Revealed
Ratonhnhaké:ton
Ratonhnhaké:ton had talked with Kanen'tó:kon about his thoughts about the rebels' plans when the bluecoat came in. He had seen him immediately because he had never really turned his eyes away from the door. So he also noticed that the soldier had left three of his comrades outside. For back up? However, Ratonhnhaké:ton wasn't the only one who had noticed the bluecoat's entry. The rebels shared warning glances over the whole room and Ratonhnhaké:ton got one through the eyes of his friend.
»Stay calm«, Kanen'tó:kon murmured. »It is not unusual for them to inspect some of the taverns. If he does not find anything, he will go«
Frowning Ratonhnhaké:ton watched the rebels turning back to their drinks. He wanted to trust them. That they knew what they were doing, but he couldn't follow their example. At first, the soldier had slowly walked through the room and now headed for the bar where Lillian was standing alone. It seemed like she hadn't noticed the soldier's entrance because she was entirely concentrated on running her finger over the wooden surface of the counter. Tensely Ratonhnhaké:ton pressed his lips together.
Look up, he thought without turning his eyes away from Lillian, as if he could transmit his thoughts to her. Look up and come here.
But for Lillian it was already too late for an inconspicuous retreat. The soldier had reached the bar and leaned right next to Lillian, facing her. His broad back blocked Ratonhnhaké:ton's view to her and now he really couldn't stay on his seat. He didn't like that Lillian was alone with this man. Not only because he feared he could harass her, but just because he was a bluecoat. Someone who would arrest Ratonhnhaké:ton and almost every other man in this room if he got the chance. But when Ratonhnhaké:ton stood up to go to them, not only Kanen'tó:kon gave him a warning look.
»What are you doing?«
Ratonhnhaké:ton nodded at the bar behind Kanen'tó:kon's back. When he turned around and saw the bluecoat with Lillian, he frowned. »There should be nothing he could hold against her. I am sure that even if he gets importunate, someone there will intervene«
»Even if he gets importunate, it should not be anyone but me to intervene«, Ratonhnhaké:ton replied and left. He knew why Kanen'tó:kon was concerned since his face was decorating several houses and walls in the city. If the soldier recognized him, it would cause the problems every man in this room who belonged to the rebellion wanted to avoid. Especially Kanen'tó:kon, but Ratonhnhaké:ton didn't want to stay on his seat and allow that Lillian, in the best case, had to listen to some importunities. He knew too well that she was able to defend herself verbally but he found that it was his duty to make sure that she didn't have to. But it seemed like the soldier hadn't intentions of this kind.
While Ratonhnhaké:ton approached them, he heard the man's voice becoming louder. "...certain you are the niece of the man who tried to flee instead of paying his debts. In the village the savage attacked. It was you! I know you!"
It became noticeably silent in the room and all eyes turned to the soldier, who just wanted to grab Lillian's arm when Ratonhnhaké:ton reached them. He grabbed the other man's shoulder and pushed him back so that he could stand between him and Lillian, who was standing there pale, silent and with wide eyes.
"What is this about?", Ratonhnhaké:ton asked coldly bus as calm as possible. He didn't want this situation to escalate although he felt that it wasn't possible anymore.
"Step aside, Sir", the soldier hissed and he obviously disliked the fact that Ratonhnhaké:ton was almost a head taller than him. "This woman is arrested for treason."
Treason? Ratonhnhaké:ton huffed. "This accusation is ridiculous. She did nothing wrong."
"She resisted a direct order of the king and fled from her lawful penalty." Now he appeared smug. "This means the maximum penalty."
"None of your penalties are lawful!" Lillian had ended her initial rigidity and had taken a step forward, only to be carefully pushed back by Ratonhnhaké:ton. But it didn't stop her from speaking out her understandable but dangerous anger. "You kill randomly! Men, women, even children! You should be punished!"
"Watch your tongue, woman!" The soldier's eyes narrowed and in the face of all the people around him – rebels and inhabitants – whose silence could be an approval of Lillian's words, his behaviour had become more restless and hectic. She had undermined his doubtful authority and obviously forced him to act. He made a move to grab Lillian's arm, but Ratonhnhaké:ton was faster. He grabbed him by the wrist and twisted his arm behind his back in one swift movement and turned the man with his face to the room without giving him the chance to defend himself.
