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The Untold Story The Continental army had gone to arms, engaging the red coats on all fronts. Battles raged in various territories of the thirteen colonies, all recorded into history for future generations to study. All that is but one. On a spring morning in the hamlet of Shadey Meadows one such battle took place. This battle went unseen and unheard to most citizens of the time. It was never recorded into history proper, but it's spectacle that day was remembered and scribbled down hastily onto a piece of old parchment, hidden away with a copy of the Declaration of Independence. It was only recently found and it's contents guarded against all interested parties except one...that would be me. According to the date of the document, July 9th, 1777, the parchment had been hidden away and never viewed by any living soul until a few days ago. Sit back and enjoy one of the most violent clashes of the Revoloutionary War as you read...The Untold Story. Washington's army was struggling hard against the British regulars but he was confident that his men would prevail. The colonies were stained with the blood of many brave soldiers and farmers who had taken up arms and marched off to either the Loyalist or Continental cause. Gun fire and cannon blasts shattered a once tranquil land as onlookers scampered to get out of harm's way as the battling armies rumbled acrcoss the terrain. On such onlooker was Herman Peabody. A sworn rebel to Washington's cause for freedom, he had enlisted into the army, taking his old musket with him. During his first contact with the enemy, Herman acted bravely but posed a danger to himself and all around him. He was slightly accident prone and narrowly missed shooting one of the officers when he tripped over a rock, musket in tow. An unarmed position would be secured for him...this after numerous incidents including...the initial near miss, a frightened horse, a rolled over supply wagon, and the nerves of his troop mates...all caused by his discharges of his musket. He begrudginly accepted his new position as company recorder, or in other words, the message writer and reader. Few men in that era were able to read and write, but Herman was well versed. Through his literary tasks, Herman became priviliged to many high level secrets of the Contintenal army. He was eventually assigned to General George Washington himself! Washington, although very literate, was too busy to write everything down and instead instructed Herman to I ) þ E write messages to outlying commands with dictated information that Herman would copy down afterwards and then send off by way of special secret messengers. This made him a target of the British army. With the information he knew and his polished reading and writing skills, the red coats wanted him on their side, or out of the picture. An offer had been sent to him via secret messenger, but he boldly refused the invitation to join the British side. That left the red coats with one other option...Herman must be eliminated. A number of British soldiers were sent out with the mission of doing Herman in, but all failed in their efforts. A captured member of this special group confessed the mission to the American officers on the scene. They immediatedly put Herman under an around the clock armed guard. The attempts stopped and Herman felt safe once more. The war in this region slowed down to a skirmish with the fleeing red coats and soon the enemy was gone from sight. Herman and the men used this time to regroup and rest. He decided to take a stroll from the encampment and assured his guards that he would be fine alone. They asked their superiors and were given permission to stand down...if only this one time. Herman headed off into the vast countryside and walked up the hill towards a meadow he had longed to visit. It was in clear view of the encampment but a good distance away and high up on a mountainside. He took a sack of tasty fried chicken and biscuits, including two containers of lager ale. He would have a fine picnic alone. It took him a half an hour to reach this pristine place of paradise, walking at a brisk pace all the way. He set his place in the short meadow grass and marveled at the vast view he now had. His comrades in arms were mere specks in the valley below. He felt like he was at the top of the world. Herman set about to eat, drink, and be merry. He concluded the feast with a hearty smoke on a cigar. These goodies had been given to Washington's troops from the greatful residents of the surrounding area. Herman sat back and savored the day, rare during these times of strife. To his surprise, an unknown woman slowly approached from the distant tree line. She was dressed in the tradional long farmer's wife style dress and flat soled slip on style shoes of black. He sat up and cautiously looked past her for signs of any red coats advancing. She was alone and sauntered to him, stopping a short distance away. He cooly greeted this mystery woman from nowhere, and she stood studying him. She stood hands on her hips and grinned at him. He sat in awe of her beauty and stared at her supple body. Herman hadn't been with a woman since the beginning of the war. She introduced herself as Becky Rathbone and slowly pulled out a dagger from her pocket. Herman's eyes went wide at the sight of this instrument of death in the hands of such a lovely woman. Becky examined the dagger closely and then looked into Herman's eyes. She informed him that she was in fact contracted by the British army for the soul purpose of tracking him down and then disposing of him. Õ Ú n ¸ ! She moved the dagger along her dress as Herman slowly got to his feet. He gasped at the announcement and stared at the dagger wielding female. Untold rage began to build deep inside Herman as he realized he was facing a mamber of the enemy. Patriotism gushed from his soul as he became overpowered with a blanket of warmth that was fueled by his devotion to freedom and Washington's