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MohawkWoman: Thank you for the compliment. :) It´s allways the best thing to read that somebody becomes really engrossed (one new word in my vocabulary ;)) in this story. I think it´s the best I can reach with it. So thank you. :)

Unexpected help

I didn´t even know where to run to. I just ran. Completely disoriented and still not in my right mind. The sun had disappeared completely by now and alone in the dark, which was broken by the light of some lamps only occasionally, it was difficult enough to see something. But again and again the world became blurred in front of my eyes and not only once I had to stop and wait until I could see clearly again. My legs weren´t obeying, too. Stumbling I wandered through the streets, supported myself on walls of buildings from time to time and fell to the ground when I failed. Trembling I kept sitting on the ground for a moment and tried to find back the motivation to stand up and keep on running, between all my dizziness and panic. I didn´t know if someone from the brothel was following me. But I didn´t want to find it out anyway. What would they do to me, if they caught me? I had knocked a man down and had robbed him. Did you still get your finger or even your entire hand chopped off for the latter? And what was the punishment if you knocked somebody out? Or had I killed him? Had he still been breathing?
My panic became boundless and I sobbed loudly when I stopped by a wall and leaned my back against it. Trembling I sank down to the ground, huddled up and buried my face in my knees.

I knew that I shouldn´t stay here like that. I already had avoided some dubious figures on my way and I still remembered Victoire´s and Joanne´s warnings. The streets weren´t safe for a woman. But whatever Joanne had mixed into my wine – and I was certain that she had done it – paid its tribute. It was difficult for me to stay conscious and to fight against the numbness that wanted to take control over my body. I was tired and desperate but had to keep on going. Even though I didn´t know where to. So I stood up swaying and moved on again. Along the Delaware River, over the dirty street and past drunken men and beggars who looked after me slavering, but luckily they didn´t follow me. Maybe they didn´t want to make the effort to run after a woman, maybe they couldn´t stay on their legs long enough. I didn´t care because I didn´t pay attention to them anyway. I was more concentrated on remembering the direction Nathan and I had come from. But I couldn´t and so I still wandered aimlessly through the streets.

Eventually I noticed that I had left behind the shabby streetscape of Helltown and was now in a more bourgeois district. One shop followed after another, in front of me was a market place and except of some people, who looked at me suspiciously, not a living soul was on the streets. I was almost relieved but I still didn´t know where to go. This was also not a place where I could stay. The people who saw me changed the side of the street, shouted irritated insults after me of which the word "whore" was the nicest one. But what did I expect? Again I wasn´t wearing much on my body and because of my unsteady walk and disorientation, I probably looked like a drunken prostitute.

But I didn´t let myself be put off by it and continued my aimless path until I took a corner and ran into two soldiers. They stared at me likewise surprised but despite my condition, I reacted faster than them. Before one of them could grab me, I turned on my heel and ran down the street again.
"Stop!", I heard the men shout behind me but of course I didn´t obey. They would arrest me. They would lock me up and then they would find out what I had done. They would chop my hand off. For certain. If they didn´t hang me before, because probably I had killed someone. With a fluttering heart I firmly clasped the stolen wallet in my hand and turned into a small alley.

The soldier´s steps were stumping over the paving stones behind me and I thought that I could feel their breath in my nape already. I also felt that I wasn´t able to endure this hunt any longer. My circulation began to play up completely, I could barely look straight and I thought it was a miracle that I was still able to walk. But probably it was my fear that was driving me on. Or better to say: It made me quicken my pace again and turn around another corner. By now I had reached a more exalted district of the city. Everywhere stood manorial houses. Lined by high fences and walls. There were even some lamps which bathed the street in a dim light. But where and how should I hide? I couldn´t run anymore, ran out of strength. I was struggling for breath while my legs began to refuse their duty. I stumbled while I heard the soldiers coming nearer. In panic I looked down the street while I followed it and headed for an empty cart which was standing by a wall. If I managed it to climb over it and the wall, before the soldiers saw me, I would be safe for now. I had to try it. I jumped onto the cart, reached out my arms and pulled me up with my last strength. I had barely thrown my legs over the edge of the wall and had fallen down onto the other side, as I heard the soldier´s steps coming nearer. They stopped.
"Damn it. Where is she?"
"Maybe down the street. She can´t be far. She didn´t look fine."
"Damn rabble. What do you think how the lord- and ladyships will be fussed, if they learn that a mad whore is running through the city?"
"That´s why you have to stop wailing and look for her."
They hurried past the wall behind which I was kneeling, holding my breath and listening until I couldn´t hear them anymore.
Not until then I allowed myself to catch my breath, leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes. My pulse was racing, my head was spinning around. I was at the end of my tether but I couldn´t stay here either. Now I was in the front garden of one of the manors, which was dark and silent. Certainly the ladies and gentlemen of it were laying peacefully in their beds, being fast asleep and dreaming of their comfortable home and the delicious breakfast the next morning without knowing that a complete neglected woman had just climbed over their wall. I envied them for it.

