An Honorable Soldier in General Washington's Army: Chapter 7
by Tami B.
Disclaimer: The following work has been written solely for the enjoyment of fans and not for monetary profit. The rights to the characters initially created for the Daniel Boone series belong to 20th Century Fox and Fess Parker. All other characters are of the author's own creation. No copyright violation is intended.
Rebecca decided to give in to a moment's luxury - sitting in her rocker. It was probably a dreadful sin to bend to such desires, but resistance was futile. The children were in the care of their father who had taken them into the forest for another tracking lesson that really turned into a game of hide-and-seek. Adam had left at dawn to help the blacksmith. So she was left alone and treasured these moments when her responsibilities began and ended with herself. Rocking with her eyes closed, she sighed from pure pleasure.
The door opened with Adam appearing wearing a broad grin. "Mrs. Boone, I did it!" he proclaimed, tying his cartridge pouch to his rifle and leaning the ensemble against the wall and then proceeded to slam the door behind him. Turning, he took two quick steps towards her then stopped short and knew he had interrupted his hostess' privacy. "Oh, ah, Mrs. Boone, I'm so sorry."
"Whatever for, Adam?" Rebecca asked incredulously continuing to rock.
"I didn't think, ma'am. I just came barging in like I own the place and made enough noise to scare all the game out of Kentucky," he scolded himself. "Mrs. Boone, this is your home and I just treated it like..."
"Like it was your own, Adam?" Rebecca said, rising from her rocker.
Adam nodded, his broad grin turned into a sheepish smile. It was true what she said. He had become very comfortable here and enjoyed the Boone family immensely, but he was still a guest and must conduct himself accordingly.
"I promise you, Mrs. Boone, I'll not do that again. It was rude and disrespectful. I don't know what came over me to do that," he questioned himself.
"I do," she said with a laugh. "Israel."
"Israel?" Adam asked confused. "Israel's not even here."
"Yes, but his influence is," Rebecca explained. "Whenever Israel gets excited he will invariably shout and slam the door. I couldn't count the number of times I've told that boy to keep his voice down or close the door so it doesn't come off the hinges. It just stands to reason, Adam, that you have been tainted by my son."
Adam smiled. "Still, that doesn't excuse my rudeness. Blaming your little boy for my actions is wrong. I and only I must be held accountable for my actions."
"Are you sure you're only sixteen?" Rebecca asked rhetorically.
"Quite sure, and an honorable soldier in General Washington's army," Adam replied proudly.
"Yes, that and more. Now, how about giving me a hand cleaning this floor?" Rebecca asked, holding a bucket for water up before him.
"Glad to," Adam said, taking the bucket and heading for the well.
Before Adam reached the door, four armed men charged in aiming their rifles at the two occupants. Adam swung the bucket at the man closest to him. The blow to the man's head was so hard that the bucket shattered. Adam raced for the man's rifle but was tackled and pinned to the floor by the two other men. Struggling to free himself, Adam made no headway. The combined strength and weight of the two men were too much for the lean young man.
While Adam fought his battle, Rebecca was ensued in one of her own. She managed to get her rifle from its hook above the fireplace that she kept loaded. Not having time to aim, she fired a wild shot at the man coming after her. The ball scraped the man's neck. Undaunted, the man kept coming. Rebecca raised the rifle to use as a club but the man was able to snatch it from her on the downswing. Backing away from him, Rebecca desperately searched for some sort of weapon but there just wasn't anything. When the man was close enough, he tried leveling a fist to her face but she ducked out the way only to be struck from his other fist. She landed in a heap on the floor dazed.
"Sit the kid up," the leader said to his men. Grabbing Rebecca by her hair, he forced her to her feet. She complied, wincing in pain, seeing stars dance before her eyes, and not fully aware what was transpiring.
The other two men had Adam sitting up but he continued to fight them with nothing showing for his effort. "Let me go!" Adam demanded.
"In due time," the leader assured him. "Watch this, boy."