"Be careful what you do", Ratonhnhaké:ton growled threateningly. "Do not dare to raise your hand against her."
"You will be punished, too", the soldier uttered between clenched teeth and tried to escape the Mohawk's strong grip. "You're attacking a man of the crown. You..."
Ratonhnhaké:ton didn't learn what else he was doing. A loud bang cut through the silence in the room, when the door of the inn opened and soldiers stormed inside. Not only the three he had already seen in front of the door. They were more. About ten if he wasn't wrong and they had pulled out their weapons.
"There he is!", one of them called out and pointed at Ratonhnhaké:ton with his rapier. "Arrest him!"
Ratonhnhaké:ton felt the solider tensing up in his grip and he heard him murmuring: "Idiot. I should have noticed."
"You were concentrated on the wrong person", Ratonhnhaké:ton growled and pushed the man to his two comrades, who were approaching them with raised weapons. Determined to arrest the wanted criminal. But wherever they had come from all of the sudden, they hadn't expected to storm into a wasps' nest. They had hardly prepared for the arrest, when the rebels rose from their seats and pulled out their weapons. Shouts and screams sounded as the innocent inhabitants realized that they were in danger. They stood up, too and wanted to run to the door but the soldiers there misjudged the situation in their blind obedience to Washington. The fearful voices became louder when a man, who wanted to escape with his wife, was killed by a soldier with a thrust of his blade.
"Block the exits! No one gets out!", the soldier in charge shouted and immediately, all weapons were trained at everyone who came closer to the door. Ratonhnhaké:ton stared at the body of the killed man and then at the woman, who had started to cry hysterically while shrinking back from the soldiers. This sight made him feel anger and hatred. But not only him. Shouting loudly, the rebels attacked. He saw Kanen'tó:kon leaping over a table with his tomahawk in his hand and attacking. Ratonhnhaké:ton didn't hesitate. He gave Lillian a light but unmistakable push towards Corinne and Oliver, who had fled behind the bar.
"Take cover", he told them shortly and had to avoid the blade of a soldier who had reached him through all this chaos.
He carried only his pistol and the hunting knife with him. His tomahawk was in their room on the commode. He hadn't wanted to draw unneeded attention but now, Ratonhnhaké:ton would have needed it. He didn't want to use his pistol in a closed room. The risk that the bullet missed its target, hit a comrade or - in the worst case - became a ricochet and hurt someone innocent was too big. So he had only his fists, his knife and his surroundings. The soldier, whose attack he had avoided, laughed as he trained his rapier at the Mohawk again and saw him raising his fists.
"Say goodbye to your hands, bastard", the bluecoat growled and attacked. But Ratonhnhaké:ton had expected it. Quickly he grabbed an empty chair to block the attack. The blade got stuck in the splintering wood of the seat and was torn out of its carrier's hand as Ratonhnhaké:ton threw the chair aside. While the soldier was surprised by the loss of his weapon, Ratonhnhaké:ton crossed the short distance to him, grabbed his arm, tore him downwards and rammed his knee into the now bend chest of the man. He groaned and found himself unconscious in a broken table where Ratonhnhaké:ton had thrown him into. The Mohawk wasted no more time. While the rebels and soldiers were fighting each other and filled the air with their screams, shouts and the clinging of weapons, he pulled out his hunting knife. The handle tightly in his fist, Ratonhnhaké:ton jumped over a fallen chair and stood right next to Kanen'tó:kon, who had just killed a soldier with his tomahawk. Both parties stood practically in front of each other, while the rebels tried to protect the innocent town-people from the blind and careless anger of the soldiers with pushing them into the back of the inn. A chaotic and dangerous situation on such a small space. Ratonhnhaké:ton had to jump over another chair as a soldier attacked him before he could raise his own weapon and block him. His arm shook under the hit's power of the bigger weapon and the metal scrunched loudly as the blades met each other. Ratonhnhaké:ton took a step towards his opponent, pushed his blade aside with all his might, punched him into the face and thrust the knife into the bluecoat's chest as he stumbled backwards. From the corners of his eyes, Ratonhnhaké:ton saw two other soldiers attacking him. He had nothing left but to roll over a table beside him, before the deadly metal of the men's weapons bored into the wood. Ratonhnhaké:ton didn't hesitate, gave the table a powerful kick and made it hit the soldiers who gasped in surprise as the edge hit their stomachs. Ratonhnhaké:ton grabbed one of them by the back of his neck, thrust his head down against the table, felt bones breaking by the force of the impact while slicing the belly of the other man open.
