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"The Patriarchists: A Post Apocalyptic Tale of Love, Lust, and Loss"

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"The Patriarchists: A Post Apocalyptic Tale of Love, Lust, and Loss"

"The Patriarchists"

A Post Apocalyptic Tale of Love, Lust, and Loss

Peter awoke to the sound of a young female voice speaking to him. "Patriarch...? Are you awake."

After a moment, his consciousness returned to him and he whispered, "I am. What is it?"

"A Wanderer," the pre-teen aged girl said, adding, "At the gate."

Peter blinked his eyes open and found the hut very much still in the Black. It was unusual -- and dangerous -- for a Wanderer to approach a Village unannounced during the night, causing Peter to ask with obvious concern, "Guarded?"

"Yes, Patriarch," the girl answered, verifying, "Four guards. He's being good, but..."

"Yes...?"

She said with a concerned tone, "They say he's hurt. Much."

Around him, some of those sharing Peter's bed this night stirred, some moaning with semi-conscious disappointment at being awoken at the early hour. The nearest of the three women habitually slid a hand onto Peter's body, caressing it downward to locate his penis and gently begin kneading it to life.

"Not now," he whispered to the Breeder, gently moving her hand away. He probably should have let her excite him to stiffness to perform his duty. One of the lasting effects of the Apocalypse 250 years earlier was that successful breeding was now about as easy as catching and holding a river eel in your bare hands without getting spiked or bitten. Instead, Peter kissed the ovulating woman lovingly on her forehead and told her reassuringly, "Later, my dear. Later."

..........

Trent knew the danger of approaching a village in the Black, but he'd had little choice. He'd been cutting over a ridge when he'd stumbled upon a brown bear that -- frightened more than anything else -- had lashed out at him with a huge paw and razor sharp claws. He'd been sliced across the chest, then in his haste to get away, he'd then fallen down a steep hillside, rolling more than a hundred feet before colliding with the trunk of a tree.

Trent had been on his way to a Gathering at Little Lake, two days walk to the south, but he wouldn't make it, of course. He'd stumbled upon a well worn path earlier, and after searching found it just before sundown. He followed it through the night, losing it several times, forcing him to backtrack. Then, he'd heard a dog -- not a wolf or coyote -- bark at the sound of his approach. And five minutes later, he looked up to see a fifteen foot log pole gate blocking the narrow gap between to cliffs. He dropped onto the dirt before the gate, calling out for help. As he sat there bleeding all over the shirt pressed to his chest, he prayed that the people behind the gate were Patriarchists. If they were, they just might see him as worthy of being worth saving. Peter had come across villages or isolated homes that had had no interest in strangers or their needs. In fact, he still bore the scar in his thigh from when he'd once been shot as a raider, despite the fact that he'd done nothing more than eat a berry from a wild bush within sight of the cabin.

Suddenly, the black of night illuminated. Peter looked up to be blinded by some sort of oil lantern-curved mirror contraption that sent a column of flickering light his direction. He tried to identify himself and his situation, but instead -- as four females with bows and spears approached him -- he only smiled meekly, laid back to the ground with a thud, and passed out.

The First War

The First War...

That's what most people called it, because -- quite literally -- it was just that. The Continent had never seen conflict on this scale before. Oh, sure, for as long as their had been more than two them in the same general location, men had had disagreements, had argued, and sometimes had fought. Sometimes, they had fought with their fists, other times with weapons; sometimes they had fought one to one, and other times with their friends, family, or subjects supporting them. But until The First War had come to fruition, there had never in over a thousand years of recorded history been a conflict in which more than perhaps a dozen men had lost their lives around any one event or disagreement.

The First War had now been raging for more than a generation, reaching every corner of the Continent, involving in one way or another every Duchy, County, City, Town, and Village. The true cost in lives wasn't precisely known, but it was estimated that more than 10,000 men had fallen on the battle field. Even more tragically, ten times that many non-combatants had also lost their lives to the conflict, either directly or indirectly: murder, famine, disease, enslavement, and so many other preventable tragedies had seen entire communities disappear from the map.

..........

The Duchy of Westrock:

Paul had, for good or bad, played a part in this life changing devastation and carnage, even though it had never been his intention. Eighteen years ago, when Paul was but 8 years old, his father Cranston and older brother Carl -- respectively, the Duke and heir to the Duchy of Westrock -- had gone east with the former's army to assist the Duchy's allies in fending off a brutal invasion from the north. The Westrock Army held its own for almost a decade, then suffered a major defeat in which the whereabouts of Cranston and Carl went unknown.

