Chapter Seven:
"Do you zhink zhey'll burn ze shop?" whispered Henri as the children crept behind the row of buildings next to the print shop. The soldiers wouldn't see them and they would come out on the end of the street, away from the British. They could then go forwards one street over and be out of town before dawn.
Sarah coughed, effectively muffling the sound with her hands. "I don't think so, Henri. They don't want anyone to know what's happened, remember?"
As they crossed to the next street over, all the children breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't exactly safe, but they were farther away from danger.
They continued to walk silently for most of the night, James, who knew the streets best, leading them. He thought about their course. After Pennsylvania, they would go through New York, Connecticut, and most of Massachusetts, which would take them around five or six days. They had a map from Dr. Franklin's office; one he had printed and was by a Mr. Lewis Evans, and it showed them the way.
Well, roughly. To be quite honest, the only thing the map was really useful for was that Boston was above Philadelphia. So they had to keep moving up.
Despite what Sarah thought, the colonies were not so uncivilized. There were ways to get to Boston from Philadelphia through mostly populated areas. James knew from experience; when he, Moses and Henri had first met Sarah and they had traveled entirely by wagon.
As the sun came up, Sarah passed around apples and bread. No one had spoken for several hours, not wanting to attract attention. As the city they were passing awoke and people began to fill the streets, Sarah, James and Henri began to speak normally.
"Will we be stopping off to sleep?" Sarah asked practically. She coughed.
"We'll have to. On foot it will take us days to reach Boston—five or six." James replied as they continued.
"Can we ztop now? My feet 'urt!" Henri complained, making Sarah smile tiredly.
"We'd better hurry if we want to make it to Mrs. Adam's house soon." James reminded them. "Don't waste your breath."
"How do you know so much about travel all of a sudden, James?" asked Sarah, raising her eyebrows in jest.
"I grew up on the streets, remember?" said James with a half smile. They continued to walk. Spots danced in front of Sarah's eyes before she blinked them away.
Several hours later, the sky was darkening as it does in February, and the air around them was cooling as well. James looked at the other two children. "We'll have to stop for the night." he announced.
"Where?" asked Sarah, pushing strands of unkept hair out of her face and looking around the city street they were on. James shrugged.
"Against a building. Doesn't matter which—just not too near a tavern."
Sarah coughed, opened her mouth to argue, and decided it wasn't worth it. It was just going to get colder—they were moving closer and closer to the North, albeit slowly. James suddenly stopped in front of a shop, sat down against it, and pulled his knees to his chest.
Immediately Henri mimicked him, sitting down next to him and quickly falling asleep despite the uncomfortable state. Poor boy, Sarah thought. He was younger then either of them, and probably more tired too. She stared for a moment but eventually her exhaustion won out over her propriety, sitting down a safe distance from James.
"Hopefully we'll reach farmland soon." he said, looking out over the buildings. "It might be where the stories are, but I'd rather be in the country then the city."
"I thought—well, if you don't mind me asking, didn't you grow up in the city after your parents were..." Sarah pulled her cloak around herself and coughed, trailing off.
"I was only a baby when it happened. My aunt and uncle took me in for a while, and my uncle was a farmer in Virginia."
"Why aren't you with them now?" asked Sarah.
"I ran away." replied James with a hint of pride. "When I was six. I liked the farm, but I didn't like my aunt and uncle. My uncle'd yell too much, and beat his servers and slaves when they did things wrong. And my aunt would hit her maid if she didn't do things correctly, even though the maid didn't speak English! I couldn't stand it in that house, so I ran away and was living on the streets in Richmond when I learned of Dr. Franklin and his lightning rod."
"Oh, my." muttered Sarah. Her cousins would surely faint if they heard such a thing. And that he was a traveling companion, no less. "But surely they looked for you?"
"They didn't pay attention to me anyway." scoffed James. "They put me in with the servants—I liked them better then my aunt and uncle."
"But didn't they send you to school, or hire a tutor, or take you to church, or—" James shook his head and shrugged a little sadly.
"I went to church with the servants—my aunt and uncle didn't care for me or my parents."
"That sounds terrible. My problems—" Sarah coughed. "seem...are...so pointless. Nothing in life really mattered." she looked away.
"Correction: were. You have some important problems now." James suggested, trying to be lighearted. Sarah frowned and he spoke more seriously. "It's not...you're not..."
Sarah turned her head to the side, furrowing her eyebrows.
"I think you're—not—dull. For a girl. And a loyalist, I mean." he spoke quickly. She paused for a second, then smiled slightly.
"That was very gentlemanly of you, James." she hesitated. "Thank you."
Silence. Time passed. Both children felt themselves start to drift off.
Suddenly a dog barked in the distance. Sarah shivered. Something clattered loudly. Glancing at each other, the two moved closer together.
Well, it was cold, after all.
Sounds of waking city forced James to open his eyes. He glanced at Henri, on his left, who was still sleeping, then towards Sarah. He colored slightly when he realized they were leaning against one another. It explained why his left arm was cold while his right was not.
He didn't like to wake either of them up, but reluctantly decided they'd have to keep moving. He grabbed both of his companions' wrists to wake them. Henri shifted but didn't wake up. Sarah's eyes flew open.
"Your wrist is warm. It's freezing out here." James observed suspiciously, grabbing her hand. Sarah yanked it away.
"Mind your own business—" she broke off and coughed, doubling over before straightening. She quickly turned her head away, not wanting to look at either of them. James shook Henri again and turned back to Sarah.
"You're sick! Why didn't you say anything?"
"I am not...very sick." she said quietly, catching her breath. Henri didn't get up, instead staring up at his two older companions in bewilderment, though wasn't the first time he had woken up to an argument between James and Sarah; be it a silent-treatment battle of wits or a full-on yelling match.
"If you get worse we'll never even get to Boston!" James attempted to successfully mask his concern with his anger.
"I'll be fine!" she said a bit louder then she had meant to.
"You don't know that!"
"Why does it matter to you anyway?" asked Sarah, staring at his shoes.
He didn't answer. "Why wouldn't you say anything to Moses, at least?" Her shoulders slumped and she looked up, directly at him for the first time since the argument.
"I might be a British girl, but it doesn't mean I want to be sent away. And you know Moses would've. I would have been—" alone, she finished silently. Henri watched them, bored and confused.
She hadn't been alone since the voyage to America.
"I'll be fine." she said quietly.
"If you say so." he replied.
A/N: Just when you thought James and Sarah could be having feels! But I hope you like the little moment anyway. Aww, James is CONCERNED! *feels*
NEXT TIME IN FIREBRAND: James practices his journalism, Henri gets into some sadly familiar trouble, and Sarah gets sicker.