Kings Pinnacle (30 page)

“We got off the road and
worked our way through the trees north to about a mile south of
Sconneltown. When we crested a ridge, we saw that Major Ruskin had
dismounted and was standing in the middle of the road, holding his
rifle with a white rag tied at the end of the barrel. He was
standing in front of what looked like the whole British Army
marching south from Sconneltown. I told Clem to stay and see what
happened and I high-tailed it back to report,” said
Jonas.

“How many British do you
think are coming down the road?” asked Robert.

“
We didn’t get a count,
but from what I saw and the size of the dust cloud, I would say
that there’s more than five thousand,” replied Jonas.

“Okay, you, Hugh, Big Mike,
and the rest of the men scout on north through the trees and see
what they are up to. Get a better count of how many there are. As
soon as you know something, I want Hugh to ride back to General
Washington’s headquarters with the information. I am going to ride
back now and tell the general that we are being flanked from the
north. If Major Ruskin comes out ahead of the British, I want you
to kill him if you get the chance,” said Robert.

“
Weel now, we’d be happy
to do that,” said Hugh with a wolfish grin.

Robert nodded and leapt into
his saddle, spurring his horse south at full speed along the road
towards Chadds Ford and General Washington’s
headquarters.

* * * *

Captain Ferguson

“
Let’s work our way down
closer to the river to see if we can find a position to get a
better shot at them,” said Captain Ferguson as he deployed the
vanguard of his men and his best marksmen to snipe the rebels
across the Brandywine River at Chadds Ford.

The captain’s marksmen had
located some high ground close to the ford. They were setting up
their positions to fire on the rebels, who were a little over one
hundred yards away across the river.

“Try to sight in on the
rebel officers. Don’t waste shots at common soldiers if you have an
officer in range,” commanded Captain Ferguson as he took up a
firing position in the middle of the bluff where his best men were
deployed.

Captain Ferguson selected a
firing position that was well-suited both to observing the rebels
and to commanding his troops. It wasn’t long before a high-ranking
officer rode up and dismounted to inspect the fortifications at the
ford on the river bank. Captain Ferguson passed the word to his men
that he would take the shot at this officer. As the captain aimed
his rifle and sighted in on the rebel officer, another rebel
soldier clad in buckskins rode up to speak with the officer. They
walked a short distance away from the river bank and then turned
their backs to him giving him, two broad backs as targets. But
rather than shoot at the officer’s back, which was indeed a large
target, the captain selected the officer’s head as his target. He
was supremely confident in his marksmanship skill at just over one
hundred yards and wanted a clean kill from a head shot, rather than
risk merely wounding with a body shot.

* * * *

Alex

“
There’s no way to cross
the Brandywine below Pyle’s Ford. It’s too swift and too deep,”
said Alex to the Longhunter, gazing at the river.

“That’s true lad. We are
already at least five miles downriver, and it’s just getting wider
and deeper,” replied the Longhunter.

“I am going to ride back and
tell General Washington. You and the men keep going for a couple
more miles just to make sure,” said Alex.

“Aye, lad, we’ll keep going
for a ways,” said the Longhunter.

Alex reined his horse and
turned back toward Chadds Ford at a gallop. When he arrived at
General Washington’s headquarters, he dismounted, handed his reins
to one of the troops and ran into the headquarters tent. But
General Washington was not inside. One of the general’s
lieutenants, who was sitting at Major Ruskin’s desk, told Alex that
the general had just left. He could be found down the hill, closer
to Chadds Ford, inspecting the troop dispositions and
fortifications down at the ford. Alex walked out of the tent and
mounted up to follow General Washington to Chadds Ford. He finally
located the general on the river bank overlooking the Brandywine.
The buckskin-clad Alex dismounted with his rifle cradled in his arm
and walked up to the general, who turned around to walk a short
distance away from the river and face Alex. Alex turned around to
face the same direction as General Washington, away from the river,
to speak to him. Both men had their backs toward the river and had
no idea that they were being targeted by enemy snipers.

“Sir, we searched five miles
south of Pyle’s Ford, and there was no sign of the British. The
Brandywine is too wide, too deep, and too swift for any large body
of men to cross anywhere down there. I’ve sent my men on further
south just make sure that we didn’t overlook any possibilities,”
reported Alex.

“Thank you, Lieutenant
Mackenzie, for giving me that report. It is as I suspected. Have
you heard anything from your brothers who went north?” asked
General Washington.

“No, sir, not yet,” replied
Alex.

The words had barely come
out of Alex’s mouth when he and General Washington spied a rider on
horseback, bent over his horse’s neck, riding hard toward them. It
looked like Robert riding toward them, hell bent for leather. As
Robert approached them, he didn’t slow his horse but ran it near
them and leaped from the saddle as the horse passed them, tackling
both Alex and General Washington with his body, taking them to the
ground with him.

“Redcoats,” panted Robert as
he rolled off of Alex and the general and pointed to the ridge
across the Brandywine River.

Alex reacted immediately,
rolling over while still on the ground and bringing up his rifle,
priming the pan while sighting it toward the British riflemen
across the river. Alex fired a wild shot at a patch of a red that
he had picked out on the far ridge. Then he, General Washington and
Robert jumped up and ran back away from the bank to find some cover
from the British snipers hidden just across the river.

* * * *

Captain Ferguson

“
Damn, just missed my
chance at him,” said Captain Ferguson as he watched the rebel rider
dive off his running horse and tackle the two men who had been
perfect targets with their backs to him across the
river.

