American Challenge

by Susan Martins Miller

  Kate blinked tears from her eyes as Colin finished his story. “What will your family do now?”

  Colin shrugged. “Father told me to come to work here just as though everything was normal. We’re waiting for Harry to tell us what to do next.”

  Only an hour later, Harry stopped by the apothecary shop. The Langs’ escape was arranged. “Tomorrow is Easter Sunday,” Harry reminded them. “The soldiers won’t dare arrest us until after church. That will give Father and me time to say good-bye to our families.”

  Kate looked at Harry. “You have to leave?” She already knew the answer. Would baby Paul remember his father when he grew up? Kate could not hold back the tears that filled her eyes.

  After church the next day, Harry told the other family members and Lieutenant Andrews, who always joined them for services, that he and his father wanted to check something at the shop before Sunday dinner.

  “See you at dinner,” Uncle Jack said. He smiled at Kate’s parents. “You and Kate will join us, won’t you?”

  The Miltons nodded and smiled. “We’ll see you later,” Father said, his voice calm and sure.

  Kate watched as Colin and his mother and sisters walked home. They were chatting and laughing as they walked, as though inside their hearts weren’t breaking with fear and sadness. They didn’t want Lieutenant Andrews or anyone else to see how frightened they were.

  Would Harrison and Uncle Jack escape? When would their family be together again?

  Kate prayed all the way home.

  CHAPTER 16

  A Mission of Mercy

  By Tuesday evening, Colin and his family still hadn’t heard whether his father and Harry were safe. “They must be,” Colin told Kate. “If they’d been caught, the soldiers would have told us.”

  Kate was certain Lieutenant Rand would have loved to have given the bad news. The officer had been furious when he’d found the two Lang men had left town. He must have known General Gage was planning to arrest them, Kate thought.

  A few days later, when Kate and Colin stepped through the front door of his home, they heard a man’s voice they didn’t recognize coming through the closed sitting room door. The next voice they did know: Lieutenant Rand’s. They silently exchanged looks, then leaned their ears against the door to listen.

  The voice they didn’t know was speaking now. “You and Lieutenant Andrews are to report to the common as soon as possible, prepared for an expedition.”

  “Lieutenant Andrews isn’t here,” Lieutenant Rand said, “but I’ll get the message to him.”

  Kate and Colin stepped quickly from the doorway. Opening the front door, Colin pretended they were just entering the house as Lieutenant Rand and a soldier came out of the sitting room.

  The soldier nodded at the children and left. Lieutenant Rand frowned at Colin. “Do you know where Lieutenant Andrews is?”

  “I haven’t seen him, sir.”

  Rand grabbed his hat from the hallway table. “I’m going looking for him. If he gets back before I do, tell him to wait for me here.”

  Kate watched Rand hurry down the street in his red coat and black hat. The officers were to be “prepared for an expedition,” the soldier had said. That meant General Gage was sending his soldiers out of Boston, likely to take another town’s gunpowder. We should tell Paul Revere, Kate thought, but how many men is Gage sending and where?

  Kate and Colin worried about it for fifteen minutes, pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, talking in whispers. They could hear women’s voices in the kitchen, and Kate knew Colin’s mother and sisters must be making supper. “Should we ask your mother?” she whispered.

  Colin shook his head. “I have to figure out what to do.” All of a sudden, he sounded more like a man than a boy.

  When Lieutenant Andrews walked in, Susanna was with him. Her hand was tucked into the crook of his elbow.

  “Lieutenant Rand is looking for you, sir,” Colin said.

  Kate almost blurted out that he was to go to the common, but she remembered just in time that she wasn’t supposed to know that!

  Lieutenant Andrews didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at Susanna. Their faces were filled with worry. The officer removed his hat and turned to Colin. “While we were walking by the common, an officer stopped us. I’m to report there right away.”

  So he’d already heard the message.

  Susanna said, “Boats are waiting by the common to take soldiers across the river.” She glanced at Lieutenant Andrews and back to Colin. “It’s not a secret. Anyone from town who goes to the common can see what’s happening.”

