The Month Ahead

Exciting month! I know I had quite the adventure. I hope dear William takes care and gets better. Maybe someday I'll go back and see if I can find him. I'm sure Trevor would take me.
But we need to escape Mykola. He's on our tail, and he's got something planned.
So Trevor decided we're going to...

APRIL 2015

Week	Topic	What to expect
1	The Great War: World War One	An introduction of WWI, some historical facts, today in history and a little known fact.
2	Battled Reads: Books on World War One	We'll give you three books/series about World War One for you to read that we think you'll enjoy.
3	Story Post	Trevor, Dominik and I flee to The Great War to escape Mykola.
4	Story Post 2	Trevor, Dominik and I flee to The Great War to escape Mykola.
	Story Post 3	Trevor, Dominik and I flee to The Great War to escape Mykola.

Anyone know who this horse is? I'm sure you horse fans do... 

Revealed: Part Eight

Previously on Revealed: Part Seven

"I will find you, Trevor!" I yelled in the wind, more to myself than anyone else. "I will find you and I will make you pay!"

He would pay for what he'd done to my family and to my life. I would make him suffer.

And I'd start with that woman he was crazy over. Let's see how much he enjoyed having those he loved being taken away from him! But I'd have to devise a carefully laid out plan...

I had tried to grab Marin in the 1770s when I'd located their signal during the Revolutionary War. I knew the best way to find Trevor was to find Marin. Trevor was sporadic and all over the place all the time, his past self not much better. Dominik was quick and deadly, he wasn't someone I wanted to mess with. But Marin was the link to finding Trevor fast. I had some news for him.

But some German guy had stepped in the way and had threatened to shoot me. The Trevors and Dominik showed up and I had to disappear. I had no weapon. I hadn't planned on needing one. My threats were to be dealt with orally this round. Too bad they had run me off-- now Trevor was just going to have to pay for his insolence.

I found myself in a sparse piece of land in the English countryside. 4T's dial read 1603. Odd that of all the eras he's explored, this is the one she lives in. But Trevor always liked meeting people who lived in the UK. Though in this time period, it was a bit surprising he'd fall in love with a English woman, considering he was Scottish. Now I had to find out if he'd ever approached her or not.

The cottage was simple enough to find. There were hardly any others. I remembered how he'd described it to me, his eyes full of stars and hearts. Back then he hadn't the courage to talk to her. Perhaps he'd finally approached her and confessed his undying love. Even if he hasn't talked to her, she'll make a good hostage, I decided.

I knew I looked out of place in my two piece suit and fedora, but that didn't matter. I had the excuse of being from a different country, though I'd perfected my English to a near British accent, I still had the hints of my Ukrainian ancestry. It worked fine when explaining to people in other eras that I was a from a far and distant land. I snorted. Far indeed. You just don't realize how far.

Approaching the small stone cottage, I rapped on the door. No one answered. Frowning, I knocked on it again. Maybe I'll just have to break it down.

Ah, no need. There she was, feeding the chickens by the small stone barn.

I smiled to myself, walking over to the backyard, my hands in my pockets nonchalantly. My right hand closed around the Tokarev pistol in my pocket. I was ready to use any means possible to grab this woman.

"Good day," I called.

She looked up, her green eyes meeting mine. I had to admit, she was stunning.

"Good day to you," she replied respectfully. She glanced me over, her brow furrowing. "I haven't seen you around these parts, my good sir. Are you from Stonehinge?"

"No, I'm afraid I'm not." I chuckled. "I come from across the ocean in a distant land called the Tsardom of Muscovy. I am only passing through this area. Tell me, where am I and what is your name?"

"You are in Yorkshire," she informed me. "I am Ilene. Is there anything I may help you with?"

That was the last bit of information I needed. I had been eighty percent sure that she was the one, but now I knew for sure. This was Ilene. This was the young woman that Trevor would do anything to help.

"Yes, you can help me." I grinned, slowly withdrawing my pistol. "You see, I have a friend who cares very much about you. And I think it's about time you've met him."

Patriots in Need are Patriots Indeed: Part Three

“Now who’s running off without telling others where they are?” I demanded in a whisper as I sat down next to Trevor. He shot me an apologetic grin and shrugged, but didn’t reply.