cause. He glared at his female enemy and questioned as to how she planned to dispose of him. She grinned back at him and assured Herman that she would take care of him in short order. The anxious Herman stood waiting for his female opponent to attack but instead of moving towards him, she retreated back a few yards, still holding the dagger tightly in her hand. She informed him that she wished not to soil her fair clothing with his rebel blood and casually disrobed in plain view of the astonished man. Her dress slid down her long legs and she stepped out of it, leaving it on the ground where it lay. Her body was now adorned in a cotton one piece undergarment of soft texture that lay snug against her body. It was sleevless and rode to just above her knees. The woman slipped off her shoes, leaving her standing there in her white lightly ribbed stockings. Becky dared Herman to disrobe down to his undergarments as to make for a fair fight. He wasted no time and was down to his skivies and bare chested in a flash. He pulled off his heavy shoes and left his bulky white socks in place, pulling them up to full height...about mid calf. He waited for this woman to make the first move. Becky began to move her dagger from side to side in a slow, wide sweeping motion as she advanced on Herman. He stood his ground at first but began to move around as she got to within striking distance. As she did the woman declared that they would be fighting to the death and that she was sure to enjoy herself in the course of the battle. Herman sneered at her and promised he would do her in before he would allow himself to become victim to her murderous task. She smiled and then quickly lunged the dagger backhanded at his chest. He darted back a step and was only scratched lightly by the cold steel. She moved on him again and circled him around the meadow, lunging from time to time as he attempted to swipe the dagger from her hand. They moved slowly around the beautiful meadow, bathed in the early morning sun. Becky swiped her dagger in low, catching Herman's side. A lucky Herman once again only suffered a minor scratch as he back pedaled away from his advancing female attacker. Becky smiled at her newest inflicted wound on the retreating Herman. She vowed to lay waste to her male target and lunged forcefully forward, thrusting her dagger straight ahead at Herman's gut. He spun to the side to avoid her strike and launched his right fist at her face. The knuckles of his fist slammed into her soft left cheek, sending the attacking woman into a spin that toppled her to the ground. He was about to pounce onto the floundering woman to disarm her when she quickly positioned herself onto her back and held her dagger straight upwards towards the launching male. Herman saw the dangerous move at the last second and flung himself out of harm's way as he began his leap into the air at the downed female foe. He thudded to the ground a few feet away from Becky and rolled away from her as she cursed his move and quickly scrambled to her hands and knees in an attempt to catch him. He felt the swish of air on his leg as she swiped her dagger past his limb. Another miss, Herman dashed to his knees and turned to face her. Becky grew annoyed at this slippery man. Her past victims had been easier kills. She had done a few jobs for the British army in the past but this man was her first encounter with a victim who didn't fall prey to her beauty and charm. The others had approached her thinking she wanted an intimate encounter, leaving themselves open for the kill. But in Herman's case, he was leary of this vision of lovliness right from the start. The time and place definitely were to Herman's advantage as he was battle fresh and on his guard for the enemy. Becky scowled at her intended victim while positioning herself onto her knees and began her advance. Herman moved forward, to her surprise, and they met with labored breaths and desperate struggle. He reached for her dagger weilding hand and locked his long fingers around her wrist. She struggled to get her hand free to strike at him but his grip was too firmly locked. She lashed out her left hand and raked her talons across his face. Red scratches followed her nails as she dragged them along his whincing cheek. She balled up her left hand into a fist and slammed it into his gut. He bellowed out as she followed with a second punch and plowed him with her dainty fist deep into his side. Herman gasped out but held the dagger weilding hand firmly. Herman got both hands locked onto the deadly hand and twisted her wrist harshly, sending them to the ground in a wild struggle. She attacked his hair with her free hand as he continued to twist her dagger grasping her hand to a painful means. She screamed out in pain as he wrenched her feminine limb into a seemingly impossible direction. Becky snarled at the attacking man as she plowed his face with a solid punch that flew in from his side. His head jerked to the side as her fist landed and continued past his throbbing face. Herman managed to block her attacking knees from his groin area as they violently rolled across the meadow in this mortal combat but he was growing weary. Becky was growing weary of the fight as well and she desparately tried to get her armed hand free to make the fatal blow that would end this ground struggle. Sweat now covered them as they fought in a slow rolling motion. Herman growled his frustration at not disarming this woman yet and Becky now grew fearful for her own life as they battled in the meadow grass. Becky drew her face close to Herman's right upper arm and bit deeply into it. He howled loudly as her white teeth sank into his burning flesh. Blood was soon trickeling between her embedded teeth as she stayed locked tightly onto her target and knawed on her male opponent's arm. Herman dropped his head low to her side and bit into the dagger weilding arm. Becky yelped sharply as Herman felt the warm crimson fluid leak from her soft arm between his