Chapter 4
General Greene came out of his meeting a few hours after he had shut the door in Wayne's face. He immediately summoned Jeremy, Henry and Isak. As he pulled his office door to behind them, he said, "So tell me, do I need to take notes, or is this short and sweet?"
Jeremy pulled a piece of paper out of his vest pocket. "Sir, this has the names of five wanted British agents who were involved with André. They are meeting near New Rochelle tomorrow night."
"New Rochelle? That is behind the British line."
"Yes, sir, it is, but it would only take a few men to capture these agents. They will not be expecting it."
Greene sat down at the end of the dining room table that served as his desk. He read the note, then laid it down on the table and leaned back in his chair. "It would be very dangerous. The British may be planning an attack and be more alert than normal. We have some agents behind the lines. Patriots that are posing as Tories. Perhaps I could send this information to them and see what they can do."
"Sir," Isak said, "we thought that we would take the lead, since we scouted it out on our way here…"
Greene looked up in surprise. "You came through the British lines?"
"Yes, sir," Jeremy said. "At the time, we didn't know the whole story about Arnold and André. We kind of heard it on the way, sir."
"You boys shouldn't be taking such risks behind British lines. I feel certain General Lafayette would not approve of it under these circumstances. The British will be looking for revenge. You will end up hanged like Nathan Hale —"
"Or like John André?" Henry said.
The general looked at Henry and gave him a tired smile. "Yes, exactly like John André. We have a network of spies behind the British lines that are accustomed to the risks involved and know the area. Let me take care of this. You have done us a great service just bringing it here." General Greene blushed. "I am very sorry General Lafayette wasn't here to greet you." He was clearly disturbed that he didn't know the young general's whereabouts.
"We are disappointed, too, sir," Jeremy said, "but for all we know he has people like us here and he is just on a little mission."
Greene laughed. "That is true Jeremy, and he always keeps General Washington and me in the dark about his little 'side adventures' so that we won't worry." General Greene's face broke out in a wide grin. "Ha! So I am not going to worry…yet." The general pulled a gold watch out of the pocket of his vest and opened it. In spite of his earlier words, he looked worried. "It is near ten o'clock. General Wayne will be here any minute."
"He asked us to meet him at the inn at curfew," Jeremy said, "to see if General Lafayette has shown up."
Greene stood up and walked towards the door. His small limp was noticeable. The general was only in his mid thirties but he looked older and was clearly tired and stiff from sitting in a long meeting. "Very well, I will save General Wayne a trip and go with you."
Jeremy, Henry, Isak and General Greene left headquarters and walked out into the cold October night. They were greeted by a cold gust of wind and snow. Henry said, "Where did this come from?"
"Winter's blowing a warning shot off our bow," Greene said.
"Aye, it is," Isak said. "Let's hope General Lafayette is back where he is supposed to be so that we don't have to worry about him being out in this."
The men made their way through the quiet empty streets to the inn. They found General Wayne inside sitting with Lieutenant Grayson and Colonel Gimat. Wayne shouted, "Boys! Greene. I see you have been talking."
"Yes, sir," Jeremy said. "General Greene is going to take care of that little business at New Rochelle."
Wayne winked. "Good. I'm afraid our missing marquis has not returned."
Jeremy, Henry and Isak couldn't hide their disappointment.
"Have you asked around town if anyone has seen him?" Greene asked.
Wayne nodded and stood. "Aye. His horse is still at the livery, and no one has seen him, except…"
Everyone looked expectedly at General Wayne who looked like he held the answer to the disappearance in his pocket. General Greene impatiently growled, "Well, Anthony, are you going to tell us or not?"
"The ferry man down at the river described a fellow that crossed this evening who looked like our marquis and carried the name Gilbert, pronounced in the French way."
"So we know he has crossed the river. Is that all?"
"He asked about buying a horse."
"From the ferryman?"
"No! At the tavern across the river."
"Well, that's something at least."
"I was just about to go up to his room," Wayne said, "and see if I could find a clue to his sudden disappearance. Perhaps a letter or something set him off."
Greene motioned for Wayne to lead the way and the two generals and the Yankee Doodle Society trudged up the narrow stairs behind him.
In Lafayette's room, they found his uniform and his sword.
