The Return of the Freedom Thief Page 10

  “No sir, the only thing we really need is another good horse, but I understand that yours are needed here. We’ll be going.”

  * * *

  Darkness hung in the air, not quite settling to the ground. They were walking the horses now, as Puck’s horse was just about done. His head hung low, and his breathing was heavy and slow. Ben hoped he made it to Mistress Fenaway’s, where he could be taken care of, but he wasn’t really sure if the horse would survive that long.

  Abruptly, Ben reined Socks to a stop. He sniffed the air, and quickly looked around.

  “Ben, what’s wrong, why have you stopped? I might not be able to get this nag going again, if we stop here.”

  “Shh. Do you smell it? Smoke, I mean.”

  Puck tweaked her nose and sniffed loudly. “Oh, yeah, I do… in fact, look down there. See? That little thin streak of white going in the air.”

  “I see it. It seems like it’s coming from the stream we stopped at. It…Puck, what’s the matter? You look half scared to death.”

  Puck was hunched down in her saddle, shoulders shaking. She was staring straight ahead.

  “This place… it takes me back to when those soldiers had me.”

  About that time, raucous laughter spread out over the night air. Puck shook even harder. “Ben, it sounds like there’s more than two. What are we going to do? They’ll hear us going down the road, won’t they?”

  Ben nodded. “They might. It’s not totally dark yet, and the air’s mighty thin. Sounds carry a long ways when it’s like this. I’ve got an idea.”

  He slid out of the saddle, and quietly removed his knapsack. He took out one of his two shirts, and refastened the knapsack to his saddle. He started tearing the shirt into both large and small strips.

  “Ben! What are you doing? We have to get out of here. Let’s go back to Liberty. Come on! I want to go!” Puck’s voice was a fierce whisper, but the quiver in it betrayed her fear.

  “No, we’re not going back to Liberty. Least ways, I’m not. We’re going to put these big pieces of my shirt on the horses’ hooves, and tie them with the littler ones. Get off your horse and get busy.”

  She was too frightened to argue with him. She slipped down from her horse, took some pieces of the shirt, and started tying them on his hooves. The horse was too tired to care. Socks was not. He moved restlessly, making it more difficult for Ben to tie the shirt pieces on each hoof. Finally, exasperated, Ben said sternly, “Socks! Stand still, fool. I will put this on you, now be quiet and stand still.”

  A few minutes later, both horses had all four feet covered in pieces of Ben’s shirt. He took Socks’ reins in hand, and spoke softly to Puck. “We’ll lead the horses down the road, on the far side. We’ll move slowly, and as quietly as we can. It sounds like they might all be liquored up, the noise they are making. With any luck, we’ll get past them and they won’t know a thing.”

  They picked up their reins, and moved across the road to the far side. Grasses and weeds grew up along the road on both sides, making it easier for the horses to step quietly. As they approached the area where the most noise was coming from, they could see light from the campfire dancing through the trees. A few more feet, and the figures of four men could be seen, laughing and passing around a bottle. Abruptly, one of the figures jumped up. A hoarse voice said, “Shut up. Listen. Wh…what’s that noise?’

  The voice was thick with liquor.

  Ben stopped Socks, and covered his nose with his hand. Puck, walking carefully behind him, did the same.

  “Aw, sh…shush up y’self. Ain’t nothin’ out there, yer just got the willies. Siddown, have ‘nother little drinkie.”

  “Naw, there’s somptin’ out on that road, I’m tellin’ yer. But guess I’ll have me ‘nother drink, then I’ll go see what’s what.”

  A few more drunken comments, then laugher began again.

  Ben moved out more quickly this time, and as soon as they could no longer hear the men, he and Puck removed the hoof coverings, mounted, and put their horses into a gallop.

  By now, darkness had fully blanketed the countryside. A sliver of the moon played hide-and-seek with clouds, but it was too small to throw much light on the road. The two young people galloped through the night, trusting that the road was clear and their horses had better night vision than they did.

  Without warning, Puck pulled her horse to a stop. Ben quickly reined Socks in near her, and said, “Puck, what’s wrong? Why are you stopping?”

