The Return of the Freedom Thief

by Mikki Sadil

  They reached the end of Main Street, and Ben slowed down. He looked around, and realized that the sounds of footsteps had stopped, but people everywhere were staring after him and Puck. After all, this was a business day, and both men and women were walking about, riding horses and in carriages down this street. They were not likely to ignore two young people running for their lives, apparently, with other men chasing after them.

  Ben pulled Puck into the shadows behind a storefront. They were both breathing hard, and Puck bent over, trying to catch her breath.

  After a moment or two, Ben said, “Puck, what is this? What happened back there? You were supposed to be serving tables and washing dishes. Who was chasing you, and why?”

  She leaned back against the wall of the building, still trying to breathe normally. “I was serving this one table. It had a lot of soldiers sitting there, and they were talking about what was going on in their camp. I was trying to listen to them, and remember everything. When I went back to the kitchen, I got a pencil and a piece of paper, and I was writing down some stuff. One of the soldiers followed me. He grabbed me around the waist and turned me around to face him. I reckon he was thinking on kissing me, but he scared me and I dropped the paper. He reached down to pick it up, but I kicked him and tried to grab it myself. It got torn, so he dropped it and yanked me out of the kitchen.”

  She paused to take a deep breath, and Ben saw the panic come back on her face. “Ben, that Lieutenant you were with? He was lying to you about his men being recruits who didn’t know anything. These soldiers were talking about a battle they had been in, some place called Bull Run, and how they had chased the Union soldiers away. They are planning on attacking the Union camp at a place called Custer’s Creek. The Confederates have some new kind of cannon that the Union boys don’t have. The soldiers said this cannon can take out dozens of men at a time. And they all know how to use it. They were talking about how long they’ve been here, and how hard they’ve all had to work to learn about this cannon.”

  Ben took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “So the Lieutenant wanted me to plant bad information in the newspaper and take it to the Union camp. But if he thought that would make the Federals run, why would he be planning to attack them? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Yes, it does. He…”

  Puck was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder, as Glory came up behind them. Neither of them had heard her approach.

  She shook her head at them, and said softly, “Come with me. I gotta place you can rest for a while. You’ll be safe for now, but you gotta get outta town. Them soldiers aren’t going to quit looking for you, girlie.”

  She led them behind a row of buildings to a small shed at the far end of town. She took a key out of a pocket in her apron, unlocked the door, and motioned for them to get inside. She handed the key to Ben. “Here, take this and lock the door behind me. Help yourself to whatever’s here you need, and rest up. Stay here ‘til dark, then you hightail it outta town. Lock the door, put the key under the big rock off to the side. I’ll get it later. You best be gone when I get back.”

  Glory pulled out some coins from another pocket, and handed them to Puck. “Nobody works for me for free, so here’s something for your service. Next time you work, girlie, be more careful. You be too obvious for them soldiers. Oh, lantern and matches be there on the cabinet to the right. Keep it low, or people see it from outside.”

  She nodded to them both, and left the shed, not giving either one a chance to talk.

  Ben locked the door after she left, as Puck headed for the lantern. Before she could light it, they heard loud voices from outside.

  “Hey, Glory, you seen that girl from this morning? We need to find her, and quick.”

  “You mean the new one? Naw, I ain’t seen her, and hope I never do. She run outta my place like her tail’s on fire, took one of my waiter-girl dresses with her. You see her, get that dress back to me, but it better be whole, you hear? You tear that dress, you gonna pay for it.”

  “Yeah, sure, Glory. Sure it gonna be whole, no tears in it. Right, boys?”

  Hoarse laughter followed. “Yeah, sure, it won’t have no tears!”

  The voices and footsteps faded away, and Puck lit the lantern. She turned it up just enough to see around the darkened shed, which was stacked with sacks of flour, sugar, and coffee. Barrels of beans and rice sat around the walls, with crates of fruit and vegetables put up in glass jars in front of them. Under the one window lay a couple of worn mattresses, with several thin blankets on top. She unfastened the dress she had on, took it off, and sat down on one of the mattresses, and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.

