As it turned out, the travelers and the rifle company arrived just ahead of the barges.  Several hundred hungry men stood on the banks of the river ready to unload the supplies when they docked.  The supply wagons stopped to unload at the artificers.  The wagons would be taken by the teamsters to the blacksmith shops for repairs before being sent back to Reading for another load.  The artificers included everything from candlemakers to gunsmiths.

“The actual engineers for the army,” Tony called them, though most of the eyes and ears of the travelers were on a squad of well-turned-out dragoons who spoke with Colonel Morgan.

“This way,” Colonel Morgan gathered the travelers.  “Lieutenant Brinkman will accompany you while I report to the general. He will keep the guards and others from asking too many questions.  Meanwhile, I am sending my officers with the men to set a temporary camp between the guard and Sullivan’s Brigade, across the road from a rifle pit where they can practice if they can’t stand still.”  They did not go far, crossing only a shallow, ice-covered stream before they got down near a house.  They saw two guards on the porch and more dragoons who watched them carefully, so they appreciated Lieutenant Brinkman’s presence.

Colonel Morgan spoke again to Katie and Lockhart.  “Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton and the rest of the men fetched from the northern department should arrive in two or three days.  With the artillery, we should be up to full strength, but it looks to me there are too many ragged and naked men to give a good account. I would not be surprised if half of the men deserted in the next two months of winter.  Please excuse me.  I have to report.”  He walked up to the house and the guards let him inside.

“The patriots will stay,” Lincoln said, hopefully.  Then he turned with the others to look more closely at their surroundings.  From that place, they could see much of the camp, and Katie and Tony talked.

“The housing is being built by the soldiers themselves,” Katie said.  “You can see, most of it is unfinished, but it gives the men something to do to keep their minds off the cold and their empty bellies.”

“It is a much bigger camp than I imagined,” Lockhart admitted.

“As I recall, there are eleven to fourteen thousand men in the camp, or more,” Katie said.  “A few claim the actual number is around twenty thousand.”

Tony pointed out several things to Decker and Lincoln as well.  “They are building forts, like redoubts against being overrun by the enemy.”

“I see most of their artillery is on that small hill,” Decker said.

“Mount Joy,” Lincoln named the hill and got out the database to be sure.

“They are also digging entrenchments in case the British try something,” Tony finished his thought and pointed to several places where the men were working.

“They should not put all of their artillery in one spot,” Decker said, seemingly stuck on that idea.  “Hills are great to screen the camp against enemy spies and all, but they should have men up all along that ridge.  The hills are only good if you keep the enemy off the high ground.  Once you surrender the high ground, the valley risks becoming a death valley.”

“I’ll make a note,” Lieutenant Brinkman said.  “But I am sure the general has piquets in the hills.”  He pointed to the ridge behind the small hill.

While they waited, Sukki and Nanette wandered over to the cooking fires which were outside the main house beside the road.  Elder Stow went with them to watch them.  They found a black couple there cooking enough for a regiment.

“Hannah.  Get your bread out of the oven.  The roast has to go in.” The woman nodded and went to do that very thing while the man stepped up to the visitors.  He looked at Nanette, Sukki, Elder Stow, and once more at Nanette before he spoke to Elder Stow.  “How may I help you?”  He looked surprised when Nanette answered.

“I am Nanette, Missus Lieutenant Colonel Milton Decker.  This is my sister Sukki and her adopted father, Elder Stow.”

“Isaac Till and my wife Hannah.”  The man smiled and pointed at the woman.  The woman, Hannah, acknowledged everyone with a nod while she carried the steaming hot bread inside the house.

“Are you cooking for the whole command staff?” Sukki asked as she saw Hannah come back out carrying a large cut of beef in a roasting pan.

“General Washington and his staff.”  Isaac nodded while a second black man stepped up.  This man looked exceptionally clean and well dressed.

“Isaac.  The general would like some tea.”

“Of course, Mister Lee,” Isaac said, and turned to the visitors.  “I always keep the kettle near hot for tea.”  He moved the kettle to a hotter spot on the fire and got a pot and some tea leaves from a small tent.

“I see you have met some of our visitors,” Mister Lee said and turned to the three travelers with a smile.

