Chapter Ten

T he members of the militia gathered at the edge of town just as dawn was lightening the eastern sky. Horses stamped their hooves in the cool air of morning, bridles jingling with every shake of their heads. Alec was just as impatient to be on the way. An entire day had already passed, and he knew MacGill had departed the previous day. While he had every confidence that Liddy was able and willing to get herself out of most every situation, sometimes spirit wasn't enough.

He thought back to the kisses they'd shared, the passion that had lain just below the surface, and knew that Liddy was the woman he wanted by his side. He needed to convince her, and if he couldn't convince her father? Liddy was a grown woman who made up her own mind.

His other concern was for the success of this military mission. The militia didn't have much in the way of weapons with which to fight a large force, only their muskets, pistols, and a few long rifles. What they lacked in firepower they more than made up for in determination. Not a man among them wore anything other than a grim, determined expression.

"Sir," he called to Richard Caswell, the plainly dressed man heading up their group. "Are we ready to move?"

"Indeed, Mr. Kirkwood. Men! Move out!"

They kept up a steady, swift pace. With little in the way of heavy guns or supply wagons, they were able to cover ground quickly. Concern for Liddy still made Alec's nerves tingle. There was little he could do to outmaneuver Iain MacGill. The man should already be at Oak Grove. He must trust in Liddy's ability to outsmart him.

*

Liddy and Benji had taken a road leading north from her home. Once dawn had arrived on the day of their escape, they had stopped to rest the horses and give Liddy a chance to study the maps she'd brought with her. They approached every creek crossing with caution, keeping a close eye out for any movement, or for anyone following them.

"Miss Liddy, why are we going away from Wilmington?" Benji had asked after studying the flow of the creek and the position of the sun.

"We will eventually turn, but Benji, I have another purpose as well. Papa says the governor is sending men to meet the British and take Wilmington."

Benji's eyes widened. "You ain't thinking of stopping them yourself, are you?"

She laughed. "I just want to know where they are. That is why we are going to cross the creek, then we'll head east again, but if anyone asks, we just got turned around." She showed him the maps to indicate where she planned to cross. After finding a spot still fordable for the two of them, they turned right. Staying off the road and following the creek would be the quickest way to intersect with the Widow Moore's Bridge.

"Miss Liddy," Benji interrupted her thoughts as they moved through the dusk following a long, slow day in the saddle. "You ain't thinking about following the creek the entire way, are you?"

Liddy sighed. "I'm not sure there's much choice. If Martin's Regulators and the Scots meet up with the British troops who are supposed to land, they'll make a force too big, I fear, for our men to handle."

"So you're doing more than just escaping Oak Grove?"

She halted her mount and let her reins rest on the horse's neck. "I am. The man I care about is with the militia, and all of those men are my friends and neighbors. If I can help in some way to prevent any of them getting hurt, then I must do it. If you don't want to, you have only to say so, Benji, and you are free to go back to the Ballards to hunt rabbits."

He stuck his jaw out. "I'll help you."

"Thank you. Let's find some place to spend the night. We still have some food left."

The land was too damp by far to find anything dry enough to build a fire, even if they were willing to risk it. They cut pine boughs from a few scraggly trees and used those as a cushion to keep them off the wet ground before settling in at the base of a tree. With their blankets wrapped around them, they hunkered down for the night.

Sometime during the night, Liddy awoke to hear noise in the distance. Men's voices. She woke Benji, putting a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet.

"There's movement to the north of us. Enough men that it might be the contingent from the governor. Stay still and quiet." She felt him nod against her hand. In her head, she counted how long it took the noise to fade away. It might help someone more experienced than her estimate the number of men. When the silence of the night resumed, she eased back and closed her eyes.

When morning arrived, Liddy now had an added sense of urgency. They needed to find the militia as quickly as possible. She studied the maps she had pulled out while Benji shared some of the crusty bread his mother had sent. There was one more crossing that would get them back on the Wilmington side of the creek. The map had clearly marked it as being unstable for anything more than a few people.

As they approached the creek, Benji said, "That land is marshy at the best of times, but with the rain we've had lately, it won't be safe, miss."

Liddy brought her horse down to a walk. "I'm sorry. You're right. I am too impatient, and that would put us in danger not only from the loyalists but from nature as well. Thank you for reminding me. The map shows one more crossing farther down. We'll try for that."

"All right, Miss Liddy."

"Hmm... I think you should stop calling me Miss Liddy. No one will think I'm a lad if they hear you call me by name."

"Then how am I to call you?"

Liddy loved Benji dearly, but she feared he wouldn't remember any made-up name. "Don't call me anything. If someone asks you, just tell them I'm your little brother."

