Read Online Guns of Liberty by Kerry Newcomb - Free Book Online Page A

The assassin halfheartedly lowered his weapon, uncocked it, and tucked the gun in his waistband.
    Meeks turned his attention to the man on horseback. War was a dark and bloody business. Sometimes it required the skills of such men as Black Tolbert. Josiah Meeks was a private, cynical man who could foresee in the coming conflict a chance for his own advancement and the acquisition of wealth and property. Tolbert would help him on his way.
    “Danny boy, I find your attitude disturbing at best.”
    “My attitude? I’m here, yes? And I’ve worked my way into the confidence of those who run the Hound and Hare, as you wished.” Daniel paused in his litany of accomplishments, and his eyes narrowed, his expression shrewd. “How did you know Washington would be coming there?”
    “A little bird told me.” Meeks dismissed the impertinent inquiry. “Now, are you certain you can extend your stay? The Continental Congress has yet to name a commander-in-chief. There are other names being discussed. Ward, for one. Even that disreputable traitor, Hancock. If one of them is chosen we shall adapt our plans. Will Chaney has already ingratiated himself to one of Hancock’s servants.”
    “Then you may not need me, after all,” Daniel said, a note of relief in his voice. Maybe he could extricate himself from this situation. And leave other innocent men to die? His thoughts became gloomy again.
    “These rebels would be fools not to choose the Virginian. Colonel Washington is their most capable man.” Meeks sauntered back toward the campfire, retrieved a small, barrel-like container called a pin, and poured a measure of hard cider into a silver cup. The cup was a keepsake that seemed to hold special importance for the Englishman, for he had carried it among his belongings for as long as Daniel had known him. “Colonel Washington must die—whoever else the rabble chooses. He is too dangerous. Sooner or later, the continentals would turn to him.” Meeks smiled to think of it. What a blow to this burgeoning insurrection, to lose their best man in a single strike. It might even take the heart out of the revolution and send these seditious farmers scurrying back to their fields.
    “If that’s what you think, then you know nothing of us. Braddock’s Road taught you nothing at all,” Daniel said.
    Back in 1755, General Edward Braddock had led a force into the Ohio country, to punish the French and the Ottawa. The British troops had met with a crushing defeat and the only thing that kept their long retreat from becoming a bloody rout were the colonials, led by Braddock’s aide, young George Washington, who stood and fought the tenacious Indians to a standstill. A big-boned, husky lad of thirteen by the name of Daniel McQueen had fought alongside many a brave man and learned the truth of war.
    “Us?” Meeks didn’t like the sound of the word. “Have ‘you’ become an ‘us’?”
    “I warrant it’s that yellow-haired girl,” Black Tolbert interjected, drawing close. It was his turn to make Daniel squirm. He could sense the man on horseback stiffen. “Maybe I ought to take up at the tavern, Major Meeks,” Tolbert purred. “She gives me any trouble, and I got a sword between my legs that’d keep the wench in her place.”
    Daniel’s foot shot out and clipped the grinning brigand just below the chin. Black Tolbert’s head snapped back and his eyes rolled up and showed nothing but white as he toppled over on his backside. He landed in the dirt with a muffled thud.
    Meeks sighed, crossed over, and knelt by the unconscious man. He checked to see if Tolbert was still breathing. Reassured, he stood and faced Daniel.
    “I do not need this trouble.” Meeks pulled the cloak around his bony shoulders. “Just remember your father—”
    “I haven’t forgotten,” Daniel muttered.
    “Good, because just for a second I saw something in your eyes I didn’t like.” The Englishman moved closer. “Know this. If anything goes