Valley Forge

by David Garland

  Skoyles began to choke. He came out of his dream to find that Charles Lee was sitting astride him, trapping his arms under the blanket so that he could not move them. Strong hands were around Skoyles's throat. They slowly tightened.

  "Now, then, Captain Jamie Skoyles of the 24th Foot," he said with mocking politeness, "what are you really doing here?"

  CHAPTER NINE

  Taken completely by surprise, Skoyles was in a desperate situation. Charles Lee was a strong man, and he had a firm grip on his victim's throat. There was no doubting his ability or readiness to kill. He released the pressure slightly so that Skoyles could actually speak.

  "I'm exactly who I say I am," gasped Skoyles.

  "Oh, I'm quite sure that you are. What I'm not so certain about is why you've been incarcerated here."

  "I told you. They're suspicious of me."

  "And so am I," snarled Lee. "With good reason, too. I don't trust you, Captain Skoyles."

  "Everything I said was the truth."

  "You told me what you thought I wanted to hear and, I admit, I was taken in at first. Then it occurred to me that you might have been put in here with me for a purpose."

  "Yes," said Skoyles. "They wanted me locked up."

  "If they don't believe your story, why not keep you in the jail on the Common? It seems strange to me that, of all the places they could have sent you, they chose here. Why did they do that?"

  "Ask them."

  "Was it to give you a chance to worm information out of me?"

  "No!"

  "How do I know that?"

  "Because I swear it."

  "With your life in danger, you'd swear to anything."

  He tightened his hold, but Skoyles was not going to be threatened again. His retaliation was swift and decisive. Putting all his energy into the move, he pushed himself up hard then twisted to one side, toppling his attacker and freeing his hands from the blankets. He was on Lee in a flash, grappling with him and rolling over on the floor. Now that he could fight on equal terms, Skoyles soon began to master his opponent. Lee was older, slower, and patently unused to a brawl. A year in captivity had made him indolent. Skoyles, by contrast, had been hardened in battle and toughened by constant exercise. His superior strength and fitness were self-evident. It was not long before Major General Charles Lee was pinned to the ground on his back with Skoyles's knees across his arms.

  "So that's why you're here," said Lee, breathing heavily. "They've paid you to murder me."

  "No, sir. I just want to prove that I'm on your side."

  "By wrestling me into submission?"

  "By showing you that I can get the upper hand, if I wish," said Skoyles coolly. "Now, I think we've had enough fighting for one night, don't you? I'll let you go on one condition—that you give me your word you won't try to strangle me again."

  Lee gave a dry laugh. "You're far more likely to strangle me."

  "Do I have your promise?"

  "You do, old chap," said Lee, relaxing. "Now, please get off me."

  "With pleasure, sir."

  Skoyles stood up, but he remained on the alert in case the other man tried to overpower him again. His caution was unnecessary. It soon became clear that Charles Lee had had enough. Shaken by the tussle, all that he wanted to do was to recover. He sat up and rubbed his arms. Skoyles lowered himself to his own mattress. Their eyes had become used to the darkness now. Lee stared at him with a new respect.

  "I'll wager that you've killed men before with your bare hands."

  "Only when I was forced to," said Skoyles.

  "I'm sorry that I mistrusted you, Captain."

  "I didn't ask to be put in here with you, sir, believe me. I would much rather have ridden on to Philadelphia. I stand far more chance of escape on the road. This place is like a citadel."

  "They guard me well," said Lee. "I take it as a compliment."

  "Then let me give you another compliment. When the word spread that the famous General Lee had been captured, cheers went up throughout the entire British army. It was felt that Washington had been deprived of his best tactician," said Skoyles with sincerity, "and it was a cause for celebration."

  "The man who caught me celebrated royally, I know that. In taking me from the battlefield, he seemed to think that he'd won the whole war. Do you know who the wretched fellow was?"

  "Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton."