George Washington sat down across from them all with a smile. “Since you four have been such a great help to my soldiers, I decided to give you some good news: General Horatio Gates recaptured Saratoga, New York in October. This eliminates the British threat to Albany as well as much of the North. But that’s not all: France has joined us in our fight for freedom by declaring war on England! I only received this wonderful news a week ago, but shared it with the soldiers just this morning. I think it will help lift their spirits a great deal.”

Trevor grinned. “That is wonderful news!” he exclaimed, doing a wonderful job of looking surprised and overjoyed at what wasn’t really news to us. “I hope that the soldiers will find enough hope in it to keep fighting.”

The general nodded, a shadow coming over his face. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it; so many soldiers have died, so many precious human lives taken…” He trailed off. I noticed tears gathering in his eyes, and found my own eyes stinging. I blinked them several times.

With a start, George Washington seemed to jerk himself back into the present and smiled again. “I would like you to meet a new friend of mine; Baron Friedrich von Steuben.”

A middle aged man, dressed in a blue uniform jacket and white vest stepped into the room when the general called his name.

“You wanted me?” He asked in a thick accent.

George Washington motioned towards us. “I’d like you to meet these volunteers, Baron Steuben. They have not only brought us meat, but this girl helped mend some of my soldiers’ arms and legs. They’ve all worked on lifting the men’s spirits.”

 Trevor quickly took the opportunity to introduce us. Baron Steuben bowed to each of us in turn, then, with another bow towards George Washington, took his leave again.

“The Baron Steuben is a Prussian citizen, but came here as an unpaid volunteer. He speaks little English, but still managed to simplify the drill manual. He had my soldiers marching crisply in a matter of weeks!” The general shook his head in amazement. “Do you know what he said to me when he first came to volunteer? ‘The object of my greatest ambition is to render your country all the services in my power to deserve the title of America by fighting for the cause of your liberty.’ I was very impressed.”

I was impressed too. I looked over at Trevor and Dominick. It was obvious that the Baron’s statement had also made a deep impression on them.

 Past Trevor, I don’t know what he was thinking, but he suddenly blurted out: “Well, you certainly couldn’t have won this war without men like him.”

Trevor’s face grew red. Whether from anger or embarrassment for his Past Self, I don’t know. George Washington gave Past Trevor a funny look, and as for the guilty party, he appeared to suddenly realize what he just said. His hand flew to his mouth and he turned red too.

“I-I mean, you wouldn’t have a chance of winning this war without men like him.” He stuttered.

There was a collective sigh of relief and George Washington’s face cleared. “That is very true,” He answered. “Our country will certainly need men like the Baron Steuben to lead it.”

We talked for a while longer with the general, but soon he declared that it was getting late, and we agreed. Soon we were all tucked into blankets around an open fire under the twinkling stars.

~oOo~

“Marin, wake up!” a voice urged me awake. I sat up much too quickly and groaned as I nearly blacked out. Pressing a hand against my forehead for a moment, I looked up into the worried face of my adopted father.

“What is it?” I asked in concern.

“We need to leave soon.” Trevor replied. “Say your goodbyes and meet me here in twenty minutes. I’ve got a bad feeling that Mykola’s not far behind us.”

I nodded and slipped out of the blanket cocoon I had made myself into the night before. I said a quick “good morning” to my brother, nodded politely to Past Trevor, and then walked over to the line of soldiers. Twenty minutes was plenty of time to say goodbye to them all, but I also wanted to help their various wounds one last time. Who knew when they would get proper medical care, if ever!

Saying goodbye to William was the hardest. The young soldier’s gratitude for my simple help brought tears to my eyes. I brushed them away quickly and smiled at him cheerfully while changing his bandage one last time. His arm was looking much, much better.

“Don’t forget to keep your wound clean,” I warned. “Change the bandage as often as possible.”

“I will,” He promised, grinning good-naturedly at my advice. “You sound just like my mother did when I cut myself a few years ago on the bothering knife.”

I wrapped his arm up again, avoiding eye contact. “Well, goodbye.”

“You’re leaving?” William asked in a shocked voice.

I nodded. “We have to get back home and tend our own property.”

