Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims: Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans (19 page)

“You’re doing it again,” said Liberty.

“Too much info?” Tommy asked.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” said Liberty. “I love the way your brain works.”

“Yeah, but I probably sound like I should be wearing really thick glasses and a pocket protector full of pens. Anyway, here,” Tommy said as he waved the sealed parchment in front of me.

I took it and examined both sides. Still a little confused I asked, “Exactly how did you get it?”

“After Squanto finished speaking and led the Pilgrims to the cornfield, William slipped this letter inside my coat pocket and asked me to give it to you. He said it was really important, but I forgot about it until I changed my clothes.”

“Oh, well, that makes sense. For a second, I thought that William Bradford had figured out a way to teleport mail through a time-travel pony express service.”

“Don’t get any ideas,” Liberty said, eyes narrowed.

“Well, I need to run and get my backpack out of my locker. Freedom already went to her English class. We’ll see you in last period for Honors History!” Tommy waved and slipped back into the school.

“Well, what are you waiting for—open it up!” Liberty said, excitedly. “He said it was important! Maybe it’s a treasure map! Or maybe it’s the first clue to a scavenger hunt! Or maybe it’s an invitation to his birthday party!”

I ignored Liberty as I pondered what William Bradford would send to me in a sealed parchment. I slipped my finger between the edge of the yellowed paper and the red seal until the seal broke. I opened the letter and read:

“Do you realize what this is?” I asked, excitedly. “This is an invitation to the very first Thanksgiving! What an honor!”

“I was hoping for a treasure map,” said Liberty. “But the part that says ‘lots of food’ makes up for it. Let’s hope they have a great harvest with lots of fresh vegetables! The invitation didn’t say anything about what to wear, did it? I mean, I’d hate to come overdressed. I hope it’s not formal. Tuxedos can be such a bother.”

“Have you worn a tuxedo before?” I asked.

“Maybe I have and maybe I haven’t. What’s it to you?” Liberty said suspiciously.

I looked at the invitation again and said, “Lucky for you it doesn’t mention what to wear, so that means you can come as you are.”

Liberty smiled and let out a long, relaxed breath.

That’s when I thought I would have a little fun with him. “Oh no,” I said as I pretended to study the invitation.

“What is it?” Liberty asked.

“Well, I just noticed that your name isn’t on the invitation.”

“What!” Liberty snapped. “Let me see that!” I moved the parchment up to his eyes as he scanned the letter word for word.

I continued, trying not to smile. “That’s too bad. I’m sure we could bring you back something. A carrot, perhaps.”

Liberty’s head jerked from the letter to my face. He gave me a penetrating stare as if trying to shoot laser beams from his eyes. His head jerked back to the letter. He stared some more. An idea must have popped into his head because he slowly turned to me with a big, wide, satisfied grin. He asked, “And just how do you think you’re going to get to the Pilgrim Party, Professor? Hey, I like that alliteration.
Pilgrim Party Professor.
” He refocused his attention and gave special emphasis each time he used the letter
p.
“The
point
I
prefer
to
punctuate
is that I’m your ride! You can’t get there without me.” Liberty smiled and blinked rapidly several times.

I couldn’t help but smile and said, “
Perfectly played.
You’re right. I’m sure it was just an oversight on William’s part. We’d love for you to join us.”

“Or perhaps the better way to say that is
I
would love for you to join
me,
” Liberty said.

“Touché!” I laughed. As we walked away from the school I said, “Let’s go gather some items for our history class as well as for the festival. Then we’ll go have some lunch and return before class starts.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

“But let’s not eat too much. Remember, William said we should come hungry.”

Liberty looked at me like he was embarrassed to know me and said, “You did not just say that. For the record, there are three subjects that have always put me at the top of the class: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

*   *   *

We returned just seconds before the Honors History class started. Liberty, of course, held his breath and walked into the classroom unnoticed. I carried two large grocery sacks and set them down near the teacher’s desk. As the bell rang and the students took their seats I reached up to feel the once-sealed letter from William Bradford resting in my pocket. I couldn’t help but smile that we were invited to attend the first Thanksgiving.

I quickly welcomed the students and asked for everyone’s
attention. As all heads turned in my direction, Liberty exhaled and appeared at the back of the classroom. Freedom noticed him but no one else did.

I noticed that all the desks were filled but one.

“Has anyone seen Elizabeth?” I asked.

Before anyone could respond, the door to the classroom jerked open and Elizabeth rushed in. She was so fast that Liberty didn’t have time to disappear.

“Ah-ha! Caught you!” Elizabeth yelled, pointing. “See, I told you he had a horse in the classroom.”

Principal Sherman was still inching his way through the door. Elizabeth quickly turned and impatiently pulled him into the classroom. In the two and a half seconds it took to look back and pull the principal through the door, Liberty vanished.

“What just . . . How did . . . Where did he go?” Elizabeth asked, confused.

