" Robby Beddows." " Brewster, you son of a fish town whore." "I'm sure you've harpooned more than one tainted target." "Now, now, Robby." "Don't speak of your mother like that." "It's poor manners." "So, what's your haul?" "The mother lode." "Twenty brace of ham hocks." " A man could retire on that." " Aye." "It's a shame you have to come all this way for mine." "I'll double your fee if you tell me who you work with on the Tory side." "Ah, not a chance, Rob." "Not a chance." "You want a piece of the London trade, you go through me." "I tell you, Caleb, London trade ain't what it used to be." "Privateer's raiding loads on both sides, others moving on to kidnapping..." "or so I hear." "Like there ain't no honor among thieves anymore." "Hmm?" "Do you mind if I sample the wares?" "As long as you don't drain my profits." "Oh." "I told you to keep him distracted." "Where's my brother?" "You traded me?" "You chickenshit piece of shite." "Are you hurt?" "Teddy, did they hurt you?" "What did you do?" "I did it for you, Teddy." "Brothers." "Look at him." "That man's ass is so tight, he must shit through his teeth." "Put a bridle on that mouth," " or I'll do it for you." " Oh, yeah, you and what army?" "Sure as hell ain't this one." "I swear, I thought they were taking me out to shoot me, not trade me." "All this time, I told myself I was doing my part, tending my fields, but keeping an eye out for any gleanings" "I thought might help." "Mr. Beddows was an agent of Robert Howe, another unfortunate casualty of Arnold's defection." "Did General Arnold interrogate you personally?" " No, sir." "I suppose he thought me a little fish, only good for reeling in a bigger one." "I want to enlist, sir." "Fight like a soldier like I should have from the beginning." "Colonel Hampton will see to your enlistment." " Thank you, sir." " Thank you." "What was Brewster doing in Connecticut?" "Likely selling goods on the London trade." "It's good cover for his trips across the sand on Culper business." "How did Arnold know?" "Well, he doesn't, sir." "He knows that Caleb is my friend, that he's seconded to my command, and he knows that I run spies, but he knows nothing about Culper senior or junior." "Brewster does." "He would never give up the ring, sir." "He has already destroyed it." "I want a full report on all remaining assets on my desk by tomorrow morning." " Okay?" " Yeah?" "Bugger off." "He says we shouldn't be saluting you, sir, on account of not being paid." "It's true that we haven't been paid, sir." "Your quarrel over disrespect to me, but in doing so, you disrespect yourselves and this army!" "Don't complain, Hess, at least they're not eating their buttons." "How hard can it be to get food, or clothes, or proper uniforms?" "My Jeb's been using his socks for gloves" "Oh, wait a moment." "I bet you could use this for a warm pair of gloves, with a bit of needlecraft." "And I have the needle and the craft." "Have you got enough beaver pelts for the rest of his company?" "Shh." "Lady Washington." "Clever, isn't it?" "That awful winter at Valley Forge, my husband made do with just a spoon." "But with this, he would have had a full set of cutlery." "Why don't you take it?" "I'm sure the woman who made it would be honored." "A woman?" "Of course." "It'll have to be a trade." "Here." "Perhaps this will keep someone else warm." "These winter days are so dark and short, but this little fellow is like an early bloom poking through the snow." "It warms me somehow." " Mrs. Strong, isn't it?" " That's right." "I have been meaning to compliment you on your own ingenuity." "What, mine?" "Turning this old cart into a trading post when money is tight." "And it's a meeting ground between the two worlds of this camp." " The two worlds?" " Men and women." "Isn't she kind to grace us with her company?" "Before she goes back up to her plantation to be tended by all her servants." "Mrs. Washington strikes me as a woman with a good heart." " Oh, of course you'd like her." " Carney, laundry." "You do it." "I'm through washing clothes for officers, when men like my husband can barely keep warm." "This is Captain Williams' coat." "I'm not in your army, so I don't take your orders, you gotch-gutted bugger." " I'll do it, corporal." " She'll do it." "Maybe you could ask Lady Washington to do the load." "I ain't touching a rag." "I say, Mr. Mulligan, for a supposed loyalist, you have a rather checkered history." "It seems you're a founding member of the Sons of Liberty." "Not a founding member, no." "As a member, then, you participated in the Battle of Golden Hill." "More a scuffle than a battle, I'd say." " You admit to your crimes?" " My follies." "Youthful indiscretions on behalf of a cause that time and maturity have shown to be false." "And so you'd have your customers believe while you gall them into betraying confidences that you can then pass on to your friends on the rebel side." "I assure