Spirit of the Revolution (28 page)

Jo’s sudden gasp of delight interrupted their conversation and Mathias turned to meet her gaze. She smiled in triumph as she held up a single sheet of paper and waved it in front of them.

“What did you find?” asked Mathias.

“This,” she began, “comes from a biographical chapter, written in one of the Fairfield County history books of Ohio. Most every state and county in the Union has something similar. The author fills the pages with information about the notable residents. This particular entry deals with Matthew Brewster’s grandson, a man by the name of Orrin Brewster. The author gives the details of his life and his children, of course, but then there’s this passage, listen,” she said as her eyes returned to the highlighted entry on the page.

“‘Orrin’s paternal grandfather, Matthew Brewster, is of English extraction, arriving in this Country in the year 1769, where he soon traded his previous occupation of tinker, for the more practical occupation of blacksmith. His exceptional skills in iron works, noted far and wide for high quality and workmanship, abound to this day. Thus, he remained in great demand throughout the region during his lifetime. Orrin followed in his footsteps—’”

She placed the paper down at the edge of the desk, where the boys could read it in full for themselves. “I think this passage reveals that Matthew Brewster is our source for the tinker we seek. So, do any of you have any ideas for the toy part?”

Mathias resumed his restless pacing. “What would one label as a toy, belonging to a tinker or a blacksmith?” he asked.

“Tools come readily to mind or perhaps even his forge,” Samuel said.

“Matthew did indeed possess a talent for metal works,” Alex added. “I’ve seen some of the results of that myself. Just what if Washington assigned him to make spears for the patriots? Remember the letter Jolena read us from the book, the one where he said he ordered more spears for the defense against the British cavalry?”

“That’s a very good possibility, Alex,” Mathias said.

“Or perhaps they asked him to build something to house or carry the acquired weapons,” William suggested.

“That’s a good possibility as well,” said Sam. “I remember one time General Washington said we needed a more effective way to utilize the spears. What if he or Thomas envisioned a cart that would not only efficiently carry the spears wherever needed on the battlefield, but also make it, so we could use them to greater advantage?”

“Let’s speculate just for a moment, my cousin provided the wealth for the materials,” Mathias said. “Joshua, of course, held enough property to secretly house a forge. Matthew is the likely choice to make the weapons or carts, maybe even both. But, what information would give the English cause to capture and execute Thomas? An act which caused Jacob Weidmann, a man obviously involved with this secrecy, to have the entire operation relocated elsewhere in the midst of a scheduled convoy?”

“What if the English found out about it, as Jacob feared?” asked Jedediah. “What if they discovered both Matthew and Joshua in the act of building it and then executed them both as well? Perhaps that’s the reason these men disappeared from the records of history, all at about the same time.”

“The English might even have had a spy of their own working within,” Alexander said. “He could’ve exposed the entire operation before they even had the chance to utilize it.”

“I think Jacob, being privy to the most secret doings of the English, would’ve known if they had any spies, Alex,” Mathias replied. “The fact they intended to relocate their operation indicates the English didn’t know anything about it, at least up until the night before our death. Perhaps a group of Redcoats just happened across Thomas in a place they deemed suspicious. Once they searched him, they might’ve found something that made them wary.”

“And as we all know, it took naught but a suspicion for them to execute someone on the spot,” Sam said. “Well, I for one am not going to rest until I find out.”

Sam’s last comment drew Jo’s attention and she found herself staring wide-eyed in his direction. Her heart dropped somewhere into the pit of her stomach.
He didn’t plan to rest until he found out.
He couldn’t
rest
until he found out? All at once, Carolyn’s words, casually spoken so many months ago, flooded her mind. Some spirits, she said, remained earth bound,
until
they concluded their unfinished business. Only then, did they feel free to leave their earthly existence.

