Abigail Jane Applegate--The Rescue

Outside of New York City
1778
British Occupation of New York

The soldier looked about ready to fall over in fear.

That's Nathan! I thought again, even more horrified. Why on earth is Nathan being so stupid as to come out in the open and try and rescue me?! I mean... I'm ready to die for my country, aren't I?

"Don't...don't get any ideas," the other soldier begged.

The mask covered Nathan's face well. If he hadn't spoke, I wouldn't have known who it was. But I did. And I was still feeling like he was being stupid by trying to rescue me. Then again, maybe he was sent by my father to come and rescue me. I mean, he was my father's apprentice. And...

"Hand over the girl," Nathan commanded. "NOW!"

One of the soldiers quickly nodded towards me. "Get out," he hissed. "Quick, quick!"

I struggled to get out with the bonds on my hands and finally jumped out onto the ground, my skirts billowing beneath me. I quickly ran towards Nathan, keeping my eyes straight ahead and trying not to think of the fact that I might be shot in the back by the second soldier.

"Are you alright, Abigail?" Nathan whispered so that only I could hear it.

"Of course," I whispered back.

I managed to pull myself up behind him in the saddle. Nathan kept his gun trained on the driver soldier's head. Only when he was sure I was on did he yell, "YA!" and kick his horse into a gallop.

We took off across the countryside. I closed my eyes, the thought racing through my head--If it hadn't been for Nathan, I would have been hanged.

God was looking out for me.

Abigail Jane Applegate--The Man in Black

Outside of New York City
1778
British Occupation of New York

I couldn't believe it. I was going to be hung as a Patriot spy. Which, of course, was true. As part of the Culper Ring, I knew the risk that I took every day. But until I saw the look in the British leader's eyes did I realize what he'd just told the men--I'm going to die.

Now I was being hauled out of the barn that they'd brought me into by the soldiers. They threw me up onto to a cart. The man's words echoed in my brain--She'll be hanged tomorrow morning with the rest of them. Where were they going to take me?

"Don't move," glared one of the soldiers. "We're watching you."

One of them sat in the back of the wagon with me and the other jumped up onto the seat and whipped the horses into a canter. I bit my lip to keep from crying. I was going to die. The thought just wouldn't go away. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. It kept on going through mind, time and time again. Was I ready to die? Was I really ready to face God for all of the sins that I'd committed in my lifetime? I felt like this was all wrong. There was so much more that I had to do. The wagon bounced me back to real life.

We were away from the barn and the farmhouse, traveling down a bumpy dirt road. I was thrown about by the ruts. My eyes strayed ahead, hoping, praying, that somehow I would find a way to get out of this. Some way. I didn't know how. But God was on my side. I knew that.

That's about the time when the man dressed in black flew on horseback in front of the wagon. In his hand was a gun.

To avoid a collision, the soldier driving pulled hard on the reins. The horses cried in protest but pulled to a halt right in front of the man. His gun was trained on the soldier driving's head.

"Let the girl go," he commanded.

I recognized that voice.

Nathan.

Abigail Jane Applegate--Captured!

New York
1778
The British Occupation of New York

I blinked as the sunlight as the sack was whipped off my head. I was in a barn somewhere, the light glowing through the cracks and the smell of hay thick in the air. I coughed and saw dust flying through the sunlight.

I sitting in a chair in the middle of the barn's floor. And I was staring at a man in the red uniformed outfit of England's soldiers. Medals crossed over his jacket. A large black three pointed hat was perched a top his head.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I wouldn't reveal anything about the Sons of Liberty, about the Culper Ring, or about the Patriots. I wasn't going to say anything, though they'd be likely to either hang me or throw me in jail with other Patriots captured.

"You're only a girl." The man spat on the floor. "Why were you helping the Patriots?!"

 I bit my lip.

"Answer me!"

I closed my eyes.

I felt a hand slapping my cheek, but I didn't move.

"Take her away!" the man bellowed. "She'll be hanged tomorrow morning with the rest of them."

Soldiers that I hadn't seen before because they were behind me came over, untied me from the chair, and escorted me out of the barn.

 I was going to die.

