Patriots: Boston

Chapter Nine Battle Plan

It was April 18, 1775, a day that would go down in history. It was also a week after the horrible day on which Isaac had lost his family. Isaac had returned to work and was always trying to keep himself busy and distracted. I tried to get him to do fun things like reading or walking around town together, but he would not. He spent his days either sitting at his desk copying records or cleaning anything and everything. Of course, my mother was not complaining, but I could tell Isaac wasn't quite himself. Even Zeb was getting a little annoyed by his new behaviors.
"Come on, Isaac! You've cleaned that floor so many times in the past week! Liza's supposed to be the one doing that! You can work, but we haven't had fun in so long!" He pressed.
"Zeb, I'm working. Maybe you'd understand if you worked harder around here!" Isaac would say.
Zeb would almost burst out laughing. "Go outside, Isaac!"
One morning I needed to get water.
"I'm going out! Wanna come with me Isaac?" I asked.
Zeb looked at me hopefully.
"You shouldn't have to get that water, Liza. I'll get the yoke and buckets," he said courteously, taking the yoke from my shoulders.
"I still need to carry another one," I joked.
"Then Zeb ought to come too!" Isaac said.
Zeb's hopeful expression turned into a nervous one.
"What did you do?" I teased, expecting to hear a story about picking a fight with a soldier or insulting one.
"Nothing," He said quietly. "It's just the fact that it passes the goldsmith's shop."
"Oh," I thought, "Penelope."
"I'd just rather not go," Zeb said.
"Alright," I said. "I can carry the yoke myself. I've been doing it for years."
"Let's go then," Isaac said.
We walked through the streets carrying our yokes.
"Isaac?" I asked.
"What?" He said.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"Why do you ask?" He asked.
"Well, you haven't seemed like yourself lately. I know you've been down, and I understand that completely, but it's hard to see you as someone you're not. I appreciate the extra courtesy and work being done, but you've been so quiet and rather rude lately. You never seem to want to have fun anymore." I complained.
"Well, maybe I've just grown up in a week," he said, staring at the ground.
"Really?" I asked.
"Really, Liza. I feel like when you see some things, they change you," he said.
"Are you really changed, Isaac? I honestly think your just-"
"Weak?! Stupid?! Self pitying?!" He shouted angrily.
"No!" I said, taken aback. "I meant sad."
He stared at the ground.
"It's incredibly human and normal," I said.
"Doesn't mean I don't know and refuse to admit it to myself," he said tersely.
We approached the pump. Two soldiers came on either side of us.
"Where do you children think you are going?" One asked.
"Just getting water from the pump sir," I said.
He gave me a hard look. It was the soldier who interrogated my father! I couldn't give myself and Isaac away.
"Do I know you?" He asked.
"I do not think so, sir," I said.
He looked me in the eye again. "Is this your beau?"
"No!" I said, stifling a shout.
"You two look awfully familiar! Almost like those brats from-it is you two!" The soldier shouted.
I tried to play dumb. "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Byers General! That rebel who refuses to confess! Well, maybe he will and reveal what his friends are doing if his kids are at risk!" He said.
The soldier grabbed me.
"You let her go!" Isaac shouted angrily.
"Oh yeah, boy? Come and get your girl!" The soldier taunted.
Another soldier came up behind Isaac.
"Watch out!" I screamed.
The soldier hit Isaac on the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking him to the ground. In a rage I took my leg and kicked the soldier who was restraining me in the shins and stepped on his toe. He jumped and let me go, propelling me off of his foot and causing me to spin around and hit him with the yoke on my shoulders. As the soldier staggered back I took the buckets off the yoke so that it could be a club if I needed to defend myself any more. I pulled Isaac to his feet and he stood up, wobbling a little bit.
"Now you kids are really going to get it!" The soldier I had kicked said angrily.
He raised the gun I had been at the wrong end of before. Just then someone came behind him and seized the gun, aiming it down. They struggled with it before our eyes. Finally the soldier wrestled the gun away from the other man. The man threw himself in front of us and stood with his hands up and a smile on his face.
  "Hey! Hey!" He said.
  It was Doctor Warren!
