Cas squatted against a damp wall in the cellar and wracked his brains for some way out of the city without attracting attention. ‘Worse than that,’ Siren added, ‘we’ve got to make it all the way back up the Concord Turnpike to Lincoln. I can’t remember every detail, but I know the British forces retreated from George Washington’s militia on that route.’ ‘We’ll have to use back roads,’ Joshua said, ‘or maybe just move at night.’ ‘How far is it?’ Cas asked his father. ‘To Lincoln?’ ‘About ten miles,’ Joshua replied. ‘Maybe three hours on foot, twice that through the woods.’ ‘What about horses?’ Emily asked. ‘Siren can ride.’ ‘The rest of us can’t though,’ Joshua pointed out. ‘Besides, a horse is much harder to hide. At least on foot we’ve got a chance of staying out of sight. We’ve got a day, right? That’s plenty of time if we can get out of the city.’ Cas nodded. They had enough time, but only if nothing got in their way. The Hessian officer they’d escaped from would certainly be hunting for them, and it wouldn’t take long for them to figure out where they had gone.
