The Darkness by Lars D. H. Hedbor

Author:Lars D. H. Hedbor [Hedbor, Lars D. H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: american revolution, maine, solar eclipse, tannery, spying
ISBN: 9781942319191
Publisher: Brief Candle Press
Published: 2016-04-05T00:00:00+00:00

George groaned and stirred, wakened by an intense, dull ache in his head, exacerbated by a fuss in a room nearby to where he had been laid down. His throat was raw and felt bruised, and his hand throbbed, but he was quite happy to find that he was on a thin, straw-filled mattress in a small, dark room filled with the reek of fresh sawdust, rather than being interviewed by Saint Peter at the gates of Heaven. His hand was still wrapped in the bandages he had been forced to apply for himself, but someone had wrapped his head to safeguard the swollen wound above his eyes.

"Although he is, of course, free to go, your brother is recovering from an accident that he suffered while under questioning," George heard the lieutenant's raspy, unctuous voice say. He couldn't hear the reply, but heard the officer say, "The man we are now holding for the murder of the tanner is demanding the privilege of being held as a prisoner of war, and claims that he is a Continental soldier, escaped from our forces last year when we repulsed their ridiculous little attack. He says that the man he killed was a legitimate target in an ongoing fight for this fortification, and that he is above civil authority entirely. Between you and I, I think he is quite mad, but he will dance no less gaily upon the gallows for it."

George could now hear Lemuel's voice more clearly, and made out his brother's firm, but clearly shaken reply as he said, "I would see my brother now, that I may take him home to be physicked properly by his mother and family."

"But of course . . . he is just through there."

Even as George was still puzzling at what he had heard—the British officer couldn't have meant Louise's father, could he have?—his brother entered the room, worry etched deeply into his face. He rushed to George's side and fell to his knees beside the bed, saying in a low voice, "Oh, my brother, I am glad to see you."

"And I you, Lemuel." George was surprised at how his voice sounded, more of a croak than a regular speaking tone, and even these few words caused him a sharp enough pain that his hand flew to his throat. Lemuel took in his bandages and shook his head angrily, shooting a quick glare back at the door through which he'd come.

"We must leave at once, and you can tell me all that has passed once we are in a place where the walls do not listen quite so intently. I have much to relate to you as well." He grimaced, and stood, offering George a hand.

Standing was an exercise in finding new knots in his muscles and a multitude of scrapes and bruises, some of which he presumed must have been inflicted after he fell. Grimacing and breathing heavily, he leaned on his brother's offered arm and walked with him out of the room, and past the lieutenant, who smiled nastily as they walked by.

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