Hearing a noise from behind, Rich jumped with a squeal, startling them both. Furtively turning his head to check behind them, Rich spotted a lamplighter coming up the next block. At this inauspicious moment the lamplighter crashed his ladder against a lamppost. Richard cringed. Watching him, Rich realized that the man had just one more lamp to light before crossing onto their block. Dusk was giving way quickly to darkness, but Rich couldn't be sure whether their activities would be seen by the man. It added urgency to their movements. And a bout of nausea that erupted in his stomach.
'We've got company behind us,' he whispered to Peggy.
'Oh Lord, should we go through with it?' she asked, squeezing a death grip on his arm.
By now, General Gage was nearly to them.
'Let's do it,' he almost shouted.
Peggy's heart beat so fast she wanted to run to catch up with it. As long as it was in the opposite direction. Rich's hands dripped with sweat. Just as he had been taught, however, he slowed his breathing, trying to get his body under control. He'd have one chance only.
I can do it. I can do it.
General Gage approached, just a few feet away.
Crash went the ladder behind them, telling Rich the lamplighter was leaving his lamp for the last one on that block.
'Good evening, General Gage, Sir,' Rich said, saluting crisply.
Gage returned the salute. 'Colonel. Identify yourself please.'
'Colonel Jeffrey Madison, 5th Regiment of Foot, King's Own, New York, Sir. And may I present my fiancee, Julia Ordway of New York.'
Julia offered her gloved hand.
General Gage lifted it to his lips. 'Charmed, my dear. And how do you like Boston?'
'I do, General. It's just that something I ate must not have agreed with me. We left the carriage and are taking some air in hopes that it will help. But, actually,' she slowed down, touching the back of her hand dramatically to her forehead, 'I feel rather faint.' At that moment Julia's knees gave out; although Rich expected it, the suddenness nearly caught him off guard. Swiftly, he moved, trying to catch her with his good arm. Immediately realizing the struggle he was having with one arm in a sling, the General gallantly leaped to her other side, helping to lay her down.
Just then a gull shrieked and Rich almost screeched in return, his nerves being strung tighter than a clothesline.
'General,' he squeaked. Clearing his throat, Rich tried again. 'Could you hold her head just a moment, Sir? I'll remove my sling to use as a pillow.'
The lamplighter noisily clanged his ladder against the last lamppost. Rich, knowing how badly his hands were shaking, wondered how he could possibly do the delicate work that lay ahead.
'Glad to, Colonel,' Gage answered him.
Surprised at how agile the General appeared, Rich realized he wouldn't have known what to do if Gage hadn't been able to bend. As a military leader, he must have made a point of keeping himself in shape. Although Rich worried about the lamplighter, he tried to force it from his mind. A tiny sliver of moonlight peeked through the clouds. Shadows crept along the sidewalk. Spooked and shaking, Rich struggled to maintain control.
As Gage kneeled, cradling Peggy's head in his arm, Rich straightened up, taking his arm from the sling. Gulping a lungful of air, he moved toward Peggy's head, bunching the sling into a pillow.
Anxiously, he asked the General, 'How does she seem?'
'Skeek,' went the ladder. The lamplighter was done with his block. Damn, the man would be upon them any moment. Rich felt his heart thudding in his chest. Sweat poured down his arms. His uniform drenched, Rich froze in the night air.
While the General leaned lower, trying to assess Peggy's breathing, Rich swiftly lunged behind him, placing himself directly over the General. Then, closing his eyes, with a tiny prayer, Rich directed his fingers to the carotid arteries of Gage's long neck. Instantly, the General slipped into unconsciousness.