  "Sir, I don't see why you're attacking these youths in the street. By the looks of it they were just getting water!" Doctor Warren asked the soldier, a good natured smile still on his face.
  The soldier looked a little embarrassed and even afraid to tell the reason why he attacked us. "The girl attacked me!" He said.
  "This little girl attacked you? Sir, that sounds ridiculous! Look at her! No more than just a little over 5 feet tall and certainly not too big a girl!" He side-eyed me and got a little edge in his voice. "She would never just pick a fight with a soldier in the square and disturb the peace!"
  "He struck first!" Isaac said. "He grabbed her and she defended herself!"
"Alright, alright, this seems to all be a misunderstanding. Can we just forgive each other and go about our business?" Doctor Warren asked.
  "Go free, sir," the soldier from the shop eyed him suspiciously.
  Doctor Warren put a hand on each of our backs and pushed us behind a restaurant. He seemed a little ticked at us.
  "What did you two do?!" He demanded.
  "Well, Doctor Warren," Isaac began.
  "We were going to get water this morning when the soldiers were blocking the pump," I interrupted, "Then he recognized as the children from Byers General when he interrogated my father about being a Son of Liberty! He wanted to hurt us or at least threaten to hurt us so that my father would give away the rebel whereabouts! He grabbed me and another one hit Isaac on the head with a rifle! He was grabbing me hard and I was scared of what they might do to Isaac, so I kicked him in the shins and stamped on his foot, all in self defense of course!"
  "Alright Liza, I guess you were justified. Speaking of rebels, I have very important information for the Sons!" He whispered. "Would you two like to give the message?"
  "Oh yes!" We both said happily.
  "Isaac, you take my horse," Doctor Warren offered. "Liza you take the North side, Isaac take the south side. Give the sons these letters," he said handing us each a stack. "If you get these delivered and don't stir up anymore trouble today, maybe you can sit in on the meeting tonight!"
"Thank you Doctor Warren!" I said as I ran to the stable.
  Isaac followed me. "Wow! Sitting in on a real meeting! I wonder if Zeb knows!"
  "Shhhh!" I said. "You're so loud! He said if we don't stir up more trouble, and being loud does just that!"
  "You wonder if I know what, Isaac?" Zeb's voice called from behind us.
  "What are you doing here, Zeb?" Isaac asked.
  "Just grooming the horses for some extra money," he said. "Might I ask you two what you are doing?"
  "We're doing a job for Doctor Warren," I whispered.
  "Oh," he said, "Being messengers?"
  "Yes," I said.
  "My guess is you'll need Agnes?" He asked.
  "Yep, I will," I said, untying her rope.
  "Who are you going to ride, Isaac?" He asked.
  "Doctor Warren's horse, whoever that is," Isaac said.
  Zeb went and got a black and white spotted horse. "He's the one," he said.
  "Great," Isaac said.
  "Now, didn't you two originally go out for water?" Zeb asked.
  I remembered and smacked my forehead. "Oh, right! Can you get that, Zeb? This is urgent!"
  "Alright, because I'm nice I'll do it. You two will be careful, right?" Zeb asked.
"Of course!" We called as we left the stable.
  We mounted our horses in front of the stable and set off in our separate directions. I had to go to Paul Revere, Mr. Edes, James Otis, and William Dawes. Isaac had the rest, except Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who had fled. I rode up to the Boston Gazette building. Eli saw me from the window and ran out to me, his familiar smile in his green eyes.
  "Liza! What are you doing here?" He asked.
  I stopped Agnes and hopped off of her. "I've another message for Mr. Edes, Eli. Could you give it to him?"
  "Sure," he said, taking the letter, a sly glint in his eye.
  "You need to give it right to him, alright?" I said.
  "Can you at least tell me what's in the letter?" Eli asked.
  "I really need to go fast, but I'll just tell you it's really important information from Doctor Warren. He said Isaac and I could sit in on the meeting if we did this job. Maybe Mr. Edes would let you come too?" I whispered. "But don't read the letter before Mr. Edes. It's just rude."
"Alright, I won't. My question is, how do you land these gigs?" Eli asked.