  “It’s this nag. Look, he’s foaming at the mouth. What’s wrong wi…” Before she could finish her sentence, the horse fell to the ground and rolled over, pining Puck beneath him. Ben was off Socks and running to her before she could cry out.

  “It’s okay, I’ll get you out. Are you hurt?”

  “I don’t think so. But my leg is caught in the stirrup. I can’t move.” Her voice was frightened.

  He tried pulling the horse up enough for Puck to slide out from under him, but the horse was too heavy. He said quietly, “Okay, I have to find something to help me lift him, so I’m going over to the woods and find a branch I can use as a lever. I’m going to try to lift him right where you are. I won’t be able to budge him much, so you’ve got to pull your leg out as soon as you feel any weight off. Think you can do it?”

  She nodded, but Ben could see her trembling.

  “In the meantime, see if you can wiggle your leg a little. You might be able to wiggle it out of the stirrup, and that’ll make it easier for you to slide out under him.”

  He disappeared into the woods. A few minutes later, he came back out carrying a long straight branch.

  “What took you so long? I’ve been lying here for an hour.” Puck’s voice was petulant again.

  Ben ignored her. He leaned down, and unfastened the saddle girth to loosen the saddle on the upper side of the horse. He pulled Puck’s left foot out of the stirrup, so her body was completely free, except for that right leg under the horse’s body.

  “I’m going to try to slide this branch under him. As soon as I do, and get the body to move, I’m going to say ‘Now,’ and you slide your leg out. I won’t be able to hold the weight very long, so you’ve got to move quickly.”

  He picked up the heavy branch and started to work it under the horse’s body. It was obvious the horse was dead, so the weight seemed doubled to Ben. After several minutes, he managed to get the wood under the horse’s shoulder. He pushed down as hard as he could, and as the weight shifted the littlest bit, he yelled, “Now!”

  Puck lay flat on the ground. She dug the heels of her hands down into the bumpy gravel of the road, pushed her left leg against the body with all the strength she could muster, and in a moment, her right leg slid free. She scrunched her body away from the horse, but made no effort to get up.

  Ben dropped the branch, and sat down hard. For the moment, he was exhausted. After a couple of minutes, he scooted over to Puck and pulled her up against him. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing hard.

  “Puck, are you all right? Can you move your leg?” He sat up with his arm around her, but her eyes remained closed.

  “Puck, answer me! Are you all right?”

  “I’m all right. You don’t need to yell at me. I’m tired, my leg is sore, I don’t have a horse to ride, so what now? I just stay here on the side of the road?” Her eyes opened and she glared at him.

  “Well, I’m glad to see you’re alive again. No, you don’t stay on the side of the road. You mount up behind me on Socks and we’ll be on our way. So come on, let’s get going.” He pulled her up, and she limped beside him to Socks.

  “Steady, boy, you’ve got another passenger. Be still, now.” Ben spoke to his horse quietly, patted him on the neck, and helped Puck up behind the saddle. He mounted, told her to hold on to him tightly, picked up the reins and urged Socks into a fast canter once again.

  * * *

  By the time they reached Mistress Fenaway’s home, it was near to midnight. Yet, after Ben rang
the bell the prescribed three times, waited a few seconds, than rang it again, the gate opened. Danny stood in front of them, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

  “Mister Ben, what’all you doin’ here this time of night? Who that with you? How come your horse look plum tuckered out?”

  “Hey, Danny, I could ask you the same thing. How come you’re answering the gate at this time of night? Why aren’t you in bed sleeping?”

  The small boy spoke indignantly. “I were in bed sleepin’, ‘til this here gate bell rung in my ear. What you fixin’ to do, comin’ here so late?”

  “Mistress Fenaway told me to stop here when I got back from Liberty. Danny, we’re as tuckered out as Socks is. We’ve just lost one horse, too. Will you please let us in the gate? We can sleep in the horse barn until morning.”

