Captured Hearts

Chapter 1: Elizabeth's Beginnings

Everyone knows that war is an unfortunate and harsh reality. Especially for a naive young girl named Elizabeth Sellings, the daughter of farmer. She was only seventeen in the fall of 1776, the time before everything would change for her. You see, she was being pressured to marry the son of a rich young man, who everybody knew was a 'traitor' to his country. She, however, did not want it and tried to remain a blissful and innocent young woman but fate, however, had a hand in the events that would lead her to the life she was to live...

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The sun peaked its rays from the horizon as our Elizabeth ran down a rugged path that led to her family home. The day had come that her sister was to arrive.

Arabella Harris, the primped and polished sister of Elizabeth, was the complete opposite of her little sister. While Elizabeth was more earthy, Arabella was more fit for the life of the rich. Elizabeth was short and pleasantly plump with curves that God had blessed her with. Arabella was a rail with hardly anything but a bosom to account for. Her dark hair and black eyes were a complete contrast to Elizabeth's blonde hair and green eyes. They were completely different and rarely could go a minute without arguing but one thing rang true, they loved each other and their bond was stronger than the ocean's wrath, as their father always said.

Mr. Sellings was a quiet man. He was sturdy and bear like in his appearance and stature. Despite his intimidating appearance, he was quite a soft hearted man and he was the one from which Elizabeth took after, not her mother.

Mrs. Sellings was a chatty woman with many hopes and ambitions for her children, she would go to any length to make her dreams come true and since she had three children who were of age to be married, she was quite manipulating with them to get them betrothed. She was especially concerned about Charles, her twenty three year old son.

Charles was too tall and strapping of a young man to be a farmer. He was a little cocky, as most young men are at that age. He thought he could do better than being a farmer but his father told him that when he married, he would need to build a home and work. He wanted to marry a young woman who he was in love with but she was a runaway slave.

Marie was the daughter of a runaway slave who found refuge with the Sellings family when she ran away from her master's plantation at the age of fifteen when she was pregnant with his child. Her eyes were green and her hair was soft, curly, thick and brown and her skin was a light shade of brown. Now Marie was sixteen, the same age as Charles' little sister Ruby.

Ruby was the youngest girl in the Selling's family. She was a wild and unbridled young girl. Her parents worked hard to protect her but she always found a way to get into trouble. She was rebellious and quite outspoken, a phase that her parents hoped and prayed that she would grow out of but her sister, Elizabeth, loved her the way she was.

Elizabeth was a jolly young girl. Her eyes twinkled with curiosity and her smile lit up her face. Her long blonde hair was always messy and never in place from where it had been in the morning. Her mother always thought that the young girl had no sense of propriety, especially when she ran, holding her dress up to her knees to allow herself freer movement. Elizabeth never saw the why her mother put so much importance to her looks. She hated it when her mother fussed about her curves and pulled her corset too tight. Nothing pleased Elizabeth more than to be able to sit under a tree and watch the grass sway in the wind but her mother would have nothing of it. Elizabeth wished to be free and wanted to be somewhere else. Perhaps this is the reason why she suddenly agreed to marry John Hemmington, to get away...

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Elizabeth helped her mother set up for dinner the day her sister arrived. It was a simple task, the first easy one Elizabeth had done all day. She just had to lay out the white table cloth on the old and rustic dining room table that her family had owned since they came from England to Massachusetts. Then her mother decided that she was tired and left Elizabeth to lay out everything else.

Her father watched from a distance as his wife walked away to rest and took his opportunity to talk to his daughter for the first time in days.

"You know," he shocked her as he sat down in a chair and lit his pipe, "now that you're seventeen--."

"Mother wishes me to be married," Elizabeth quickly opened the armoire and pulled out some china as she finished her father's sentence.

"Yes," he laughed.

"No," Elizabeth clinked a plate down, "I'm not ready."

"Are you just saying that to avoid this conversation?"

"Father," she nearly dropped the plates but she saw the look of understanding in his eyes.

"When the time is right," her father smiled warmly, "don't let the pressure your mother puts on you, affect your judgment about Mr. Hemmington. He's no good for you and I don't want you to cave in because you want to get away."

Elizabeth silently stood there and took her apron, wiping a spec off one of the plates and brushing some dust away. She was trying to distract herself from what her father said. It was as if he knew her thoughts. She walked away and left her father alone with his pipe to think.

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"So when will my little sister be married?" Arabella reclined by her husband as he read the paper that had arrived that morning.

"Arabella!" Elizabeth shrieked. she didn't want to start this conversation.

"Yes, I wish to know myself," her mother eyed her.

"Soon, perhaps," Elizabeth looked away and her father gave her a weary look.

"Not soon enough," her mother mumbled as she sewed.

"When I'm ready," Elizabeth retorted back to her.

"Oh, when your ready?" her mother scoffed, "I was ready at fifteen and you were ready at fourteen!"

"Just because I was fully developed by then did not mean I was meant to be a wife and mother."

"I could have been the grandmother to at least three children by now," her mother smiled at the thought but elizabeth got up and walked out of the room in a hurried fashion. Her father immediately rushed after her and followed her upstairs.

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Elizabeth changed into her nightgown quickly and blew out her candle after she fluffed her pillow but her father knocked on the door and she had to get up. She grabbed her dressing robe and reluctantly opened it to see him. He hugged her and she began to cry.

"It's not good for you to hold your tears in," he hugged her tighter.

"I am ready but I have to tell mother that I'm not because if I told her I was, she would have John Hemmington over here faster than the crack of a whip. I don't like him, father!"

"Lizzy," he soothed her, "if you are ready then the right man will come your way."

"Maybe I should marry John," she pulled on her hair, "just to get her out of my hair."

Her father tried to protest but she pushed pass him and ran back down to where her family was relaxing, "I'm marrying John!"

Her father cringed when he heard her say that. His baby girl would lose her youthful happiness if she married that man and he wanted to do everything in his power to try and stop it.

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"See what you've done," her father looked at his overjoyed wife as she prepared for bed.

"Oh, Jacob!" she smiled, "I've never been happier!"

"And Elizabeth's never been more sad," he crossed his arms.

"She'll grow to love him," she pecked her husband's cheek and crawled into bed, "I don't want to talk about this any further, Jacob. Now I only have to worry about our son and that girl. Oh, what are we to do about ruby?!"

Jacob rolled his eyes and sighed, "she's fine."

"So, what is this matter of business that calls you to Charlestown?"

"Don't try to--," he couldn't get the rest out when he saw the way she looked at him, "a meeting."

"About the war?"

"They want to bring South Carolina into it," he said grimacing.

"Do you think that it'll come near us?" she asked quietly.

"Of course not," he lied to keep her calm.

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Elizabeth was in bed looking out the window. An old oak tree's leaves rustled in the wind and the moon shined full. She walked over and opened the window. Her thoughts trailed off as she leaned out and looked at the stars. She was thinking about how many times her mother had pestered her about marriage in the last year. Elizabeth didn't like John. He was twenty-four and very handsome and kind but he lived in the city. He was the one Arabella teased her about. He still wrote her letters and whenever they visited the city he would always bump into her. He was quite rich and he lived in a nice home. He did have a plantation in the country which was very beautiful. That was an upside. She thought that maybe if she chose him and married him in a year or two her mother would finally approve of her.

Her mind was set to accept John's proposal when she went to town in the morning...