Kings Pinnacle

by Robert Gourley

  “YOUR WIFE?” shouted Robert and Hugh simultaneously, staring at Alex with their mouths agape and eyes wide open.

  “When were you planning on telling us that ye are married?” asked Hugh.

  “I thought I would wait and surprise you,” said the grinning Alex.

  “Weel, you’ve been a busy wee hare, haven’t ye laddie?” said Hugh with an exasperated look.

  “She is going to go with us to Fort Watauga, but she doesn’t know it yet,” said Alex.

  “That could prove to be very interesting,” said Robert, who usually didn’t have anything to say.

  * * * *

  Big Mike

  “I know you,” said the man who walked in from the warehouse with the underling that had gone to fetch him. “You’re Big Mike Finn who used to lead the dock workers here in Philadelphia.”

  “That’s right. What of it?” asked Big Mike, who hadn’t expected to be recognized and was shocked a bit by it. But he recovered quickly.

  “Nothing really, I heard that you quit the docks and joined the army,” said the warehouse straw boss.

  “I did, but that’s neither here nor there. Major Ruskin has sent me here to pick up Maggie, the girl you are holding, and take her with me back to the camp at Valley Forge,” said Big Mike.

  “He did, did he? How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” asked the boss.

  “Well, there’re three reasons, one of which is me telling you and another of which is Molly standing right here beside me. You know Molly, don’t you? She’s Maggie’s sister, and Major Ruskin sent her with me to pick up Maggie. And the third reason is this written order from Major Ruskin himself,” said Big Mike, pulling out from his coat pocket the order that Robert had forged.

  Big Mike handed the order to the warehouse straw boss. The man took the letter from Big Mike, walked over to sit in the chair behind the desk, and studied the order for a few minutes. Of course he knew Molly; they had held her for some time with her sister Maggie until Major Ruskin had taken Molly with him and left Maggie behind. He and all the men had had their fun with both Molly and Maggie. They were still having fun with Maggie and didn’t want to let her go. Both girls had been the prisoners of Samuel Ruskin and his men. Each of them had been forced to do anything that was asked of them, and to constantly satisfy any wishes that the men might have, under threat of harm to the other.

  “Do you mind if I check something on this order?” asked the straw boss.

  “You can check anything you like,” replied Big Mike.

  The man then reached down to open one of the desk drawers and pulled a few documents out of it. Big Mike thought he was comparing Robert’s forged Samuel Ruskin signature with some real Samuel Ruskin signatures on the documents that he had pulled from the desk. And in fact, he was.

  “This signature doesn’t look quite right,” said the straw boss with a frown.

  “Maybe you should come back to Valley Forge with me and the women and tell that to Major Ruskin,” replied Big Mike.

  “How about I hold you, Molly, and Maggie until Major Ruskin comes back and tells me what’s what,” said the straw boss as he reached for a pistol in the open desk drawer.

  Big Mike had anticipated the boss’s move to pick up the pistol and was faster drawing his own pistol. He opened his coat and pulled his pistol out of his belt quickly. He aimed it at the straw boss before the man had the chance to pull the pistol out of the desk drawer.

  “Hold on there, friend. Why don’t you just leave that pistol where it is right now? I don’t think the major would like very much if you shot me, and I’m kinda in a hurry right now,” said Big Mike as he casually cocked the flintlock of his pistol.

  “Why don’t you tell your friend here to go get Maggie?” said Big Mike as he waved the pistol toward the underling and then pointed the pistol back toward the boss.

  The boss hesitated for a few heartbeats and then took his hand off the pistol, stood up and nodded to the underling, who walked out of the room to get Maggie. Big Mike could taste the tension in the air. That was exactly how he wanted it as he sighted down the pistol toward the boss. Big Mike was a battle-hardened member of the Continental Army, a veteran of several engagements. He had no problem pointing a pistol at a soft town man and pulling the trigger.

  “There’s no reason to get hasty with that there pistol,” said the straw boss, holding up his hands and waving them in a backing off motion.