Her boys fought and died in the service of their country in a failed attempt to deliver a crucial message to General Washington. Although they couldn’t possibly give the message to the man now, nor would the knowledge of its contents change history, would the unraveling of that mystery give them a feeling of resolve? If they found success in learning all of the details associated with Jacob Weidmann’s last letter, would they feel free to leave? More importantly, would they
choose
to leave?

As she considered their absence, her heart lurched in a moment of intense pain and sorrow. Almost the same sorrow that crushed her heart when she learned of her parents passing.
You made a commitment to these men, Jolena
, she sternly reminded herself. That commitment included doing everything in her power to help them in their quest, no matter the cost to her heart. No matter the cost—

“Jolena?” Samuel called.

Jo looked up. Everyone gazed at her as if awaiting a response to something Samuel must have said. “I’m sorry. Did you say something?”

“I just wanted to know if we’ve received anything back from Scotland on the sale of Thomas’s property,” he said.

“Oh. No, not unless—well, let me see if we have anything here.” Jo picked up the remainder of the mail and looked at each piece. She shook her head. “Sorry, we haven’t gotten anything back from them yet. Hopefully it will come soon, though.”

“What if it turns out Thomas didn’t sell any of his property at all?” asked Alex. “That still wouldn’t prove or disprove anything, really. Just because Thomas possessed the wealth, doesn’t mean he used any of it for this particular project. His involvement could stem from something else entirely.”

“That’s true, Alex,” Mathias replied. “We need to remember Thomas had a brilliant mind. It’s just as plausible for him to have come up with a unique design for the cart or the spears or whatever else the patriots needed to win the war.”

“Still,” Samuel reminded them, “nothing we’ve discussed would come cheap. I still believe a source of wealth had to fund it.”

“And that could have come from a thousand different places as easily as it could’ve come from just one,” William replied.

“Agreed,” said Mathias. “I say we just start with Joshua’s property and build on what we find there. Right now, anything else is pointless.”

That night, Jo found it difficult to find sleep. Despite her exhilarating ride with Mathias this afternoon, or perhaps because of it, her mind wouldn’t quiet long enough for sleep to overtake her. The mystery of her grandfather’s last letter rested within an inch of full discovery. And then what? Would her boys leave all at once or would they leave one by one? Would some of them go immediately and some of them choose to stay for a while? Would any of them consider waiting until the final beat of her heart? What about Mathias? Would he choose to wait?

“There will never come a time I would desire to leave you, Jolena, nor could I, even if you should ask it of me. If that day should ever come, I would hide away in the shadows and simply watch over you until you took your last breath,” he had said. “I can promise you that
—
”

She would give away everything she owned, or would ever hope to own, if that promise occurred somewhere other than within a dream.

Chapter 22

Jo turned into her driveway as the sun dipped below the horizon. Just as she expected, Mathias stood at the side of her door as she parked and then exited the car. The way he looked at her just now, and every day since Christmas, made her heart beat a little faster. What changed? Did the painting have anything to do with that expression? Or maybe, because of all the moments they shared during their frequent rides together, he might’ve fallen—

“Did you finish up the film score today as the conductor hoped?” he asked.

“Yes, finally, after all this time. Or at least we’re finished until the director asks for the next set of changes.” She shook her head and sighed as she took hold of her bag, hefted it onto her shoulder, and then grabbed her violin case before he shut the door.

“Soon he’ll run out of time to make any more alterations,” Mathias said.

Jo nodded as they made their way toward the porch steps. “Yep, and I think he’s just about there. In fact, I think the film premiere is in less than three months,” she said as she stopped long enough to empty the mailbox. After she cleaned it out, she glanced down at the letter on top, looked up at Mathias and smiled. She turned the letter toward him. “From the genealogist at the Scottish archives.”

“Let’s get the thing opened, and see what it says,” he said as he opened the door and waved her into the family room.

She put her bag on the table and her violin inside the stand before walking into the room. Then just as she stood in front of the sofa, the phone rang. She shrugged out of her jacket, and picked up the receiver. “Speaking.” She glanced once again at the letter from Scotland. “Oh. Hello, Mr. Clark, of course I remember you. How could I not? You were so very helpful when we—when I visited the Pennsylvania archives several months ago.”