William gripped the hand I offered him to shake and tears streamed down his face. “I can’t thank you enough for your help with my arm,” He whispered. “I’m going to miss you, Marin.”

I willed the tears not to fall, but even so, a few leaked out and rolled down my cheeks. “I’ll miss you too, William.” I replied, not trusting myself to say more.

William seemed to understand and simply pressed my hand harder before letting go. I moved down the line of soldiers, saying goodbye and giving them the same last minute instructions I gave William.

Unknowingly, I had wandered far from where Trevor now stood, waiting for my return. With all the goodbyes, I had forgotten the peril I was constantly in. When a hand was laid on my shoulder again, I thought it would be General Washington, since that was how he had found me the other two times, but it wasn’t. I realized this when a gun barrel was shoved into my back and I was ordered to stand still.

I felt the blood drain from my face. “Mykola!?” I whispered out loud, not believing it even then.

“You’re right, Elizaveta.”
It was true then, only one man called me that.

“What are you going to do to me?” I hissed.

“That all depends on how your Scottish friend behaves.” Mykola replied with a satisfied chuckle. “I’ve got the upper hand here now.”

“Let…me…GO!” I said, trying to wriggle from Mykola’s grasp. His hands tightened and the gun was shoved harder into my back.

“I’d stop that if I were you.” He replied. I obeyed, panting for breath.

Suddenly, from behind Mykola, came another voice. A voice with a thick accent that I recognized immediately.

“Drop that gun, English pig.” It was Baron Steuben, holding a rifle steadily and a look in his eye that seemed to convince Mykola to drop his own gun. He let go of me in the same motion and I quickly took control of the gun and got out of his range.

Trevor was already next to me, holding me in a bear hug and glaring at Mykola. “Nice try,” he was saying, “You almost had me up a tree there. But thanks to the Baron, you no longer do… Even though you aren’t English or a pig.” He added after a moment.

Dominick stood next to Trevor, waiting for his turn to hug me, and he too was glaring at Mykola. “You deserve an even worse title. ‘English pig’ is too good for the likes of you.”

I somehow got out of Dominick’s hug and ran over to the disappearing form of the Baron Steuben. Once I had caught up, I grabbed his uniform. He stopped in surprise and looked down at me, his eyes crinkling into a smile as he recognized me.

“I wanted to thank you,” I gasped out after catching enough breath to do so.

He bowed, then explained in broken English, “Only bad men keep girls prisoner.”

I bowed back, “Thank you again,” I said.

He bowed again, then turned and walked into the general’s tent.

~oOo~

I dashed back to Trevor and Dominick only to find that they were alone, staring at where Mykola had been with blank looks on their faces.

“What happened?” I demanded.

“H-he must have still had 4T on him!” Trevor blurted finally. “He was gone, suddenly,” He snapped his fingers in disbelief, “Just like that! I thought he had put it somewhere, because I couldn’t see it on him, but he must have hidden it, knowing I would look for it.”

I groaned. “Then we’re back to time traveling?” I asked.

Trevor nodded, a sudden gleam coming to his eyes that I recognized with a twinge of worry. He grinned and pulled out 4T-2. Holding it up and looking at it admiringly, he glanced back at Dominick and me.

“I know exactly where we’re going to go next…”

I exchanged a glance with my brother, then everything exploded in light.

Such was the way of my life. One adventure to the next....

Patriots in Need are Patriots Indeed: Part Two

I was at first frozen in fear, but then I caught sight of William’s face. It had lit up in respect and happiness.

“How are you doing, William?” A warm, kind voice spoke behind me that sent thrills down my spine. “I came over to check on you, and found you in very good hands.”

“I’m very well, general,” William replied gratefully. “Marin has been taking exceptional care of us soldiers. I couldn’t ask for a better nurse.”

I turned and looked up at the speaker. General Washington was tall and very imposing in his American uniform. But I didn’t fail to notice that even his uniform was worn and threadbare. George Washington had lines of care in his face and was noticeably thin. Obviously, the general had fared no better than his men.

His warm eyes met mine and he smiled. “I can’t thank you enough for your care of my soldiers, Marin. They haven’t had much of that I’m afraid with very little supplies and even less food.”

