“But you told Olivia they wanted to kill us.”
“I was just spooked, is all. I don’t know what they want to do with us.” Emily glanced at me, perhaps looking for support.
“Your sister’s right, Charlotte,” I said. “We don’t know what they want from us. That soldier Bart said their captain wants to keep us alive. We just have to pray he’s a kind and just man.”
A wan smile formed on Charlotte’s face. “Yes. I shall do that. I shall hold him in my heart as a kind man.”
She lowered her head to the small gold cross dangling from her neck.
The sky turned the color of bruises as the day faded into night. The crickets rubbed their wings upon their legs in the distant woods, creating a din of evening song. It was an eerie backdrop to the threat of violence radiating from these men.
Rusty, Bart, and another guy dressed in a fancier uniform swaggered toward us, each carrying an oil lantern. Only one of them, Bart, had a rifle.
The men all sat the lanterns down by their feet, pausing near Philip’s wagon, and the golden light cast shadows across their faces.
Bart was short and squat, like a potato. His greasy coal-colored hair hung in wild waves around his face.
Rusty might have been considered good-looking if he were to wash his body and comb his unruly ginger hair. But his snarling, abusive attitude gave him a perm-sneer that made him ugly.
The third guy stood tall and imposing. His features, consisting of an aquiline nose, high cheekbones, and deep-set blue eyes, looked chiseled in stone. Fine light-blond hair hung to his shoulders.
All three men bore scruffy beards.
“Okay, old man,” Rusty said. “Now that we’ve eaten, we’re here to deal with you.”
Philip scowled. “I ain’t got nothin’ to say to you. I’m an innocent man.”
“Is that so?” Rusty said. “Captain Van Ness, do I have your permission to persuade this man to talk to us?”
“Go ahead,” Van Ness said with a nod.
Rusty sauntered toward the wagon and seized Philip by his shirt, dragging him off the back of the wagon. His wrists had been tied to his waist.
His face distorted in fear, but he didn’t resist.
Rusty hauled back his arm and slugged Philip in the gut.
Philip let out a groan and doubled over.
Charlotte let out a scream.
Emily bumped her shoulder against her sister’s shoulder, shushing her.
Rusty grabbed the top of Philip’s thinning, nut-brown hair and yanked his head up. “We know you is a traitor. You been selling weapons to the Indians who are in cahoots with the British Army. You’re a traitor to this country.”
He spat in Philip’s face.
Philip’s head jerked back, but he said nothing as the slimy phlegm tracked down his cheek.
“Tell us who you’re working for,” Rusty said.
Philip’s expression turned to stone.
Rusty landed his fist on Philip’s abdomen.
The man doubled over, letting out a loud groan. Rusty dropped him to the ground.
Charlotte pressed her head into Emily’s shoulder and started to cry.