Abigail Jane Applegate--The Invisible Message

New York

1778

The British Occupation of New York

I sat before the fire, staring into the flickering flames. I could hear Father's quill pen scratching behind me on the rough paper. I got up and glanced over his shoulder. The fake message that I'd written in my own hand, addressed to an Aunt Mary, was there on the paper. In between the lines Father wrote swiftly with ink that slowly disappeared as he wrote it.

Invisible ink.

"When I'm done with this," Father started in the quietest of whispers, "you'll need to take it to the woman at the edge of town. If the dresses are out on the clothes line, then all's well. If there are men's work shirts out on the line, then that means that you've been followed. If there are trousers on the line, then that means that the soldiers are nearby. And if there are sheets..."

"Yes, Father?" I prodded in a whisper.

He hesitated and then glanced up at me. "Then, Abigail," he whispered, "you must run for your life and destroy the letter, for the British are at her house and know that somebody's coming. If they know that she's part of the ring, they'll suspect anybody coming near the house to also be part of the ring."

I nodded solemnly. "You can count on me, Father."

He smiled. "I know I can."

He finished the letter and then handed it to me. I stuck it in my skirt's hidden pocket and then walked out of the back room and back through the stable. Nathan was still pounding away on the blacksmith's anvil.

He stopped hammering as I walked past. "Abigail," he whispered.

I paused. "Yes?"

Nathan's brown eyes met mine. "Be careful, alright?"

"Aye," I nodded. "I will."

He smiled a wan smile, one which I shared. Both of us knew that if I was caught with the message, despite the fact that I was a young woman I would be hung for my deeds. For being a spy for the Patriots.

I started out along the street. I passed a troop of soldiers with my head down, but they didn't even pay attention to me. The thing about the British is that they would never think a woman smart enough to be a spy. That's why there were so many of us in the ring.

The Culper Ring.

I finally reached the border of New York. I spotted the house, just on the outskirts. I started towards it, looking for the line. My green eyes peered around the house, and that's when I saw something that made me gasp.

There wasn't white sheets hanging on the clothes line.

There wasn't anything.

I paused. What should I do? It couldn't be good if there were no sheets. But what if the woman had just been struck sick, or was too busy and had forgotten? I paused, my hand straying to the secret pocket.

"I've got to do it," I whispered.

I strode boldly forward towards the house.

But what would I find?

Spy--Chapter 1

My name is Abigail Jane Applegate, and I was ten years old when the British started taxing us horribly. And it's not fair. Mother has refused to buy tea anymore. Instead, we drink coffee, which isn't quite the same, but it has to do. It comes from our friend's plantation. And if coffee was taxed, then we'd go to water. I know it. My parents do not like the British. They would do anything to oppose them.

Last night, my father came home, his hat in his hands. I was just telling Betsey to get her hands off the table and Priscilla to stop trying to pull off little chunks of bread from the bread plate when the door burst open.

Mother, who'd just been bringing out a pot of stew, nearly fell over in surprise as Father burst into the house, a happy smile on his face. By the scared look on my mother's face, I knew that she had thought that my father was one of the British.

"Oh, Beth, you won't believe it!" he cried merrily.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"I just got news from... some friends of mine that something wonderful has happened," Father told her. He glanced over at us and then said, "Abigail, please get your sisters into your room, please. Thank you."

I sighed. "Come along, Betsey, Priscilla."

The girls bounded out of the room with me on their heels. They started up the stairs to their room, glad that they'd gotten out of hearing of the conversation that they, no doubt, thought was boring beyond belief. And me? I stayed behind, moving towards the door into the dining room again, pressing my ear to crack to ear my father's words.

"...and the Sons of Liberty have gone and dumped tea in the harbor!" Father was whispering excitedly. "The British are furious. It's got to be war!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," answered Mother.

"But don't you see?" Father whispered. "We've shown that we don't need the British, or their tea! Soon every man will be raising their arms against England!" His voice had risen into a happy cry.

"Lower your voice, William," Mother warned. "These walls have ears." She stared right through the crack where I was listening. "Abigail, please come in."

I sighed and opened the door. Mother was frowning but Father was smiling.

"Abigail, my lass," started Father, "you're about to witness something amazing in American history. Did you know that?"

