“They’ve taken the road to Providence. Which way they’ll go after that, I have no idea.”
Dr. Church nodded in satisfaction, but Jamie and Sarah both exchanged worried looks. Dr. Warren told the others that he planned to return to Cambridge to treat the wounded.
Paul Revere announced, “We’ll all have to leave town as soon as possible. When you arrive in Cambridge, ask for Hastings House, and you’ll be shown the way. Bring supplies with you because we all may be there a long time.”
Dr. Church said, “I’ll come to Cambridge if I can, but I can’t abandon my patients in Boston.”
Dr. Warren agreed, “Nor can I. I’ll help as much as I can, but I’ll remain here in Boston to keep an eye on the British and send information to you.”
Revere nodded, “Good. Well, now that you all know the lay of things as they are, I’ll send you home to pack your things. I shall see you all in Cambridge.”
The men all agreed and stood up to leave. Jamie whispered in Sarah’s ear,
“We’ve got to follow Church!”
Sarah nodded, “Yes, I know!”
As the men were leaving, Jamie told Jonathan he needed to run an errand for Mr. Roberts.
“May I go with him, Father?” asked Sarah, “I need to buy a few things at the market before we go home.”
Jonathan thought a moment, and then nodded. “Meet me back at the Revere’s house when you are finished.”
She smiled and gave him a hug and a kiss before leaving.
They followed Dr. Church down Marlborough Street, as he headed for Corn Hill, walking fast with his shoulders hunched and head down. The crowded streets were much busier than most Saturdays in Boston.
“I think he’s going home,” Sarah noted as they walked along, trying to keep Dr. Church in their sight through the thickening crowds. Jamie nodded in agreement and kept up the pace to stay on the man’s trail. Dashing across the road, they were nearly run over by a British officer on horseback who shouted at them to watch where they were going. At the State House, they turned left onto King Street and rounded the corner just as Dr. Church disappeared into number 17. They ducked behind the corner of the building and leaned against it to catch their breath.
“What do you think he’s doing in there?”
“I don’t know. We’ll just stay here until he comes out again.”
After about twenty minutes, a figure emerged. She wore a green shawl over her shoulders and carried a string purse on her arm. Jamie’s head jerked up in surprise. As she approached them from the other side of the street, they hurried behind a brick building and hid.
“It’s the red-headed woman!” Sarah exclaimed.
Table of Contents
Chapter 16: Interception
A few minutes later, they came out and saw her at the corner by the State House, turning right. After letting a couple of people get ahead of them, they followed the red-headed woman as she passed the State House and crossed the main square.
When she headed toward Boston Common, Jamie said, “I think she’s going to the General’s house!”
“If she’s carrying a message to General Gage from Dr. Church, he’ll know everything!”
“No he won’t,” Jamie declared, “Not if we stop her.”
“But how?” Sarah demanded.
Jamie kept walking as he tried to think of a way to stop her. Finally he spoke,
“You’ll create a distraction. Stop her and ask for directions. In the meantime, I’ll cut through the back gardens and get Joshua to help me to steal her purse.”
“Steal her purse?”
“Yes. Just keep her talking and I’ll come up behind her, grab it, and run.”
“But what if you’re caught?”
“I won’t be if Joshua agrees to help me,” Jamie said eagerly, “Now go on, and when she gets around the corner, stop her before she gets to the General’s house.”
Jamie ducked down an alley and Sarah was left with nothing to do but carry out the plan he had hastily devised. As she followed the red-headed woman, she began to worry about what could go wrong. What should she say to the woman? What if she refused to stop and talk to her? All these fears crowded her mind, causing her heart to tumble in panic.
Finally, the woman turned the corner. Sarah followed, while looking over her shoulder to watch for Jamie.
Jamie ran down an alley and came out behind the row of houses where the General’s house stood. He cut through the back gardens of several large homes and set more than one watchdog to barking as he charged through hedges and rows of bushes. Finally he saw the carriage house, hoping Joshua would be there.