“You’re very welcome,” I replied, standing up and dusting off my hands to shake his own. His grip was strong and firm. “I’m always happy to help.”

Dominick came over from where he had been helping bury a dead soldier and was looking at George Washington in awe.

“This is the first President of the United States?” He asked me in a whisper.

“Not yet,” I cautioned, also in a whisper. I turned to the general with a smile. “This is my brother, Dominick,” I said.

George Washington gave him a handshake as well. “Welcome to our winter camp,” He answered. “I’m afraid it’s not much, but I believe that God will provide.”

Suddenly, from behind the general, a cheer was raised. A few minutes later I saw why. Marching into camp were both Trevors holding between them a turkey. Following them were two other soldiers also bearing a turkey and then some more soldiers with some quail of some kind.

The hungry soldiers wasted no time starting to cook the birds, which was a good thing because as soon as the Trevors saw George Washington, they nearly dropped the turkey in their eagerness to meet him. Luckily, several soldiers relieved them of it just in time.

“General Washington, right?” Trevor said, putting out a hand in greeting.

George Washington smiled. “Indeed it is. Thank you both so much for getting my soldiers meat. We sorely need it.”

“This is Valley Forge, right?” Past Trevor asked with a look around the camp.

George Washington nodded.

“Where you stay for the winter before…” Whatever he was going to say was stopped by Trevor stomping on his foot as a warning and he said “Ow!” instead, hopping up and down while holding his foot.

Trevor quickly explained to the puzzled general that his identical twin wasn’t right in the head. “He thinks he can foretell the future,” Trevor explained, giving his Past Self an especially dark scowl behind the general’s back. 

George Washington seemed satisfied with Trevor’s explanation and merely shrugged, turning back to William, the soldier I had been helping.

“I hope your arm heals quickly,” he said and gave him one last smile of encouragement before turning back to his own tent.

I finished helping the other soldiers and then Trevor and I got some time by ourselves. Dominick had gone back to helping the soldiers feed the sick. Past Trevor was helping cook the turkey and I hoped that he was keeping his mouth shut about what was going to happen.

Trevor let out a sigh suddenly and I looked up at him. “What is it?” I asked worriedly.

“I’m worried about Mykola,” Trevor admitted, running a hand through his hair with another sigh and leaving it standing up in all directions. “He could show up at any time and hurt you.”

“Or you,” I added. “He hates you.”

“I know,” Trevor groaned. “But I’m afraid he’s going to do something to you to get back at me. I’m so sorry for bringing you into this at all. I never should have adopted you; I should have left you where you belonged!” His head sank into his hands.

“But Trevor…” I began in hopes of comforting him, “I don’t want to go back. I’m glad you adopted me, and I’m glad you brought me here. Imagine how boring my life would be without being your adopted daughter.”

Trevor looked up and gave me a lopsided grin. “Really? You’re…glad…of all this? Even the danger we’re in?”

I shrugged. “Well, of course I’m not glad of the danger, but at least I have you to protect me, right? But yes, I am glad that I’m with you right now, not back in my old home.”

Any further conversation was stopped when Past Trevor came up to us with plates of freshly cooked turkey. Dominick came over sat down next to me. After a quick prayer to bless our food, we ate.

~oOo~

When I went over to check on the sick soldiers, William met my stop with a smile. “I feel great!” He exclaimed. “Whatever you did to my arm really helped.”

“Keeping wounds clean is very important,” I replied. Unwrapping his bandage, I checked it for infection. So far so good. William was lucky; I had caught it in time. I poured hot water over it again and replaced his old bandages with new ones. Leaving Dominick with him to feed him more broth, I moved onto the next soldier. A lot of them were doing better, but some had had their wounds go a little too far. I wasn’t a professional doctor or anything like that and I could only hope to make their death more comfortable.

Suddenly, I noticed George Washington leave his tent and walk towards the woods. Curious, I followed him, forgetting for a moment the constant danger I was in.

He stopped once he had put some distance between himself and the camp and knelt in the snow. Bowing his head, he began to pray:

“Heavenly Father, I humbly pray that you hear the voice of your servant. You know that my army is in Your hands. You know that every day we face starvation, cold, and death. You have provided thus far, and I wish to thank You for it. Today you brought us friends that gave my sick soldiers help and food to feed them, You gave General Gates victory over the British, You brought France into this war as an ally. I thank You for all these things. But again, I lift up my army to You, Lord. Heal the sick, feed the hungry, and warm the cold. I pray all these things in Your name, Amen.”

