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Chapter 10

"Thank you Gentlemen," Pitcairn said and was about to start towards the table where Oliver and the Massachusetts delegates were seated when John Dickinson rose. "Major Pitcairn?"

He turned. "Yes, Mr. Dickinson?"

"What would you do were you one of us?"

Pitcairn was silent for a moment and then replied. "I would declare independence." There was a rise of voices suddenly objecting or questioning his answer. Pitcairn used the voice he normally used to command and said loudly, "Gentlemen!" When they had quieted down again he continued, "You see, Mr. Dickinson this is not the only war England is fighting and every time they fight a war, you are going to be paying for it in the form of much higher taxes. The reason you have had such high taxes levied on you was because of what the war with the French cost the empire and it will not stop. May I ask you gentlemen a question?"

There was a lot of murmuring amongst the delegation then nodding.

"You gentlemen consider yourselves Englishmen do you not?"

"Of course," Edward Rutledge from South Carolina spoke up.

Pitcairn turned and walked over to the table where the South Carolina delegates sat. "You see, Mr. Rutledge. King George does not. All you are to him is a means to pay the debts he incurs."

"And what of you, Sir?" John Penn of North Carolina asked.

"I did not matter anymore than any of you do, Mr. Penn. I am a soldier expected to give my life for the empire if it was required." He gave a slight bow and left the room.

Franklin stood. "I propose we adjourn until after lunch to give us a chance to think about what Major Pitcairn has told us."

Thomas Jefferson stood. "I second Mr. Franklin's motion."

Pitcairn was waiting outside by Regina. Oliver came out of Carpenter's Hall holding his father's hat and ran over to him when he spotted him. Pitcairn put his arm around Oliver.

John, Hancock, Franklin, Paul, and Sam Adams came out and headed over to where Pitcairn and Oliver stood.

"Bravo, bravo!" Hancock said to Pitcairn. "Astounding speech, Major!"

"I think your speech was well received Major," John said. "I think you gave the delegates a lot to think about."

"I hope I have helped," Pitcairn replied.

Regina suddenly decided to grab John Adams' hat, shake it, and then toss her head, throwing it out into the middle of the roadway.

Oliver darted out into the roadway to retrieve it before someone's horse trod on it or someone's carriage ran over it. He brushed it off and gave it back to John. "I'm sorry about that. Regina's being bad about hats lately."

Pitcairn jerked her reins and said sharply, "You do not take anyone's hat! The only hats you are allowed to take are General Gage's or Clinton's and you may take their wigs as well and toss them into the nearest mud puddle."

That comment started Paul laughing and he told them how General Clinton had been caught in a booby-trap he and Dawes had devised. "I think the arrogant fool was angrier that Kelly and I stepped all over his damn wig while getting him down than he was at being caught in one of our traps!"

Thomas Jefferson came out of the hall and down the steps. He walked over to where John, Sam, Hancock, Franklin, and Paul were standing with Pitcairn and Oliver with his hand out and offered it to Pitcairn who shook it. "Excellent speech, Major. I believe you have given some of the reluctant delegates a scare because you spoke from firsthand experience with General Gage."

"Thank you, Mr. Jefferson," Pitcairn replied.

"Why don't we adjourn for lunch?" Franklin suggested. "Thomas, you're welcome to join us."

"I would enjoy that Mr. Franklin," he replied. "I would enjoy hearing more about Major Pitcairn if he is willing."

"It is an involved tale Mr. Jefferson," Pitcairn replied.

"You can relate it to me over lunch."

Pitcairn, Oliver, and Paul rode their horses over while the others rode in Franklin's carriage. The City Tavern lunch fare consisted of something called Norfolk Pottage Pye. It was a creamy chicken and vegetable stew baked beneath a flaky pie crust.

Again everyone had Ale, but Pitcairn and Oliver had the non-alcoholic Cider.