"Yes," I whispered. "I do."

He smiled. "Are you ready?"

"I'm not quite sure," I answered truthfully. And I wasn't.

***

Five years later

1778

I hurried through the streets of New York, my eyes trained to the ground before me. Clutched in my hand, hidden under my shawl, was an important message that I needed to get to my father as soon as possible. 

I glanced up ahead and saw several British soldiers marching towards me. I glanced around and saw a woman peeking out of one of the doors.

"Girl," she whispered.

I quickly came over and slipped inside the house just as the soldiers turned down the street. Panting, I leaned against the wall, waiting for the soldiers to pass. I glanced over at the woman and saw her staring at me, her eyes scared.

When the sounds of the soldiers' stomping feet had left, she whispered, "Is it urgent?"

I nodded. "Thank you so much. May God bless you."

I quickly left the woman's house and continued down the street. I spotted the old stable, with the sounds of a blacksmith's hammer inside, and quickly went in. My father's apprentice, Nathan, was there, pounding away.

"Where's Father?" I queried.

He got the meaning. "He's in the back room."

My skirts swept around my legs as I walked over the old hay and came to the big wooden door in the back of the stable. I knocked three times and then kicked the door. It promptly opened. My father's worried face melted into relief when he saw me.

"I didn't think you'd make it with all of the soldiers marching around," he whispered. "Thank goodness you're alright."

My hand came out of my shawl. "Here's the message."

He nodded. "Thank you, Abigail. You're a true Patriot."

No. I was a spy.

Ladasha the Beautiful

Dear Readers,

Hi, this is Jessie Bender. Yes, I'm finally back!!

Oh yeah--and that talk about the junior CIA? Just go and forget about that. You don't need to know anything. In fact, it might even endanger your very own life.

No, no, you're quite safe, just don't try to go and find me, OK?

Anyway, so after I got back Noah said he was never going to leave my side ever again--EVER AGAIN--but then I pointed out that obviously he didn't live at our house and wasn't going to any time soon. (Or ever. Hopefully never.)

I went to school and I was surprise when Maya ran up.

"JESSIE!" she shrieked, wrapping her arms around me.

"Oh, uh, hi," I managed. "How ya doing, Maya?"

Summer came down the hallway and rolled her eyes at us. "Oh, I see the loser's back."

"Don't call her a loser." It was Maurice, glaring fiercely at Summer. "Jessie Bender is definitely NOT a loser, and I'd like you to remember it!"

Summer rolled her eyes, muttering, "Whatever," and stalking off down the hallway in her high heels.

Noah stuck to my side like glue the whole time. Whenever I went somewhere he couldn't go (coughcoughGIRL'S BATHROOMcoughcough) he guarded the door like he was my personal bodyguard and I was president's daughter. That kid is my best friend, but, come on, it was kind of embarrassing.

I was just coming out of one of my classes when this beautiful girl who could've passed as an Indian princess walked down the hallway. I glanced over at Noah to see the affect she was having on him, but Noah was just rolling his eyes. I smiled. Good ol' Noah.

"That girl probably thinks she's so hot," muttered Noah. "Well, I'm going to break trends and call her ugly!"

"Noah," I warned.

"Well, you're much prettier," he announced.

"Thanks," I snorted. "Can we go to class now?"

We just started to go into our next class when Maya ran up to me. I couldn't understand why on earth she was even talking to me since she usually hated my guts, but she was. Excitedly, she began to say something in a hurried rush.

"Please," I begged. "Start over."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Did you see that girl out there? Her name's Ladasha, and she's from Chicago. Her dad's like this millionaire dude. They're super rich!"

"Wow," I managed.

"I think she's ugly," Noah announced.

Maya looked horrified. "No she's not! She's beautiful!"

"Well, I think she's one of the ugliest girls I've seen!" my best friend declared.

"You'd better not say that to her face," hissed Maya. "I hear that she's even doing modeling. She's been doing modeling for American Girl since she was like six! Isn't that creepy?! Lately, she's been working for even bigger companies! She's a star!"

"Then Jessie would be the sun," declared Noah. "Excuse us, we've got to go to class."

