Free The Color of Freedom by Michelle Isenhoff

inch further, you are a dead man!"
    One of the officers grasped the bridle of the winded horse, and his words reached Meadow in the stillness. "Sir, what is your name?" he asked.
    The man raised a defiant chin. "It's Revere."
    "Paul Revere?" Meadow heard the man's surprise.
    "A fortunate catch," one rider growled.
    Another taunted, "Just wait till you see what we do with spies and messengers and bleedin ' Sons of Liberty."
    "Sons of Iniquity, you mean," declared a third.
    Revere stared them down. "Your plan to raid the magazine at Concord is well known. The country is being alerted. There will be five hundred militiamen awaiting you in Lexington."
    There were exclamations of astonishment. "Five hundred? You're lying!"
    "I consider myself a man of truth."
    It took only a moment for the commanding officer to take the matter in hand. "Bring him along before the whole countryside comes down on us."
    With that, they took to the road again, leading their unlucky captive. They passed Meadow just as the moon shone full through the fickle clouds. The captured man's shoulders were broad under a flowing cloak, his features strong and determined. Then they were gone, disappearing in the direction from which the riders first appeared.
    Terrified, Meadow burrowed deep within the bushes as church bells, drums and even gunshots relayed the alarm deep into the countryside.
    ∗ ∗ ∗
    When Meadow staggered into camp an hour later cold, stiff and sore, she woke Salizar and poured out the night's events. He jerked free of the tangled bedding. "You should have told me sooner. We must start for town without delay!"
    Within minutes, Meadow had Aberdeen harnessed in his traces and coaxed to a rusty trot. As they sloshed through the ruts, the din from the jangling wares sounded harsh and unwelcome in the sleepy, predawn gloom.
    Before they traveled a mile, a mounted patrol accosted them.
    "Stay your wagon!" yelled a dark figure. White crisscross straps showed in the gloom, plainly marking him as an officer. Three others spilled across the road.
    Meadow glared as one of the men roughly grasped Aberdeen's bridle. Two others dismounted and circled behind the wagon with a dim lantern where they rummaged beneath the canvas tarp.
    "And where would you be sneakin ' off to like rats in the dark?" asked the officer, spurring his mount close to the wagon with his hand on the hilt of a sword. "Up to no good, most likely? Along with the rest of the filth in these accursed colonies. Out of the wagon, old man. And you, too, boy. On the ground!"
    Meadow's legs felt like warm butter as she leaped down and stood near Salizar , but her eyes flashed dangerously. How she'd like to run the haughty soldier through with the point of his own blade!
    "I'm only a poor traveling merchant, sir," Salizar groveled, at his meekest. "A humble servant of the king. The boy and I earn our bread selling wares to the townsfolk hereabout. We are on our way to the coast to resupply. We heard a clamor and seek the safety of a town."
    "I don't believe you," the officer sneered. As his horse danced around them he brought the point of his sword up to the level of Salizar's neck. "And it will be your dishonest blood I spill if you prove false!"
    "It's true!" Meadow yelled. "He's an old man, of no harm to you! Leave him alone!"
    "Wynn, no!" Salizar cried.
    But the officer had already narrowed his eyes and shifted his attention to Meadow. Steel caressed her neck. "Perhaps you fancy yourself a hero, boy," he mocked.
    "He's a rag and bone man, all right," called one of the rummagers, "and still hauling some wares."
    The officer sneered down at them in the dark. "Probably smuggled goods that haven't been properly taxed." He called to the man in the rear, "Anything in there fixing payment for his majesty's troops?"
    "Aye, sir. A fine knife, and a canteen to replace the one the horse stepped on."
    "Bring them around!"
    The soldier carried the items to the front where the officer looked them over