Abby and Rose do battle. Three slave girls give pleasure.

In 15 parts, based on a post by Seethegood. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.

Chapter 12

It was nearly 2:00 am when a pounding at the front door and frenzied shouting woke the house. George was first to the door and threw it open to admit a sweat drenched messenger. He was nearly inarticulate but managed to convey that the bridge Abby and her companions had secured was under heavy attack by redcoats from the south. George ordered the man to grab a couple of slaves and ready their mounts for immediate departure. While the men hurriedly dressed, the sound of cannon fire reached their ears, hastening their efforts to make good speed.

Nathan and James insisted on responding as well and soon all the men departed for the battle, well armed with rifles and sabers. The girls all huddled in the parlor to discuss their predicament.

"What should we do, Abby? Stay here and wait for wounded to arrive?" asked June calmly. Abby was pleased with her friend, she'd come such a long way from being a scared slave girl to become a dependable woman that handled stress quite well.

"You and Maddy stay here with the doctor and prepare for the wounded. Collect all the women you need from the cabins and do all you can to get ready for them. Rose, you and I are going for a ride. I can't sit here and do nothing. Are you game?"

Rose didn't hesitate a second. "You're damn right I'll go. I hate the idea of our men out there in harms way and us doing nothing about it."

"Let's get dressed and head out. June, good luck, we'll be back when we can." Abby went to her and gave her a tight hug and a quick kiss before going to her room to dress.

On the way to the stables, Abby slipped into her father's office and picked up a spyglass she'd noticed there earlier, hoping it might come in handy. She also grabbed her and Rose's squirrel rifles along with her rapier. Together, they swiftly saddled their mounts and headed down the road to the bridge. Luckily, there was a full moon that lit their way and they could navigate quite easily. The two were a hundred yards or so away from the bridge when a cannonball went bouncing and rolling past them with enough momentum to cause serious damage or certain death if it hit a person.

"Damn it, that was kinda close," Rose commented with an adventurous smile.

"I guess so. Let's sneak up behind the troops and see what's happening," Abby answered. She felt a surge of adrenaline and grinned back at Rose. "Just like old times!" she exclaimed happily.

Up ahead the girls saw the shapes of men at the bridge abutment. Abby's immediate concern was being recognized by the militia men and not getting shot.

"Winston! Winston!" She called out loudly.

"Come on in, Mistress Abigail!" a man shouted. "We see you!"

The girls approached the men and Abby asked how the battle was going.

"Pretty rough," the senior man said. "Most of our cannon are exposed as well as a few of theirs. However, they have two or three that are dug in deep on the far hillside and we're having hell trying to take them out. They're picking us off willy nilly and we're taking too many casualties."

"Where are the General and my men at?"

"They're in the thick of it, of course, with our cannon on the front. They're trying to take out the British guns but haven't had any luck so far. Your man is on the west side of our line directing fire and trying to sweep the enemies flank with mounted troops. It'll be easier for us when the sun rises but until then we're mostly shooting at muzzle flashes in the tree line. They can see us better because we're mostly stuck in this open field protecting the bridgehead."

Abby nodded in understanding and nudged her mount forward.

"Mistress, perhaps you should stay here and go no further. We have orders that no one other than militia cross the bridge," the man said nervously.

"On whose orders?" Rose asked.

"The General's, Mistress. He was most explicit."

Abby's horse fidgeted as she was deciding whether to obey the man or not. He thought she was ignoring him and he cried out almost in despair.

"Please, Mistress! Don't go! I'd be in horrible trouble if you crossed."

She wanted nothing more than to join her men but knew it was impossible for her to do. She couldn't ignore the man's well being, while not being sure of how strict his punishment may be when Nathan found out his indiscretion.

"Very well. We'll return to the house and wait until the battle is over. We can't do much anyway to affect the outcome. Good luck, Sir."

"Abigail, what are we up to? You never give in easily," Rose asked quietly as they slipped back down the road.

Abby gave her a mischievous smile. "Damn right we aren't giving in. I want to head east and turn their flank. If you remember from when we arrived, we can cross the creek bed with our horses a couple miles from here, then we'll sneak into the trees where those cannon are dug in and see what we can do. I'm betting the majority of redcoats are on the battlefield and there's just a skeleton crew on the big guns. We need to get crackin' though because daylight is coming."

It took them nearly three hours to stealthily flank the redcoats and sneak in behind the easternmost cannon. They tied the horses to trees and quietly slid in the last 50 yards where there were three soldiers loading and firing the cannon down on the militia. She told Rose her plan and together they pulled it off splendidly. When the soldier firing the cannon touched the flash hole with his taper, the girls timed their shots perfectly with the detonation of the cannon and two redcoats went down. The third was left standing in surprise wondering what had happened. He crouched low and peered over his escarpment looking for militia men to his front as a source of the gunfire that killed his compatriots. Abby quickly reloaded and waited until she heard the next cannon to the west fire, then she emptied the man's skull with a brilliant shot to the brainpan.

Satisfied, the two brave women moved on to the next cannon. The plan went like clockwork at first and they handily killed the first two, but the third man had his wits about him. When his companions tipped over dead, he spun around and seeing the blackpowder smoke from the girl's rifles, charged them immediately. He pulled a pistol from his waist belt and fired at Rose, narrowly missing her head and she ducked involuntarily as the bullet cracked by her ear. Abby bravely met him with her rapier drawn and he pulled his saber just before they clashed. He was a large man and the momentum of his charge bowled her over as she parried his blow.

She was struck nearly senseless and she struggled to rise, knowing she was too slow and sure death was coming. Suddenly, the man let out a cry of agony and Abby looked up in a daze to see Rose fastened to his back with her teeth buried in his neck, growling like a lioness. The man was a seasoned fighter and he threw himself backwards, crushing Rose between his broad back and the unyielding ground. The breath flew from her body with a loud grunt and she lost her grip on the redcoat. He scrambled to his knees just in time to receive Abby's dagger under his chin, the blade puncturing his upper palate and driving deep in his brain. He stiffened up like an oak tree and slowly tipped over on the ground, his heels beating a tattoo on the forest floor as his body spasmed and rattled out a death groan.

Abby ripped her dagger out and slashed his throat open for good measure, then knelt beside Rose who was on her hands and knees gasping for breath.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Abby cried in consternation. Rose whooped for breath a few more times and finally nodded her head.

"I think so, that fucker knocked me for a loop," she gasped out.

"Me too, the redcoat son of a bitch," Abby agreed shakily, she was still collecting herself from the man knocking her ass over teakettle. "I should know by now to shoot the biggest, meanest bastard before the little scrawny ones," she wisecracked with a rueful smile. The girls hugged tightly, then Rose kissed Abby softly on the lips and said, "I sure love you honey, thanks for coming to my rescue."

"And I love you, sweetheart. We'd better tidy up that last cannon before they kill more of our men."

Thankfully, the final cannon was manned by only two redcoats who were fixated on putting cannonballs downrange. It was a simple task to head shoot them both with well placed shots from their squirrel rifles. Rose recovered their horses while Abby pulled out her spyglass and perused the ongoing battle below them. Their vantage point was facing north and about a hundred feet in elevation higher than the razed tobacco field in front of them.

Abby spotted George, William, and the General along with Major Moore and they were literally fighting for their lives. Somehow they'd become separated from the main body of militia men and were slowly being ...