Flashback:
October 1776
Williamsburg, Virginia.
Ben had been so sure of what he wanted when he turned sixteen he knew he wanted to join the militia and fight for the patriot cause. He knew very well that he could loose his life in the fight, but he was willing to risk it for the chance to live a life free from England's control. He didn't have much of a family to miss. His mother and younger brother had passed away years ago and he felt somewhat estranged from his father. They only people that would miss him were the Merriman's. They were the only people that would fret for his safe return. He supposed the Felicity would probably fret the most because they were very close friends. He imagined that he would miss them. He knew that he would miss talking to Felicity; she had a way of understanding him.
His sixteenth birthday snuck up on him. He had planned weeks in advanced to report for duty the day after he turned sixteen. He awoke on his sixteenth birthday in disbelief that it was finally time. He had promised Felicity that he would go riding with her that day. He met her after breakfast in the stables. They set off. In a way he knew already that he loved her. Not in the physical way of course, she was twelve and he was sixteen. But he knew that deep down he loved her dearly. More than a person could love their sister, but his love for her was still born out of childhood innocence.
They rode their horses out away from the town. She was riding Penny. They stopped in the forest and rest their backs against a tree trunk that had fallen.
He looked over at Felicity; he could tell that she was trying to hide her longing for him to stay. "Lissie, I know you don't want me to leave, but I need you to support me, I can't bear thinking that you're disappointed in me for leaving".
She gazed up at him, "Ben, I couldn't be more proud of you, I'm just so afraid of loosing you, you're my closest friend, and I don't know if I could handle it if you were killed".
He searched her eyes for something more. He sighed.
"Lissie, You are growing up, soon you'll have suitors begging for your father's permission to court you, will you promise me something? "
Her emerald eyes stared at him quizzically. She nodded.
"Don't get married or engaged before I come back".
She looked at him even more confused, "But why Ben?"
He grabbed her hands now.
"Lissie, I love you. I want you to wait for me, I know tis unfair to ask you to wait for me".
She was choking back tears when she buried her face in his chest and began sobbing.
"I love you too", she whispered.
He took her face into his hands and kissed her on the forehead. He didn't kiss her on the lips he would wait until she was older. They stayed like that in the woods for a while holding each other, not saying anything. The years to come would be difficult for both of them.
Ben left he next morning, he didn't say goodbye to Felicity, he didn't want to say goodbye to her. He wrote her a letter and slipped it under her door.
Dearest Lissie,
I am sorry I did not wake you up to say goodbye to you. It was too painful for me to have to say goodbye to your pretty face. I shall think of you every moment that I am away. But I know that deep down I will come back to you, alive. Keep me in your prayers Lissie. I want you to keep my signal whistle for me, it will comfort me knowing that you have some small part of me while I am away. I wish you the most happiness while I am away and I will anxiously await the time when we will be reunited. I love with all my heart and soul.
Ben.
