CHAPTER NINE
Hands dusted in soil, William leaned back on his knees and used his sleeve to wipe his forehead as he rested between the beans and cabbages. The sun bore down heavy. And he thought the daily drills he’d endured as a soldier were fatiguing. A week of farming, and already he wanted to give up and join the rebels in Boston. He tinkered with the idea for the hundredth time. Though now, as every time before, a dissatisfying pit welled in his middle. It wasn’t right for him. Not now. Why, he didn’t know. But he’d learned never to distrust the whisperings of the Spirit.
He peered behind him at the house, wondering if Anna was at the fire. Kitty’s kind assistance over the past few days had helped his wife some, but still his belly ached for a hearty meal. With a sigh he turned back to the garden, and gripping hard against a large cabbage, he yanked it free. If he could only care for the garden well enough he might be able to give Anna more help. A laugh escaped his chest. He’d never seen anyone boil bacon—just as she’d done with the salt pork—but she had. As he pondered the possibility of another supper of hard biscuits and bland beans, his stomach gurgled. How had she sustained her previous husband on such meals? As William reached for another cabbage, his mind toyed with the memory of her gentle nature, soft smile, and the way she refused to let something difficult conquer her spirit. It must have been her nature that sustained her first love. And that was likely enough.
“William!”
Thomas’s familiar voice called and William turned. The length of his stride and hardness in his eyes brought William to his feet. He brushed his hands against his breeches and rushed to meet his friend.
“What’s happened?”
Thomas’s red face and hard mouth made William’s shoulders tighten.
“Redcoats were spotted three miles south of here.” The way Thomas seethed the message with fire behind his breath, ’twas clear there was more that needed telling. But William feared he already knew.
“How many?” William’s fingers ached for a weapon.
Thomas looked behind him then to the house as if to be sure they were alone. “Three hundred.”
“Three hundred!” An entire regiment? Impossible.
“That is the report. We will need to see for ourselves if we are to know for certain.”
“I will come with you.”
Thomas raised an eyebrow. “That’s not exactly staying out of harm’s way.”
“I refuse to hide like a coward.” Instinctively William reached for the sword at his side and ground his teeth when he felt nothing. Curse this new identity.
“I tell you to warn you.” Thomas glanced around again. “Staying safe so you are not wrongly hanged is not cowardice.”
“I am a soldier, Thomas,” William said. “Now that I am free to fight for the right cause, I will do so with all that is in my power. I am not afraid.”
A rustle along the path hushed their conversation before Nathaniel appeared. He nodded when he reached them, out of breath as though he’d run all the way. “You’ve told him?”
Thomas dipped his chin. “He’d like to take a look himself.”
Nathaniel’s eyes rounded. “Is that so?” A smile widened his face. “I always knew I liked you.”
“Am I the only one thinking sense?” Frustration latched to Thomas’s expression. “I came here to warn him, just as I remember you did for me once, need I remind you?” His expression narrowed. “You would encourage him to do something that could put him in further danger? Has no one thought of his wife?”
His wife. William pivoted to look toward the house. He had forgotten. Not about having a wife, but how it might affect her if in fact he was caught. He scowled, putting together a dozen reasons why doing nothing could be equally as dangerous as discovering why such a number of soldiers had gathered so close to town.
“Your point is well taken, Thomas. However,” William said, “if we do not discover what they aim to do here, we could all be in more danger than if we do nothing.”
Nathaniel eyed them both, mouth pressed tight, eyes hard. The message in his expression was clear.
William’s body sparked with energy. “Thomas?”
Grinning, Thomas started toward the wood, speaking over his shoulder. “Up for a bit of adventure?”
William followed. “Always.”
“William?”
William’s heart lurched and he jerked to a halt at the sound of the lilting voice behind him. He spun to see Anna in the doorway, a towel in her hands. The questio
n in her wide eyes pricked the feelings of duty that grew each day that passed. Should he go? Nay, ’twas not a matter of whether he should go. He had to. Having been on the other side, he knew more than any of them what kind of danger awaited.