  Danny moved reluctantly out of the way, and allowed Socks to move inside. Again, he struggled to close the iron gate, but this time Ben jumped down and helped him. When the gate swung shut and clicked into its locked position, Danny yawned. “I ‘spose you can sleep in the barn. I ‘spose I oughta thank you for helpin’me, but this here is my job, so you don’t do that again, you hear?”

  Ben smiled at him. “Danny, I promise I will never help you again. Unless you ask me to, that is. Now you get back to bed, and we’ll take care of Socks, and bed down in the barn. Okay?”

  The little boy could barely keep his eyes open, so he nodded and headed to a large tent set towards the back of the lawn, away from the gate but close enough for the bell to be heard. He disappeared into the blackness of what obviously was his home before Ben and Puck began the long walk up the road to the horse barns.

  They unsaddled Socks and Ben put him into an empty corral. A barrel of water stood in one corner, and the big horse drank eagerly. Ben threw him a flake of hay before returning to the barn. Puck had already found an empty stall, freshly bedded with fragrant pine shavings, and had laid down. He covered her with a horse blanket, found one for himself, and was asleep in seconds.

  * * *

  The next morning, Ben was awakened by the barn horses moving restlessly in their stalls, snuffling around in the shavings, and whinnying for their breakfast. He stood and brushed himself off. Puck was still asleep, so he nudged her not too gently with his boot.

  “Puck, wake up. It’s morning.”

  She groaned, and threw off the blanket. “I think I could sleep for a week. Why do we have to get up so early?”

  “Because we do, that’s why. Get up. I need to take you to meet Mistress Fenaway, then I’m on my way.”

  She glared at him, but brushed the shavings off her legs and stood. “On your way where?”

  Impatiently, he shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  As they passed the corral where Socks was, Peter was tossing him a flake of hay. He didn’t seem surprised to see Ben and Puck coming out of the barn. He turned to them, and waved. “Mistress Fenaway wants you should come to breakfast straightaway. I’se already told her you was sleepin’ in the barn. The kitchen door is down there,” he pointed towards the house, “and you should jus’ walk on in. My mama is cookin’ and she’ll tell where the Mistress wants you. Oh, over there I done fixed a bucket of fresh water, and my mama put a towel and some soap down, so’s you can be washin’ the road offen you, if you’s want.”

  He picked up several flakes of hay, and strode off into the barn.

  * * *

  An hour later, after Ben and Puck had washed ‘the road’ off, as Peter put it, they finished a lavish breakfast in the kitchen, but still had not seen Mistress Fenaway. Just as Ben pushed himself away from the table, the lady of the house walked in.

  “Good morning, Ben. I have been expecting you, in fact, both of you.” She held out her hand to Puck. “I am Lucy Fenaway. And who may I have the pleasure of addressing?”

  Puck pushed her hair out of her face, and stood, visibly flustered. She didn’t look at the hand the lady held out to her. “Uh, I’m, uh, Penelope but I’m called Puck, and I met Ben down the road by the stream and he let me come with him to take his message to that Colonel and then he let me come with him to here and we slept in the barn because we were so tired and that’s all I know.” Her words tumbled out of her mouth like a child’s building blocks falling down, with no visible means of stopping them.

  Mistress Fenaway smiled at her. “Puck, you say. I like that. Yes, indeed, I do like that name. And it seems to fit you very well.”

  She moved away from the table. “Come, both of you. We’ll retire to the parlor, and discuss what shall happen next.”

  Both Ben and Puck were reluctant to sit on the lovely brocaded chairs, but Mistress Fenaway merely said, “Sit, both of you. A little dust and dirt never hurt anything. The chairs are there for sitting, not for looking at. Now, here is my plan for both of you. I wish to hear nothing from either of you until I have finished talking. Then, you may speak and tell me of your wishes.”

  The next twenty minutes sped by, as she told Ben and Puck her plans for them. Puck was to become one of her “party girls”, a quaint name for a spy, and Ben was to become the newsboy he said he wanted. At last, she finished. “Now, you both may have your say.”

  Ben was speechless for a minute, but Puck wasn’t. “You don’t know anything about me, so how come you want me to be in this spy ring you have? You just saw me for the first time, how did you even know I would be here?”