Adam directed his attention towards the leader of these thugs. He saw Rebecca, who bore bruising on her right cheek, and the leader holding her by her hair. Anger welled inside of him. "Let her go!" he shouted. How dare he treat her in such a manner, Adam thought
"Again in due time. But, first, a demonstration," the leader said, taking a knife from a sheath at his waist. The leader brought the knife across Rebecca's arm cutting it. She yelped in pain.
"Stop it!" Adam screamed, trying to free himself from the other two men.
"Boy, unless you cooperate I'll cut up the lady here a piece at a time while you watch. You got that?" the leader asked.
"I understand," Adam said through clenched teeth and ceased his struggles.
"Good. I knew you could be reasoned with," the leader said, roughly showing Rebecca to the rocker. "Let the kid up, boys. He's given his word. You did give your word, didn't you, boy?"
"Yes, my word. Just don't hurt her anymore," Adam requested as the men released him.
"That's up to you, boy. You do anything I don't like I'll take it out on her," the leader affirmed.
"What do you want?" Adam said, rising to his feet.
"The bounty on your head," the leader said succinctly.
Adam snorted. "There is no bounty on my head, you fool." Then Adam thought two of the men looked familiar but couldn't place them.
"Adam Markes, there's a hundred pound bounty for you which my boys and I will collect no doubt in a few days," the leader told him.
"Who would place a bounty on me? And how do you know who I am? And my name is Adam Liberty. Corporal Adam Liberty of the Continental Army," Adam said thinking this conversation outlandish. He was only a corporal not a influential leader of the Revolution.
"Your father's paying a bounty on you," the leader answered him ignoring the latter question.
The shock from the statement sent Adam staggering. His face paled and his heart raced. His father - his own father issued the bounty. Ridiculous, but it had to be true or these men wouldn't have come all the way to Kentucky to nab him.
"How did you know where I was?" Adam asked him.
"Your friend Joe, who deserted your army, told your father. He was paid ten pounds for the information. Nice friend you had," the leader said.
Burning with anger, Adam held his tongue and maintained control. The only thing keeping him in check was knowing he could risk nothing to endanger Rebecca. This was the worst day of his life. Rebecca injured by the ruffian leader, learning he had a bounty, and that his father was responsible for that, and finally, one of his friends betrayed his confidence. He had sworn Joe to secrecy before informing him he was bound for Boonesborough, Kentucky and would get to meet and serve with the great Daniel Boone on orders from General Washington himself. Apparently, Joe took that information to his father who in turn sent these bounty hunters.
"Enough talk. Let's get moving," the leader ordered. "Boy, you take care of the lady. Remember, you do anything and unpleasant things will happen to her."
"Leave her here," Adam suggested. "I give you my word I'll do as you ask all the way to New York. She's in no shape for travel after you nearly laid her face and arm open."
"No, with her along I know you won't give me any trouble. You'll make sure she doesn't slow us down or I will lay her face open," the leader promised sinisterly. "Get the lady and let's get out of here. Collins, you keep up or we'll leave you behind."
"I'm dressing her arm before we leave," Adam announced and then retrieved the bandages from the medicine box in the storage bin. He deduced that Collins was the one he hit in the head with the bucket. He didn't care about Collins. His main concern was Rebecca. How badly was she hurt? If she couldn't maintain pace, would the leader dispose of her? Adam would do everything in his power to keep her alive. As he quickly bound her arm, his fears were eased for her wound wasn't deep. However, her right cheek was slightly swollen and the bruise was darkening. It might even spread to her eye.
"Hurry up, boy!" the leader demanded.
"Mrs. Boone," Adam said gently, taking her uninjured arm. "We have to go."
Feeling revived now and completely aware, Rebecca rose from the rocker wordlessly and followed Adam's lead out the door and into the woods. What only Rebecca knew was that during Adam's conversation with the leader, she had etched Adam's name on the side of her rocker seat with her fingernail hoping Daniel would find it and know where they were headed - for New York.
Towards dusk, the Boones returned to their cabin with Mingo tagging along. Israel as usual ran ahead of the rest of them. He entered the cabin and emerged frantically. "Pa! Pa! Ma's not here and the cabin's messed up."
