The Bloody Massacre in King Street

Chapter 3

“Murderer!” Cyrus yelled as he shoved off Bejamin and Levi. Cyrus dove onto the young boy’s poor body. Levi and Benjamin joined him and carried Daniel’s body out of the mess. James’ voice grew loud.

“Do not think that you can harm us. We are Englishmen, just as you are. Now, my friends, they have stepped out against us! The time for change has come!” Our ever-growing group of hot-blooded Bostonians yelled back in response. People from nearby houses and other places joined our small society. The crowd in the street seemed to grow without any signs of stopping.

My friends and I ran and joined the fighting. Though we only had our fists, any action to stop the soldiers from shooting helped. I swung my fist into a Redcoat’s cheek and he swung back. I ducked and kept the movement going into a kick to the man’s side. A few more gunshots rang out here and there, but no one fell.

I felt a hand pulling on my arm. I yanked it back and someone fell into me. I shook the person off me and tried to resume fighting, but it was already too late. The soldier I had been grappling with thrust his bayonet into the girl at my feet. Angered, I resumed fighting and tackled the soldier.

I ripped the gun from his hands and threw it back towards my friends. The man and I rolled around on the cold street, trying to hit each other in any way possible. I moved my leg to knee him in the side again, but he took the chance to roll the two of us over so that he was on top of me.

He grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed my head onto the cobblestone street. Everything seemed to freeze. I could no longer hear and my vision went fuzzy. The soldier on top of me slammed my head onto the street once more and muttered something I couldn’t make out.

His weight left me, but I still couldn’t move. I slowly turned my head to see the girl the soldiers had stabbed with his bayonet being dragged to the side by what seemed to be Josiah.

My hearing came back as two more gunshots went off. The shouting seemed louder; everything seemed louder. I also saw Josiah bending over to drag me away as well. I tried to help him by pushing with my legs, but an incredible pain in my right thigh stopped me from doing to.

Josiah left me near the girl who had been stabbed. She opened her eyes as I grunted in pain and she smiled.

“Riley.” The girl’s voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t recall why. “You’re here.”

“Who are you?” I managed to croak out.

“Scarlett.” My eyes opened wide with realization. “Your friend Jonathan left this at the tavern,” she said simply, handing me a small matchbox. “I followed you all so I could give it back, but…” Her voice drifted off.

“I’m sorry,” I replied quietly.

“I know. ‘Tis not your fault. I shouldn’t have come,” she whispered back. Even through all the fighting only a few feet away, all I could hear was her voice. I tried to move closer to her by dragging myself across the ground with one arm, but the pain shooting from my leg nearly paralyzed me. A moment passed and the girl spoke again, even more softly than before. “Swear to me you’ll tell James, if you ever can, that he’s brave and that I respect him.”

“I swear.”

“Then I shall go. Thank you, good sir.” Her final words said, she closed her eyes and said no more. She, too, passed quickly into the night.