Washington’s War Read online

  All the airmen on the plane were busy putting on their parachutes. I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone noticed us. I quickly turned to Bo. Maybe there were some air force facts swimming around in his head that would help.

  “In 1947,” Bo said, “another part of the American military was created. It is called the United States Air Force.” Bo was still acting pretty bold. I hoped it would last until we finally convinced GW.

  GW looked blankly at Bo, but Bo went on anyway. “The air force has about 358,600 men and women serving in it. And about nine thousand airplanes.”

  “Airplanes?” GW asked. I’d forgotten we’d never explained about airplanes to him.

  “In December 1903, two brothers invented a machine that could fly,” Zack told him. I was relieved that he wasn’t telling GW any airplane jokes—yet. “Since then, people have been building better and better flying machines. We call them airplanes.”

  “Are we in an airplane now?” George Washington looked around. Of course he didn’t know we were in an airplane. We were nowhere near a window. For all he knew, we were in a silver metal tunnel—with benches.

  “We’re flying very high above the ground,” I replied. “As high as the clouds. The United States military got even stronger after airplanes were added. Planes can move people around the world quickly, bring supplies, and even drop bombs.”

  “I know bombs,” George Washington said, recognizing the word. “We use those types of exploding weapons in the Revolutionary War.” He sighed. “Maybe we could win the war if I had one of these flying machines. The British would be caught unawares.”

  Finally! He was thinking about ways to win the Revolutionary War. That was a change, even if he wanted to use airplanes to do it.

  “You won’t need an airplane to win the war,” Bo told him.

  GW nodded, considering Bo’s words. We were getting even closer to convincing him!

  Jacob checked the computer and warned us, “Twenty-five minutes.” Then he asked GW, “Are you ready to go back to Valley Forge and prepare to fight?”

  George Washington paused. I could see he was really thinking about everything we’d said and what we’d shown him.

  “Don’t forget about the rights that your friends wrote about in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Bo was giving it one last try. “Everything we know in our world depends on you going back to Valley Forge and leading the battles to guarantee us those rights.”

  “It’s why you are known as the father of our country!” I put in, crossing my fingers that we’d finally convinced him.

  “The father of your country?” GW shook his head. “I do not understand.”

  “It’s what everyone in the future will call you.” I was ready to drop to my knees and start begging. “You have to go back to Valley Forge and stay there.”

  George Washington looked at me carefully. I swear I could see a change in his eyes. Maybe we’d gotten through to him at last? Martha was right. He sure was stubborn.

  George Washington opened his mouth to speak when suddenly the air force officer at the front of the plane called to him. “You there, grab your parachute. It’s time to go.”

  GW strode to the front of the plane, saying, “I am struggling to decide between retiring to my comfortable home in Virginia or remaining in the unpleasantness of Valley Forge. Where else am I meant to be going?”

  “If you’re on my plane,” the officer said, “you’ll be going out there.” And with that he pointed out the open door of the plane. We’d been talking so much, I hadn’t noticed that the plane was now empty. All the airmen had parachuted away.

  The officer handed GW a parachute and quickly reviewed how to put it on and open it. To my amazement, GW did as he was told without argument. What was he thinking?!

  Bo, Jacob, Zack, and I hurried forward to prevent GW from jumping.

  The man led GW to the door. “Bend your knees and jump,” he advised. Then, as an afterthought, added, “Your uniform is not regulation. See the supply officer on base when we get back.”

  “I will have you know,” GW said as he bent his knees, “I designed this uniform myself.” And with that, the father of our country leaped out of the plane.

  “Oh no!” I shrieked. It had all happened so fast, we didn’t have enough time to stop him.

  “I know what to do.” Zack quickly shared his idea with Jacob. “Hurry.”

  We rushed to the door of the plane.

  “I don’t know how you children got on board,” the officer told us, “but parachuting is for airmen only. You’ll ride to the airport with the pilot. We’ll make arrangements for you to be returned to your parents from there.”

  “No need,” Jacob said, frantically stabbing at buttons on the computer before slipping in the cartridge. Turning to us, Jacob warned, “Jump carefully. You gotta aim your feet toward the center of the time-travel hole.”

  Out the door of the plane, I could see the glowing hole shimmering just below George Washington. With his parachute open, he glided gently down through the smoke.

  “This is crazy,” Zack said. “I’m about to jump out of a speeding plane without a parachute. But am I complaining? No.” He grinned as he bent his knees, preparing to leap. “What did Geronimo say when he jumped out of the airplane?” he asked.

  “I have no idea,” I said, taking his hand in mine. I was way too scared to jump alone.

  “Me!” he cried out as we jumped together.

  The last thing I heard as I fell through the time-travel hole was the air force officer shouting at Bo and Jacob with great concern. “You kids don’t have parachutes!”

