Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims: Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans (12 page)

“And what are you thinking this agreement will do?” I asked.

“It’s a good question. By signing this agreement everyone on this ship is agreeing, when we land, to live and work together so that we can survive. It will be a brief outline of self-government. We’ll still profess our allegiance to King James but we also need just and equal laws suited to our new settlement and new way of life. We are far from England and so we must do what is convenient for the general good of the colony.”

“That is really ingenious,” I said.

“If we can get everyone to agree it will be,” William said with a chuckle.

I patted him on the back and said, “I predict that this very agreement you’re proposing will be referred to by many English colonists who will settle in America in the years to come. In fact, it might very well be the beginning of a greater constitution for all Americans.”

“You are always thinking of the future, Rush Revere,” said William, smiling. “I like that about you. If you’ll excuse me, I have some writing to do.”

William and several other passengers climbed the stairs to the captain’s cabin.

“I love happy endings,” whispered Liberty.

“Ending?” I said. “Liberty, this is just the start. In a way, this is like Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.”

“It is?” Tommy questioned.

“Absolutely! The Pilgrims may not be the first to discover the New World but their footprint in New England will eventually lead to the making of the United States of America.”

“Wow,” Tommy said. “I never thought of it like that.”

“It’s hard for me to think about anything with an empty stomach,” said Liberty.

I grabbed a few more apples out of Liberty’s saddlebag and fed them to him. Tommy and I ate an apple as well.

When we finished Tommy asked, “Hey, do you think we could climb up and watch them sign the Mayflower Compact?”

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” I said.

“Don’t worry about me,” Liberty sighed, obviously trying to make us feel guilty for leaving him. “You’re off to watch one of
the most important events in American history while the rest of us get stuck out in the cold. It reminds me of that one Christmas reindeer. . . .”

“Rudolph?” Tommy said.

“Yes! Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer. He wanted to join in the reindeer games, but the other reindeer wouldn’t let him.”

“How thoughtless of me,” I said. “You’re absolutely right. We should be filming this so I can use it as a teaching moment back in class.”

“Um, well, that’s not exactly what I . . . ,” Liberty tried to say.

I added, “And I’ll find you the biggest and juiciest carrots when we get home. Deal?” I asked.

“All right,” Liberty sighed. “I suppose nothing says I love you and I forgive you and I’ll make sure I include you the next time like a big, juicy carrot. Or a fresh head of cabbage. Or large, crisp turnips. And I’m especially fond of cauliflower. . . .”

While Liberty continued daydreaming I whispered to Tommy, “Let’s go.”

When we reached the quarterdeck to the captain’s cabin, we turned to wave at Liberty, who looked deep in thought.

We shuffled into the crowded room as many Saints and Strangers surrounded the captain’s desk, where William Bradford was sitting and composing the agreement. Most men were standing but Myles Standish sat close by William. Myles wore his breastplate and helmet and looked as if he was ready to pounce upon anyone who objected to William’s composition. Overall, the room had a peaceful mood. Finally, William dipped the quill into the inkwell and signed his name at the bottom. He dipped the quill again and handed it to Myles Standish, who
signed his name. One by one, the men in the room began signing their names. As men exited the cabin, other men entered to sign their names.

As the signing continued, Tommy whispered, “Try taking my picture with your smartphone. I’ll squeeze my way in so you can get me by the Mayflower Compact, okay?”

“I’ll do my best,” I said.

Tommy squirmed his way to the table and then stood on his tiptoes, smiling a big cheesy grin. I stood at the back of the room, removed my phone from my pocket, and as discreetly as possible took a picture of Tommy’s first event in American history.

When Tommy made it back to me he said, “We should go and get Freedom. I feel bad that she hasn’t been here to see all of this. I don’t want her to miss the Pilgrims’ landing.”

“Good idea,” I said. “We’ll slip away before anyone notices.”

We exited the captain’s cabin and climbed down the ladder to the upper deck, but when we looked inside the capstan room for Liberty he wasn’t there. That’s odd, I thought.

“There he is,” Tommy said, pointing to the far side of the ship. For an instant, Liberty appeared and then disappeared. What was he doing? I wondered.

We quickly walked over to where we had last seen him and whispered, “Liberty! What are you doing?”

Liberty reappeared right next to us. Pointing at the hatch that led to the tween deck he said, “Something fishy is going on down there, and I’m not talking about fish. I watched two teenage boys who looked very mischievous climb down this ladder and say something about shooting off a musket. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“I’ll go check it out,” said Tommy. “I’ll let you know what I see.”

I paused to think about whether or not that was such a good idea. Finally, I said, “All right, but just take a look and then come right back up and tell us what you see.”

