Read Online Dubious Allegiance by Don Gutteridge - Free Book Online Page B

in the mud, nowfrozen solid—like an ancient beast trapped forever in ice. Beyond it, the path to the coulee was littered with tree trunks to impede their progress towards the village and its fortifications. The colonel was about to send his sappers down to test the thickness of the ice when the scouts came riding back to make their report on what lay ahead.
    The news took everyone by surprise. The rebels had deserted the town. The stone house was unoccupied. Several new ramparts had been constructed but were unmanned. Even the residents of St. Denis had, it seemed, taken to the woods. There would be no return engagement: the rebels had anticipated the result and, after the débâcle at St. Charles a few days before, had more or less abandoned the Richelieu Valley to its fate.
    That fate was soon decided. Colonel Gore met with a delegation from the village, who had appeared as soon as the troops had gained the coulee. One of the elders, clutching a white rag in trembling hands, assured the colonel that Nelson and Papineau had fled to the United States. There would be no organized resistance. As innocent bystanders, they wished to be left in peace.
    â€œI’ll determine who is innocent,” Gore proclaimed from his lofty perch. “I have orders to destroy the property of anyone who joined the renegades or aided and abetted them.” He turned to his captains. “We’ll start with the distillery.” He looked down at the old man. “You will point out to us Wolfred Nelson’s house and any others, as required. Meanwhile, we shall need billets in the town. I want the officers to secure these, and turn out any occupants who do not fully co-operate.If there is any real resistance, the premises are to be burnt to the ground.”
    â€œIt is starting to get dark, sir,” Captain Riddell said tactfully.
    â€œThen the fires we shall start will burn more brightly, won’t they?”
    Marc was relieved that his squad was assigned the task of reconnoitring the outskirts of the village and nearby woods to make sure there really were no rebels waiting to ambush or entrap the invaders. However, the only people they scared up in the fast-failing light were townsfolk hiding among the trees, cold and starving. Many refused to return to their homes, awed by the spectacle of flames roaring into the sky from several houses in the distance. But the presence of the government troops soon became known to another group also hiding out in the woods: those few loyalists, most of them English-speaking Tories, who had remained faithful to the Crown and had suffered for it by having their barns razed, their crops and cattle stolen, and their lives threatened. They knew exactly which locals had made their lives miserable since Lord Gosford, the civilian governor, had left them to the mercies of Papineau and the Papists. And they wanted revenge. Now.
    By the time Marc rode back into the village to report to Captain Riddell that the periphery of the town was clear of the enemy, the local Tories were already in the process of leading squads of soldiers along the narrow streets, pointing out the houses of traitors and seditionists. Moments later, these burst into flames.
    â€œJesus, we don’t even know whether these wretches are guilty of anything,” the captain said, his face dark with anger.“A single finger pointed that way, and it’s all over. I didn’t join the army to burn out civilians and raze crops. Christ, these people are all starving!”
    â€œWhat are my orders, sir?”
    â€œTake your troop and clear out that log house up there at the end of this street.”
    â€œAnd set it on fire?”
    â€œI’m afraid so, Lieutenant. Colonel Gore insists it was used to hide rebels.”
    Marc sighed, but nodded his assent, numbly. As much as he had tried to suppress such thoughts, all he could think of—here among the wailing of women and children as they fled their