It was a hot summer afternoon in 1780. The kind when the heavy clothing styles of the American Revolutionary War clung damply to a sweating body. The war had been going on for quite a while by then. The colony known as Georgia had beeninvaded by the British, but its people didn¶t intend to surrender.The six British soldiers crossing over Wahatchee Creek had no real knowledge of the area in Georgia that they were patrolling, nor did they care to. They had beenaway from home for a long time and were very unhappy about it. They had no usefor the Whig locals who wouldn¶t bow to British rule. And they cared even less for the local Cherokee tribes. They had spent a long day trying to flush out Georgiamilitiamen and teach the other locals to respect the King. Now they were pursuinga young Whig who had been spying on them. They¶d come close to catching himtwice. But then he¶d guided his horse into the creek and they¶d lost him.The lead soldier pointed to a small cabin on top of the hill. ³Maybe he¶s up there,´he said. And he kicked his horse forward. The horse hesitated a moment. He had been stretching his head down toward the creek, hinting that he wanted a drink.But his rider didn¶t care about such things. If he gave the horse time to drink, theymight lose the Whig boy. The lead soldier gave his mount an impatient kick. Andwith a blow of disgust the horse did as he was told.The other five soldiers followed with their equally thirsty horses. They were alltired of the chase. ³Maybe we can get some dinner up there,´ one of the soldierssuggested.That had occurred to the lead soldier as well. He was the eldest man among them, but that only put him near thirty. He didn¶t actually have a higher rank. But he hadthe most experience and he came from a slightly better family. ³Hello!´ he bellowed. ³Soldiers of his Majesty the King!´³Eh?´ a female voice answered from inside the cabin. A woman came out with ahome-made broom in her hand as if she¶d been sweeping. ³Eh?´ she repeated. Shewas around forty with long graying red hair falling out of the bun that was clingingwith uncertainty at the back of her head. She was tall, easily six feet. Her face had been ravaged by smallpox in her youth and by the hard work of her adult years.

Her clothes were homespun and well worn. But her eyes were her most strikingfeature, for they were crossed. In no way did she look like a threat to the six men.³You think she¶s tetched?´ one of the soldiers asked.³Looks like she should be in Bedlam,´ another laughed. Bedlam was the nicknameof a famous madhouse in London.³Eh?´³We¶re soldiers of His Majesty the King!´ the lead soldier repeated, more loudlythis time. ³We¶re looking for a boy of about sixteen. He was on horseback.´³No one¶s come here for days,´ the woman said, tilting her head sideways.³Look around back,´ the lead soldier said to the man on his left.The soldier on the left, a twenty five year old with matted brown hair and a facethat seemed to be in a permanent sneer, did as he was told. Meanwhile the fiveremaining soldiers looked at the woman, who was now leaning on her broom andwatching them with her crossed eyes.There was a high pitched squeal from the back of the cottage and the sneeringsoldier returned on foot with a squealing girl that didn¶t look much older than tenin his arms. They were followed by an old turkey that seemed curious about all thefuss. ³Look what I found!´ the sneering soldier said. He released the child and sheran into her mother¶s skirts. ³I found her hiding in the smoke house out back withthe turkey.´³Dirty little thing, isn¶t she?´ one of the men laughed.³She¶s my daughter,´ the woman said. She smoothed back the child¶s red hair, butwas careful not to remove any of the ashes on her face. The girl was just gettingnear the age when she might be interesting to soldiers like these. So her mother hadinstructed her to slouch, act childish, snarl her hair, and coat her face with ash fromthe smoke house whenever strangers like these came to the cabin. It was a perfectruse. All the soldiers saw was a dirty child.³I see the resemblance,´ another soldier laughed.