Kings Pinnacle

by Robert Gourley

  Robert and Hugh had separated from their two companions as soon as they had disposed of the military uniforms. They had found a place in the wilderness to camp and allow Hugh to heal and recover his health before they moved on. Hugh was a fast healer, and it wasn’t long before he was getting restless to move around. Robert had to threaten him with his life and almost tie him down until his collar bone was healed well enough for him to ride.

  As soon as Hugh could ride, they made their way via the back trails to the dense trees near their father’s house in Hathkirk. After receiving word where they were hidden, their father had joined them to discuss what they should do.

  “They’ll probably be looking for us in Portpatrick too,” said Robert. “We’ll have to figure a way to get across the Sheuch again without kicking up much notice, but they won’t be as thick there as they will be in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and the other large ports.”

  “Find Alex in America and look oot fer the lad,” said John with a tear in his eye because he knew that he probably would never see any of his three sons again after Robert and Hugh went to America. After many hugs and a few more tears, John said his goodbyes to Hugh and Robert and then walked out of the woods toward his home as the sun was dropping low in the west.

  The two brothers camped out for awhile longer in the woods near their father’s house so that Hugh could completely heal, and they could wind up their affairs as quietly as possible. It wasn’t long before they saddled up, said their final goodbyes to their father, friends and other family members, and set out for Portpatrick.

  There was constant danger on the trail that they would be spotted and captured while traveling to Portpatrick, so they rode at night and slept during the day. The trip was tiring at first, but soon they got their body clocks adjusted to the new sleeping schedule. Before long, the outskirts of Portpatrick appeared in the distance, bathed in morning sun. Prior to entering the town, Robert took a side trail that led them toward the south, off the main road they were following, as the sun continued to rise in the eastern sky. He stopped at a small stream-fed valley just to the east and a little south of the Portpatrick cattle pens.

  “Let’s hold up here and sleep today. I am beat. Tonight we can get up and about and do a little scouting,” said Robert as he dismounted Hack to help set up their camp and lay out their bedrolls.

  * * * *

  Alex

  “What do you think you’re doin’, laddie?” yelled the barrel-chested Irishman.

  Alex ignored the question and pretended that he hadn’t heard, even though the comment was obviously directed at him.

  “I said, what do you think you’re doin’?” repeated the big Irishman.

  Alex ignored the question again. The big Irishman sauntered over to where Alex was standing, near the bottom of the gangplank, in a line of young men waiting to unload a ship that had just docked in the harbor in Philadelphia. The Irishman walked up to Alex and stood with his nose an inch from Alex’s nose.

  “We already got enough men to unload this ship, and we don’t need you,” said the Irishman.

  “Who put you in charge?” replied Alex.

  “I’m Big Mike Finn, best man on the docks, and you better be gone before I get angry.”

  Alex had been loitering around at the docks since he had arrived in Philadelphia. He had finally walked down the gangplank of the Ocean Monarch after everyone else had already departed. But since he had nowhere to go, he stayed by the docks in hopes that something would turn up. He was attempting to get a job unloading ships, because he was running low on money. Alex had thought that this would be a good way to replenish his stash, but his plan didn’t look so good now.

  Philadelphia looked a great deal like any crowded English or European city. When William Penn had founded Philadelphia in 1701 with a written charter, he had designed the city using a grid plan that included wide streets and large lots. The lots had been designed with a building located in the middle of each one of them and yards and gardens all around the structure. He had wanted the city to look like a rural English village rather than a crowded, dirty city. He had also designed the city to have a port and government center along the Delaware River. But the residents hadn’t followed Penn’s plan. By the mid-1700s they had subdivided and resold their lots along the Delaware, so that it now looked a lot like any other crowded, dirty city.

  Alex had been homesick since he had arrived in America and he badly wanted to return to his family in Scotland. But he didn’t have nearly enough money for the passage back home. He also knew that a rope with a noose at the end of it, or a musket ball, was waiting for him back there. He had been sleeping in an old abandoned warehouse near the docks since he had arrived. Alex knew that the Irish lads had a monopoly on unloading ships at the docks and didn’t allow outsiders. But he was getting desperate and was worried about having enough money to buy something to eat.