Benji grunted. "Not sure anyone will believe that."

Liddy listened to the sounds around them as they continued on their way. Was she on a fool's errand? Perhaps she should have turned toward Wilmington. She would have shelter there, even if Alec didn't want her, or had already left. Releasing a shaky breath, Liddy tried to talk herself into believing she was doing the right thing, but as time crept slowly on, she was not sure.

*

Alec joined Caswell near the front of the column. The man had proven himself to be sensible, and Alec hoped that would work in his favor.

"Sir, I have a request to make."

"Ah, Captain Kirkwood, and what might that be?"

"I know you are acquainted with Lydia Fennell. Her father's country home is but a couple of miles west of here. I have reason to believe she might be in some trouble, and I would like to check on her well-being."

Caswell did not look happy. "You're one of my best officers, Kirkwood. I can't spare you or many men."

Alec was desperate. "I need no men, and I swear to you, sir, that I can be back here in an hour. Two at the most. If I didn't believe she was in some danger I wouldn't ask it."

"What if she is? Do you intend to drag her into even more danger by bringing her along with us?"

"I would want that choice to be Liddy's, sir. But I feel I must check on her."

The older man tilted his head. "You have feelings for her."

"I do." Alec met Caswell's glance unwaveringly.

"Go, but be back as soon as you can. We're heading for the area around the Moore's Creek Bridge. I think we have pinched the other crossings so that Martin's rabble will have no other option but to cross there. The only question now is when."

After a hurried "yes sir," Alec cantered westward according to the directions Daniel had given him. It was a gray, chill day, and Alec hoped Liddy was safe and warm reading next to a cheery fire. Finally, in the distance, he saw the profile of a substantial home, surrounded by a veranda. No doubt, it provided a cool place for its inhabitants to escape the summer heat, but on this dreary morning, it was deserted. In front stood a stylish carriage more suited to the streets of a town than the rough roads common to the country.

MacGill must have arrived ahead of Alec, but was he already planning to depart? He narrowed his gaze and set his jaw as he rode forward. One way or another, Alec would leave with Liddy. He was surprised when he approached and no one came out to greet him, either from the stables or the house. Dropping his reins to his gelding's neck, Alec dismounted and tethered his horse to the hitching post out front.

He let his gaze travel over his surroundings, unable to shake the suspicion that although no one had appeared, he was still being watched. His spurs jingled as he mounted the short flight of steps to the front door. He rested his hand on the hilt of the short sword that hung in its scabbard near his waist. Surely there would be no need to use it.

After a quick glance from one end of the veranda to the other, Alec raised the door knocker and let it fall. The speed with which the portal swung open affirmed his feeling that he had been watched this whole time. A ginger-haired man, with a beard and clothing that could only be described as scruffy, held the door, blocking Alec's entrance and looking very much as though he would not be extending an invitation to enter.

"What do you want here?" the man growled.

"I am here to call on Miss Lydia Fennell."

"She ain't taking any callers," the man snapped and began to close the door. Alec wedged his boot in the doorway, bracing for the pressure of the man attempting to slam his foot with the heavy door. Instead, the panel was wrenched wider, and now Alec saw the flushed face of Iain MacGill.

"What are you doing here, Kirkwood? Is Liddy already with you and your traitorous militia?"

Alec did his best to keep from smirking. So much for the other man's insistence that Liddy was within the house. "I am here to check on her welfare at the request of her very good friend, Phoebe. I believe you are acquainted with Miss Stokes."

MacGill narrowed his already beady eyes before he stared off into the distance as if expecting an entire army to descend upon the house. "My betrothed is not here, and well you know it. You're probably behind her disappearance, spiriting her away in the middle of the night. Well, I'll have you know that neither her father nor I will stand for this. We'll ruin you and your business, if the British and Governor Martin's loyal men don't dispatch you first."

"I've a good mind to do it myself," the other man muttered, moving a hand to the pistol tucked in his belt. Before he finished the move, Alec had his pistol out and pointed at him.

"I would suggest you not do that, sir. I would guess that even your employer would draw the line at shooting anyone on his veranda who came to inquire about the welfare of his daughter, particularly when so many know of my intentions. Now, why don't the two of you back away and shut the door. I'll be on my way, and everyone can remain whole and above ground. What say you?"

MacGill had paled considerably, the skin of his face pasty and loose. The other man might have pushed the argument further, but MacGill grabbed him by the sleeve and tugged him backward.

"Let him go, Carr. He and his other rebel conspirators will be dead soon enough."

The door slammed. Alec wasted no time returning to his tethered mount, unhitching the horse and vaulting back into the saddle. He fully believed Liddy was gone. Now all he had to do was figure out where she was.