Angels & Patriots_Book One

by Salina B Baker

  “Will you consider comin’ to the farm for a day?” Seamus asked.

  Colm stood quietly; his attention on his two men.

  Fergus frowned. “We share the purple aura of angels foreshadowed to carry the burden of leadership that is not truly ours; yet it is nearly as painful to our spirits as it is to our archangel’s spirit. I can’t face that again.”

  “It ain’t your job no more, Fergus. It’s mine.”

  “Then you understand why I can’t go to the farm.”

  “No, I don’t understand. I’m askin’ you to do this for the others. I think it wou’d do them good to see you.”

  “No.”

  “Fuck you!” Seamus shouted. “You’ve deserted us at a time when we need to stand closer together than we’ve ever needed to stand in our existence! Michael and Patrick are scared! Brandon’s tryin’ to grow into a leader. Liam and Ian have been disobedient! We’re your family!”

  Fergus just walked away.

  On April 11, five days before Lord Dartmouth’s long-awaited orders on how to deal with the rebels reached General Thomas Gage via the HMS Falcon, the general’s clandestine patriot informer noted, “A sudden blow struck now or immediately upon the arrival of reinforcements from England would cripple all the rebels’ plans.”

  Based on this intelligence, Thomas asked Henry to assist him in drafting operational orders.

  Thomas cited exact details from his informant’s letter. “See here, Henry. There are four brass cannons and two mortars and quite a number of smaller arms in the cellar of the house of Mr. Barrett. Mr. Barrett’s farm is about a mile from the North Bridge in Concord.”

  Henry whispered to Robert, “See to it that we have men planted in Concord. I am sure you will have no trouble assembling volunteers.”

  Robert set his glass of wine aside and rose from his chair.

  There were many disembodied demons awaiting instructions from their overlord.

  Lord Dartmouth’s council arrived from England on April 16. Two days later, Thomas received a missive from his patriot informant that all but a small number of powder barrels had been removed from Concord to nearby towns as a result of the rebels anticipating a strike by British troops. He also received intelligence that the leaders of the rebellion, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, were in Lexington.

  Lord Dartmouth’s council specifically ordered that these men were to be arrested and shown no mercy.

  Thomas ignored the order.

  The night before, Henry and Robert patronized a tavern that was rumored to shelter rebels and their secret meetings—the Green Dragon. The demons watched and heard the humans fall into drunkenness as the sun set and the moon rose to influence the tide of men who came to the tavern in search of relief from the struggle to stay afloat in the deep waters of conflict.

  Then the tide stilled, and a man entered the tavern. The patrons called him by name and reached to touch his cloak. A younger man accompanied him who displayed the pride of their intimate medical association.

  Robert reined in the urge to let his blue eyes erupt into orange flames at the sight of Joseph Warren. He leaned in closer to Henry and said, “How delightful. The archangel’s new pet has made an appearance. He is the man wearing the cloak. I sensed Margaret Gage’s carnal longings for him the night of Major Pitcairn’s social.”

  Henry was aware of Warren’s association with the patriots, but this was the first time he had laid his yellow-green eyes on him. Joseph Warren and the angel, Michael Bohannon, had come together to form the archangel’s greatest weakness.

  “Perhaps, it is too late to plot the dramatic death of Warren before the first battle of our war is fought. However, we can make certain that he will be the first tragedy Bohannon suffers in a war that will stretch out long enough to rape his spirit in ways not yet imagined. In fact, we will see to it that Bohannon is so weakened by loss, that he will die from the agony of his ruined spirit.”

  “That shall be an excellent game!” Robert gloated.

  “Who is the man with Warren?” Henry asked.

  “Dr. William Eustis. He’s Warren’s apprentice in medicine.”

  Henry and Robert watched Warren and his companion cross the room to a table occupied by six men. There was much tension among the men and much drinking to relieve that tension.

  Joseph removed his cloak and sat beside Benjamin Church. Benjamin was distracted by a group of British officers sitting at a nearby table. The curious look on his face caused Joseph to regard the officers. He recognized Robert Percy.