Quick as a cat, Tommy sprang down the ladder. After a couple of minutes his head popped up and he said, “It’s the Billington boys. You know, those teenagers that Myles scolded for scaring those little kids with that shark story. They’re playing with their dad’s musket. I think they’re going to try to shoot it.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” I said.

“Yeah, and it gets worse. I noticed they’re sitting near a barrel of gunpowder. If the gun ignites the gunpowder . . . ,” Tommy said, assuming we knew how his sentence would end.

“Ka-boom,” said Liberty. “Neil Armstrong won’t be the first man on the moon. The Billington boys will be.”

“Tommy, run and get Myles,” I said. “I’ll climb down and try to stop them.”

Before either Tommy or I moved, we heard a loud musket blast from the deck below. Immediately, Liberty took a deep breath and disappeared. We waited two more seconds and were relieved when the rest of the ship didn’t blow up. Instantly, the captain’s door swung open and several men streamed out of the cabin, including Captain Jones.

“Who fired that musket?!” the captain yelled.

Tommy and I pointed to the hatch that led to the tween deck.

I whispered to Tommy and Liberty, “This would be a good time to time-jump. Let’s head away from the commotion.”

As men and women crowded around the hatch and climbed
down to the tween deck, we mounted the now-visible Liberty and I said, “Back to modern day.”

The last thing I heard before we jumped through the time portal was the captain yelling, “Francis Billington, if I ever see you with a musket on my ship again I’ll strap you to the topmast and let the crows peck out your eyes!”

U
pon returning to
the classroom we dismounted from Liberty. Tommy walked straight to the teacher’s desk and grabbed his modern-day clothes. I asked, “So, Tommy, did you enjoy your adventure with the Pilgrims on the
Mayflower
?”

“Best. Detention. Ever!” he said. “I can’t wait to go again.”

“What do you think you’ll remember the most?” I asked him.

“That’s easy. I’ll never forget the looks on the Pilgrims’ faces when they saw land again. I mean they were so happy, they were crying. Even the men were crying. I know they were tough and put on brave faces, but when they finally saw the end of their journey it was like that rough exterior melted away.”

“Real gratitude can do that to a person,” I said. “Giving thanks with all our hearts is an emotional experience.
When we’re truly grateful for something, we sometimes show it through tears of joy.”

“I have a sister named Joy,” said Liberty. “And she cried a lot, too, but not from gratitude. It’s a long story but basically she was madly in love with this stallion and she thought he loved her, too, but then he left her for another mare and boy did the waterworks flow after that.”

“I’m running to change my clothes,” Tommy said. “I’ll be right back.” He ran to the door and slipped out.

I went to the teacher’s desk, grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, and wrote down some items that might be useful before we time-jumped back to the Pilgrims.

“I hope you’re writing down a grocery list,” said Liberty. “I believe I was promised a smorgasbord of fresh fruits and vegetables.”

“Perhaps we should hang a feed sack to your neck so you have something to snack on twenty-four/seven,” I said with sarcasm.

“Now you’re talking,” Liberty said with delight. “Oh, I almost forgot.” Liberty walked over to the chalkboard, picked up a piece of chalk with his teeth, and then wrote on the chalkboard, “I will not throw wooden shoes through glass windows 100 times.”

Tommy returned looking like a twenty-first-century boy again. He tossed me the traveling bag and I slipped it over my shoulder.

“Nice job, Liberty,” Tommy laughed. “That looks like something I would do.”

“Just trying to help out a . . .” Liberty gagged and then swallowed. “I think I just swallowed that piece of chalk.”

“Well, I’m going to run over to the football field. I can probably catch the last half of practice,” Tommy said. “Hey, I can
bring this carp pie to my football coach. Maybe he’ll forgive me for being late.”

“Football, now
that
sounds interesting,” Liberty said.

“Do you mind if we watch?” I said.

“Sure! We have a big game on Saturday. We’re playing against our archrivals. But I also don’t want to miss swordfighting with Captain Standish. That guy is cool. Do you think we’ll be back in time for me to play in the game? It’s so weird that I want to go to history class instead of football!”

“No worries, we’ll be back. That is, if Liberty doesn’t get lost wandering through a carrot patch searching for the perfect carrot,” I said teasingly.

“No kidding,” said Tommy. “Or he might wander into an Olive Garden for an all-you-can-eat special! I’m pretty sure the restaurant would lose money in that deal.”

Liberty butted in and said, “Hello, I’m standing right here. And since when have I put my stomach before time-jumping?”

“Every time!” we said together.

As we slipped out the classroom door, Liberty held his breath and vanished. We walked down the hallway on our way to the outside door. Unexpectedly, Principal Sherman bounded around the corner and nearly tackled us.

“Mr. Revere,” the principal said. “I hope Tommy behaved himself during detention.” The principal raised his eyebrows as he looked at Tommy.