The Colonial Spy

Student Essay by Emma Hutchins

    Elizabeth was sitting in her small garden, sipping tea and enjoying the view of the country, when Moses, one of the negro children, came running into the garden barely skirting plants, and tables

     “Ma’am!” he said, breathing hard as he skidded to a stop in front of her, “Ma’am, Miss Margret said to give this to you and…” he paused to take a sharp breath, “and that it’s important.”

    She smiled at him as he handed her a large piece of parchment. “Thank you Moses.” She took the parchment realizing whom it was from by the stamp, which looked as if it had been stepped on. She ripped open the seal and started reading, her green eyes racing along the words going back and forth rereading lines. Anyone looking on would think nothing was wrong, but that was anything but true. She kept on muttering one phrase: “Boston tea party.” She slipped the letter into a hidden pocket in her sleeve and quickly walked inside. The house was a two story, English estate. It wasn't as big as most, but bigger than others. The interior was bright and homely and somewhat different from the wooden cottage she lived in when in the colonies. Elizabeth walked through the living room to the parlor where David would be looking over papers, notes, and letters. She walked in not knowing what to say and trying not to shake

    “Beth! Good, some of the ladies from parliament are having a tea thing this afternoon and…”           

    "Did you know about the Boston tea party?” Elizabeth interrupted handing him the letter.

    David took the letter and quickly read “Dear Ellie, ...We have taken our first stand…  We have driven them back…” 

    “Beth, I just learned this myself. I was going to tell you later, but your family keeps on beating me to important news.” Elizabeth smiled at the memory of her brother telling her that she was going to get engaged before David proposed. Elizabeth sank into the fireside chair, suddenly dizzy. Thousands of questions raced through her head but one was at the top: “Whom do we ally ourselves with?” David shifted uncomfortably and knelt in front of her     

    “Well, I can’t decide for you, but…” he looked around making sure no one was listening. Then he spoke in a hushed voice, “I am going to side with the colonies, and if you are too I will find a way to get us out of England as fast as I can.”

    Elizabeth stared terrified at David “Are they sentencing people who ally themselves with the colonies?”

    “No,” David said, “but it’s only a matter of time before they do, and I would rather not be here when it happens.” Elizabeth nodded. It all made sense.

    "I will give you some time to decide.” David said and walked out of the parlor and closed the wooden double doors behind him. She took the letter and looked it over again, reading every word carefully. She finally stood up and walked over to the oak desk and started writing a response letter to her father, but she couldn’t do it. Her head just wouldn't participate, She felt like her world had been turned upside down. She was being asked to go against everything she had ever known. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to decide? David seemed so sure of the situation. He would fight for the colonies to the death, but how could she decide? All she ever knew was to follow the rules England set. Listen to parliament, and nothing would go wrong. Now everything was going wrong. None of this seemed real. She tried to think of a reason to say yes or no but she couldn't think of anything. Her home was in Boston, How could she betray her people; but she lived in England now. This was also her home. “O God, what is your will?” she mumbled into her hands. She stood up from the desk to pace and hit her foot against the wood, and a few books fell to the floor. She sighed and bent down to pick them up off the yellow carpet. She grabbed a few books and set them on the desk and went to grab the old Bible when a underlined verse in Deuteronomy caught her eye and she read it aloud “Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” Her head said that this was just a coincidence but her heart said otherwise. She made a decision: she would fight for her people for as long as they needed her to. She went to find David to tell him what she had decided, forgetting all about the books on the floor. 

    The next month was not very productive. David wanted to leave as soon as possible, but no ships were allowed near the colonies so he decided to stay quiet in parliament barely saying a word, except when needed. Elizabeth spent her time with the other ladies of parliament. One gloomy morning Elizabeth received a letter from her father, and, strangely enough, her old friend Ann. Her father’s letter was casual enough, speaking of nothing but mundane matters. However when she opened up Ann’s letter, all that was there was a piece of parchment with an oddly shaped hole in the middle. She was confused for a second, but when she studied the stamp, she saw smudges on it, like someone stepped on it. Realization hit her, and she put the strange piece of parchment on top of the original letter. She held her breath as she read, scared to death of what it said:

Ellie, I know this is sudden, and will put your family in mayhem, but we need spies in our Motherland. We have all discussed this intently and we ask you to do just that in your own home, and we ask: will you and David become spies in England.

    Elizabeth just stared at the parchment, her eyes wide, her consciousness just seeming to float away leaving her stranded.

    “Lady Elizabeth,” A voice called from what seemed a long way away. “There are soldiers at the door wanting to talk to you.” 

    Elizabeth’s mind raced to the worst possibility: her lifeless form on the gallows. She shivered but pushed the thought aside. This was no time to panic. Taking the parchment, she slipped it into a sleeve in her gown and walked to the front room where the soldiers were waiting.

    “May I presume you are Lady Clark?” asked the tallest of the red clad soldiers. 

    “You may. May I ask who you are?” She asked, trying to sound civil. 

    “I am Lieutenant Thomas.” he ushered to the others “This is Second Lieutenant James and Private Henry.” Henry gave a slight bow as was custom “We are sorry to come uninvited but we have specific orders to go to the homes of the people who lived in the colonies to see if they are still loyal to the crown.” 

    “Well,” Elizabeth said, intrigued “Who were the orders from?” 

    “If you must know, the order came from General William,” Thomas said, a little annoyed. 

    Elizabeth inwardly rolled her eyes. Soldiers were so used to people following their commands, that as soon as someone asked questions, they got annoyed. 

    “My husband is in parliament. I support what he supports.” She said matter–of–factly. 

    Lieutenant Thomas looked at her skeptically “Then you are loyal to the Crown?”

    “As you say.” Elizabeth's heart started pounding in her chest; she was surprised it didn't burst out of her body. “If there is nothing else, would you like a scone for the road?” Kicking them out with food is one of the first things her mother had taught her and it had yet to fail. 

    “No, we have more houses to visit. Goodbye, Lady Elizabeth.” He bowed, and Henry and James followed suit.

    Elizabeth gave a slight curtsy to the soldiers “Goodbye then.” One of the negroes opened the door, the soldiers walked out, mounted their horses, and rode up the dirt road. When the door closed, Elizabeth let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. 

    “Lady Elizabeth, are you okay?” The negro asked, obviously concerned. 

    Elizabeth recognized him as old Jo. He was the oldest servant in her home and loyal to everyone in it.

    “Yes, I'm fine.” She wasn't, in a matter of two months a war had started with the colonies, and now she and David were asked to be spies with threat of the gallows if they were caught.

    Jo looked skeptically at her but nodded, “If you need anything just call.” 

    She was about to respond when David came bursting through the door breathing hard 

    “Soldiers, Coming, Questions!” He was waving his hands like a crazy person.

    Elizabeth went to his side. “They have come and gone. There is no reason to worry.” she cooed, “Take a deep breath all is well.”           

    He finally slumped into the wing back chair, her words registering in his head. “What happened? What did you say?” 

    Elizabeth told him what happened that they came and left just as fast. He nodded his head when she finished. “You did a lot better than I would have done, I would have straight out lied.” He said with a smirk.

    Elizabeth smiled at him then remembered the most crucial part “Um, can we talk in private?” she glanced over to a maid who had just walked in.

    David nodded, and they walked to a good sized room where he would meet with other members of parliament. Onced the door was closed, Elizabeth pulled out the letter from her sleeve, and handed it to him. It took him a second to find the correct way to read it but when he did a worry line striped his brow he looked at her like she was blurry and sat down on a hard oak chair. 

    “They want us to…” 

    “They do.” she whispered.