He stood up, but I turned back to camp, already feeling guilty of eavesdropping on the general’s conversation with God. However, I was also feeling thrilled to have been mentioned by this great man in his prayer. That didn’t happen every day!

I was so happy as I walked into camp that I failed to notice the scowl on Trevor’s face as he walked over to me. When I did finally see it, I suddenly realized that I was in for a very long, uncomfortable talk about the importance of my safety and how I should have told him where I was going and had someone go with me for added security.

Sure enough, I was right.

 “How could you do that to me? I’ve been worried out of my mind! What were you thinking, going off like that without someone to protect you? Where were you anyways?” Trevor stormed as soon as I was within hearing distance.

I waited patiently for him to finish and then explained. Instantly, Trevor forgave and forgot my mistake of walking away without telling him and began asking me questions. I answered as best I could, but I was glad to escape more interrogation when Dominick gave me a chance by telling me that William needed my help.

I hurried over to the sick soldier, suddenly worried. Had I done something wrong? Forgotten to sterilize the wound enough? Given him the wrong medicine? Was the bandage not clean enough?

A smile from William eased my fears and he greeted me with a cheerful, though still weak, “Hello Marin!”

“You wanted me?” I asked, kneeing down and checking his arm.

William looked puzzled. “I didn’t ask for you…although it would be nice to have a clean bandage now that I think about it.”

I cleaned his wound somewhat absentmindedly and replaced the bandage. Dominick came over just as I was finishing and pulled me out of earshot.

“I thought you might appreciate not answering more questions.” He grinned and nodded in Trevor’s direction. “He seems to be busy right now and won’t bother you with more.”

I looked over at Trevor, and saw that he was “busy” writing in his journal. I turned back to Dominick and smiled gratefully.

“Thank you,” I answered, “I was running out of answers pretty quickly.”

Dominick walked away and I went back to checking on the soldiers. It seemed to be a never ending job. I got through the line of sick men for the second time and wandered back to where I had last seen Trevor.

But he wasn’t there! In fact, I suddenly realized that I didn’t know where Dominick or Past Trevor were either! And Mykola could show up at any time!

I panicked, looking around me, forgetting that I was surrounded by other people. Where was everyone? Had they left me? Was I all alone in the past?

This is ridiculous, I told myself, calm down. Trevor would never leave you. I took a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly. God, I’m scared. Please keep Mykola away from me and Trevor. Keep us safe and let us get back home soon.

A hand was laid on my shoulder and I stiffened.

“Marin? Are you alright?” It was George Washington.

My heart began beating normally, and I let out my breath in a whoosh. “I’m fine,” I answered, turning to him with a shaky smile. “I don’t know where my adopted father, Trevor and my brother are, and I got scared.”

“That’s perfectly normal, Marin. There’s no need to be ashamed of fear.” The general said, and took my hand protectively. “Come with me. Trevor, his twin, and your brother are all in my tent. I came out to find you and bring you there as well.”

Patriots in Need are Patriots Indeed: Part One

“You can open your eyes now,” Trevor said, pulling my braid. That was an annoying habit he had started recently. “It’s over, and we’re here!”

He sounded so excited. How he could pull that off when everything had been going wrong was beyond me. Past Trevor decided to come along on our next trip “for the fun of it” as he put it…and I thought one Trevor was bad enough. Now I would have to deal with two of them.

Nevertheless, I opened my eyes a crack. When nothing exploded, and I got a peek at the scene in front of me, my eyes widened to their full extent.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Trevor chuckled gleefully.

We were standing behind some trees on a hill that overlooked what appeared to be a camp of some sort. Nothing about the scene appealed to me, and I suddenly realized how cold it was. I looked around me and saw for the first time that everything was covered in snow!

“W-where are w-we?” I asked through chattering teeth. “A-and w-why did you b-bring m-me here?”

“Late seventeen hundreds,” Trevor replied, “During the Revolutionary War.”

