Altair crouched on the rooftop watching Connor as he made his way through the crowd. Dobby, Jacob, and Jamie were positioned throughout the crowd and up on the rooftops as well. He did not like Connor confronting Lee out in the open like this. Too many things could go wrong. Too many innocents could be harmed. This was the spur of the moment idea the younger assassin had come up with on his mad ride from Boston to New York. He was not overly thrilled with it, but he followed none the less.
Watching the younger man, slowing make his way to where Lee was ranting about him and Connor, Altair made his way across the rooftop, dispatching a guard, and then jumping the expanse of the two roofs. He crouched next to Jacob, who watched with a critical eye.
"I do not like this, Altair. He is wrapped up in his revenge that he does not see this will end badly." The assassin shook his head, but kept a watch on their leader.
The Syrian nodded in agreement. "But that is why we are here. To watch his back to make sure no harm comes to him. Dobby is in position to distract the guards if she must and Jamie has set up an ambush point for us to take them down. I will handle Lee if it comes to that."
Nodding in response, he moved on to where Jamie was hidden behind a chimney. "What does that fool boy have planned now? All he is doing is moving forward."
Altair just looked on. He saw Dobby standing near Lee but not close enough for him to see her. "I do not know, but I wish I did. It would leave us better prepared for what is to come."
They watched on as Connor pushed his way through the crowd. Lee stood by the grave that was for Haytham and he knew it was empty. Haytham was at the homestead, guarded by the men and women who called the place home.
Something to his left caught his eye. Four soldiers made their way through the crowd. They had spotted Connor, but there was nothing any of them could do to get to him in time. If they were to jump down, and rush to his aid, that would be exposed. Altair held up his hand for them to hold. He knew Connor would be able to escape if he had to. He hoped he was right.
The four assassins watched as Lee's men grabbed their leader from behind. Forcing him in front of Lee then to his knees, Altair almost went off the edge and into attack, but Connor turned his head just enough to make eye contact and give a slight shake of his dark head. He had something planned again. He really needed to stop planning in his head and tell his group what he was thinking.
Trying to stay in the shadows, he leaped across the roof once more, and came up close enough to hear the conversation. "…you will live long enough to see everything you hold dear be destroyed. Then when that has come to pass, I will give you the death you seek."
Connor's lips quirked and he spit at Lee's feet, causing the gangly man to take a step back. "Clap him in irons, and lock him away. Make sure he cannot escape."
He so desperately wanted to strike then, but he could not kill Lee without the whole populous of New York seeing him. Signaling the others to keep tabs on Lee while he followed the guards.
Leaping into the hay cart, he rolled out and turned the corner, only to find Connor's fist connecting with the last of the guards. "You must start telling us what you have planned if we are to help."
The younger man shook out his hand, and clinched it a few times. "I had nothing planned. It was a spur of the moment type of plan that I think went off rather well." He gave a lopsided grin and bent down to relieve the men of his stolen weapons. "We must get back to the Homestead. Lee means to burn it to the ground, and kill everyone there."
Altair's eyes widened. "It will take three days to return. A day and half if we do not stop and ride the horses hard."
"Then we must ride hard." He said, rebuckling the hidden blade. "We cannot risk his men getting there before we do."
"And what of the others? They are tailing Lee even as we speak. You must tell them of your plans and not leave them in the dark as you have in the past. That is part of being a leader." Altair followed him, all the while thinking that Connor was not in his right mind. "We must get them to help. You and I cannot fend off an army by ourselves and you know that."
Reaching out, he grabbed the boy's arm and spun him around. Murder shone in his light brown eyes. "I hear what you are saying. I understand, but if they mean to march on my home once more, I will kill any man that threatens it."
"You are talking nonsense! Listen to yourself! I will gather the others. Lee will be heavily guarded, but we will take him once the threat to the Homestead has been dealt with. Ride for home and I and the others will meet you there." Altair knew that is must be one of the choices the spirit was talking about. The dark times were upon them, and left unchecked would burn a path through everything Connor held dear.
Giving a simple nod, Connor took off for the Homestead while Altair ran to catch up with the other assassins. He found them on a rooftop overlooking a small dockside warehouse. Jamie looked up at him as he made his way across the peaked rooftop.
"Lee has hidden himself in there. Shall we go after him?" The man asked.
Shaking his head no, Altair looked down to see a few guards patrolling the perimeter of the building. "No. There are more pressing matters that need our attention. Lee will not leave until he had destroyed every last assassin in the colonies. He will be left alone for right now. We must make for the homestead. Lee means to destroy it first and we cannot allow that to happen. Connor has already begun the trek there and we must follow."
Dobby looked up at him, her eyes bright with the idea of helping others. That was the one thing Altair admired in the spunky woman. "And the others in Boston? Should we not alert them? They would be some help in this confrontation."
"That would be helpful. Who will be willing to ride and collect the others? I must get back, so I cannot make the detour." He looked at the guards once more. They would not be going anywhere yet.
"I will." Jacob spoke up. "I will run to Boston to grab the others and will meet you at the homestead."
