simultaneously be safe and fight the British at the same time?
The wheels in his head turned slowly but inevitably. For he was Dutch, after all, and the idea eventually settled into place like a great eagle landing on a treetop.
In truth, it did not take half the effort, though he made a great show of it. For van Clynne had made this suggestion to Jake several times already. But he had long ago learned that an idea that seems to suffer a hard birth is more easily accepted than one that slides into the world with nary a grunt.
'A friend of mine on Long Island may have need for a girl to help on her farm,' he declared. 'The woman is a brave patriot and often assists the Sons of Liberty. Her farm is behind the lines, and danger is always flitting past the threshold in some form or another. She is said to be Dutch by marriage only, yet has taken to the ways of the race so strongly that it is clear her ancestors found it necessary to obscure her Netherlands ancestry until now.'
'Long Island?'
'Mrs. Hulter has lived there many years. Her husband was a soldier, but the rumor has it that he died near White Plains. As yet, his death has not been officially confirmed.'
'Professor Bebeef s sister?'
'You know the family?'
Alison quickly told van Clynne the story.
'And here we once more have proof of Dutch superiority,' declared the squire, who saw the coincidence not as a product of luck but of a plan he had intuitively if unknowingly placed in motion some time before. 'There is a proper Dutch solution to every problem, my dear, as I'm sure the good missus will instruct. You will fight the British as fiercely as any Continental regiment. She is a fine brewer besides; you will do well to stay with her.'
'I will go there on one condition.'
'Name it,' said the Dutchman.
'We cannot abandon Jake,' said the girl firmly. 'We must help him this last time.'
'He has Daltoons's entire troop at his call,' said the Dutchman. 'They are meeting with reinforcements from Culper and will take over the farm and stand guard. Half the British army could arrive and they would be safe. We are as superfluous as a comb on a rooster.'
'Perhaps I am,' suggested the girl, 'but what of yourself? What would have happened at the engineer's if you were not there to rescue him?'
'True,' admitted van Clynne. 'I did, after all, save the day. Many a time, I have had to pluck him from the fire just as his coat was singed.'
'He has already died once today without you. What if you are not nearby a second time?'
The Dutchman contemplated that possibility. Actually, he did not worry so much about Jake as Egans, whom he believed would have a difficult time lying. This was a fatal flaw shared by all Iroquois, or so van Clynne believed. And the problem could, in turn, lead Jake to difficulty.
Besides, if they were starting from two different points, it would be difficult to coordinate their rendezvous on the Jersey shore. And despite Jake's long-winded assurances, he would undoubtedly feel obliged to leave for Washington without him. Van Clynne was loath to lose his opportunity for an interview with the general a second time.
'Perhaps we should reconnoiter the area as a reserve squadron,' he suggested. 'But they have already met you once; I'm not sure what pretense we can invent for your arrival.'
'They know me only as a boy. They won't recognize me as a girl.'
'Bauer saw you at the hill.'
'There is an old dress upstairs, and I will wear a hat. You, on the other hand, have already been seen in your disguise as a doctor; you will have to find a disguise or stay hidden.'
'Claus van Clynne never hides. That is a coward's way.”
'I am warning you, girl,” said van Clynne a bit later, as he submitted, albeit reluctantly, to Alison’s barbering skills, “one nick and I will retaliate with appropriate measures. A strong paddling would do your soul good, I daresay.'
'I used to shave my father every day. Now hold your mouth still — if that is possible.'
'Impertinence. Impertinence in the young. In my time, it was unheard of.'
'I am not as young as you pretend, and you are not as old,' said Alison, who now had the advantage of seeing van Clynne's face — or a quarter of it — without its customary beard. 'I doubt you are beyond thirty, if that. Now be quiet or we shall never arrive in time.'
'Owww! What was your father's face made of? Iron?' Van Clynne reached up and grabbed her hand.
'Don't be such a baby,' said Alison, freeing her wrist with a snap. She dipped the long straight-edge razor in the soapy warm water and prepared for another swipe. 'A little bloodletting is good for your vapors.'
'My vapors are in perfect condition, thank you. And I would expect you to show proper deference, now that I have condescended to allow you to shave me.'
'Condescended?'
'Shaving is a sacred rite in the Dutch way of things, my dear. It is not every young woman who is accorded the privilege.'
'Honored, I'm sure,' said Alison sarcastically, plucking tightly at the next hairs and ignoring the ensuing howl. 'When was the last time you washed your beard? I believe I have found a bird's nest here.'
Chapter Forty-three
The last time he had been in this mansion, Jake had arrived in a dazed condition with an armed guard at his shoulder. Still, he had enough of an idea of the layout to narrow Clayton Bauer’s office down to one of two rooms in the western corner of the house. With Bauer gone, it would be the best place to hide — and would also give him a chance to search through the spymaster’s papers.
Both rooms had windows facing the Hudson. Jake chose the corner to try first because it was closest to him as he moved through the woods from the side.
Though his wounds had been redressed at the Smith house, he did not want to push his battered leg harder than necessary. He walked forward slowly, glancing through the trees down toward the beach where he had washed up some days before. The disguised Libertymen had already appeared on the river; he had only a few minutes to get inside if he was to beat Egans.
The company of redcoats assigned to Bauer had returned in foul moods from the earlier diversion sent to them by Culper's men. Roused from bed to attend a false report of rebels attacking the rocky shore upriver, all they had to show for their adventures were skinned knees and bruised shins. The sentry posted at Jake's corner of the house was having trouble keeping his eyes open as he leaned against the building.
Jake kept the man's shiny coat in view as he half-crawled, half-trotted past a shed which housed mowing equipment. He just managed to roll against the side of the building when he heard voices approaching from the rear; the low shrubs were enough to hide him only because the two sentries were talking rather than paying attention to their duties.
The men were discussing whether their company's assignment would be changed now that Bauer had been killed. Neither seemed to like the 'uppity colonist,' but they realized the chore of guarding him had been comparatively easy. The unit headquartered up the road a quarter mile away had been put on notice to prepare for an 'expedition at sea.' They worried over the cryptic phrase and whether it would soon describe their fates as well.
The talk faded as the guards called to their mate by the house. He shouted a one-word response and they reversed course, patrolling in the opposite direction. Their assignment doubtlessly called for them to walk the vast yard's perimeter in parallel, not tandem. Jake, ever the military commander, could not help but shake his head as he bolted to his feet and did his best imitation of a sprint toward the building.
