Forever Young Birth Of A Nation Read Free Page A

trip over had been more of a
strain on them than they realized what with constantly having to be
on their guard, confined with humans on the weeks-long voyage from
England.
    The pair made their way back to the city,
swimming across the Hudson like two porpoises in the moonlight.
Once ashore, they wrung out their clothes and then ran for some
three miles in a few minutes just to dry them. After dropping off
their ruck sacks, the night was spent in prowling the streets of
New York. Frequenting every tavern that they could find, they would
sit and soak up all of the gossip that they could. They began to
pick up a picture of events in the colonies during this time, and
even more importantly they began to get a sense of the attitude of
the colonists themselves, as compared to the newspaper articles
they had both been reading.
    The next day was unremarkable except that
they found a boarding house that Ian especially liked. The place
had a very private rear entrance which let out into a narrow
alleyway, and it was even covered by an extended portico with
climbing roses growing on either side of it. If others wanted to
watch them they would have to be in a place where likely the two
could see them. Ian explained all of this to James before they
talked to the owner.
    It was run by an elderly Scottish lady named
Bess McKinley, whom they both took a liking too immediately. The
place was neat, clean, and well kept. She was a no-nonsense person
and quite gruff in manner, but Ian could tell that she liked them
both. Her husband was a fisherman and together they made a good
living in the bustling new city. Ian and James arranged to move
their belongings from the Harbor Inn to Bessie’s Boarding House
that very afternoon.
    The balance of the day was spent in various
taverns and Inns gathering local gossip and developing a feel for
the attitude of the colonists. The city was divided between
sympathizing Tories loyal to the Crown and more independent minded
folks, leaning more toward the colonies having more autonomy, and
resentful of the onslaught of new taxes. The newspaper articles
concerning the hostilities made it appear as if it was only the
work of a small number of malcontents who had duped a small number
of ignorant country bumpkins to join them. Ian knew that was a lie
already just from talking to local merchants and others.
    After hunting in the New Jersey countryside
that evening after dark, they again resumed their tactic of
gathering information, splitting up so as to learn more. As the day
before, they stayed out until dawn and then turned their
information gathering attention to the dock areas where the
fishermen and produce sellers were. Much of the produce was grown
in New Jersey so they got to hear a lot about what folks from that
area thought about the current situation between the Crown and the
colonies.
    They went to see Andrew Norris aboard the New Hope which was now at a dock being unloaded. By early
afternoon they had deposited half of the startup funds for the
banks at Grover Merchant’s Bank and the other half at Wellington
Bank of Commerce. They had a little more time for gathering
intelligence so they went to the Harbor Inn for some three hours
before bathing and dressing for the gala and dinner.
    Having picked up Andrew at 6:30, they made
their way to Government House in a carriage. They did not bother to
hire the driver to wait for them that night. After all, what danger
could threaten two Adept vampires on the streets of a human city?
They figured to walk Andrew back to the wharf anyway, being as the
weather was so nice.
    Their wait at the entrance was very brief
even though they had no invitations, and soon they were inside,
mingling with all of the guests. General Gage himself spotted them
and called “Ian McCloud, come here sir” while beckoning in a
friendly fashion. His wife was with him, her hair coiffed
beautifully in a style which Ian had seen in London before
departing for the colonies. She was a