Laying a hand on his shoulder, Altair nodded. "Thank you and may you have a swift travel."
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Haytham walked the path through the village, trying to keep an eye on the small girl that ran in front of him. One of the women, Catherine, said she would keep her while Connor and Altair went off on one of their information gathering sprees, but once they had left, Kara turned up back at the manor. She had run away once Catherine had her back turned, and run straight to the place she knew of as home. Not really wanting to see the child cry, he took it upon himself to watch her for a time.
It had nearly been a week since they had set out with the little bit of information he would tell. He may have thought of Charles as a friend, but the man had declared him dead, so there was no returning to the city now. He was, in all aspects, stuck in this little town in the middle of the woods.
Kara skipped down the path, smile in her face and watched the people go about their lives. Even when the temperatures were chilly, the people still went on with their lives. Dave was in his forge, pounding on some metal, while off in the distance he could hear the sounds of Godfrey and Terry felling some timber. Myriam could also be heard a ways into the think forest, the sound of her musket echoing through the trees. He would never admit that he had learned all of their names in the time that he had been here.
When the path began to thicken once more with old growth of the forest, he knew that they were to the end of where he was allowed to be. It was not like he could run off. There was nowhere for him to go.
"Kara." Haytham called for the girl and she walked to his side, dress splattered with mud, and a bit on her face. "You are a mess, child."
She giggled at him. "I like messes."
"And I am sure you do, seeing that you are a child, but we must head back." He sighed and began the trek back to the manor, when she stomped her foot.
"No. I don't want to." And with that being said, she took off like a ball from musket, diving into the underbrush, leaving him to chase her.
"Kara! Get back here. I will not chase you through these God forsaken woods." He took off after her, trying to keep her in sight, but the child was quicker than he knew and soon, the woods had swallowed her up, leaving him standing there, slightly out of breath.
He called for her once more, and listened to see if could hear her small footsteps, but heard nothing. Then, when he was about to begin his search, he heard her small scream, and with renewed energy, he raced to where it originated from.
Three soldiers, coats smeared with mud and muck from the road, were gathered around the small child. One had a hold of her arm, yellow teeth grinning down at her. Kara pulled at his arm, trying to get away, but she had not the strength to escape.
"I would leave the child alone gentlemen." Haytham walked from the bushes and Kara turned at the sound of his voice. Tears spilling down her cheeks, leaving streaks through the dirt that covered her small face.
"And what are you going to do about it, old man?" The closest one sneered and pulled a pistol from his holster.
"I will kill you if you do not." He replied calmly and took another step forward. "I do not believe you know who you are messing with."
The second man laughed. "All I see is a man who is asking to meet God." The brute took a knife from his belt and held it in his hand.
The third held onto Kara, and would not release her. Haytham sighed. "You are just asking for death, gentlemen. You can either let the child go, and leave with your lives, or you can continue down the path you are on now, and I will kill the three of you without hesitation. The choice is yours."
The third, who must have been their leader, shook his head. "Kill him."
The brute with the knife rushed him. Sidestepping his attack with ease, Haytham pulled out the small dagger he had found at the manor. Like hell he was not going without some form of protection, even though he could kill a man with his bare hands.
As the man stumbled to a stop, Haytham planted the dagger into the back of his neck, severing the spinal column and giving him a new hole to breathe from. Turning once more, he looked at the next two. "Are you ready to leave?"
The one with the pistol raised it up, ready to fire, when he threw the dagger, lodging it into his chest. The man fell over dead instantly. Seeing his two comrades dead on the ground, the leader released Kara and began to run, but in one fluid motion, Haytham scooped up the discarded pistol, and shot the retreating man in the back. He dropped like a stone, and began to bleed out from the wound in his back.
Dropping the pistol, he picked Kara, who shook like a leaf in the wind, and held her close. "They did not hurt you, did they?" He asked as he set off for the manor once more, but taking in his surrounding, he noticed he was hopelessly lost.
"Now what am I going to do?" He asked out loud. He was not the best in the woods. Not by far, but he knew there was a small river that ran through the middle of the Homestead and possibly could find his way back of he was to find a path, or that river to start off with.
Listening for running water or the sounds that he knew from the times he adventured through the small community, he stepped over a few fallen trees and around some shrubs. He did not think they had run that far from the main road, but he was not sure at this point.
Stopping near the top of a rise, she sat Kara on a rock. "Now, I want you to be a good girl and sit right here. I am going to the top of that hill," and he pointed it out to her, "to see where we are. We cannot wander around these woods all day with no sense of direction."
He was not sure if she understood, but pulling her knees to her chest, she sat there. Letting out a sigh, he made the small trek to the top and instantly stopped. What he saw was enough to make his heart stop dead in his chest. Several tents were set up, men in British red and American colony grays and blues walked around the encampment. There looked to be a hundred or so men, getting ready for a fight.
One man he recognized walked out of the larger tent, and he strained his eyes in the dying light. Marcus McCain stood there, head held high, surveying the troops that milled around the camp. "Bloody hell." He whispered to himself. McCain was Lee's cousin and right hand man when it came to dirty deeds.
