The Light by Lars D. H. Hedbor

Author:Lars D. H. Hedbor [Hedbor, Lars D. H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: american revolution, new jersey, quaker, trenton, trenton new jersey, blacksmith
ISBN: 9780989441025
Publisher: Brief Candle Press
Published: 2013-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

“What is this outrage?” Rufus’ face was flushed and angry, a paper held out in his good hand, where he gave it a shake —such as a dog might give a rabbit, to break its spine—before tossing the page away to flutter to the ground.

Angus bent over and patiently flattened it with his hand. “‘Tis but a statement of loyalty to these Colonies, Rufus. ‘Twill do ye no harm to affix your mark to it, and it will save ye all manner of trouble. Ye must know that ye are suspected of being an active Tory, and whether ye are innocent of such inclinations or not, it is essential to your safety that ye not simply ignore this call. I have gone to some considerable trouble to persuade the men on the Committee of Safety that ye will stand with us, should this matter come to blows.”

“Aye, and it already has, hasn’t it, in Boston and the surround? And yet I stand here, safe as ever I was. Indeed, what harm I have suffered in this conflict was at the hands of that thrice-damned so-called pacifist friend of yours, and he’ll not be able to injure me so in the future.”

Rufus spat on the ground with utter contempt. “In the event, I’ll not sign a document which will send me to the gallows when the King prevails against your friends. Ye may be willing to die for this ridiculous notion of bending the Crown to our will, but I’ll value my own neck above abstract principle, every time.”

Angus took a deep breath, willing himself to calm before he spoke. “Rufus, I had thought that ye deserved some leeway in the wake of your loss. I have protected ye from the folly of your actions against your neighbors since your injury. I have even gone so far as to assist them in overcoming the barriers ye created in your malice, enabling them to return to some measure of success, in spite of ye.”

He shook his head, looking at his brother as a stranger now. “But when I hear ye speak of the Colonies thus, when ye lay out the thinness and meanness of your inmost philosophies, such as they are, I cannot so easily look aside.”

Rufus began to interject, and Angus held up his hand, silencing him. “No. Let me speak now. The time for bluster and argument is past, and ye must hear what I have to say.” Rufus gave his brother a sour, flint-eyed look, but gestured for him to continue.

He took another breath, shaking his head in something akin to wonder. “Always have ye been unable to see questions from any viewpoint but that which would most benefit ye. I accepted that as being merely an aspect of your drive, and part of what brought ye success. I was pleased enough to see ye succeed, and permitted myself the ridiculous fiction that ye would develop the ability to understand your fellow man’s point of view at some point.”

Shaking his head again, he continued, “Now I see that I deluded myself.

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