At just 14 years of age, Paul had led a squad of the House of Cranston Guard against an outlaw band of Highwaymen, proving himself a true warrior and replacing the Captain of the Guard, who had died in the fight. Now, after having begged for years to join his father, Paul found himself instead leading a Guard Expeditionary Force to simply locate his father and brother and bring them home ... dead or alive.

He'd left in the Year 914, and now Paul had returned to Westrock for the first time in 12 years. He had been sitting in his saddle, silent and still, for almost an hour, just staring over the mile wide coastal plain at his family's home, the Castle Westrock. What remained of his Force, supplemented by survivors from his father's Army he'd located over the years, stretched out in two ranks behind Paul, to his right and left. It wasn't the energetic, young, eager Force with which he'd left so long ago, but there were still proud warriors loyal to their leader, so they too had remained in their saddles, waiting.

Hours before they'd even come into sight of the Castle, Paul and his men had been spied by a Frontier Scout. The man had quickly turned his horse westward to report. When Paul first sighted the castle, he couldn't help but note that the banner flying above it was not that of the House of Westrock but was instead that of the House of Ryrstone...

..........

The Castle Westrock:

"You're certain!"

The Scout kneeling on the stone floor peeked upward at the question, then quickly dropped his head again as he declared, "Yes, m'lord ... they are flying the banner of the House of Westrock."

Count Lars Barker was looking out upon the Western Ocean, his back to the Scout and a dozen other people who had responded to the incredible news. Most of those present were likely as concerned about the news as was Lars. But looking back over his shoulder at the faces and the expressions upon them, he knew that there were be some who would be excited at the prospect of change in Westrock leadership.

"And you are sure it is Lord Paul's banner ... of the Expeditionary Force...?" he quizzed, adding with a hopeful tone, "Not that of the Duke's Army."

"Yes, m'lord," the Scout confirmed. When Lars asked how many men he'd seen, the Scout answered, "Twenty, m'lord ... maybe more, but not much."

Lars went back to staring out the window for a long moment, knowing that those assembled behind him were on pins and needles wanting to know how he was going to react. For almost two decades, Lars had essentially ruled the Duchy of Westrock. As Cranston's most trusted Knight -- as well as husband to Mary, the Duke's eldest daughter -- Lars had been well positioned when the Duke and his eldest son went east with the Army. Lars had taken the role of Regent, advising Cranston's second son, Richard, in the affairs of state and -- should his father and brother not return -- in how to be a successful Duke.

Of course, Lars had never planned on turning the Duchy over to Richard. The odds of Cranston or Carl returning were slim; and Richard -- while intelligent and charismatic -- didn't have what it took to run a Duchy during a time of conflict. Lars had been easily able to manipulate Richard, who at the time of his father's departure had been on 12 years old. Soon, most of the important positions of power -- from Tax Collector to Captain of the Guard to Prime Minister (who was responsible for negotiating with the Counties under the Duchy's control) -- were filled with Lars's friends, family, and boot licking minions. In a handful of years, the treasury of the House of Ryrstone was larger than that of the House of Westrock.

But Paul had become a problem. The young boy had become a skilled warrior and leader of men barely past his mid-teens. When word came of the destruction of the Westrock Army and Cranston's disappearance, Lars was quick to privately suggest to Richard that he send his brother and loyal force of men to search for the missing Duke. Of course, no one had known that Lars had been responsible for the discovery of the Army's secret location, resulting in its ambush and virtual annihilation; nor could anyone know that soon after Paul's departure, Lars would poison Richard, leaving him lingering in pain for weeks before dying of kidney failure.

After some additional accidents and sicknesses over the years to come, Lars found himself firmly in control of the Duchy, with his own children -- Cranston's grandchildren via the Duke's daughter, Mary -- in line to become the next Duke. Lars had nearly faced an overthrow when the Duchess Eddithia -- Paul's mother -- conspired to have him assassinated, but Lars had taken care of that easily enough by threatening to kill Mary and the children she'd birth with him.

And then ... this.

Lars turned away from the window to look out upon those awaiting his response. Movement at the back of the room caught his attention and turned his stomach. His daughter Olivia had been closer to Richard than Lars would have liked, and while he'd attempted to keep her away from the Castle and, thus, the Duchy's heir, she'd still managed to grow up with an affection for the men of the family Lars was trying to eradicate.