Principal Sherman surveyed the scene.

“He was right there!” Elizabeth pointed as she marched to the back of the room. “Right here!” She spread out her arms as if showing off a masterpiece. She whipped around to the principal, who looked somewhat bothered.

Principal Sherman sighed and said, “I apologize for the intrusion. I always hate to interrupt a teacher’s precious time nurturing the fine minds of Manchester Middle School. But Elizabeth was so passionate about it and assured me that you had a horse in your classroom. And not just any horse.”

“That’s right!” shouted Elizabeth. One of the yellow bows in her hair looked off-kilter. “
Daddy!
It’s a talking horse who loves American history. He recited the Preamble to the Constitution.
He took Mr. Revere to visit the Pilgrims. You all saw it! And his horse really does talk!
Tell
him!”

Elizabeth stared at the students, urging them to back her up, but they all avoided her glare.

The principal walked to the back of the classroom and patted Elizabeth on the shoulder. “There, there, my dear. It’s all right.”

The students were all watching, eyes glued to the scene at the back of the classroom. In that exact moment, Liberty reappeared at the front of the classroom.

“There he is again!” Elizabeth pointed frantically to the front of the classroom. But, again, in the one and a half seconds it took the students to look where Elizabeth was pointing, Liberty had already gasped for air and had vanished again. I stood all alone at the front of the class and waved at all the searching eyes.

Freedom got up out of her chair and opened the back door. She said, “Is anyone else warm? This room feels really stuffy. I’ll just leave the door open for a minute.”

Smart girl, I thought. I hoped Liberty took the hint and was leaving the room.

“I think I’m partly to blame for Elizabeth’s behavior,” I said. “There was an accident this morning. . . . Oh, I almost forgot.” I pulled out a new phone that I had purchased after lunch. “Here you go. And I do sincerely apologize about this morning.”

“Accidents happen,” said Principal Sherman. “Let’s go to the nurse so you can lie down while I call your mother.”

Elizabeth took the phone and started to squawk, “But
Daddy
!” Principal Sherman put his hands on her shoulders and started to leave. Elizabeth looked around the classroom one last time and then quietly exited with her father.

The whole class burst out laughing.

“All right, all right,” I turned to the class and said, “enough of that. You all had an opportunity to turn me in, but you didn’t. Why?”

“We like you!” said Tommy.

“Yeah, yesterday was awesome,” said another boy in the front of the class.

“We hope Liberty comes back,” said a girl sitting near the empty desk.

“We don’t want to lose our talking horse!” said another boy.

“If that is how you truly feel, I can assure you, Liberty and I will be back. But we wasted enough time and we have an important history lesson today.” I went to the chalkboard, grabbed a piece of chalk, and began writing some letters. K-I-S . . .

“Kissing?” guessed Tommy. The class laughed. “I thought this was history class.” Then Tommy’s face turned serious. “Wait, we’re not going to talk about the history of kissing, are we?”

The boys all groaned, and the girls seemed very curious about where I was going with this.

“No,” I said, “I’m not finished putting letters on the board.” I continued writing,

K-I-S-T-I-N-G . . .

Tommy interrupted again, “Mr. Revere? It looks like you’re trying to spell
kissing
and I’m no kissing expert, but I’m pretty sure you’re spelling it wrong.”

Again, laughter bounced off the classroom walls.

“Thank you, Tommy. But if you’ll let me finish, I’ll explain.” I finished writing each letter. K-I-S-T-I-N-G-V-A-G-H-N. “There! Does anyone know what this says or means?”

All I got were blank stares. Timidly, a couple of students raised their arms.

“Is it some place in Europe?” said a boy.

“Is it somebody’s last name?” asked a girl.

Tommy tried one last time and said, “I’m pretty sure it has something to do with a girl kissing a guy named Vaughn.”

This time, I found myself laughing. “Imaginative, but no,” I said. “Sometimes, what we see is not what is truly there. Most people see Liberty as an average horse. But you know differently. Likewise, most people don’t see history for what it truly is. To know the truth about history, it needs to be experienced to be understood. When we begin to know the real people who were a part of real events in history, we begin to see those events differently. Today we are going to visit one of those events. Remember, oftentimes what we see is not what is truly there.”

Using the same letters, I rearranged them and spelled T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G. “By simply unscrambling the letters, we see what is truly there. Tell me what you think about when you hear the word
Thanksgiving.
”

“We get out of school!” said a boy in the back row.

“My family goes to my grandma’s house and all our cousins come and it’s like a big party,” said a girl near the windows.

“I love watching football,” said Tommy. “And my mom cooks a big turkey with stuffing. One year my dad tried cooking the turkey, but it didn’t turn out so well and the fire department showed up, so, well, now he makes the mashed potatoes and gravy. And, of course, there’s always pumpkin pie. I’m getting really hungry just talking about it.”