"I'm close with Doctor Warren," I said. "Now I really must be on my way, Goodbye!"
"Goodbye!" Eli called after me.
I rode to Paul Revere's silver shop next. I knocked on the door and he answered.
"Hello, Mr. Revere!" I curtsied, "Letter from the Doctor-" I saw he had a customer in the back, "Don't forget your appointment later," I winked, handing him the letter.
"Thank you, Miss," he said.
  I ran back to my horse and mounted her.
  "Good luck," Mr. Revere mouthed to me. 
  I smiled and galloped away to William Dawes' house. There were soldiers in his front yard. I stopped Agnes and hopped down.
"Excuse me, gents?" I asked.
They all turned to look at me.
"Why are you all in this yard?"
They looked at each other.
"I don't see why this is your business, missy," one said.
"I'm sorry," I said, "I just don't understand why you are trespassing on this property."
"Why do you care so much what we are doing? You're only a child!" A soldier yelled.
  "I'm dreadfully sorry," I said, "I would just like to know what you think gives you the right to trespass on this civilian's property!"
  I knew full well I was being annoying, but I needed to do something to clear the path to the door to give Mr. Dawes his letter.
"Now listen here, girl!" A rough and tough looking soldier said to me, "We have every right to everyone's property. We are soldiers of His Highness King George the third!"
"Why would you even want this house though?" I asked.
   I recognized one of these soldiers as the one who had tried to be nice to me when I fell in the snow at Hancock's. He looked at me and recognized me. He looked a little guilty.
  "Sergeant," he said. "What is the point of being here? What do we even want with the man who lives here?"
  The sergeant looked annoyed but also stumped, "Davis, shut up."
  "But Serg, what are we really gaining here?" The soldier asked.
  The sergeant sighed. "I guess nothing. Come on, men. Move out!"
  The soldiers marched past me, the kind soldier at the back of their formation. He stopped in front of me.
"Thank you, sir," I whispered.
"You got lucky that time, sweetheart," he said sarcastically. "Stay out of trouble."
  The ran after his unit of soldiers.
  "You're a fool," one of his comrades said to him. "You just seem to need to help every little lady you see, no matter how annoying."
   The soldier laughed uncomfortably. When they were out of my sight I ran up to the door and knocked. Mr. Dawes opened it, looking surprisingly calm.
  "Sir, I have a letter from Doctor Warren," I said, handing it to him.
"Thank you, miss," he said, taking it.
"If you don't mind me asking, sir, why were they here?" I asked.
"They might be suspecting me as a you know what," he smiled. "Now, you should probably get going in case they come back. Goodbye!"
"Goodbye Mr. Dawes," I said.
I ran back to Agnes and was off to James Otis'. He lived close by. When I arrived, there were no soldiers that I could see. I dismounted and ran to the door. Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder. It startled me so much I jumped. I turned to see who it was. It was the polite soldier!
  "Have you been stalking me?!" I demanded.
"Well..." He hesitated, "Maybe. I've figured you out."
  Uh oh. What does he know? Is he going to arrest me?
"I don't know what you could possibly mean, sir," I said tersely.
  I looked at his face. Should I even be calling him sir? He looked younger than Zeb! Something about him said that maybe he wasn't going to hurt me.
  "I know why you are here," he said, "And why you were at William Dawes' and Paul Revere's places earlier. People don't just hit all of those houses in one hour unless they are on a mission. I know what you are doing."
"What am I doing?" I asked.
"You're delivering letters to Sons of Liberty!" He said.
   I could hardly breath. My guess was he could tell.
  "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," he said, smiling slyly.
  He just seemed shifty.
  "Sure you won't!" I said.
  "No seriously," he said, his smile fading. "I never wanted to be one of the people in charge of taking people out. Honestly, I just joined to get over here to start my new life. You see, my folks died of sickness a few months back and there was nothing for me in England, so I wanted to come here. The only way I could get a free ride was to join the army, so here I am. I don't want to hurt anyone! I'm, well...a deserter," he said staring at his feet.
  I gasped, "You're as good as dead if they find out! But if you noticed me on my route, have others noticed too?!"