"Out!" he commanded. Lars waved a dismissive hand at them all, then looked right at his daughter, repeating, "Every one ... out!"

They turned to leave -- some hurrying more than others -- all except for one man. After the room was clear, Crone -- officially the Captain of the Guard of Westrock and unofficially Lars's go-to man on all issues violent -- came forward so close to the Regent as to be able to talk in whispers. Crone told Lars what he knew, which wasn't much more than the Count already knew.

"I want men watching their every move," Lars told him. "I want to know what they do ... who they speak to ... I want to know what they're eating and drinking before they put it in their mouth."

"Should I get the girl?" Crone asked.

"Yes," Lars said, knowing exactly which of the young women in his employ Crone was speaking. "I want her to be the first set of tits Paul lays eyes on."

Crone bowed slightly, backed a step, and turned to leave.

"And raise the banner," Lars said as an after thought. When Crone turned back to him with a knowing glance, Lars glared, clarifying the question the man didn't want to ask. "The banner of the House of Westrock."

..........

On the Coastal Plane:

As they watched from the far side of the vast coastal plane, the banner over the castle began lowering from the pole high above the Castle. A moment later, the massive banner of the House of Westrock -- which shared features with the one flying behind Paul -- rose to the top of the pole.

Paul looked to his Lieutenant, sharing a quiet glance before he relaxed his hold on the reins, allowing his horse to begin a slow walk toward home...

"When your past catches up to you."

The joy of feeling Keziah's lips engaging his, of her hands pulling their faces together, of her not preventing him from pulling their unfamiliar bodies more firmly together raised William's spirits and hopes as rapidly and amazingly as the lift off of the rockets he'd described to her in his conversation of the future. And then, just as quickly, the rocket exploded on the launch pad. She pulled back and -- without even making eye contact with him -- went back to her end of day tasks as if nothing had happened between them.

William cursed his 21st century self for what most would consider a gross violation of 18th century Keziah's honor. Oh sure, she was no still-pure virgin: she had been married, and she'd been courted by a second man with whom he'd thought there may have been some fire (Over the next few hours, as he replayed the aborted kiss in his mind, William would come to dismiss any thought that Keziah had parted her thighs for the man, though he was unable to dismiss his own fantasies of her doing such for him someday soon.)

"I want to return to Lexington. To my father."

"Of course," William said immediately, without even thinking. Keziah needed to be with family, and her suggestion didn't require any discussion of pros or cons. "I will talk to the Lieutenant ... maybe the Colonel about it. Keziah, I'll make sure this happens. I promise you."

"I...I want you to come with me."

While Keziah's first comment had made so much sense, that one took William by surprise. He contemplated a response, wondering why she would want him -- a stranger, maybe even a madman when you thought about his wild tale of being from the future -- to accompany her to Lexington?

"If this battle that took place today wasn't supposed to happen...then..."

William had, off and on all day long, been doing his own contemplating about how today's apparent and unscheduled Patriot victory might affect his own future ... if such a future even existed. Should he have vanished, like Hollywood liked to present in their movies about time travel? If what he'd done here today had altered his ancestor's arrival in New York next year, if it had changed the circumstances of the man's capture, imprisonment, pardon, and eventual citizenship, if it had prevented his marriage years later to Ella Burn, who would be the first woman in a lone line of ancestors to ultimately lead to the birth of one William Kutcher, shouldn't he have gone poof as soon as those guns began firing their dangerous projectiles at the South Wall?

While his mind had been on this subject all day, trying to make sense of it, at this very moment in time William's entire thinking was set on Keziah's request for him to accompany her to her father's home. He was about to ask her the reason for wanting this when she continued, "But before I go to Lexington...I want to find Samuel and Elizabeth."

Again, and without hesitation or thought, William responded, "Of course, Keziah. I .. I'll go talk to the Sergeant now. See if there is any word about them ... or ... if there is anyway we can go look for them. I'm sure that by now the Second controls your old neighborhood."

A chill rushed up William's spine as he suddenly thought to himself, If that neighborhood even exists anymore. Just as will the oh so many wars that had preceded and would follow it, this war would see a great many neighborhoods, cities, hell even entire countries laid to waist as forces clashed within them. While most of the army to army, head to head fighting had occurred out in the open away from most urbanized areas -- as depicted in the paintings and movies to come -- there had been a few tragic conflagrations during the Revolution that left little but ash and death behind. Some of Boston's neighborhoods had been razed, but as that hadn't been an area of intense study for future-William, he couldn't know whether Keziah and/or Elizabeth's homes still stood today.

