“Thanks, Robyn.”
“Anytime.” Robyn hissed through her teeth. “Do you have to keep poking it, Ben?”
Ben gave her a peeved look. “I wouldn’t, if you didn’t keep getting yourself hurt. Now, hold still.”
The trio sat atop a stack of hay bales. Ben tended to Robyn’s hurt leg, while Robyn complained and Sovay held things.
“It’s all in the line of duty.” Robyn muttered.
Ben sighed. He had thought about going off on his “well maybe it’s not your duty” tangent, but he knew his sister wouldn’t listen. He was secretly proud of what she was doing, but more often than not his worry for her safety overcame his pride.
“So what exactly were you two doing in that tavern? You know a tavern is no place for a lady.” He grinned as he felt two pairs of eye glare at him. He did enjoy tweaking them.
“Well,” Robyn began a little huffily. “I was saving Sovay’s neck from getting stretched.”
Ben turned to his cousin. “And what, pray tell, were you doing?”
Sovay tossed her hair. “I was learning about a spy in the Continental Army’s camp.”
Both Rivers dropped their prepared reprimands at once.
Ben was first to speak. “What?! A spy? How do they not know about this?”
“Any idea what he looks like? Age? Hair color? Anything I could send to General Washington?”
“Is he an effective spy? Usually spies get caught quickly in the camp.”
“How does he relay messages to the Redcoats? That can’t be easy. He must be really clever.”
Sovay held up her arms as if to protect herself from the barrage of questions. “Whoa, there. It’s a stampede! I haven’t got a clue, really. I only overheard a small bit before Chaplen spotted me.”
The group fell silent. After a few minutes of quiet reflection, Ben broke the silence. “Now we have two problems.”
The two girls nodded.
“I think we should take care of Corporal Remington first.”
Both girls arched an eyebrow. “Why do you think that?” Robyn asked.
“Well, thanks to our magnificent cousin, we already have a plan of action where he is concerned. As to the spy, we don’t have a clue of where to begin.”
Both girls nodded again. Sovay grinned, pleased Ben liked her plan. Robyn frowned, peeved at Reid for taking time away from more important matters.
“There.” Ben sat back and eyed his handiwork.
Robyn wiggled her injured leg. “Thanks, Doctor Ben.”
He winked at her. “Anytime, Master Shadow Fox.”
Robyn stood and tested her leg. It hurt, and she figured she might limp on in for a day or two, but other than that, she was pleased. “I was thinking about Sovay’s Plan. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think we need Alice’s help.”
~~~~~
The next day, the Rivers and Sovay knocked politely on the Sumpters’ home. It was a stately affair—far larger than the Rivers’ home. A maid answered the door, and led them to a drawing room.
“Well, this is fancy,” Sovay whispered to Robyn.
Her cousin nodded. “Jacob and Alice’s father is a good friend of the governor.”
Sovay wrinkled her nose. “I knew I didn’t like this place.”
As the trio entered the drawing room, the two Sumpters stood to greet them. Jacob looked pleased, but Alice did not.
“What brings you three here?” She asked curtly.
“Don’t be o rude, Alice,” Jacob reprimanded. To the group he said, “Please, sit down.”
Ben glanced around as they took a seat. “Can we talk in private?”
Jacob nodded. “The servants don’t listen in, and my father is out for the day.”
“Good.” Ben leaned forward. “We need your help. Sovay has a plan—“
“Oh, goodness, you mean to say she thinks?”
Sovay glared at Alice. “A lot more than you do, you pompous over-grown—“
“Sovay, honestly.” Robyn sighed. “Let’s just get to the point.” She nodded to Ben.
Her brother continued, “Sovay has a plan to get rid of Reid. He’s a nuisance to the Shadow Fox. However, we could use your help.”
Jacob nodded. “Count me in.”
The group all look at Sovay. She turned up her nose at them.
Jacob sighed, recognizing the look on her face. “Oh, come on Alice.”
Sovay crossed her arms in front of her chest. “If you didn’t know I came up with the plan would you help?”
Robyn leaned forward. “If it helps, it was the Shadow Fox’s idea to include you.”
Alice perked up at this. “Really?”
Robyn nodded.
“Well, why didn’t you say so? Of course I’ll help!”
Robyn smirked at Sovay, who rolled her eyes.
“Well, what can I do?”
It was Sovay’s turn to lean forward. “We need you to help us convince Reid that dressing up like the Shadow Fox will help him catch the Shadow Fox.”
The Sumpters exchanged glances. “And this will accomplish what?” Jacob asked.
Sovay laid out her plan with Robyn and Ben throwing in things she left out. At the end, both the Sumpters were slowly nodding.
Alice giggled. “Oh, it will be great fun to be in league with the Shadow Fox! It’s so exciting!”
Sovay wrinkled her nose, but Robyn grinned.
Jacob nodded. “It’s good to be doing something for our country. Besides, I won’t mind getting rid of Corporal Remington.”
All four nodded in agreement.
~~~~~
“You’re planning something.”
Robyn jumped, and spun around. Agent Chaplen leaned on the door to the stables. Robyn and Midnight had been so focused on each other, that neither had noticed his entrance. The girl tugged her cloak’s hood farther over her face.
“When—“
“Not long. A few minutes at most. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to sneak up on you.”