  "A black-hearted fiend from the depths of hell."

  "Yes," agreed Skoyles. "He's not known for his tenderness."

  "He's a ruthless butcher."

  "Yet he spared your life."

  "Only because he thought I'd be more use to them alive than dead," said Lee bitterly. "I'm a trophy. They can display me like an animal in a cage." He snorted. "It was only by sheer luck that Tarleton caught me in the first place. I'd been careless. I was in a tavern without my usual bodyguards. The redcoats happened to ride up—God rot their guts!—and that was that. Since then, I've spent a year twiddling my thumbs in captivity."

  "You've had Rousseau and the other books."

  "But only one dog—and limited use of my manservant."

  "You'll have everything restored when America wins this war."

  "How can it do that without me?" Lee demanded.

  "You made it more difficult for them by being captured," Skoyles conceded, "but the Continentals are bound to win in the end by wearing the enemy down. Britain simply doesn't have an army big enough to subdue thirteen colonies."

  "Even that imbecile, General Howe, realizes that."

  "Then why does he not sue for peace?"

  "That's what he was ready to do," said Lee irritably. "His brother, Admiral Howe, was charged with initiating peace negotiations, and they wanted me to broker them. Nothing, alas, came of it. Since the brothers were uncertain of winning—fearing that the French might, in time, support us openly—I even took the trouble to show them how victory could be achieved in a mere two months."

  "Indeed?" Skoyles was startled. "And how was that?"

  "First, by severing the colonies along the line of the Hudson. Second, by sailing to Chesapeake Bay and cutting the southern colonies off. Third, by occupying Annapolis, Baltimore, and Alexandria."

  "You actually agreed to help the enemy?"

  "Of course not, man."

  "That's what it sounds like, sir."

  "I was trying to bring the conflict to an end so that we—the rebel army—could have peace with honor. I gave them no details about the size and disposition of our forces," he stressed, "and in urging them to disperse their men over a wide area, I was ensuring that there would be no major battle for us to fight. In a large-scale encounter, the British would always have the advantage."

  "Let me understand you aright," said Skoyles, wrestling with the implications of what he had just heard. "You advised the British?"

  "It was in our interest for me to do so."

  "By letting them win the war?"

  "By bringing it to an end in such a way that favorable terms could be offered to us. I loathe monarchy," Lee affirmed, "and I despise the way that King George has treated the colonies. On the other hand, I'm not entirely convinced that a republic is the ideal form of government."

  "But that's what you were fighting for—independence."

  "Yes, and a peace treaty of the kind that I envisaged would have guaranteed us a fair amount of independence."

  "A country is either independent or it is not."

  "You are just playing with words."

  "No," said Skoyles with passion, "there's a serious point at issue here. Thousands of men are ready to lay down their lives in the hope of creating a republic. You'll not find one who bears arms so that he can achieve what you call a fair amount of independence."

  "These things are relative, Captain Skoyles," said Lee blandly. "Nobody would be more delighted than me to see the British driven from these shores, and the thirteen colonies wrested from the tyrannical grasp of King George. But it may have to be done in
stages."

  "We must agree to differ."

  "The war has gone on too long. We need peace."

  "On our terms," Skoyles pressed. "American independence."

  Lee laughed. "And to think I questioned your sincerity," he said. "It's all too obvious which side you are on now."

  Skoyles was glad to have convinced him, but he was also troubled by the ardor with which he had spoken. Ideas that should have been anathema to a British soldier had come tumbling so naturally from his lips that he surprised himself. The discussion had roused him, but his sense of invigoration was tempered by unease.

  Lee yawned. "Is it safe for me to go to sleep now?"

  "I might ask the same of you, sir."

  "Oh, there's no danger from me, Captain."

  "I'm very glad to hear it."

  "You not only proved the stronger man in a fight, you showed me that you've got revolutionary blood in your veins." He pulled the blankets over him. "Good night, my friend."

