Butcher by Reputation
Chapter 1: On the Farm
On a fine, sunny afternoon, a few months after the war had ended, children played in the fields near Benjamin Martin's new home, as the slaves picked the cotton and harvested the crops. They weren't truly slaves; they claimed that their families worked the land by choice; and truth be told, the Martins did not approve of slave work. It was merely a requirement of the more wealthy households to have a slave, whether they wanted one or not.
Groups of children laughed among the workers, blowing around the freefalling puffs of cotton. One child, of about 7 years old, looked away from the group of children, into the distance. He had caught something moving out of the corner of his eye, and couldn't look away. He wanted to figure out what it was. Upon watching it move in the distance for a few more seconds, the realisation had hit him like a ton of bricks. He ran towards the Martin house, and Elsa; one of the workers; wondered what had gotten into him. She called out after him, but to no avail. The boy was frightened. It dawned on her what had him so scared, and she began to gather the children closer to her, much as a mother hen would when faced with a fox.
The boy ran up the stairs to the home, and ran inside, shouting, "Mr. Martin! Come quick! A rider is approaching from the north!"
Benjamin came to the boy's side, and knelt to his height, placing his hands on his shoulders. He spoke calmly, so he wouldn't frighten the young one, "Slow down, Isa, what is it?"
Isa calmed down, but only slightly, as he repeated, "A rider is approaching quickly from the north"
"Did you see him? What did he look like?"
Isa took a breath, and tried to remember what this rider was wearing. "Um…I could see a white shirt, and black riding pants…He was riding a brown…warhorse, I think"
The word, "warhorse" was all too familiar to Benjamin. Though the war may have been over, there was always another battle going on somewhere, where the colonists and the British that stayed after the war had disagreed. "You are certain it was a warhorse?" Benjamin needed the child to be as accurate as possible in delivering this information. If there was an armed British officer approaching, war or not, he had to be ready.
"Almost definite" Isa nodded.
Benjamin patted the young boy on the head, and said, "Stay inside the house" as he retreated downstairs to fetch his hatchet and a flintlock. He stood out on the front porch, surveying the area for this rider. Once he had spotted him, just over the hill, about a mile or so away, Benjamin crossed the cotton field, telling Elsa and the other workers to keep the children safe, and to watch for any more unfamiliar riders approaching. If any more were to approach, Elsa and the other women were to take the children inside and await Benjamin's return.
Benjamin was prepared to meet the rider shortly after the end of his cotton field, and readied himself. What he had not readied himself for was the face of the man approaching on horseback. He quickly retreated back to the women in the field, and said, "Take the children inside, now!" and ran back to the other side to face his intruder.
A/N: Who was this intruder approaching on a warhorse? Let's have a few reviews before I tell you.