It didn't take long for life at Valley Forge to become normal. Each day Eliza would eat her breakfast of bread and water, take part in whatever training activity Mulligan had planned for that day, eat whatever was lined up for dinner, try to sleep, give up, go to the stables until she could no longer stand before finally falling asleep for a couple of hours. Then the next morning she would do the entire thing again.

One of the training activities was climbing. Like all the other training exercises, Eliza struggled with climbing. She could just about pull herself up the rocks, but she couldn't swing from rock to rock, or move herself along using just her hands.

A few weeks into training, Eliza was sat on a rock at the bottom of the cliff they were using for climbing. She was watching one of the other cadets, Sampson, climb up the cliff. Once Sampson reached the top it would be her turn. Eliza watched as Sampson made to reach for a rock near the top of a cliff, however, his just as his fingers made contact with the rock he slipped, and he tumbled backwards. He let out a terrified scream as he fell, before he landed on the ground near Eliza with a sickening crunch. Eliza jumped up and ran over to Sampson. She knelt down next to him and placed her fingers on his neck, she let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding when she felt a pulse there,

"Get out of the way!"

Eliza looked over her shoulder to see Mulligan hurrying through the crowd of cadets. He knelt down next to Eliza, then he too searched for a pulse. Once he had found one, he stood back up and turned back to the crowd of cadets that had gathered around them, "You're all dismissed," he said, "Be on the shooting ground at dawn tomorrow,"

Eliza got up to leave with the rest of the cadets, but Mulligan stopped her, "Schuyler, help me get Sampson to the medical tent,"

Eliza knelt back down next to Sampson and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder. Mulligan did the same, and they set off towards the medical tent.

"Hall!" Mulligan shouted as he and Eliza hurried into the tent. Mulligan led Eliza over to a table where they set Sampson down, "Doctor Hall!" Mulligan shouted again,

"Lieutenant Mulligan!"

Eliza spun around to see who she assumed to be Doctor Hall emerging from behind a shelf of vials. He eyed Sampson lying, still unconscious, on the table, "What have you done now?"

"He fell from the cliff," Mulligan explained.

Hall picked up a box from his desk and walked over to Sampson, "I warned you that climbing that cliff was not safe, excuse me," Eliza jumped out of the way so Hall could examine Sampson. "He definitely has a broken leg," Hall reported, "I would expect he also has a concussion, but I won't know the extent of the damage until he wakes up," Hall made his way back down the table to stand next to Sampson's broken leg before he opened his box,

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Eliza asked,

Hall looked up at her, as if he was only just noticing her presence, "Of course Mr…?"

"Schuyler,"

"Could you get a splint from the draw over there please Schuyler,"

Eliza hurried over to the draw Hall had pointed to and pulled out a wooden splint,

"Just to warn you, I'm going to reset the bone now. Mulligan, hold his leg in place," Eliza looked away from the table and there was a sickening crunch. She turned back just in time to see Mulligan blanch.

Hall patted Mulligan on the shoulder, "Don't go into medicine, Mulligan,"

"I wouldn't worry about that,"

"Schuyler, hold the splint in place while I wrap it up,"

Eliza leant forward and held Sampson's leg while Hall pulled out some bandages.

"Thank you. I'll keep you updated when he wakes up,"

Mulligan nodded, "Thank you Doctor,"

-x-

Eliza walked out of the medical tent feeling slightly lost. She didn't know what to do with the rest of the afternoon. She could see the rest of the cadets running around and chatting with each other, enjoying the first break they'd gotten since training had started. The problem was Eliza hadn't made friends with any of the other cadets. It wasn't that they disliked her, she was fairly sure that most of them were indifferent to her, the problem was she'd barely spoken to any of them. She figured that if she didn't get close to anyone then there was less of a chance of her being found out.

Eliza walked into her tent and was surprised to see an envelope resting on her cot. She picked it up and examined it. It was address to a 'Mr Schuyler'. Eliza tour open the envelope and unfolded the letter,

'Dear Eliza,

It's been ever so subdued since you left, worse than when Angelica left. Of course, Daddy was furious when he found out, but I managed to talk him out of coming after you, however, I'm not sure how long that will last. Mrs Hurst has been taking all her stress out in the kitchen, the table has been twice as full since you left, despite the fact that there's one less person here to feed. I try and put on a brave face every day for Daddy but deep down I'm terrified for you. I check the paper every day just in case there's any news and I nearly have a heart attack every time there's a knock on the door as my mind instantly jumps to the conclusion that it's an officer come to tell us that you've been killed in action. You promised me you'd stay alive. You better keep that promise.

Eagerly awaiting your return,

Peggy.'

Eliza collapsed down on the edge of her bed. Peggy. That's who she was doing this for and if the last few weeks of training had shown her anything, it was that if she was going to keep her promise to Peggy then she was going to need to do a lot more training. Eliza stood up with sudden determination. She knew how she had to spend the rest of her day now.