Daniel was instantly mobilized. Inside the cabin, he observed what was out of order. A broken bucket, the table askew, blood on the floor and Adam's rifle and cartridge pouch keeled over. Moving towards the fireplace, he noticed Rebecca's splintered rifle on the floor. He picked it up and took a sniff. "It's been recently fired," he announced.
Arriving at Rebecca's rocker, he saw splotches of blood there. He had an idea what had transpired.
"Pa, what happened? Where's Ma?" Jemima asked, coming to Daniel seeking comfort.
Daniel wrapped an arm around his daughter and held her close. "I'm not sure, Mima, but I intend to find out."
"Do you think Ma's hurt?" she continued, holding back tears.
"No way to know until I find your Ma. But I'll find her. I promise you that," Daniel said, wondering himself the condition of his wife's well-being. He assumed Adam was fine since the bounty couldn't be collected if harm came to the boy, but no such safeguard was in place for Rebecca.
Jemima smiled slightly. When her father made promises, he kept them. He would find Rebecca. She was confident he would.
"If anybody hurt my ma, I'll kill them!" Israel shouted, rounding the table and deliberately knocking the rocker on its side in his anger.
"Israel!" Jemima chided. "You could have broken Ma's chair." She moved to right it when she saw something on the side of the seat. "Pa, look! Could this be something important?"
Daniel peered at the etching and knew he had his answer. "Mingo, take a look at this."
Mingo who had taken it upon himself to stand guard at the door quickly made his way to rocker. There he saw Adam's name scrawled into it, assumedly by Rebecca. "Bounty hunters, for sure," Mingo said. "They came for Adam and took Rebecca as well."
Jemima and Israel stared at each other in amazement wondering how Mingo concluded all that from one little etching in a rocker.
"We better get after them," Daniel determined.
"Daniel, it'll be a moonless night. We could lose their tracks easily in the darkness," Mingo reasoned, "Might be better to start early tomorrow morning and might be faster in the long run."
Nodding, Daniel said, "Good idea, Mingo. We can't be sure they'll stick to the trail." Drawing his children close to him, he continued, "Young 'uns, we'll stay at the fort tonight and you'll stay there until I bring your Ma back."
"And Adam, too," Jemima requested.
Daniel gave a crooked smile. "Adam, too," he agreed. "This shouldn't take too long. They don't have that much of a lead on us. Probably don't know the area well. We should be back in a couple or three days." He hugged each of his children , quickly packed a few supplies, and lead them all to the fort.
Leaning her back against a tree, Rebecca felt every pain and ache that radiated from her feet to her head. Being bound hand and foot contributed to matters, but at least they were no longer on the move. They had traveled a long distance this day with Adam helping her along the way. She was amazed by how much ground they covered. She was grateful for the respite and intended to sleep as long as the bounty hunters would let them. That would prove a little difficult, as there was a chill in the air and no fire to keep them warm. Jackson, the leader of the bounty hunters, declared a cold camp in case Daniel was in pursuit. Rebecca knew he would be. It was only a matter of time before he caught up with them. She sought comfort in that.
There was a stirring in the camp as Adam and Collins returned from a nearby stream with filled canteens. "Took you long enough," Jackson told Collins.
"It's dark. I could hardly see where I was goin'," Collins complained.
"Ah, shut up and fill your belly with some jerky," Jackson ordered. "Boy, here's some for you and lady. Bon appetite."
"What generous portions," Adam said sarcastically, taking the food.
"Watch your tongue, boy. That was real close to getting your lady friend hurt again," Jackson warned.
The bounty hunters began talking among themselves sometimes getting loud which surprised Adam considering they thought they'd be followed. Taking a place beside Rebecca, he put all the jerky in her hand. "Supper. Bon appetite," he announced quietly. "Wonder where Jackson learned that. Probably some Frenchman he collected a bounty on."
"Perhaps," she said, eating the jerky. "Adam, aren't you eating?"
"Oh, sure," he answered as he faked eating. There wasn't enough food for one person so Adam decided to give it all to Rebecca and since it was so dark she most likely wouldn't notice. He took a drink of water then passed the canteen to Rebecca. "Mrs. Boone, how are you feeling?" Throughout the day the bruising and swelling on Rebecca's cheek had reached her eye as he predicted and it looked painful.
