Read Online Cradle to Grave by Eleanor Kuhns - Free Book Online Page B

second of staring Rees decided the boy had a scarf wrapped around his mouth and chin. Shouting threats, the mob rode toward the Meeting House. In the break, Rees ran across the road to the barn. His rifle was in the back of the buggy, and although he did not intend to shoot anyone, he would fire it over the heads of the pack and hope it scared them off.
    In the darkness of the barn, he could not immediately find his buggy and wasted precious seconds searching for it. But once he recognized the scraped side where David had brushed too close to a stand of trees, he was able to grab the rifle and the shot from the back. He loaded in the darkness, a skill he had obtained while fighting in the War for Independence, and ran to the barn door.
    The gang had paused at the other end of the street, in front of the Meeting House. All of them carried lighted torches now, and as Rees watched, one of the boys tossed the flaming brand at the building. The torch hit the snow and guttered out.
    Rees lifted his rifle and fired into the sky.
    He could almost sense the shock; Shakers did not own guns. The horses jumped and twitched and, after a few seconds, the riders turned and rode toward Rees and the exit from the village. As they approached, the boys hurled their torches at the buildings.
    Rees quickly leaned his rifle against the stable door and trotted into the road. If he could, he planned to leap at one of the riders and pull him down. Cooper would not be able to ignore this situation then. Rees chose the last to pass by. This horse was big, at least seventeen hands, and slow moving. Rees judged his distance and began to run. The rider did not see him coming. Rees leaped up and grabbed the young man, who was riding without benefit of saddle or stirrups, and jerked him right off the horse’s back. The young man smacked into Rees and bore him to the ground. They hit the snow with a thud and lay there winded. The boy recovered first. Rees couldn’t truly begin to breathe until the youth pulled himself to his feet. Gasping and choking, Rees sat up and attempted to grab the other fellow’s legs. The young man turned and kicked Rees so hard his head snapped back and he fell prone into the snow. One of the other riders had turned back. He stretched out an arm and the boy grabbed it and jumped up behind his friend. They took off at a gallop, the snow flying out behind the horse’s hooves. Distant shouting and the sound of approaching hoofbeats heralded another rider.
    â€œWere you the fool firing the gun?” Constable Cooper’s voice came out of the darkness. He dismounted and after a minute his hand reached down to help Rees up from the snow. “I was nearby. Heard gunshots.”
    â€œSecond shot was mine,” Rees said, struggling into a sitting position. His jaw and the back of his head hurt. “I fired over their heads. Wanted to scare them.”
    â€œYou did that,” Cooper said.
    â€œBut one of them had a gun.” Rees cautiously levered himself upright. He brushed the melting snow from the back of his head. His hair was already soaked.
    â€œProbably an old musket. Couldn’t hit the side of a barn.”
    â€œSomeone could still have been hurt or killed,” Rees said, angry that Cooper should so easily brush off the shooting.
    â€œI know.” Cooper turned and looked around him. One of the torches had landed close enough to the barn to set a corner of it on fire. Some of the Brethren were tossing handfuls of snow at the flames but a more enterprising man had found a horse blanket and was beating at the fire with it. Sparks rose up like fireflies and the air smelled of wet ash and charred wood. “I recognized a few of the horses, especially that farmer’s cob. I’ll speak to that young scamp and find out who his friends were, although I have a pretty good guess. Then the boys’ fathers and I will have a discussion. This”—he gestured around him at the