  “Is it a secret where the troops are going?” Colin asked.

  “Yes.” Lieutenant Andrews played with his hat and bit the corner of his bottom lip as if he couldn’t decide whether to say more.

  “They’re going to try to take more of our ammunition, I suppose,” Colin said.

  Lieutenant Andrews took Susanna’s hand. “When I came to America, I expected only to follow my orders and serve the king. I didn’t expect to meet Susanna or find I agree with the Patriots’ beliefs. I didn’t think I would ever betray my king and fellow soldiers, but to do otherwise would be to betray my conscience.”

  Kate waited for what he would say next, her heart beating faster and faster.

  The officer took a deep breath. “It’s rumored we’re going to Concord, on the other side of Lexington. Maybe we are to take the Americans’ arms there in obedience to King George’s recent orders. You must warn the Sons of Liberty, Colin.”

  Colin ran out of the house with Kate right on his heels. They headed for Paul Revere’s house. When they reached the house in North Square, Colin banged on the door.

  Kate looked over her shoulder nervously. The streets were filled with redcoats dressed for battle. “Try not to look so upset,” she hissed. She tried to laugh as she said the words so that the officers would think nothing of two children out paying a call. She knew many marines were quartered in nearby houses, including Major Pitcairn, one of the best-liked British officers—even by the Patriots.

  Mr. Revere greeted them with the smile he always wore. “Young Lang. Mistress Milton. You must be here about the delivery. I heard only an hour ago that it arrived safely.”

  “Delivery?” Colin stared at him blankly. “Oh, the delivery!” Kate knew Mr. Revere must be speaking about Uncle Jack and Harry. They were safe! Joy and relief flooded her in spite of the hard news they carried.

  “Thank you, sir, but that isn’t why I’m here.” Colin whispered Lieutenant Andrews’s message.

  Mr. Revere nodded. “I’ve heard the same from two other sources.”

  Kate was disappointed that Mr. Revere already knew their news.

  “To hear it from more than one Observer only makes it more likely the news is true. It was brave of you to come. Tell no one else,” Mr. Revere warned.

  Would Mr. Revere ride again tonight for the Sons of Liberty? Kate wondered. If he did, he’d have to sneak past the soldiers at the Neck or the warships in the harbor.

  If there was war, would Harry and the other minutemen face the officers who had been living in their homes? Lieutenant Andrews had shared his army’s secret, but he hadn’t said he would desert and become a Patriot. Could Andrews shoot at Harry or Harry at him? Kate’s stomach felt sick.

  As the children headed back to Kate’s house, they saw Dr. Milton’s carriage leaving. To Kate’s surprise, Larry was on a horse beside the carriage. “Uncle Firth!” Colin sprinted down the street after the carriage, and Kate struggled to keep up on her shorter legs.

  Her father drew on the reins and looked down at the children. “Larry’s father is ill,” he said. “We’re on our way out to their farm. I may need to operate. I could use your help, Colin.”

  “May I come, too?” Kate asked.

  Her father hesitated. “Your mother may not want you to go.”

  “May I go ask?” she pleaded.

  Her father nodded, and she dashed for the house. Her mot
her met her at the door.

  Mama smiled as Kate fought to get the words out between her gasps for air. “Save your breath,” she said. “I know what you’re going to ask. And I’ve also come to realize how important healing is to you. So long as you stay with your father, you may go.”

  Kate gave her mother a grateful hug, then ran back to the carriage where Father, Colin, and Larry were waiting.

  The wheels clattered over the cobblestones. Kate looked back. Her mother was still standing in front of the house, staring after them. Her face was lined with worry, and Kate suddenly realized how much courage it must take to be a parent and let your children grow up. Especially in dangerous times like these. Kate waved her hand at her mother, hoping Mama would know how much she loved her. Her mother’s face lightened as she returned the wave, then turned to go back inside.

  They stopped at Colin’s house to let his mother know where they were going, and then they were on their way. “It would save us a lot of time if we could take the Charlestown ferry from the north end of Boston,” Father grumbled. “Instead we have to go south across the Neck, then north. It will take us twice as long to get there. I hope the extra time won’t cost Larry’s father his life.”

