Daughter of the Revolution
Chapter XI
Nathan pushed his chair back from the breakfast table and stood up.
"Abby, may I see you privately in your father's office, please?" he asked in a friendly tone.
"Of course, Uncle. I'll be right in."
She met him there and he held a chair for her as she settled in. He sat across from her and looked at her appraisingly.
"I've been hoping for the right moment to debrief you on your activities over the last few months. I hope you don't mind?" he asked.
"I thought you've pretty much heard our story. Isn't that sufficient?" she returned.
"Well, I'd like to dig more in depth and ask the Major to take notes. It may help out our war effort considerably."
"I've got lots of maps and letters that we've taken from the redcoats and you're welcome to them. They're locked in a room down the hall." she volunteered.
"Along with the payroll money?" he asked carefully.
"Yes, Uncle Nathan, along with the payroll money," she said a bit testily. She wasn't really enjoying the turn their conversation was taking and was beginning to get irritated.
He stood and went to the door and opened it. "Major! Please assist Miss Durham with bringing some documentation to the office," he ordered.
"Does the poor Major not have a name?" Abby asked tersely.
"Yes. His name is James Moore. Please, Abby. I'm not trying to be confrontational with you. I just need solid information on our enemy and the only way to get it is to question you thoroughly. I'm sorry, but it will take several hours, maybe even into tomorrow. Believe me, debriefing people is one of my least favorite things to do. It always seems to stir resentment with one or both parties involved."
Major Moore appeared and held his arm out for Abby to take. She led him down the hall and over the next half hour they sorted through her piles of plunder and picked out all the intelligence documents she could find. He carried them back to the office where Nathan was reading correspondence from a recent messenger.
Maddy was leaning over his shoulder while serving him a cup of steaming coffee. Abby watched how Maddy fluttered over him and gave him her big doe eyes while she touched his shoulder. Her irritation abated somewhat when she realized how hard Maddy had fallen for the General.
"Mistress Abby, would you care for a coffee?" Massy asked politely.
"Yes, please, Maddy, with a drop of whiskey as well. I may need it."
Nathan laughed uproariously and winked at a surprised Abby. "A girl after my own heart!" he guffawed. "Dear Maddy, I'll take the same, along with the Major."
"Yes, Sir."
When the three had settled in, the General dismissed Maddy and locked the door behind her. Abby's eyebrows raised in surprise and Nathan noticed immediately.
"You can't imagine how hard it is to keep a secret," Nathan said quietly. "The walls truly do have ears."
"I'm not too sure what's secret, Uncle. Almost everything I've been doing lately involved loud gunshots and explosions," Abby offered a bit sarcastically, but tempered it with a small smile. James sniggered softly, which earned him a quick wink from a beautiful blue eye.
Nathan pinned her with a sober stare. "Are you aware that Alec is a spy for the Colonial Army?"
Abby looked at him in total amazement. "Excuse me? My Alec is a spy?" she sputtered in shock.
"Yes he is, and one of our best ones. He's never mentioned a word to you about it?"
"No. He hasn't told me what his billet was in the army and I never asked. I just assumed he was an infantry soldier."
"Perfect. Exactly what I was hoping you'd say," Nathan answered in satisfaction. "You're a very intelligent woman, didn't you notice anything odd about his behavior?"
"Well, he could read a map and navigate quite well for a plain soldier. He also knows his way around weapons, including loading and firing cannon. He was patient with me and seemed to pick up on my tactics quickly and never complained about how long I'd keep him waiting to spring an ambush. Oh, and when I found him he'd been whipped horribly. His skin was nearly flayed from his back."
Nathan's eyes widened quickly, but he said nothing about that last disturbing bit.
"Did you two take any prisoners other than the recent Colonel while you were working together? They can be an excellent trove of information if treated properly, as you might imagine."
"Um, oh that. Prisoners...well, we did have one but I killed him. He would've slowed us down I reckon," she admitted shamefacedly.
The Major sniggered again while Nathan fought back a smile. "And how did you kill him, shoot him?"
"I stabbed him in the heart with my rapier. I was rather in a hurry at the time."