An officer was dismounting as Jamie came out from the bushes. He waited until the officer left his horse with Joshua before he emerged.
“Josh! I need your help!”
Joshua smiled at seeing him, “What’s going on?”
“Plenty! But I need you now to help me stop someone who’s delivering a message to General Gage from a traitor to our cause.”
Joshua asked, “What do you want me to do?”
“I’ll explain on the way. We must hurry!”
Joshua nodded and said, “Let me put this horse inside first.”
Jamie followed him into the stable and helped him get the horse into a stall before leaving.
“This way! Follow me!” Jamie cried, and Joshua followed him into the bushes behind the carriage house. Along the way, Jamie quickly told Josh his plan, and Josh grinned in anticipation.
“Oh, so I get to be the hero, eh? That’s fine by me! Just don’t get yourself caught!”
Jamie nodded, “I’ll try not to. There they are!” He pointed to the road where Sarah was engaged in conversation with the red-headed woman, who was shaking her head.
Jamie and Joshua went to the corner of a house and hid there.
“Are you ready?” asked Jamie.
Joshua cried, “Let’s do it!”
Jamie nodded and came out from the hiding place, keeping behind the red-headed woman as he came into the road. Sarah saw him approaching and asked the red-headed woman,
“Pardon me, Ma’am. Do you know where I can find a good baker? I haven’t been able to get a decent loaf of bread in this town anywhere, have you?”
The woman scowled and said,
“Look Miss, I haven’t got time to stand here all day and talk to you!”
Just as she started to walk ahead, Jamie came from behind and sliced the string purse from her arm with his knife and then grabbed it with the same hand as it fell. The woman stopped, wondering what had happened. She whirled around and screamed when she saw Jamie running away.
“Stop him!” she screamed, “Thief! He stole my purse! Stop him!”
Joshua chased Jamie after the purse was stolen.
She began to run after him, but Sarah tugged at her arm, crying,
“No! Don’t go after him! He has a knife! We’ll call the soldiers!”
The woman whirled back to face Sarah, but found Joshua running toward her, shouting,
“Don’t worry, Ma’am! I’ll get your purse back for you!"
Joshua gave her no chance to speak, but ran past her, chasing after Jamie. Jamie ducked around the corner, ran to the first alley, and skidded into it. Joshua followed him, and as soon as the two of them were together, Jamie handed him the purse.
“Open it quickly! There should be a letter inside!”
Joshua pulled the strings open and reached inside. He pulled out a letter sealed with wax, addressed to General Thomas Gage.
“That’s it! Good! Now take the purse back to her. I’ll meet you later at the carriage house. And thanks for your help, Josh!”
Joshua nodded and waved as he ran back to the woman.
Jamie tore open the folded letter. To his astonishment, the paper was covered with strange symbols, just like the ones he had seen in the letter Sarah found in the General’s office.
He folded the paper and tucked it safel
y into his pocket. He heard a soldier shouting, “He can’t be far! Search the entire area!”
Jamie circled back to the bushes behind a row of houses and found a safe place to hide. He sat on the ground to catch his breath, wiped the sweat from his brow, and heaved a sigh of relief.
Two Redcoats came running with their rifles drawn.
Sarah had her arm around the woman’s shoulders, saying,
“There now, don’t worry! I’ll bet that nice young man will get your purse back for you, and the soldiers will find that thief and take him to jail!”
“But there was something important in my purse! If I don’t get it back-“
An officer said, “We’ll find the thief, Ma’am, don’t worry! What did he look like?”
“I- I don’t know! It all happened so fast! He was a young lad, no more than fifteen, I think, and dark-haired.”
Joshua came running toward them, holding up the purse, shouting, “I got it! I got your purse back, Ma’am!”
The officer raised his rifle at the sight of Joshua, but when he saw that it was the General’s groom, he relaxed.
The red-headed woman held out her arms and clutched the purse.
“Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!” she cried.
“Did you catch him?” asked the officer.