“Nanette Decker, my sister Sukki and her adopted father Elder Stow,” Nanette spoke up and stuck out her hand.

“William Lee, a pleasure,” the man said and shook that hand.  “General Washington’s left-hand man.”

“Not the right-hand man?” Nanette asked.

Mister Lee shook his head.  “That would be Colonel Meade, his aid-de-camp.”

“Of course,” Elder Stow said, and at that moment, Colonel Meade was introducing himself and Major Gibbs, commander of General Washington’s guards, to Katie and Lockhart.  Katie even offered a small salute.

“My wife is a major in the Marine Corps,” Lockhart said.

“And you?” Major Gibbs asked, not liking the idea of being the same rank as a woman.

“Assistant Director of the Men in Black,” Lockhart admitted.  The men stared at him with eyes that seemed to understand something.  Lockhart decided to take the next step.  “We are from the year 2010.  We have a quicker way to get home than living through the next two hundred and thirty years, though it will likely be the end of 2015, or early 2016 by the time we get there.  That is all I can say about that.”

Colonel Meade looked at the sky and mumbled.  “That is one complication we do not need right now.”  He looked again at Lockhart.  “We have enough trouble right now getting the men properly sheltered, dressed, and fed.”

Katie kicked the snow at her feet.  It was honestly half snow and half mud.  “It is not as cold here as history remembers,” she said.

“Cold enough,” Major Gibbs said.  “But we were helped greatly a couple of days ago when Missus Lancaster and the women of Philadelphia rode in with ten wagons of shirts and other clothing.  The wagons all had a false bottom, and she got the shirts out right under the nose of the British.”

Colonel Meade added a note. “The general has written to Henry Laurens and the Continental Congress for help.  I hope they do something soon.”

“Missus Lancaster,” Lockhart said.  “Michelle Marie?”  He wanted to be sure who they were talking about.

Major Gibbs nodded and Colonel Meade spoke.  “She calls herself the camp mascot.  She travels around to the various brigade camps with her violin and her voice.  She is a great help with morale.”

Lockhart and Katie nodded as they got interrupted.  A carriage came up the road that ran beside the creek.  A black-haired, green-eyed beauty stuck her head out of the carriage window and waved.  “Lockhart,” she shouted.  When she pulled her head back inside, the man she rode with asked.

« Amis à vous ? »

« Oui.  J’ai beaucoup d’amis, » she answered.

Before the carriage could arrive, Colonel Morgan and General Washington came out the door with another general officer not readily recognizable.  A rifle fired from down the road toward the guard camp.  The bullet creased General Washington’s arm and he fell to the ground.

Colonel Morgan and Lieutenant Brinkman ran to their horses to arm themselves.  Katie and Decker grabbed their rifles, their horses not yet being in a panic.  Lockhart and Tony pulled their revolvers, and Lockhart grabbed his shotgun before the two of them shooed the horses toward the side of the house by the river to get them out of the way.

“Stay down,” Katie ordered Colonel Meade who knelt by his general with the other unidentified general.

“Stay down,” Decker echoed, as the two guards on the door ran up to the general, their eyes down the road, trying to identify who fired that shot.  They all heard yelling as some men not far away got behind the trees and the bushes left along the road or laid prone on the road itself to make themselves as small a target as possible.

Out by the kitchen, Isaac grabbed the rifle he had leaning against the tree there.  He had to load it, which took time.  A dozen men dressed like workers came from the artificer camp carrying rifles sporting bayonets.  Nanette recognized one of the men.

“William,” she yelled, even as she reached into her purse.  She had taken to carrying the medical bag the way Alexis had, but unlike Alexis, she was not against using the Beretta Boston gave her.

Elder Stow immediately pulled up his scanner to look at the house and grounds.

The workmen, who were either British soldiers or loyalists opened fire from the road.  Nanette fired twice.  William Lee and Hannah both came out of the kitchen preparation room and had weapons that they fired.  Isaac fired last.  None of the people in the kitchen area got hit, but one British man went down, and another caught a bullet in his arm.

“Sukki, help out,” Elder Stow ordered as he took to the air.  They were being attacked from all sides, but the ones out front or by the kitchen did not know about the ones coming up from the river.