"Why don't you get ready for bed--" The words caught in William's throat at he imagined Keziah slipping into a Victoria's Secret negligee and warming up some body oil. He cleared his throat, turned to hide his reddening face, and finished, "I'm going to go talk to the Sergeant. But ... I'll be right back. I promise."

..........

It had taken some major insistence from William -- and a reminded that he was responsible for their great victory -- to get the Sergeant to take him to the Lieutenant. And when the Lieutenant refused to help, the pressure to climb the ladder repeated until William was standing in the Colonel's tent.

"I can't permit you to leave the Regiment," Harding responded to the request. The Colonel winced at the first aid being rendered to the minor wounds he'd received from some shrapnel earlier in the day. When William asked why not, Harding continued, "You are a valuable asset to The Cause, sir. If I were to allow you to simply walk away, I would be hanged, drawn, and quartered ... likely by none other than General George Washington himself."

William tried to argue that he'd done his part and should be allowed to get his wife to safety. He even offered to do so under guard and then, once she was with her father in Lexington, return to the Second to continue his duties here. But the Colonel was having none of it. "I will see to it that your wife is escorted safely to Lexington. The Lieutenant here will send ... what, six men...?"

"Four would be more easily done, sir," the lesser officer responded. "Two would be sufficient, to be honest. I believe that the road between here and Lexington is--"

"In the hands of a Redcoat Captain named Archibald Harrison," William cut in quickly. "A man who, I believe, you aware of yet can't find."

When both officers shot him surprised looks, William knew he'd gotten their attention with information they hadn't expected him to have ... again. Clearing his throat, he began spilling out all of the details of yet another Redcoat squad about which he was more informed than they. Occasionally, either the Lieutenant or the Colonel would give some input that told William they'd known of Harrison's general presence and location, but it was obvious that they hadn't know as much as what William had learned from a PBS documentary he'd watched just two or three months earlier.

"So, here's the deal," William said, possibly overstepping the bounds of military etiquette seeing how he was, essentially, blackmailing them this time around. He asked them some specifics about their control over the Boston Bottleneck and the southern portion of Boston proper, then -- satisfied that where he'd begun this amazing adventure was within that zone -- he told them, "I will tell you exactly where Archibald Harrison is ... how many troops he has with him ... guns, cannons, horses. Oh, by the way, he has a cavalry unit that you are totally unaware of, and he'd going to use it to take one of your bridges, though ... I'm not going to tell you which one unless you give me what I want."

The Lieutenant, by now angered at William's impertinence, got embroiled in a short argument with his superior about what he'd like to do with William. He obviously didn't like spies and traitors, even if those spies and traitors were aiding The Cause. After the less senior officer was softly chastised for his insubordination and went dutiful quiet, the man doing the chastising asked William, "What exactly do you want?"

"I need a squad to escort Ke-- my wife to Lexington," William began with feigned confidence, while deep inside his heart was actually beating with fear of, first, having his request rejected and, second, being tossed into a stockade to wait out the war. When the Colonel gently nodded his approval and gestured William to continue, the latter went on, "Second, I need another squad to escort me past the South Wall to look for my missing brother and his wife."

The Lieutenant began to argue this point, but William pointed out that Samuel was a doctor and that it would be better to have the man aiding Patriot injured rather than Redcoat casualties. William hesitated before he continued, unsure of how this was going to play out. "And ... I want a Pass ... that will give me free, unfettered access to New York."

"A pass...? To New York?" the Colonel asked, confused.

"Signed by General Washington," William added quickly.

The Colonel suddenly straightened, waving away the Doctor who was still fussing with his bandage. "Why by General Washington?"

"Not something you need to know, Colonel..." William responded. Then realizing that he was pushing it a bit, he added, "...with all due respect, sir." The Lieutenant again jumped in, then went silence after a glare from his superior. William continued, "I have business in New York ... unrelated to the war. If I can't conclude this business, there is no reason for me to aid you in your fight against the British." After a moment of hard scrutiny from the Colonel, William stressed, this is non-negotiable. Keziah ... Samuel ... pass. All or none."

As he studied the Colonel, William began to see that the man was about to tell him no so he added quickly, "And I'll tell you what you will have to offer the French to get them to come into the War within six months."

This time the Colonel smiled, then laughed in surprise. It was no secret that the Patriots had been trying for the past few years to get the French -- who they (as British Citizens) had defeating in a War just a decade earlier -- to get into the War on their side. He added, "I can tell you specifically what you have to offer ... and with their Navy providing a blockade of British held ports, this war will be over before you know it."