you, the only confidences shared by my customers are their waist sizes, and on which side they prefer to dress, if you take my meaning." "As for my loyalty," "I've taken my oaths, and it's never been questioned." "Certainly not by my father-in-law," "Admiral Sanders, of the Royal Navy." "And you think you can hide your sins behind him?" "My sins are of the past." "I'd hoped you at least be sympathetic, given your own." "Ah, general." "Jesus, the red really does suit ya." " Ten and six, correct?" " Mm-hmm." "Though I should be paying you, for being so sweet to me." "I suggest you reserve your tongue for other purposes." "Colonel, sir?" "You wanna hear this." "Arnold caught another spy." "This one you know." "It's Caleb Brewster." "Aberdeen?" "I brought the "Gazette."" " It's all right, he won't be seen." " Ma'am." "What is he doing here?" "He's come to tell us that Brewster's been captured and to gather our belongings." "Now, I..." "I didn't say that." " Then why have you come?" " I came here to ask your help," " to smuggle me into the city." " What?" "If you can arrange business with Colonel Cooke we can build a false bottom into your wagon." " Oh, God." " Ben, Ben, it's not going to work." "Yeah, well, that's exactly what I said to Brewster when he used the Turtle to sail into New York Harbor and rescue you." "The Turtle, what Turtle?" "What does he mean?" " Aye, it's an..." " It's sort of a..." " What?" " It's a submersible." "It's a boat that goes under the water." " It's all right, it's destroyed now." " We should just go now." "It's not getting in that's the problem, it's getting out." "If Brewster refuses to admit to spying, they can't hang him." "So, what, he rots in a cell until the end of the war?" " If he even lives that long." " No." "No, we trade him." "Trade him?" "Trade him for what?" "Their pirates took one of ours." "You have ours, take one of theirs." "An upstanding Tory, loyal son of Setauket?" "Think about it." " No, I am." "Well, it's not bad." " It's not bad." "Kidnapping you is not bad?" "If we pull it off, we get Brewster back and we strengthen Abe's cover as well." "I know you hold yourself in high regard, Abraham, but you're just not important enough." "Now, the Magistrate of Setauket, that's a ransom that will not be questioned, and a ransom that" "Cooke will pay even if the price is a rebel smuggler." " He does have a point." " Well, then the rebels will be offering two for one." "I'm not letting you do this alone." "So, you're both fools?" "Mary, it's just a play." "But it's one that we get to write." "And I will see it through, personally." "Excuse me, do you know where Mrs. Carney lives?" " Over there." " Thank you." "Mrs. Carney?" "Hester?" "Got an eyeful yet?" " Get out." " All right." " Get off." " All right, all right." " I want to apologize." " I can guess why you're here." "Good luck swaying that woman." "Ten years of marriage has taught me the folly of trying." "Mrs. Carney, I..." "I'm sorry for the intrusion, but I heard your baby crying and..." "And you're the helpful type, I know." "Sorry, I don't have no tea to offer you." "A little different out here than cuddling with your darling major, ain't it?" "I understand your anger." "But I've also heard of another woman who refused to work and was drummed out." "And now I see you have a child." " So?" " So... for all it's problems, this camp is a safer place for a family than what's outside." "So, yes, I'd like to help, with laundry or anything else they ask you to do." "What about your settler's cart?" "I'll ask someone else to mind it." "You don't much like me, do ya?" "Well, I certainly ain't no fine lady." "But I ain't no officer's moll, neither." "I know what ain't fair and what ain't right," "I won't lay down for those bastards." "No matter how they plan to harm me." " Caleb Brewster." " Yes, I have him." "What's your interest in the man?" "He interrogated me after my capture, and was quite brutal about it." "I'd like to repay him in kind." "That's all very well and good, but he has information that I need." "He's part of a ring of rebel spies." "I'm very familiar with them." "Major André assigned me to track them down." "He did?" "I identified their leader, Robert Rogers." "Would have killed him except for a spot of bad luck." "Rogers?" "Well, I suppose the man was always a bit of a mercenary." "Still, I need Brewster to name the others." "May I ask how you plan to achieve that, sir?" "I'll show him mercy if he names names, the rope if he doesn't." "Trust me," "I've seen the man, he's no credit to soldiering." "He'll be quaking in his boots." "Do you mind if I sit in and observe your methods?" "Given your history with him," "I think it better you sit outside, don't you?" "Of course." "Thank you." "Leave us." "Hiya, general." "How's your day going?" "You know, I don't know if you're the fellow to be taking this up with, but the food here is terrible." "Do you find