  Big Mike Finn was the leader of the Irishmen who worked unloading and loading the ships at the dock. Mike wasn’t as big as Hugh, and as a matter of fact, he was a medium sized barrel-chested man with red hair and a red beard. All the Irishmen who worked the docks liked him, and his status increased through the force of his personality, to the point where he was their unelected leader. He just seemed bigger than his stature indicated, hence the name, Big Mike. Big Mike was protective of his men, and he didn’t tolerate outsiders. But Big Mike secretly had a heart of gold, especially where women were concerned. He didn’t really have anything against Alex personally. It was just that Alex wasn’t an Irishman and the Irish controlled the docks. There was only enough work for a few men, and they already had all the Irishmen they needed.

  As soon as Big Mike had yelled at him, Alex knew that he wasn’t going to get any work. So he stepped up even closer to the Irishman so that their noses were almost touching and said, “Maybe you’d better cool off.”

  Alex had slipped his foot behind Big Mike’s ankle while he was talking, and when he had finished speaking, Alex shoved Big Mike as hard as he could. Big Mike had his back to the ocean and the push caused him to trip so that he stumbled off the dock into the cold, dirty seawater.

  Big Mike bobbed up from the cold water, sputtering and yelled at the other Irishmen, “Get him!” pointing at Alex.

  Alex was already running as fast as a hare away from the docks before Big Mike had yelled at his crew. Alex had a huge lead, as usual, and it wasn’t long before he was so far ahead that the Irishmen chasing him gave up the pursuit.

  When the other men in line, waiting to unload the ship, were turned away from the ship watching Alex and his pursuers, two young women walked down the gangplank to depart from the ship. Big Mike had just climbed back up onto the pier out of the cold water and met them at the bottom of the gangplank.

  “Top o’ the morning to you, lassies,” said the soaking wet Mike, taking off his cap and bowing extravagantly to the two young women.

  The two young women giggled and smiled at Big Mike as they strolled off the dock and into the city. Their dresses were plain, but clean, and they had just arrived on the ship from Europe. The two young women were off to look for work in Philadelphia in order to make their way in the colonies. Molly and Maggie were both very beautiful and Big Mike never forgot a face.

  * * * *

  Robert and Hugh

  “Robber, do ye think it be dark enough to take a look see?” asked Hugh.

  Robert nodded.

  The two brothers mounted their horses and rode toward the cattle pens just south of Portpatrick. They let their noses guide them, just as they had done the first time they arrived in Portpatrick, and soon the smell of cattle was overpowering. After riding through the brush and circling around to the south of the pens, they tied up their horses to some bushes in a small clearing. Then they crawled up to a rise where they could lie flat and watch the activity in and around the cattle pens.

  After thirty minutes of watching, they decided that the only thing that was moving was a single night watchma
n who was riding a slow circuit around the pens and the ferry dock. Robert thought he recognized the man, but he wasn’t sure.

  “You stay put while I crawl down and look around,” Robert whispered to Hugh.

  Hugh nodded, and Robert crawled down the slope to get a closer look. When he got close enough, the moonlight revealed the shining insignia on the collar of the British Army uniform that the watchman was wearing. Robert realized that the horseman was not one of the regular night watchmen, but was in fact a British soldier. This was not what he had hoped for, since it meant that sailing on the cattle ferry to Ireland was going to be a problem. Robert stayed where he was and allowed the night watchman to pass. As he looked around, he saw two tents near the cattle pens, with a picket line of horses tied up behind them. The British military was evidently very interested in the cattle pens and the cattle ferry. Robert was worried that he and Hugh might not be taking the cattle ferry across the Sheuch as he had planned. As soon as the night watchman was on the far side of his circuit, Robert reversed his course and crawled back up to where Hugh was laying.

  “Soldiers,” whispered Robert.

