Free Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson Page A

further delay. There is nothing to worry about.”
    He seemed to hide a message beneath those words, for Madam relaxed some and stood with grace. “If you insist, husband,” she said.
    â€œPerhaps you would prefer to go belowstairs,” Lockton suggested. “The girl can heat some wine to calm your nerves.”
    Madam shook her head. “No, dear. I shall remain by your side.”
    Bellingham gave the sergeant a quick nod. The man knelt in front of the chest and opened the latch.
    Deliverance! They’ll arrest them both and reward me mightily. We’ll leave this horrid place by sunset.
    One corner of Lockton’s mouth turned up in a sly smile as a blushing soldier removed the shifts and underskirts. My heart skipped a beat. Why were dirty linens still in there? Becky gathered all the washing yesterday.
    The soldier looked up at Bellingham. “That’s all, sir. Clear down to the bottom.”
    I wanted to shout,
The money is underneath the false bottom!
but pressed my lips together. Bellingham knelt and checked for himself, knocking the wooden sides.
    Lockton’s grin had spread to both sides of his mouth. “Would you care to inspect all of our clothing, James? Perhaps you’d send a man to root through the potatoes and parsnips in the cellar.”
    He had hidden the money elsewhere, that’s why he was at ease. Bellingham rose to his feet and stood with his hands behind him. Would he turn on me, accuse me of making a false report and expose me to the Locktons?
    No. He searched through his papers until he pulled out one that he handed to Lockton.
    â€œYou are summoned to the New York Provincial Congress for suspicion of aiding the enemy, Elihu. I am placing you under arrest. These soldiers will escort you.”
    He nodded his head. Two soldiers grabbed Lockton by his elbows. His smile vanished.
    â€œWait,” Madam said. “You can’t arrest him. He’s done nothing.”
    â€œTo the contrary, ma’am,” Bellingham snapped. “He has put the lives of thousands in jeopardy.”
    The men filed by me without another word. Bellingham kept his face straight ahead, but as he passed by, he cuthis eyes at me. They drilled a hole right into my fear of discovery.
    There was the clatter of boots on the stair treads, then boots on the marble steps outside, and then the crash of the front door slamming. They were gone.
    Madam stared blankly at the empty doorway.
    â€œMa’am?” I asked quietly.
    Her eyes turned to me, then she blinked, as if she suddenly realized who I was and where she stood.
    â€œDon’t just stand there, girl. These linens need to be washed. I can’t think how Becky missed them. I shall speak to her about her laziness.”
    And then she fainted.

Chapter XII

Friday, June 7, 1776
    BY VIRTUE OF THE AUTHORITY VESTED IN US BY CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS OF THE CONGRESS OF THE COLONY OF NEW-YORK OF THE 7 TH DAY OF JUNE, … DO THEREFORE SUMMON YOU TO APPEAR BEFORE US … TO SHOW CAUSE (IF YOU HAVE ANY) WHY YOU SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS A FRIEND TO THE AMERICAN CAUSE … –SUMMONS FROM THE NEW YORK PROVINCIAL CONGRESS TO A SUSPECTED TORY
    Becky sent me to fetch the Lady Seymour to help Madam get through having her husband arrested like that. The old lady lived two blocks north of Trinity Church, the one with spires that scraped the sky.
    â€œIt’s one of them old Dutch-style houses. Got a red door and a knocker looks like a heart,” Becky said. “Can’t miss it.”
    The house was not far from City Hall, along a street where soldiers with heavy axes were chopping down the row of tall poplar trees. “Fortifications,” a soldier explained to a cart man. “To protect against the invasion. Any day now, they say.”
    The red door made the house easy to find. I walked through a beautiful garden around to the back. Neatly trimmed boxwood hedges created a path lined withyoung betony plants,