  "No, no way," he said. "I've just been watching you."
  "You're a creep," I said.
  The doorknob shook. I panicked.
  "He shouldn't see you here!" I whispered.
  I shoved the soldier into a bush on one side of the front step. He let out a little yelp.
  "Shhh!" I said sharply.
  Mr. Otis opened the door. "You're here again, miss?" He asked.
   "Yes," I said. "I've another letter."
   "Thank you," he said. "Now, be safe on your way!"
  He closed the door. The soldier popped out of the bush.
  "What was that for?!" He asked angrily.
  "I couldn't let him see you!" I said innocently.
  "You didn't need to throw me into a bush!" He protested.
"Sorry," I said halfheartedly. "I have to be going now. I hope you really are who you say you are and don't rat me out to your commander! I'm letting you go free this time instead of killing you because you know information we can't have spreading. I didn't catch your name?"
  "Philip Davis," he said, "I don't know yours either."
  "Can't I keep that secret?" I asked.
  "Fine," he said, "but I just want you to trust me. I'll give you every bit of information I find out if you do."
  "I might trust you eventually, Philip," I said as I galloped away.
  I rode back to the stable and unhitched Agnes. Doctor Warren was already there at the back of the stable with Isaac.
  "You delivered them all, Liza?" He asked.
  "I sure did," I said.
  "Great!" He said. "We'll meet upstairs at the pub next door to your father's store. Your father is alright with you two going to the meeting, after all the country will be yours when we win!"
  I loved the hope in his eyes. It really got me thinking that the fight for freedom would be worth it.
  "You two better go home though to get ready," Doctor Warren said. "I'll see you later."
  "Goodbye, Doctor Warren!" Isaac said happily as he grabbed my arm and pulled me outside.
  "What is it?" I asked once we were behind the house.
"You'll never guess what I did while I was out delivering the letters!" He said, his old mischievous smile stretching across his face.
  "Oh no! What did you do?" I laughed with relief in seeing his love of mischief coming back.
  He ran back into the stable and came out with a British musket.
  My eyes widened with surprise, "H-how did you get that?!" I asked.
"I stole it from their camp!" He laughed.
"Isaac North!" I said, exasperated. "I can't believe you! You stole a valuable weapon from one of the fiercest armies in the whole world! They'll be furious! They'll kill you if they find out you have it! Doctor Warren did not send us on this mission so that we could do stupid things like commit theft!"
  "Calm down, Liza! Look on the bright side! Now I have one of their own weapons to shoot at them with rather than a lousy hunting rifle like any other militiaman!" He said.
  "But Isaac," I protested, "You're not a militiaman. You can't be one. You're my father's apprentice!"
  "So what?" He asked, "I like this gun and I'm keeping it to fight with when I need to. It's not fair that they have nice muskets with precise shots and bayonets on the other side and Minutemen have old rusty guns meant for shooting deer!"
  "It's stealing though, not that it doesn't benefit us in some ways, but think what they'll do if they find out it was stolen!" I said.
  "They won't find out," he said.
  "Where are you going to keep it until you can use it in 4 years?" I asked.
  "Under my bed in the loft," he said.
  "What if someone finds it?" I asked.
  "Who would look under my bed?" He asked.
  "Hmm, let us see, Zeb, my ma, Eleanor, Constance, Dolly, Billy, a lot of people," I said.
  "I'm just going it go hide it there, Liza," he said as he opened the back door.
  He tiptoed in for a few steps. Then I saw him jump.
  "What on earth are you doing, boy?!" Father Ignatius inquired loudly.
  "Uh, F-Father, I j-just..." Isaac stuttered.
  "Where would you get a fancy gun like that?" Father Ignatius asked.
  "In town," Isaac said.
  "How much did you pay for it?" Father Ignatius asked.
  "Nothing, it was free," Isaac said.
  "Really?" Father Ignatius asked with a sly smile, "Because I've only seen those redcoats carry those sophisticated muskets when they parade through the streets! They're just giving them away now?"
  I laughed as I watched from the doorway. "Busted!" I fake coughed into my fist.
  "Isaac, you stole that gun, didn't you?" Father Ignatius smiled knowingly.