  “I don’t intend to unless you have other ideas about keeping me from doing the job that Major Ruskin ordered me to do,” said the steely-eyed Big Mike.

  The underling soon reappeared in the office holding Maggie by the arm. As soon as she saw Molly, she broke free of his grasp and ran into Molly’s arms as the two sisters hugged and sobbed softly. Big Mike motioned with the pistol for the underling to move over beside the boss.

  “There’re two of us, and you’ve only got one ball in that pistol,” said the straw boss, pointing at the pistol.

  “That may be true, but you will be first to die if you try anything,” replied Big Mike.

  “Let’s get out of here,” said Big Mike to the two women.

  It was a standoff, so Big Mike and the two women walked toward the office door. Big Mike was in the rear, walking backwards, all the while pointing the pistol at the two men. As Big Mike reached the door, the straw boss made a desperate grab for the pistol in the drawer. Big Mike had expected it and fired a shot into the man’s chest. The warehouse straw boss fell to the floor, clutching his chest. Big Mike used the distraction of the shot to cover the few steps between him and the straw boss’s underling. He struck the underling over the head with the empty pistol barrel as the man looked down at his fallen superior. The blow knocked the underling unconscious and he collapsed to the floor beside his boss.

  “Well, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you two gentlemen. I’ll let Major Ruskin know how cooperative you’ve been,” said Big Mike to no one who was listening to him.

  He closed the office door behind him and hurried off with the two women. Big Mike put the pistol back into his belt as he and the two women left at a fast walk, away from the warehouse and docks. They hoped that the pistol shot would go unnoticed and not bring anyone right away. They didn’t hesitate and immediately found the road out of Philadelphia, walking as fast as they could without attracting attention.

  Before they approached the sentries, Big Mike asked Maggie to hide his pistol again, which she did as before. They slowed to a casual walk as they approached the sentries. Luck was with them, and the sentries had been changed since they had entered the city. When they had passed the soldiers at the check point and were safely out of sight, they ran for some distance away from Philadelphia. Then, when they were certain that there was no pursuit, they slowed to a walk as they set out on the road to make their way back toward Valley Forge, where the Continental Army was camped for the winter.

  Big Mike had not thought about it before, but as he looked at the two women, he was amazed at how much they looked alike.

  “I didn’t realize how much you two favored each other,” said Big Mike to Molly and Maggie.

  “Of course we do; we’re twins, Mike,” answered Molly.

  “Maybe it’s time for introductions. My Christian name is Mary Ludwig and this is my sister Margaret Ludwig. You can call us Molly and Maggie. Everyone else does,” said Molly as she took Big Mike’s arm with one hand and Maggie’s hand with the other and continued to walk toward Valley Forge.

  * * * *

  * * * *

  Kings Pinnacle Part 5

  Alex

  “Martha Kelly, I’d like you to meet my two older brothers, Robert and Hugh,” said Alex as he motioned toward his two brothers standing beside him.

  “It’s nice to meet you at last. Alex has told me so much about you,” said Martha.

  Martha gave Robert and Hugh each a hug and then backed off to stand beside Alex while still looking at Robert and Hugh. Robert and Hugh both h
ad to bend down quite a bit to hug the tiny Martha who stood only a little over five feet tall.

  “Aye, we deny everything that this skinny runt of a March Hare has said about us. But yer a bonny wee lass and from what Alex has told us, yer a good match for him,” said Hugh, smiling at Martha and pointing at Alex.

  “Welcome to the Mackenzie family,” said Robert with a grin as he raked his left hand through his hair to smooth it back, momentarily exposing his battle scar from Breeds Hill. The gesture reminded Martha of the same one Alex used constantly.

  The brothers had ridden southwest from Valley Forge to find The Great Wagon Road. They had then followed the same road Alex had taken when he first arrived in America. The road went west through Lancaster and then west southwest to York, Pennsylvania. They had followed the trail further southwest to Gettysburg and finally across the first Blue Ridge mountain range to Hagerstown and Williamsport, where Martha was waiting for Alex. The plan Alex had devised was to resupply in Williamsport, collect Martha, and then travel southwest as soon as possible. They would continue following The Great Wagon Road further south, on its way to Georgia.

