It had been evening, the sun was finally setting. Annie had some time by herself and decided it was best that she would take some of her free time to visit her mother's headstone. When their mother had passed from Scarlet fever, Benjamin decided it would be best for them to bury their mother on their property. Since their land and home were so dear to Benjamin and their mother Elizabeth. Benjamin had also wanted Elizabeth to be close by, he had rather her on the land then a distant cemetery.
Annie walked down the steps of the porch of the house, reaching the bottom of the steps she started towards the back of the house. She could spot her mother's gravestone not far from the house, her mother's body rested by an old tree. The gravestone was surrounded and enclosed by a white picket fence, her father and Gabriel had built. Annie stopped in front of the fence and slightly leaned her body up against the fence. She moved her hands across the wood of the fence, she gently picked at some of the white paint that had been peeling off the wood. She just stood and stared at the stone for a moment before she decided to enter the small area. She reached her hand down to a latch that locked the gate, she opened the gate and walked forward, stepping inside, Annie closed the gate behind her. Taking a few more steps she then stopped and decided to sit down in front of the stone. Annie noticed a few large twigs that rested in front of her, she cleared them away tossing them to the side.
"Hello, Mother."
Annie said quietly as she lifted her hand to the stone, she traced her fingers across her mother's name that was engraved into the stone, Elizabeth Putnam Martin. She then let her hand and arm drop back into her lap.
"Father had delivered some good news to me earlier today, he says perhaps I will be living with aunt Charlotte for a while. He says I need some of aunt Charlotte's womanly influence, he's right. Ever since you've been gone, well, I've almost been like a Mother. Of course I would never blame you for that. I would never blame you for, passing. I just wish you were still here, you were such an amazing Mother. I wish that Susan, William, Nathan and Samuel could of had you as long as Gabriel, Thomas and I."
Annie could then feel her eyes begin to water, her vision went blurry from her tears, she had then let one tear fall down her cheek. she sniffled.
"It's been five years and I'm still crying, still wishing you were here everyday, I'm still expecting to wake up and find you waiting for me to join you for our morning rides. But I'll always miss you and I will still cry, even when I've my own children and a husband, even when I'm an old women." Annie sniffed, she lifted her hand to wipe away the tears that had escaped the rims of her eyes.
"Father had also told me today that he is not only sending me to Charles Town to gain aunt Charlotte's influence and take a break for a while but... he also wants me to find a man, he wishes for a fine man to court me. I also agree with that and wish for me to be courted, I'm ready for that. I want to be married and have children of my own in a few years. I think it will be perfect for me to leave for Charles Town, I'm excited."
Margaret walked down the stairs of their home, she looked around and called out Annie's name. She wondered where she was. The sun had almost been fully set, and it would be dark very shortly and Susan and herself would be going to bed. Susan and Margaret had enjoyed it when Annie would get them ready for bed and tuck them in every night.
"Annie?" Margaret called again, she then heard a male voice respond to her calls. It was Thomas, he was kneeling down in front of a table near the fireplace in the living room. He was painting his lead soldiers that he had made, it was a hobby of his that he would do every night once the house had settled and his younger brothers and sisters were getting ready for bed.
"She's not in the house, she told me after dinner that she was going outside to visit Mother for a little while. I haven't seen her come in yet, so she still must be outside." Thomas told Margaret, he did not take one glance up at his sister, he had been concentrating on painting his soldiers.
Margaret said nothing and just nodded, she then made her way out the front door of the house to find Annie. Margaret reached the back of the house and saw her sister sitting in front of their mother's stone. She started towards her.
"- I hope I find a good man indeed. Well if I am to go to Charles Town then I shall write to my friends tonight and inform them of my future arrival."
"You're going to Charles Town Annie?" Annie heard her sister say from behind her.
Annie turned to face her. Her sister opened the gate and approached her she then sat down beside Annie, she looked at her mother's headstone then turned her attention back to Annie.
"Yes, well I'm still waiting to find out whether I am going or not. I should find out tonight when Father finally opens the letters... Has he opened the letters yet?" Annie asked, she wondered if her father had opened them while she had been outside.
"No," Margaret shook her head.
"But Annie, who is going to look after us while you're gone, who's going to teach William? No one else will, everyone else will be much too busy either tending to the animals or the fields."
"Oh Margaret you're growing up you will soon become a young woman yourself, I'll leave you in charge of teaching William. And I'm sure Abigail will look after you, William and Susan as much as she can. You're in good hands, and we've not yet gotten word from Father if I will be leaving for Charles Town or not." Annie replied, she noticed her sister studying her face, especially her eyes. Margaret noticed her sister's eyes were puffy and slightly red.
