American Challenge

by Susan Martins Miller

  The minutemen didn’t snap to orders with sharp attention like the redcoats on Boston Common. They didn’t move as one person to the officers’ orders. Kate wondered whether they even knew how poorly they compared to the redcoats. The men tramping through the crisp leaves beneath the bright blue sky were eagerly trying to follow commands, their eyes shining, their faces excited.

  “Why don’t they practice shooting?” Colin asked Larry.

  “Savin’ their bullets. With General Gage and his men raidin’ towns’ ammunition, we don’t dare waste any.”

  The longer Colin and Larry watched, the sadder Kate grew. Harry was part of Boston’s minutemen. Were they as poorly furnished and trained as these men? If a war started, what chance did Harry and the minutemen have against the redcoats?

  “I’m goin’ to join the minutemen,” Larry said, “soon’s my leg’s better.”

  “Do you have a gun?” Colin asked.

  “Only an old squirrel gun, but I can shoot with it.” Larry leaned back against the tree. “Shot lots of squirrels and rabbits and such. A man should be easy to hit.”

  Kate’s stomach turned over at the thought of shooting a man like he was wild game.

  When the practice was over, a boy carrying a large drum and a handful of men with fifes started playing “Yankee Doodle” and started across the green. The minutemen fell in behind them. They headed toward a large wooden building beside Buckman’s Tavern.

  Colin jumped up. “Where are they going?”

  “To the meeting house,” Larry said. “A Patriot minister will give them a sermon tellin’ them to fight bravely for God and their country.” He got slowly to his feet. “I’d like to be getting home, if you don’t mind.”

  Larry kept his word and took the cousins fishing at a stream that ran through his father’s property. It was the most fun Kate had had in a long time. When she and Colin headed back to Boston later that afternoon, a huge basket with sixty smelly perch sat between them on the floor of the carriage. Larry’s father and mother had also sent back pumpkins, corn, and flour for the doctor. “There’s barely room left for me,” Kate had told Larry with a grin.

  Colin didn’t forget the soldier at the gate. When they arrived there late that evening, he gave him a dozen fish. The soldier grinned from ear to ear as he piled the fish on the ground beside the gate, where they would lie until the soldier was off duty.

  “Remember that deserter we caught this afternoon?” the soldier asked, taking the last fish Colin handed him.

  Kate’s heart thumped so hard she could barely hear herself think. Why would the redcoat ask Colin about the deserter? Had he somehow learned Colin had slipped a secret message out of town right beneath his nose?

  Beside her, Colin gulped and wiped his hand on his breeches. “Sure, I remember. He was dressed like a farmer.”

  “They shot him this afternoon on the common.” The soldier grinned. “General Gage came out personally to tell me and the other guard here how well we’d done in capturing him.”

  “Congratulations,” Colin said in a shaky voice. “Good night, sir. Enjoy your fish.” He reached for the reins and slapped them lightly against the horse’s rump.

  Kate’s eyes were too blurry with tears for her to see the road ahead. Other redcoat deserters had been shot, but she hadn’t known who they were. She hadn’t seen them captured only a few feet from freedom. They hadn’t smiled at her and saved her dog.

  Suddenly, Kate pulled desperately on Colin’s arm. She was going to be sick.

  CHAPTER 10

  A Dangerous Mission

  Six weeks later, Kate gritted her teeth as she came through the door of Colin’s house. The first thing she heard was a voice she’d grown to dislike: Lieutenant Rand’s. She wondered for the hundredth time how Lieutenant Rand had been assigned to live in her uncle’s house!

  Winter was coming, and many British officers were staying in townspeople’s houses. Quartering, it was called. But why Lieutenant Rand of all people?

  Kate stepped softly past the parlor, where the officers were visiting, toward the kitchen. She caught a glimpse of the firelight and candlelight that gave the parlor a mellow glow, but the hallway was dark and shadowed. Until the officers had moved in, the family had saved scarce wood and candles by keeping the parlor closed. They visited by the kitchen fireplace instead. There the wood could be used for three things at once: It heated the room, heated food, and heated water for washing and chores. Now, though, they were forced to waste expensive fuel and light on the redcoats.