  The proposed route led from Williamsport to Winchester, Virginia. Beyond Winchester, the trail could only be traversed via horseback, since it was too rough and narrow for wagons. At Winchester the trail changed names and was called The Great Warrior’s Trail. The Great Warrior’s Trail led all the way south through Virginia to the North Carolina border, where The Great Wagon Road again changed names and became The Carolina Road, which would run all the way to Augusta, Georgia.

  Alex planned to follow The Great Warrior’s Trail as far south as Big Lick. At Big Lick, Alex and his party intended to turn off the trail and follow a western trail that would eventually lead to The Wilderness Road that began at Fort Patrick Henry. This trail ran west southwest from Big Lick toward Shelby’s Fort on the Virginia and North Carolina border and then further southwest to Fort Patrick Henry. From there, a trail that ran south along the banks of the south fork of the Holston and the Watauga Rivers would lead them to Fort Watauga, located at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River.

  The trail from Big Lick to Fort Watauga was very lightly traveled and very dangerous. In 1775, a longhunter named Daniel Boone had been hired by the Transylvania Company, a trading company made up of prominent North Carolinians, to cut a trail from Fort Patrick Henry west through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. This trail was called The Wilderness Road. The trading company had purchased the land along the trail from the Cherokee tribes that claimed ownership of the land. The entire route from Big Lick to the western frontier cut right through the heart of the Cherokee territory.

  A band of Cherokees who had violently objected to the sale of their land to the Transylvania Company, and subsequently to the settlers who followed, separated from the Cherokee nation. They formed a new tribe called the Chickamauga tribe. A Chickamauga chief named Dragging Canoe made constant attacks against the settlers. He and his band sided with the British against the colonists in the Revolutionary War, as did all the Cherokee affiliated tribes that made up the Cherokee nation. The British armed the Cherokee warriors with rifles and a large number of other weapons to fight the settlers.

  It would take Alex and his party at least two months to travel the more than five hundred miles from Williamsport to Fort Watauga. Martha had already renewed her acquaintance with the Longhunter, Alexander Glendenning and had met Jonas Dunne and his partner Clem Jackson for the first time. She finally said goodbye to her uncle and aunt at the dry goods store in Williamsport and packed her few belonging, saddling up to ride south with the men.

  When Martha walked out of the dry goods store to mount the roan pony she would ride on the trip, she was wearing buckskin trousers and moccasin boots that laced up to just below her knees. She also sported a tightly woven cotton shirt tucked neatly into her trousers. Her long brown hair was tied back and plaited into a braid, the end of which was tied with a leather strip. Her possessions, which consisted of only a few clothes and personal items, were stowed on the pack horses. These animals carried all the supplies that the party would need to camp, hunt, cook, and travel across the wilderness.

  * * * *

  Captain Ferguson

  “Captain Ferguson, I would like to introduce you to Sir Henry Clinton,” said General Howe. “I have resigned the command of the British Army in the colonies and have been ordered to return to England. General Sir Henry Clinton will be my replacement in command of the British Army here.”

  “It is indeed an honor to meet you, sir, and congratulations on your advancement,” said Captain Ferguson, bowing to General Clinton.

  “Captain, I understand that you have done a fine job recovering from the devastating battle wound that you sustained during our Chadds Ford victory that was part of the Philadelphia campaign. But our position here in Philadelphia has now become untenable ever since the damned French have cast their lot with the colonists. As you know, our forces in the colonies have been greatly depleted. Since we have been supplying troops to the West Indies, we don’t have enough men now to even defend Philadelphia. We do not have the naval transports necessary to move the men to New York by sea. That is why I intend to march the British Army back to New York overland. We must reinforce New York to prevent a French attack there. I would like for you to take command of my light cavalry unit and scout ahead of the army during the journey to New York,” said General Clinton.

