The Rebels of Cordovia (13 page)

Robin waved back as she asked, “What’s going
on?”

Daniel smiled. “They’re heading for school. It’s
time, you know. They can’t be late.”

“But…”

“I know. We didn’t have enough clothes for
everyone and you’re wondering how all these children have clothes
and shoes and books in their hands.”

“That’s right.”

“Well, you know that Nathaniel is the captain of
one hundred soldiers?”

She nodded.

“He was so upset when he went home that he told
his men all about the children and their condition. Everyone was
shocked and they immediately put their money together and donated
clothes, shoes, and books to these children.”

Robin was surprised at the generosity of the
soldiers. She had underestimated their concern about the people.
Tears of joy began welling up in her eyes and she quickly wiped
them away. There were others who cared, as well.

Daniel squeezed her hand and said, “But that’s
not all. The children were told they had to go to school if they
accepted the clothes and they all agreed.” When he stopped in front
of Betty’s home, he said, “I think we should visit the family and
see how they’re doing.”

Robin bit her lip and said, “But…”

He could see the concern in her eyes, so he
said, “Don’t worry. Everything will be all right. We should at
least check on the family and see how everyone is doing.”

Robin shook her head. “I can’t.”

“But you will! Right?” he said encouragingly.
“We should show that we care.”

She nodded and climbed down from the
carriage.

When they knocked, Betty answered. With a smile,
she looked at Robin and said, “You’re back. I’m so glad. The
children have been asking about you.”

“They have?” asked Robin.

“How is everything?” asked Daniel.

“Everything is good,” said Betty. “It was tough
at first, but the dear Lord blessed us. Everything is all right
now.”

Without any warning, a high-pitched scream came
from the bedroom and everyone turned toward the doorway. Amy was
standing in her nightgown, staring at a package in Daniel’s
hand.

“Is that my dress you promised me?”

When he nodded, she ran toward him and gave him
a hug.

Robin was shocked. One week ago she was standing
at death’s door. Now she was out of bed and running toward Daniel.
Next Amy lunged into Robin’s arms and hugged her tightly.

“I don’t have any flowers for you today, Miss
Marie. But when I feel better Mama will let me go outside and play.
She said I could even go to school.”

Robin could see that she was still a bit pale
but she was at least out of bed. The joy she felt was beyond
anything she had ever experienced before.

Daniel cleared his throat and said, “Do you want
to try on your new dress?”

Amy nodded as she took the package from Daniel
and ran into the bedroom.

Betty turned to Daniel and smiled. “Thank you
for sending the doctor. You were a godsend.”

Daniel shrugged. “You’re welcome, but I didn’t
do much. It was my father who did it all. When he told his doctor
about Amy, the doc said he was too busy to go to the slums. So
father threatened him. If he didn’t help you, he would stop going
to him all together and spread the word how incompetent he was.
That did it, I suppose. It didn’t take much to stir fear into his
heart.”

Robin laughed. “I love your father.”

He smiled. “I was worried about Amy, so every
day I checked with the doctor to find out what I could. This is her
first day out of bed, so I thought it was time to celebrate.”

After a few moments, Amy came waltzing out in a
beautiful flower print dress. She was beaming, as she said, “I
can’t wear this to school. It’s too nice. I’ll wear the others the
soldiers bought for me. I’ll wear this one to church.”

When their visit was over, Betty hugged them
both, thanked Daniel once again, and waved goodbye.

After helping Robin into the carriage, Daniel
whipped the reins and headed back to the Bakery.

“That was the best surprise ever! And the
clothes and books for the children? Wow!” said Robin. “Thanks for
sharing this with me. You are so sweet.”

Daniel grinned. When he had found out what
Nathaniel had done, he couldn’t wait to see the surprised look on
her face. He especially loved her excitement when she saw Amy. He
knew that she didn’t have much hope for the little girl, so he was
elated when he found out she was all right. He just had to show
Robin the good news.

All the way back to town, she was chattering
away about everything she saw. Daniel chuckled and listened to what
she had to say. With all the excitement, Robin reached over and
impulsively kissed his cheek.