  "One last thing, sir."

  "Yes?"

  "You spoke very slightingly to me of General Washington," Skoyles recalled. "I have more respect for him as a commander. Do not despair of him yet. Against all the odds, he might still lead us to victory."

  George Washington deployed his men with skill. They were ready for action. Heavy rain had dispelled the first snowfall at Valley Forge and left a quagmire in its wake. Instead of trudging through thick mud as they built their cabins, the soldiers were given a chance to close with the enemy and gain something even more precious than military victory. They could get food.

  Washington was ready for the British. Forewarned by intelligence from Philadelphia, he sent his men out in various directions, covering all districts where the British army was likely to forage. He gave strict orders that his troops were to watch and wait. It was important to let the redcoats round up what animals were available. Because they could pay for them in coin, rather than with fiduciary money issued by Congress, the redcoats would find farmers more ready to sell to them.

  The foraging expedition involved thousands of redcoats and, even though they divided into groups and set off in different directions, some detachments were still too large for the rebel soldiers to take on. Others, however, were not. One regiment of Continental soldiers lay in ambush for hours until they saw their opportunity. When the British troops were heading back toward Frankford with the supplies they had managed to acquire, the rebels fired on them from concealed positions, killing a few but wounding many more.

  To save their skins, the redcoats fled the field, and the delighted attackers were able to assess the day's haul—cattle, oxen, sheep, and hogs, together with dozens of squawking chickens, imprisoned in wicker baskets. They carried their booty back to Valley Forge as if they had just captured the colors of an enemy regiment. George Washington was the first to congratulate them on their success.

  "We'll be able to eat meat for a change," he observed.

  "Yes," said his adjutant, "and the beauty of it is that we did not have to pay a single penny for it. The British picked up the bill."

  "That contents me more than I can say. There are few things more pleasurable than sending bad tidings to General Howe."

  Elizabeth Rainham was perplexed. Now that she was in New York City, the main base of the British army, she ought to be feeling relieved and reassured. Instead, she was increasingly nervous and succumbed to moments of real fear whenever she reflected on the perils that she and Jamie Skoyles had come through. Events had happened so quickly that she had had no time to appreciate the full danger involved. Elizabeth had been borne along by a wild excitement such as she had never known before. Recollecting it all now, she saw how close to death they had come during their escape, and it left her thoroughly shaken.

  The city was a haven. It was not only the sight of so many red uniforms in the streets that rallied her. She had been taken in by Major Donald Wright and his wife, a delightful couple who had given her a room in their house in Queen Street and acquainted her with some of the luxuries she had not known for a long time. Elizabeth was able to take a bath and wash her hair. Because she and Georgina Wright were of the same age, height, and build, she was able to discard the soiled dress she had worn all the way from Cambridge and put on one that Mrs. Wright kindly lent her. To someone as fastidious as Elizabeth, it was a joy to return to a degree of normality. And yet those occasional shudders kept disturbing her. Safe at last, she now was haunted by her brush with terror.

  New York City had allowed her another indulgence. She had an opportunity to read again, to lose hour upon hour in the magic of a novel and be transported into an engaging fictional world. Elizabeth was halfway through her latest book that afternoon when she heard someone knock on the front door. Since both her hosts and the servants were out of the house, she went to answer the door herself and was thrilled to find that it was Jamie Skoyles. As soon as he stepped over the threshold, they embraced warmly. Elizabeth then conducted him into the parlor.

  "I did not expect you this early," she said.

  "There's been a change of plan."

  "You were due to call this evening when Major Wright and Georgina will be here."

  "That may not be possible," he told her. "I've been summoned to meet General Clinton to get my orders."

  "What sort of orders?"

  "I'm being sent to Philadelphia."

  "Oh, Jamie—no!"