  “You there, lass!” Lieutenant Rand’s voice stopped her before she could reach the kitchen.

  Kate sighed and walked into the warm parlor. “Yes, sir?”

  “See that someone polishes my boots.”

  Kate’s cheeks grew hot. She pressed her lips hard together to keep from telling the officer to polish his own boots. Her uncle had warned them all to treat the officers like guests. “Yes, Lieutenant Rand,” she managed to say meekly. “I’ll tell my cousin.”

  “See he does a better job than he did last week.”

  “Yes, sir.” Kate looked at the other officer, who stood before the fireplace with his elbow on the mantel, frowning at Lieutenant Rand. “Shall I have Colin polish your boots, too, Lieutenant Andrews?”

  The senior officer smiled at her. “No, but it was kind of you to offer.”

  Kate nodded at both men and made her way back to the kitchen. At least Lieutenant Andrews acted kindly toward the family. Still, she liked having the officers in Colin’s home even less than she liked having them in her own. What if they found reason to arrest Uncle Jack or Harry?

  She knew the officers had taken over the bedchamber Harrison shared with his wife, Eliza, and their son, Paul. Now Harrison’s family used Colin’s bedchamber, and Colin slept on the high-backed wooden settle beside the kitchen fireplace.

  He tried not to complain about it. Officers were quartered all over town. Uncle Thomas had officers staying with him, and so did Kate’s family. But Kate knew how much it galled Colin to have to give up his room because of the redcoats.

  As Kate slipped into the warm kitchen, her aunt greeted her with a warm smile. “Ah, Kate, it’s always good to see you.” Kate knew the disagreement between her father and uncle pained her aunt. “Colin was just saying he was hoping you’d come by.”

  Kate glanced at her cousin where he sat whittling by the fire. “Want to take a stroll with me?” he asked, setting aside the knife.

  She nodded, wondering why Colin felt a sudden urge to walk around the chilly streets. But as soon as they were outside the kitchen door, Harry stepped out of a doorway across the street, as though he’d been standing there waiting for them.

  “Are you staying for supper, Kate?” Harry asked in a low voice.

  She nodded, wondering why he looked so serious.

  “I need to talk with you two.” Harry glanced at the house. “Make an excuse after the meal to slip out to the print shop.”

  Kate looked at the empty street and frowned. “Why not talk here?”

  “Walls have ears these days. And windows have eyes.”

  Colin nodded. And Kate realized that with the officers here, it wasn’t safe for them to talk about Patriot matters even in the street. She wondered what could be so important that they had to go somewhere tonight to talk. Could the Sons of Liberty have another spying assignment for them?

  A little later when she joined her aunt and uncle and cousins for the evening meal, she noticed that Susanna and Lieutenant Andrews were in the doorway between the parlor and hallway. Kate wondered why Susanna was smiling up at the British officer in that funny, sugary-sweet way with her cheeks all pink. Could Susanna like Lieutenant Andrews? Not just friendly-like, but as a woman likes a man? Could Susanna be falling in love with someone who wasn’t a Patriot?

  When they finished dinner, Lieutenant Rand pushed back his chair. “I’ll have a cup of tea in the parlor, Miss Susanna. See that it’s good English tea—none o
f your rebel Patriot brew.”

  Everyone stopped talking and stared at him. Finally Susanna stood. Her long red curls reflected the light from the few candles that burned on the table. “I’ll be glad to bring you tea, sir.” Her voice trembled. “But I’m afraid it will be raspberry leaf tea. We don’t serve English tea in this house. English tea has brought too much trouble to our town.”

  Lieutenant Rand threw down his napkin. “No lady in England would treat a guest like this!”

  “Lieutenant Rand!” Lieutenant Andrews sounded shocked.

  Uncle Jack leaped up. “Apologize to my daughter!”

  Lieutenant Rand snorted and ignored Uncle Jack’s demand.