  Ben stared at her. “You put that dress on over all your own clothes?”

  “Yeah, all the dresses Glory had were way too big for me. Besides, I didn’t want to take off my clothes. I don’t like dresses, anyway. Ben, listen. The soldiers are leaving in a couple of days to attack the Union camp. They figure if the Union men think they’re outmanned they’ll be ready to pack up and run. So there won’t be hardly any resistance to the Confederates coming in on them. That’s why that Lieutenant wanted you to plant false information in the newspaper.”

  “What else did you find out?” Ben was still standing close to the door of the shed, as though he were listening for something.

  “I don’t remember much else. That’s why I was trying to write everything down, but then that soldier got hold of the paper. Why are you standing over there?”

  He was impatient. “Because I’m listening. The soldiers left too quickly after they talked to Glory. I reckon they might be coming back here looking for you.”

  No sooner than the words were out of his mouth, the sound of quick footsteps and loud voices again came through the shed’s thin walls.

  “Aw, Sarge, what’re we doing now? Glory said she ain’t seen that girl.”

  “Yeah, but Glory’s got a soft heart, and I aim to find out what’s in this here shed. It just might hold us a surprise, ya know?”

  The sound of blunt blows told Ben the men were trying to break the door in. He knew it wasn’t strong enough to withstand many, and he could see it was already wobbling on its hinges. He grabbed the lantern in one hand, and Puck’s hand in the other, pulling her roughly off the mattress. “Stay behind me, and when the door opens, run!”

  A moment later, the door began to splinter. Ben turned up the lantern as high as it would go. As the door crashed inward, the men rushed inside. Ben threw the lantern at them as hard as he could, and he and Puck raced past them into the street.

  Screams and curses came from behind them, as several of the soldiers’ clothes caught on fire from the lantern oil. They raced down the street, heading towards Caleb’s Corral where the horses were stabled. Ben led Puck behind one shop building after another, alternating between the shops and the open streets. He was hoping if the men were still able to chase them, after putting the fire in the clothes out, they would not be able to follow them. At least, not directly. The sooner he and Puck could get on their horses and get out of town, the more chance they had of escaping the Confederates altogether.

  When they reached the corral, they were both gasping for breath. Caleb had loosened the cinches on both horses, but had not removed the saddles, which he had said he would do. This time, Ben was very glad he hadn’t. They quickly tightened the cinches, adjusted the bridles and reins, and Ben checked both bedrolls and saddle bags. Nothing was amiss. He and Puck swung into their saddles and turned the horses to leave the corral…only to be confronted by four of the Confederate soldiers who had been chasing them. Now, they were standing perfectly still, with their pistols pointed directly at Ben and Puck.

  “We meet again, ain’t that right, little lady? Now, I recollect you didn’t want me to see whatever it was you was writin’ down on that piece of paper. That warn’t very neighborly, was it? You gotta pay for doin’ things like that, so youse learn what the rules are. And the rules here are,” the soldier reache
d up and yanked Puck off her horse. “The rules are you do what I say and when I say it, and you don’t do no fussin’, either.”

  He threw her down on the ground and stood over her, gun still drawn.

  The Sergeant and the other two men were watching Ben carefully. They had not holstered their weapons, either. Ben sat silently. He stared at the men, but didn’t dismount. He noticed that all four men had burned areas on their uniforms, although none seemed to have received injuries.

  At last, the Sergeant spoke. “You must think you’re some kind of hard case, throwing that lantern at us. We got some burns on our uniforms, but as you can see, it didn’t stop us none. Now you get down off that horse, or I’ll drag you off.”

  Ben didn’t move. He stared at the Sergeant, not speaking. When the man made a move to grab him, Ben twisted sideways in the saddle, and booted him in the belly with his leg still in the stirrup. “Look, mister, I don’t know what you want, but my sister and I haven’t done anything wrong. If you don’t tell that jackanapes to let her up off the ground, I’ll do it myself.”

