28

The woods gave way to a large clearing along another stream. Men, most in uniform, swarmed among a patchwork of tents and campfires. The odor of horse and sweat hung on the air.

“Who goes there?”

Hannah braced against Joseph as he slowed Hunter but continued toward the camp and the guard who had spoken.

“My name is Joseph Garnet from the Mohawk Valley. And this is my wife. We’re looking for someone.”

“Who?”

The guard took Hunter’s bridle and Joseph swung down. “A Samuel Cunningham. He’s a soldier in the New York Third Regiment.”

“This is part of the Third. But I don’t know that name.” He smiled up at Hannah for too long, making her want to squirm.

“Do you know every name in the Third?” She gave what she hoped was a pointed look.

The guard laughed. “Definitely not.”

“Then who do we talk to?” Joseph countered.

The guard stepped back and looked Joseph up and down. “Lieutenant Jones is over there by the fire. You might ask him.”

“Thank you.” Joseph stepped around the guard and moved in the indicated direction, leaving Hannah with the reins. She hit the ground and caught up before he reached the campfire and the officer standing near.

She nudged Joseph with her shoulder. “It’s my brother we are looking for.”

“What? Who are you looking for,” the lieutenant asked before Joseph could make his reply. “Who are you?”

They again explained their purpose and the lieutenant shook his head. “Not a name I am familiar with. Colonel Hardy is camped up the creek that-a-ways with his headquarters. He might point you in the right direction.” He narrowed his eyes at Joseph. “Where have you served? You look familiar.”

Joseph stiffened beside Hannah, but his voice remained unaffected. “Mostly up along the Mohawk. Thank you for your help.” He nodded and pulled Hannah along, taking a wide circle around the preparations for night as it descended upon them.

So many faces. Hannah searched them, trying to imagine what her little brother looked like now. What if she walked right by him? Would she recognize him, or would he be a complete stranger?

Even more men bustled around what looked to be the colonel’s headquarters. Joseph hung back as though looking for the best opening. How could he appear so calm—something that completely eluded her?

She couldn’t stand here so close to answers. So close to Samuel.

“Excuse me.” Hannah pulled away and darted to the door of the large tent where several officers talked. “Excuse me, who is Colonel Hardy?”

“I am he.” A middle aged man drew off his hat. “But I haven’t time for…” He peered at her. “What do you want, miss…?”

She wouldn’t waste precious moments with introductions. “I’m looking for my brother, Samuel Cunningham. I was led to believe he might be under your command.” Lord, please let it be so!

One of the other officers stepped to intercept her, his head shaking. “Miss, as Colonel Hardy said, we don’t have time for—”

“It’s Mrs.” Joseph stepped close behind her and set a hand to her arm. “All we ask is for a few minutes of your time. He is either here, or he is not.”

“And who are you?” a third officer asked.

“Joseph Garnet. We’re from the Mohawk Valley.”

All the men eyed him as though unsure whether to brush him aside or not. “Who have you served under?”

“I’ve ridden with General Herkimer. Before his death. For a short time I rode under Colonel Gansevoort, as well.”

“Colonel Gansevoort had command of Fort Schuyler for a time, did he not?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Herkimer. Nicolaus Herkimer?”

“Yes, sir.”

Colonel Hardy looked to his junior officers. “General Herkimer led a force into one of the bloodiest battles we’ve known in this war. Lost half his men in an ambush. Over four hundred.”

“I was at Oriskany with him.” Joseph’s voice rumbled.

The colonel’s expression took on a new respect. “Step into my tent for a minute.” Inside, he pushed a pipe into his mouth and lit it. “You said you are looking for Samuel Cunningham, I believe?”

Hannah’s heart skipped. He spoke as though he knew the name. “Yes. He is my brother.”

The colonel gave a small smile. “Interesting.”

“Why do you say that?” Joseph asked. Both his hands supported her shoulders now.

“Because I’ve read the original reports on Private Cunningham. He was the son a Loyalist.”

He did know Samuel! “Yes. And I was the daughter of one. Please, where is my brother now?”

The colonel looked from Hannah to Joseph and back again. “Here.”