"You've been crying Annie, haven't you?" Margaret asked, Annie turned her head away from her sister, she focused her gaze back at the headstone. She didn't want her sister to know she had been crying, when Annie had been upset it usually upset her sister Margaret since they had been rather close.
"I'm missing Mother, that's all." Annie replied Margaret then leaned up against her sister and wrapped her arms around her, she rested her head on her shoulder.
"I miss her to, I wish she was alive still."
"I know, we all do Margaret." Annie said quietly she lifted her arm and placed her hand on her sisters, they comforted one another until Annie broke the embrace.
"Come on, it's dark now, Father will be wondering why we are not inside yet. I'll get you and Susan ready and tucked into bed." Annie said getting up from the hard ground. Annie walked toward the gate and opened it, she walked out of the fenced area, her sister followed closely behind.
"You hope to find a good man, Annie? Do you suppose you will find a man in Charles Town and be married as-well?" Margaret asked. Annie thought for a moment then remembered that Margaret overheard her say that she hoped to find a good man. Annie just smiled.
"Perhaps Margaret, but I don't think I will be marrying any time soon, it will take some time of course. And besides a man needs to court me first before he asks for my hand in marriage." Annie replied to Margaret.
Both of them walked back to the house in silence.
"Alright, get into bed now, it's nearly eight o'clock. That's late for you Susan." Annie told her little sisters, Margaret ran over and climbed into bed, Susan looked like she was having troubles getting her nightgown on. It was rather big and she was so small. She practically got lost in her nightgown, Annie smiled to herself and walked over to help her sister .
"Here, lift your arms up Susan." Annie said, Susan did as she said and Annie adjusted the sleeves and helped her put her arms through the sleeves of the gown.
Pulling her nightgown down, Susan was finally ready for bed, Annie picked her up into her arms and carried her over to bed where her sister Margaret was waiting to be tucked in. Both of the girls pulled the covers up to their necks, Annie leaned in and gave them both a kiss on their small foreheads.
"Goodnight, I'll see you two in the morning." Annie told her sisters before she walked towards the door and began to close the wooden door shut.
Annie then stopped closing the door midway to hear Margaret say something .
"Annie, I can't go to sleep."
Annie laughed and opened the door, to see her sisters sitting up in bed .
"Margaret I just tucked you in and, you haven't even tried to fall asleep yet. Just close your eyes and you'll fall asleep eventually." Annie went to close the door again but stopped again when Margaret spoke once again.
"Can you tell us a story, or can we look at the North Star together tonight?" Margaret asked, Susan said nothing and just stared at Annie with her big sweet eyes. Annie sighed then stepped into her sister's room, she walked towards their bed and sat down beside her sister Margaret.
"Alright, Come." Annie replied she crawled across the bed and over to the window, both her sisters followed her over to the window to look outside.
"Susan have I ever told you how you can find Mother? How you can see her at night? " Annie asked, Susan's eyes widened, a big smile formed her lips and she shook her head.
"No? Margaret I've told you, I'm very surprised you've not yet told Susan. Well take a look at the stars outside." Annie pointed out the window to the dark night sky, millions of stars twinkled brightly above them
"There is a star, called the North Star, Father says it's a star that is constant, unwavering, a guide. Just like Mother, she was a constant loving Mother, who would do anything for her children. She was unwavering. Mother was level with us, she was unshakable as-well. And she was a guide, Mother guided us through life, she taught us right from wrong. She gave us advice when we didn't know what to do. She was truly a remarkable woman. And that's also why Mothers necklace here is a North Star " Annie paused touching the necklace around her neck
"Now, can you find the Big Dipper Margaret? "
Margaret thought for a while as she searched the night sky for the Big Dipper, then she spotted what she thought looked like the Big Dipper, she pointed up to the sky towards it.
"There!"
Annie examined it, then nodded her head.
"Yes, that's right, see Susan it looks like a bowl with a handle. Almost like a pot or a ladle. And there should be another called the Little Dipper it's located diagonally from the Big Dipper. See? And the first star on the handle of the Big Dipper is the North Star. And that star is Mother, and she will always be looking down on us to protect us. Forever. Whenever you miss Mother, or you can't seem to fall asleep at night. Then you can always look outside your window and find her." Annie finished, she took a look at both of her sisters they both looked at the North Star mesmerized .