  Isaac turned red and stared at the ground, "Yes, sir."
  Father Ignatius laughed. "Go ahead and hide it underneath your bed, you rascal!" He teased.
  Isaac looked dumbstruck. "What?! No scolding or quoting scripture?" He asked.
"You should not have stolen from anyone, but it was the British, so I'm alright with that!" He laughed.
Isaac ran up to the loft and shoved the gun under the bed and ran back down into the parlor where Father Ignatius and I were. Just then my father came in.
"How were your rides?" He asked.
"They were good," I said.
"So the meeting is tonight at 8. Doctor Warren told me you two should sit in on it, but I recommend not talking. This will be a very important meeting," my father explained.
"Alright Mr. Byers," Isaac said. "What will the meeting be discussing?"
"He didn't say in his letter or tell me in person what we'd be discussing, just in case one of you two got caught or a letter got intercepted. All he did was call the meeting. I feel like the war is coming on fast, and we must be ready," my father said.
"I can't wait," Isaac whispered.
My father left the room.
"What was that, Isaac?" Father Ignatius asked.
"Umm, nothing," he said.
"Father Ignatius, does the Church have teachings on war?" I asked.
"Of course," he said, "Thomas Aquinas wrote laws of just war."
"Would this war live up to them?" I asked.
"Revolution is tricky," he said. "You can not really evaluate it by those laws. You see, if colonists declare war, they are not a legitimate political authority-"
"But we could be! We just aren't taken seriously," Isaac said.
"That's why it's difficult to evaluate this war. Will it cause more damage than good?" Father Ignatius asked.
"Probably not," I said, "A lot of lives will be lost, but in the end we should have a free country."
"Alright, is there a shot at victory on our side?" Father Ignatius asked.
"Yes!" Isaac said, his normal fire in his brown eyes, "We can take 'em easily! We have the skill and the strategy! We have the guts-"
  "Your guts will be left on the battle field, Isaac," Zeb laughed from the kitchen.
  "Sorry, am I talking too loud?" Isaac called.
  Zeb walked into the parlor, "No, I was listening at the door. I heard you talk of fighting."
  "Yeah I'm talking of fighting," Isaac said. "Who besides you says I can't?!"
"Your contract," Zeb smirked.
"What about yours?" Isaac asked.
"I'm a Son of Liberty," Zeb said, "Mr. Byers will let me fight if I want to. Besides, Mrs. Byers and the little ones like me better."
  "Honestly, I think Eleanor was a little jealous of Liza when I was dancing at that barn dance!" Isaac laughed.
  "She had me to dance with," Zeb teased, "How could she possibly be jealous of her sister who was dancing with a little rabbit like you!"
  We all burst out laughing.
  "I'm going to go see if your father needs anything," Father Ignatius said as he left the room.
  The next few hours before the meeting  flew by quickly and soon we were getting ready. Isaac just combed his hair a little bit. I changed into my light blue frock I had worn for the dance. Zeb of course got all dressed up with a jacket. My father looked normal.
  We would be taking the tunnel. My father went first down the trap door to the cellar. Zeb followed, then Isaac, then I. It was dark in the cellar because we had not lit candles or lanterns. My father lit a lantern and led us through the tunnel. It was just hollowed out of the ground, but it was tall enough for Zeb to walk through without ducking. Then I caught sight of a wooden door. My father shook the knob. It did not open.
"At least they're locking it like we told them to," he muttered.
Then he knocked. No one opened it.
"Liza, please go around to the pub's front entrance and open it on the other side," he said.
"Yes, Papa," I nodded.
I ran back through the tunnel, through the cellar, up the ladder, and tip toed through the house. Eleanor was standing in the store.
"Oh no you don't!" She said, her arms crossed over her chest and her little foot stamping. She looked like a small version of my mother, only with golden brown instead of Irish red hair.
"What? I'm going outside on a nice night," I said, trying to slip out.
"Where are the boys?" She asked, seeming like she knew something. "Especially Isaac?"
"Why do you say it like that?" I asked.
"I know you like him, that's why you can't marry Zeb," she said, smirking.
