but Felicity would be proud to toss out her tea,” said Annabelle. “Her father said it was right to toss out tea. He said those hotheads in Yorktown were right to throw the tea into the river.”
“No!” cried Felicity. “My father didn’t say that! He—”
“Yes, he did!” snapped Annabelle. “Bitsy heard him. Didn’t you, Bitsy?”
Elizabeth didn’t say anything.
“But that’s not what he said,” cried Felicity. “Tell her, Elizabeth!”
Elizabeth would not look at Felicity.
Felicity tried to explain. “My father said the men who threw the tea into the river thought that they were right. They did it to show the king that they did not agree with the tax on tea.”
“Your father disagrees with the king’s tax, too!” said Annabelle. “That’s why he’s not going to sell tea in his store anymore. He is disloyal to the king. Your father is a traitor!”
“No!” shouted Felicity. “My father is not a traitor!” She jumped up from her chair and knocked against the tea tray. The teapot teetered and the cups and saucers rattled. Felicity grabbed her sampler frame in her fist and ran out of the room. She slammed the door behind her.
Felicity was in a red rage. Home she stormed, away from Miss Manderly’s prim little house, through the crowded, dusty streets. How could Elizabeth do it? How could she? she kept asking herself. It was Elizabeth she was most angry at. Why didn’t she tell Annabelle the truth? Father was only trying to be fair. Father is not the one who is a traitor, thought Felicity. Elizabeth is the traitor—to me!
Felicity burst into the house and pounded up the stairs to her room. She curled up on her bed in a tight roll. Her sampler was loosened and wrinkled. She could not think. She was too mad to cry. Anger boiled inside her. Elizabeth was supposed to be her friend. Instead, she let Annabelle tell hateful lies about her father. I hate Annabelle, she thought, and I hate Elizabeth, too. I don’t want to see either of them ever again.
Felicity heard the door open. “Lissie?” whispered her mother. She sat on the bed and put Felicity’s head in her lap. “What is it, my child?” her mother asked softly. She smoothed Felicity’s hair. “What is it, Lissie?”
Felicity took a shaky breath. “Elizabeth and Annabelle think Father is a traitor. I don’t want to speak to them ever again,” she said.
“Ahhhh,” said her mother sadly. “It’s because of the argument about tea, isn’t it?”
Felicity sat up and nodded.
Mrs. Merriman sighed. “My poor child,” she said. “I fear there is more of this trouble coming. This talk against the king will cause nothing but sorrow before it is over. It will divide families and destroy friendships, if we let it.” Gently, she took Felicity’s sampler from her hands.
“Throw that away!” said Felicity. “I hate it. It is full of mistakes.”
Mrs. Merriman pulled the sampler taut in its frame. “No, my impatient one,” she said calmly. “I see a great deal that’s good in this sampler. It would be a terrible waste to throw it all away because of one mistake or two.” She looked at Felicity. “I think it would be a terrible waste to throw away your friendship with Elizabeth, too, because of one misunderstanding.”
“How can I be Elizabeth’s friend?” asked Felicity. “She thinks Father is a traitor to the king!”
“Did she say that?” asked her mother.
“No, Annabelle did. But Elizabeth did not stop her,” said Felicity.
“Elizabeth is not as brave as you are,” said Mother. “You must be patient with your friend, Lissie.”
“She’s not my friend!” said Felicity. “If she were my friend, she wouldn’t have let Annabelle say such awful things!”
“I see,” said Mother. “You are afraid Elizabeth does not like you anymore. Is that it?”
“Aye,” whispered Felicity.
“I think you are wrong about that,” said Mrs. Merriman. “But you will have to go back to your lessons to find out.”
“I don’t want to go to the lessons anymore!” exclaimed Felicity.
“They are a privilege,” said Mrs. Merriman. “It is not wise to walk away from such a chance to learn.”
“I want to forget everything I’ve learned,” said Felicity.
“Aye,” said Mrs. Merriman, looking down at the sampler. “It is easiest to throw everything away. It is harder to untangle knots and try again.” She looked at Felicity with love. “It takes courage.”
Felicity thought for a moment. Then she said, “What if I do go back? What shall I do when they serve tea? I want to be loyal to Father. I don’t want to drink tea anymore. But if I am rude, Miss Manderly won’t want me to come back ever again. Elizabeth won’t want to be my friend. And Annabelle will think she is right, that colonists are uncivilized.” Felicity looked at her mother. “What shall I do?”
“Now that is a difficult knot to untangle,” said Mrs. Merriman. “You must be well mannered but follow your heart. You must be polite but do what you think is right.” She handed the sampler back to Felicity. “I trust you will find a way. You have become quite a gracious young lady these past few weeks.” Mrs. Merriman kissed Felicity’s forehead and left quietly.
It took all the bravery Felicity could muster to walk back into Miss Manderly’s house the next day.
Miss Manderly greeted her with a smile. “Good day, Miss Merriman,” she said. “I am exceedingly glad to see you today.”
“Thank you, Miss Manderly,” Felicity said. She sat down and went to work on her sampler. She did not speak to Elizabeth or Annabelle. They did not speak to her.
“Why, Felicity, how lovely,” said Miss Manderly. “I see that you have indeed stitched a red cardinal bird at the top of your sampler. It looks just like our proud Virginia cardinals!”
“Oh!” said Elizabeth. “It is pretty, Lissie.” She looked at Felicity shyly. “Would you mind, I mean, do you think it would be all right if I stitched one just like it on my sampler?” she asked.
“Bitsy!” scolded Annabelle.
Elizabeth whirled around and faced Annabelle. “I hate being called Bitsy,” she said firmly. “From now on, call me Elizabeth.”
“Why, I—” sputtered Annabelle.
“Or I will call you Bananabelle in front of everyone,” said Elizabeth. “Annabelle, Bananabelle.”
For once, Annabelle was speechless. Elizabeth grinned at Felicity. Felicity felt her spirits rise like a bird. Elizabeth is still my friend, she thought. She smiled at Elizabeth.
