5. Secret Mission

5 Secret Mission At the edge of the Charles River, Stanley and his family waited for Paul Revere to arrive. Or for someone who was dressed up as Paul Revere, anyway. As soon as he got here, their adventure would begin! It was hard to believe that, just the day before, they had seen this river from a duck boat. Or that

Stanley had taken a swim! That seemed like a long time ago now. But not as long ago as the 1700s. Now his family looked like they were from that time themselves. The Lambchops had changed their clothes and were now dressed like Boston colonists! Mrs. Lambchop was wearing a long dress. The boys and Mr. Lambchop were in short pants and long blue coats. Hannah had told them that the colonists wore blue and the British soldiers wore red. The colonists had a nickname for the British soldiers. They called them redcoats! Stanley didn't mind the ruffled shirt he was wearing under the coat. He didn't mind the stiff shoes on his feet. The outfit was so different from his usual clothes that he felt like it was Halloween. The only problem was the hat. No matter what Stanley did, the three-cornered hat would not fit on his two-cornered head. It wobbled all over the place.

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Mr. Bradford would be rowing the Lambchops, with Paul Revere, across the river to a different part of the city. Once they arrived, Paul Revere would get on a horse and ride to Lexington. He would try to get there before a group of people pretending to be British soldiers. He would also try to get there before the sun set! "Here he is!" said Mr. Bradford as Paul Revere approached. Paul Revere was tall and strong. He nodded at the Lambchop family, and stepped into Mr. Bradford's rowboat. He kept his head down. It looked like he was hiding. "Remember," said Mr. Bradford, "Paul Revere took this trip in secret. If anyone spotted him crossing the water, he wouldn't be able to take his ride." Maybe that was why he didn't say hello, Stanley realized. He didn't want to make any noise. This was a secret mission! Present-day Boston was still alive around them. Stanley saw sailboats and water taxis on the river. But there was only open water in front of the simple rowboat.

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Stanley pretended he was on a secret mission, too. It made him feel a little nervous, but also excited. There were six people in the rowboat, and Mr. Bradford worked hard to get it going. "This is going to take forever!" Arthur whispered to his father. "There were no motorboats in colonial times," his father whispered back. "You just need to be patient." Mr. Bradford rowed silently across the water. Every time he dipped the paddles, he made sure there was no splash. If there were real British soldiers out here, Stanley was pretty sure no one would hear them. After a while, Mr. Bradford worked up some speed and they coasted across the water. "That breeze feels nice," said Mrs. Lambchop. Maybe it was nice for a tired traveler, but it was not that nice for Stanley. He was too flat and too light to withstand it. In the middle of the rowboat, he had nothing to hang onto. Suddenly, with another gust of wind, Stanley was airborne. His legs flew up and his body went upside down!