"Come on now, it's time for you two to get some sleep. I'll tuck you both in again." Annie said breaking her sister's gaze from the star, they both turned away from the window and crawled in bed they pulled the bed covers up to their necks again. Annie noticed Susan still had her bonnet on, she untied the strings under her chin, pulling the bonnet off her sister's head. She revealed her long blonde hair. She tossed the bonnet on her sister's bedside table. Once again she kissed her sisters foreheads and proceeded to leave the room.
"Goodnight." Margaret said before her sister left the room, Annie took one last look at her sisters before closing the door.
"Goodnight" She replied, closing the door in front of her she turned and walked down the hall and towards the top of the stairs, to make her way downstairs to the living room to join her two brothers and father.
She reached the living room to see her brother Gabriel sitting in a rocking chair reading a book, and her brother Thomas still working in his lead soldiers. They both said nothing to her and she said nothing to them. Annie just took a seat and reclined in her chair and closed her eyes and just decided to relax, and listen to the sound of the wood crackling in the fire of the fireplace. She then heard the sound of her father's boots not to far off from them. Annie opened her eyes and saw Gabriel and Thomas both look up and examine their father closely, Annie wondered why they were paying close attention to their father. Annie leaned forward in her chair and looked over, she noticed there were three letters on the table, they were the same ones that had arrived earlier that afternoon. Now she knew why Thomas and Gabriel were staring at their father. They were waiting to see if he would mention or begin to open the letters .
"So... did you tuck your brothers and sisters in Annie?" Annie heard her father ask, Annie just smiled and held back a laugh when she noticed her brothers nearly getting up from where they had been sitting and sprint over to the letters to see who could get their hands on them first. But they held themselves back when their father only asked Annie if she had tucked their other siblings in for the night.
"Yes, Father." Was Annie's only reply, Annie had to admit. She almost felt as anxious as her brothers. She wanted to know what her aunt Charlotte wrote back to her father. There was silence, and then her father spoke.
"So what was in the mail?" Before another second could pass Gabriel, Thomas and even Annie found themselves running as fast as they could towards the letters that rested on a table beside Benjamin. Of course Annie trailed behind her brothers, Gabriel was much faster and bigger, and it was harder to run when she had so many layers of clothing on. Gabriel pushed Thomas out of the way and butted in front of him, Gabriel snatched up the letters first but Benjamin stopped Gabriel before he could open any of the letters .
"That one is for Annie , the one from Aunt Charlotte that seems to be ripped. Now who could have done that?" Their father said suspiciously Annie glared over at Thomas, Thomas said nothing he hoped his father would not suspect that it had been him who ripped the letter. He looked over to his father who was looking directly at him, Thomas then got defensive.
"It was by accident! Annie was holding the letters and I took them from her but she pulled them back before I could take it out of her hand, she ripped it!"
"I ripped it?" Annie said loudly.
"That's a lie, if you would have just asked me for the letters and had not grabbed them like a savage then I would have handed them to you." Annie said angrily back to her brother, she hated when anyone accused her of something that she didn't do.
"Enough, Thomas don't do it again, I don't want to find another letter ripped. Here" he said he handed Gabriel the third letter, he knew it contained a newspaper that Gabriel and Thomas could read . He then handed Annie the letter from aunt Charlotte, she took the letter and walked back to her chair near the fireplace where Thomas had been painting his soldiers. She sat down, comfortable in her chair then proceeded to open the letter. She unfolded the letter and began to read.
Dear Benjamin
I was overjoyed when I had received your letter, It has been so long since we have last spoken to one another. And I am glad you had decided to write me. I am also glad that you have suggested to me that perhaps Annie should stay in my company, I agree very much with that idea. It gets rather lonely with just me and the servants, they do provide some company but it's not the same as being in the company of family. Ever since John had passed away I've been lonely for so long. I would love to have Annie stay with me, she can stay as long as she wants, or when you wish for her to be returned. There are many things for her here in Charles Town she has her old friends here-
Annie stopped reading for a moment to hear her brother Gabriel talking to her father, she leaned forward in the chair and looked to her brother.
"Peter Cuppin, joined the Continentals… He's seventeen, a year younger then I." Gabriel said enthusiastically, trying to convince his father that he should to join the Continentals. Their father looked up from the letter he was reading and then back down again. He said nothing. Gabriel sighed and look rather disappointed, Thomas had to. Annie knew what both of them were thinking and Benjamin had as well, Gabriel and Thomas wanted to join the Continentals. Gabriel had talked about joining the Continentals before. But whenever he had talked about it to their father he would always silence him. And as always whatever Gabriel wanted to do Thomas would want to do as well. Their father was once a soldier in the French and Indian war, he was known as the Hero of Fort Wilderness. Annie and her siblings never knew how he got that name or what he had done to earn it. Gabriel and Thomas would often ask how he got the nickname, but again he would silence them and ask them to not question him as to how he became the Hero of Fort Wilderness. Annie suspected that whatever he had done it wasn't good, he wasn't proud of it, clearly if he never wanted to speak about it. Benjamin Martin disliked fighting and wars and he definitely did not want Gabriel or Thomas to ever take part in war. Annie went to continue to read the letter until she heard her father speak.