your situation here amusing, Lieutenant Brewster?" "Well, if I'd spouted off to you back in camp" "I'd be thrown in jail, but seeing as you've turned coats, and I'm already in chains," "I can finally speak me mind, and tell ya, you are a two-faced, pompous, piece of shite." "So, yeah, I do find it a touch amusing." "I know you're the whale boatman named in Mr. Sackett's papers." "The courier for Benjamin Tallmadge and his Culper ring." "And I know that if you don't give up the names of your confederates, then you'll be hanged." "Right." "What's in it for me?" "Well, if you cooperate, I'll spare your life." "That's it?" "I get to live in this shithole or some other?" "No, I don't think I'll be confessing for spying for that." "And if I don't confess, you can't hang me, so you're not really offering me anything, are you?" "What did you have in mind?" "Well, let's see, how much did you get for jumping ship?" "The whole $10,000 I heard you were after?" "Or did the lobsters short ya?" "They did, didn't they?" "The slimy bastards." "You see, that's why I always insist on money in hand before I hand over me goods." "Oh, so you admit to smuggling?" "Well, nowhere near your level." "I read your record of court-martial, your business dealings in Philadelphia were quite..." "I was..." "I was cleared of all charges." "Yeah?" "That's not what I heard." " And it's not what they say." " And what do they say?" "About you?" "What, in camp?" "They say that if you were ever to be captured, they'd cut off your leg, the one that was wounded in Saratoga, and they'd bury it with honors." "But the rest of you, they'd just hang." "You dirty little runt!" "Well, at least they ain't a Judas, who sold out his whole country for a pile of silver!" "He's all yours." "My turn." "As though I was looking through a spyglass and I all I could see was the two of them." "It took an hour and a dram of brandy, before I could fully regain my composure." "Well, you were upset." "And with good reason." " I was upset with myself." " Why?" "Because I was the one who urged Congress to declare bankruptcy last year." "Well, you did not sign up to be a politician as well as a general." "But still... can't you allow yourself even a moment of relief?" "Ah, that damned candle." "I told Billy to change it." "Well, I imagine candles are in short supply." "Spanish fly as well." "I've kept this army together, believing the key was to endure." "Force the British to stay in the field, sap their finances, but now... we're the ones who are being sapped." "Without funds to continue the fight, or some improbable victory to conclusively decide it, this war is lost." "You're doing all you can." "It's not enough." "Well, it certainly makes the problems in Mt." "Vernon seem trivial." "What problems?" "Oh." "Nothing." "The carpenter questioned the wood for the paneling in the servant's hall." "We said oak, didn't we?" "Yes, he thought that pine would be adequate." "Nonsense!" "Oak isn't just a material, it's a theme." "I mean, clearly the man has no notion of the value of consistency and harmony." "You know, I had a very nice talk with Mrs. Strong." "She runs that little trading post." "She's providing a good service." "Letting the camp women barter for necessities." "I don't like the idea of camp followers mixing with the soldiers." "Mm, I know, you prefer orderly lines, ever the surveyor." "Still, I think you'll appreciate this." "One of the camp women made it." " Well, that's crude, but clever." " Mm." "Maybe because we're so often on the outside of things, we're usedo finding clever solutions to problems." "What are you talking about?" "Well, if your direct petitions to Congress are falling on deaf ears, perhaps I could speak with their wives." "Martha Jefferson, for example, Esther Reed?" "We could organize the women throughout the colonies and raise money for the Army." "I could publish a letter," ""The Sentiments of an American Woman."" "What do you think?" "As long as it's not in the "Royal Gazette."" "You know I leave tomorrow." "Back with us again?" "I was afraid you'd drifted off, and so early in the evening." " What did I miss?" " Just the preliminaries." "I wanted to get the small talk out of the way before we began a real conversation." "Just to be clear, this isn't about payback, it's about respect." "That's funny." "I got none for you." "Well, I think you were showing me a warrior's respect by your eagerness to inflict pain." "To think anything less would break me would have been an insult." "Now I extend you the same courtesy." "You expect me to thank you for that?" "When one's soul recognizes its counterpart, even in an enemy, there's already a measure of gratitude." "Untie me here, and I'll show you how grateful I am." "See?" "As beasts we make a promise that one will stand and one will fall." "But between us, that promise has gone unfulfilled thus far." "And we both know that you would have killed