Phantoms In Philadelphia Read Online Free PDF Page B

must have sensed my eyes on her for she
whispered, “Freddy caught me as I was making my escape from the
giant. He was in the house of,” she paused, looking at Frederick,
“a beautiful woman. He escorted me here.”
    “One of my men retrieved her horse. What were you
thinking, Loutaire, to allow your sister in the presence of that
brute?” Frederick’s words were dripping with disdain.
    Bess stiffened beside me, as did the rest of our
team. I could feel their anger growing thick in the room. Frederick
was one of the few people who hated that a female was the leader of
our group.
    “As Raven is the leader of this
team, she makes
the decisions,” I replied coolly.
    Frederick smiled, but his eyes were burning with
annoyance.
    Bess touched my arm, her way of begging me to stop
goading Frederick. I bit the inside of my lip to keep from
laughing. Calling him Frederick, when everyone else called him
Freddy, was another way that I baited him. In truth, even though we
relentlessly taunted each other, we were Phantoms, and there was a
bond there that refused to break.
    “Whose house was it?” I asked. Bess stiffened
immediately. When I glanced at her, there was a hint of a blush in
her cheeks.
    “A friend,” Frederick replied, but I had understood.
It was the house of one of his fancy pieces. Women flocked around
him wherever he went. It was said that he had lady friends
scattered about the city. “We move away from the point. My sources
say that George was taken hostage last week, but he is still in the
vicinity of Philadelphia, which means,” Frederick paused to look at
Bess, “that you and your team should go home.”
    Bess sighed beside me, her relief great. Frederick’s
face hardened for a brief moment as he looked away from her.
    During the war, Bess worked with Frederick’s team in
Baltimore, and they had formed a friendship, one that Frederick
thought was more. Thankfully, Bess did not. I could never stomach
Frederick as a brother.
    “What of the giant?” Levi asked from his post behind
the sofa.
    “My men went to his house, but it appears that he
has run.”
    “Then there is nothing left for us. We will depart
immediately,” Bess whispered.
    As Frederick stood; I helped Bess to her feet.
    “I will leave you.” He held out his hand to me, and
I shook it. “Let us hope that our paths do not cross again for some
time to come.”
    I agreed and watched as he said goodbye to Bess. His
hand held hers longer than necessary, but there was nothing in her
eyes that said she felt more for him than friendship. Frederick
pulled away, gave a final wave, and left the house.
    Bess leaned her head against my shoulder. “Finally,
we go home.”

Chapter 3

    Jack
     
    T he
journey to Philadelphia took us five days, since we halted in
Baltimore for a short sojourn before traveling on to Philadelphia.
We stopped a few miles outside Philadelphia at a farmhouse to
exchange our horses for our family carriage. The house belonged to
a faithful friend of the Phantoms and he would see to it that our
horses were transported to the stable in town that housed them. We
also said goodbye to Levi at the farm, since he was the only member
of our team who did not work as a servant in our house. It would
have been too complicated with his last name being Martin. Martin
was a common name in Philadelphia so his having our surname did not
garner attention because we made sure never to be seen together
unless in our Phantom guise.
    Our trunks that had been kept for us by the farmer
were opened, and our raiment changed before climbing into the
carriage. Before we set off, Leo reminded me that I was out of my
favorite cognac.
    After I had thanked him, he went to inform Jericho,
who was to drive the carriage, where we were to go. There was a
small Inn on the outskirts of Philadelphia that was known for their
fine liquor. It was imperative that we stop for if my society
friends called upon me they would expect to find only the best
liquor in my