Nanye-Hi screeched when she saw her husband go down. Lewis stared in disbelief. Milly was in shock.
“He’s not moving! Why isn’t he moving?” Lewis shouted.
Then they saw a very large white man leap out of the grass, grab Frank beneath his armpits, and pull him into the cover of the grass and trees beside the creek.
Nanye-Hi spun around and dropped against the log wall. She unleashed a loud, shrill Indian scream and then buried her face in her hands and wept.
CHAPTER TWELVE
BACK AT THE HOMESTEAD
“Where are they going?” asked Milly.
“It looks like they’re leaving!” exclaimed Lewis.
Lewis and his mother watched the Tories through a large crack in the door. The uniformed men were lining up in formation. There were several wounded men sitting on horses or laying on makeshift litters. Drummers began to play crisp beats upon their drums.
“Why do you think they are leaving, Lewis?”
“I don’t know, Mama. We haven’t heard any shooting for a while. It sounds like our army might have left. Or maybe the Tories have just had enough and are going back to Augusta. I just don’t know.”
They watched the men open the main gate and then march slowly out of the fort. Milly insisted that they wait until they could no longer hear the drums before they attempted to go outside the fort walls.
After several minutes Lewis proclaimed, “I’m tired of waiting!”
He threw open the door and headed for the gate. Nanye-Hi was right behind him. Soon dozens of women and children were pouring out of cabins and shacks and heading toward the gate. They walked outside and saw the remains of the battle that had raged beyond the walls. Wagons, debris, dead horses, and men littered the battlefield.
Moments later a tall, dark-skinned man stepped out of the woods to the east.
Lewis yelled, “Look!”
Nanye-Hi spun around and saw her husband across the field. She screamed, “Frank!” and took off running toward him. She sprinted across the field as fast as she could, weeping with joy every step of the way, and then she tumbled into his arms.
***
Frank sat in a dilapidated rocking chair beside the fireplace in the blockhouse that was serving as the fort’s infirmary. There were two other wounded men in the room along with two very sick children. The little ones had some kind of fever and were being kept separate from the others in a far corner of the dark room. Their mothers attended to their care.
Nanye-Hi hovered over Frank, checking his blankets, adjusting the very thin pillow that cushioned his back, and keeping his mug full of hot tea with honey.
Frank protested, “Nanye-Hi … my darling … I’m fine. Please stop. Just sit down and talk to me. I don’t need any more medical care.”
His Cherokee bride sighed her frustration and then plopped down on the floor beside him, sitting cross-legged beside the warm fire. She gently leaned her head sideways and laid it on his knee. Frank stroked her dark black hair.
“When do you think Robert will return?” she asked.
“I don’t know. No one has heard from them for three days. He might be somewhere up in South Carolina by now. There’s no telling when he’ll come back.”
The heavy door of the blockhouse swung open and Lewis Hammock stepped inside, stomping the thick mud off of his feet.
“Lewis! Do not bring that mud inside the house! Go back outside right now and clean your filthy shoes!” scolded Nanye-Hi.
Lewis somberly turned around and stepped back outside for a moment. He quickly returned, but his black buckled shoes didn’t appear to be any cleaner. Nanye-Hi rolled her eyes. Frank laughed.
“Where are you going, Lewis?” asked Frank.
“I’m just headed back to our shack after my shift on the wall. I thought that I would come by and see you and bring some news!”
“What news?” asked Frank. He sat up straighter, his attention piqued.
“Papa and the other men are back in the area. They didn’t catch the Tories in South Carolina, but they’ve been chasing them for three solid days. They finally caught them! And they gave them a sound whipping in a battle at Kettle Creek!”
“They won the battle?” asked Frank.
“It was a total victory!” Lewis paused. “But still no word about Papa. I don’t know if he is all right, or not. Mama’s going to be worried sick. She’s been a mess ever since he left.”
“Mr. Robert is just fine. I’ll pray for him,” encouraged Frank. He stared into the dancing fire. “But how I do wish I had been there with him.”
“Me, too,” mused Lewis.
***
Robert Hammock was just fine, indeed. He survived the Battle of Kettle Creek without any injuries. He was actually something of a hero because he helped Colonel Elijah Clarke on the battlefield after his horse was shot from beneath him.
A few days later Robert and all of the other men of Carr’s Fort were back behind the walls, safe and sound. Life gradually returned to normal … which included patrols in the nearby woods and guard duty at the fort.
***
Robert and Frank were supposed to be on guard duty. It surprised Lewis somewhat when he woke up and heard his parents talking in the darkness. He soon heard why his father was not up on the fort wall. He had forgotten his pipe and had made a quick run back to the shack to get it.
Robert was just opening the door to leave and return to his guard post when a loud shot exploded outside. He threw open the door and looked to see what was happening. The alarm bells began to sound.
Robert cupped his hands and yelled, “What is it, Frank?”
“Indians!”
Frank was feverishly reloading his musket.
“How many?”
“At least a hundred! Maybe two! There’s way too many! I don’t think we can stop them!”
Frank angled his musket downward and fired another load of buck and ball at the enemy in the field beyond the wall.