Ratonhnhaké:ton took a moment to let his eyes roam over the room. All innocent had already gathered in the corner behind the bar and their fearful voices kept drowning out the sounds of the fight. Only four soldiers were still alive, but some of the rebels had been killed as well and only a few of them were experienced fighters. At least not experienced enough to fight against trained soldiers. But they fought with determination. Especially Kanen'tó:kon, who was anything but inexperienced, landed one deadly hit after another. He just split a bluecoat's head open and leaped towards the next enemy. The remaining soldiers had come closer to the counter as if they wanted to force the rebels into surrender by hurting even more people. Kanen'tó:kon got into an open fight and Ratonhnhaké:ton stormed to the counter to drive the bluecoats back. He wound his way between the lying and standing furniture and kicked the soldier next to him into the back of his knees so that he fell to the ground screaming. He had been too concentrated on Kanen'tó:kon and paid this mistake with his life. Ratonhnhaké:ton whirled around to turn to the remaining bluecoat. He had finally run to the counter and Ratonhnhaké:ton saw him reaching out for a woman near to him. Ratonhnhaké:ton headed to him, but he had only made one step when he heard a loud thud and the soldier stumbled aside. A heavy wooden mug had hit his temple, thrown with surprising precision by Lillian, who stood only two steps away. Ratonhnhaké:ton used the bluecoat's distraction to grab him, push him to the floor, tear his head backwards at his hair and run the blade of the hunting knife through his throat. And then everything was over.
After the noise of the fight, the spreading silent was eerie and only interrupted by occasional whimpers. The violent conflict that had ended as quickly as it had begun, had left behind pure chaos. Parts of broken furniture were lying in the blood of the bodies on the floor, sometimes even lying on top of each other. Rebels, soldiers and innocent town-people who had wanted nothing else but to end the day in comfort and with a good Ale. But this evening had ended in a catastrophe. A massacre. Ratonhnhaké:ton lowered his eyes to the hunting-knife in his hand, covered in sticky blood like his hands and clothes and he lightly shook his head by the sight of it. This bloodshed had been unnecessary but still inevitable. The soldiers wouldn't have given up and they had proved it by killing innocents.
»Are you fine?« Kanen'tó:kon had stepped beside Ratonhnhaké:ton and put a hand on his shoulder. He was also marked by the fight, like the tomahawk he had put back to his belt. But the blood on his clothes didn't seem to be his.
»I am not injured«, Ratonhnhaké:ton replied simply and turned to the counter, where the men and women were still regarding the bloody chaos around them in shock. Corrine, Oliver and Lillian were with them, looking likewise upset. But he was glad that they were unharmed. The remaining rebels gathered by the counter and it was noticeable that no one of them knew how to handle this situation. Despite their will to fight, they were hardly experienced enough and they were obviously in need for someone to guide them.
"Where is Sam Adams?", Ratonhnhaké:ton asked. Adams seemed to be the obvious person to ask for. But everyone around him just shrugged their shoulders.
"He was not here tonight", Kanen'tó:kon explained. "He always spends his evenings with his maps and plans. Probably he is somewhere..."His eyes moved to the town-people who slowly ended their stiffness and hurried to the exit. No one stopped them but still they could cause more problems.
"He is certainly somewhere underground", Kanen'tó:kon finished his sentence. "And maybe it is better for us to retreat, too. I fear that more bluecoats could be on their way."
Ratonhnhaké:ton nodded and let his gaze roam through the room. There was nothing they could do here. The wounded rebels were already supported by their comrades. And the bluecoats...
Ratonhnhaké:ton frowned as he noticed a movement, only a few steps away from him. Again he pulled out his knife and slowly stepped to the broken table he had thrown his first attacker into. He was still alive and just woke up from his unconsciousness. Before he could react, Ratonhnhaké:ton had grabbed him by his collar and pushed him against the wall of the nearby staircase.
"Damn it, let me go, bastard", the bluecoat hissed and tried to free himself from Ratonhnhaké:ton's relentless grip, still a bit dazed.
"Brave words of a dead man", Kanen'tó:kon growled. He had stepped beside his friend and angrily pulled out his hunting knife.