We sat down in our classroom. Madeline, a girl that I knew from being one of the best shots in the spaghetti war, leaned over and hissed, "I agree with you, Noah."

I wasn't sure which part she agreed with. I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

But I can't help but wonder--what's going to happen with this Ladasha girl?

A Random Letter by Jessie Bender

Dear Readers,

That up there^ really IS just random.

Oh, yeah, by the way--this is Jessie.

Hey, what's up??

Yes, I'm finally back from New York and in my sweet little Dayton, Ohio!!! Gah, I love you. =D

I'm pretty much sure I never want to go back to New York. EVER.

Thanks to some of the kids, we were stuck in our hotel a lot, anyway.

(coughcoughNOAHcoughcoughSUMMERcoughcough)

Noah admits that he hadn't been TRYING to get in trouble, but when who is?

Let's just say that my best friend needs to read a book called "what you're supposed to do and what you're not supposed to do when you're on a school trip in New York City".

(not that there is such a book. But there should be.)

Anyway, life's back to slowness.

#i'mlovinit

(actually, somebody want to tell me why I always see that^< on facebook????)(thanks)

Bye!! :)

FINALLY!

Dear Readers,

Yes! It's me! Coming back with capitals and correct words!! I LOVE YOU CAPITALS!!!!! Anyway, so how are you guys doing? Good?

I know you're wondering. Actually, this isn't Summer's computer. Apparently Noah had one, but his Mom had just called and said he couldn't use it because of the Cheng episode, so he let me have it. Lucky me. =D

Anyway, not much is happening since Noah and Summer are getting in trouble left and right.

I'll keep you updated.

I'm thinking I'm going to be keeping Noah's laptop for like forever. :P

hey this is jessie.

hey this is jessie. im just going 2 say it now i really cant wait until we get back 2 dayton. this texting business is killing me. anyway so the big news is that summer is in huge trouble Bcause she was gone all day 2day. we dont have any idea where she was. she wont tell us. she wont tell anybody. i don't even think she would tell noah if he asked her. i dont think she was up 2 any good that's what i'll say. mostly we keep on getting stuck in the hotel. cough cough summer cough cough noah cough cough. i did get to hear though that i was in a quiz that storyteller did of me. i love it that i was like the most popular. :) my special thanks to everybody who took it. anyway i'm going to try and wrestle the use of summer's computer. i'll be back. <3 jessie

like seriously :P

the statue of liberty was gr8. u should've been there. ;D anyway so like we're having problems. summer and a few of the other girls went & snuck out of the hotel the other day & got in mucho troubleo. i still dont know what on earth they were doing so i went and told noah that he had to find out since he'd given me a heartattack at the library. he said that summer wouldn't talk to him. makes me wonder what about you? i dont think that summer's life is going to end well. :P or how about summer's summer lol =D anyway i'm pretty sure that mrs. mossfield is getting fed up with all of the shenanigans. believe me she's not going 2 B the only 1 who's going 2 B thankful when all of this is over. (yeah like there's me) anyway i'm going 2 try and convince summer 2 let me use her computer again. i think that mom's going to kill me for using so many texts. i'll just have 2 tell her that it's Bcause of u guys. :P anyway i'll talk 2 u later. <3 jessie

yeah this is me--jessie

summer's computer broke down so now i have 2 go back 2 texting. :P ok so we kept on searching 4 noah and i was about 2 start totally yelling for him (believe me everybody wouldve been staring at me) when all of a sudden i saw him talking 2 like this chinese kid. i ran over to him and was about to scream like "noah there you are why on earth did you scare us to death?!" when noah turned, smiled at me like nothing was wrong, and continued to talk to the kid. curious i walked up and started to listen. the kid was talking about like wow football. come on noah. you scared us to death because you were talk to a kid about football? i was sure mrs. mossfield was going 2 like kill him. but apparently she hadnt noticed him yet. noah nodded as the kid said something else and then turned to me. "this is cheng," he told me. "he lives here in new york." well like duh. anyway i nodded and noah introduced me to him and then finally mrs. mossfield saw us and ran over. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!" (you should really appreciate it that i just texted all of that because it was like really hard with all of the caps) noah always calm answered he was talking to a kid. thats when cheng announced he had to go and thats when mrs. mossfield exploded and announced that we were going back to the hotel.

newer news: we're going to be visiting the statue of liberty tomorrow. the reason that i haven't been sending any messages 2 U guys is Bcause like we've been stuck in the hotel Bcause of noah. thanks dude. anyway, later. <3 jessie

I know, I know. Two posts in one day. So what??