teeth. The dagger dropped to the ground next to them with a soft tap. Immediatedly, Herman broke off his biting attack and slammed his fist hard into Becky's face. She unlatched herself from his arm and recoiled to the side, rolling away from the battle. Herman quickly reached for the dagger and at first held it menacingly in Becky's direction. He was now seated as Becky pulled herself into a seated position about ten feet away from the enraged man. Herman stared at the now distainful Becky and announced that if she was to carry out her mission, she would have to do it unarmed. They would carry out the rest of this battle hand to hand, man to woman. She grinned an impish grin and wiped Herman's blood from her lips. Herman stood slowly and wiped her blood from his mouth using his forearm. He then hurled the dagger far into the woods. She slowly got to her feet and stood poised for the next skirmish between them. Herman moved towards her as she advanced on him in a helpless fashion. Her guise of the frail unarmed woman against the stronger man caught Herman by surprise as they moved to meet in combat once more. She had the appearance of a vulnerable victim as he moved to her and she glided to him on her white stockinged feet. They met and cautiously embraced into a standing lockup like two battle weary fighters. Their embraced lockup rapidly boiled into a tight, harsh body to body crushing contest as the two fighters attempted to squeeze the life's breath from each other in cruel bearhugs. They grunted deeply as they stood locked against each other and fought to crush their opponent's bodies. Their feet brushed against each other's as they struggled to inflict fatal damage to each other. Herman smelled her sweet fragrance for the first time during this close contact as her head layed next to his. She cried out with each squeeze of his grasp as he grunted with her's. Becky slammed her knee forward, crashing it into Herman's groin. He gasped out and went limp in her arms. She held him up and continued to squeeze him harshly as he wailed out in agony. A second knee came thundering into the male's most vulnerable area and caused Herman to convulse in pain. Becky released him to drop to the ground. The satisfied female looked down on her helpless opponent and kicked him soundly in his side as he floundered on the ground. She took aim again and launched her white stockinged foot into his face. The sound of bone hitting bone made for a sickening verse. Herman cried out as Becky shreiked at her own painful move. Her foot seared in pain from slamming it into Herman's hard jaw. She limped away from the recovering male and sat for a moment, carressing her damaged foot. Herman was soon in readiness to continue the battle and struggled to his feet, his socks hung like two piles of bulky sacks, he pulled them up and made ready to attack. Becky stood on pained effort and they moved into combat again. They collided into a wreathing form of violent bodies. Hairpulling and punching to bodies on both parts erupted as the tangled pair fought is heated combat across the meadow. They flung fists and knees where ever they could and hands ripped out clumps of hair to both as they fought toe to toe and body to body. They battled on in reckless fashion, battering each other with no attempts to block any incoming blows. They were attacking only, no defenses were offered. Herman and Becky fought their way across to the top of the hill and stumbled with each other. They ended up off balance and crashed to the ground, still locked tightly together. The embattled pair rolled freely together down the incline and continued to fight as they did. Each felt the other's hands wrap tightly around their throats and the rolling ceased as they entwined their legs tightly together and began to choke each other with deadly intent. First Becky was on top, then Herman, as they fought for top position in the death struggle. Their legs unwound from each other's as they tried to manuver themselves into a better position in this final struggle. The two opponents layed in mortal combat, strangling each other in desperate conflict. Herman felt the smooth white stockings of his female opponent sliding against his thick white socks as they struggled tightly together. He saw Becky's face grow pale as he squeezed her throat between his hands. Her eyes stared up at him as she continued to fight him but was loosing ground. He felt her hands around his throat but her grasp was growing weaker by the minute as they fought out this lone battle of the war in solitude. Herman grasped his female enemy tighter and watched as her face went blank and her hands went limp from around his throat. Becky's hands fell limp to her sides as Herman thrust his final effort around the woman's throat and made certain of his enemy's demise. Her legs went limp, shaking slightly, but soon motionless. A final gasp from the lifeless woman brought Herman to release his death grip from her beautiful body. He rolled off her and wept at the deed he had been forced to do. He damned the British for their evil tactics of sending a beautiful woman to a deadly conflict. He buried his British advisery after placing her dress on her lifeless body. Herman returned to the encampment after dark and went unseen by the centuries to his tent. During the next day, he wrote down the entire story of his battle and hid it under a copy of The Declaration of Independance, the copy George Washington had given to him. After all, he had been the one who scrolled it for the new American nation. The End

An After School Agreement Many years ago I stumbled upon a situation that put me in the right place at the right time. I had been visiting my cousin who lived over near the creek and was strolling along on my way home. The day had been perfect and the air was rampant with the smells of spring. My return path took me around the rear of the local Parochical school where the route was safe of humans, dogs, and especially cats. Yes, the mouse is back.