She stroked her mare’s nose. “We were otherwise engaged.”
He smiled a knowing smile. “You two are planning something. I would swear that horse understood everything you told her.”
The Shadow Fox chuckled. “She did, and she doesn’t like it. I have to admit I’m not too pleased with it either.”
“I hope it doesn’t have to do with the spy in the rebel camp. General Howe asked me to keep you from alerting Washington.”
“General Washington is already aware there are spies amongst his forces. The problem is rooting them out. You have nothing to fear. This does not concern the war, actually.” Robyn attempted to feed Midnight some oats, but the horse refused to be bribed. “Come now, Midnight, please? Just this once. I’ll never let anyone do it again, I swear.”
The horse tossed her head and harrumphed.
“I’ll give you some sugar.”
This horse stopped, and looked Robyn in the eye.
“Yes, really. And, we’ll ride the flats, and you can run as fast as you want.”
The horse regarded her thoughtfully for a few minutes. Finally, she nickered and ate the oats. The Shadow Fox laughed. “Good girl! I’ll make good on my promises, I swear.”
Agent Chaplen arched an eyebrow. “You bribe your horse?”
“Well, begging and pleading didn’t work, so I had to resort to bribery.”
Chaplen pushed himself off the doorframe. “Well, I’ll be interested to see how this night plays out.”
The Shadow Fox bowed. “It shall be a brilliant show, Chaplen. I hope you will enjoy it.”
~~~~~
“This is a brilliant idea, Miss Sovay and Miss Alice, however, are you sure it will work?”
The two girls nodded enthusiastically. Sovay stepped forward and pulled his hood up. “There, perfect. Now you look just like him. You’ll catch the Shadow Fox in no time.”
Alice smiled sweetly. “And just think how General Howe will reward you. Why, all the girls in Boston will be falling in line.”
Reid’s eyes lit up at the thought of this. Alice and Sovay grinned at each other.
Ben led Midnight out of the barn, Jacob following behind. “Here’s your horse.”
Reid frowned. “That’s not my—uhn!”
Sovay had elbowed him in the ribs. Giving the others a wink, she trotted off in the direction of the house.
“Oh, thanks, um…”
“Ben.” Ben managed to keep a straight face.
“Right. Ben.”
Ben held Midnight’s lead rope and spoke soothingly to her as Reid made to mount her. It took several tries and a boost from Jacob, but he finally made it atop the mare’s back. The hors laid back her ears, stomped her hooves, nickered a complaint, but she did not buck the offending human off. Ben fed her sugar, and she perked her ears up, remembering her favorite human’s promises.
Ben handed the rope to Reid. “Here you go. Have a good time.”
Reid cleared his throat and nudged her with his toe. “Well, get up, then.”
Midnight wanted to show him who was in charge, so she stayed put. He nudged her again and asked nicely, so she moseyed off at a leisurely walk.
A grinning British drummer boy approached the group. “Well, I’m off to inform General Howe the Shadow Fox is about.”
With a little hop-skip, the boy was off. Sovay frowned. “Who was that?”
Ben grinned. “An associate of the Shadow Fox.”
Chaplen watched the odd group from an upstairs window. He had seen the Shadow Fox mount his horse, and now a boy dressed as a drummer boy was running off down the street. This was interesting. He wondered what was going on.
~~~~~
Sovay trotted down Milk Street and up to the house General Howe was staying in. She knocked on the door. A maid answered. Sovay cleared her throat, and in a slightly deepened voice said, “I have important information that needs to be delivered to General Washington.”
The maid quickly hurried her in. She spoke to several other officers until they deemed her worthy enough to speak with the general. Finally, Sovay was rushed into the study General Howe had taken over. She saluted, and stood at attention, waiting for the general to acknowledge her.
He took his time. At last, he seemed to notice her, and said, “Well, go ahead, boy.”
“General Howe, the Shadow Fox has been sighted riding the streets. If you hurry now, you can catch him.”
The general grinned. He called his officers and quickly gave them orders. They scurried away, and the general returned to his seat. Seeing Sovay, he blinked at her. “What are you still doing here?”
“I, uh—“
“Well, get going, lad! No reason to lollygag about!”
Grinning, Sovay scampered from the room.
-----
In honor of my favorite nation's birthday, I shall be posting two chapters! Happy birthday, United States of America! May you always be the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
I would like to take this space to answer any questions that might arise in your minds about how I tend to portray the British officers. I would first like to say that I have nothing against the U.K. In a matter of fact, there is one Brit who is very near and dear to my heart--my mother. I do not know how General Howe acted, as I never actually met him, considering he lived over 200 years ago, and I (regrettably) do not have a time machine. He is simply a foil for Agent Chaplen. His short-fused bumbling character contrasts starkly with Chaplen's calm, calculating nature. Besides, this is a story about a young patriot girl outsmarting a bunch of officers. They have to be a tad on the not-so-clever side. Howe is a brilliant man--when is comes to battles--he's just not so good at capturing little pests. And, in my defense, I happen to regard Agent Chaplen as the single cleverest person in the book.
Next post coming up!
Edit: After much searching and squinting at a map of Boston I have, I have finally discovered where General Howe stayed! He stayed in a house on Milk Street! I am very pleased with myself!
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