Chapter 8
"Halt! Who goes there?"
Gretchen's teeth were chattering too hard for her to answer the shout from the dark; she could barely keep her feet, which felt like the blocks of ice that floated in the Delaware's dark water, beneath her as she stumbled along the narrow path through the trees with only the moonlight shining through high branches to guide her.
She had made the crossing twice before, once into Pennsylvania and once back, several weeks ago, but the river had been frozen nearly solid then, and she'd had the last light of sunset and the first light of dawn to show the way around the cracks and pools in the river ice.
A warm spell had apparently broken up the uncertain, shifting ice at the river's surface, and she had lost her way while following the curve of the old stone dam just below the water's surface.
All it took was one foot set wrong, one ankle twisting as her boot slid along the wet ice, to send her up to her waist in the dark water, and it was only with great effort that she could drag herself back to the unbroken ice and crawl, inch by inch, to the far shore.
In a daze, Gretchen had stumbled up the bank and through the trees, shivering beneath her sodden cloak.
The moon seemed to shimmer in the velvet sky, and the stars swirled in dizzying rings above her.
She knew that there was a forward camp of the Continental Army — on her last visit, she had brought them a count of the Hessians at the barracks in town and a map of their positions — but which way it lay, she could scarcely remember.
Her brain moved like a fly swimming through molasses, and she wanted only to lie in the snow and let darkness pull her under.
"I say, halt!" the voice yelled again. "Halt, or I'll shoot!"
To be shot would be a mercy, Gretchen thought as she sank to her knees. Just be sure your aim is true and my death is quick ...
"I say —"
The voice was directly above her now, and Gretchen felt a wave of warm relief sweep over her. One way or another, the cold would stop now. She only hoped it would stop soon.
"Gretchen?" a familiar voice called, and then she felt strong hands grip her shoulders before she collapsed.