"Not yet", Ratonhnhaké:ton said calmly and pushed the head of the bluecoat firmer against the wall. "At first I want to know how you knew that you could find me here. This was not a coincidence."
The soldier huffed scornfully. "I won't tell you anything."
He had already expected this answer. Ratonhnhaké:ton put his knife away, turned the soldier around and kept pushing his head against the wall with one hand while grabbing the soldier's arm with the other to tear it back- and finally upwards. The shoulder cracked loudly as it broke out of the joint. The soldier screamed in pain but Ratonhnhaké:ton kept his arm in this position.
"You do not have to tell us anything, but it could be better for you."
The soldier only growled in response but when Ratonhnhaké:ton pushed his arm further up, he whimpered and stammered: "F...Fine. I...We got a hint."
"From whom?"
"He...I don't know. He came out of the tavern and told us to check it. Was quite drunk, I must say. Weren't sure if he was telling the truth."
"Did he tell you his name?"
"No, but our captain knew him. He was..."
The bang of a shot interrupted the soldier in midsentence and Ratonhnhaké:ton stumbled backwards as warm blood and tissue sprayed into his face. Only when he had run his hand over his eyes, he saw the soldier lying dead on the floor. He had been shot in the head and his murderer just shut the door behind himself.
"It was the boy", Logan swore without paying attention to the weapons that were trained at him. He had put his pistol away again and held his left shoulder with his right hand. The fabric of his shirt was soaked with blood which still trickled through his fingers. "When I wanted to check on him, he was with these bastards and had a chat with them. When they noticed me, these assholes attacked me while Luke ran off. Got away from them somehow, but the little rat is gone."
"Luke?" Kanen'tó:kon frowned. "Are you sure?"
"I can trust my eyes. I don't want to know what has gotten into him. Not the alcohol alone, that's for sure." Logan screwed up his face into a pained grimace and nodded at the dead soldier. "You shouldn't waste more time. I'm sure they're already on their way here."
"You should have left this decision to us instead of killing him", Ratonhnhaké:ton growled and ran his sleeve over his face. He totally disliked Logan's interruption and still the other man gave him a mocking look. "Did you want to let him live? There was nothing he could have told you."
Angrily Ratonhnhaké:ton pressed his lips together and followed Logan with his eyes as he walked towards the counter. He didn't care if there had been something the soldier could have told him. He'd had the control over the situation and it had been in his responsibility to end it. But for now he swallowed his anger as Kanen'tó:kon gave him a calming gaze and said: »Unfortunately he is right«
And he was right, too. With a last look at the soldier, Ratonhnhaké:ton stepped to the counter where Logan just pointed at the storage-door. "We should go underground and seal the entrance if it's possible. It should give us enough time to finally get away from here. Corrine and Olli, you better come with us."
Silent agreement from everyone in the room, because there were no alternatives to this plan anyway. But while the others headed for the hidden trapdoor one after another, Ratonhnhaké:ton ran upstairs and into the room he had shared with Lillian. There he took his tomahawk and fastened it to his belt. He couldn't leave it here. His gaze fell upon his reflection in the mirror of the washstand. His face was stained with blood. Some stains still wet, others already dried. There were some pieces of human tissue in his hair, too and suddenly he asked himself, how someone would call him if they saw him like this. Traitor of the crown and butcher of men? Ratonhnhaké:ton couldn't say that this image bothered him. Regarding the enemies he had to face, they could think of him whatever they wanted and fear him. But there were still people who shouldn't be afraid of him and so he took the moment to quickly wash his face and hands. There was no time for doing anything more before he left the room again and hurried downstairs.
Most of the rebels had already climbed through the hidden door. Logan just climbed down as Ratonhnhaké:ton entered the storage and locked the door behind himself. Only Kanen'tó:kon and Lillian were left. The latter had crossed her arms in front of her chest and tapped her foot onto the floor. She was still pale and suddenly Ratonhnhaké:ton regretted that she had watched this whole scene. Certainly it wasn't the first time that she was confronted by such bloodshed but to him, every time was one time too many.
"How are you?", he asked quietly and gently laid a hand onto her lower back as he stood beside her. Lillian reacted with a faint smile, raised her eyes and looked at him.
