hero will emerge, but also many a villain. Wars are meant to be fought by rules, but, in reality, the rules of war are silent." Mr. Merriman replied sadly. Elizabeth and Felicity looked at each other in silence, each praying that the war would soon be over.