Breathing heavily I pulled myself up but instantly began to stumble, as my legs wanted to give in again. With one hand I supported myself on the cold wall and let my gaze roam through the front garden. It was dark and I asked myself how I should get away from here. Should I try it through the main gate? It was locked for sure and from this side the wall was too high for me to climb over it. But maybe I could find a spot where it was possible. Still supporting myself on the wall, I walked slowly along it. Past the house´s side, towards the back of the garden. It wasn´t quite large but had a beautiful terrace with fine garden furniture where the owner certainly used to lounge in a friendly get-together when the weather allowed it. Could I rest here for a while? Nobody would notice it...I shook my head vigorously, as if I had to reprimand myself. I couldn´t stay here. I had to go on.

So I did one shakily step after another, searching for a spot where I could climb over the wall again. But until now there was none and because the moon was entirely hid behind the clouds, it was so dark that I could barely see my own hand in front of my eyes. So I overlooked the dog kennel, which I past as I tried to feel for my way through the garden. Only when a huge dog jumped barking and growling against the bars, I flinched with a terrified scream. I just felt the hot breath of the animal while I stood there paralysed and the barking echoed unnaturally loud in my ears. I only noticed incidentally how one of the house´s windows in the basement was enlightened before the backdoor opened.
"Is anybody out there?" A man stepped outside, holding a lamp in one, a rifle in the other hand. Slowly he came into my direction and although my mind was telling me that I had to run, I stayed where I was and looked at him in panic, blinked into the lamp´s light which was hitting me now.
"Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?" The man trained the rifle at me and whistled shortly, whereupon the dog stopped barking in an instant. The sudden silence was eerie.
"I...I wanted..." Yes, what did I want? Hide from soldiers who wanted to arrest me? That was certainly not a statement that would stop the man from shouting me. He was still training the rifle at me and growled something I couldn´t understand.
"Leave!", he yelled. "Somebody like you has no business here!"
But instead of obeying that order, I shakily reached out the wallet to him. "Please. I...need help."
Tears ran over my cheeks now and for a short moment, the man appeared like he was seriously confused. I couldn´t see his face but he was standing there motionless and even had lowered the rifle. Then he squared his shoulders and trained the rifle at me again, as another male voice sounded from the backdoor. "Calvert! What is this about?"
I didn´t hear Calvert´s answer anymore because while the other man was just talking, I felt how the numbness finally came over me and I lost consciousness.

A dull headache was the first thing I felt as my consciousness returned. In addition a stale taste in my mouth and the feeling of nausea that was contracting my stomach. I felt dead and like I couldn´t move. But I didn´t dare anyway because first of all, I was laying covered in a bed, my head bedded on a pillow and second of all, I heard the voice of two men who were close and talking quietly to each other.
"She wouldn´t be the first addicted I´m treating. These girls are taking the opium to make there...work more bearable", said a man with a voice that sounded like he had breathed in sand for too long. But was he talking about me? For sure.
"Either she has taken too much or her body just couldn´t cope with it. If I were you, I wouldn´t burden myself with her more than I had to. Wait until she wakes up and send her back to where she came from."
"She told Calvert that she needed help. He said that she sounded desperate." I recognized this voice as the one I had heard before my unconsciousness. The man who had left the house after Calvert. It sounded pleasant and more friendly, compared to the sandy one. The man with the sandy voice snorted now.
"Of course she said that. Certainly she needs money to buy new opium."
"She offered him money."
"Then she thought that he´s selling it. Sam, you shouldn´t spend time dealing with her. Who knows. Maybe she will rob you as soon as she is on her feet again."
"Don´t be ridiculous, doctor. We don´t know anything about her. Maybe there is a story behind her condition. Maybe she fled from a violent husband. You said that she was probably beaten and bounded."
"And exactly because we don´t know it, we shouldn´t take the risk."
"You mean I shouldn´t take the risk. This is my house, if I´m allowed to remind you. I alone decide who leaves and who stays." Now the second man sounded a bit indignant.
"Of course you do. Just take it as a friendly advice", was the sour answer of the supposed doctor.
"I accept it. Shall Surry lead you to the door?"
"I will find my way out alone, thank you."