Dear Readers,

Hey, this is Jessie Bender.

Yes, I finally found my way to a computer!

However, I only have a few minutes.

(Seriously, Mrs. Mossfield is going crazy that we almost lost... oops! OK, I'll just tell you the story.)

OK, we were going to go and visit New York Public Library.

If you didn't know, it's huge.

(Sorry if the picture's a tad bit blurry. My phone doesn't always take the best pictures, and then I had to get it on the computer, and blah, blah, blah. Don't worry. It isn't the library's computer. Apparently Summer had sneaked in a laptop. She was actually pretty nice to me about using it, especially since Maya had been begging the whole trip and denied, over and over. But Summer needs it back in

a few minutes......)

Anyway, so this place is seriously amazing. (Can you see it pretty well in the pic? See the ceiling?! I was like oh my word those people were talented!!!!!!)

Mrs. Mossfield was going on and on about the library, but I kinda tuned out. I couldn't take my eyes off the library as we walked through it.

My group--me, Jeremy, Neil, Meryl, Ashleigh and Harry (we finally figured out his name after looking over Mrs. Mossfield's shoulder at the names on her clipboard)--followed behind the other groups. According to Jeremy, who had basically established himself as the leader, informed us that our group was going to be known as the Wolves. Then Neil said that that was a stupid name and said we should be the Sharks. Ashleigh suggested the sparkles, Meryl suggested the pixies, and finally I sighed and cried,

"What about the Spartans?!"

I didn't mention that it was my school's name.

"That's awesome!" they all cried.

So apparently my team's the Spartans.

Anywayyyyyyyy, so we were all told to stay with our groups and look around the library.

So we started out. We hadn't been milling around for more than five minutes when somebody screamed,

"NOAH'S MISSING!"

My heart fell. My best friend was missing in a strange library in a strange city. What if he'd been kidnapped?!?! I quickly left the group and started searching underneath the tables on my knees. Mrs. Mossfield was calling out directions (I couldn't hear them. She was too loud).

"Noah!" I yelled. A lady sitting at the table that I was crawling underneath gave me a stern look. I quickly crawled away and hissed, "Noah! Noah, where are you!?"

But he wasn't answering.

Mrs. Mossfield was going crazy.

My heart sunk as the seconds ticked off and went into minutes. Where on earth was Noah?! Why wasn't he showing himself?!

Summer wants on her computer. Talk to you later.

another text by jessie bender yes i'm still alive

hey this is jessie. how r u guys doing? sorry i havent like texted you guys recently or anything. i've been kind of busy. i'll fill u in on some stuff. so i got up in the morning and got dressed and everything. it took 4ever 4 maya 2 get ready. then we all headed down for breakfast in the hotel's cafe. no there was no free breakfast. i sure am far from dayton. anyway so we get down there and mrs. mossfield gives us all money to buy stuff for breakfast and we're just sitting down to eat when she announces that she's going to assign our groups now. i was like oh no because what if i got summer and maurice? like the horror of my life. anyway so she starts calling out names. noah went and got himself paired with summer and some other girls and a boy that i don't even know. spy and her gang were all paired together with a geeky boy. and guess who i got paired up with? nobody i knew that's for sure. there were at 3 boys and 2 girls in my group with me. as mrs. mossfield continued to talk we all decided since we were just like sitting there awkwardly that we should introduce ourselves. "i'm jeremy," introduced one of the boys. he kinda looked like he might've been on the football team but since noah's on there and he's my best friend i was afraid i'd embarrass myself if i asked if we knew each other or something. there was this scared looking kid who said that his name was neil. the other kid was just like average everything and said his name so quietly i didn't catch it. the giggly girl's name was meryl and the last girl's name was ashleigh. i'm running out of time talk 2 u later.