  Mistress Fenaway laughed. “Now, Puck, if I told you that, I would be giving away secrets. I run an espionage ring. There is not much that goes on anywhere in this state that I don’t know about. I knew Ben was thought to be bringing a young lady back here with him, I just didn’t know her name was Puck. Now, do you want to stay with me? Or do you have somewhere else to go, and someone to take care of you?”

  Puck glared at her. “You probably already know I don’t. I’m on the run, anyway, from people in Lexington. So, I guess I’ll have to stay here.”

  At that point, Ben spoke up. “You don’t have to sound so ungrateful, Puck. Mistress Fenaway is giving you a home, a job to do, and keeping you safe. What more do you want?”

  She blushed. “I’m sorry, Mistress Fenaway. I am grateful. It’s just that, uh, I’ve had to take care of myself for so long, I don’t reckon I know how to take help from any one.”

  Mistress Fenaway nodded. “I do understand, Puck. Now, let’s get you cleaned up, and into some decent clothes. I have a room waiting for you upstairs.” She rang a large silver bell sitting on the table beside her, and a young black woman came in. She curtsied before saying, “Yes, Mistress, what can I do for you?”

  “Please take this young lady up to the room I showed you, and give her any help that she needs.”

  As soon as they left, Mistress Fenaway turned to Ben. “Well, Ben, what are your thoughts about what I said?”

  “I reckon I’ve given some thoughts to all of this, and I appreciate the offer to work from here. I’ll do that, just so long as you know I want to be on the go. I wouldn’t want to be stuck in that room you showed me.”

  “I understand that perfectly. Now, I also have a room ready for you. You may get cleaned up, get into the clothes on the bed, and when you’re ready, we’ll talk some more.”

  Ben was shown to his room, and was pleasantly surprised to find a very large wooden tub filled with still steaming water in one corner of the room. A chair placed near the tub contained a bar of lye soap, a wash rag, and a heavy cotton towel. He quickly threw off his clothes and stepped into the tub. As he sank down into the warm water, he couldn’t remember the last time bathing had felt so good.

  He relaxed in the tub until the water was cool, then scrubbed himself from his hair to his toes. At last, feeling almost sterile, he climbed out and dried off, rubbing the towel briskly over his mop of hair in an effort to at least stop it from dripping. He looked over at the bed, where the new clothes were supposed to be, but there was nothing there but a belt.

 
; “What in tarnation…?”

  He dropped the towel and started to step back into his dirty pants, but before he could pull them on, a knock came at the door. Flustered, he jumped behind a tall chair sitting next to a writing desk, and said, “What?”

  The door opened, and a black arm reached in with a pile of clothes. A disembodied voice said, “Here, Mister Ben, here’s some more clothes. That young gal you brought done stole your clothes. She say she not goin’ be dressed up like no girly doll. Mistress brung out more boy’s clothes for you. She say she think these ones will fit.” She dropped the clothes, and closed the door.

  “What? Puck stole my clothes? For crying in a bucket, what’s that girl up to now?” He hurriedly dropped his old pants, and picked up the pile from the floor. A few minutes later, dressed, with his hair combed, and feeling great with clean clothes on, he went back downstairs.

  He walked into the parlor, but drew up short in surprise. Puck was dressed in boots, men’s pants, and a long-sleeved shirt. Mistress Fenaway was frowning. Puck turned to face Ben, and for the first time, he saw a clean and rosy heart-shaped face, blue eyes filled with tears, and blonde curly hair that appeared to have been closely cropped by someone who didn’t know the first thing about cutting hair. He was surprised to see how pretty she was, as it surely had not been obvious under all the dirt covering her face and clothes during the short time he’d known her.

  Now, however, Mistress Fenaway spoke sharply. “Ben, will you tell this young lady that she cannot masquerade around this town, or anywhere, as a boy? She has refused my idea of her being one of my party girls. She claims she doesn’t know how to talk to people, especially men, and she has no intention of being dressed up like some “girly doll,” as she calls it.”