  The thought of being separated from him jolted her. She flung herself into his arms and held him tight. Skoyles hugged her to him. Like Elizabeth, he had been able to wash off the grime of travel and put on clean apparel once more. Instead of being a nameless fugitive, he was Captain Jamie Skoyles again, wearing his uniform with pride and enjoying the privileges that came with his rank. One privilege of their escape, however, had had to be sacrificed, and it was a severe loss. Since they were not married, he had had to surrender Elizabeth to the care of Donald and Georgina Wright. Those precious days together on the run were behind them. Convention set them apart. Feeling her in his arms again, he realized how much he had missed their intimacy. Skoyles held her by the shoulders so that he could appraise her.

  "You should be happy for me, Elizabeth," he said.

  "Happy that you're going away?"

  "It's a form of promotion. General Clinton is very pleased with what I've been able to do since I've been here."

  "I want you to stay, Jamie."

  "I know, and part of me hates the idea of having to leave you behind. But I have the consolation of knowing that you are completely safe and staying with good friends. Besides," he went on, "Philadelphia is not all that far away. I'll be back in due course."

  "What if something should happen in the meantime?" she asked. "I'll be worried that you might get yourself injured or even killed."

  "There's little chance of that, Elizabeth. The Continental Army has gone off to winter quarters and we shan't see any major engagements until next spring."

  "Then why are you being sent to Philadelphia?"

  "I'll know the full details this evening."

  "When do you leave?"

  "At first light tomorrow."

  Elizabeth blenched. "Tomorrow? Why so soon?"

  "General Clinton must have a reason."

  "Does that mean this is the last time I shall see you, Jamie?"

  "Probably. But I'll send word of where I'll be. And we'll be able to keep in touch by letter." He glanced around. "Where's Major Wright?"

  "He and Georgina are visiting friends?"

  "What about the servants?"

  "I'm all alone in the house."

  Skoyles grinned. "Oh, no, you're not, Miss Rainham." He kissed her full on the lips. "I'm here as well."

  "I've missed you so much, Jamie," she said, clinging to him.

  "I know."

  "Have you missed me?"

  "Of course."

  "How much?"

  "Let's go upstairs," he said, easing her into the hallway.

  "
I asked you a question."

  "Then I'll give you an answer, Elizabeth."

  "When?"

  "Afterward."

  With an arm around her, he led her up the steps to her room.

  General Howe was almost apoplectic. As he paced up and down his office at the British headquarters in Philadelphia, his cheeks were red and he was grinding his teeth audibly. Coming to a halt, he turned on Hugh Orde with a face of thunder.

  "They stole our animals?" he said, subjecting the young lieutenant to a full glare. "British soldiers allowed the enemy to take food supplies for which we had paid?"

  "That is the report I received, general."

  "Zounds! This is insupportable! We have enough trouble feeding our army without provisioning theirs."

  "It was unfortunate, I grant you."

  "Unfortunate!"

  "But," said Orde quickly, anxious not to provoke him, "I have news that may help to take away the sour taste a little. General Clinton has sent a Captain Skoyles to us with the highest recommendation. The captain managed to escape from the Convention army that is being held at Cambridge and made his way to New York by land and sea."

  "A capable man, obviously. He'll be able to give us accurate information about the plight of General Burgoyne and his men."

  "He can do more than that, sir. General Clinton was so impressed with him that they locked him up with Charles Lee for a day. Captain Skoyles was able to persuade Lee that he was a rebel spy and, having won his confidence, drew all sorts of intelligence out of him."

  "Splendid," said Howe, rubbing his hands. "I long to hear it."

  "The captain is waiting outside."

  "Then send him in, man. I'll speak to him alone."

  The lieutenant nodded and opened the door. Inviting the visitor in, he first introduced him to General Howe, then left. The general studied the newcomer. Back in uniform, Jamie Skoyles had the assurance and military bearing of someone who had spent over half his life in the British army. Howe indicated a chair, then resumed his own seat behind the desk. Skoyles sat opposite him.