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Nathaniel removed his arm from the mantel as a grin swooped up one side of his face. “You and Anna are becoming better acquainted?” He leaned his back against the wall next to the fireplace and crossed one ankle over the other. “I told you marriage would be good for you.”
William answered on top of his words. “I do not recall you ever said that.”
He shrugged with a quick tilt of the head. “If I didn’t I should have.”
“I quite agree with Nathaniel.” Thomas rubbed his finger against the cleft in his chin. “You seem to be handling the transition with incredible ease for someone who insisted against it so emphatically at the beginning.”
“You are all goodness and kindness, I’m sure.” William couldn’t seem to add enough sarcasm to his voice or his smile. He pulled his expression flat. “May we discuss the matters at hand?”
“With pleasure.” Nathaniel’s eyes flashed as if William had divulged something secretive.
Instead of challenging the implied look, William let it evaporate untouched.
“We’ve alerted the patriots in town to be on the lookout,” Thomas said. “Though I haven’t seen any soldiers, Nathaniel believes he did.”
“Aye,” Nathaniel answered. “From a distance, but ’twas only one of them and ’twas difficult to tell if he was a part of the regiment we saw or a remnant of the redcoats in town.”
“I happened upon two of them.”
Both men froze, their eyes stern.
William sat up in his chair and went on, grateful to be freed from the suffocating conversation of moments ago. “I took Anna to the creek to hopefully stay out of sight.” He stopped, pondering the instability of his logic. It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but looking back… “We were discovered and one of them approached me.”
“Were you threatened?” Thomas didn’t move, save the small twitch in his jaw.
“Not with anything but a show of boyish bravado.”
Nathaniel pushed away from the wall. “You put him in his place I trust.”
“In a way of speaking.” William allowed a small laugh from his chest, remembering the encounter and suddenly flooded with compassion for the incompetent young soldier.
“Did he say anything to you—anything that could help us?”
“Not much.” William sighed. “But he did confirm that the information I was told in the wood is correct. They are looking for smugglers.”
“You said there were two?” Thomas asked. “Where was the other?”
The shock of panic he’d felt at the creek trickled over him again. How fortunate they had been that the soldiers who had found them were not like Samuel and Paul, ruthless and cold. If Anna had been so much as touched, William would have blood on his hands.
“I’d hidden Anna among the trees, but she was found by the other soldier.” Their faces went white, and William hurried to finish before their disquiet escalated. “She was well. They simply talked with one another.” He paused, crinkling his forehead in thought. “It seems she had a brother in the army and this particular soldier reminded her of him.”
Nathaniel and Thomas shared a quick glance, eyebrows high.
“So they simply left without a fuss?” Thomas shook his head. “Too simple. They will keep watch here, I’m sure of it.”
Nathaniel stayed motionless, his arms crossed over his chest, tone somber as the fire cracked beside him. “They would be foolish to weaken their numbers by stationing soldiers all the way from here to Boston. Sixty miles? Nay, too taxing upon their forces. They have enough to worry them in Boston itself.”
William scrunched his mouth and shook his head. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“Why is that?” Thomas asked.
“You under estimate their numbers. And their tenacity.” William took a long inhale and breathed out slow. “I know all too well their desire for the complete submission of the colonists and I fear any and all measures will be taken to ensure that end.”
Nathaniel looked down, his head wagging for a second before he looked up again. “You believe we will be surrounded by the king’s men from now until…”
“I cannot say. But if they believe colonists are smuggling goods into the city, then they will not relent until the conspirators are apprehended.”
This time, the look the other men exchanged made William’s spine brace. He knew their thoughts as if they’d spoken them aloud.