  There was a moment at the Neck when Kate didn’t think they’d be allowed to leave Boston. The guards had told Father that he and Kate could leave but not Colin or Larry. Dr. Milton convinced them that Larry’s father was truly ill, that Larry was needed to show him the way to the farm, and that he needed Colin to assist him.

  They’d been driving a long time when Kate looked across the river toward Boston. She could see campfires on the common and candlelit windows, but darkness pressed all around them. A lantern swung from each side of the carriage roof, helping light the way for the horses. The night sounds of owls, insects, and toads kept them company.

  Colin pointed out two lights, higher than any others, to Dr. Milton and Kate. “Someone must have hung lanterns in the tower of Christ Church,” he said. “Isn’t that strange?”

  CHAPTER 17

  War!

  When they arrived at the farmhouse, Dr. Milton grabbed his black bag. “Colin, help Larry with the horses. See that you’re quick about it. Bring the medicine chest.”

  Kate had been worrying about something all the way from Boston. Mr. Revere had told them not to tell anyone else Lieutenant Andrews’s secret, but the silversmith hadn’t known she and Colin would be leaving town that night, traveling the very road the British would likely travel to reach Concord. He hadn’t known Kate and Colin would be at a farmhouse just outside Lexington, the town the Redcoats would have to pass through on their way.

  Larry was helping Colin unhitch Dr. Milton’s horses from the carriage. Kate took the opportunity to whisper into Colin’s ear. Colin nodded, then took a deep breath, and turned to Larry. “Larry, can you get a message to the minutemen around here?” Larry’s hands froze on the reins. “Tonight?” Colin nodded, darting a look over his shoulder at the farmhouse. Kate’s father had already gone inside. Colin told Larry Lieutenant Andrews’s secret while they took the horses to the barn to be fed, watered, and brushed down.

  “Guess I’m not too surprised,” Larry said. “This afternoon the minutemen were called to Lexington Green when British officers were spotted on the roads. When none of our lookouts saw troops coming, the men were sent home.”

  He grinned at Kate and Colin across the horse’s back. “If the redcoats are figurin’ to find any guns at Concord, they’re goin’ to be mightily disappointed.”

  “Why?”

  “Paul Revere warned the Concord Patriots on Sunday that the redcoats were beginnin’ to act a might suspicious, pullin’ men off duty to train. Concord seemed the likely place for the redcoats to head. The Massachusetts Congress was meetin’ there. Would’ve been easy for Gage’s men to arrest all the most powerful Patriot leaders in Massachusetts. Then, too, it’s the nearest place to Boston with a good supply of ammunition and guns.”

  “How do you find out so much, Larry?”

  “Livin’ in the country isn’t like livin’ in Boston. We don’t have redcoats tellin’ us what we can and can’t do and livin’ in our houses. We don’t have to worry ‘bout the redcoats overhearin’ us if we talk ‘bout Patriot doin’s. Sunday I visited cousins in Concord. We had a grand time hidin’ things.”

  “Hiding what things?”

  “Ammunition and guns, of course.” He snorted. “The redcoats will never find them. We dropped bags of bullets in the swamps, and we buried the cannons in a farmer’s field.”

  Kate and Colin burst out laughing at the thought of a farmer plowing over cannons.

  When the horses were cared for, Larry saddled his father’s only other horse. Then he raced toward the house to check on his father. Soon he was back carrying an old squirrel gun.

  “We’ll stop those redcoats,” he told the children. He swung himself up onto his horse’s back. “Thanks for the warnin’, friends.”

  He was off. Would he warn the minutemen in time to truly stop the redcoats?

  Father frowned at the children when they finally went inside. “I thought I told you to hurry.” He didn’t waste time with more scolding. Instead, he quickly told Colin what was wrong with Larry’s father. He was going to operate, and Colin would need to help. “You can make yourself useful, as well, Kate, by handing me things as I need them.”