Pitcairn related how he had come to be on the side of the colonists. "The more I listened to the complaints they expressed at my socials the more I realized their complaints were legitimate and that King George and Parliament were continuing to ignore them and that Mr. Adams and the others were simply the active face of those complaints."

"I have a good feeling we're going to see a breakthrough with the delegates from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia now," Jefferson said, raising his tankard. "I think they may be more willing to compromise."

"I hope you're right Mr. Jefferson," John said solemnly.

Paul, Pitcairn, and Oliver were going to be starting back to Boston in the morning so they went to bed as soon as they returned from supper that evening. "Oliver, I do want to discuss something with you before you go to sleep," Pitcairn said.

Oliver nodded. "All right."

"You attended services at Christ Church with me a few times and you know I attended services there nearly every Sunday unless General Gage had other plans for me."

"Yes."

"Whenever we retake Boston, I would like to have you baptized into Christ Church if you have no objection. If you do not want to that is fine also."

"I want to," Oliver said. "I liked it when I went with you those few times and especially when you took me last Christmas. The orphanage didn't bother with church even though it was a church that ran it."

"Good. I will ask Captain Whiting to visit Reverend Byles and Mr. Shaw for me first. I do not want them to collapse in shock by suddenly appearing at their front doors."

Oliver laughed. "You mean they would think you were a spirit?"

"I would hope that I do not look like one anymore," Pitcairn answered with a laugh.

Before they left in the morning, Pitcairn took John aside. "Whenever we take back Boston and drive General Gage out permanently; I am going to have Oliver baptized at Christ Church and I would like you and Mrs. Adams to be his godparents. I am asking Dr. Warren and Captain Whiting also."

"I believe Abigail would be after me with her wooden spoon if I do not say yes immediately," John replied with a laugh. "We will be honored to be Oliver's godparents."

Pitcairn smiled. "Thank you."

The trip back to Boston was long and they had to keep a close eye out for any of Gage's men as they got closer to camp. When they finally arrived back in camp, Pitcairn breathed a sigh of relief. He changed back into his uniform and visited Captain Whiting. "Has anything happened while I was gone?"

Captain Whiting saluted him and replied. "The only change was that Mrs. Gage's maid made it here just after you left with some of her clothing. She was given shelter by one of the churches opposed to the occupation. Apparently she sneaked back into the house and took them while General Gage was downstairs in his office and then took Mrs. Gage's horse to get here."

"A very brave women I would say," Pitcairn said.

"Yes. Doctor Warren is going to be training her as a nurse because he said he is going to need much more help after a battle."

"Yes, I do not know how he managed to save me after all the wounded he must have had to treat after Bunker Hill."

"By the way, congratulations on the adoption of your son," Captain Whiting said.

"Thank you, Captain. I am relieved it was done without any problems. I am going to have him baptized into Christ church once we retake Boston and I would be honored if you would consent to be one of his Godparents."

Whiting was speechless wityh surprise for a moment then replied, "The honor is mine, Major. Thank you."

Pitcairn went to check on his men. General Washington and he were planning on integrating them into sentry duty with the Continental soldiers the next day. He figured with some amusement that if they could find nothing else they had in common; they could always discuss being cursed by him.

That evening Mrs. Gage made her first appearance at supper in the main tent, attired in one of the dresses that her maid, Addie had brought her. All the men stood as she walked in and Pitcairn moved further down on the bench so she could sit next to Joseph.

Paul told everybody how Sam had asked Pitcairn to talk to the delegates who were still reluctant to vote for independence about his first-hand experience with General Gage as his second-in-command.

"I believe it was more of a challenge on the part of Mr. Adams than anything else," Pitcairn said ruefully.

"What did you say to them?" Washington asked.

"I told them the truth. That General Gage has King George's full permission to make their lives hell. That he would close the harbors and neither of them cared if they could not ship their cotton, tobacco, or rice; they did not care if they starved or their families starved and that General Gage would show no hesitation about taking their homes if he so chose or burning them with their fields to the ground. Every time King George goes to war, they will be paying for it by having higher taxes levied on them."

