Hellen

We stood in the commander’s tent as he consulted my father, Henry Page, about his desire to become a general. King George had always admired my father. That is, until the incident the year before. Ever since then, no one in England entrusted any power to our family, even though there were seven of us who were merely trying to survive through this dreadful time.

My four siblings sat outside. I had entered the tent to attempt to persuade Commander Howe. Of course, I didn’t expect it to work. According to the Smiths, he was the most difficult person to persuade after His Majesty himself.

“He needs to become a general, sir. How else would our family be glorious again?”

“Glory isn’t everything, Ms. Page,” the commander told me, a scowl on his face. “What truly matters is power. That’s what this war is about. We need to overpower the American soldiers to win the war and honor the king.” He turned to my father. “Now, you have two choices, Mr. Page. Either you join the war as a soldier, or you go home without fighting and wait for it to end.”

“Sir,” my father protested. “my children—my wife—if they knew how much worse things are for me than they are for them—they’d never forgive me for what I did.

 “Your children and your wife are no part of the issue, Mr. Page. The issue is you. You’re the one who dishonored the country. You’re the one who was caught send information towards the spy, Nathan Hale!”