“Almost, but he got away. Slippery devil! He took off, running towards Newberry Street.”
The officer nodded, “We’ll search that area. Thank you for your help, young man.”
He touched his hat to the red-headed woman and left. Joshua grinned with satisfaction at having sent the officer in the wrong direction. The red-headed woman looked inside the purse and Sarah asked, “Was there anything taken?”
The woman rummaged through the bag, saying, “Well, he didn’t get my money, but there was a letter—it--it’s gone!”
“It must’ve fallen out when he was running with it,” Joshua said, “Maybe if you go back down the road and look, you might find it.”
“Yes! Good idea!” Sarah said, “I’ll help you look.”
“Thank you, young man, for your help,” said the woman.
He smiled and nodded, “You’re quite welcome.”
Sarah took the woman by the arm and accompanied her.
“Let’s look carefully as we walk. I can’t imagine that he would want to take the letter. He probably can’t even read!”
The woman nodded, “Yes, you’re probably right. It must be around here somewhere.”
She took the woman down the street and around the corner. They searched the road for another two blocks in the direction of Newberry St. before Sarah finally said, “I’m sorry, it doesn’t seem to be here.”
The woman nodded with a frown, “This is awful! I must go home right away! Thank you for helping me, Miss.”
Sarah said goodbye and hurried back to the Reveres’ barn where she began pacing nervously as she waited for Jamie. About ten minutes later, he arrived and latched the barn door securely behind him before taking out the letter. He waited impatiently while Sarah opened it. When her brain registered what she saw, her jaw dropped, and she turned to Jamie in surprise, crying,
“It’s written in a secret code!”
Table of Contents
Chapter 17: Decision
“If only we had the key, we could decipher this!” Sarah exclaimed in frustration.
“I don’t think we need to,” Jamie reasoned, “I think we know exactly what it says. It’s probably about the route that Mr. Adams and Mr. Hancock have taken with the trunk.”
Sarah frowned in concentration as she said, “We may have bought Mr. Adams and Mr. Hancock some time to get further on their route, but we haven’t stopped Dr. Church from trying again. Someone needs to warn Mr. Hancock and Mr. Adams that they’re not safe on the road to Providence.”
“Perhaps I could get word to Mr. Revere that I overheard something at the General’s office, and their route to Philadelphia must be changed.”
Sarah nodded, “Yes! I hope we’ll warn them in time!”
The next morning when Sarah and Jamie came down to breakfast at the Harper’s farmhouse, Jonathan Harper was in an unpleasant mood. He had awakened early, and had breakfast waiting on the table. After saying grace, he looked at both of them and announced, “I had a visitor last night after you two were asleep.”
Sarah spread some fresh butter on her bread and asked, “Oh? Who was it?”
Jonathan took a deep breath, declaring, “Dr. Church!”
Both Sarah and Jamie froze. Only their eyes moved to meet each other’s gaze.
“He was very upset,” Jonathan continued, “Because a friend of his had her purse stolen…from someone who looked very much like Jamie. And a young lady who looked exactly like Sarah Harper was talking to this woman at the time of the robbery. I tried to assure him that it couldn’t have been you because you two are not thieves and would never knowingly break one of God’s holy Commandments!”
Jamie and Sarah looked at each other nervously as Jonathan watched them both, growing angrier by the minute.
“Well?” he demanded, “Are you going to tell me the truth or will you break another Commandment?”
Jamie spoke first, “It’s true. I did steal her purse. But she got it back again right away!”
“And we didn’t take any money, Father!” Sarah exclaimed.
Jonathan’s face grew red, “You stole her purse? Good Lord! Why would you do such a horrid thing?”
“We had to, Father! She was on her way to General Gage’s house to deliver a message from Dr. Church! He was going to tell the General what was said at the meeting yesterday morning!”
“It’s true!” Jamie declared, “We even have the proof! After I took the purse, I found the letter in it addressed to General Gage, so I took it out but left everything else in there, I swear!”
