looked on, thoroughly alarmed.
“I don’t ... I don’t know,” the lad said, fighting back tears.
“Liar! I swear to God I’ll run you through!” Winder said, pushing the sword harder and causing the skin to break as a tiny line of blood trickled. Beneath the soldier’s chair a growing pool of urine began to puddle.
“Perhaps the prisoner can recollect if he has food in his stomach and his body has slept,” Chandler said, gently pulling the sword away. He smiled warmly at the young man before gesturing to the American officer to lead him away.
Once they were gone, Winder slammed the door and wheeled toward Chandler. “You should have filled him with buckshot!”
“Prisoners require fair treatment, William! As a lawyer, you should be familiar with that concept!” Chandler yanked the sword away from him. “We’re all tired. I know what the stress of war can do to all of us.”
Winder collapsed into his chair again, drank loudly from the bottle, and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Full of disdain, he eyed Chandler from head to toe. “You don’t belong here.”
“And you do?”
Winder broke into an evil simper. “Look at you. You’re a tavern keeper. Once penniless and illiterate, I might add.” He drained the bottle, burped, and waved the container in Chandler’s face. “Serving up liquor is all you’re good for.”
“Not all of us were born with a silver spoon in our mouth. But if you’d like, I’d be happy to tell our commanding officer about your treatment of the enemy.”
Winder snickered. “Ah, yes, General Dearborn. If it weren’t for him lending you four hundred dollars to buy your two hundred acres, you’d still be begging in the streets of Maine. You got rich because of that old man. It’s nice to have friends in high places, isn’t it?”
“You should know,” Chandler said, marching for the door, which opened before he got there.
Haggard and ill, General Dearborn limped inside. Winder and Chandler immediately stood at attention and saluted. The sixtyish officer coughed and patted his forehead with a cloth. “Gentlemen, I have your orders.” He wheezed and handed Chandler a piece of paper. Dearborn spied the empty liquor bottle and watched as Winder tilted. “General Chandler, you’ll be in charge. I’m too sick to join you.” He coughed hard again. “I suggest you sober up, gentlemen, and get some rest. You’re going to need it.” Slowly, Dearborn turned for the door as Winder and Chandler saluted.
After Dearborn was gone, Winder chuckled and slapped Chandler on the back. “High places, eh?”
The modest Green homestead basked in the glow of a full moon, and the sound of crickets filled the night air, along with the frequent call of an owl. Adam Green stepped onto the porch, lit his pipe, and relaxed into a rocking chair. Levi Green, Billy’s twenty-five-year-old brother, soon appeared with their brother-in-law, Isaac Corman.
“Thanks for dinner, Adam,” Isaac said, leaning against the wooden railing.
“It was Keziah’s cooking, not mine,” Adam said, rubbing his stomach.
“I’m not so sure you should thank my father, Isaac,” Levi said, slapping his brother-in-law in the gut. “It’s his daughter who’s fattening you up.” The two of them playfully exchanged punches, and Isaac put him in a headlock.
“You’re not exactly starving yourself,” Isaac said, poking Levi in the stomach.
Billy strolled onto the porch and sat on the steps, lost in thought.
Isaac leaned over and felt Billy’s arm. “You could use a little more meat on your bones, boy.”
Billy pushed Isaac’s hand away. “I’m not a boy!”
Mocking Billy’s attitude, Isaac said in a high voice, “All right, sir, I surrender.”
Levi laughed.
“Shut your mouth!” Billy snapped at his brother.
“Mind your tongue, Billy,” Adam said sternly. “We don’t speak like that around here. Apologize.”
“Sorry,” Billy mumbled.
“You hardly touched your supper,” Isaac said, lightly tapping Billy with his foot. “Your sister’s cooking isn’t that bad, is it?”
Levi grinned, pretending to shoot a musket. “He’s just mad because he can’t fight the Americans.”
“That’s enough out of you, too,” Adam said sharply to Levi.
Isaac rolled up his sleeve. “Let me tell you something, Billy. War isn’t what you want it to be. When I fought at Queenston Heights, well, let’s just say I saw men die horrible deaths.” He pointed at an awful scar. “This is what a bayonet can do to a man.”
Billy jumped to his feet. “Do you always have to show me that stupid scar? You’ve had your turn! This war will be over by the time I see any action!”
Adam stared hard at his younger son. “Watch your tongue! I’m not going to tell you again. Understand?” Billy lowered his head as Adam leaned forward in the chair. “Let’s get something straight, Billy. You’re not going to fight. That’s the way it is and that’s the way it’s going to stay. This family has suffered enough at the hands of the Americans.”
Billy paced the porch. “You can’t have it both ways, Pa. You despise them, but you won’t let me fight!”
“The subject is closed,” Adam said, and began rocking again.
Slapping one of the beams holding up the roof of the porch, Billy said, “You’re the one who’s always telling me how your brother died and how the Yanks stole your land. I want to join the army!”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have told you all those things. It was wrong ... I guess. But this much I do know, you’re not going to be in this war.” Adam relit his pipe as his eyes drifted off. “I made a promise to your mother. I took an oath on her deathbed that you would be free from the horrors of war, and I intend to keep my word.”
“I’m so tired of being babied by you. It’s well within my rights to fight the enemy, for God’s sake!”
Adam leaped from the chair and gripped Billy by the collar. He pushed his son to the wall and lifted him off his feet as Levi and Isaac tried to pull him off. “You will not take the Lord’s name in vain again. Your mother died from years of child-bearing. You owe it to her to stay alive.”
Billy wrestled free and gasped for air. “She was your wife. You want me to pay a debt I have nothing to do with. I didn’t ask to be born!”
The last comment crushed Adam, and he slowly sank into the chair as Isaac and Levi looked away uneasily.
“I’m ... I’m sorry, Pa. I didn’t mean that.”
“Are you still seeing Sarah?” Adam asked after a long silence.
“Yes ...” Billy shuffled his feet. “I ... I love