“W-war?” I asked, not liking the sound of it. “I thought y-you said it w-would be safe!”

Trevor waved my concern away. “Of course it will be. We just need to keep 4T-2 -and us- from Mykola’s hands.”

“He makes it sound so easy,” I heard Dominick mutter from right behind me.

Glancing up at him, we shared an understanding smile. I was becoming a lot closer to my new brother, and the time we spent together on the Mayflower helped me learn a lot about him.

Trevor seemed to have either not heard him or was choosing to ignore him.

Past Trevor was looking around him in delight. “Hey, this is great! I’ve always wanted to come to this time period. I’ve never met George Washington in person before. We are going to meet him, right?”

I was surprised when Trevor glared at his past self and didn’t seem at all pleased with the added enthusiasm. “Just be quiet, ok? I’m trying to think.”

“What’s the matter with you?” Past Trevor demanded with a scowl.

“You haven’t exactly been a huge help,” Trevor replied with an equally dark scowl. “You forgot that you put 4T-2 in a grain barrel? How could you forget such an easy hiding place?”

Past Trevor folded his arms sulkily. “I got hit in the head, remember?”

“Only because you started a fight with Mr. Standish! Honestly, you couldn’t keep from saying stupid things like ‘we’re not going to drown, you don’t have to worry about it’?”

I decided it was time for me to intervene. “Stop it Trevor,” I said, “Both of you.” I added when they continued to glower at each other. “If we want to stay away from Mykola, which I’m assuming you do, than we need to work as a team.”

My brother nodded. “Let’s just focus on being safe.”

I smiled and did my best to look enthusiastic. “So where are we off to now?”

“Let’s go meet General Washington and his army!” both Trevor’s exclaimed at once, forgetting their fight in their eagerness. I smiled. This was exactly what I had hoped would happen.

They took off on a run down the hill and with a hopeless shrug I joined them with Dominick not far behind me.

~oOo~

When we entered the camp, I looked around me. Tents were being put up for the night and clusters of soldiers stood shivering around tiny camp fires. I only guessed the men were soldiers because of what Trevor had said earlier; otherwise I might have thought they were tramps.

One soldier in ten had boots, one in three were going barefoot. The others had “shoes” made of rags. They’re uniforms were in tatters, and most of them looked as if they hadn’t eaten in days, which I learned later was true. In short, they looked miserable.

“So…” Dominick asked. “Why did we come here again?”

I looked at Trevor. He was gazing around him with tears in his eyes. “We’re going to help them.” He said finally, his jaw setting in determination.

“After meeting General Washington?” Past Trevor asked hopefully.

Trevor glared at him. “No. Right now!”

Past Trevor rolled his eyes. “I was just asking.” 

“Trevor…” I elbowed him. “Don’t be so hard on him.”

“Ok, ok,” He muttered, darting one more glare at his Past Self. He looked down at me and his face softened visibly. “He just gets under my skin when he acts so selfish.”

I nodded. “Let’s just forget him for a little while and help these soldiers out.”

Trevor’s old grin spread across his face and he pulled on my braid. “Sure thing.”

~oOo~

Both Trevor’s had gone off with some soldiers to hunt for some sort of bird to eat. I volunteered to stay at the camp fire and tend the sick soldiers. Dominick said he would stay with me too, and Trevor agreed. We all knew it wouldn’t be good for me to be by myself. No matter how many soldiers would be there to protect me. There was the constant worry that Mykola might show up, and there was no way I was going to be by myself when he came.

The soldier I was helping right now had had a bullet go through his arm. The bandage was old and filthy. My stomach turned as I unwrapped it to wash it. It looked horrible. Dominick handed me fresh bandages and I gave him a grateful look.

The soldier had light, wavy hair and the beginnings of a beard, but he didn’t look much older than twenty, despite his face being gaunt with hunger.

“What’s your name?” I asked, trying to keep his mind off the pain and my mind off of the festering wound.

“William,” He muttered between clenched teeth. “William Samuelson.”

“I’m Marin,” I replied, closing my eyes briefly to keep myself from fainting. “How long have you had this wound?”

“About…” He paused and grimaced when I poured heated water over the bullet hole, “…six weeks.” He finished.