  Hugh nodded, and they both moved back down the rise to the bushes where they had tied their horses.

  Robert decided that they would ride around a little further to the south and west of the cattle pens to see if he could find any other alternatives. Robert and Hugh tied up their horses again, and they both crawled closer to the cattle pens to a spot where they could lie flat and look at the pens. Robert told Hugh to wait for him while he explored closer to the pens to see if he could determine anything. He moved in a crouch as far as he could while the night watchman was furthest away from him. Then he dropped to the ground to crawl the rest of the way in.

  When Robert was crawling toward the pens, he got another idea and turned left, crawling toward the Sheuch. When he got to the beach, he stashed his boots under some rocks and brush and waded out into the water. As soon as he had waded out to where the water was deep enough, Robert swam north, parallel to the beach, toward the dock where the cattle ferry was tied up. The swim was only about a half mile, which took almost no effort for Robert. He turned a little east and swam up to the dock and the cattle ferry tied to it.

  The cattle ferry was secured by ropes to the dock for the night. Robert reached the ferry, where he found the end of a rope dangling in the water on the side toward the sea. He grasped the rope and used it to climb up the side and over the gunwale of the ferry. After creeping around and exploring the boat for a while, he finally found two of the drovers asleep on the weather side of the deck. He knew both men, so he decided to wake one of them up quietly. Crawling up to the man that he knew best, Robert put his hand over the man’s mouth. The startled man awoke immediately and attempted to cry out, but Robert’s hand muffled the cry.

  “Daniel, it’s me, Robert; don’t cry out,” Robert whispered in the man’s ear as he slowly took his hand away from his mouth.

  “Who?” asked Daniel.

  “Robert Mackenzie; please keep your voice down,” whispered Robert.

  “Aye, Robert. I haven’t seen ye in a while.”

  “I know. What are all the soldiers doing about?”

  “Looking for ye and yer brute of a brother,” whispered Daniel.

  “I was afraid that might be the case. Are the soldiers up in Portpatrick also?”

  “Aye, there’re everywhere as near as I can tell.”

  “Do you think there is any way Hugh and I can climb aboard the cattle ferry and hide in the hold to ride over the Sheuch when you leave in the morning?”

  “Nae, Robert. The soldiers always check the boat from stem to stern before we cast off. There’s no place we could hide ye two and guarantee that ye wouldn’t be found.”

  “Well, it was just a thought. Thanks for the information. Don’t tell anyone I was here.”

  “Good luck to ye and Hugh. I always liked ye two,” whispered Daniel as Robert disappeared over the side of the ferry and slipped silently into the water.

  The other drover never woke during the quiet conversation between Daniel and Robert, which made Robert feel better. There would only be one person who could tell tales about him rather than two. Robert retraced his swim by moonlight, crawled out of the water and found his boots. He walked in a crouch back to where Hugh was waiting and told him about his conversation with Daniel.

  “Weel Robber, what’s the new plan?” asked Hugh.

  “I’ll let ye know as soon as I figure it out,” answered Robert.

  * * * *

  * * * *

  Alex

  It hadn’t taken Alex very long to outrun the mob chasing him away from the docks in Philadelphia. He knew he could easily get away from them. But he also finally realized that he was never going to make his way in Philadelphia. He had no kin to rely on, and he didn’t know anyone who could help him get a start. So far, he hadn’t met many other Scots, and none who knew him or his family. As soon as he had lost his pursuers, he doubled back to the old, abandoned warehouse that had been his temporary home and gathered up his few belongings. He packed them in his rucksack and slung it over his shoulder. After he gathered up his rifle and powder horn and slid his dirk into his belt, he mentally said goodbye to Philadelphia and walked west until he left the town behind him.

  Alex knew that the land that was located closest to Philadelphia was already settled, and there were plenty of people to do all the work that needed doing. He thought that he might have better luck out west where all the land wasn’t already claimed and where there weren’t so many people to do all the work. He had heard talk on the docks and on the Ocean Monarch about the frontier and the hearty pioneers who were attempting to settle this wild land. So Alex lit out on The Great Wagon Road toward the American frontier wilderness and into its primeval forest.

