Chapter 1

"Sallie, dear, you better not be late coming your ways back, you'll miss supper and I'll worry," Mrs. Wilson yelled from the kitchen. She was washing the few dishes that were in the sink left over from breakfast, so she had no time to see her daughter go out for an evening stroll, the most she could do was yell.

     "Yes mother, I'll should be back at around 5, if I shan't, may the lord forgive me," replied Sallie, leaving and on her way out the door. With herself just turning 15, Sallie was now under permission of her mother to go out on her own. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her dark brown hair perfectly tied up in a bun, her white and brown dress that swayed with the swing of her waist. Her green eyes shimmered in the sunlight piercing through the window.

     Ever since their father, Aaron Wilson, passed away from a fatal illness, her mother has always been so overprotective. She claims it might be a curse set on the family. Anytime Sallie or Charlotte—the youngest of the Wilsons— will find love, they will perish, weather it be in battle or illness. She's feared for their lives as a mother should, but only more severe. She builds up horrid scenarios in her head of Sallie or Charlotte being taken by redcoats or harmed in any way. The only reason that Sallie is able to go out is because she wouldn't stop imploring for her mother to let her go out.

     Sallie walks out of the once prison of her home and takes a large breath of the fresh air outside. Immediately, she's greeted with a friendly, "Hello young lady," from a bystander.

"Hello to you too sir," she replies with a genuine and friendly smile on her lips. She felt happy in the moment and never wanted to go back inside, especially at the wee hour of 5 p.m. She keeps walking by Boston, taking in the wonderful scenery she's been missing for 15 years.

     As she walks about in front of this one store, she bumps into a fellow young woman. "Oh my, I'm terribly sorry ma'am,

I was moving to sudden," the young girl implied with a giggle.

     "No worries, I wasn't paying attention to what was in front of me, it's ultimately my fault. Um, my name's Sallie, and yours?" Sallie stuttered, sticking her hand out for the other girl to shake it.

     "Felicity, Felicity Adams," she replied, taking Sallie's hand and shaking it for a moment. "I haven't seen you around Boston, have you just gotten here by any chance?" Felicity implied concerned.

     Sallie analyzed the girl's features for a moment. She had a particularly round face for a small body, yet it suited her well. Her frizzy, curly brown hair bounced on her shoulders whenever she moved. Her icy blue eyes pierced through Sallie's green orbs. "No, I've been here for a while, I was just never old enough to go outside on my own, well, as my mother implied. I haven't really gotten to look around here yet," Sallie finally got around to replying, embarrassed that not only had she invoked her mother in such a way, but that she was admitting to doing such a thing. Hiding indoors until the age of 15 had seemed pathetic to Sallie.

     "I'd be more than glad to help you look around," suggested Felicity. "By the way, is Sallie your real name, or is it a cute nickname given to you?" the young girl asked with a smile painted across her face.

"I-it's a nickname, my real name is Selannah," Sallie admitted whilst looking at the ground. Ever since she was born, Sallie couldn't remember being called Selannah, everyone always called her Sallie. Not even when she was in troubled had she heard her true name called. As she looked up from her feet, she glanced at Felicity's warm, smiling face, holding her hand out. She accepted.

"My mother used to have a friend who's real name was Sally, but I've always wondered what name would've gone with it if it had been a nickname," Felicity pulled along the smaller girl behind her as she walked through the streets of Boston. "She moved back to London though. Anyways, there's a lot to Boston, many shops and a lot of welcoming people. I'm sure you'll make some new friends here, including me," she continued, looking back at Sallie occasionally. "There's Dr. William's office, best doctor in Boston. There's my father's silver shop, we recently got a new apprentice," Felicity pointed to the different shops. Oh, there's Mr. Lance's newspaper office, he runs it with his son," she stopped to look at the building. Sallie stared at the sign that hung from the front window saying, "Boston's Latest."

Sallie smiled, looking over at Felicity, "These places seem very lovely."

"You'll like it here in Boston," the other girl smiled back.