"I am fine. You don't need to worry." It almost sounded as if she guessed what he was thinking. Maybe she did. By now, she knew him as well as he knew her.
"Are you hurt?"
Ratonhnhaké:ton shook his head whereupon she gave a sigh of relief and whispered a praise to her god.
"I am fine. You do not need to worry", he deliberately repeated her words and felt relieved when Lillian's smile widened. An unmistakable sign that she was going to be alright after all.
"That's good to hear", she said, but her eyes became serious. "I don't know if we were lucky or not."
"It was unavoidable. It had nothing to do with luck or misfortune. As long as we were able to fight them back."
"But at what cost?"
Ratonhnhaké:ton frowned as he looked down at Lillian who had lowered her eyes again and wordlessly pulled away from him, as Kanen'tó:kon gave her the silent signal that it was her turn to climb down. He already had an answer to her question on the tip of his tongue. They were at war. It was undeniable. At war, every price that must be paid was too high. This was the nature of war, he had learned it many years ago. So every war needed to be ended before it could claim more victims.
He waited beside Kanen'tó:kon until Lillian's head had disappeared in the darkness before he followed her. Only Logan had stayed, his wounded shoulder somehow bandaged with a scarf.
"Use these beams to barricade it", he told them after Kanen'tó:kon had climbed down, too and had closed the door. The Mohawks followed his order and barricaded the entrance as good as they could before the four of them headed into the darkness, extinguishing every lantern on their way. No one had said it yet, but it was out of the question that they couldn't use the underground anymore, now that they had to give up another entrance. So everyone in the small room was nervous. Sam Adams and a man with a hood were among them. It was the man Lillian had often spoken to. Ezra, if Ratonhnhaké:ton remembered it right. Both had already been told about the events in the tavern and Adams ran his hand through his hair swearing, as they entered. He raised his eyes and Ratonhnhaké:ton believed to read relief in them, as Adams beckoned them over. It was relief.
"How fortunate that you are well", he said, as they stepped to him and he saw how the wounded Logan went to the other injured men, who were treated by two of their comrades.
"This is a catastrophe", Adams murmured and turned his eyes back to them. "Every man we lost today was a man we needed to get the others out of the prison. Except of you, we only have seven trained men left and we have already been far too few before."
"You mean, you want to give up our plans?"
Adams sighed deeply after Kanen'tó:kon's question and looked through the room. He seemed to be conflicted and Ratonhnhaké:ton thought he understood him. He felt responsible for all the men down here as well as for all the innocent men and women they wanted to free from Washington. But they were as far away from this aim as they could be.
"It's too risky", Adams finally said. "Now that the bluecoats are aware of us, it will be impossible to get into the prison. It will also be difficult to leave the city and I fear that's our priority right now. We need to get to New York to support our comrades there. We will need every man to get to the harbour."
"To the harbour?", Ratonhnhaké:ton asked confused. Until now, no one had told him how the rebels planned to leave the city. He had thought the escape would be on horseback, but obviously it wouldn't.
"The ship of an allied captain lies at anchor there. According to the bluecoats, it isn't his ship anymore. It's confiscated."
"And we have to steal it?"
Adams nodded. "That' why I wanted to strengthen our lines with the men in the prison. But we have to try it without them."
"And what about Franklin? I thought we wanted to eliminate him before leaving the city." Kanen'tó:kon had tensely propped up his hands on the table and gave Adams a stern look. "I understand that we cannot safe the others but we have to do this at least. The others in New York rely on it."
"We cannot get to him with these few men", Adams replied. "The bluecoats need to be occupied but we won't be able to make sure of it."
"Maybe we will." Ratonhnhaké:ton had listened silently to the conversation and had straightened up now while looking through the room. Unfortunately, Adams was right. After everything he had seen tonight in the tavern, only the minority of these men was able to fight strategically. They had proved themselves but to get to Franklin, they needed more than just strength and sharp steel. But a whole troop of men wasn't needed. Only two men were enough. Men with a certain experience. Experience in hunting.
"Kanen'tó:kon and I will take care of Franklin while you secure the ship. The bluecoats will be occupied, one way or another, but I think it is only important that we eliminate Franklin and flee from Boston." He looked at Kanen'tó:kon who nodded determined. Adams still appeared sceptical but finally agreed, too. The rebellion hadn't many chances left to realize their intentions in Boston.
