And here, we have the sassypants known as Isaac & Sarah from my Beauty & The Beast/Sleepy Hollow mashup-retelling taking place during the American Revolutionary War.
(Character refs here and here)
New York countryside, September 1780 –– “Lovely. Now we’re lost,” Sarah grumbled, picking up her muddied skirts with one hand and using the other to balance herself on a tree trunk as she climbed over a rain-slicked log.
“No, we are not lost. I know these woods like the back of my hand.” Isaac replied from his spot a few yards ahead. “Just trust me.”
“Oh yes, I should trust the man who abducted me. Lovely idea.”
“For the last time,” he said, turning around to face her as she caught up. “I did not abduct you, I rescued you from those Regulars.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw the others stop, and gave them a brief glance before turning back to Isaac.
“May I remind you I am a Loyalist, sir!”
He sighed. “Even so, your father-”
She blinked. “My father?”
“As I was saying,” he said, sounding annoyed. “Your father has been communicating with me, and he charged me with taking you somewhere safe should something happen to him. Thankfully, I was in the right place at the right time when it did happen.”
Sarah gaped at him. “My father has not been communicating with the likes of you!” she insisted. “He’s a staunch supporter of King George-”
She was cut off by Isaac’s laughter. “You say your father trusts you with everything?”
Sarah nodded.
“Yet you didn’t know he’s a Patriot spy?”
She blinked. “Father isn’t-he’s not-he wouldn’t!”
In the background, the rest of the group snickered. Sarah would’ve glared at them if she hadn’t still been shocked at Isaac’s claims.
“Seems as though he kept his disguise very well if you didn’t even suspect his true loyalties,” Isaac said. “The further we travel, the more you’ll find that nothing is what you think it is.”
Sarah stared after the gangly man as he left, still blinking rapidly. She racked her brain for anything to back up her own claims, and yet found nothing.
Now it all made sense, and she hated it.
“Miss Northam?”
Sarah looked towards Isaac. He cocked his head, causing long strands of dark brown hair to fall into his bright blue eyes and give him an almost boyish look.
“If we’re to reach camp before dark, we have to keep moving.” He motioned his head in the direction they were headed, and she could have sworn she saw a smirk on his face.
She huffed and continued on. Oh well. If Papa wanted him to take her somewhere safe, she supposed she could deal with his antics until then.
©H.S. Kylian 2020
(Critiques are welcome and appreciated!)
hskylianauthor.com 