As I made my way past the rear door of an obviously little used exit, I paused under a bush to grab a snack of disgarded peanut butter crackers, my personal favorites next to Salteens. Ah, dinner in the company of Mother Nature. The school students had all gone home for the day by this time so I had the place to myself, or so I thought. Just as I was finishing the last of the crackers and a cool disgarded Coke,push that can over and open wide, one of the double doors slowly opened. It creaked slightly as the heavy object moved and a girl creeped out of the shadows of the door way and cautiously looked around for signs of any other people, or mice. Satisfied that she was by herself, she layed down her book bag and began to untie her saddle shoes. I sensed something was afoot and stayed perfectly still, like that mouse in Twas The Night Before Christmas story. One of my all time favorites, by the way. At first I thought she was gonna get a pebble out of her shoe, but when she started to untie her other shoe as well, I suspected more than just a pebble removal. The girl slid off her shoes and placed them next to her book bag located on the little used walk way that ran along the back side of the building. She nervously pulled on the tops of her knee socks, bringing them to full height,and kept her sights on the door she had just exited from. Her white cable knit socks refelcted the bright sun light, almost shining in their strudy position. Before long, a second girl emerged from the creaking door way and without saying a word, repeated the first girl's actions of book bag and saddle shoes. Both were of equal weight and height, dressed in the standard white short sleeved blouses that buttoned up the fronts and the dark blue skirts, along with the white knee socks. Her's were also cable knit and shown equally bright in the sun light.
The first girl stood in the grass facing the other girl as she placed her things out of the way and then stood facing the waiting girl with a look of determination and growing anger. Both girls held defiant stances as they stood about five feet apart. The first girl on the scene shifted her weight from one foot to the other and asked her counterpart if she was ready to begin. The second girl glared back at the first and answered that she was ready an hour ago, when they had obviously wanted to get at each other but were thwarted by their teacher, who had made each stay after school and promise not to pursue the matter of fighting each other. So much for promises in the matter of two angry girls who are spoiling for a fight. The first girl sneered at her opponent and reminded her of the previously agreed to rules. The second girl nodded a yes gesture and they moved on each other like two angry hornets.
On contact, they locked up like two wrestlers and began to shove against each other, while holding their grasps tightly around their opponent's shoulders. Grunting and snarling came from both as they struggled in the small grassy area at the rear of the school building. Both gasped as they fought a stand up battle of strength, trying to force each other back and forth along the grass. I watched intently as they struggled in circles now, trying to get a leg behind their opponent's in an attempt to trip the other to the ground. Their knee socks bumped together making rustling sounds as the two girls kept up their attacks. One would get a leg in position but her opponent would counter by grasping onto the other girl closely in a vague sort of clinch. Then they would relax their grasps and leg locks and try again, while never letting go completely of each other. As they fought this odd style of combat, their knee socks began to show the results of the battle. Each girl had one sock slouched and the other at full height.
They stood motionless for a minute, catching their breaths, and then resumed the fight. The first girl wrapped her leg tightly around the second girl's and shoved her as hard as she could. A drastic stumbling took place as the tripped girl lurched backwards and the girl tripping her was foced to follow, being locked tightly about her upper body by the other girl's arms. They fell to the ground with a loud thud in a tangle of limbs. To my surprise, they scrambled to untangle themselves from each other and hurriedly got back to their feet.