"It looks like he is planning on returning," Henry said.
Wayne picked up the coat and rifled through the pockets. He uncovered a crumpled note. "What's this?" He smoothed out the paper and read. His dark brows rose up in surprise. "This may be the spark to the fire." Wayne handed the note to Greene.
General Green read the note and looked up at the trio of young men who were anxiously waiting to know its contents. "It says that Arnold was the British agent, Gustavus, who told the British the location of the French fleet at Newport." Greene eased down into the frayed overstuffed chair in the room. "God, I wish this had been given to me instead of Lafayette."
"We HAVE to find him," Wayne said.
"General Lafayette will tell YOU to go jump in the river if you find him. He clearly left with the intention of not being found. The last thing he wants is you following him."
"Sirs," Henry said cautiously, "it is not my place to speak on the matter, but I have to say that I agree with General Greene. It is clear by his actions that General Lafayette did not want his aides or staff to know his whereabouts this evening for reasons known only to him. It would feel like...betrayal...to chase after him under the circumstances."
Jeremy nodded. "I agree with Henry, sirs. Although, this is unlike the general, we three have certainly been the cause of his disappearances on more than one occasion and it would have been disastrous for anyone to have been searching for him and stumbled into a secret mission."
Wayne had listened quietly to the young men. He turned to Isak and said, "And you? Where do you stand on the matter, Mr. Poole?"
Isak looked surprised. "I agree with Henry and Jeremy, sir. Whatever business has taken General Lafayette away from town this evening is his business not ours."
Wayne frowned and bowed his head. "I suppose that all of you will still feel this way when we pull General Lafayette's body from the river tomorrow or recover his hacked up remains in the woods…at least you will be able to say that you were 'loyal to the end.'"
"Anthony!" Greene exclaimed with anger.
"Well! The boy is hurting, Nathanael. He needs his friends to give a damn! He is clearly disturbed and not thinking straight."
"We don't know that."
"You are holding the evidence there in your hand. You know him as well as I and you know what is most likely going through his mind right now."
Greene grimaced and re-read the note. "I know he would never contemplate suicide. He would think of his young family…and the Washingtons."
"General Greene," Jeremy said, "I think I am missing the point of that note. What exactly does it mean to Lafayette?"
"It means that over 200 Frenchmen died needlessly and we lost a battle thanks to Benedict Arnold's treason. Lafayette had given Arnold the information, thinking him a staunch Patriot as we all did before a week ago."
Jeremy's face dropped as he looked at his friends with concern.
"I know he would never kill himself, Nathanael," Wayne said. "It's the fact that he is unguarded and distracted that concerns me. Do you think he's paying any attention to protecting his own life right now?"
Greene slumped down further in the chair, still holding the note. "I will not send a troop of soldiers after him. It would alarm the citizenry and stir up the loyalists fearing that we are about to raid the countryside. I do not need that right now."
"Then I will go alone if I must."
"Has anyone seen or talked to Sergeant Boggs, his aide?" Greene asked.
"He's down with Lafayette's new command across the river from New York," Wayne said. "He is expecting Lafayette to return this evening. Lieutenant Grayson said that was supposed to be his destination after the supper with Washington, which he missed."
"What about General Washington?"
"He apparently has made nothing of his absence. He may think he left for New York early."
Greene shook his head and grumbled. "Without saying a word to Washington about it? I doubt that is sitting well with our commander right now. If it were you or I, everyone would have heard about his displeasure and quick."
"So he is cutting young Lafayette some slack--"
"As WE should be doing!"
"General Greene," Jeremy said, "if you are going to send someone to find Lafayette than it should be the three of us." Jeremy looked at his young friends. "At least we are not military and he considers us friends. We will not 'stir up' the countryside."
Greene rested his chin on his thumb and rubbed his forefinger across his lips clearly trying to make a decision. "All right. The three of you go, but take General Wayne with you. He knows the area and can get you through the pickets. I guess I don't need to tell any of you to take care how you approach General Lafayette when you find him. If he is not in danger…"
"Of course, sir," Jeremy said. "We will be discreet in our inquiries and only confirm that he is not in danger if you wish."
Greene stood. "I will try to forestall any concern on General Washington's part until I hear from you, but I can not deceive or lie to him."