Of course, William wasn't planning on offering the Colonel -- and in turn the General -- anything that history didn't show had been offered. But he could see that the suggestion had the wheels inside Harding's head spinning fast. After some more back and forth between the two officers, the Colonel agreed to William's terms. He assigned the Lieutenant a new task -- directly supervision of and protection for William and his wife -- and sent the well informed and traitorous Hessian spy away to make his preparations.

..........

"You need to get your things together, Keziah," William said upon his return, forgetting that she didn't really have any things as she was taken away in the night without notice. He told her all about the deal he'd made with the Colonel, explaining that she would be taken south, then west to Lexington; and that he would go up into Boston to search for Samuel and Elizabeth.

"When your past catches up to you."

OOC: No worries about the spelling. I grade on a curve, and you're still getting an A. :)

William was unusually quiet through the evening, not that Keziah was all too talkative herself. The day had been filled with tragedy, and the only good news about which either of them could be happy was the fact that they were both alive.

It was getting late when -- as they both went about some end of day tasks -- they each turned to find themselves face to face with just inches between them. William looked down into the shorter Keziah's eyes for a moment ... then lifted a hand to her cheek and neck, wrapped the other arm around her back, pulled her to him, and pressed his mouth to hers.

"When your past catches up to you."

Calendar of Events:

May 20, 2017:

• William Kutcher is "edu-taining" visitors at an annual Siege of Boston reenactment.
• A student of Hessian involvement in the Revolutionary War (as British mercenaries) and a descendant of a Hessian soldier who defected to the Patriot Cause, William is dressed in a Hessian uniform and carrying an authentic, working, 18th century .79 caliber rifle that was handed down to him through the generations from his ancestor, Danilo.
• As William is demonstrating how the rifle is loaded and discharged, terrorists -- regular ol' white guys it appears -- attack the crowd with automatic weapons.
• As did the others, William finds cover.
• Out of anger, though, William finishing loading his weapon, aims at one of the terrorists, and fires.
• The terrorist is killed with the lead shot tearing him up at the neck.

May 20, 1775:

• William's next conscious thought is of waking atop a table, shot, and being treated.
• He learns -- but doesn't immediately believe -- that he has somehow been transported through time to Revolutionary War Boston.
• He meets Samuel Black, a doctor, and Samuel's very pregnant wife, Elizabeth; and Keziah Wilkinson, who is Samuel's widowed sister and a midwife.
• He learns that he is in a small community just north of the South Wall, a barrier that stretches across the Boston Bottleneck, the now non-existent isthmus that used to connect the peninsular city of Boston to the main portion of Massachusetts. The South Wall and Bottleneck are keeping the Patriot forces out of British-controlled Boston.
• Concerning how he got here:
  
  • William remembers that his last act in the 21st century had been firing his 18th century weapon at a terrorist, killing him.
  • William looks for but can't find his weapon.
  • He concludes that the gun is vital to his returning to his time.
  • But obviously the only way he's going to get that gun is to find it when it first arrived in the Colonies ... with his ancestor's arrival in New York more than a year from now!
• I will add more details later.

May 21st, 1775:

• In the wee hours of the night, William and Keziah were taken hostage by Patriot forces and snuck south beyond the South Wall to a town held by the Massachusetts Second Regiment.
• The Patriot forces take William because he is (supposedly) a Hessian deserter from the British forces and may have some intelligence value.
• They take Keziah because she is a midwife, which is as close to medical assistance as they can get.
• William and Keziah are presumed to be husband and wife, and since it seems in their interest to uphold the misunderstanding, they go with it.
• William's interrogation and the Tyler Farm:
  
  • William's interrogation is not going well initially: the British doubt he is who he claims to be, which raises the chances that they will execute him as a spy.
  • He remembers the Tyler Farm, where a British unit had secretly arrived with a small arsenal, including 2 cannons.
  • Per real history, the unit was to attack the Massachusetts Second Regiment, but after a fire destroyed their powder supply, the cannons were destroyed and the unit withdrew without having engaged Patriot forces.
  • William convinced the Patriots to attack the Farm and destroy the guns. He knew this would secure his authenticity without changing history.
  • Unfortunately, the Patriots captured the guns, powder, and shot instead of destroying them.