Surprised, he grinned from ear to ear and said,
“I should surprise you more often.”

As they pulled up to the Bakery, Robin sighed
and said, “Let’s not go in yet. Let’s just sit here a moment.”

He nodded in agreement.

They sat in the carriage looking around,
noticing the beauty before them. As they watched the fountain and
listened to the water rhythmically falling to the next level, they
noticed two young lovers sitting on a bench talking, laughing, and
flirting. They seemed so much in love.

Robin nudged Daniel and pointed at them as the
boy leaned over and whispered in her ear. After a few moments, the
couple stood and slowly walked down the street, holding hands and
talking as they went.

To Daniel’s great surprise, the sheriff of
Charlottesville, whom he believed to be a crooked and dishonest
man, rode his horse beside the couple and climbed down. He noticed
how the sheriff became belligerent. The boy was angry and shook his
head. When the sheriff tried to grab his arm, the young man jumped
back. They began yelling at one another and the sheriff finally
pulled a musket from his waist and pointed it at the boy.

Instantly, Daniel was on his feet, running
toward the couple. When he arrived, he said jokingly, “Whoa, it
looks like you have a real criminal on your hands, Sheriff. Did
this young man rob the bakery or something?”

The sheriff turned toward Daniel and huffed. “He
kidnapped this young woman.”

Instantly the arguments began once again.

“I did not,” exclaimed the boy. “It’s a
lie.”

“No one has kidnapped me,” said the girl
adamantly.

“I have a signed warrant from your father. I’m
taking him in and he’ll be prosecuted.”

Daniel had heard about the sheriff’s illegal
trials. This boy could be in jail for months, if not worse,
according to the bribery he was receiving.

Daniel quickly came up with an idea. He looked
at the musket and asked, “Do you know how to load that thing? You
haven’t had muskets available here for years. I’m from a country
where muskets are plentiful and I learned a thing or two about
them. Did you place the patch in first or the ball first before the
powder?”

“What?” asked the sheriff.

“Well, I don’t want to alarm you, but I don’t
want you to get your head blown off. You don’t want to do it wrong
or…” He shook his head mournfully. “Is this your first time to load
and fire a musket?”

The sheriff nodded. “Yes. We were just given
some to defend ourselves. I know what I’m doing.”

Daniel nodded. “I see. So you’re defending
yourself at this moment. How much powder did you put in?”

“Dunno.”

Daniel shook his head and said, “It’s a good
thing I came along when I did. You would have blown your head clean
off.” He extended his hand to the sheriff. “Let me check it out and
see if it’s safe.” When the sheriff looked at him with a suspicious
look, Daniel added, “Why would I lie to you? My father is a
nobleman and is known all over Georgetown.”

With a nod, the sheriff handed over the
musket.

“Hmmm,” said Daniel as he looked at it. He
pretended to check it out and then pointed it toward the trees
above. “Hmmm,” he said again. “This doesn’t look good.”

Then he squeezed the trigger and the gun went
off. Smoke billowed into the air. The blast was so loud that the
sheriff’s horse jumped and took off down the road.

While the sheriff was in shock, Daniel motioned
to the couple to run. Instantly, the boy grabbed the girl’s hand
and took off down the street.

“Wow, this has a real kick,” said Daniel. “I
think you overloaded it with too much powder, Sheriff. It’s a good
thing I checked it or your face would have been blackened.”

When the sheriff realized his prisoner was
running away, he took off after them.

Robin was watching and listening to the whole
conversation with great humor. She had a tough time holding back
her laughter. When the lovers took off down the street, she whipped
the reins and the horse and carriage took off after them.

As she got closer, Robin yelled to the couple,
“Hop in! Fast! He’s catching up.”

They hopped into the carriage and Robin took off
with great speed down the street and out of sight.

The sheriff watched the carriage disappear and
then meandered back to Daniel.

Daniel grinned and said, “You don’t know much
about muskets, sir. If you want me to teach you, I can. You put an
awful lot of powder in this thing.”

