Young teenage Carry Morgan slid the door to their barn open and walked inside. When she heard an unexpected noise, she raised the lantern and that is when she saw her brother, Bruce. She asked, “What are you doing out here?” As she moved closer, she saw him better and exclaimed, “And where are you going dressed like that?”
Just as she heard him whisper, “Be quiet, Carry,” she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and a hand clamped her mouth shut. She struggled but Roger was too strong for her and held her securely.
It was just after dark on
Roger, speaking very softly, asked, “What’s she doing here?”
“I don’t know,” Bruce replied, “why don’t you ask her?”
Keeping a tight hold on her, he whispered in her ear, “It’s me – Roger. I’ll let you go if you promise not to scream.”
She moved her head up and down indicating, ‘yes’.
He slowly removed his hand from her mouth and when she did not make a sound, he let her go completely. She instantly spun around, stepped back, and glared at him in the dim moonlight that filtered through the open back door.
She softly asked, “What are you two doing? Halloween was two months ago.”
The two young men looked at her and then each other and laughed.
“What’s so funny? She demanded.
“It’s your face,” her brother said.
“What’s wrong with my face?”
“I’m sorry,” Roger said, “but we don’t have enough time to explain, just don’t let any one see you until after you wash up.”
Still not understanding their jocularity, she said, “That still doesn’t explain why you’re dressed like Indians and where you’re going.”
Roger said, “I guess we better tell her or we’ll never get out of here.”
Bruce agreed and confessed, “After the British massacre in
“How could you do that?” She declared, “You know how Daddy feels about them.”
“Your daddy is wrong,” protested Roger, “the British are stealing us blind and must be stopped. We know how you feel about the Colonist; that’s why we didn’t tell you about what we were going to do tonight. I wish we could change your mind.”
“I can’t go against Daddy,” she surrendered.
“But I sure can,” Bruce said, “Daddy is locked into the traditional Tory alliance and refuses to see that we are virtual slaves to the crown.”
“Where are you going,” she asked, “and why tonight?”
Her brother explained, “There are
three ships from the East Indian Tea Company anchored in the harbor. They are
loaded with chests of tea that if allowed to come ashore will devastate our
economy. We attended a protest meeting yesterday with Governor Hutchinson and
he promised to give us an answer by
Roger interjected, “Do you know
where that skunk is right now?”
Carry shrugged her shoulders and
shook her head, ‘no’.
“I’ll tell you where he is.” Bruce
said, “He’s gone into hiding at his country seat in
“So what are you going to do now? Carry asked.
Roger said, “We, as a new people, must break away from the
Crown and build our own country. We have to inform King George that we demand
independence from
“But Daddy says….” She started to say.
Her brother interrupted, “We can’t afford any more time to explain now; we have stayed too long already and we have to get to the docks. Promise you won’t say anything to anyone about this or we will have to lock you in the barn until we get back.”
“OK, I promise,” she said.
“Swear to it,” Roger demanded, “our lives may depend on it.”
Carry said, “I swear I won’t breathe a word,” then added, “but that doesn’t mean I approve.”
The three of them slipped out the back door into the frigid December night air. Carry stood in the dim moonlight watching as her brother and friend, with tomahawks tucked in their waistbands and wearing knee-high deerskin moccasins, tromped through the snow until they disappeared in the shadows of the trees. She then made her way back to the house, carefully crept in, and went to her room. When she lit the oil lamp and looked in the mirror, she saw a large gray smudged palm print of charcoal dust over her mouth with long fingers extending across her cheek. “No wonder they didn’t want me to see anyone before I washed up,” she laughingly thought.
Bruce and Roger made their way to
Bruce and Roger boarded one of the tea-laden ships and following the orders of Leonard Pitt, the leader of their boarding party, rousted the Captain. He willingly surrendered the keys to the hold but requested that no harm come to his ship or its rigging.
With the deck watch secured by other members of their party,
it was an easy task to open the holds, and using their tomahawks, break open
the crates of tea, and dump them overboard. By
Bruce and Roger returned to the Morgan’s barn where they washed the soot from their faces, and while trying to warm up donned their regular clothes. Suddenly they heard someone coming. Roger moved into the shadow of a stall and waited as Carry entered the barn again. She closed the door and as she lit a lantern, she asked, “Are you back – is everything all right?”
Her brother said, “Yes, we’re back and all is well.”
Roger came from the stall, took the lantern from her, and hung it on a peg. She sat on a bale of straw intently listening to her newly discovered Sons of Liberty relate their adventure. When the tale was finished, her brother asked, “What do you think, Sis – will you join us or tell Father?”
“I haven’t decided,” said Carry, “What will you give me to keep quiet?”
“A swift kick in the britches if you don’t,” her brother retorted.
Roger smiled at her and said, “I’ll give you a big hug and a kiss if you do.” Then he added, “Carry, it’s your decision.”
“Well,” she said thoughtfully, “if those are my only two choices….”