May 22nd, 1775:

• The Massachusetts Second Regiment, with the guns, destroy the South Wall and invade the Bottleneck, changing history.
• Over the days to come, the British are expelled from Boston almost a year before they had been in original history.
• Samuel and Elizabeth -- who had still been north of the South Wall in British held territory -- are missing.
• Keziah is escorted under guard to her father's home in Lexington while William proceeds into the Bottleneck to search for Samuel and Elizabeth.

Mid-June 1775:

• William arrives in Lexington with Rose Anne, Samuel and Elizabeth's newborn daughter.
  [
• Elizabeth had died in child birth; and Samuel had disappeared in Boston during the fighting.
• William had located Rose Anne and -- with his Patriot escort -- brought her to Lexington.
• William expresses his desire for Keziah.
• Keziah agrees that he can court her.

Late Summer:

• After weeks of getting ever more comfortable with one another, Keziah took William to her bed for a gentle night of love making.
• But the next day, she withdrew from him; and William didn't push.
• They went back to normal ... not knowing that Edward, Keziah's father, greatly suspected that the two had made love.

October 1775:

• General George Washington is assassinated.
• Desperate for his unexplainable insights, Colonel Harding of the Massachusetts Second Regiment recruits William (without the latter's input) as a Lieutenant.
• Before he leaves, William proposes to Keziah.
• They marry and spend only their second night together in one another's arms.
• William departs for the war.

"When your past catches up to you."

It's too late ... there's nothing to be done about it...

As he'd watched the Massachusetts Second Regiment -- not just the first rank but nearly every single member of it -- surge through the South Wall, of which they were now in full control, William contemplated any number of ways to correct history, only to again repeat some version of his defeatist statement to himself. He'd considered attacking the gun crews and somehow sabotaging the Howitzers, something that surely would have gotten him killed. He considered finding Colonel Harding and assassinating him, knowing from history that the man had ultimately gone on to be a vital part of the Rebel victory, even if he'd been forgotten by or ignored in most future history books and classes. Eliminating Harding might cause the attack underway to falter, but -- again -- William didn't see him surviving such an attack. And correcting the future didn't seem to be all that important if it simply meant dying here in the present ... or the past, which ever it was.

He ultimately abandoned any hope of changing this new history and joined in helping the injured. For what seemed an eternity, he and others carried litter after litter of casualties from near the South Wall to a staging area nearer to town. Those men who were critical and needed immediate assistance were triaged and send further into the village, where William presumed Keziah was once again hard at work performing her nursing skills. Those men who weren't in danger of bleeding to death remained where they were until they could get patched up, some for a return to and through the gate to the battle that was consistently raging further and further northeast through the Bottleneck into Boston proper.

And, of course, there were those men who had no hope. William found himself occasionally standing over of kneeling by a man in his last moments of life, talking to him, reassuring him, praying with him. It was heart wrenching to see a man's life just fade away, but -- although he didn't want to acknowledge it -- William found it easier to accept as the day went forward. When it was all over and he had a chance to reflect back, he would realize that he'd watched eight men die right before his eyes. Eight men who may have died someday during this war but had died today because the guns he'd allowed to fall into Patriot hands had led to a fight that otherwise wouldn't have occurred for more than a year.

..........

When he stepped into the house that was his and his wife's, William was exhausted. Darkness had fallen, yet the sound of the battle continued. The two Howitzers from the Tyler farm now had company: six additional British guns that had been captured near the north end of the Bottleneck. The Patriots were now pounding British positions far north inside Boston; and the Redcoats were, in turn, pounding the Second Regiment's positions to the south ... near where William feared Samuel and Elizabeth were still hiding, presumably they weren't dead.

"I'm sure they're fine," were his first words to Keziah when she turned and saw him closing the door behind him. "He's a doctor, and she'd pregnant. The British surely would have moved them deeper into the city ... away from the fight."

They chatted a bit about what was happening outside, then -- suddenly, and without any warning at all -- William began sobbing. He didn't know why. Was it the dead Militiamen? Was it the destroyed history? Was it the unlikelihood that he would now ever get home to his own time? Was it Samuel and Elizabeth? Or, was it his fear that Keziah would blame him if anything every happened to what remained of the rest of her family? He didn't know, and he couldn't stop it: he dropped into a rickety dining table chair and hung his head before him, embarrassed and devastated.

The First War

Count Lars Barker of the House Ryrstone, Regent of the Duchy of Westrock:



Physical Description:

• 44 years of age (based upon the story beginning in the Year 926 of the Universal Calendar, or UC).
• 5'11", 195#.
• Fit, muscular body with a layer of "winter fat" from good living.
• Bright, blond hair.
• Hazel-green eyes.
• Multiple scars, to be described later.
• Missing his left pinky (from a sword fight that, ironically, he won).

