Page 219 of Cross & Crown
to this home.”
She took a deep, shuddering breath. It was obvious that
giving her lecture was helping to calm her a little. Nick’s mind was whirring, trying to fit the puzzle together as she gave
them more pieces.
“Jason Russell was an old man, and he arrived at his home
just as the minutemen were retreating. He was gunned down
just outside his door and then stabbed by bayonets eleven
times. The British soldiers massacred everyone else in the
house, save for eight minutemen who were able to barricade
219
themselves in the basement. When Jason Russell’s widow
returned to her home, she found her husband and the rest
of the dead, numbering twelve men total, laid out in rows
in the kitchen. She is said to have claimed the blood on the
kitchen floor rose to her ankles. Jason Russell and the dead
Continental soldiers were buried in a mass grave, no coffins
and no services. It took over seventy years for a monument to
be erected over the grave.”
She fell silent, swallowing repeatedly, blinking rapidly as
she fought off tears.
“That’s it?” the Irishman on the ground asked.
“That is . . . it. Yes. There is no treasure.”
“What about the basement?” Alex suggested.
“We’re looking for redcoat treasure; the basement was
barricaded by minutemen,” JD countered.
Nick slowly lowered his gun, his eyes unfocusing.
“Nick?” Kelly whispered.
Nick didn’t answer.
“Irish?”
Nick winced and lowered his head. “Fuck,” he whispered.