Lorenzo's Secret Mission (18 page)

“That's a danger I'll have to live with.”

“No, Lorenzo. You must have documented proof you are a free man. I shall procure them for you and lock them in my safe.” He paused. “And I shall pray I need never remove them.” He shook his head. “What a world we live in!”

“Maybe we can leave it a little better for our children.”

The colonel and I sat at the table under a blazing chandelier.

“Brace yourself. It's seafood again,” Colonel De Gálvez whispered. “What I wouldn't give for a big, juicy Texas steak. I haven't had one in years.”

“Bernardo!” the widow scolded. “I heard that.”

“I'm sorry, dear, I … I …”

I jumped in to rescue him. “I know exactly what he means. On the trip up the Mississippi, it seemed like trout and perch were all we ate.” I rubbed my hand over my chin. “You know, if I made it all the way from San Antonio in a whole skin, a herd of longhorns could, too.”

For a long moment, Colonel De Gálvez stared at me. “By all that's holy, they could.”

“I'm glad you said that. General Washington wants to buy food for the Continental Army.” I gave him Washington's letter.

“So does the Continental Congress,” the colonel said. “I received a letter from Patrick Henry last week on the same subject.”

“Someone could drive cattle east from San Antonio,” I suggested, warming to the subject, “and ship them north from here.”

Eugenie placed her hand on my arm. “What a marvelous idea.”

“Have you ever been on a cattle drive?” Colonel De Gálvez asked with deep interest.

“In San Antonio, I helped a friend with his livestock from time to time.”

“Lorenzo!” the widow exclaimed. “You were a
vaquero
! How exciting!”

Colonel De Gálvez's lips curled in a diabolical smile. I knew that smile. It meant trouble. “The more I think about Lorenzo's idea, the better I like it. Lieutenant Calderón, how soon could your company be ready to head out?”

Calderón froze with a forkful of shrimp halfway to his mouth. His eyes darted toward me and shot me a “you-and-your-big-mouth” look. “I … I'd need to find out if any of my men are
vaqueros
,” he stammered out. “If it please Your Excellency, Lorenzo should go along as a scout. He knows the trail firsthand, and by the time everything's ready, he'll be sixteen and ready to use this.” He unbuttoned his jacket, reached inside, and pulled out two pieces of parchment neatly folded in thirds.

All heads swiveled toward him, mine included.

“Lorenzo,” he began, “when we were in General Washington's camp, he gave me a letter and asked me to give it to you when you turned sixteen. A little early.” He shrugged. “Happy returns of the day,” he said, passing it to me. “The second letter is from Major Gibson.”

Frowning at Calderón, I opened General Washington's letter and scanned only the first few lines before I leaped up, making my chair clatter to the floor.

A captaincy in the Continental Army. With Major Gibson as my commanding officer. I was to be the liaison
between General Washington and Colonel De Gálvez.

“Yahoo!” I exclaimed. “It's official now. I'm one of Gibson's Lambs.”

Calderón assumed a mock serious look. “An officer must maintain some semblance of decorum.”

Eugenie leaned toward me and whispered in my ear, “Captain Lorenzo Bannister. I like the sound of that.”

So did I. I tore into Major Gibson's letter.

It welcomed me to his command. Due to his recent promotion to major, he was now a staff officer and was turning the Lambs over to me and William Linn. Patrick Henry would soon send William and a squad of Lambs to Boonesborough to assist the harrassed Kentuckians there. The remainder would come downriver to New Orleans by flatboat.

“My God!” I muttered in disbelief. “I'm in charge of Gibson's Lambs.”

“Now they're your Lambs,” Calderón pointed out.

In July, I turned sixteen. With a steady job and a bright future in the military, I could marry Eugenie, raise a family, and fight for freedom for all Americans.

I barely heard the discussion from that point on. Overcome with joy, I leaned back and took a sip of tea. Tea. Papá's favorite drink. I smiled at the memory. It still hurt to think about Papá. Would the pain and sorrow of losing him ever lessen?

I was now Captain Lorenzo Bannister of the Continental Army, a special envoy for General Washington. As I said the words to myself, I imagined Papá's joy in heaven as he looked down and watched me serve the cause of liberty.

People sometimes ask: “How much of the Lorenzo series is true?”

All the Lorenzo novels are fiction, but they are based on facts. We call our writing “Faction.”

Writing a historical novel is a special challenge in many ways. Sometimes, crucial information is missing. For example, we were unable to find descriptions of George Gibson or William Linn. No one seems to have painted a portrait of either man. We based our description of George Gibson on the portrait of his son, John Banister Gibson. William Linn was killed by Indians in 1781. Linn Station Road in Louisville, Kentucky, bears his name. Unfortunately, no one knows what he looked like.

Lorenzo's Revolutionary Quest
(Book 2). General George Washington names Lorenzo a captain in the Continental Army. Lorenzo goes on another challenging mission to Texas to purchase 500 head of cattle from the Spanish. With Colonel De Gálvez's aid, Lorenzo struggles to herd the cattle and his soldiers to the Mississippi River via the King's Highway—a rustic dirt road through the provinces of Texas and Louisiana.

Lorenzo and the Turncoat
(Book 3). Lorenzo is living in New Orleans and working as a medical doctor. A hurricane sweeps through New Orleans two days before Lorenzo and Eugenie's wedding, leaving the town severely damaged and Eugenie missing. This novel focuses on the Battle of Baton Rouge in 1779 and the scarlet fever.

Lorenzo and the Pirate
(Book 4). In his next adventure, eighteenyear-old Lorenzo Bannister boards a pirate ship to render medical aid. His act of kindness leads him on a fast-paced adventure that includes an amputation, a naval battle with the British, and a shipwreck on a deserted island (Cozumel).

We are currently working on the fifth book,
Lorenzo and the Prison Ship
in which the British capture Lorenzo and imprison him on the infamous prison ship,
Jersey
. Future novels will find Lorenzo at the Battle of Pensacola and the Battle of Yorktown.

To read first chapters of the Lorenzo series, visit

www.lilaguzman.com
.

If you would like to schedule an author visit, please contact Lila at
[email protected]
. Put “author visit” in the subject line.