Chapter 15

Benjamin made his way through the night to the stable. A door was slightly ajar and he slipped through it and climbed the wooden ladder to the hayloft. The animals made little noise as he dug himself into the hay at the back of the stable. He quickly drifted off to sleep. Several times, during the day, he was awakened by the sounds of voices coming from the farmers tending to the animals. He blessed himself and thanked God that the farmers had not pulled hay from the end of the hayloft where he hid.

As evening approached he made his way down the ladder. He looked out of the windows and doors to survey the farm. It appeared that all of the residents of the farm were finishing dinner and would shortly be preparing for bed. There was a glow from the fireplace and one candle glowed for a while. Shortly the candle was extinguished and he knew that the farmer and his family would be asleep soon. He decided to wait before he attempted to take a horse and make his way away from the farm.

As he was watching the farmhouse, he heard a slight scraping. He remained quiet, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from and what had made the sound. He spotted a shadow moving toward the stable. He moved back behind the door and waited, hoping that whoever was walking outside of the stable would not come in. He silently pulled his dagger. The scraping sound got louder and moved toward the door. He recognized the scraping as the footsteps of someone trying to avoid detection. The sound stopped for a few seconds and then Benjamin saw a hand pulling the door open a little further. As the intruder entered the stable he grabbed him and put his hand over intruder's mouth. The owner of the shadow fought like a wildcat and almost got away. He threw the intruder to the floor and sat on his chest. His hand had never left the intruder's mouth in the entire struggle.

He put his dagger to the throat of the person who had delayed his escape, "If you make a sound I'll slit your throat. Lie still and don't make a sound and you'll live to see another day."

The person nodded their assent and he slowly removed his hand. His eyes slowly became accustomed to the moonlight and he was shocked to find that he was sitting on the chest of a young girl. Neither moved for a few minutes. Benjamin got off of the child while keeping his dagger ready to silence the child if she tried to make a sound.

The child moved into the moonlight, "English?" the child asked.

He moved toward the child and saw that he had wrestled a young girl to the ground. She was about eleven or twelve years old and was filthy. Her clothes were rags and, from the looks of them, had never been washed. Her hair was hacked off to just below her ears.

The child grinned, "I talk English like you. I learn from sailor's talk. I work for you and do talk for you. You pay me little money. You need me to do talk."

Her English was so heavily accented that he had trouble understanding her if she talked fast. She was apparently a waif and used the stable to sleep in. Benjamin wondered if the farmer knew that she slept in the barn at night or if she just snuck in after the family went to sleep and left before the farmer came to the stable to take care of his morning chores. He decided to take her with him until they were away from the farm. He was afraid that she would alert the Spanish that he was in their country. He would ditch her a few miles down the road. He put his finger to his lips to silence her and pushed her in front of him toward the horse that he had decided to take. He kept the dagger ready to silence the child if she tried to call for help. He had no desire to kill a child, but he knew that if he was discovered that he would die.

The horse was a farm horse, so there was no saddle in the stable. He grabbed a short length of rope and led the horse out of the stable and put the child on the horse's back when they were outside. He led the horse away from the farm slowly, walking in the grass and soft earth to avoid making any sounds. He left the barn door open, hoping that the farmer would think that the horse had loosened his rope and wandered off to seek grass. The child did not make any attempt to call out to the farmer.

The horse was a draft horse that the farmer used to plow and pull a wagon. The horse was not bred to be a riding horse. The back of the horse was broad and its hooves were huge. As with most old horses, he followed willingly where he was led. Benjamin walked the horse for over an hour before stopping. The child jumped down off the horse and walked beside him chattering none-stop.

Benjamin finally convinced her to be quiet and she started to pout and walked silently beside him, making her displeasure obvious. Just as the sun was starting to rise above the horizon he stopped the horse. He paused and listened for any sounds behind them that would indicate that they were being chased or followed. He was about to continue when he thought that he heard rushing water. He put his finger to his lips, warning the child to be silent. He checked the road and then ducked into the woods to search for the water. About a hundred feet off of the road he came upon a fast moving stream. The banks had enough grass growing on them for the horse to graze. He decided to hide in the woods during the daylight hours and try to get some sleep. He turned to get the girl and horse.

The girl was watching for him to return. She didn't trust any of the English but needed the money she would get for being his interpreter. She grinned as he walked out of the woods, relieved that he did not leave her. Benjamin took the horse from her and started into the woods without a word. The girl followed him chattering again despite his admonitions to her to be quiet. When he reached the stream he allowed the horse to drink and then tied the rope that he stolen, when he took the horse, to a shrub near the stream.

They both drank from the steam and then sat down on the bank. The girl was still chattering, as much in Spanish as in English and often a sentence would be a mixture of the two languages. He had no idea where they where. A breeze picked up and he got a whiff of the girl. She smelled to high heaven. He picked her up and carried her to the water and dropped her into the stream. She screamed and fought him with a fury he had not seen since his last battle with the French.

He held her away, "Now wash, you stink. And try to wash some of the stink out of your clothes. People will be able to smell you for an hour before you reach them.

The girl stripped off her clothes, uncaring that she was naked in front of him. She grabbed a handful of dried weeds from the bank of the stream and started to scrub her skin. He looked at her as she washed. She had a boyish figure with just the slight swelling in her chest that would someday be breasts. After she had washed, she tried to rinse out her clothes. Several of the seams opened as she scrubbed the rags that she wore as clothes. She noticed him looking at her and she stuck her tongue out at him. The girl walked out of the stream and hung her clothes over the shrubs at the edge of the woods to dry. She came back to him and sat next to him not caring that she was naked.

She jabbered something in Spanish and pointed at the water. He knew what she was trying to tell him and he nodded his head. He stripped to his waist and walked to the stream and started to wash his face and arms. He did not hear her walk up behind him until she put her hands on his rear and pushed him into the stream, face first. As he came up sputtering she howled with laugher. He laughed and stripped off the rest of his clothes and washed the rest of his body while the girl looked at him I awe.

He got out of the stream and sat next to the girl to dry off. After the sun had dried them a bit he motioned for the girl to follow him and they went into the woods a little way to avoid being seen. He told her that they would sleep for a while and then try to find some food. He told her that they had better travel only by night to avoid detection. Neither of them noticed the woodcutter crouching behind some bushes about a hundred yards downstream from them. He had been watching the pair since they had arrived at the stream.

Chapter 16