me at Meeg's Harbor had Tallmadge not intervened, or killed me in captivity if General Scott hadn't interrupted." "Or the ambush at Rocky Point, if you'd been a better warrior." "Oh, yeah." "No, that ambush answered a question for me, because even though you had the advantage," "I still bested you, and your master, Robert Rogers." "Or should I call him Samuel Culper?" "What did you say?" "Oh, I didn't say shite." "No." "That laugh... was the first honest thing you've said." "And with it, you were telling me I was wrong, but did you mean I was wrong about besting you... or wrong about Rogers?" "Did you honestly wake me up for this shite?" "If Rogers isn't Culper, then who?" "Woodhull." "It was Woodhull all along." "Abe Woodhull?" "What, you mean, the cabbage farmer?" "Yes, the nuisance." "The weakling." "The victim." "The farmer with the root cellar, that convinced me it was being used by Robert Rogers." "But what's easier to believe?" "A veteran savage like Rogers taking orders from the likes of Major Tallmadge or four friends from the same little town?" "Oh, yeah." "Tallmadge, the leader." "You, the courier." "Woodhull is Culper." "And that just leaves the man in New York, Culper junior." "Who the hell is Culper?" "Colonel Cooke, Judge Woodhull's corrupt patron, protected his son before, and no doubt will do so again." "So, a full confession will be required." "I'll take dictation." "Never gonna happen." "I encourage you to reconsider." "Challenge accepted." "Good morning, Mrs. Barnes." "How much can you spare in the way of provisions?" "I have some turnips and potatoes." "Good, we're taking up a collection." " What for?" " Haven't you heard?" "The order came down today signed by Washington himself." "Hester is to be drummed out." "Washington's making an example of her." "Warning the men to keep their wives in line." "They're ordered to be present." "It just doesn't sound like him." "Well, maybe you don't know him as well as she does." "I hope you'll reconsider." "You're the only one who can keep him in good humor." "The war has taken a toll on him, but I can't stay, nor would he want me to." "Mrs. Washington." " Can you spare a moment?" " Of course, Mrs. Strong." "One of the camp women is being drummed out, for refusing to do laundry." "And she's stubborn, but she has a child, and I'm sure I can bring her around." "If you could just ask the general to give her a little more time." "He never wanted the camp followers here to begin with." "We all must do what we can without forgetting that we also have the army and the general who commands it." "This isn't your problem, Anna, and, frankly, we've got much bigger ones." "It's not a possibility that a mother and a child might be put out is of no concern to you?" "And we both know, the real problem is, there's no pay for the men." "We all have to remember why we joined this fight." "Maybe it's harder for women to remember when they see injustice closer to home." "Sir, Havens is here to see you." " Havens?" "Walter Havens?" " Anna." " Havens, it is you." " What are you..." "It's a long story." "I was very sorry to hear about Caleb." "I came as quick as I could." " What happened to Caleb?" " He was grabbed." " It's all right, we're taking care of." " Why didn't you tell me?" "I need you to round up some of the lads who made it over here from Setauket." "We're gonna go back and kidnap a couple of those rich, Tory bastards and trade them for Brewster." "Kidnap them?" "I don't know, Ben." "Judge Woodhull and his son." "I've been itching for a shot at them two" " ever since I got out of there." " I know." "But remember, if we're going to trade them, they can't be harmed." "Now, I'll be going along, but no one can know that the army is involved." " All right?" " I'll round up friends, get us a boat." "Good, I'll catch up with you." "Anna, you'll have to tell me that story later." "I had no time to look for you, I had to get to Abe," " and the trade was his idea." " That's not good enough." "You should ask for a ransom as well, since you'll be trading two for one." "And you don't want to say Caleb's worth as much as the Magistrate." "That's a good idea." "Suppose I could start off those." "Why not let yourself scream?" "A beast has no shame in howling if it's wounded." "Or, you could just make it stop by confessing to what I already know, and sign the paper." "I'm impressed." "Most men would have begged for mercy by now." "The only one who'll be begging for mercy is you." "You and all the redcoats." "Begging and wishing you never left home." "Home?" "Home." "You know, I realize, that we've been at this all night and all morning, and I've been no more forthcoming than you." "It might surprise you to know... that I wasn't born in England." "Never actually set foot on her." "This is the part where you say," ""So, where were you born, John?"" "If only to give yourself a little breather." "You're asking with your