Midnight Liberty League - Part I

by Brock Law

puzzled, “I’m sure I recognize you.”

  “You must have seen them at practice a few weeks ago,” Will said with increasing paleness.

  “I don’t think so,” Professor Mith replied. “Do you volunteer at the museum? We must have met at a department function or somewhere like that.”

  “Well I have supported several archaeological endeavors over the years,” Madison said truthfully. “Yes, perhaps we met there.”

  “Well, excuse us for interrupting your meal. Very nice to meet you all,” Hamilton said, “William, why don’t you join us for a drink later. We can discuss the upcoming season.”

  “Have a lovely evening,” Madison said with a gracious swing of his arm.

  The Miths gave a more subdued farewell. The two founders walked back to the bar and resumed their seats. Will saw them look back at him, and then return to their drinks with a blast of laughter. Finally, Will exhaled and began to breathe normally.

  “They were weird,” said Anna.

  “They were bombed,” Mrs. Mith aptly stated.

  “They were what?” Rosemary said with novice interest.

  “Nothing,” Mrs. Mith sighed.

  “She means drunk,” Anna clarified.

  “Very,” Professor Mith agreed. “Never met an assistant college coach who wears a Breguet. I should have gone into athletics. I’m sure I’ve met them before though.”

  “Well I’m stuffed,” Mrs. Mith said. “I think I’ll pass right out when we get back. Everyone all set?”

  The Miths rose from their seats with groans and yawns. Professor Mith stretched, doubled-checked his figures on the bill, and pushed in his wife’s chair as she stepped aside. Mrs. Mith smiled back and took hold of his arm as she lifted her purse.

  Will hesitated as they began to walk away. Looking over his shoulder, he spied Madison and Hamilton hamming it up at the bar. They continued to drown their indulgence with tumblers full of bespoke cocktails, even gnawing on their twisted lemon rinds. Will looked back at his family who were beginning to vacate the table. His fingers rapped the back of his chair nervously as he shook his head in dismay.

  “Hey,” Will said, “I think maybe I will catch up with the coaches for a few minutes.”

  Mrs. Mith stopped and turned with disapproval. “Will, you shouldn’t be drinking with your symptoms.”

  “I’ll just have some coffee or something,” Will explained. “I guess it’s a good time to discuss my status this season. I’ll see what options I have.”

  “I suppose,” Professor Mith said while looking over at Madison and Hamilton with a judging glare. “You should really continue to rest though. Don’t stay too long.”

  “I won’t,” Will assuaged them. “I should at least hang out for a bit since they invited me. I’ll meet you back at home.”

  Will’s parents shared a cryptic optical connection, then shrugged casually. Mrs. Mith’s hand curled in a lazy wave. Will raised his for a moment to do the same, then turned and headed towards the bar. Upon reaching the pair of inebriated immortals, Hamilton grabbed Will’s shoulder with a friendly squeeze and sat him down on the next stool.

  “Sorry to embarrass you Will,” Hamilton chuckled. “We just couldn’t resist.”

  “You shall see, William, that immortality can be a bore,” Madison informed him. “Once you’ve competed against time, achieved your pinnacle of success, then suddenly find yourself facing eternity, there’s little else to do but eat and drink and travel.”

  “And cause a bit of mischief along the way,” Hamilton added with comic emphasis. “I hope your father didn’t really recognize us. You should have warned me that the man flips textbooks for a living.”

  “Who would believe him?” Will replied. “It’ll just be a problem when he goes asking for you at school.”

  Will stroked his forehead and looked back at his family. Just as they reached the entrance, Franklin swung through the doorway and bustled past his parents. Hamilton conspicuously signaled to Franklin, who noticed and gestured back.

  Will’s eyes expanded even more excruciatingly than before as he noticed his dad. Professor Mith cocked his head weirdly at Franklin, who always looked very much like himself, as he greeted his son with a handshake. The professor lingered, obviously nagged by hesitant familiarity, and then exited behind his wife.

  “Good evening gentlemen,” Franklin announced.

  “Let’s hope so,” Madison greeted. “Any more messages left at your home?”

  “None,” Franklin responded.

  “Don’t worry, Ben, we’ll find her.” Hamilton promised.