  The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road or just The Great Wagon Road, as the settlers and pioneers called it, had started as a collection of old Indian and game trails that the Iroquois tribesmen and their predecessor tribes used for hunting and also for trading with the settlers around Philadelphia. These same tribesmen also used these trails to make war on the settlers from time to time.

  The initial segment of The Great Wagon Road was a flat trail running west northwest from Philadelphia to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At Lancaster, the trail turned slightly to the southwest towards York. It followed from York to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and then wound through a valley to cross the first Appalachian mountain range southwest of Gettysburg. Then the trail led southwest to Hagerstown, Maryland, just across the Pennsylvania/Maryland border. Southwest of Hagerstown, it crossed the Potomac River at Williamsport, Maryland where the Conococheague Creek flowed into the Potomac. An early settler named Evan Watkins operated a ferry there for people and livestock to cross the river. Thus, the ferry at Williamsport was called the Watkins Ferry.

  From Watkins Ferry, The Great Wagon Road followed valleys and river banks to Winchester, Virginia and then onward to the southwest. Eventually it ended in Augusta, Georgia. The entire trail covered a total distance of over seven hundred miles. The treaty of Lancaster in 1744 and some subsequent treaties between the settlers and the powerful Six Nations of the Iroquois allowed the settlers to use The Great Wagon Road. Thousands of English, Scots Irish, and Germanic settlers used the access provided by this trail to enter the interior of the continent and claim lands in the west.

  In the early 1770s, the trail was almost always traveled on foot or horseback, with the occasional small, two-wheeled wagon in tow. After the close of the American Revolution, settlers normally would depart from Philadelphia walking toward Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In Lancaster, they would purchase a Conestoga wagon, named after the Conestoga River or Conestoga Township, since the manufacture of these wagons was the major industry in and around Lancaster. But during the 1770s, The Great Wagon Road was fit for small wagons only as far as Winchester, Virginia. Beyond that point, it could only be traveled by horseback or on foot.
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  The trail west northwest from Philadelphia to Lancaster, Pennsylvania was straight and wide and Alex made good progress, since the walking was very easy on the flat ground. He had plenty of powder and shot and was able to hunt just off the trail to satisfy his hunger. Alex had planned on trading the excess game he collected along the trail with other travelers for the items that he needed for the trip.

  Late one evening after he had traveled past Lancaster, Alex killed a small deer, which would feed him for several days. Up and walking early the next day, he caught up with a family that was traveling in the same direction that he was going.

  “Guten Abend, junger mon,” said the young Prussian farmer when Alex overtook wagon that carried him and his family and was being pulled by a strong pair of oxen.

  “Good day to you, sir,” replied Alex.

  “Vat is das, dat du carry on your back,” asked the farmer.

  “I killed a deer a ways back and have saved two of the rear haunches to take with me on the trail.”

  “Vould du vant to trade for ein of zem?”

  “I would be happy to trade one of them with you. What grains or beans do you have?”

  And so Alex was able to acquire some beans and peas to give some needed variety to his diet. The German family gave Alex a ride on their wagon’s rear gate as far as York, Pennsylvania, where the family took the trail north toward Harrisburg. They had a number of relatives and friends who had settled in that area, and they had already acquired some farm land for themselves near there. The little Pennsylvania Deutsch family was well on its way to making a new life in America. Alex envied them.

  “Auf Wiedersehen,” said the farmer as he and his family parted company with Alex.

  “Good bye, sir; I enjoyed meeting you and your family,” replied Alex.

  Beyond York, The Great Wagon Road was less well-traveled and the trail was quite a bit rougher. Alex was glad that he was on foot and not still riding in a wagon anymore, although a horse would have been much better and faster. But Alex was not in any particular hurry. He had nowhere to go, and he had nothing to do other than travel. He was fairly well-fed and healthy. “What else could I want?” Alex thought as he hiked along the trail.