I was not sure how to respond to her accusation. "Not now, Ellie! I have to go outside," I snapped.
"No!" She said.
"Why?" I asked.
"I don't want you to get involved with those wanted men! I don't want you to risk getting killed!" She said, trying to push me away from the door.
"Ellie, how would you know I was going to see those men?" I asked.
"Well, you see, I was just-"
"Eavesdropping?" I asked.
"Maybe," she said shyly.
"Now you see here," I said, "I was invited to this meeting where they're discussing something important. You need to let me go."
"I want to go too!" She said.
"No," I said.
"Why? Why can you and I can't?" She asked.
"I'm older, wiser, braver, and better at the whole doing something different thing," I said.
"I want to help you though!" She protested.
"You know what? You can distract Ma while I'm gone! She probably doesn't want me there, but I have to. Can you do that for me?" I asked.
"Fine," she huffed.
She walked back into the house part of the building. I ran next door to the pub. I opened the door and went to the back of the room. It was full of rough, at least semi-drunk men. My mother would kill me if she knew I was here. I found the stairwell that leads to the basement. I climbed it and unlocked the door.
"What took you so long?" My father scolded.
"I'm sorry, Eleanor stopped me from leaving," I said, holding the door open.
"What does she know?" Zeb asked, cringing.
"That I'm with you, that's all," I said.
My father led us up the stairs to an upper room of the pub. All of the Sons were there already.
"Byers, you brought your kids?" James Swan asked.
"They're my guests, along with this one," Doctor Warren said, motioning to Eli who was already sitting near Mr. Edes.
Isaac sat down next to him, I sat down next to Isaac, and Zeb next to me on the other side. The rest of the Sons stared at us, smiling awkwardly.
"Doctor, do you really think it is a good idea to have children up here?" James Otis asked.
"They are the ones the new country will be for, James. Also, they're old enough to understand the matters, and they have helped the Sons of multiple occasions. This is their payment," Doctor Warren said with a smile.
"Doctor, you had news, please share it," Mr. Edes said.
  "Alright, I have received extremely secret information. Most of you know that the militia has a weapon warehouse in Concord. The British are planning to raid that warehouse and attack the city of Concord like they did with Boston. In order to stop them from making others suffer the same things we have here in Boston, we will need to call the militia to face them and hopefully stop them at Lexington before they can reach Concord. William Dawes, Paul Revere, you are the best riders in here tonight. We need you to call out the militia and alert that them that it is their time to fight! You militia men here tonight must get ready and bid your families goodbye tonight! They will be attacking tomorrow if we don't push them back! Go! Now!" Doctor Warren said, disbanding the meeting.
  The Sons got up and ran out of the pub. Eli, Isaac, Zeb and I looked at each other, slightly confused, but excited.
  "Byers? Are you going to fight?" James Swan asked my father.
"No, I have a family who is depending on me. I need to get home," my father said seriously, shoving us along back down the stairs and through the tunnel.
Eli followed Mr. Edes out of the pub and they ran back to their shop. My father ran to the master bedroom where my mother and baby Benedict slept. Everyone in the house was asleep and it was only 9 o'clock. Isaac, Zeb, and I were left alone in the shop by lantern light.
  "There's going to be a battle!" Isaac said excitedly.
  "Yes," Zeb said. "I'm going to get my gun!"
"What? Zeb, no! You can't go into battle. You've seen the militia training on the green before the massive British army took it over! We're horribly outmatched! You'll be killed!" I fretted.
"I'm 18 years old, Liza. I'm strong, smart, and I know what I'm doing. I'll be ok, I promise," he said.
  Zeb ran over to a shelf where a wooden box with a cloth cover over it was. I had always wondered what it was. He placed the box on the counter and opened it. Inside was an old hunting rifle.
  "It was my father's gun," he said, "He left it to me in his will. I have no better opportunity to use it. Goodbye, Isaac," he said shaking his hand maturely.
"Zeb, please don-" he cut me off by kissing me on the cheek.
"Goodbye, Liza," he said.
He grabbed the gun, a powder horn from a store shelf, and his tricornered hat. He ran out of the store, down the wharf, and into the night.