Without another word, the sheriff grabbed the
musket from Daniel’s hand, swore under his breath, and took off
after his horse.

Daniel grinned as he walked toward the
Bakery.

When he entered, Andrew asked, “What was that
all about?”

“The sheriff doesn’t know how to handle a
musket.” He chuckled. “Well, I guess I’ll be staying around here
for a while until Marie gets back with my carriage.”

Robin pulled the carriage up to her home and
invited the young people to follow her. After her mother served
them each a glass of water and introductions were made, they sat
around the kitchen table talking.

“I’m Marie,” she told them. “So what was that
all about?”

The young man smiled. “Thank you so much for
helping us. I’m Martin and this is Patience. She is exactly what
her name says, so very patient. But I’ve lost all mine. I can’t
live like this anymore, hiding and having to meet secretly. Why
can’t he just leave us alone?”

“Who?”

“Her father. He actually sent the sheriff after
me this time.”

“What?” said Marie in astonishment.

Martin frowned. “He doesn’t approve of me. Our
opinions differ. He supports the king and I don’t. I think what the
rebels are doing is great but I wouldn’t tell him that.” He shook
his head with frustration. “But that’s not all. I’m not wealthy
like he is. He says I don’t make enough money to support his
daughter. But I’m doing just fine. He has someone in mind for her
to marry but we’re in love. We can’t live apart any longer. Every
chance we get we arrange a secret meeting and hope he doesn’t
notice she’s gone. We’re tired of sneaking around but what can we
do?”

Marie nodded. She understood their dilemma.
There was only one solution. “Marry her! That’s the only way to
have her legally.”

Patience turned to Martin and smiled. “That’s
the only way, sweetheart. Papa can’t keep us apart any longer if
you marry me.”

“Would you? Under these circumstances? Without
the blessing of your parents?” asked Martin.

She nodded.

“I wouldn’t be able to give you the type of home
you’re used to. Would you be willing to give all of that up?”

She smiled and pressed her hand to his cheek.
“Of course, Martin. I don’t care about anything but you. Money is
nothing to me.”

Robin noticed the joy that spread over his face
when Patience touched him affectionately. The words she said
brought an even brighter glow to his countenance.

“Then let’s go,” he said resolutely. “If I marry
you today, then there’s nothing your father can do. We’ll send a
message to your parents afterward, announcing our marriage so they
won’t worry about you because you won’t be returning home. Then
we’ll disappear for a week. That way he can get used to the idea
before we see him again. What do you say?”

Patience jumped to her feet and clapped her
hands together with joy. Then tugging at his hand, she said, “Let’s
go.”

As they walked to the door, he turned to Robin
and said, “Thank you. We really appreciate it. I wish there were
more people in the world like you and that man who distracted the
sheriff for us. He was really something.”

Robin stood at the doorway as she watched the
couple walk hand in hand down the road. They were so much in love.
She looked at the large oak tree and smiled. Her mind strayed back
to Daniel and the way he had taken her in his arms behind that
tree. She sighed as the memory willingly came back to her. His
kisses were like nectar and the feel of his arms around her,
pressing her against his chest, was like a dream. She felt so safe
in his arms. His kisses made her knees weaken and her mind went
completely blank. All she could think about was the attention she
was receiving and the effects his kisses were having on her.

Every time he ran his hand up her back as he
kissed her, it had created a warm sensation that spread through
her, causing feelings within her that she had never experienced
before. Daniel’s kisses were passionate and wonderful.

Robin knew she was in love with him. There was
no doubt about it. But how did Daniel feel? He said that she
fascinated him. Was that all? Was she just a fascination to him?
Not all women walked around in leggings, outshooting most any man
at archery, and was the leader of a group of rebels. Perhaps that
was what fascinated him. She frowned. Fascination was different
than being in love.

As she remembered, Daniel also mentioned that he
was enamored with her. That wasn’t so bad. To be enamored of a
person was nice. That was pretty close to love, wasn’t it?