She marched out of her tent and back down towards the cliff they been using for climbing. She stood at the bottom and looked up. It was far from the first time she'd been here, but the height never failed to daunt her. Eliza took a deep breath and stepped forward. Unlike when she was climbing with the rest of the group, she took her time to scan the cliff and look for the best route. She eventually walked over to the far side of the cliff, reached out and grabbed a protruding rock. She used it to pull herself up then jammed her foot into the cliff. She swung her other leg up, managing to get purchase on a small ledge. She used this to lever herself up and continue up the cliff.

It took Eliza the best part of an hour to get up the cliff face. If she had been with everyone else, she'd have made an effort to rush up the cliff but since she was on her own, she took her time plotting out the best route.

When she got to the top she collapsed down on the ground and smiled to herself. She couldn't help but feel immensely proud at the fact she'd made it without any help. She found she preferred training on her own, there was less pressure.

-x-

Training started up again the next day as normal, however, once the day was over Eliza once more found herself at the cliff. She was going to put all her effort into training for Peggy and she did better when was on her own. So, if this is what she had to do to survive this was what she was going to do.

It quickly became a routine that after the days training Eliza would either walk the hiking route or climb the cliff. She slowly started to get quicker and more efficient, and she was soon one of the best of the cadets in her class.

Eliza had hoped that her extra training would exhaust her enough to sleep but it seemed to have the opposite effect. It filled her with adrenaline and excitement, and she needed to calm down before she could sleep, so, most nights, she would go and hang out at the stables. Sometimes she would help Shurtleff out, sometimes she'd just pet the horses and sometimes she'd write to Peggy.

One night, Eliza was sat with her back against the stable wall, writing a letter to Peggy, when she heard somebody walking around at the front of the stables. Eliza got to her feet and peered around the corner. To her surprise, she saw that it was Mulligan pacing around in front of the stables.

"Sir!" she cried,

Mulligan spun around, shock at having been disturbed showing on his face, "Schuyler!" he relaxed slightly when he saw who had disturbed him, "What are you doing here this late?"

"Oh, erm," Eliza glanced down at the half-written letter in her hand, "I was just writing a letter to my sister,"

"In the stables in the middle of the night?" Mulligan asked sceptically,

"Yes sir, I come up here when I can't sleep. I find it calming here,"

"With all the horses?"

"Yes, they remind me of going riding with my sisters in the summer, when we were children,"

Mulligan nodded and came over to lean against the wall next to Eliza,

"What brings you up here, sir, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm expecting a letter," Mulligan replied, making it clear that he couldn't tell Eliza any more information.

"Would you like some company while you wait?"

"That's very kind but I wouldn't want to keep you from your bed, Schuyler,"

"You wouldn't be keeping me sir, I wouldn't be able to sleep even if I went to bed right now,"

Mulligan slid down the wall and settled on the floor, "If you're sure I won't be bothering you then, yes, I would enjoy some company while I wait,"

Eliza smiled and sat down on the floor next to him,

"Although I am surprised you aren't tired with all the extra work you've been doing,"

Eliza looked at Mulligan in surprise, "You know about that?"

"Of course. Did you think you were being secretive?"

"Not particularly. I mean I was never trying to be secretive, I guess I just assumed nobody paid me enough attention to notice what I was doing,"

"I know the feeling," Mulligan replied, "But there usually is somebody paying attention,"

"You sound like you're speaking from experience,"

"When you're friends with Alexander Hamilton it's quite easy to blend into the background, but, you forget that at least Alex is usually paying attention to you,"

"Usually?"

"Well, sometimes he can get a bit self-centred, but he did get me, Laf and John our jobs,"

"He did?"

"Yeah. He caught Washington's attention after he stole some British cannons-"

"He stole British cannons‽"

"Oh, yeah,"

"Well, that's one way to get the General's attention,"

"I don't think that was even his intention, but, yes. So, Washington offered him a job and the first thing Alex did was recommend the three of us,"

"And now here you are,"

"And now here I am,"

"What about the other three, are they here?"

"No, they're all still with Washington,"

Eliza nodded slightly, "I wish I had friends like that,"

"You don't?"

"No, I don't really have any friends, I've just got my sisters,"

"Are they younger than you?"

"One of them is, Peggy, then Angelica is older. She lives in London now,"

"You must feel a great responsibility for them,"

Eliza hummed in agreement, "Especially Peggy. I promised her that I would come home. That's why I've been doing all that extra training,"

Mulligan smiled at Eliza, "That's very admirable. Most people would be doing all the extra work so as to gain a position that will help them after the war,"

"I haven't given any thought to after the war," Eliza said, "I just want to keep my family safe."

Before Mulligan could reply, a tall man on a horse rode up and came to a stop in front of them. Mulligan and Eliza got to their feet at the man saluted them,

"Letter for Lieutenant Mulligan,"

Mulligan took the letter and quickly read it as the man dismounted, "You can leave your horse here, Shurtleff will look after it. If you come with me, I will write my reply,"

Mulligan turned back to Eliza just before he left, "I'll see you tomorrow, Schuyler. Do try and get some sleep,"

"Good night, sir."