  “I don’t think so, Alex,” Franklin replied. “We’re going to have to deal. With whom or what it appears our adversaries are, we will not be able to stand against them forcefully.”

  “Ridiculous,” Hamilton boasted drunkenly. “I marched the Hearts of Oak into Battery Park under fire from the Brits in the harbor, and relieved them of their artillery in a single afternoon’s raid. I’m certainly not the least bit frightened by a rabble of night prowlers.”

  “Alex, that was over two hundred years ago,” Franklin rebutted. “The game has changed a little. This isn’t open warfare, although I wish it were. These men are not the type to be bargained with on political terms. They are comfortably prepared to employ destruction to summarily conclude their dealings, the same method that they’ve been practicing for decades.”

  “So you believe George’s hopes of Lafayette being alive?” Madison inquired.

  “I formed the exact presumption just after William and I first encountered each other,” Franklin admitted. “After discussing it with Jefferson today, I’m absolutely convinced that our greatest enemy is resurgent.”

  “So Tommy has snuck into town,” Hamilton scolded.

  “Then we’re all accounted for,” Madison added, “and have therefore arrived serendipitously at the precise time in which we must act with solidarity.”

  “Obviously as put and seconded,” said Hamilton, “and Will’s a big guy, I’m sure he can handle it.”

  Will’s stony exterior finally cracked a little as Hamilton slapped him on the back with a laugh. The collegian smiled along, showing signs of eagerness. He guessed that the character of Franklin and the Generals was similar to what it was during the Revolution, but these guys were foreign to him. The roguish Hamilton and accommodating Madison were actually helping him warm up to his new reality.

  “Ah, hell,” Hamilton cried out, “he can bring the whole football squad with him. Not even Von Steuben could have trained a better company.”

  “With all seriousness, Ben, we will sort this out. You needn’t be worried to bother us. It’s been quiet for a few generations. It’s about time someone came snooping for the Grail again, and we’re long overdue for some excitement,” Madison committed.

  “Yes,” Hamilton agreed, “I don’t think we’ve had a full reunion of the group since…well, since last we fought off this scourge and had to scour the wreckage of Europe for our lost brethren.”

  “Poor Lafayette and his beloved France,” Madison recalled. “If we can find Vivie, perhaps there is hope for him too.”

  “I’ve been curious about that. I guess I don’t know much about your personal lives,” Will said carefully. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did Vivienne come by her accent?”

  “Well that is not a part of history. Is it, Ben?” Madison said.

  Franklin smiled faintly. “Previous to my ambassadorship to France during the war, I visited Paris in 1767 while I was stationed in London. Having already made a name for myself as a scientist and philosopher, which gained me an introduction to King Louis XV, I would describe much of my tenure in the city as sort of post-conscious. Amongst great wit and famous revelers, I was in a blissful state for several weeks. While there I became closely attached to the entourage of a favored woman at court. My relationship with my own wife, who refused to travel, had become increasingly distant. I encouraged myself to use my time away as fruitfully as possible. Yea
rs later I received a visitor, a young French girl with a suitcase and a portrait in tow. She told me when she was born and who her mother was, and I immediately knew that she was mine as well. The portrait she carried was of her mother, and is the same as the one that hangs above the fireplace in my home.”

  Captivated, Will asked, “Did you ever see Vivienne’s mother again?”

  “No, and it haunted me for a long time. Her mother died when Vivie was young, so she set out to meet me. She was a graceful child, and I loved having her around. Tragically, she fell ill only months after her arrival in Philadelphia. Her body couldn’t fight off the exposure to new sicknesses in our city. After she’d lost her mother and had traveled so far so meet me, only to die painfully in her room, I panicked. I couldn’t accept the thought of going on alone. I pilfered the Grail from its resting place and saved her.”

  “Where is the rest of your family?” Will pressed.

  Franklin’s whole demeanor humbled as he spoke, “My relationships with them toughened, especially since my son remained a stubborn loyalist. I stayed close with my other daughter, Sarah, along with my grandchildren, who I adored. However, my compatriots here and I agreed that we could not create an infinite race of immortals by favoring our most agreeable relatives and their spouses and so forth. The world would have been destroyed many times over by now. Selection was the only way as it was not our will. We watched generations of our families pass on from the shadows of our own supposed afterlife. It