  The Sergeant had doubled over from the kick, but now he stood upright and glared at Ben. “What the Sam Hill you think you’re doing? You’ve got three weapons pointed at you, and you think you can give us orders? What’s wrong with you, kid?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with me, Sergeant. We’re Confederates, just like you, and I don’t see why you’re chasing us. Are you going to shoot me, or my sister? How you going to explain that to the Lieutenant, who wanted us to come out to your camp with him?”

  The soldier who had thrown Puck on the ground reluctantly held out his hand to help her up, while saying, “Hey, Sarge, the kid’s right. The Lieutenant bought him and the girl breakfast today, and I heard him tell the kid to ride out to camp.”

  “Fine. What about that note you took away from the girl? Did you save it? We can give it to the Lieutenant when we take these two in.”

  The soldier was red-faced. Sheepishly, he said, “Uh, well, that note…un, it got tore up some. This little minx wasn’t gonna let me have it. I don’t know ‘xactly what were in it. I just figured she shouldn’t be writin’ nothing ‘bout us.”

  Disgusted, the Sergeant put away his weapon and instructed the others to do the same. “So, Johnson, you don’t know what was in the note…she coulda been writing down a dang recipe, for all you know. Right?”

  “Uh, yeah, I reckon so. But if that was all it was, how come she run away?”

  “You looked in the mirror lately? With that mug, any female gonna run away.”

  The Sergeant turned to Ben. “I’ve got no call to keep you, so get on your way. But I see you again, things don’t go so well, you understand?”

  Ben nodded. Puck threw herself back onto her saddle, and yanked the reins away from the soldier holding them. She glared at the one who had pulled her off, slapped the reins against Bandit’s neck, and trotted off. Ben followed, without another word to the Confederate soldiers. They kept going for a short while before Ben stopped.

  “What’s wrong, why are you stopping?”

  “Because I have an idea. Let’s see if we can find out where the soldiers went.”

  “Ben, have you lost your buttons? Let’s just get out of here before we get caught again.”

  He grinned. “We’re not going to get caught again. Look back down the street. See all those horses tied up at that hitching rail? Come on, I’ll show you what we’re going to do.”

  He turned Socks and started back down the street. It was close to noon, now, and the town was busier than ever. Puck followed him, reluctantly. They walked the horses slowly down to where Ben had seen the group of horses, which happened to be in front of a saloon and eatery. As they drew closer, they could hear raucous laughter and loud talk. The horses all had the saddle blankets of the Confederate Army. What they also had were the rifles and pistols of each soldier, stashed in the scabbards.

  Ben dismounted and handed the reins to Puck. “Just stand there and be quiet. This’ll be over in just a minute.”

  He went to each horse, and removed the weapons, laying them on the ground. Taking the bedroll from one of the saddles, he placed all the weapons in it, rolled it up, and managed to hand it up to Puck. “Hold this, I’m almost through. Don’t let any of the guns fall out.”

  Puck balanced it on the front of the saddle. It was very heavy with five rifles and five pistols in it. She started to complain to Ben, when she saw what he was doing next, and had to stifle a giggle. Ben was loosening the cinch of each saddle, and unfastening each bridle. When the soldiers came out, they would have a very difficult time stepping into their saddles, as each would end up on the ground. With unfastened bridles, and the saddles on the ground, the horses just might get spooked enough to bolt.

  When Ben finished this little chore, he remounted and took the bedroll from Puck. About that time, a laugh came from the boardwalk, and both froze. Two men were standing in front of the eatery, and had apparently been watching Ben the whole time.

  One of the men looked up at Ben, and said, “Good for you. About time those soldiers got their comeuppance.” He and the other man laughed again, and strode off.

  Ben gave a sigh of relief, and walked Socks down the street in the way they had come. As they passed the last storefront, Ben turned Socks down the short side street. In the middle was a large well, there for anyone to draw a drink for themselves or their horses. He rode up to it, and tossed the bedroll down the well. He waited until he heard the splash before he turned back to Puck.