He had just spoken the last
word when a musket ball fired from across the river by the
buckskin-clad man struck him in the right elbow. The impact of the
musket ball caused him to drop his rifle and roll over onto his
back in pain, grasping his bleeding and splintered elbow with his
left hand.

“Get me out of here,”
commanded Captain Ferguson as his nearby men helped him up and
carried him back to his horse. They helped him mount his horse and
rode back with him to Kennett Square to find a doctor.

Captain Ferguson had no idea
that the shot he did not fire might have killed General George
Washington. All he knew was that he was aiming at a Continental
Army officer with his back turned to him. If he had killed General
Washington, it could have changed the course of the Revolutionary
War. But instead, his shattered elbow would take him out of the war
for an extended period, maybe for good.

When Captain Ferguson
reached Kennett Square, a British surgeon examined the wound. The
doctor determined that he could only put a field dressing on it and
put his arm into a sling. Further evaluation and possible surgery
would have to wait until the arm could be examined more closely in
Philadelphia.

* * * *

Samuel

“
General Howe, I am the
Prophet. I know that we have never met in person. I made all the
arrangements with General Gage initially, before he returned to
England, and have been working on your behalf ever since,” said
Samuel.

“Ah, it is a pleasure to
finally make your acquaintance. I am happy that you were able to
meet with me,” said General Howe.

“Washington has no idea that
you are flanking him. Even if he did, it is too late for him to
react,” said Samuel.

“Excellent news, I want to
thank you for the service that you have rendered to the crown. As
soon as my men rest for an hour, we will march down to Chadds Ford
and take care of the rebels. Is there any way that you can continue
to serve the British cause for the time being?”

“I don’t see why not. No one
knows where I am right now. If I leave immediately and return to my
duties, no one will be the wiser.”

“Good, you will continue to
coordinate your activities directly with Captain Ferguson of my
command, through your intermediaries. He will use his
intermediaries, such as the Eagle Spy to contact you.”

“That is agreeable. I had
best get on my way in order not to be missed and create
suspicion.”

“It was a pleasure to
finally meet you and be able to wish you good luck in person. I
have big plans for you after this war is over, which should be very
soon, maybe even today,” said General Howe.

“The pleasure was all mine.
Good luck to you, General. I eagerly await your orders at any
time,” said Samuel as he shook hands with General Howe.

Samuel mounted up very
quickly and spurred his horse south toward Chadds Ford, along the
same River Road he had ridden north on earlier.

He had ridden about five
miles from the location where the British Army under General Howe
rested when a group of Continental Army cavalry soldiers rode out
of the trees to intercept him. The leader of the band was a giant
of a man that looked familiar to Samuel. The giant rode right up to
him and grabbed the reins of his horse.

“Hello, Ruskin,” said Hugh
with a grin.

“It’s Major Ruskin and let
go of my horse or I’ll have you in front of a court martial, you
big oaf,” replied Samuel Ruskin.

“Ye are not having anyone
before a court martial. As a matter of fact, I’m going to kill ye
and then bury ye in a shallow grave in yon trees over my
shoulder.”

“I am a major in the
Continental Army, and I intend to see that you pay for that,” said
Samuel.

“Weel, as I see it, ye are
no longer a major in any army. Ye are a spy and a traitor, and ye
have to pay for yer crimes.”

“I demand to see General
Washington,” said Samuel, eyeing all the men behind
Hugh.

“Ye don’t remember me do
ye?”

“I have never laid eyes on
you in my life,” replied Samuel with an uneasy feeling that he had
encountered Hugh before but couldn’t remember the exact
circumstances.

Samuel knew that the
circumstances must not have been good since he had blotted it out
of his mind. He also knew that he was in trouble. He was thinking
hard, trying to find a way out, but nothing was coming to
him.

“’
Twas me what cold cocked
ye in that tavern in Larne, a few years back,” said Hugh as he saw
the recognition dawn in Samuel’s eyes.

“Why do you call me a spy
and a traitor?”

“We followed the girl, who
ye sent to Captain Ferguson, and then we saw ye come and go from
her tent. It was Jonas here who first laid eyes on ye,” said Hugh,
motioning toward Jonas with his open hand, and Jonas nodded in
agreement.

“But that’s enough talk. Do
ye prefer a blindfold or not?”

Samuel jerked hard on the
reins of his horse and pulled them out of Hugh’s grasp. He spurred
his mount into a dead run back north on the road with Hugh and his
men close on his heels. If he could make it to the British Army and
General Howe, he would be safe, even though his career as a spy was
over. Hugh had anticipated the move and had Big Mike and two men
stationed about a quarter mile to the north, where the trail
narrowed by a heavy stand of trees on both sides of the trail. When
Big Mike saw Major Ruskin riding at a gallop north on the road, he
and his two companions rode out of the trees and blocked the trail.
Major Ruskin reined his horse and slowed to avoid a collision with
Big Mike and his men, since he could not pass them on either
side.

Hugh caught up quickly,
dismounted, and walked up to Samuel Ruskin, who was still sitting
on his horse. Hugh grabbed Samuel around the waist, pulled him off
his horse and threw him on the ground. Samuel rolled to his feet
with a wild-eyed look. He knew that he was in mortal danger and his
entire demeanor changed. He turned to face Hugh with a
scowl.

“You hit me when I wasn’t
looking back in Larne. Are you man enough to try me again?” asked
Samuel as he pulled his knife from his belt sheath and squared off
with Hugh, intending to fight him.

Hugh laughed at him and then
turned around and walked back to where Jonas and Big Mike were
standing, after having dismounted. As Hugh was getting ready to
speak to Jonas and Big Mike, Clem Jackson rode up and
dismounted.

“
What did you see, Clem?”
asked Hugh.