Why would they be out here so far? He asked himself, and then it hit him. They mean to attack the homestead. Charles was with him when he took out the assassins many years ago and knew where Achilles had set up at. Knowing that the Old Man had been training Connor, he would know where to launch the attack at.
Wasting no time, he spied the road back to the homestead, but knowing McCain as he did, he also knew the man would have the road blocked. The only way back was through the woods. He could do this. He may not have any loyalty to the people there, but they were not fighters. They were farmers, carpenters, and people who had just wanted a fresh start.
Sliding down the hill, he scooped up Kara. Looking her in the eyes, he took on a serious tone. "I need you to be extra quiet for me. No more fussing and no screaming. Do you understand?" Her large gray-blue eyes looked at him, and she nodded her dark hair. "That's a good girl."
There was no time to loose, and with the child in his arms, he set off through the thick underbrush, wishing at this late hour, he had taken those lessons about the forest from Ziio many years ago.
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Connor's horse slid to a stop as he came up the road. A platoon of soldiers blocked the way into the homestead. He knew if he tried to run through, he would earn a few musket balls in his body as souvenirs, and he could not have that.
Sliding from the saddle, he gave his horse a thump on the flank, signaling the horse to take off in the direction they had come. The gray was smart and knew how to return home, so he was not overly worried about losing the horse. What he was most concerned about was the men a hundred feet or more up the road, heavily armed and waiting for their orders.
If only he had waited for the others, but if he knew Altair, the Syrian would be bringing the cavalry with him. Seven men and a woman could take down the men that lay up the road, but he knew in his gut there was more than that somewhere.
Taking to the trees, he leapt the expanse with practiced ease. The forest began to thin and so he had a few problems staying aloft in the cover of the branches. Some movement caught his eye as he looked around, scouting for any more men that would have broken off from the hoard. A lone man made his way through the brush, trying to stay near the road, but far enough away to not be seen.
Turning on the branch, he followed him, trying to figure out who he was. Switching to the vision he had honed since he was a child, the man was incased in blue, allowing to see that he meant no harm to him. Once he was closer, he swung down in front of the man, rolled and came back onto his feet.
"Damn it son, you nearly gave me a heart attack." Haytham hissed at him.
Narrowing his eyes at his father, he asked. "What are you doing out here? You were told to not leave the grounds of the homestead."
Pulling back his cloak to reveal a sleeping Kara nuzzled in his arm, he sighed. "The child ran from the woman you left her with. So I spent the day walking with her. When I told her it was time to go back, she took off through the woods. I could have listened to you, but instead I ignored your words and went after her. That was when I killed three men who meant to do her harm, and found McCain's encampment."
Connor looked from Kara to his father. "First of all, thank you for going after her. Two, who is McCain?"
"A sadistic son of a bitch that is Charles' cousin and right hand man now. He thrives on slaughtering people. He does not care if they are innocent, or soldiers. He will kill them." Haytham looked around.
"And you associated with him?" That was enough to make Connor want to punch him, but he was holding Kara, so he refrained.
Haytham glared at him. "Of course not!" He hissed. "I despised the man. I told Charles that he was to have no dealing with that man while I was in charge. I wanted freedom through peaceful means, not brute strength. That was why I killed Edward Braddock. He was much like McCain in that aspect."
Snorting, Connor motioned him to follow. He had to get them back to the homestead and warn the others. "Peaceful means, huh? Is that why you started the Boston Massacre and tried to pin it on me? Or how about some of the things Johnson did to my people? Trying to take their land." He was not going to listen to his father's 'peaceful means' story again.
"I have explained that to you, Connor, but now is not the time to argue about these things. You must stop them and I wish to help. I hate that man more than you know." Reaching out, he pulled Connor to a halt. "I will not betray you in this fight. This is bigger than the feud between us. This is to protect the people that cannot protect themselves and I will not sit back and idly watch as you and your assassins try to take on McCain and his men."
He knew what his father was saying was the truth, as much as it hurt to believe. This was larger than any grudge that they had between them. Exhaling, he looked at him. "Fine. I want you to get back to the homestead and warn the others to make their way to the Aquila. Robert will know what to do. We have a plan in place just in case something like this did ever happen. Your equipment is in the basement. Next to the kitchen, grab the candle holder on the wall, and pull down. It will open the hidden door. Do not make me regret telling you where it is."
"And the child? Who should take her?"
"Any of the women. Try for Ellen or Prudence. She likes them the best." He looked back up towards the road and heard the sound of horses in the distance. It was either Altair and the others, or it was more of McCain's men. Pointing to a small path just to the east of them. "This will take you out behind Prudence and Warren's Farm. Tell them to spread the word, and meet back up with us at the bridge."
Nodding once, Haytham began to take off, but stopped and looked at Connor. "Be careful son."
"You too." And he ran the opposite direction, hoping to intercept the others before they ran into the ambush.
Wow there was a lot of things going on in this chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed it. The comments are great! See ya!