I groaned. This was not going to be easy. I gave him some of the brandy that the soldiers kept strictly for the sick. He swallowed some, coughed, and then gripped his wounded arm with a moan of pain.

I poured some more hot water over the wound, impressed by William’s ability to keep himself from crying out in pain. Once the wound was clean, it looked a lot better. Gently, I rewrapped it in clean bandages and gave the soldier a warm smile.

“I think that will make it feel a lot better,” I said, doing my best to be encouraging.

William gave me a weak smile, and then closed his eyes. That was good. He needed sleep.

I moved on to the next soldier, making a mental note to get them some broth as soon as possible.

The line of soldier’s seemed to get longer as I worked down it. The more soldiers I helped, the more I noticed needed help. Most of them just needed their wounds washed and new, clean bandages, but some were in bad shape. I did the best I could, but there were so many soldiers that were dying, or already dead.

Dominick proved to be a huge help. He knew a lot about wounds, and helped me dress them properly. He elected five soldiers to bury the dead, another five to feed the sick broth. This saved me a lot of time.

Suddenly, beside me, while I was giving William another spoonful of brandy, I felt a hand being laid on my shoulder.

Outlawed Works: Books on the Revolutionary War

UPDATE: Sorry about the crazy font and spaces. I'm not sure what happened there. I have tried and tried to fix the spaces between paragraphs problem, but it won't work! I'm betting Mykola took over this and messed it up for fun....
Grrrr.....

Well, we hope you enjoy this month's book roundup! We found some good books we think you'll enjoy, basically all of our favorite books on the Revolutionary War time period. Get reading, everyone!

Johnny Tremain

Esther Forbes

Johnny Tremain tells of the times in Boston just before the American Revolution through the eyes of Johnny Tremain, a young silversmith who is drawn into the war after meeting Rab, a daring young member of the Sons of Liberty. Working closely with Paul Revere and the revolutionists, Johnny must learn to overcome the obstacles in his path through his courage and determination and help prepare Boston for the battle ahead.

What we like about this book: Johnny Tremain is the perfect book for any American Revolution enthusiast. Full of plot twists and engaging characters, this is one of the best Revolutionary books we've ever read. It's been a couple years since Marin and I have read it, and while I don't think there was anything wrong with it, I do think it had a couple of perilous scenes.

Audience: Boys, but girls would like this book as well

Age Range: 11 and up

Toliver's Secret

Esther Wood Brady

When her grandfather is injured, 10-year-old Ellen Toliver replaces him on a top-secret patriotic mission. Disguised as a boy, she manages to smuggle a message to General George Washington.

What we like about this book: Toliver's secret was very exciting, full of adventure and is a great read for just about any age. Everyone will love Toliver and her adventure she takes to help General George Washington.

Audience: Girls and boys

Age range: 9-14

The Felicity Series

Valerie Tripp

Felicity Merriman is a spunky, spritely girl growing up in Virginia in 1774, just before the Revolutionary War. Felicity's stories tell of the adventures of this spirited girl, who grows impatient doing the "sitting down kinds of things" that colonial girls are expected to do. Felicity much prefers to be outdoors, especially riding horses In her stories, Felicity learns about responsibility and loyalty -- to her family, her friends, and her new country -- and what it means to be truly free.

What we like about these books: I think anyone who's read the Circle C Adventures will enjoy Felicity. Imagine Andi living in Colonial times and that pretty much sums up Felicity. Her adventures are sure to engage many age groups.

Audience: Girls

Age Range: 9-14

Rebels! The American Revolutionary War

Trevor's Journal, sometime in the winter of the late 1770s. Date unknown.

Well, we're alive. And safe. Both a miracle in my opinion. We've arrived sometime in the Revolutionary war. I'm not sure when or where, exactly. All I know is it's cold, several of these American soldiers are sick, and past Trevor is driving me insane. Can you imagine? He hid 4T-2 in a grain barrel that we slept next to every night for the last week or two and he didn't remember where it was! I guess it doesn't help that I didn't remember either. I am, after all, him. I just can't believe he's so selfish. I am eager for his trip to Czechoslovakia. Plus, he's got his own 4T, so he can go whenever he wants to. Except he chose to stick with us for another round. Sigh.