A sharp intake of breath didn’t keep her head from spinning, or from that same air being released as a sob. “Here?” Samuel was alive? She’d found him? Perhaps a loving God did indeed exist.

“Yes. He’s served under me for a few months now. A fine soldier.”

Hannah clenched her teeth to keep control of the sudden surge of emotion that threatened to break from her. She leaned into Joseph and soaked up his strength. Samuel was alive, and she’d found him. How could she make herself believe it?

“Can we see him?” Joseph asked, speaking her heart.

“Yes. I shall send someone for him. Wait here.”

Colonel Hardy left, and Hannah twisted to Joseph. She had so much she wanted to say, to thank him for helping her, to tell him how unbelievable this all was, but words collided in her head before they could be birthed.

Joseph wrapped her in an embrace, making it easy to close her eyes and let warmth roll to her cheeks while they waited another eternity.

Oh, where was Samuel?

The tent door swooshed behind her. “I was told to report to...” The voice was deep—so much like Myles’s. But Myles was dead. “Excuse me, mister. I must have misunderstood.”

“Samuel?” Hannah pivoted to the lanky youth nearly as tall as Joseph. Dark hair hung over his brow, obscuring, along with the shadows of night, his familiar features, but she still knew him. “Samuel.”

His mouth hung open. “Hannah?”

She nodded and threw herself at him with a squeal.

He staggered back a step and gripped her hard. Almost as hard as she held him. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I came to find you.”

“Where’s Mama?”

Hannah gripped him tighter. All she had left. “Not now. I can’t tell you right now.” She wanted to hold on to this moment. This feeling of perfect happiness.

~*~

The hundreds of tents sat silent, and the campfires had died hours ago.

Joseph had chosen a site for their bedrolls not far from the colonel’s headquarters, not far from where they had visited with Samuel long into the night.

Hannah slept in the blue haze of approaching dawn. She’d taken a while to fall asleep after hours spent with her brother, swapping news and stories, but she’d slept soundly since. As far as she was concerned, they had succeeded. She’d found Samuel and would never have to be separated from him again. Reality was not so kind.

Joseph had not thought beyond finding her brother, either, but the boy was still a levied soldier. He wasn’t free to walk away.

Joseph clenched his jaw against a yawn but his eyes still watered. He’d hardly slept thinking about today—about what he would say to Colonel Hardy, what arguments he could make. Oh, Lord, help me. Please give me success. For Hannah’s sake.

Instead of feeling peace, uncertainty drove Joseph to his feet. He moved to the dead coals and dug for any hint of life. In the very heart of the largest charred log, he found a tiny glow of red. Just like his faith had always been. Small. On the verge of fading. But still there.

He found some kindling and blew softly. With some coaxing the ember grew and then flickered into a flame. A few minutes later he added a small log to the kindling and watched the blaze spread.

If only his trust in God’s plan for his life were so easy to stoke.

“What is Thy plan, Lord?” Or do you even have one for me?

Footsteps preceded Samuel’s voice. “You are awake early.”

Joseph nodded. “You, too.”

“Didn’t sleep much last night.” Samuel pulled up a short length of stump next to Joseph’s. “Thinking too much.”

“Me, too.”

“What have you been thinking about?”

Easy enough to summarize. “Your sister.”

“Hannah will be all right. She has you. And I’m glad for that.”

“She has me, but I don’t think she will be able to walk away without you.” And chance losing him all over again. The war was far from over.

“I doubt there will be much choice in the matter.” The young man rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head forward. “I sometimes wonder if there will ever be a way out. I hardly remember home and family anymore. Seeing Hannah…” Samuel craned his neck to look at his sister’s sleeping form tucked in her bedroll. “Seems more like a dream. Maybe that is why I was afraid to sleep. Didn’t want to wake up and find out I had imagined her.”

Joseph tried not to consider what it would be like to never see his children again, or Rachel and Andrew. To never go home. To go years without knowing if they had survived. No word. No hope.

“Thank you for this much.” Samuel grinned at him, but it couldn’t mask his pain. Or his fear.

“She would have found you with or without me,” Joseph said.