  “That is the demon from the meetinghouse,” Benjamin whispered to Joseph. “And the general with him is no doubt Henry.”

  Paul leaned across the table toward Joseph. “They have infiltrated our tavern, and I do not like it one bit.”

  “We will not allow them to unnerve us,” Joseph replied. He shifted his attention to his fellows at the table.

  William Eustis and William Dawes exchanged nods. One word from any of the men seated around their table, and they would be more than happy to start a row with the British officers.

  Henry asked Robert, “Who is that man seated beside Warren?”

  “I believe that is Dr. Benjamin Church; however, I cannot be certain. Quite a few men, along with one woman, lingered in the meetinghouse during my confrontation with the archangel.”

  Henry took note of the faces around the table with Warren and sketched them into his mental notebook. Then he said, “Tomorrow morning, it will begin. Gage has received his orders from Lord Dartmouth. I will ensure that he executes those orders without delay.”

  Three British officers approached Henry’s table. Robert’s closest demonic advisors were in temporary possession of the officers’ bodies. He was expecting their arrival.

  The officers performed the etiquette required when acknowledging higher ranking officers. Without speaking, they clapped their hand to their hat and bowed. Robert gave them permission to be seated, and then motioned to a server to bring them tankards of beer.

  When the draughts were provided, Robert said to the officers, “The general wants a report of who will be among the British troops deployed to Lexington, and who will be among the patriots in Lexington, as well as the patriots in Concord.”

  “I request that I may stay in possession of this man,” Lieutenant William Sutherland said. “His capabilities are superior, and his ego is fine.”

  Henry nodded, pleased with the request because he understood the value of an ego.

  “The population of Lexington and Concord is small. Therefore, I believe we need but a few dozen of our servants among the citizens,” Sir Rupert Weller, a Captain in the 10th Regiment of Foot, said. “They have already been dispatched.”

  “I have fifty rascals on the ready to possess soldiers dispatched with Colonel Francis Smith,” Lord Asa Dinmore, a lieutenant colonel in the 22nd Regiment of Foot, boasted.

  Henry was satisfied that his war was beginning as he had hoped. He afforded a glance at Joseph Warren and his compatriots.

  Joseph did not attend the Committee of Safety sessions held in Concord after April 8. He resolved to eventually abandon his medical profession in favor of politics and warfare, but he felt that he needed to take a step back first. The committee had already laid plans for a watch and couriers to alarm the countryside of suspicious British army movement, and he was well-versed in those plans.

  On the evening of Tuesday, April 18, a vigilant patriot informed Joseph that an impressive aggregate of British companies, perhaps as many as 800 enlisted men and 70 officers, had assembled in Back Bay across the Charles River from Cambridge by order of General Thomas Gage. Further, there appeared to be special purpose units within the regiments—grenadiers and light infantry, but supply wagons and field pieces did not seem to be among their equipment. This movement alarmed Joseph to the possibility that the British were commencing to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams in Lexington and strike at the heart of the rebel resistance.

  This hodgepodge of
companies had been placed under the command of Colonel Frances Smith, with Royal Marine Major John Pitcairn as Smith’s second in command. The result was disorganization as junior officers were forced to report to a command they were unfamiliar with. On the other side of the coin, Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn had no knowledge of who among their ranks possessed what skills.

  Colm was with Joseph in the Warren home when the news arrived from a trusted source. Soon after, a member of the Sons of Liberty arrived to inform Joseph that the Charles River crossing was moving slowly for the British. They were crossing in Royal Navy longboats and against the incoming tide. It took up to an hour for the boats to ferry a group of soldiers across the river and then return for another group. All of this was taking place under the watchful eye of the British man-of-war, HMS Somerset, which lay at anchor in the river.

  Joseph, pent up with anxiety and frustration, paced his study.

  “Joseph, why are ya walking back and forth? It doesn’t seem to have a purpose,” Colm said.