The mood between the two men seemed to be really reserved now and when I opened my eyes blinking, I saw vaguely how one of them leaved the room I was laying in. The other stood with the back to me, lifted his hand and ran his fingers through his sparse, brown hair that was crossed by gray strands and was tied to a braid. He uttered a sigh and suddenly turned around. He seemed to be surprised at first to see me awake but then a friendly smile appeared on his lips, as he approached me and slowly sat down onto a chair next to the bed, as if he feared that he could scare me with quick movements.
But I really felt too weak to be afraid and furthermore I didn´t believe that it was necessary. If he wanted to harm me, I wouldn´t be laying here.
"Good morning", he said calmly and my gaze flitted through the room that was actually illuminated by the bright light of the morning sun shining through the big windows. How long had I been unconscious?
"Shall I close the curtains?" The man had followed my gaze but even though my head was aching and I would prefer darkness, I shook it silently. He nodded, still smiling friendly.
"Well, you gave us a good fright last night. May I ask how you found your way over our wall?"
Against my expectation, his voice didn´t sound reproachful. In the contrary. He sounded honest, polite and as friendly as his smile was and for a short moment, I felt distrust. Why was somebody behaving like this towards a woman who had sneaked onto his property and who was a drug addicted whore, according to the doctor?

"I didn´t take opium", I said without any connection. In my own ears my voice sounded dull and quiet but it seemed like he understood me anyway. He frowned shortly and I added: "Not willingly. I don´t know, but I think that it was mixed into my wine. I would never..." I faltered when I remembered how helpless I had felt all of the sudden and how I was still feeling.
These girls are taking the opium to make there...work more bearable.
Had this been Joanne´s intention? Had she really given me something so that I couldn´t defend myself against the punter and did what they expected from me? She had said that "it" would help me when she had given me the wine. But certainly she hadn´t meant the wine itself and I almost hadn´t defend myself. I would have let the man do whatever he had wanted to do to me and the thought alone worsened the feeling of nausea I already had and tears rose into my eyes again.

It didn´t escaped the man´s notice and I saw concern in his eyes. "Shall I call the doctor again?"
I shook my head. We were silent for a moment and while I stared at my hands, which I had folded over my belly, I felt his scrutinizing gaze on me.
"If I may introduce myself: My name is Samuel Adams. May I ask what your name is?", he asked and had this smile on his face again. I tried to return it, out of politeness but also out of gratitude.
"Lillian. Lillian Kenway."
I thought that Adam' eyes widened for a moment and when he bent forward, his gaze was curious.
"Kenway? Is that so? And where are you from?"
I was slightly wondering about his question about my surname but suddenly I had the hope that he really could be someone who was able to help me. And not only that. Suddenly I believed to remember his name. As if I had heard it before.

