American Made: Rise of a Rebellion

Chapter Five

Shouting awakened Richard Hughes before dawn by someone in the town center. At first, he thought it was all in his head. The town is normally quiet at night, so he came to the next obvious conclusion that something must be wrong. In his stupor, he drags himself out of bed and heads to the window that overlooks the town center. As he pushes back the curtain to peer outside, he could barely make out a man on horseback lighten only by the moonlight. The man pulls out a pistol and fires a shot into the air, lighting up outside for only a moment as if a lightning bolt struck him right above him.

Martha sleepily pushes herself up on her elbow. "What was that?" She asked, still half asleep.

"It's a rider. He is saying something but I cannot make it out." Hughes says as he turns back to his wife. "Go back to bed. I am going out to see what this is about."

"You be safe out there." She says as she lays her head back down not wasting another moment. Hughes had no notions of being afraid but he found it odd that she laid right back down. The pregnancy must be tiresome for her, he thought.

Hughes smiles at his wife for a second before making his way through the darkened home and down the stairs to the front door. On his way out he grabs his overcoat from the hanger by the front door and the pistol he has off the end table where he has come accustom to leaving as of late. He wraps the coat around him while concealing the pistol. When he leaves his home, he could finally make out what the man was saying, "The regulars are coming!" The man notices Hughes outside so he screams it once more toward Hughes's direction and then takes off into the night again.

It took Hughes a second to understand what this meant. They would finally march to Concord. The shivers ran through his body. They were to stand up to the British oppression. He didn't know if the men of Acton were ready for this. Hughes turns back to the house to get prepared when he sees his father standing outside of the store, wrapped in his overcoat with his arms crossed, keeping it closed. Hughes let out a sigh and went to him.

"Is it time," Elias asks softly, still staring out to where the riding disappeared.

"I believe so," Hughes replies just as softly, not wanting his father to hear the fear in his voice.

Elias looks to his son. "Are you ready?"

Richard thought about that until he said, "I do not know." That was his honest opinion. How was one supposed to know these kinds of things without truly being a part of it before?

Elias hugs his son firmly. "You do what needs to be done, son. I have faith in you." That was one of the few times his father had ever done that to him. He hesitantly hugged him back.

"Thank you," Hughes says, letting go of his father.

"Now go, you have a battle to be won," Elias says encouragingly.

Hughes smiles at his father one last time before heading back inside his home.

When he got inside, Martha was awake, standing at the top of the stairs with a lit candle in her one hand with her other resting on her unborn baby. They said nothing to one another when Hughes climbed the stairs. He takes the candle from her hand and sets it on the table at the landing. He then wraps himself around her as she rests her head on his chest. "I need to get ready to leave."

"I know." She replies, not letting go of him.

He just held her there for a few moments before gently pulling away from her to go to get dressed. She held on tight but finally let go.

Hughes stood in front of the mirror with his best outfit on when his wife comes in, carrying the newly powdered wig that she did for him. Normal militiamen don't have to go through wearing a wig but Davis insisted that every single one of them had to look like a proper gentleman if they were to go to battle. She places it on his head while he is finishing with the final touches of his uniform.