  Despite his uneasiness, Joseph found Colm’s confusion endearing. “My friend, this is what we humans do when we have no outlet for our helplessness. Our friends, John and Samuel, are in danger, and I cannot deliver them relief. Where is William?”

  The possible seizure of rebel armaments in and around Concord was of secondary concern to Joseph. He knew that most of the weaponry was well hidden or moved out of Concord in the early weeks of April.

  Someone banged on Warren’s front door. William Dawes strode into the study.

  Joseph relayed the news to him. “You are to ride through the guard post on the Neck. I know you can convince them to let you pass. Take word to Seamus first; he is ready to deploy. Then ride on to Lexington to Reverend Clarke’s house to warn John and Samuel that the British regulars are on the move.”

  William asked Colm, “Are your men to go without you?”

  I need to be with them, Colm thought. But I won’t leave Joseph because Henry will go after him if he thinks I’m not protecting him. He said, “Aye, for now.”

  William supposed the archangel’s motives were none of his affair, but the idea of Colm’s absence from Lexington was unsettling. Henry may have already sent demons to kill John Hancock and Samuel Adams. He scolded himself for wasting precious time worrying about something he could not control.

  “Godspeed!” Joseph said to William as he departed.

  “Ya can’t let William bear the burden of reaching Lexington alone,” Colm said. “If he’s arrested or…worse, then ya have no backup plan.”

  Another knock on the door provided Joseph’s answer to Colm’s concern. Paul hurried into the study in answer to Joseph’s previous summons. Joseph instructed Paul to cross the Charles River to Charlestown and ride to Lexington with the same warning William was delivering.

  Like William, Paul wondered why Colm was lingering behind with Joseph instead of making haste to join his men.

  Nineteen

  Even at the late hour of near midnight, William was able to get past the guard post on Boston Neck by cajoling guards he knew from prior trips. He rode to the farm in Roxbury, dismounted, and banged on the farmhouse door.

  Jeremiah opened the door almost immediately and let William in.

  “If you’re here, it means the Brits is movin’,” Jeremiah said.

  The saltbox farmhouse quivered as six angels stampeded down the steps from above stairs.

  “They are crossing the Charles River to Cambridge,” William told Seamus. “Joseph wants us to get to Lexington and warn John and Samuel!” He gave Seamus a brief description of the village of Lexington.

  “We’re goin’ on foot,” Seamus said. “We’re ready, so go on now.”

  William ran out of the house to continue his ride.

  The angels slung muskets, cartridge boxes, canteens, and knapsacks over their heads and across their chests.

  Seamus paused to watch Liam. Liam didn’t hesitate to prepare, yet he has the most to lose if he’s attacked by a demon. We cain defend him, but if the demon is too strong…

  Jeremiah snapped Seamus out of his reverie. “I know what you’re thinkin’, and it’s scarin’ you. Colm punished Liam by leavin’ him unprotected and that scares me, too.”

  “As long as Colm ain’t with us, we’re all vulnerable,” Seamus said. He shoved his butcher knife in the waist of his breeches, and said, “Let’s get goin’.”

  In Boston, Paul went to the home of Robert Newman to alert him of the situation. The twenty-three-year-old married man, with two children and expecting a third, had to sneak out of his house through his bedroom window because British officers where quartered at his home. Paul and Robert had prearranged the lantern signal that would be hung in the steeple of Christ Church in the North End of Boston—if by land one, if by water two.

  It would be two lanterns. The signal would display for only a minute, long enough for the rebel leaders in Charlestown to observe the dim signal. It was also long enough for the British to notice it.

  After returning home to prepare for his ride, Paul hurried to Back Bay. Two friends rowed him to Charlestown across the Charles River where, unlike the crossing the British were traversing, it curved eastward and took advantage of the incoming tide.

  As Paul’s rowboat silently glided past the HMS Somerset, he wondered who the traitor was among his close-knit band of rebels, and what, if any, hand that person had in what was about to commence.