"Davenport", I said. "A homestead near..."
"Boston!" His expression lightened up and I nodded slowly. "I know. I´m actually from Boston. I´m just here because of some...well...political businesses." He squinched up his face before he smile at me again. "I don´t know you but I heard your surname quite often before. You´re not acquainted with Connor Kenway, aren´t you?"
Now my eyes widened and my heart raced when I heard Connor´s name. I sat up a bit and nodded. "He´s my husband." As if I had to proof it, I raised my left hand where I was still wearing my ring. Despite of Victoire´s order, I hadn´t taken it off.
Samuel Adams looked surprised for a moment before he smirked. "Well, I wouldn´t have expected that. You know, I know Connor for several years now. I was friends with his mentor Achilles long before he took him in. He was a great help during the revolution and he became a good friend. I haven´t seen him since the war´s end but I have to say: I never thought that he would marry once. He always seemed like...he isn´t someone who would enter into such a relationship."
Samuel Adams. Of course. His name appeared in the "encyclopaedia of the common man" several times. He had been one of the revolution´s leaders and furthermore a supporter of the assassins. I was relieved when it became aware to me that I really got to somebody who could help me to return home and to Connor, just by chance. I also had to smirk about Adams' statement about the assassin.
"Sometimes I believe that he least expected it."

Adams chuckled but his gaze became serious then. "But why is it that you´re here? And in...well...such a condition at that."
Tensely I pinched my lips and turned my gaze onto my hands again. I felt more than uncomfortable with this question. But there was no reason why I should refuse to answer. If he was Connor´s friend, he was also mine and furthermore I still needed his help. And so I began to tell what had happened during the last weeks. I told him about Nathan´s visit in the homestead, about the attack, how I had been kidnapped and how Nathan had brought me to Helltown and into the brothel. I just hid the circumstances and consequences of my attempted escapes and also what had happened after Nathan had left me behind in the brothel. About yesterday´s events, I only told him that I had fled, even though I had to confess that the wallet was stolen. But I told him about it like I had stolen it from a coat pocket. I was grateful that Adams didn´t ask further questions and he also didn´t say anything about the theft itself.

His expression was marked by pity and regret when he said that he was glad that I had found my way here. "I´m sure Connor already did everything to find you", he said and I nodded.
"But can you help me?" I looked at him pleadingly. "Could you send him a message or organize a carriage for me? I will pay it back as soon as I´m..."
Adams raised a hand. "You don´t have to pay anything", he said and smiled. "It´s a matter of course that I help you. I will send a message because I think that it would be better if you stay here and recover. You had a raging temperature last night and you´re still not in the condition to travel. I will see that Connor learns that you´re here as soon as possible and as far as I know him, it won´t take long until he comes and brings you home."
A bright smile appeared on my face and I felt tears of relief in my eyes. These were by far the best news I heard in a long time.
"Thank you, Sir", I said and Adams patted my arm shortly.
"You don´t have to thank me. I´m owing Connor more than I could ever give him in return. Rest and I will take care of everything else."

In the evening of the same day, Adams told me that he had sent a messenger to Davenport who should reach the homestead in a few days. I was incredibly grateful but he insisted that he didn´t need my gratitude and that I should concentrate on my recovering and I did. Now that I was finally safe for the first time in a long time, I could sleep deeply and long so that I felt soon, how my strength returned. I didn´t feel weak, spent and hopeless anymore and especially not the latter, because I had the certain hope now, that everything was going to be alright again. I knew that Connor would come here as soon as possible, when he received Adams' message and I was happy about that, even though a small part of me was also a bit anxious. The whole time I thought about what I should tell Connor. How much he should learn about what I had endured during the last weeks. On the one hand I knew that I should tell him the whole truth but on the other hand, I knew that I had to protect him somehow. Even though I wasn´t sure from what.

But I decided to suppress these concerns for now and to concentrate in recovering, not only internally but also externally. My cut on my shin, which I had sustained during my climbing through the broken window, had been treated thoroughly, as well as my already healing grazes on my wrists and ankles. From Surry, the family´s servant, I got a shift, bodice, skirt and jacket which didn´t fit her anymore, according to her. Although Adams' wife Elizabeth behaved sceptical in the beginning, she took me in friendly and I felt good, even though I never left the house to go into the city. I was too afraid that somebody from the brothel or the soldiers could recognize me. So I only got fresh air when I went into the garden, but most of the time I stayed in my room to prevent myself from becoming a burden on my hosts.

About one and half weeks past and my internal restlessness grew with every day. I eventually began to spent most of my time in the hallway of the upper floor, looking out of the window to have the best view on the street in front of the house. Every time I heard the sound of hoof clattering – and of course it didn´t happen rarely – I became very excited and pressed my nose against the glass, believing that it was Connor who came down the street. But there were only carts or other riders and I always pulled away disappointed. To wait without knowing when Connor would arrive was unbearable. I never doubted the "if". However, I couldn´t know that he would arrive just when I wasn´t standing by the window.