“Maybe. Hannah is strong. Always has been. But finding me is only half of what she’s had to go through. Learning about what happened to Myles. That wouldn’t have been easy for her. And leaving here…”

“Nothing is written in stone yet.” Joseph tossed another log on the fire. He couldn’t let Hannah suffer another loss. “We’ll speak with the colonel. He seems a good man.”

“Aye, he is. But…” Samuel shrugged and looked to the dancing flames. “I guess we shall see.”

The sun worked into the sky and another soldier set a pot over the fire to brew some coffee.

Hannah tossed a few times before waking. She came to the fire with a smile on her face. A genuine one. What Joseph wouldn’t give to keep it there. “Good morning, you two.” She stooped behind Samuel and wrapped her arms around him before pressing a kiss to the side of his head. “How could you let me sleep? Have you been here long?”

“No.” Samuel stood and hugged her properly. “Can’t stay long, either. I have to report to my lieutenant for duty this morning. And I think we have some drills later today. I don’t know when I’ll have more time. But I will find some. I promise.”

Hannah remained speechless as her brother kissed her cheek and saluted a farewell to Joseph. As soon as Samuel was out of sight, she turned. “They can’t keep him any longer.”

Joseph cupped her hands in his. “We might not have much choice in that.”

She jerked away. “No. They’ve already taken too many years. They can’t have more. They can’t have his life.”

“Hannah.” He braced her shoulders.

She shrugged away.

Joseph held up his hands. “Losing our tempers and making demands will not help Samuel. We will talk with Colonel Hardy. But we need to reason with him.”

She nodded stiffly. “All right.”

They both looked at Colonel Hardy’s tent. There was no sign that he’d woken yet. They would have to be patient.

For a couple hours they waited, Hannah looking like a cannon with its fuse burning into oblivion.

Finally, the colonel emerged from his tent fully dressed and with several officers.

Hannah beat Joseph across the camp. “Colonel.”

“Yes, Mrs. Garnet?”

“I need to speak with you.”

“I imagine you feel as though you need to, but I can save you the effort. You have had your reunion with your brother, but that is all. We need him.”

“Need him? He’s still a boy!”

Joseph touched her arm with a downward stroke. “Easy,” he whispered.

Hannah took a breath, and Joseph stepped forward. “With due respect, sir, he has already given you six years.”

The colonel’s eyes sharpened. “He has not given me anything. That service was to his country. Just as mine has been.” He folded his arms tight against his chest. “How long have you given, Mr. Garnet?”

Joseph opened his mouth, ready with an answer.

“You said yesterday that you rode with Colonel Gansevoort and General Herkimer,” Colonel Hardy continued. “You did not serve under them, though, did you?”

“No, I didn’t, but that does not mean I haven’t fought for this country or sacrificed for our freedom.”

“Our freedom? Or yours, Mr. Garnet? Tell me truthfully, how far from your farm have the battles been that you’ve fought?”

Oriskany was ten miles.

Fort Schuyler wasn’t much farther.

Always on the defense. Stopping the British and Tories from coming near his home and land. Never in attack to push the British from the colonies. He had never been a part of the larger war. Like Daniel. Like Samuel.

“I thought as much,” the colonel said. “I have already reported my numbers to General Washington, Mr. Garnet. He has asked for more men, not less. We are on the cusp of a great offensive. As we speak, General Washington makes plans with the French. So while I understand your desires to protect your family, I have orders, and I have men I am both accountable for and to. Good day.”

Joseph stood helpless as the colonel moved away with his officers. Hannah looked back and forth between him and them. “That’s it?”

“Hannah, I…” How could he explain what bound him now? He didn’t even understand it himself.

“Joseph, please tell me there is some way we can save my brother. You heard him, didn’t you? They’re marching into another battle. They’re sticking him in front of the British for target practice!” She pinched her lips together, and her eyes watered. “I cannot lose him, too. Not after seeing him again. I won’t let go. I don’t care what it takes. I want my brother.”

Numbness spread through Joseph as he opened his arms and Hannah stepped in. She trembled as she cried. And all he could do was hold her. What else did he have to give?

But himself.

Every muscle in his body tightened at the turn of his thoughts. Is this what you had in mind from the start, Lord?