Daughter of Liberty

Daughter of Liberty Copyright © 2004 by J. M. HochstetlerRequests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hochstetler, J. M. Daughter of liberty / J. M. Hochstetler. P. cm.-(The American Patriot series; bk. 1) ISBN 0-310-25256-3 1. United States-History-Revolution, 1775-1783-Fiction. 2. Boston (Mass.)-History-Revolution, 1775-1783-Ficiton. 3. Young women-Fiction. I. Title. PS3608.O28 D38 2004 813''.6-dc22 2003024160All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.Published in association with Hartline Literary Agency, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15235.Interior design by Michelle Espinoza Printed in the United States of America04 05 06 07 08 /. DC/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Chapter 1The crack of the pistol''s report came from directly behind the courier. Sizzling past so close to his ear he could feel the heat of it, the musket ball whined off into the windy night.He brought his head close to his mount''s straining neck. "Go! Go!"The mare responded with a burst of speed, stretching the distance between her and the pursuing British patrol. Flying strands of mane whipped tears to the courier''s eyes as he fumbled beneath his cloak for the handle of the pistol shoved into the waistband of his breeches. His hand shaking, he tore the weapon free and cocked it with his thumb."Hold! Pull up and surrender, you blasted rebel!"The shouted command reached him faintly above rushing wind and pounding hoofbeats. Mouth dry, stomach knotted with fear and exhilaration, he searched the shadowy landscape for an escape route.In the darkness off to his right beyond a high stone wall, wooded hills loomed up. Inside the line of trees the woodland dropped to a winding creek, then rose again into the hills, the courier knew. Reining his mare hard right, his breath coming in sharp pants, he glanced over his shoulder as the wind shredded the clouds high overhead.Shards of moonlight rippled across hill and hollow, gleaming on icy remnants of a late snow that still clung in sheltered areas. Touching the irregular stone walls that wound through the rolling farmland, the light glimmered across the blood-red uniforms of the soldiers stampeding after him through the murky Massachusetts countryside.There were three in the patrol. The soldier who had fired had dropped back, and the officer now held the lead. He hung stubbornly close, trying to aim his pistol while he swung wide in the attempt to cut his quarry off.The dim bulk of the stone wall raced toward the courier. A tangled growth of brambles topped the wall on the far side, reaching thorny fingers well above the stones. With reckless determination, he urged his mount on, rising in the stirrups at the exact instant the mare gathered her haunches under her and took flight.She skimmed over the seemingly impossible height as effortlessly as a gull and lit softly on the other side. Hardly breaking stride, she fled toward the line of trees. A crashing sound reached the courier, and he threw a swift glance back.The officer had angled his mount off to a partial break in the wall some yards down. One of the two soldiers was riding hard toward the wall''s far end.The other had tried the wall at the same point as the courier, but had miscalculated the jump. The courier caught a glimpse of dislodged stone slabs spilled across the ground and the thrashing legs of the fallen horse before his mare swept around a bend that for the moment cut him off from the patrol''s sight.He urged his mount between the trees. A dozen strides into the woods he pulled up hard behind a head-high outcropping of rock screened by slender saplings and dense undergrowth. Shoulders hunched, head bent so the wide brim of his hat sHochstetler, J. M. is the author of 'Daughter of Liberty', published 2004 under ISBN 9780310252566 and ISBN 0310252563.