  Father took instruments from his black bag and laid them on the kitchen table, where he’d be operating. Kate pulled off her cloak and wrapped one of her father’s black aprons over her dress to protect the blue homespun from getting spattered with blood.

  The fireplace’s heat warmed away the chill from their night ride. Like all kitchen fireplaces, it was as wide as she was tall and almost as high. Kate could smell cornmeal mush cooking slowly in the large black kettle hanging from a crane over the low flames. The smell reminded Kate that she hadn’t eaten since noon, and her stomach growled. There was no time to think of food now, though.

  Hours later, about two in the morning, when a horse’s hooves were heard slamming against the dirt farm lane, Colin and Dr. Milton didn’t even look up from their patient. Kate, however, was weary from holding the lantern high so that her father could see. Larry’s mother took it from her hand to let her rest, and Kate stepped out onto the front porch to breathe the night air. A moment later, the hoofbeats drew nearer. With a thrill, Kate heard a man call, “The redcoats are coming! Patriots turn out!” Then the sound of hooves headed back down the lane.

  When she stepped back inside, her father had paused in his work. In the light of the lantern, he looked across the wooden table at Colin. Kate saw Colin look back at him without saying a word. Then they both went back to work. The redcoats and minutemen might be planning to meet, but Kate knew they both agreed that their duty now was to save the man in front of them.

  Kate’s head was starting to nod when a sharp noise startled her awake. Colin’s head jerked up as well.

  “Gunfire!” Father exclaimed. “The locals must be waking the countryside, letting them know the redcoats are coming.”

  Soon they heard a bell ringing. Larry’s mother said it was the bell from a church at Lexington, another way to wake the people. Before long other church bells from nearby villages joined in. The gong of bells kept up all night.

  Kate’s father drew the last stitch at about four in the morning, closing the operation. Larry’s father was still alive. Kate knew he was still in danger, though. Many people died from surgery because of infections.

  Larry’s mother gave them cornmeal mush for breakfast. To pay for the operation, she gave Dr. Milton a large smoked ham. Colin put it in the trunk the doctor kept on the back of his carriage, while Larry’s mother wrapped in rags three stones she’d heated in the fireplace. Kate, Colin, and Father placed them at their feet in the carriage to ward off the cold morning air.

  They were on the road before four-thirty. Dogs barked and howled. Church bells still sounded through t
he darkness. Candles lit farmhouse windows, and they weren’t the only ones on the road. Men on foot and horseback were hurrying toward Lexington.

  “Fools,” Father muttered, slapping the reins against the horses’ flanks. “Don’t they know better than to anger the king’s troops?”

  Neither Kate nor Colin answered. Kate gripped the edge of the carriage seat, swaying as the horses moved along the rutted road only a little faster than a walk. They had sixteen miles back to Boston. Kate knew her father didn’t want to tire the horses too soon.

  When they neared Lexington Green, where Kate and Colin had watched the minutemen practice months before, the gray sky of dawn revealed the shadows of men in front of the meetinghouse. The road ran alongside the green, and beyond the meetinghouse, Kate saw a dark column moving closer, growing larger and larger. “Redcoats!” she whispered.

  Father urged his horses to the side of the road, beneath a large tree beside a rock wall. They would have to wait until the redcoats passed to continue.

  A drum began its rat-a-tat-tat. They heard the captain order the minutemen to fall in. The men formed two lines in front of the meetinghouse. There were only about seventy of them, Kate guessed—farmers and craftsmen from the way they were dressed. About forty townspeople looked on from doorways and windows and behind stone walls.

  Was Larry with the minutemen? Kate wondered, leaning forward on the seat to see better in the dim light. The lanterns still swung from the carriage top, but they were no help any longer. Colin lifted the glass sides and blew out the candles.

  Two men hurried behind the minutemen carrying a trunk. Kate recognized one of them: Paul Revere. So he’d made it out of Boston to warn the countryside after all. Maybe Larry’s warning hadn’t been needed.

  “Let the redcoats pass. Don’t fire unless you’re fired upon!” the captain called to his men.