He looked around and saw a small barn not too far from the house. He decided to head for the barn to find a place to sleep out of the rain and wait until morning to ask for some food. It was hard to walk away from the house, with the thought of food sitting in a pantry inside, but he made up his mind and was going to stick with it. He left the cover of the porch and briskly walked to the barn. The barn door was unlocked, so he went inside. It was dark — so dark he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.
Not knowing what animals might be in the barn, he felt his way along the door to the wall. He then felt stall boards. A horse whinnied, and Gabriel felt its warm breath on his hand. “It’s all right, I’m just looking for a place to sleep,” he said to the horse.
A horse could be very useful, he realized. It was night, the barn was unlocked, and he could easily lead it out of the barn and ride off down the road. “No,” Gabriel said to himself. “I may have to tell some lies to get to Boston, but I will not steal to get there.” He could not bear the thought of some poor farmer waking up to find his horse gone and no way to plow his fields.
He looked around. His eyes had started to adjust to the blackness, and he spotted a pile of hay in the middle of the barn. Walking carefully to the pile, he began to arrange some on the floor for a bed. Raindrops pelted the top of the roof. He knew the peaceful sound would soon put him to sleep. He laid his head down on the hay and shut his eyes.
Suddenly, the barn door flew open with a tremendous crash and a blinding light. It was so bright, Gabriel had to put his arm over his eyes. A shot rang out, and then something hard was thrust into his chest. Taking his arm away from his squinting eyes, he saw a man with a lantern standing over him, poking him in the chest with a musket. The man shouted at him, “State your business! Why are you trespassing in my barn?”
“I was only looking for a dry place to lie down, sir.” Gabriel trembled.
“This here barn ain’t no hotel and my house ain’t no tavern, so get out before I shoot ya full of lead,” shouted the man.
Gabriel stood, his clothes still soaking wet and water dripping from his hair. He picked up his sack and drum and headed for the barn door. Just as he put his hand on the door, he heard the man say, “Wait.” He thought about making a run for it through the barn door and into the darkness but, instead, decided to stop.
“I can’t let you stay here,” said the man. “His Majesty’s soldiers are boarding a boat just off the coast only a few miles from us. Word is, they’ve been inclined to search houses along the road and take things they claim to need. I don’t want them to come into this barn and find me harboring a runaway who, by the looks of him, might be on his way to Boston to fight.”
By now, Gabriel was not surprised this man had figured out where he was going. Everyone else he had met knew what he was up to. “I’ll leave then, sir. I don’t want you to face trouble because of me.”
“Stay put, lad,” said the man, holding the lantern up higher to see his face.
The man had a hard and weathered face and grizzled gray hair. Without saying another word, the man slid past Gabriel with his gun still at his side. The man’s lantern bounced and swayed up to the house. Once he could no longer see the man, Gabriel stepped out through the barn door. He didn’t like the look of him, and the thought of disappearing into the darkness raced through Gabriel’s mind once again. Should he stay or leave?
He again recalled the events of the day before. He thought about Bradford Grimm and the beaten boy in the tavern. Could this old man be another loyalist in disguise? Still, if the man were going to turn him in or do any harm, he would have done so already. Less than certain he was making the right choice, he stayed, as the man told him.
He sat in the dark barn, waiting. After some time, he gazed through the barn to the house. Nothing. He began to doubt his decision to stay. Maybe the man had gone to alert nearby soldiers of his presence?
He listened to the rain pelting the roof of the barn. It seemed a little less peaceful now. Again, he looked through the darkness of the barn to the rain outside. About an hour passed when he wondered, What could be taking him so long? Perhaps I should go. But just as he was readying to leave, the barn door squeaked open, and the man entered with his lantern in one hand and something else in the other.
“Take this with you,” said the man softly. He held out a towel-wrapped bundle.
Gabriel took it from the man and slowly opened the towel a bit to see what was inside. The smell of food (biscuits and some ham) hit him like an ocean wave. It was so overwhelming he nearly lost his composure and shoveled the food into his mouth right then and there. Instead, he took a deep breath and looked up at the man. “Thank you, sir.”
“You can thank me by getting out of my barn, laddie,” barked the man. But then, through the rough scowl on his weathered face, he smiled at Gabriel.
Gabriel picked up his bundle and took a step for the door. As he did, the man suddenly spoke, “Laddie, my son has gone