  “Okay, now let’s get the heck out of here.”

  * * *

  They hadn’t ridden very far, when Ben drew Socks to a stop. “Dang it! I forgot I’m supposed to see some man before I leave here.”

  He rooted around in his pockets for the paper Major Murphey had given him.

  “What man, Ben? What for? We need to just get out of here, before those soldiers get more horses and come after us.” Puck’s bravado was missing from her voice.

  “I know, but maybe we’ll have better luck if we go see this man. Come on, let’s find, uh, it’s Maple Street.”

  Maple Street was the first one off of Main Street as they returned to the town. At the far end of Maple was a small, grey house surrounded by a white picket fence. The number on the gate was the one Ben was looking for.

  He handed the reins to Puck, slid out of the saddle, walked through the gate and knocked on the door. When a very short, rotund man, balding, and with eye glasses perched precariously on a bulbous nose answered, Ben was startled. Before he could speak, the man said, “Yes? And who might thee be?”

  Ben’s eyes flared in surprise. Not only was this man not someone Ben would take for a spy, he was also apparently a Quaker. Quakers seldom participated in legal or political matters. Certainly they would never be thought of as spies.

  The man was impatient. “Well? I asked thee a question. Don’t waste my time just standing there.”

  “I, I’m, uh, I’m sorry, sir. My name is Ben and…”

  “What is the password?”

  “Huh? Oh, right, the password. I reckon it’s, uh, ‘dingleberry.’ Sir.”

  The man nodded. “Quickly, take thy horses and tie them up at the back of the house. Come in the back door.” He shut the door in Ben’s face.

  * * *

  With both horses tied securely to a hitching rail at the back of the house, under several large trees which sheltered them from view from the street, Ben and Puck entered the house, and walked into a large kitchen. A young woman, dressed in the traditional long grey dress with a sparkling white apron, set two mugs of coffee down on a round kitchen table.

  “Set thee down and rest. My father will be here immediately.” She smiled at them, turned and left the kitchen.

  The man who had answered the door returned. He held out his hand. “Well, what is it thee has for me?”

  Ben took a folded sheet of paper out of his pocket. He handed it over. “I haven’t had
a chance to write anything else, but I do have some more information for you.” He went on to tell the man about the conversation he’d had with the Lieutenant, and then what Puck had overheard.

  The man turned to Puck. “Let’s hear it from the person involved. Young mistress, just what did thee hear?”

  She carefully explained what she had overheard: that the soldiers were not recruits, they had been in battle, and they all knew how to fire the new cannons in the artillery. Just the opposite of what the Lieutenant had told Ben.

  The man nodded thoughtfully. “Yep, that sounds about right. Them Rebels have been here a spell, and everyone in town has heard those new cannons being shot off. Not surprising they want the Federals to think the Rebs outman them, that makes them easy pickin’s for the Rebs. Now, young fella,” he turned back to Ben. “Here’s what I want thee to do. I’ll get this information up to the Union, I can get it there faster’n thee. But there’s another Union camp on up towards the end of the Virginny border, near where the Ohio and the Little Kanawha Rivers meet. Thee are gonna have to do some fancy travelin’ ‘cause there’ll be Rebs along the way. Thee might have to fix thyself a raft, and float the river for a while, even, just to get by the Confederates’ camps along the way.”

  He paused a minute, and looked over at Puck. “Well, sissy, then there is thee. Thee can’t be on this mission, thee will just have to stay here, I reckon, ‘cause…”

  Puck was having none of this conversation. She jumped up. “Hold on, there, mister. You don’t be telling me what I can and can’t do or where I can and can’t go. I’m with Ben, and I’m gonna stay with Ben. And that’s that.”

  He looked at her grimly. “No, young mistress, that is not that. If Ben gets caught, that’s one thing. Thee gets caught, that’s clearly another, and one thee won’t like one bit. Thee will stay here, or Ben and thee can go back to Kentucky. And that is that.”