Lorenzo's Revolutionary Quest Read Free

cousin?”
    â€œAye. Thou hast friends in high places.”
    Dunstan considered that. His cousin worked for British intelligence, as did he.
    â€œWhat’s the message?”
    The boy cleared his throat. “Thy cousin said, ‘I have an important mission for you. Report to me at once.’”

Chapter Four
    An hour went by. Lorenzo and his soldiers herded the recovered cattle toward San Antonio with the rust-colored bull in the lead. The two horse wranglers trailed behind.
    â€œThis is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done,” Private Dujardin said in French. “Incredible! I am herding cattle like a real vaquero!”
    Lorenzo understood his excitement. He had felt the same way the first time he rode herd.
    French continued to spill from Dujardin as he and Lorenzo headed toward San Antonio.
    Lorenzo was glad Eugenie had taught him her native language. Otherwise, he would have been forced to use hand signs to communicate with Dujardin.
    Private Jean-Paul Dujardin had left France the year before and joined the Continental Army. It was rumored that his girlfriend’s father had placed a hefty bounty on his head. Lorenzo could only guess why a father would do that.
    An embarrassing moment with Eugenie a month earlier leaped to mind. They were in the house of Colonel De Gálvez, Spanish governor of Louisiana. Lorenzo leaned over the desk in the colonel’s study and explained the planned cattle drive to her.
    â€œThe cattle are there in San Antonio,” Lorenzo had said, pointing to a map, “and there is the Mississippi River. This,” he said, plopping down a paperweight, “represents the cattle. And this,” he said, holding up abar of sealing wax, “will be the flatboat flotilla.”
    Eugenie leaned close.
    Lorenzo momentarily lost concentration as he breathed in her perfume. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. A tress of red hair fell over her shoulder. She tucked it behind her ear.
    â€œThe flatboats come this way,” Lorenzo said as he maneuvered the sealing wax across the map. “We herd the cattle this way.” He moved the paperweight. “And voilà, the two meet up.”
    â€œIt would be easier to send the cattle by ship,
n’est-ce pas
?”
    â€œColonel De Gálvez and I discussed that. Hurricane season is upon us. There’s no way to know when a storm is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. Besides, pirates are a problem, not to mention having to go around Florida, and the British control that. Traveling by ship is dangerous. That’s why we went up the Mississippi and Ohio by flatboat last year. We had a better chance getting through that way. The Mississippi River is the best way to get supplies to General Washington. If the British ever gain control of the river, the war is lost.”
    She studied the map. “The King’s Highway. The king of Spain has a highway in Texas?”
    â€œYep. It’s a dirt road as wide as any in Pennsylvania or Virginia. It’s been around for years. It runs to the northeast through the province of Texas, past San Antonio, Nacogdoches, and ends near Fort Saint Jean Baptiste in Louisiana.”
    â€œIt’s a long trip. You realize how difficult it will be to make all this work?”
    â€œWhat? You doubt my abilities?”
    She ignored him and read the date written on the map next to the rendezvous point. “October 16. What happens on that date?”
    â€œIf all goes according to plan, we rendezvous with the flatboats. William Linn and his men are bringing barrelsof salt. They’ll slaughter the cattle and pack them, then take them north.”
    â€œWhat happens if the flatboats arrive too early?”
    â€œThey lie at anchor and wait for us.”
    â€œWhat if you arrive too early with the cattle?”
    Lorenzo folded the map and put it back in its hiding place. “We let them graze and fatten up until the flat-boats