"Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned."
I say, "Hell hath no fury like a woman period."
He studied the tracks and smiled grimly; his prey was injured and leaving tracks.
"To horse!" He shouted before mounting up and turning toward the hills in the distance.
A real smile lightened his features for a moment before he wiped his face clean of any emotion. He looked at Captain Bordon, who nodded before giving the order to ride out.
Rebecca watched the boys play outside as she washed the dishes. She smiled at their antics, glad they could play in the midst of the war around them. Then, she heard the front door open. She turned and grabbed the pistol on the counter and stood at the side of the door. A soldier stepped through the doorway to stop dead in his tracks when he heard the sound of the pistol being cocked.
"Rebecca." He said quietly turning to face her.
"John!" she exclaimed lowering the pistol, "What are you doing here?"
"They're coming." He replied tiredly, "Shot the horse out from under me, I can't go any further."
Rebecca could clearly see the exhaustion on his face. She caught him before he hit the floor calling for the younger boys,
"Matthew, Robert!"
She half carried and half-dragged her brother-in-law into the front room onto the lower table there. The boys came in to find their uncle on the table while their aunt was removing his weapons and pouches. When she reached the pouch he grabbed her wrist,
"Don't, Rebecca." He said weakly.
"Are these?" she questioned quietly. John nodded slowly seeing that she could help him now.
"Take them and go, there is a camp not far from here. You'll be safer there."
"Safer from what, Uncle John?" Robert, the oldest who was eleven asked seriously.
"The Green Dragoons." John said weakly.
Everyone in the room got silent.
"Matthew, go upstairs and get yours and Robert's coats, and a change of clothes. Then, go to the barn. Robert, you go and saddle Mountain. Now!" she commanded briskly even while she moved to the front window where she could just make out the dust that signaled riders approaching.
"Go, Rebecca." John said weakly, trying to rise and just falling limply back onto the table. Rebecca turned and strode purposely to the kitchen where she prepared a bundle of food. Then, a few minutes later she hurried to the barn where the boys were waiting. Lifting Matthew up to sit behind Robert she handed them the bundle of food, and the bag that John had handed her,
"Ride to the camp, Robert. Don't look back, and if you see or hear anyone hide. I'll meet you there with your Uncle John as soon as we can, okay?"
The boys nodded. Matthew a bit tearfully, while Robert tried to be brave. Matthew clung to her hand for a moment before she nodded to Robert who spurred the horse into a gallop toward the bridge, and the Continental Army. Rebecca watched them for a moment before turning to the house and the growing cloud of dust that was quickly approaching her house. Rebecca had no more than five minutes, at most, she guessed. So she quickly hurried into the house and collected her pistol and the rifle. Then, she went into the front room, where John was now unconscious. She put the weapons down long enough to drag John's body into a suitable hiding place.
As she heard the hooves thundering up the path, she quickly grabbed the saber from over the hearth, and prepared to defend her home. She saw the uniforms of the dreaded dragoons, and sent a prayer skyward. Then, she brought out the pistol, and aimed at the closest dragoon and fired. He hit the dirt, she dropped the pistol and grabbed the rifle, and took aim again. Another dragoon fell to the dust. However, unawares to Rebecca more dragoons had approached from the far side of the house, out of her line of vision, and were making their way into the house, led by Captain Bordon.
The dragoons crept through the house and had almost gotten to Rebecca unnoticed until a feeble cry from John, who had awakened at the sound of gunfire, caused her to turn and draw the saber. A dragoon pulled out a pistol and aimed toward John. Rebecca quickly brought the saber up and hit the muzzle of the gun causing the bullet to fly harmlessly through the ceiling. Another dragoon came at her form the side, she parried his blow and turned to face another dragoon, she might have been okay, if the Captain hadn't come up behind her and knocked the saber form her hand. He then held her firmly by the arms turning her to face his stony commanding officer, Colonel William Tavington.
Tavington studied the woman for a moment before turning his attention to the dispatch rider,
"Where are the dispatches?"
John looked at him defiantly. Tavington sighed and pulled out his pistol and pointed it toward Rebecca, who cried,
"Don't tell him anything, John."
Tavington cocked the pistol and waited,
"I lost them."
"Wrong answer rebel." He said and the explosion from the pistol echoed through the room, to be drowned out by Rebecca's cry,
"John, NO!" she struggled to break free from the captain's iron hold on her. She choked back the tears and forced herself to look the colonel in the eyes defiantly, her eyes glittering with unshed tears.
Tavington studied the woman in front of him with admiration for her, albeit misguided, courage. She had, single-handedly by the looks of the boy's condition, injured two of his men, and fought off another two until the good captain had finally disarmed her. Now she looked him boldly in the eye, after having witnessed the death of the boy at his hands.
"Your turn, where are the documents he carried?"
"What documents?" she asked looking genuinely confused.
"Don't play games with me, girl," he said menacingly, "I know what that boy carried and I will have them. Where are they?"
Just then a dragoon came into the room and stopped short at the scene in front of him.
"Report, lieutenant." Tavington snapped not looking away from the woman in front of him.
"A horse left here a short time ago, sir."
Tavington watched the fear flash through her eyes before she stifled the emotion. He saw her look at him, and he smiled a slow and threatening smile,
"Tell me, my dear, who is it that is on that horse?"
Rebecca watched him warily determined not to give anything else away.
"Where are they going I wonder?" he said mockingly while stepping closer to her, "When I find those documents, and I will, you will watch while I kill whomever you sent them off with, and then we'll have a little talk about where your loyalties lie." Tavington nodded at Bordon who then released Rebecca.
"Send out patrols, they couldn't have gotten far," he snapped. Then, he turned back to Rebecca and bowed mockingly,
"Thank you ever so much for offering your hospitality to His Majesties' Forces." Tavington then turned on his heel and strode out the door, locking it on his way out.
Rebecca waited until she heard the voices get further away. Then, she looked out the windows and watched the dragoons pass by. When she saw that there were no more dragoons headed toward the window, she slipped into the secret passage that lead to the old slave quarters down the hill.
Captain Bordon approached Colonel Tavington,
"She's gone," he said solemnly.
Tavington nodded,
"I thought as much. I'll retrieve her."
The captain watched him go, and turned to the patrols that had just come in from the surrounding forest.
Rebecca finally reached the entrance to one of the slave quarters, and she pushed the door open a crack and listened for any extra noise. When she didn't hear anything she pushed the door open the rest of the way and crept into the room. All of a sudden strong hands covered her mouth, and she found herself trapped in the corner,
"Leaving so soon, Mistress Rebecca?" a smug male voice asked. Rebecca fought back the shudder as she recognized his voice.
"No screaming, or I shall be forced to resort to unpleasantness, and we wouldn't want that," he said to her. Rebecca shook her head and waited for the hand to uncover her mouth. The instant that the hand left her mouth, she found that her mouth was covered with his. All thought fled at the touch of his mouth on hers, so passionate and so very familiar. When they finally stopped to breathe he smirked in the darkness at her,
"Marvelous performance. I do believe that you have confused the good Captain."