"And if there's one thing that going to influence those rich southerners it's having to part forcefully with their money," Paul laughed raising his tankard. "And he managed to make them listen without cursing them too."

"I may have been forced to resort to it as some of them did appear as if they were ready to fall asleep," Pitcairn replied.

"That would have certainly have given them a most unpleasant awakening," Captain Whiting added. He was quite familiar with Pitcairn's cursing, having heard it many times since he had become Pitcairn's adjutant.

After Pitcairn had retired for the night, Oliver spoke up. "Can I ask you something?"

Pitcairn turned over to look over at Oliver. "I thought you were asleep, young man and of course you may ask me a question, in fact, any questions at any time."

"Do you think Mrs. Gage is pretty?"

"I think she is a very beautiful woman, yes," Pitcairn replied wondering where this was going and hoping it was not going where he thought it might be. Pitcairn had noticed how wide Oliver's eyes had gotten when he had seen Mrs. Gage at dinner.

"Does Mrs. Gage living here mean she's not married to General Gage anymore?"

"I believe there needs to be some sort of legal procedure performed rather like my adopting you before she is no longer married to him, but I do not know what it requires or who may do it. I do know that women have very little rights in our society and it may be that it will occur only if the general decides he no longer wants her as his wife."

"So she can't marry anyone else until then?" Oliver said sounding disappointed.

"I believe not," Pitcairn answered. "Why? Are you interested in marrying her?" He asked.

"Heck no!" Oliver exclaimed. "I was thinking she would make a good wife for you."

"Me?" Pitcairn asked in shock. Of all things he would never have thought the conversation was headed in that direction. "To be truthful, I do not think we have much in common and I believe if she does remarry it will not be to another soldier." Oliver was silent so Pitcairn said, "Oliver, you can be assured if I ever do take a wife, she will need to accept the both of us. We come as a pair so if she is willing to accept only one of us then she will not be welcome in my life."

"Okay," Oliver replied. The relief was obvious in his voice. He turned over and in a few minutes was sound asleep.

Pitcairn lay awake wondering why is son suddenly felt the need now to find him a wife.

He discussed the conversation the next night with Joseph while they were playing chess. "I really thought the conversation was going to go in a different direction. After all Oliver is at the age when boys start seeing girls as more than just annoying tag-a-longs and I am sure he has heard the men talk in the barracks."

Joseph looked uncomfortable and cleared his throat. "There is something I should have told you awhile ago regarding what happened at Lexington and Barrett's farm."

"If you mean that Mrs. Gage was your informant; I figured that out sometime ago." Pitcairn replied.

"How …" Joseph began.

Pitcairn held up his hand. "Mr. Whittier had told us that Mr. Adams and Mr. Hancock were hiding in Lexington and told us about the munitions hidden on Mr. Barrett's farm. General Gage ordered me to go to Lexington and arrest them and then go to Concord to destroy the munitions. We left as soon as it was dark and my men were busy preparing for the march until then, but by the time we got to Lexington we were faced by many men with loaded muskets. The officer I had sent to arrest Adams and Hancock reported that they had escaped so I knew they had been warned and I knew it was none of my men." He paused as he moved his chess piece. "After we got back from Concord and General Gage was so insistent that one of my men must be the traitor; I realized then who the informant was. It was obvious that the general knew it too. Usually at the time when I would ride back to the Shaw home I would see Mrs. Gage out walking with two grenadiers following her, but after Concord I did not see her again."

"I'm sorry for the men you lost at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill," Joseph said quietly. "I saw how much you grieved for them."

"Although I do know that death is inevitable for all us; I had sworn I would protect my men as much as I was able to, but I was not able to protect them or myself from a vengeful general."

"So Oliver thought Margaret would be the perfect wife for you, huh?" Joseph said changing the subject.

"Yes, but I told him I did not think we had much common ground and that if she did remarry; it would not be to another soldier."

