AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Unable to respond, Joseph slanted his head, studying the enigmatic figure before him. If indeed this man was a Patriot, their work against the enemy could be combined, but if he was not…
As if Joseph had spoken the questions aloud, Willis sat back, an understanding slide to his lips. “I do not blame you for questioning.” He nodded, answering the words Joseph didn’t voice. “I too am a spy and am under the command of Washington.”
“Washington?”
“Aye.” Willis pointed to the kettle over the fire, his eyebrows raised.
Joseph shook his head.
The man continued. “I was offered this post not long after Bunker Hill. My family are all Tories, and ’twas assumed I was one as well. The cover was perfect.”
One word made Joseph’s back prick. “Was?”
“It seems there is an informant about.” Willis’s expression dulled, but his tone sharpened. “Lieutenant Greene was here a few days past, prying where he ought not. Do you know him?”
Joseph needn’t look to Hannah to know that she stiffened. “We do.”
“You don’t care for him either, I take it.” He huffed, shaking his head. “I feared I might have been discovered, but thus far it seems I am not suspected, thank the Lord.”
Joseph ventured further. “How do you know of our mission? We have told no one.”
Standing, Willis went to the mantel and shimmied out a stone from the side. Retrieving a letter from the cavity, he unfolded the paper and looked it over. “I received word from Captain Donaldson about your arrival at the foundry and your mission.” He handed the letter to Joseph. “I knew ’twas only a matter of time before you came.”
Joseph read the message in pleasant shock before handing the note back to Willis. “It seems you know more of this than I.”
“I am plagued with needing to know everything that happens.” He replaced the letter behind the stone. “’Tis a burden, though I am pleased to bear it for what good will come…what good I hope will come of our efforts.”
Joseph spied Hannah, whose tight features showed her surprise and continuing suspicion. She was right to worry, as they knew nothing of the man, but there was something about him that seemed far too sincere to be questioned.
When Willis was seated, Joseph moved forward with the mission at hand. “I’ve brought the barrels.”
“Excellent. Get up a moment. There’s something I would show you.” Willis motioned for them to stand before he pulled away his and Joseph’s chairs and removed the crude rug. Stooping, he raised a hidden door in the planked wood. Deep, and filled halfway with muskets, lead, barrels of powder and cannonball, the hidden cellar was cavernous. Joseph’s mouth would have hinged open if he hadn’t intentionally held it shut.
Hannah’s eyes were wide and her lips tight, as if she too was attempting not to gasp in surprise.
Willis straightened like a proud bird showing his nest. “Two hundred and fifty muskets, two thousand rounds, and three hundred cannonball. Along with the gun barrels you are to deliver, I’d say that’s a fair prize for the waiting men in Roxbury and Cambridge.”
“Good heavens.”
Hannah’s half-breathed exclamation echoed Joseph’s very thoughts.
“Incredible.” She raised her head and caught Joseph with her awe-filled expression.
He answered with a raise of the brow and disbelieving smile. He’d never have imagined it either.
Willis motioned for Joseph to help him lower the floor’s hatch. With rug and chairs back in place, they took their seats, as if they hadn’t just witnessed a storehouse of the army’s lifeblood.
“There is a raid planned for the early morning of Sunday, February fourth.” Willis leaned forward, elbows on his knees. His timbre had gone from serious to lethal. “We have planned it to the minute. Several hours after your delivery here, the Patriots will make their supposed attack. I shall be abed, pretending to be shocked and horrified at their arrival yet completely helpless to stop them.”
“But there are other soldiers about.” Joseph sat back in the small chair, his leg muscles ticking with the rise of tension. “How can you be sure they will not get word of this?”
“There is always concern, which is why secrecy is critical.” Willis glanced to Hannah then back to Joseph. “But we have cause for hope. We have organized it thus because that is the night of?”
“The night of the ball.”
Both men turned to Hannah. Chin raised, resolve and determination radiated in her rich, green eyes. “All the officers will be frolicking at the ball several miles from here while the Patriots make off with their stores.”
Approval and undeniable respect lit Willis’s face as he nodded at Hannah’s statement. “Aye. You are a wise woman. Wise and devilishly brave.” He shifted his eyes to Joseph. “If you can obtain an invitation—”
