Free Kings Pinnacle by Robert Gourley Page A

cattle ferry across the Sheuch as
he had planned. As soon as the night watchman was on the far side
of his circuit, Robert reversed his course and crawled back up to
where Hugh was laying.
    “ Soldiers,” whispered
Robert.
    Hugh nodded, and they both moved back
down the rise to the bushes where they had tied their
horses.
    Robert decided that they
would ride around a little further to the south and west of the
cattle pens to see if he could find any other alternatives. Robert
and Hugh tied up their horses again, and they both crawled closer
to the cattle pens to a spot where they could lie flat and look at
the pens. Robert told Hugh to wait for him while he explored closer
to the pens to see if he could determine anything. He moved in a
crouch as far as he could while the night watchman was furthest
away from him. Then he dropped to the ground to crawl the rest of
the way in.
    When Robert was crawling
toward the pens, he got another idea and turned left, crawling
toward the Sheuch. When he got to the beach, he stashed his boots
under some rocks and brush and waded out into the water. As soon as
he had waded out to where the water was deep enough, Robert swam
north, parallel to the beach, toward the dock where the cattle
ferry was tied up. The swim was only about a half mile, which took
almost no effort for Robert. He turned a little east and swam up to
the dock and the cattle ferry tied to it.
    The cattle ferry was secured
by ropes to the dock for the night. Robert reached the ferry, where
he found the end of a rope dangling in the water on the side toward
the sea. He grasped the rope and used it to climb up the side and
over the gunwale of the ferry. After creeping around and exploring
the boat for a while, he finally found two of the drovers asleep on
the weather side of the deck. He knew both men, so he decided to
wake one of them up quietly. Crawling up to the man that he knew
best, Robert put his hand over the man’s mouth. The startled man
awoke immediately and attempted to cry out, but Robert’s hand
muffled the cry.
    “ Daniel, it’s me, Robert;
don’t cry out,” Robert whispered in the man’s ear as he slowly took
his hand away from his mouth.
    “ Who?” asked
Daniel.
    “ Robert Mackenzie; please
keep your voice down,” whispered Robert.
    “Aye, Robert. I haven’t seen
ye in a while.”
    “I know. What are all the
soldiers doing about?”
    “ Looking for ye and yer
brute of a brother,” whispered Daniel.
    “I was afraid that might be
the case. Are the soldiers up in Portpatrick also?”
    “ Aye, there’re everywhere
as near as I can tell.”
    “ Do you think there is any
way Hugh and I can climb aboard the cattle ferry and hide in the
hold to ride over the Sheuch when you leave in the
morning?”
    “Nae, Robert. The soldiers
always check the boat from stem to stern before we cast off.
There’s no place we could hide ye two and guarantee that ye
wouldn’t be found.”
    “Well, it was just a
thought. Thanks for the information. Don’t tell anyone I was
here.”
    “Good luck to ye and Hugh. I
always liked ye two,” whispered Daniel as Robert disappeared over
the side of the ferry and slipped silently into the
water.
    The other drover never woke
during the quiet conversation between Daniel and Robert, which made
Robert feel better. There would only be one person who could tell
tales about him rather than two. Robert retraced his swim by
moonlight, crawled out of the water and found his boots. He walked
in a crouch back to where Hugh was waiting and told him about his
conversation with Daniel.
    “ Weel Robber, what’s the
new plan?” asked Hugh.
    “ I’ll let ye know as soon
as I figure it out,” answered Robert.
     
    * * * *
     

     
    * * * *
     
    Alex
     
    It hadn’t taken Alex very
long to outrun the mob chasing him away from the docks in
Philadelphia. He knew he could easily get away from them. But he
also finally realized that he was never going to make his way in
Philadelphia. He