It's hard to guess what year we're in during the war. Most people don't realize that the Revolutionary war lasted eight years. Eight years! Can you imagine having war in your homeland for eight years? This is why I'm not sure what time period we're in, and I don't think it's wise for me to ask someone. People don't get it when a time traveler asks what year it is. They think you're crazy.

The official "date" that the war started is April 19th, 1775. There were a lot of events leading up to it, though. For starters, the British had begun to get very oppressive. They begun to tax the American people on things that the British people didn't get taxed on, treating the American colonies like they weren't British citizens. This made everyone pretty mad. At one point so many people got mad at the outrageous tax on tea that they snuck onto a ship at night and dumped it all into the water. This outraged the Brits and the King and they sent troops to keep the colonies under control. This made the Americans all the more resentful- they were being treated like criminals.

The day things escalated was the sad and fateful day of March 5th, 1775. This event has become known as the Boston Massacre.

Oh, past Trevor is trying to get my attention. Just a second...

Ahem, I'm back. Past Trevor was begging me to take him to go meet George Washington. Honestly. I'll take him to meet him later. I feel like I'm talking to a child... not to my own self who is me. I can treat myself kinda bad sometimes. That's just weird.

Oh, yes. Back to the slave trade that lead to the Civil War. Wait... no, that's not right. I was talking about Boston Massacre. I'm sorry, I have been under so much stress lately that I'm not even remembering what era I' m writing about. 

Boston Massacre was started by a group of civilians (obviously in Boston) yelling at a British sentry. They started insulting him and threatening to hurt him, which was not a nice thing to do. This was because they were starting to get really mad about the taxes and being treated like criminals and all that. Eight other soldiers came to the rescue of the sentry, and the crowd started to throw things and yell threats. Most of these British soldiers were young, and without orders they fired their guns into the crowd, killing three people and injuring others. Two other people died later on from the wounds.

That was it for the Americans. War began against the British, starting with the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19th, 1775.

The war was brutal to both sides. The British lost about 24,000 men to injuries and death. The Americans had approximately 8, 445 men wounded, 10,000 died from disease, 8,500 who died in British prisons and about 8,000 who died in combat. That's over 34,000 men. Pretty sad.

The war ended on September 3rd, 1783. It ended in Yorktown, Virginia. Actually, interestingly enough, if the Americans hadn't won the battle of Yorktown democracy in America could have had a very different outcome.  To quote ushistory.org: "The war virtually came to an end when General Cornwallis was surrounded and forced to surrender the British position at Yorktown, Virginia. Two years later, the Treaty of Paris made it official: America was independent."

If the Revolutionary War hadn't happened, sad as it was to see two countries kill each other over things that may have been settled democratically (had they relented and tried to see past their own selves) it was one of the most important wars America has ever been in. Without it happening we wouldn't have had a start in Democracy. This is huge. Can you imagine America belonging to Britain all the way up to World War Two? What would have happened then? Who would have won World War Two?

We don't know. Whatever would have happened, we can rest assured that God had a plan through the bloodshed to create one of the strongest nations in the world.

Today in history: Today the Siege on Boston began on March 2nd, 1776. General George Washington (later to become the first President) ordered the bombardment of Boston on this day in attempts to take the city over. By March 17th the city was under American control. So today you can realize that 239 years ago the siege on Boston began. Kind of exciting, right?

Little Known Fact: Most people don't realize that George Washington was not a very good General. He was a very good man and full of love for his country and America (which is why he made a wonderful President. He was a very humble man and hadn't actually wanted to be President, he only agreed after telling everyone he wanted the government to be run by the American people.) but not a very good military commander. One example was when he ordered a surprise attack to take over Fort Ontario in 1783. Five hundred American soldiers marched towards Fort Ontario in February. They marched in the night, but there was one problem, They couldn't find the fort! By dawn the next day they'd marched in circles for over four hours and were still a mile away from the fort. The element of surprise was lost, so the men retreated without firing a shot. Though George Washington himself was not involved with the march, there were a couple of instances of this happening under his command. He had a bit of trouble keeping all his men together. Inspiring them, yes. Keeping them in order... not so much. We're just glad he did a far better job as a President than a General!