  Several men, including the rebel leader Colonel William Conant, met Paul on the shores of Charlestown. Paul told the waiting men what was happening, and that he was in need of a horse. A horse was secured and saddled and he was off to Lexington.

  Between midnight and one o’clock in the morning on April 19, Paul reached Lexington and Reverend Jonas Clarke’s house where John Hancock and Samuel Adams were sheltered. There were eight armed men stationed around the Clarke house due to a British patrol that had passed through Lexington around eight o’clock the night before. The sergeant in charge tried to intercept Paul as he approached the sleeping household, but Paul sidestepped him and pounded on the door.

  John threw open a bedroom window and looked out into the darkness. “Who is there?”

  “Let me in!” Paul hissed.

  Samuel and Reverend Clarke joined John in the living room while Paul swept through the front door. William Dawes arrived as Paul was issuing Joseph’s message.

  William said, “The ang…” He stopped himself from saying angels in front of Reverend Clarke. “Seamus Cullen and his men are on the way.”

  John understood and said, “Where is Colm?”

  “He is with Joseph in Boston.”

  Paul and William could not linger. They left immediately to ride west toward Concord to spread the alarm that the British regulars were on the march.

  On the road, Paul and William encountered Dr. Samuel Prescott, returning from an evening with his fiancée, Lydia Mulliken, in Lexington. The three of them knocked on doors and spread the word. Midway between Lexington and Concord, Paul scouted the road ahead for British patrols while William and Samuel stopped at a large farmhouse to warn the residents.

  The bright moonlight shadowed the woods on either side of the road. Two British officers rode out from the shelter of the trees, surprising Paul.

  “We have been seen!” Paul shouted in warning to William and Samuel.

  Two more heavily armed regulars emerged from the shadows. The unarmed patriots’ only choice was to flee.

  Samuel thought of the underhanded attack on him and Michael at the meetinghouse the day of the Boston Massacre commemoration, and knew he could not hesitate. He urged his horse over a stone wall and escaped into the darkness of the woods.

  William was mounted on the slowest horse. He rode in the opposite direction until he found the shelter of an abandoned farmhouse.

  Paul attempted to outrun the British, but six more regulars blocked his path. He was taken prisoner along with three other rebels captured earlier in
the morning.

  An officer ordered Paul to dismount, and then asked him where he had come from and when.

  “I have ridden from Boston just hours ago,” Paul quipped.

  The officer was surprised that someone like this man had slipped out of Boston and had ridden this far. “What is your name?”

  “Paul Revere.”

  The officer nodded and said, “You are known.”

  “Well, you will not find what you are after whether that is men or arms,” Paul sneered. “I have warned the countryside all the way from Charlestown.”

  Another officer rode at Paul at a gallop. The officer identified himself as Major Edward Mitchell. He then held a pistol to Paul’s head and said, “You will answer my questions or I will blow your brains out.”

  After more detailed questioning, Major Mitchell ordered Paul to mount his horse. A regular took the reins, and Paul and the other captive rebels were led eastward. As they neared Lexington, the boom of a signal gun reverberated through the cold dawn air. Mitchell questioned Paul about the signal. Paul shrugged and repeated what he had already said twice before.

  Soon after, the bell at the meetinghouse on Lexington Green began to ring. One of the other rebels, Jonathan Loring, snapped at his captors, “The bell’s ringing, the town’s alarmed, and you are all dead men.”

  Major Mitchell and his regulars forced the rebels to dismount. One soldier drew his sword and cut the horses’ bridles and saddles off and drove the horses away. Major Mitchell’s patrol took Paul’s horse with them.

  Major Mitchell’s regulars were the patrol that had passed through Lexington the evening before. Rebels had followed his patrol and were subsequently captured. They were forced to walk back to Lexington along with Paul.

  Meanwhile, Samuel Prescott rode to Concord and sounded the alarm to arms along the way.

  At 2:00 a.m., after slogging through the wetlands of the Cambridge marshes, Colonel Francis Smith’s and Major John Pitcairn’s regulars reached the road to Lexington. The wetlands had not been the sole reason for their delay.