Lawrence made a face. “No, you’re right. It did look as though they were getting them ready for use. From what we saw, I’d say they’re close to whatever it is they’re planning. But an invasion?”

“It’s not that far to the border. And they have the steamboat to assist them. You heard Renner say how fast the Vermont can travel. They wouldn’t even have to row the damned boats. They could use the steamboat to tow them. After all, that’s how they got them here. They’d reach Canada in no time.”

“It’d be madness,” Lawrence said, then added doubtfully, “wouldn’t it? You said yourself, it’s too late in the year.”

“Maybe not, provided the snow holds off. Even if it doesn’t, they might think it was worth the gamble. With the right troops, they could establish a bridgehead. Then, come the thaw …” Hawkwood left the possibility hanging.

Lawrence looked pensive. “I’m not yet familiar with the location of all our garrisons. Where’s the nearest one? Does your map tell you?”

“It didn’t survive my swim in the lake. I could be wrong, but from memory, there’s a military fort on the Île aux Noix, up on the Richelieu River. No idea of its size; it could house a brigade or three men and a dog for all I know.”

It was probably just as well, Hawkwood thought, that the map was lost. Had it been found when they’d been ordered to turn out their pockets upon delivery to the gaol, Quade would have seized on it as further proof that he was an enemy spy. Why else would he be in possession of a map illustrating the battle fronts? The fact that it had clearly been torn from a well-respected newspaper available to any Tom, Dick or Harry would not have appeased the major one jot. Quade would simply have applied his own interpretation to the “evidence”, insisting that Hooper was using the map to direct him to American positions so that he could conduct his own reconnaissance. In the face of that sort of manic fervour, you just couldn’t win.

“So what do we do now? What can we do?”

“From in here? Not a damned thing.”

Hawkwood fell silent.

“There’s that look again,” Lawrence said. “What’s on your mind?”

“I was thinking about our tribunal.”

“Ah. What about it?”

“If Quade was serious and there is one and they insist on doing it by the book, they’ll have to call witnesses. Except there aren’t any. Not here, anyway. They’re all back in Greenbush.”

Lawrence’s head came up. “You mean they’ll have to summon them here, or …”

“Take us back to Albany. Either way, it may give us some time.”