eyes, I can tell." "So, here's the answer." "I was born in India." "My father was a surgeon at Fort William." "And I grew up watching him minister to the poor mongrels of Bengal." "Only at age 10, to see them turn on him, and throw him in a tiny cell designed to hold three men, they put him in with 60." ""Black Hole of Calcutta," they called it." "Now, here was a man, whose job it was to dispense mercy," "killed by the merciless he sought to save." "Well, at least he didn't have to see you grow up." "That was a mercy." "Mercy is weakness." "Strength is truth." "Those are the lessons of Calcutta." "Lessons I've been teaching to colonists ever since as a member of the Royal Army, in Guyana or the Caribbean." "And now here in New York with you." "So, you see, Caleb, I am home." "You keep yapping... and I may scream." "Each man is driven by something." "Now I remember... watching your uncle shake with palsy at the trial." "Remember?" "That sort of thing runs in the family, doesn't it?" "You know, I may hate weakness, but you fear it." "You've been running from it all your life." "Now, you know who I am." "And I know who you are." "All I know is I'm looking at a dead man." "If you think your friends will come for you, they won't." "Oh, it don't matter." "I know they'll kill you, and that's as good as me doing it." "I learned other things in India, things I'm eager to share with you." "Today tonight... or even tomorrow, if it comes to that." "I'm in no hurry." "You see?" "There's no shame." " What are you doing?" " In case they don't feed us." "Father, they can't know that we know we're going to be kidnapped." "They won't be holding us long." "Ben's already sent the ransom note to Cooke." "In advance of our abduction?" "Well, he doesn't know that." "We know it's going to come off, why not save time?" "For Caleb's sake." "Oh, I can't take biscuits, but you can take a knife?" "Just a precaution." "I am coming along to protect you, remember?" "More like I'm protecting you." "Rescuing you from strategies that are doomed to fail." "Well, I don't know about that." "But you are showing a talent for this business." "A bit cautious, but definite potential." "Now I know what Mary has to put up with." "If I thought it would make any difference," "I would caution you against letting passion overwhelm deliberation." "Isn't that what you just did?" "Don't move, either of you!" "Benjamin Tallmadge." "Remember me, judge?" "Sorry I missed my trial." "Now turn around." " This is an outrage!" " Don't do this!" "Shut up!" "Both of you." "We're trading you for a true son of Setauket." "So, don't give us any trouble and none will come to you." "Best do as he says, son." "Though I wouldn't trust these traitorous wretches as far as..." "Shit." " What do we do?" " Just wave." "Wave, act like we're all friends." "Whoa." " Richard!" " Oh, no." "Who's with you?" "You two take the men on the flanks," " I'll take the officer." " Stop!" "No!" "Tell my wife..." "Tell..." "I lo..." "All right, come on." "Come on!" " You murdered them!" " Shut up, Magistrate!" "Or the same thing will happen to you." ""Spyhunter General."" "Sir, Colonel Cooke to see you, sir." "Show him in." "Show him in!" "Well, this is a pleasant surprise." "Should I pour you a glass of good Madeira, colonel?" "Who is Caleb Brewster?" "He's a rebel officer and a smuggler that we captured." "Well, it seems he has friends." "And now they've kidnapped important friends of mine and the Crown." "Richard Woodhull of Setauket and his son." "They want Brewster back and cash to boot." "Five hundred pounds." "I have evidence that he is a key rebel spy." "Is that why they want us to pay for the privilege of trading him back?" " Where is he?" " Bridewell." ""Bridewell"?" "Why in God's name would you dump him there if you thought him that important?" "I didn't dump him." "He's being interrogated." "By whom?" "Caleb?" "Caleb?" "It's rude to drift off in the middle of a conversation." "Ah, you had another sleep again." "It's not bedtime yet." "Caleb?" "It probably feels like it can't get much worse." " Come back." "There you are." " Bastards!" "What do you think you're doing?" "We're in the middle of an interrogation, sir." "It's outrageous." "It's outrageous!" "Is this how you treat an officer?" "He's a smuggler and a spy." "And I'm the Archbishop of Canterbury." "You better pray he can still be traded for the Woodhulls." " Woodhulls?" " That's right." "The rebel bastards have kidnapped Judge Woodhull and his son as payback." "Cut him loose!" "Get him cleaned up or you'll be the one sitting in shit and piss." "Of course, sir." "Right away, sir." "I'm sorry, sir, the evidence seemed overwhelming." "Damn your evidence." "Just get him ready while I... find the money." "I'm afraid we must part company." "But I must thank you, Caleb, for the names you gave me while in the twilight of pain." "Woodhull will have plenty of company on the gallows."