Robert stuck his head back inside their shack. The children were awake. Lewis and Robbie were pulling on their breeches.
“Robert, what is it?” Milly wailed.
“Creeks. Maybe two hundred of them.”
“Oh, my! They will swarm this fort!”
“We’re not sticking around to find out. Milly, grab everything you can and get the children ready! Lewis, go hitch up our team to the wagon. I have it sitting beside the rear entrance. Get our horses and have them saddled, tied off, and ready to ride. Robert, you go get Nanye-Hi and Simeon. Boys, I want you to get everyone and everything loaded as fast as you can and be ready to go when Frank and I get there. Do you understand?”
Both boys responded, “Yes, Father.”
Robert kissed his wife on the cheek. “It’s going to be all right, my love. Just get everything together as fast as you can. I’ll get us out of here.”
Robert darted out the door and headed back to the wall. Dozens of men were firing into the wave of attackers. The wounded and dying among the defenders began to drop from the palisades and rooftops. Fire and death were raining down upon Carr’s Fort.
Less than an hour later Carr’s Fort was destroyed. It was burned to the ground by the attacking Creeks. Over a hundred souls perished in the attack, including their commander and host, Captain Robert Carr.
Fortunately, some families had the opportunity to escape in the darkness. The Hammock family, because of the quick work of Lewis and Robert, Jr., was one of the first groups to evacuate. They were well beyond the open field and on the northern road, riding deep under the cover of the trees, before the Creeks even knew that anyone had escaped the burning fort.
Lewis snapped the reins and guided the wagon back toward the Hammock home on Reedy Creek. With Carr’s Fort destroyed, they had nowhere else to go.
***
Milly washed her hands in a large wooden bowl. She was preparing to begin work on the meals for the day. It was no small task to feed a household with so many hungry residents.
/>
“Lewis, we need some fresh meat. I need you and Robbie to see what you can rustle up for the pot. There have to be some stray rabbits or a deer somewhere in these woods.”
The boys jumped up from their pallets and began to layer on their clothes. They each donned a heavy linen hunting frock.
“Now don’t go running out into the cold forest without some food in your belly. There’s hot porridge over the fire.”
“Yes, Mama,” Lewis replied. He looked around the dark room. “Where’s Papa?”
“He and Frank left out before daybreak to run over to Zachariah Phillips’ fort. They’re looking for news about the war, and to see if anyone has heard from Colonel Clarke. They should be back this afternoon, well before dark.”
“Why didn't they wake me? I would have liked to have gone with them,” complained Lewis.
“Your father knew that I needed you here. He couldn’t leave us unprotected now, could he?”
Lewis’s chest swelled just a bit. He liked the notion of being the man of the house, at least for a morning. And a man had to provide for his family. So Lewis needed to get to get busy with the task of hunting. He pulled on his shoes and then scurried over to the fireplace. He carefully removed the iron lid from the pot that hovered on a rack over a thin bed of coals. The fragrant steam of the porridge escaped into the cool air of the cabin. Lewis quickly ladled a bowl full of the dense mixture for himself and one for Robert, Jr.
“Eat up, Robbie. We need to get in the woods before the sun gets too high.”
Both boys sat on either side of the fireplace and rested their backs against the log wall. Milly looked at her two growing sons and sighed. She longed for a proper home for her children and a proper table to take their meals. But for now they made do with their tiny lean-to cabin built onto the outside wall of Frank and Nanye-Hi’s home.
It was mid-March, 1780. A year had passed since the destruction of Carr’s Fort and the most recent displacement of the Hammock family. Their return home after their narrow escape from the fort had not been a joyous one. They found that their property had been pillaged. Their cabin and barn were burned almost to the ground. But in their despair they did find a small blessing. Frank’s little cabin had not been bothered. It was, apparently, undiscovered by Tory and Creek raiders.
So they piled into the cramped space for several days while Robert and Frank worked to add a temporary expansion. They salvaged quite a few sections of logs from the burned structure of the Hammock cabin. They had to cut a few more trees to complete the work, as well as haul several loads of creek stone to construct a proper fireplace. But they managed to finish a livable, if not spacious, home for the Hammocks to occupy until circumstances changed. Of course, Frank and Nanye-Hi occupied their original side of the cabin, along with their toddler son, Simeon, and a very vocal six-month-old girl named Anna.
The two family units combined their efforts of labor and spent the past year in survival mode. They hunted and fished, planted a small garden, and harvested a tiny crop of corn. Times were extremely tough, but they were getting by … better than most people who still remained in the Georgia backcountry.
Their best defense was anonymity. As far as they could tell, no one knew that they were hiding so close to their old home site. The attacks upon homesteads and forts by the Tories and their Creek allies had been ongoing throughout the past year, but the Hammocks had somehow managed to avoid scrutiny. Milly thanked God every day for the relative peace that they had enjoyed for the past year.
Milly smiled at her sons. “Just leave your bowls by the fire, boys. I’ll clean them for you. And be sure to take some of the corn cakes with you. You’re sure to get hungry in an hour or two. I cooked them with some of the dried onions … just like you like them, Lewis.”