  Susanna paid no attention. “Lieutenant Rand, in Boston, no gentleman asks for anything he knows his host is not able or willing to give.”

  Good for her! Kate thought, her hands clenched into fists beneath the table.

  Red color started at Lieutenant Rand’s neck and rushed up over his face to his wig. He turned to Lieutenant Andrews. “If anyone asks for me this evening, I’ll be at Dr. Milton’s.” He glared over his shoulder at Susanna. “The Miltons know how to treat their guests.” He stomped toward the door, his boots thunking against the floor.

  Harry gave Kate a strange look. “I didn’t know Lieutenant Rand knew your father.”

  Kate nodded. “Officers are quartered at my house, too. They use my father’s library in the evenings instead of going to the taverns like most soldiers.” She wrinkled her nose. “They expect us to wait on them, just like Lieutenant Rand.”

  “I apologize for our officers,” Lieutenant Andrews said. “I know it’s hard for people to have us living in their homes. Please remember that it’s hard for the officers, too. They’d rather be in their own homes with their own families back in England.”

  Susanna smiled at him. “Of course they would.”

  Kate wondered again how Susanna felt about the kind, good-looking young officer.

  A few minutes later, Kate, Colin, and Harry were headed toward the print shop, their cloaks wrapped tightly against the cold November wind whipping through Boston’s narrow streets. They had to watch where they were going, as the streetlights weren’t lit. The town had only had streetlights for a year and a half, and Kate had thought they were the most wonderful invention she’d ever seen. She liked watching the men climb their ladders each night with their oil cans to light the lamps. Now, though, the town couldn’t even use them. People couldn’t buy lamp oil when money was so tight.

  Kate wondered all the way to the printing shop what Harry would tell them. The redcoats they passed in the street reminded her why they had to be so cautious. A fourth of the people in Boston now were British soldiers. Many of the other people were Loyalists. Patriots had to be careful what they said everywhere.

  “Brrr! It’s almost as cold inside as out!” Colin rubbed his mittened hands together after entering the shop.

  Harry reached in his pocket for a flint to light a candle. The flint sparked and the candlewick flared. Its yellow flame gave a small circle of light but left most of the room with its press and piles of paper in dark shadows.

  “What do you have to tell us?” Kate couldn’t wait any longer.

  Harry hiked himself onto the wooden worktable beside the candle. “The Observers have another assignment for you two.”

  Kate’s heartbeat quickened, but Colin sounded calm as he said, “Do they want us to sneak more newspapers out of town?”

  “No. This is far more dangerous.”

  “What … what is it?”

  “A redcoat wants to desert. He needs help getting out of Boston.”

  Kate shivered. She remembered the deserter arrested at the Neck. “Deserters are killed if they’re caught.” Her voice trembled.

  “Yes.”

  “What happens to people who help them?” Colin asked, and his voice sounded shaky, too. “Prison. Still want to help us?”

  Kate took a deep breath. This was scarier than she’d thought it would be.

  “Yes,” Colin said. “But I don’t see how we can get anyone past the guards on the Neck in Uncle Firth’s carriage.”

  “You won’t need to. You just need to hide him for one night, give him different clothes to wear, and hide his uniform.”

  “Where can we hide him?” Kate asked. “Officers are living with both of us! Do you mean to hide him here in the print shop?”

  “No. The redcoats are watching this place too closely. We want you to hide him at the apothecary shop for a few hours.”

  Kate frowned. “The apothecary is full of officers and Loyalists. How could we hide him there? Father would never let us.”

  Harry smiled. “It’s like the hidden message in the newspaper. The best place to hide something or someone is in plain sight. No one will think it strange to see a soldier go into a Loyalist doctor’s place. Your father need never know. Now, here’s the plan.”

  CHAPTER 11

  The Deserter

  Kate was so excited she didn’t fall asleep until very late. She tossed and turned, trying to think where she could hide the deserter in the apothecary shop. How could she keep Father from finding out?

  When she finally did fall asleep, she dreamed she and Colin were standing in front of a redcoats’ firing squad! She woke up sweating.

