He Patterson Chronicles: The Duchess & The General : New York, London, Paris, Tuscany, Port Royal (Series #11) (Paperback)

‘The Duchess and The General’ is about the reunion of two siblings meeting after a lifetime of separation. They had not seen each other since they were teenagers. Duchess Christine Patterson had been captured at the age of 15 by the Abenaki Indians, in a raid on Patterson Town killing the entire settlement and many of members of the Mohican tribe. She was the personal slave to Chief Bornbazne for five years. Unbeknownst to her and the Abenaki Chief, her younger brother survived the raid. He spent five years searching for her. Finally, in a daring rescue, he and his blood-brother, Keme, along with twenty-four young Mohican braves traveled to Canada from New York’s Mohawk Valley. They rescued the girls and annihilated the tribe in the process.Her brother Robert ‘Pip ‘ Patterson, brought her back safely to Elizabethtown in the Provence of New Jersey to his maternal grandparents, James and Mary Farrell successful owners of Farrell Imports/Exports. Elizabethtown resident’s suspicious looks and silent stares hurt her more than the beatings from the Indians. She decided to move to England where no one knew her or of her captivity. She left her family and her brother Pip, to whom she became eternally grateful. She would find her way in England by her wits and Indian training to eventually rise to the rank of Duchess of Ramapo.Pip remained in the backwoods of New York to become known as one of the best Frontiersmen in the northern colonies. He scouted for the British in the Wilderness Campaign against the French, During the American Revolution, he was chief of scouts and rose to the rank of general. After the war, he was Minister of Indian Affairs for President Washington. Now, with John Adams as the new president, he was sent to bolster relations with England and to negotiate with the French Post-Revolutionary governments to end the ‘Quasi War’.His reunion with Christine was very heartwarming and too long overdue. They had a lifetime of stories and adventures to share with each other. However, they had changed in their political views. Christine rose in rank and power in service to the crown. She became an aristocrat, the very thing Pip fought against in the American Revolution. He was able to tolerate her as such until he witnessed her abuse of authority through her own personal anger. When it involved Pip’s son, James, Pip, and Christine realized how far apart they had grown since being children in the backwoods of America. He would leave under friendly terms with Christine to continue his mission in Paris as the Envoy from President Adams. James was deeply affected by what he experienced and went to a monastery in Italy to search his soul and find his true self.Viika Hendriksen, Christine’s life long friend and owner of merchant ships from Amsterdam, would transport Pip, his wife Marie, and daughter Diane to Le Havre, France. She would then take James to Italy on a dangerous voyage that will take them through storms and pirates. But, he was safely handed over to the care of Andrew Bortniak, a family friend. He would take James to the Badia Monastery, north of Florence. There James would spend two years in silent obedience working in a vineyard and doing penance through a spiritual retreat.Viika spent the next two years in Port Royal, Jamaica visiting her friend and partner Bernice Yaw, better known as Lady Bea, ‘The Black Widow’ privateer. She would join Bea in several privateering escapes against French shipping. Lady Christine would live in contemplation of whom she had become, Pip and his Family will work for peace in France. However, the guillotine was still in use against all enemies of the state. Pip and his family were constantly aware of this danger. James would search his own heart and look for meaning in his life. Viika, too, would search her own heart for a forbidden love that she found on her voyage to Italy. Time will tell how these characters win or lose in their personal quests.