Caught In The River - Ronald Lee (book reader for pc TXT) 📗

/> “Let’s get our children back from this river and go home.” He said with a smile. His wife nodded.
“How are we going to find them?” She asked.
“They’re being held in a British fort called New England,” Robert stated. “Fran, there are some things you need to just accept are the truth right now that I’ve got to tell you.”
“I’ve just watched my husband walk on water,” Fran said. “I think I can believe anything you say.”Fran nodded as she walked by her husband and he explained what had happened from the beginning. He told Fran of the ties he held to Francis Marion, and what his ancestor had done to the British. He let Fran know what the river spirit had told him as he journeyed to this side of the River.
“You’ve got to close the gap by setting things right?” Fran asked confused.
“Yes,” Robert said. The sun was setting and they were looking at the Fort where their children sat captive. As they stood under the cover of the spruce trees, they watched the patrols come in and go out.
“How are you going to do that?” Fran asked.
“First, we’re going to rescue our children.” Robert promised. “Then I’m going to send you back home and close the gateway forever.”
“But how,” Fran asked quietly.
“The same way it was opened,” Robert answered. They stepped a little deeper into the shadows of the swamp as the evening patrol came by.
Robert seemed to look far away for a moment then spoke quietly “Follow me,” he motioned with his hand and started walking into the swamp. Fran looked at the fort, and followed her husband.
Brian emerged from the tunnel with a crazy plan in mind. He would surrender to the evening patrol, let them carry him to General Towen, and then Brian would kill him. Of course that meant Brian himself could end up dead, but he would try to avoid that as long as possible. Brian hoped, he could find the siblings and the entrance to the tunnel then escape before he died. He stepped through the Kudzu and gasped as Robert stood in front of him with a finger to his lips. Brian followed his gaze and saw a British solider standing on the wall looking in their direction!
“Who are you?” Brian asked as the three stepped back inside the tunnel entrance.
“Robert Woodle,” he heard the man answered. “This is my wife Fran.”
“Jack’s parents,” Brian asked. The two looked at the professor quizzically.
“Jack’s been my family’s guest here in the river,” Brian explained. “My daughter Cappy rescued him from the British. He’s in there because he tried to help some of the British prisoners and free his sister.”
“Well, thank you for looking out for my son.” Robert said. “I’m afraid all of this is because of my family.”
As the evening sky turned dark, Robert explained what created the River to Brian. The professor listened quietly until Robert finished.
“It makes since,” he said. “Nothing known to man would have the power to open such a gateway and make such a place.”
“If we can get Jack and Mary free,” Robert hypothesized. “We can replace the family raped and killed by General Towen. I will pray for the Great Spirit to return everything like it was and if I am right…”
“It will be like none of this ever happened,” Brian concluded.
“I believe it will,” Robert said. “If not, we will stay with you and help you defeat these guys once and for all.”
Brian Freeman nodded in agreement. He thought about loosing Soho and Cappy then going back to 1974 to when he became the one caught in the river.
“Let’s go get your children,” Brian said with a smile. He stuck out his hand and they shook. Fran put her hand on top and smiled up at Brian.
“My children,” she said and started to cry.
“Our children,” Robert said and hugged his wife.


CHAPTER TEN
Jack and his sister spent their time together clearing the air, mending their wounds and planning an escape. Jack helped Mary clean her wounds and sowed the bar lap sack with the leather straps from his shirt. Mary rubbed her brother’s muscles until he regained feeling in them.
They stood and began to examine their surroundings. The only exit was the front door of the cabin. They pressed against the back and sidewalls of the cabin searching for a weak spot. A search of the floor with the lantern revealed that it was just as sturdy as the walls. Jack sat on the rack that had tortured him earlier and threw his hands up in the air.
“I’m dead,” he said.
“Don’t you dare say that,” Mary said as she sat beside him. “I just got you back Jack. I’m not going to loose you again!”
They hugged and Jack looked at the lantern that lit the room.
“Hey,” he whispered patting Mary’s back.
“Ow,” she said as he got up.
“Sorry,” he said and stood up. “Look at this,” he said holding up the lantern.
“What about it?” Mary asked.
“What’s this cabin made out of?” Jack asked.
“Wood,” Mary said then she understood what Jack had in mind. “Old dry wood,” she described and nodded. Jack quickly shared his idea with Mary.