Joseph cleared his throat. "Actually …"

"You and Mrs. Gage are already romantically involved," Pitcairn said. "I did notice the look she sent in your direction when she told Oliver that having someone to love them unreservedly was a gift."

Joseph laughed. "Damn! Is there anything you don't notice?"

"Too many things unfortunately, but after years of commanding soldiers I am good at reading facial expressions and body language."

"By the way, I should probably warn you that Abigail is making it her mission to find you a wife and Oliver a mother. She's been trying to find Sam and me wives for the last three years. We're both widowers."

"I'm very sorry to hear that both your wives have died," Pitcairn said.

"Well, I had my work to sustain me, but Sam started drinking hard. You have something in common with him. Every time he's started drinking again Abigail has forced that tincture down his throat."

Pitcairn smiled then looked guilty. "If I had known about Mr. Adams' wife, I would have answered Mr. Franklin's question differently."

"What question was that?"

Mr. Franklin noticed that I only drank regular cider and asked me why. I responded that I had heard any number of sermons from my minister father about the evils of drinking and I saw the effects for myself when some of my men became addicted to rum when we first came to Boston. I did not mean it in any way as a criticism of Mr. Adams."

"Well, Sam knows he has a problem there. He's been lectured about it by John and Abigail and myself."

"And now that Mrs. Adams has turned her attention to me is rather frightening as I suspect she is a formidable woman."

"That she is, John," Joseph said.

Oliver was sound asleep when Pitcairn came back to his tent. He made sure he was covered warmly before he retired.

The next morning after breakfast, Washington, Pitcairn, and Captain Whiting rode out with the former Marines marching behind them. They were now dressed in Continental uniforms and they looked much happier than they had been recently. They were planning on replacing 200 of the soldiers already out there.

"I hope the men will manage to get along together," Washington said.

"Well, if they cannot find anything else to talk about, they can always discuss being cursed by me," Pitcairn remarked.

Washington chuckled. "Good point, Major."

He dropped back to ride beside the men. Within two hours, they had replaced 200 of the men in and around Boston and the others went back to camp. They had several located where they could see the harbor and would be able to see the British warships on the horizon.

"If you see any large fleet of ships on the horizon, send a courier immediately to either Major Pitcairn or myself," Washington ordered.

"Hopefully, the storms will have caused them to berth somewhere until they pass," Pitcairn remarked. "When we came over last year; it was relatively smooth sailing the entire three months."

"Well, I can't say I'm unhappy that bad weather has delayed them."

"Nor I, General."

At the staff meeting later, Paul suggested, "Maybe there's a way we can keep them from even getting off the ships. We could shoot at them if they try to disembark."

"That would work fine if the ships disembarked on the docks, but they do not," Pitcairn replied. "The warships are much too big for entrance into the harbor so we had to offload into smaller boats that were rowed to the dock. That is why it took so long to disembark and Governor Hutchinson was quite displeased about the time he had to wait to greet General Gage not to mention my interrupting his conversation with the general by shouting orders."

Everybody laughed and Paul said, "Yeah, that wouldn't work. We'd have to be hidden close to the docks anyway for it to be effective and that entails too much risk of capture or injury to civilians."

"What if we line our cannons up along this ridge right here?" Joseph asked running his finger across the map. "We could fire on the ships as they passed and possibly do some serious damage."

"It's a fine plan, but warships are equipped with at least 60 cannons and enough men to fire them continuously," Pitcairn pointed out. "The Royal Navy trains hard and well. The cannons are reloaded in 90 seconds and it would end in a massacre."

"I believe the original plan is still the soundest. We allow the new troops to disembark and then keep them all tightly trapped in Boston while we continue to keep a close watch on them," Washington said. "We need to protect the delegates in Philadelphia until they are able to declare independence."

That night after supper, Oliver and Pitcairn were walking back to their tent when Margaret called, "Major Pitcairn."

"Mrs. Gage?" He turned and waited for her to catch up. "Oliver, go on ahead and I shall be there in a few minutes."

