The General's Christmas Read Free Page B

river and saw the path the
girls had taken through the broken ice slabs.
    "Search along the river," he said.
    The men nodded and split into two parties to
search north and south. Baylor returned to headquarters and
reported to Washington.
    Washington told him, "Widow Harris says that
the first girl has regained consciousness. As soon as she is able,
we'll question her."
    Twenty minutes later, Widow Harris appeared
at the foot of the stairs.
    "She's rested now, and able to talk. Her
sister is alive, but unconscious," she announced with a worried
expression.
    Washington and Baylor
climbed the stairway to the bedroom. They stood at the foot of the
girl's bed while Widow Harris held onto her hand. Corporal Baylor
was struck by the girl's youth and beauty. She had soft, light
brown hair and eyes the color of cornflowers. He couldn't take his
eyes from her.
    "Who are you?" Washington
asked the girl.
    "My name is Anna Clark. I
came with my sister, Elizabeth. Yesterday we were at our home, a
farm on the Bordentown Road, not far from Trenton. A group of
soldiers came and beat my father. I hid in the barn, but my sister,
Elizabeth, she-" the girl paused and squeezed her eyes shut. She
went on as her voice faltered, "She was attacked. The men took
everything, all our food, the horses, the wagon, everything! Then
they set fire to the house. They left us and took Papa with them. I
found Elizabeth and got her out of the house. We went to the river
where my father keeps a small rowboat tied up. I wanted to go to
Bordentown, but the current kept pushing us north. There was so
much ice I couldn't row. It just kept pushing us farther and
farther away. I was afraid we'd drift into Trenton where the
soldiers were, so I pushed the boat through the ice with a pole to
the other side of the river. I saw this house and hoped there would
be someone here to help us."
    "You're safe now," Baylor told her, "Who were
the soldiers that attacked you?"
    "I don't know. They spoke some other language
I didn't understand."
    "Hessians!" Washington spouted angrily.
    "How is Elizabeth?" Anna asked Widow
Harris.
    "She's still unconscious, poor dear."
    Anna turned to Baylor and pleaded, "Please
help us find Papa!"
    Washington turned to Baylor.
    "Let's leave now, Corporal. Thank you, Miss
Clark, for answering our questions. You'll be safe here with Widow
Harris, I promise you that. We'll talk again soon."
    When the men returned
downstairs, Baylor swore angrily,
    "Damn those Hessians! To leave two women in a
burning house--have they no conscience? No hearts? No fear of
God?"
    "Their attacks on the settlers grow bolder
each day," Washington replied.
    "Do you think their father is in Trenton?"
asked Baylor.
    "He's probably being held prisoner there,"
Washington reasoned, "Let me see those maps."
    For the next hour, Washington studied the
maps of Trenton and the surrounding area. He called in his scouts
to give him more details about the lay of the land. They described
the rolling countryside and ferry crossings along the river, now
choked with ice floes. Crossing the river would be difficult, they
told him. It was unlikely that the enemy would attempt to cross
it.
    Washington dismissed them
and sat at the table pondering his next move. The British had hired
Hessians to supplement their own troops. More than anything he
wanted a victory at Trenton to drive out the Hessian and British
forces that had been raiding homes and farms in the countryside. No
one was safe from the enemy raiding parties, who had no qualms
about looting and pillaging. Washington believed the burning of
homes was their worst crime. To leave a family without food or
shelter in the dead of winter was cruelty beyond his comprehension.
Regardless of one's political beliefs, no one deserved such
abhorrent treatment from the very government that was supposed to
protect them. At all costs, he concluded, they must be
stopped.
     
     
    Chapter 3
     
    Campfires illuminated the
muddy roadway to the Merrick