As the hours slowly passed, the two worked feverously to make their plan ready. Jack and Mary took off the cover of the lantern and set it on a floor in the corner. They quietly removed the legs from the only chair in the room and hid them for future use. The black sky slowly turned light as the dawn approached.
Jack looked through the cracks in the door and saw the execution squad approaching. He nodded to his sister who took one of the legs from the chair and broke the lantern. Jack handed her his shirt and they turned the torture rack on its side and pushed the device to the flames. Jack put his shirt over the opening hoping to conceal the smoke while the overturned table hid the growing fire.
The door opened as Mary turned around and started pleading for her brother’s life. Jack pretended to try to calm her hoping the distraction would work. Obviously irritated the soldiers yanked Mary outside. They ordered Jack out next and shut the door, oblivious to the flames. Jack looked up and saw General Towen standing by the flag poll in the parade yard dressed in his British military garb. The buttons gleamed in the morning sunlight as Jack marched across to meet him.
The bridge to the fort slowly lowered as the morning patrol returned, it remained opened at the General’s order. He wanted the other River inhabitants to see what would happen to those who defied him. Jack marched until he stood twenty feet from the General. The guards tied his hands behind his back and put a blindfold over his eyes. They led the young man to the wall of the fort, and the firing squad got into position. Mary had to march to the General who smiled at her affectionately.
“Good morning my dear,” He said as he lifted her chin and kissed her. “I’ve decided that after this unpleasant business is taken care of you will be my wife.”
“I’d rather die!” Mary said quietly.
“No, believe me you wouldn’t.” The General said. He turned his attention back to Jack.
“Jack Woodle you are hereby found guilty of treason against his Majesty and the glory of Britten! By law, you are to be punished by death!” He looked at the cages against the far wall of the fort and then out the opening of the lowered draw bridge.
“See that death is the only certain thing that awaits those who defy me! I am General Caleb Towen! I am the Lord of this land! I will and it is done!” He glared at the swamp. “You belong to me!” He hollered. “Now watch one of your own die!”
As the General turned his attention to the execution of Jack, Robert and Brian pushed on the trap door of the tunnel with all their might. The barrels moved slightly but not enough. During the night, the two and Fran had returned to the Freeman’s home for Soho and Cappy’s help. The woman hurried throughout the night to gather the aid of as many settlers in the River as they could while Brian and Robert returned to free the children.
“Come on,” Robert urged the barrels. “God help us!”
The two crouched low and thrust themselves into the trap door with all of their might. The barrel sitting on it fell over and rolled to the door with a thud. Brian lifted himself up after making sure no one was coming then helped up Jack’s father.
“Looks like we’re in the right place,” Brian said as he read the barrel labels by the light of a torch.
“Okay,” Robert said as he opened the door quietly. “It looks like they’re getting ready to execute somebody. Let’s go find the children.”
“Right behind you,” Brian said as Robert hugged the shadows and moved towards the parade yard. The professor stopped when he saw a barrel marked gunpowder. “I’ll be right there,” he whispered, but Robert had already moved towards the prison area.
“Ready!” The General ordered oblivious to the invasion that had begun. “Aim,” he called.
“Come on!” Jack and Mary whispered to the flames.
“Fire!” The General looked around for the soldier who dared to make the order ahead of him. He followed the direction of the man’s gaze and saw the inside of the torture cabin ablaze. “How?” the General asked as he looked down at Mary who grinned at him. She now wielded one of the legs of the broken chair and swung it at the General’s head.
“Run Jack!” Mary called. Jack used an old magic trick he learned to get out of the ropes, as the fire and his sister’s attack confused the firing squad. By the time they pulled their triggers he was running down the length of the wall.
“Jack!” Robert’s dad called out to his son as soon as he heard Mary’s voice and saw them in the parade yard. He started running towards his son then saw Mary felled by a right cross from General Towen. “Mary!” he screamed.
In the meantime, the people who rallied with the Freeman’s and the Woodle’s stormed the lowered drawbridge armed with limbs and hoes.
“We’ve got to take out those guards on the wall!” Fran shouted to Soho who nodded. They started knocking down the ladders that the soldiers used to get to their post as Cappy drew her bow and fired. The British soldiers