“Not as helpful as I should have been,” Wilford Clark replied. “I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me that rather than tinkers toy,
stoys
was plausible as an abbreviation for Stoystown, Pennsylvania, and tinker a surname. But at least your colleague figured that part out.”

Jo tossed her jacket on the back of the armchair across from the sofa as she held Mathias’s gaze. “My colleague?”

“Yes,” Wilford said. “I gathered some books that cited the surnames McCree, McCrae, and McBean as he requested, but he left the building before I could return them to his table. Therefore, I didn’t get his name, and that’s why I’m calling you.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I’m trying to think which of my colleagues might’ve visited you today. Would you have spoken with the sandy haired blond who wears the silver-framed glasses?” She peeked over at Mathias. The tender expression he wore earlier disappeared, as the deadly Ranger resurfaced. The expression made her shiver. She sat down on the sofa and placed the letter on her lap. Mathias took a seat beside her.

“Yes, that’s him,” Wilford replied. “He spent almost the entire day doing his research and by late afternoon, he looked a bit frazzled. So, I offered to help. When he showed me what he discovered on Thomas Taenker in Stoystown, I recalled the hours you spent here.”

Jo and Mathias looked at each other. “Um, did he happen to say why his research included the surnames you just mentioned?”

“Well, I asked him that question myself, since your research focused on the surname McGregor. He said something about the difficulty of interpreting the handwriting and he needed to consider the possibility the name might be something other than McGregor.”

“Yes, the name is difficult to read. Did he tell you what he found on this Thomas Taenker in Stoystown?” she asked.

“No, he didn’t say much, other than he seemed confident of his facts. He said Thomas Taenker served during the Revolutionary War and that many of his descendants used the surname Tinker,” Wilford replied. “So you see you weren’t far off initially.”

“I wonder why he left without waiting to see the books.” Jo made the comment to Mathias, but Wilford answered anyway.

“I can’t say for sure, other than he suddenly asked if we carried the history of property deeds. I told him no, those records would be found on the county level,” he said.

“Really?” she asked. “Did he want the history of Taenker’s property?”

“I’m not sure. We weren’t talking about Taenker at the time. Let’s see. Oh yes, I believe he made the comment after we discussed the alternate names for McGregor.”

Jo’s heart skipped a beat. She swallowed with a bit of difficulty and said, “Well, this is all very good news. I’m so happy you called me.”

“No problem,” he said. “I just wanted to let you both know the titles of the books he asked to see are written down on your card. Any employee should be able to retrieve them if either of you would like to come back in and take a look at what they have to offer.”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Clark. I’ll pass your message on to my colleague,” she said. “You’ve gone beyond the call of duty, and I appreciate the time you took out of your busy day to get in touch with me.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Michaelsson. If I can be of further assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask,” he replied.

Sam popped in just as Jo hung up the phone. He glanced at Mathias, then at her and then back to Mathias.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Sanders again,” Mathias spat.

Sam sighed and shook his head. “What’s he up to now?”

“I just received a call from the curator at the Pennsylvania archives,” Jo said. “He called to tell me that one of my colleagues visited the building to do additional research on tinker’s toy and offered his congratulations for finally figuring out the words referenced Stoystown, Pennsylvania.”

“What does all of that mean?” Just as Sam asked the question, the rest of the boys stood behind him, awaiting the answer.

“It means,” growled Mathias, “he remembers just enough of Jacob’s letter to try and solve the puzzle himself. The curator said Sanders found a man by the name of Thomas Taneker who lived very near Stoystown, Pennsylvania, during the latter part of the eighteenth century. Sanders believes tinker’s toy references that man and that place.”

“He’s also looking for someone named McCree or McCrae,” Jo added. “Although Paul is trying to find the subject of our letter, I’d say he is on the wrong track.”