Gunpowder and Tea Cakes: My Journey with Felicity

Suddenly, I feel very overwhelmed by everything. I tell Felicity that although I’d love to stay, I think it’s time to find my father. For a moment, Felicity looks as if she wants to protest. But then, she says she understands. I ask her if she’ll be all right on her own, and she nods. Father and Ben will be back soon. She hugs me goodbye.

I go outside and walk down the street until I see a tall hedge to hide behind. I pull out the miniature painting and gaze on the lady’s eyes. The world spins around me and then the dizziness passes. I look around the familiar room that is my grandmother’s shop. Suddenly, her antiques seem very important. Some of the things have survived over 200 years! I go over to a shelf with a similar pattern to the one in Mr. Merriman’s shop. I had never given it any thought, but now I wonder about it. Maybe that pretty pattern made someone smile. Maybe the notion that it was shipped from Great Britain made someone else angry. Maybe it made some shopkeeper nervous, afraid it’d bring trouble to his store.

I realize now the Revolution was more complicated than just the Declaration of Independence and battles and the Boston Tea Party. Ordinary people, like Mr. Merriman, had to make lots of hard choices, such as fighting with the Patriots and feeding their family. I grab a clean cloth and dust the pretty platter. I wish I knew the story of the person who first owned it.