Jonathan demanded, “Where’s the letter?”
Jamie reached into the pocket of his breeches and pulled out the crumpled letter and handed it over. When Jonathan saw the broken seal, he scowled at Jamie and Sarah. He opened the letter and frowned.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a secret code, Father!” Sarah said, “That’s how we know he’s been sending information to General Gage! The red-headed woman is his messenger!”
Jonathan looked at both of them and shook his head angrily, “This isn’t proof! This could be anything! Who knows what this says?”
Jamie explained, “We followed her from Dr. Church’s home yesterday. She was on her way to see General Gage again. I’ve seen her once before when she delivered a letter at the General’s office. She’s Dr. Church’s messenger.”
Jonathan tossed the letter onto the table and said fiercely, “I told you before! Dr. Church is not a traitor! And you have no business following him or his lady friend around Boston just because she delivers messages to General Gage! Did it ever occur to you that perhaps he’s the General’s doctor? He told me last night that he is! And he keeps that relationship because he wants to help our cause!”
Jonathan stood up and began to pace as he spoke.
“I thought that I could trust the two of you, but I can see that I was wrong. You’ve been sneaking around following Dr. Church, the man who helped us when your mother and baby brother were ill. You’ve been trying to find him guilty of telling our secrets, even to the point of stealing from his lady. You have disappointed me, Sarah, and Jamie. I see now that you cannot be trusted. So from now on, the two of you will have plenty to keep you busy because there will be extra chores for both of you! You have embarrassed me in front of my friend, Dr. Church. Spying isn’t a game! It’s a serious and very dangerous business. That’s all I have to say. Now clean up the table because after breakfast you will both be cleaning out the barn!”
As they both stood up, Jamie said earnestly, "Sir, I believe that the route that Mr. Hancock and Mr. Adams have taken could be dangerous. Will you give Mr. Revere that message from me?"
Jonathan hesitated, but realizing the concern he saw in Jamie's face, he nodded, “You have my word.”
“Thank you, sir!”
When Jamie rode into Boston, he passed throngs of people carrying bundles and dragging their children along, heading for Boston Neck. Some toted carts loaded with clothes and blankets; others rode on wagons piled so high they looked as if they might tip over. Arriving at the General’s, he met Joshua in the carriage house.
“Where are all those people going?” asked Jamie.
“Oh, they’re leaving…all those who are against the King, that is. Now that there’s a war, they don’t want to be stuck in enemy territory.”
Jamie shook his head, “But where will they all go?”
Josh shrugged, “Who knows? Probably to friends or kin who live outside of Boston.”
There had been just as much activity inside the General’s house with many officers coming and going. Jamie helped Mr. Roberts put the finishing touches on the mural, and when Mrs. Gage saw the finished product, she was delighted. She complimented them both on doing a superb job and she paid Mr. Roberts. Jamie packed up all their supplies and cleaned the area, and then Mr. Roberts gave him some money.
“Here’s your share for the work you did, Jamie. You’re learning quickly and I am happy to keep you as my apprentice, although with the onset of war, I cannot tell for how long.”
“Thank you, Mr. Roberts! That’s very generous of you!”
The old man nodded, “You’re quite welcome. Come to my house next Saturday for I shall not need you again this week.”
Jamie helped Mr. Roberts take his supplies back to his house before leaving him. As he walked back to Marlborough Street, he thought about how he would miss going to the General’s house each day, and finding out information that he could take back to the Sons of Liberty. Without a reason to come into Boston, he wondered how he would ever get proof that Dr. Church was a traitor.
On the streets, the whole town seemed to be going crazy. Mobs of people were moving in and out of town. Some of the abandoned houses were being looted, and soldiers chased the thieves to arrest them.
Jamie looked out over the harbor, and saw a line of Royal Navy ships coming into port. It appeared that more reinforcements were already on the way. War had begun and he knew that life would never be the same again. He thought about his family back in England, and wondered if he would ever get to see them.