"I've been better. Just a little cold," she admitted but added nothing more.
"What an inconsiderate clod I am," Adam said, removing his jacket and placing it around Rebecca's shoulders.
"Adam, how will you stay warm? Please take back your jacket," Rebecca suggested.
"No, ma'am. You need it more than me. I assure you I'm warm enough," Adam told her, knowing the rage within him kept him heated.
His jacket was warm and Rebecca was grateful for it. Her comment about being cold wasn't intended to make him part with his jacket for the sake of her convenience. Had she thought before she spoke she wouldn't have mentioned her discomfort. It was too late for that now and no amount of goading would make him change his mind so she decided to accept his generous gift with gratitude. "Thank you," she said finally.
"You're very welcome," he replied
"So, what did you do at the blacksmith's today?" Rebecca asked.
"What?" he returned.
"Are you going deaf? Didn't you hear my question?" she answered his question with her own.
"I heard you," he explained. "I just couldn't believe you want to talk about trivial matters now."
"It wasn't trivial when you came home today. As I recall, you were quite excited," she continued.
"That was then. This is now," he stated angrily. "All I did was make stupid nails. That's it. Just nails."
"Adam, I know you're upset," Rebecca said soothingly. "Just don't lose heart. The Colonel will be coming for us."
"I counted on Colonel Boone coming for you, Mrs. Boone. I want you to know that I will go with these thugs back to New York gladly, if it means you're released without further harm. It was never my intention to bring these unfortunate circumstances on you or your family," Adam said regretfully.
"You have nothing to apologize for. This is all your father's doing," Rebecca explained. "If you want to blame someone, blame him."
"I do," Adam confirmed. "More than you could possibly imagine."
"And," Rebecca continued, "the colonel will be coming for both us. He'll not have you carted off to New York. His orders from General Washington were to ensure that doesn't happen."
"What orders?" Adam asked.
"Dan has orders from the general to protect you from bounty hunters. He didn't want you to know to spare you anguish," Rebecca replied.
Adam thought a moment considering how much the general valued him to conceive a scheme to keep him out of bounty hunters' clutches. His admiration for him soared to new heights. "At any rate, the colonel may have no choice in the matter, orders or no," Adam countered. "I'll not have you placed in jeopardy at my expense. I'm an honorable soldier in General Washington's army. If worse comes to worst, I go with the bounty hunters to New York and you'll go home to the colonel and your children and that's final."
"Adam, when you return to New York, it will be of your volition. I know my husband very well. When he gets here, he'll free both of us. You've become a special friend to the colonel and me. It's not just orders that will motivate him. He'll be acting out of loyalty. In his mind, there is no getting one without the other. There is no alternative plan. He will come for both of us and he will not fail," Rebecca assured him.
It was at that moment that Adam discovered what true friends he had in the Boones. He knew they wouldn't betray him as Joe did or sell him out for money. "Mrs. Boone, I don't deserve such kindness from you or anybody."
"Live with it because you're stuck with it," she replied in mock anger.
"Shut up your gabbin'," Jackson told them. "Better get some shuteye while you can. We move at first light. Boy, I'm going to tie you up. I'll sleep a lot better that way."
Adam allowed Jackson to bind him. It would do no good to protest. Jackson tied Adam's hands behind his back and did the same with Rebecca. Then he tied Adam's feet. "Both of you, lay on your sides facing away from each other," ordered Jackson. Both complied with their backs nearly touching. Jackson then bound their feet and hands to each other. "That should hold you for the night. Sweet dreams." Jackson laid down nearby.
"'Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.' Ecclesiastes." Adam quoted scripture as a comfort to himself and Rebecca. He looked to Daniel to complete the threefold. Despite his brave front, he wanted delivered from this circumstance. Their best hope of that was in Daniel.
"Good night, Adam," Rebecca said.
"Good night, Mrs. Boone," Adam said.
Both closed their eyes and were soon asleep hoping tomorrow would bring their rescue.
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