Oliver nodded and left. Margaret walked up to Pitcairn and he offered her his arm which she took. "Major, Joseph told me about the conversation you had last night and I want to apologize. I never meant for so many of your men to be killed or injured, but I didn't want to see Mr. Adams or Mr. Hancock hung or any civilians shot for helping them."

"Understandable, Mrs. Gage," Pitcairn said. "Informers are a fact of war. The general had his and the colonists had you. If you had not warned them we were coming to Lexington and Concord; things would have turned out quite differently and I do not think for the better."

"Thank you, Major," she replied patting his arm and then leaving, walking between Joseph's tent and his tent to get to hers.

Oliver was waiting outside the tent. "What was that all about?"

"Not what you are thinking young man," Pitcairn said affectionately.

"But she was holding your arm," he pointed out.

"And that is because I offered it to her. A gentleman always offers a lady his arm."

"How do you know all this?" Oliver asked.

"I was not born knowing it, but my parents' taught me some and the rest I learned by observing and asking."

"Oh, I guess it comes with learning," Oliver said. "I feel so dumb at times."

"But you are not. You just did not have the opportunities others have had," Pitcairn answered. "And you are doing very well and working very hard at your studies."

"I wish I could learn everything in one day," Oliver complained.

"Yes, it would be nice if we could," Pitcairn agreed putting his arm around Oliver.

~*~* Page Break ~*~*

In Philadelphia John, Sam, Hancock, and Franklin were seated in Franklin's sitting room discussing the day's events and planning out their strategy for the next day.

"I believe what Major Pitcairn said is having some effect on the southern delegates," Hancock stated. "I overheard Mr. Rutledge talking to Mr. Dickinson and he was definitely worried what General Gage would do if he invaded South Carolina."

"John knows he's losing support because some of them are now becoming convinced that King George does not have their best interests at heart as they've always thought," Franklin said.

"Yes, John Penn of North Carolina asked me for more details of what had happened in Boston," John said. "I told him how Gage had immediately closed the harbor, about the Quartering Act, and the flogging in the square."

"It sounds as if the rich slaveholders are realizing that they won't be exempt from General Gage's scourge just because they're wealthy and support the king," Sam remarked.

"What we need is to make sure they stay scared," Hancock said. "I've told them how the General came into my house, commandeered it, and then threw me out into the street even though I considered myself a loyal supporter of the king's and the same thing could happen to them."

"Yes, you're right, John. We need to keep the fear of Gage in them," Franklin said.

"Sam, you can certainly help with that," his cousin said. "You're good at scaring people."

"Yes, I am. Maybe they would like to hear in more detail about the flogging. How Gage had that man flogged fifteen times at least, and wouldn't hesitate a bit to do it to them if he caught them doing something illegal or even if he didn't, and how he wouldn't allow Joseph to help him until Mrs. Gage interfered only there won't be a Mrs. Gage to interfere this time around."

"How is that again?" Hancock asked.

"I suspected that Joseph was having an affair with Mrs. Gage. I asked him outright and he didn't deny it. She's the one that let Joseph know the Redcoats were coming to arrest us and then going on to Concord to destroy the munitions at Barrett's farm. Gage knew it was her and kept her locked her in her room. Joseph wrote me that she escaped recently with the rest of Pitcairn's men and his adjutant when they turned."

"Well, the lady has guts!" Franklin said in admiration.

"You might tell them that General Gage will take their homes, arrest them, flog them, and even hang them all without due process," John suggested to Sam.

"Because he can," Sam added bitterly.

~*~* Page Break ~*~*

A courier galloped into camp and dismounted from his horse before it even came to a full stop. "General Washington! Major Pitcairn! General Gage has sent out raiders to the outlaying areas. They've already burnt one farm and they're headed for the next one."

"In what direction are they headed?" Pitcairn asked.

"Northeast towards Braintree," the courier said

"Mr. Adams farm is at Braintree and also the McKittrick farm. She is Mr. Shaw's daughter. We need to go and get them," Pitcairn said.