Personality:

• Confident, sometimes overly so.
• Educated and knowledgeable; intelligent.
• Loud, forceful; doesn't hesitate to speak is mind.
• Vengeful and violent when necessary to achieve his goals.

Background:

• 882 UC: Born, the second (middle) son of Lars Deemis, Count of Ryrstone.
• Received an above average education, but yearned to spend more time with a sword in his hand than a book.
• 894 UC: At age 12, Barker became squire to the Cranston, Duke of Westrock.
• He became a favorite of Cranston's wife and, particularly, his eldest daughter, Mary.
• 898 UC: At age 16, he married Mary.
• 898 UC: Barker's first child was born and named Lars Cranston to celebrate the union of the Duchy of Westrock and County of Ryrstone.
• 900 UC: In a fight against the Wildland Raiders, he lost his left pinky saving Cranston's life. He replaced the Captain of the Guard, who was killed in the fight.
• 908 UC:
  
  • When Cranston and his eldest son left to join the conflicts exploding across the Continent, Barker remained to take the position of Regent of Westrock.
  • He served as Advisor, Advocate, Tutor, and Protector to Cranston's second son, Richard -- then only 12 years old -- who nominally governed the Duchy.
  • While his loyalty to Richard and the Duchy seemed solid in public, in private he was skimming a significant percentage of the Duchy's tax income, as well as secretly forging alliances with neighboring Lords that were meant to benefit him.
• 914 UC:
  
  • Cranston's youngest son Paul -- at this time 14 -- was proving to be a skilled warrior, tactician, and politician; unlike Richard, who was more on the quiet, meek, reserved side.
  • Barker could easily manipulate Richard, but he knew Paul was going to become a problem.
  • When a band of highwaymen began harassing caravans traveling between Westrock and its neighboring Duchies, Barker manipulated Richard into sending Paul to deal with the criminals. Barker was hoping Paul might be killed, but instead Paul wiped out the Highwaymen and returned a hero.
• 917 UC:
  
  • Unknown to anyone but his closest aide -- a man named Crone who is little more than an assassin -- Barker send work to an enemy force about where Cranston's army was positioned.
  • The Army was attacked by a superior force and very nearly wiped out.
  • The survivors scattered in all directions, and the fate of Cranston to this very day is still unknown.
  • Again, Barker manipulated Richard into sending Paul with a force to locate their father or, at the least, return his body to Westrock.
• 918 UC:
  
  • Again unknown to anyone but Crone, Barker poisoned Richard, killing him with the symptoms of a fever that was sweeping through the Duchy.
  • With the Duke and his male heirs absent, Count Barker volunteered to govern the Duchy.
  • He vowed that if neither Cranston nor Paul returned, he would turn over rule to the eldest heir present in Westrock, a boy who then was only 4 years old.
• Over the years to come, that child and the next two children in line died of various illnesses or accidents until finally his own children were the heirs to the Duchy. Coincidental bad luck...? I doubt it, though there is no proof.
• 922:
  
  • For years, Cranston's widow, Eddithia, has feared that Barker would never turn over power.
  • She had been conspiring with loyalists to seize power from Barker, but she had to be cautious because her eldest daughter, Mary, is Barker's wife.
  • On the eve of an action to take control, the conspiracy -- which had been long ago uncovered -- fell apart. Claiming that Eddithia had suffered a mental breakdown, he had her confined to a tower in the Cathedral under the supervision of the Monks. The other conspirators were accused of and tried for treason against none other than Eddithia herself, then executed.
• 926 UC:
  
  • For 18 years, Count Barker had essentially ruled the Duchy, and he was beginning to feel confident that his eldest son would soon become Duke.
  • Then ... Paul returned.
  • More to come.

"When your past catches up to you."

William was deep into a very pleasant, very erotic dream. He was making passionate, sweaty, loud love to a woman -- presumably Keziah -- who was sitting in his lap, legs wrapped around his waist, hips rocking to and fro, driving them both towards climax. In his subconscious, William felt them explode together. He felt the explosion, he heard the explosion ... and then he came out of his dream to realize that the fantasy explosions of his dream were the real explosions at the Howitzers that he was supposed to have destroyed in the dark of the night now ended. As he’d held Keziah, waiting for the right time to again dress and slip out to sabotage the guns, he’d missed just how tired he was … and fallen into a deep, pleasant slumber.