"Well, the assembly has been reconvened so I've been called to Ch-"
"Charles Town we're going to Charles Town? " Thomas cried, Annie and Gabriel both smiled at one another. Gabriel then turned to face his father when he heard him say.
"We are, we leave in the morning" Benjamin smiled, he was pleased to see his children were so happy to be going to Charles Town .
"Annie, what did your Aunt Charlotte have to say then? " Her father asked curiously.
"Well, she said yes. So it looks like I will be living with Aunt Charlotte for a while." Annie replied with a large smile across her face.
"She's going to stay with Aunt Charlotte, Father? " Gabriel asked.
"Yes. She is going to have some quality time with her for a while. Darling , you should get upstairs now and start packing." Her father then paused and looked at her two brothers.
"You two should begin packing as well, we are leaving early in the morning. I don't want you to be rushing tomorrow morning getting everything packed and then forget something." Her father stated as he started to fold up the letter he had in his hand.
"Of Course." Annie said standing up from her chair, she walked over to her father and handed him her aunt's letter. He took the letter in his hand, he would read the letter himself as well.
"Goodnight Father. Goodnight Gabriel, Thomas." Annie said before she turned to walk away, all three said goodnight and Annie made her way back upstairs to start to pack her bags.
Annie walked down the hall she approached her sisters room and stopped in front of their door. She decided that she would open the door and see if they had fallen asleep yet. She slowly opened the door, they had blew out the candle beside their bed, the room was dark it was only lit by the rays of light from the moon that poured into the window and into the room. Annie looked at her sister's bed and noticed that only Margaret was there. Panic struck her, where was her sister Susan? She quickly opened the door fully, there she saw Susan startled from the abrupt sound of Annie opening the door quickly. Susan looked over to her sister, her eyes wide, even though Susan didn't talk her facial expressions always spoke for her. She was shocked to see her sister, she felt that she should be sleeping and that perhaps her sister would be cross with her.
"Susan, honey what are you doing up still? You can't sleep?" Annie whispered, trying not to wake up Margaret from her peaceful slumber. Annie walked into the room and over to Susan, she was standing up and was looking out the window up at the sky. Annie sat down beside her.
"Are you looking for the North Star Susan?" Annie asked, she looked out the window and gazed at the beautiful twinkling stars in the pitch black sky. She diverted her gaze when she heard Susan sniffle, she looked over to Susan and saw a small tear roll down her pale skin, she sniffled again and began to whimper this time. Without a second thought Annie took Susan in her arms and held her, Susan collapsed in her arms and wrapped her arms around her sister's neck and held on tightly. Annie began rocking her back and forward.
"Oh, Susan shh, it's fine, don't cry shh." Annie said trying to comfort Susan, she rubbed her back and held her closer. She could feel Susan's tears starting to soak her shoulder. Susan began to whimper and cry harder now, She was only five, and she missed her mother so much, their mother died the year Susan was born. Annie picked Susan up off the bed, she wanted to take her out of the room so she wouldn't wake Margaret up with her crying.
"Do you want me to take you downstairs to Father? Or do you want to go to my room and help me do some packing? You can sleep in there tonight to if you would like?" Annie asked her sister as she walked out of the room with her sister still in her arms and closed the door to the room, she stood in the hall and waited for Susan's response. Susan lifted her head off of Annie's shoulder and nodded. Annie still didn't know what she wanted, did she agree to go downstairs to her father or did she agree to go to her room?
"You want to see Father downstairs?"
Susan shook her head no. Annie knew she wanted to go to her room and fall asleep there. Annie nodded and continued down to the end of the hall towards her room.
"Were going to Charles Town tomorrow Susan." Annie said hoping that would bring Susan spirits up and make her stop crying. Susan lifted her head from Annie's shoulder once more and gave her a smile. Annie smiled back to her sister.
"That's right we're going to the big city and visiting Aunt Charlotte." Annie smiled, she then took Susan's head and placed her lips on her little sister's forehead and gave her a big kiss. Annie finally made it to her room with Susan, she held Susan with one arm and twisted the handle of the door. She opened the door, walked inside her room and closed the door behind her.