"I don't know about your going, Major. The raiders might catch a glimpse of you, realize you aren't dead, and tell General Gage," Washington replied.

"Amos and me will go to the McKittrick farm," Kelly said. "I've known Ciaran McKittrick a long time. Came over on the same ship from Ireland in fact."

"Good. Major, you will just go to Adams' farm with Mr. Revere and Mr. Dawes."

The men rode silently, but Regina seemed to sense that it was urgent and raced ahead, but Brown Beauty caught up to her and they remained neck and neck all the way to the Adams' farm.

Abigail came out on the porch with the four children behind her when she heard the horses. "What is happening?" She asked alarmed.

"Madam, General Gage has sent out raiders and they are burning homes and farms around here," Pitcairn answered.

Dawes turned his horse. "I'll drive off the livestock so they can't get them."

Abigail turned to her children. "Children do you remember what we talked about last week?" The children nodded and she continued, "Go get yours, Charlie's and Thomas' things quickly then."

Yes, Mama," Nabby said. She ran back into the house with John following her. Meanwhile Abigail hurried to the barn and saddled their horse and led it out. The children were waiting on the porch, carrying pillow cases containing things they needed or wanted to keep from harm.

Dawes came back. "I'll take John, Paul, you take Charlie, Major, you take Thomas, and Ma'am, you take Miss Abigail."

Abigail handed Thomas up to Pitcairn with his pillow case. "You hold on to that and I will hold on to you. All right?" Pitcairn asked him.

Thomas nodded. He was excited that he got to ride on Regina even before his older brothers.

Abigail mounted the horse and pulled Nabby up behind her. "What about the McKittrick's? They're farm is only a short distance from here," Abigail asked.

"General Washington sent Amos and Kelly to evacuate them," Paul replied. "Let's go!"

When they got up higher, they could see smoke from a burning farm. Abigail stopped her horse. "Oh my! That looks like it might be the farm of Eleazar and Felicity Parker. They're an older couple and are childless." She looked worried.

"We'll go back and check on them as soon as we get you and children to camp," Dawes promised.

They finally got to camp; Pitcairn dismounted and lifted Thomas off of his saddle and handed him to Abigail. "Thomas is a brave young man. He was not even frightened about his first ride on Regina," he said to Abigail.

Paul was explaining to Washington about what Abigail had told them. "Yes, you, Dr. Warren, and Mr. Dawes will leave right now. Take one of the wagon's with you in case they are injured or cannot walk."

Paul saluted and went off to secure one of the wagons Kelly and Amos used to gather supplies. Dawes and Joseph waited until he returned and then Joseph slapped the reins and said, "Hiyah!" Paul sat beside him, riding shotgun while Dawes rode along side of them.

Amos and Kelly arrived shortly afterwards with the McKittricks. There was a crate of chickens in the back of the wagon and a cow tied to the tailgate. Kelly rolled his eyes. "She refused to leave without them."

"Well, Tim Kelly!" Kathleen said jumping down from the wagon. "The soldiers would have killed them all and they probably would have ended up on Gage's dinner table and I'll not have that!"

"See what I mean," Kelly said.

It was nearly dark when Joseph, Paul, and Dawes returned with the Parkers. Abigail and Kathleen helped Eleazar and Felicity out of the wagon. "Damned Redcoats burnt their house to the ground, but they managed to drive away their livestock before Gage's raiders got there," Paul said.

"Eleazar, Felicity, I am so sorry," Abigail said. She and Kathleen took their arms to lead them to the tent General Washington had ordered prepared for them.

Watching them, Pitcairn let out a string of curse words under his breath. It was no surprise that General Gage had resorted to this. He had heard that Gage had ordered the ships' cannons to fire on Charlestown after Bunker Hill and set it ablaze.

Oliver came up to him and put his arms around Pitcairn. "I'm glad you're all right and Mrs. Adams and her children are all right too."

"I am also Oliver," Pitcairn replied returning his hug.

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