  “Sir, it would be an honor to serve the crown in that capacity,” formally replied Captain Ferguson who was very pleased with the assignment.

  After extensive preparations, the British troops evacuated Philadelphia and began the one hundred mile march from Philadelphia, across New Jersey, to New York. The main British Army consisted of about eleven thousand troops including British regulars, colonial loyalists, and Hessians. The baggage train that followed the troops extended for almost twelve miles behind the main body of troops.

  Captain Ferguson’s light cavalry unit skirmished with the Continental Army troops beginning at almost the first mile of the trip.

  “Sir, the rebels have burned some of the bridges on the trail ahead. My men have found some fords to cross the river, but it will delay our progress somewhat. We have also cleared some obstacles made from felled trees,” reported Captain Ferguson to General Clinton.

  “Very well. You have done excellent work, Captain Ferguson. We will follow your men to the ford and press on until we run out of daylight. Please continue to scout ahead, as I would like to reach Monmouth, New Jersey by midday,” said General Clinton, dismissing the captain to return to his duties.

  * * * *

  Alex

  It was an hour before daybreak when the warriors attacked the sleeping camp. It was a small group of Chickamauga warriors who carried out the raid, firing rifles and wielding tomahawks. Clem Jackson had been on watch when one of the Chickamauga warriors had crept up behind him as close as he could possibly get without alerting Clem. The warrior had fired an arrow into Clem’s back just prior to the attack. Clem had managed to fire his pistol just before he died, alerting the sleeping camp and saving the lives of all the others. Since they had been traveling in Cherokee territory, they had each been taking two hour watches during the night to prevent being taken unawares. They did not blame Clem for the raid. The warning shot that Clem had fired gave them enough time to escape from the camp and save their lives. But unfortunately, Clem Jackson had forfeited his life in the process.

  Alex, who was a light sleeper anyway, was instantly awake upon hearing Clem’s pistol shot. Alex reached for Slayer and his powder horn and satchel and grabbed Martha’s hand. He ran with her hand-in-hand away from the direction of the attack to escape into the trees. He and Martha circled around the camp in the dark and eventually met up with the others, who had also escaped the raid. Some had fought their way out of the camp. No one was badly wounded. There were a few scrapes and cuts that were quickly attended to, but nothing that would
slow anyone down in a fight.

  “Let’s counterattack the camp immediately and see if we can drive them out,” said Alex.

  They formed a skirmish line with Alex in the middle and Robert and Hugh on each side of him. The Longhunter was on the far right flank and Jonas was on the far left flank. Martha followed a short way behind Alex. As the skirmish line moved back toward the camp using the leap frog technique that Robert and Hugh had perfected earlier in the war, they took turns firing their rifles at the warriors who now occupied their camp and then stopping to reload. This tactic kept up a fairly steady rate of rifle fire toward the camp site. Soon the warriors occupying the camp came to the conclusion that it would be prudent to flee before they were killed by the steady musket fire. Alex and his party did not give chase as it soon became apparent that the braves would not return. Some of their supplies had been pilfered, but there was no permanent damage done. By the time they got everything reorganized, the sun was well up above the horizon.

  The warriors had gotten away with two of the horses but only a few of the supplies. The attack occurred a few days east of Shelby’s Fort, so the loss of the supplies and the two horses would not be a great hardship. But the loss of Clem was keenly felt by everyone. A long trip in close quarters created a bond among the travelers, and Clem would be sorely missed.

  Jonas took the loss of Clem very badly. They had been partners for many years. Jonas told the others that he would like to bury Clem by himself, without any help. The others respected his wish and let him accomplish the task alone.

  “We might as well get back on the trail. There’s nothing more we can do here,” said Alex, since it was now full daylight, and Jonas had returned to the camp from his heartbreaking task.

  “Jonas, why don’t you ride along with me this morning,” said the Longhunter, who was closer to both Jonas and Clem than anyone else in the group.