Each girl paused to pull their slouched knee socks back up to a full height position. They completed the task in seconds while keeping an eye on each other to ward off any sneak attacks, then moved in to lock up again. This time around the girls melted into a collar and elbow style lock up like two professional wrestlers. They stood firmly together and commenced to a slow struggle of leg fighting again. Each tried to get their legs locked around the other's but they would counter the moves and try again. More rustling sounds dotted the quiet scene as they tried to jockey into position to trip their opponent. The second girl managed to get in close enough to get her leg into position and lurched herself forward. As she did, she wriggled her arms free of the other girl's grasp, sending her tumbling to the grass. A soft gasp came from the girl as she landed on the ground. The other girl pulled her socks up and waited for her opponent to get up.
On rising, the fallen girl muttered something too softly to hear and moved her fallen socks up again, motioning the other girl to resume the fight. They moved to clash again, circling in croutched positions, they started a shoving match. Each girl leaned forward into the other and strained with all their might to move their opponent backwards. They battled like two angry bulls, huffing and puffing as they dug their heels in and pushed forward. The second girl suddenly relaxed her forward motion and instead pulled the other girl towards her, shooting her leg out and pulling the off balance opponent in, then at just the right second, shoved the passing girl to the side, sending her sprawling to the ground. She rolled several times before stopping, her opponent grinning down at her. In a flash the fallen girl sprang to her feet and moved on the other girl.
They locked up into a loose grasp about their shoulders and the first girl launched a kick into the shin of her foe. A straight forward assault, the ball of her foot made contact with sock covered shin of the other girl, causing her to chirp out softly. She countered by returning the favor, connecting with her opponent's lower shin,just above the top of her foot. A second chirp was heard. They struggled for a few seconds, getting in position for the next kicks. The second girl launches a swift side kick, catching her opponent's calf squarely with a hard thud. The kicked girl groaned out and immediatedly countered with a launched leg that slammed into the other girl's shin at mid way. She squeeled out in pain and managed to block a second incoming kick with the bottom of her foot. After the block, she hurled her leg in a wild circling attack that thwacked into the other girl's outter thigh. A yowl was heard, followed by a careening foot that slammed into the other girl's leg, just under her knee cap. She cried out and hissed deeply.
The two girls came together and embraced each other closely, starting an exchange of wild in close kicks and knees that thwacked and thudded with harsh cruelity. Both girls were brought to tears by this violent exchange but both maintained their positions in the fight. They moved around the grass as they fought in this leg and foot battle, whimpering softly and groaning deeply. The kicks and knee attacks were taking their tolls on the tiring girls. They fought their way onto the cement walk way and battled right up to the rear doors of the building. At this point both girls pushed away from each other and silently walked back onto the softer grass.
Facing each other again, they clasped each other loosely and with great effort, resumed their kicking assaults. This time the kicks were slow and spaced out in number as each girl's legs must have felt like lead weights to lift. They gasped and weeped softly, pausing for breaks but not letting go of each other. Their knee socks were bunched up around their ankles leaving their shins totally unprotected from the incoming kicks. They continued to fight using spaced out modest kicks while locked loosely in a non friendly embrace. They paused and seperated briefly, each girl pulling up the cushioned protection of their white cable knit knee socks, then wearily rejoined the fray.
It was slow going for the rest of the fight as both girls stood in one place exchanging sluggish kicks. Side kicks were favored on both sides now, the impacts making each struck calf muscle shudder and shake as the attacking foot or leg struck it's cable knitted mark. They were breathing heavily between sighs and gasps. Exhausted now, they stood leaning against each other just to stay on their feet and kicked lightly at close range. The first girl gasped a surrender demand to the second but she shook her head in a no manner. Both girls traded more kicks and each wept freely as the battle of the legs ground towards the end. The second girl raised her right foot straight up and brought it crashing down onto the first girl's toes. The stricken girl schreiked out in pain and tried to puch away from her opponent who held onto her tightly. A second foot attack came a few seconds later, the same right foot came crashing down again, this time slamming down onto the top of the intended target. The first girl cried out her surrender and struggled to get free of her attacker. The second girl shoved her off, sending her to the ground. She rolled and curled up into a writhing ball, grasping her foot. The second girl calmly put her saddle shoes back on, picked up her book bag, and left the scene. The first girl paused for awhile before gathering up her things and leaving the battle field. I waited until the coast was clear and then made my way back home.
The End.

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