It was early in the morning, the sun had just risen and I blinked as its light shined into my face. I stood up, got dressed and wanted to go downstairs to wish my hosts a good morning, but midway to the staircase, I faltered and stopped. I heard voices coming from the parlour right beneath me. I knew both of them. One belonged to Samuel Adams and the other one was the voice that was always able to make me shiver pleasantly. Connor´s voice.
Beaming I hurried towards the stairs but stopped again in the middle of my way. Because now I could hear what they were talking about and I didn´t like their serious tone. No doubt that this conversation was about me.
"She was in a very bad condition", Adams just said. "Bruises, grazes, a wound on her leg. Pale, very thin, weak and feverish because somebody gave her opium she didn´t cope with. She didn´t talk much about what she has been through, but even though it seems like she recovered, you should consider that it doesn´t look like that internally."
"I know Lillian. She is strong. She had been through a lot but always got over it. She will also do it this time." Connor´s words appeared convincing but I could hear that he was tensed and didn´t believe them as much as he wanted to make Adams believe it.
"Maybe it is like you say", he said. "But I think that there are things especially women don´t overcome so easily. She was at the mercy of this Nathan. He brought her into a brothel. I know that you surely don´t want to think about it but maybe they...took advantage of her helpless situation. If they beat and drugged her..."

An agonizing silence set in and I put a hand in front of my mouth to suppress any sound that could reveal me. For some reason I didn´t want the men to know that I was listening to them. But I had wanted to prevent Connor from thinking about that. At least nothing had happened and I had to talk with him about him, if I wanted it or not. Somehow.
Carefully I glanced over the banister into the parlour. I could see Connor´s lower body which stood sideways to the door. Adams was out of my sight. As expected Connor was wearing his assassin robes which were covered in the dust of the streets, as well as his shoes and leggings. He was also entirely armed but my attention lay on his hands. His left hand kneaded his right fist, an unmistakable sign that he was completely tensed and unsettled. That he was struggling with his thoughts.
"Did she mention something like this?", he broke the silence and his voice sounded strangely hoarse.
"No. But I doubt that a woman would talk honestly about it. Especially not to someone she doesn´t know."
"Do you think I should ask her?"
"If you do it, you should be careful. You never know how a person reacts who experienced something traumatic. Her reaction could be unexpected, even for you."
A short silence again before Connor stopped kneading his fist. "Where is she?"
"Upstairs, in her room. Probably she´s still asleep. I will bring you to her."
Quickly I turned around and ran upstairs again and back into my room. I closed the door as quiet as possible when I already heard the men´s steps on the staircase. As soon as they were here, I had to pretend that I didn´t know that Connor was here. But how should do that? I still thought of their conversation and my heart was racing like mad but I hadn´t enough time anymore to think about it anyway. There was a quiet knock on the door and I stood in the middle of the room when I granted access with a husky voice. The door opened and Adams' head appeared. He smiled warmly when he saw me.
"You´re up already. Here is someone who wants to see you."

He had barely finished the sentence as Connor pushed the door open and himself past Adams. He just stood there at first, staring at me as if he couldn´t believe that I was actually standing in front of him, while Adams discreetly closed the door behind Connor and left us alone. Now I didn´t think about how to pretend that I hadn´t known about his arrival anymore. My eyes filled up with tears which ran over my cheeks immediately and I sobbed.
"You´re here at last", I whispered and Connor approached me in an instant and took me firmly in his arms, where I gave free reins to my tears. I had thought that I had fully recovered, but right now it felt as if everything that had happened would befall me again, but as if a burden was taken from my shoulders at the same time.
I clung to Connor and even though I had known that he would come, I couldn´t believe that he was here now. I buried my face in his chest and deeply breathed in the familiar scent of the forests around Davenport and the fresh breeze of the sea, which always seemed to surround him. Which reminded me so much of my home like this man himself, who didn´t say anything. He just held me tightly, his face buried in my hair.