  The next morning, Colin met her outside the apothecary shop with a burlap sack under his arm. “Is that your lunch?” she asked him, though she was pretty sure it wasn’t. She clutched her ankle-length cape over her warm quilted skirt to keep away the November chill.

  “That’s right,” he said. “I have an enormous hunger today. Comes from all those stingy meals we’ve been having. Want to see what I’ve got?”

  He held the top of the sack open so she could see the folded petticoats and woman’s gown and wig. Kate knew they were for the deserter. “Mmm,” she said, her eyes dancing. “It looks delicious.”

  All day, as Kate and Colin worked inside the apothecary, Harry’s plan was all Kate could think about. They didn’t know when the deserter would show up. He would have to watch closely for a chance to get away from the other redcoats without raising suspicion.

  Kate watched for the deserter all day. And all the next day. By the third day, she was beginning to wonder if the soldier would ever show up. But she forgot about him for hours at a time while she worked. Putting together the different medicines fascinated her.

  She tried to remember everything her father said about which plants healed what ailments. Someday, when she was grown up and all this Patriot and Loyalist business was somehow behind them, she was determined that she would be a healer. Even if she had to leave Boston and go live in some wilderness community far to the west. Maybe when she was older, she could find a midwife who would take her as a sort of apprentice.

  Her daydreams made the day go faster. By the time she and Colin were closing up the shop, it was long past candle-lighting time. Before they finished, the officers quartered with the Miltons came through the shop on their way to the house. Colin carried wood and started a fire for them in the library fireplace while one of the officers lit what seemed to Kate to be a wasteful number of candles.

  Kate had just gone back into the apothecary to bar the door when she heard a knock outside. She swung the door open. A redcoat with brown curly hair stood there. He wasn’t an officer. “Are you looking for the officers, sir?” Kate asked him.

  “No, I’m looking for a doctor. I’ve cut my hand.”

  “The doctor’s visiting patients. I’m his daughter. Come in. I’ll fetch my father’s apprentice.” She called Colin to come in from the library. Her cousin placed a tin lantern on a table and unwrapped the bloody cloth from the redcoat’s hand. Colin studied the wound in the light.

  “I was polishing my bayonet,” the redcoat said, “and it slipped. How bad is the cut?”

  “Not as bad as it looks,” Colin said. “Even though it bled a lot, it will be fine when the wound heals.”


  The man gave a large sigh of relief. “Good.” He set his hat on the table. “What are your names?”

  “Colin Lang. And this is my cousin, Kate Milton.” Colin started to go get clean bandages, but the soldier’s good hand clamped Colin’s shoulder and stopped him. Colin’s head jerked up in surprise.

  “God bless the Liberty Boys,” the man whispered.

  Kate blinked. That was the code Harry had said the deserter would use!

  The door into the Milton home swung open and Captain Ingles came in. He was a large, kind man, but Kate’s heart was beating so loudly in her ears that she could hardly think. Had the captain heard the code? No, he couldn’t have heard them from behind the thick door! The soldier had only whispered.

  Seeing the captain, the injured redcoat snapped to his feet in attention. The captain waved a pudgy hand. “Sit down. Heard the bells on the shop door ring when you came in.” He studied the soldier’s hand. “Nasty wound there.”

  “I looked for the troop’s doctor. When I couldn’t find him, I came here.”

  Colin stood up. “I can take care of it, sir.”

  The captain looked down his thick nose into Colin’s eyes. “I shouldn’t be surprised if you can. The doctor speaks highly of you, lad.”

  Colin grinned with pride. “Thank you, sir.”

  “Show the other officers to the library when they arrive, will you, miss? There’s a good lass.”

  When the library door shut behind the captain, Colin looked at Kate. She wondered what they should do next. Should she repeat the code, so the deserter would know he’d found the right place?

  But what if he wasn’t the deserter? What if the redcoats had found out about the plan and this man was here to trap them? Kate raised her eyebrows at Colin, trying to ask him silently what they should do next.