Lewis licked his lips. He and Robbie unwrapped the cloth bundle that sat atop the small stand beside the fireplace and each removed a handful of the flat, greasy cakes. They each wrapped them in a fresh piece of cloth and then stuffed them in their haversacks. Less than a minute later they grabbed their flintlocks and hats and shot out the door.
***
“Wait,” Lewis whispered. “Let her get past that little tree.”
Robert trembled with excitement. The boys were low on the ground, concealed behind a large fallen tree. A crooked spot in the trunk of the tree had created a small opening that gave them a view of the creek below. Lewis had hunted from this makeshift blind before, and he knew that it overlooked a well-worn deer trail that led to a perfect drinking spot along the creek. The numerous tracks confirmed that deer had been there recently. So it came as no surprise when this doe ambled down the trail an hour after they had settled in for the hunt.
“Steady, Robbie. Control your breathing. Remember, the tiniest wiggle can cause you to miss. Aim just above her front leg. Pick a tiny spot and aim at it.”
Little Robert exhaled quietly as he tried to calm his nerves. He cradled the .36 caliber rifle in his left hand and sighted down the barrel. He squeezed the trigger ever-so-gently and the rifle barked. The boys were temporarily blinded by the cloud of white smoke that exploded from the pan and muzzle of the gun. They both jumped to their feet, attempting to see through the smoke and find if the shot had been true. Robert let go a shout of glee when he saw the wounded deer thrashing on the ground beside the water.
***
Milly smiled when she heard the shot. She knew that her boys would be bringing supper home. She hummed a jolly tune as she quietly busied herself with her work. The other children were still sleeping. She knew that it was getting a bit late in the morning for them to be lounging in the bed, but she reveled in the peace of their sleep and the solitude of her own thoughts.
But the peace and solitude that they had enjoyed for the past year was about to come to an end. The British and their Tory and Creek allies were about to descend upon the Georgia frontier with a mighty vengeance.
Part III
1780 - Over the Mountains
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
FREEDOM FOR FRANK
Robert rode his horse into the clearing near the cabin. The setting was peaceful. Frank and Lewis were tending to their slowly growing flock of cows, goats, and chickens. Milly and Nanye-Hi, with plenty of help from the children, were working in the garden.
The children screamed with delight when they saw their father riding down the trail and took off running toward him. He threw his leg over the horse’s neck and slid down off of the animal. He knelt down to receive a barrage of hugs from his little ones. They had a lot of catching up to do. He had been away from home for five long days.
Milly followed slowly behind the children. As she walked toward Robert she wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her dirt-covered arm, leaving a gray streak in its place. Robert chuckled at the sight of her. She planted her fists firmly on her hips and tried to make a angry face, but she was so happy to see her husband that she couldn’t maintain the frown. She patiently waited her turn for his attention. At long last he shuffled toward her with several little children dangling from his legs and grabbed her in a loving embrace.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered in his ear.
“I’ve missed you so much more,” he countered.
Milly took Robert by the hand, leading him toward the table and benches in the yard. “Come, husband. Tell us what has happened. What are the British doing? How will it all affect us?”
Robert straddled the bench while everyone else gathered around the table, anxious to receive news from the outside world. Frank and Nanye-Hi sat down on the ground near Robert.
“Well, it seems that the only thing they are concerned with right now is controlling the residents of the backcountry and fortifying their military buildings and forts. The Tory Colonel Brown is working hard at building up the defenses of Augusta.”
“Augusta? How do you know about Augusta? I thought you had to report to Wrightsborough,” commented Lewis.
“I did go to Wrightsboro
ugh. That’s where I had to swear my oath to King George.”
There was an audible gasp from Milly and the older boys.
“You swore an oath to King George of England?” exclaimed Lewis. He was shocked. He could not believe that his father would do such a thing. He fought the urge to cry. Could it be possible? Was his father a traitor to the American cause?
His father placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded. “I had to, son. They gave me no choice. It was either that or prison … or maybe forced service in the Royal Navy. At least by swearing my oath I got to come home and keep my weapons.”
“But an oath to King George!” complained Lewis. “I’ll never forgive the Redcoats for the way they treated Frank. How could you, Father? Don’t you believe in an independent United States anymore?”
“Of course I do, son. More than ever. But the British are in total control of Georgia now. I did what I had to do in order to survive and stay home with my family. Surely you understand that.”
Lewis nodded, but deep down in his heart he really did not understand. He was angry … angry at the British, and now angry at his father.
“What about Congress?” asked Milly. “What about the Declaration of Independence?”
Robert shrugged. “I guess a piece of paper is only as strong as the army you have to back it up. The war is going bad for the Patriot cause. Washington is on his heels in the North. Cornwallis is running loose in the Carolinas and now he’s sending at least eight hundred Redcoats to Georgia. It looks like we’re beaten, at least for now. It will take a miracle to turn things around, I think.”
“You mentioned Augusta,” Frank reminded him. “Why did they make you go there?”
“They didn’t make me go to Augusta. I went of my own accord.”
“Why?” challenged Milly. “What possible reason did you have to go all the way to Augusta?”
Little Warrior: Boy Patriot of Georgia (Patriot Kids of the American Revolution Series Book 2) Page 11