He leaped out of the bed, a bit disoriented but quickly getting his wits about him. He rushed through the house and out the front door, looking to the north. Far beyond the homes and tall elms and maples, another pair of explosions confirmed William’s fear that the attack on the South Wall was underway.

“What the hell are you wearing?” one of the Guards flanking the door asked. The other Guard laughed, pointed toward William’s groin and the all too obvious, slowly shrinking erection to say, “Looks like the war interrupted sum’p’n.”

William looked down at his 21st century jockeys, then back up to each one of the men before turning and returning back into the house without a word. Once in the house, though, he had one specific word to speak, growling, “Fuck, fuck, fuck … what have I done?”

He rushed to don his uniform and quickly exited the house again, dealing with the buttons and buckles and strings as he hurriedly walked north towards the continuing sound of the boom boom … silence … then boom boom again.

He reached the point on the edge of the little village where he could see the guns just as they are firing yet again. He looked beyond the open pasture land, towards the South Wall, just in time to see the already damage gate being blown open. The Second Regiment’s troops had obviously begun surging forth with the first cannon shots because they were almost to the now open fate already. All along the top of the 200 yard wide South Wall, the air filled with smoke of dozens of Redcoats muskets.

William watched two dozen or more men fall to the hail of deadly balls, yet the attack continued, and soon enough the Militia was surging through the gate. As the fighting moved beyond the wall, to the British controlled side, William realized that history was changing before his eyes. A patriot victory today would most likely alter the future in ways unimaginable to William, and not just for the Patriot and British armies fighting here now or even for the people of Boston. The Siege of Boston was significant to the outcome of the entire war, to the future of the Patriot victory, and to the creation of the United States of America. And, potentially, to William’s own existence.

The sound of those Howitzers, William knew, was potentially the sound of his own demise...

The First War

Paul, Duke of Westrock:



Physical Description:

• 26 years of age (based upon the story beginning in the Year 926 of the Universal Calendar, or UC).
• 6'2", 215#.
• Well sculpted, muscular body; very fit, very strong.
• Dirty blond hair.
• Deep green eyes.
• Multiple scars, to be described later.
• Although not yet applicable, well endowed.

Personality:

• Confident.
• Highly educated, highly knowledgeable, highly intelligent.
• Soft spoken unless people who should be listening to him aren't.
• Thinks before he acts, but acts nonetheless.
• Charismatic. Women tend to like him quickly, sometimes too quickly.
• Conscientious lover.

Background:

• 900 UC: Born, the third and last son of Cranston, Duke of Westrock.
• Educated by the best tutors of the Continent.
• 908 UC:
  
  • The growing conflicts across the Continent drew Paul's father and eldest brother, Carl, into conflict.
  • Paul began combat training, contrary to the wishes of his mother, who -- due to his intelligence -- wanted him to join the Priesthood and become a Scientist.
  • In the mean time:
    
    • Cranston's second son, Richard -- then only 12 years old -- nominally governed the Duchy under the tutelage of Count Barker.
    • Count Barker was Cranston's most trusted Knight and the husband of Cranston's youngest daughter, with whom he had children who were in yet were far down the line of succession.
• 914 UC:
  
  • Paul proved to be a skilled warrior and tactician.
  • A band of highwaymen began harassing caravans traveling between Westrock and its neighboring Duchies.
  • Paul secretly led an ambush on their camp.
  • The highwaymen were slaughtered or jailed and later executed.
  • Paul's reputation as a warrior and leader of men was established.
• 917 UC:
  
  • Cranston's army was reported to have suffered a major defeat.
  • The survivors had scattered in all directions, and the fate of his father was unknown.
  • Paul assembled a force and departed Westrock to locate his father.
• 918 UC:
  
  • Paul's brother, Richard, died suddenly. The official cause was fever, but poison was suspected by many.
  • With the Duke and his male heirs absent, Count Barker volunteered to govern the Duchy.
  • He vowed that if neither Cranston nor Paul returned, he would turn over rule to the eldest heir present in Westrock, a boy who then was only 4 years old.
  • Over the years to come, that child and the next two children in line died of various illnesses or accidents until finally his own children were the heirs to the Duchy. Coincidental bad luck...? I doubt it, though there is no proof.
• 926 UC:
  
  • For 18 years, Count Barker had essentially ruled the Duchy, and he was beginning to feel confident that his eldest son would soon become Duke.
  • Then ... Paul returned.
  • More to come.