  Jacob replied, “Thanks, but we don’t need them!”

  Marines

  When we landed, the parachute was covering George Washington’s whole body like a ghost costume. He was wiggling underneath to take it off. Jacob and Zack moved in to help.

  Once GW’s head was out and he saw us standing there, his face turned red. “I see that we are not yet at Valley Forge,” he said angrily.

  “We can’t take you there until we are certain you won’t leave for Mount Vernon,” I replied.

  “We have to make sure history is back on track,” Jacob said, peeling the rest of the parachute off George Washington and tossing it aside.

  We’d landed in a large field. It was cold outside and reminded me a great deal of Valley Forge. There wasn’t much around, only a few rolling hills and some sparse trees. In the distance, I could see houses and buildings, not log cabins, but the feel of a small military city was familiar.

  The sound of gunfire nearby startled me. It came from over a small hill behind us.

  I turned quickly around. Jacob was already climbing the hill. “Hey,” he called back to us. “There’s a sign up here that says this is a shooting range for the United States Marines.”

  We hustled up the hill to see. Even though he was mad, George Washington seemed eager to investigate.

  “I know the Marines,” GW said as he crested the hill. “We created the Continental Marines in 1775 for ship-to-ship fighting. They also managed shipboard security and helped landing forces.”

  “Today,” Bo got started on his fact-o-rama, “the marines do more than that. They are a special division of the United States military that operates on land, sea, and even in the air.”

  “Do they have airplanes?” George Washington asked.

  When Bo said yes, GW seemed a bit less angry that we weren’t back in 1778. “They also have boats and submarines. The marines have tanks, too,” Bo added.

  As Bo said it, I realized that we probably could have made one stop instead of four. I crossed my fingers that this last place would be the one to finally convince GW.

  “We only have nineteen minutes,” Jacob warned as Bo geared up for more facts.

  “More than 290,000 people currently serve in the United States Marines,” Bo reported. GW was looking more and more interested by the second.

 
I was suddenly curious. If the marines did everything all the other branches of the military did, what made them special? I asked Bo, figuring that GW would want to know as well.

  “The marines work at the direct command of the president,” Bo replied. “If the president wants to send troops somewhere quickly, he uses the marines. Some people even call the marines the President’s Own.”

  “Hmm,” George Washington mumbled as he moved down the hill. The rat-a-tat-tat of more gunfire sounded. This time it was clearly off to our left. We found a path and followed it. The path was designed so that no one would get accidentally shot as they visited the shooting range.

  “Which president is it that commands these men?” George Washington asked as the men and women of the United States Marines came into view.

  Jacob responded, “The president of the United States.”

  We’d reached the marines. From the safety of the path, we could see men and women lying on the ground, shooting at targets in the distance. They shuffled forward on their bellies, aimed with a rifle, and shot at a bull’s-eye in the middle of a round wooden disk.

  An officer was commanding them when to scootch forward and when to shoot.

  It was very exciting to watch. I could have stayed there all day. These troops were training for battle. Where the battle was, or where it might be in the future, I had no idea. But these men and women were going out into the world to protect the freedoms we’d been talking about with GW all day.

  That reminded me. I couldn’t stand here watching our military train all day. We had to convince GW to go back to 1778! He had to unpack his crates.

  “You will be the first president,” I told George Washington proudly.

  “I will not,” he replied. He was awed by the way these troops trained. By the way his eyes were squinted and his jaw clenched, I could tell he was studying their movements as a general.

  “Even if the Continental Army won the Revolutionary War, there are no plans for a president. People are talking about an American King.” Though he was standing, George Washington was moving his shoulders back and forth similar to the way the marines were doing it on the ground.

  “When you are elected in 1789,” Bo put in, “no one will agree to having a king. You’ll be called the president of the United States.”

  The marines were no longer crawling and shooting. They had changed to a different drill, in which they ran, stopped, dropped to the ground, aimed, and shot their weapon. It was another way they could protect America and Americans.

  George Washington was interested in these new moves, too. “I will never be president. At most I will remain commander in chief of the armies of the United States.”

  Zack immediately turned to me. “Did he say he will remain commander in chief?” Zack looked so excited.

  We nearly had him. I was sure of it.

  I gave Bo a pat on the back and said, “Bring it home, baby. He’s yours now.”

  It was a lot of pressure for a shy guy, but Bo’d been doing so great all day. I was sure he could wrap things up.

  “Make it quick,” Jacob said with a supportive grin. “We’ve got twelve minutes and the clock is ticking.” We’d never gone over our time before. We were sure something horrible would happen if we did. And we didn’t want to know what that was—ever.

  Bo took a deep breath and quickly said, “After the drafting of the United States Constitution in 1787, the commander in chief and the president of the United States will become one and the same. You’ll be the only president voted to office unanimously by the entire electoral college.”

  I knew something to add! I was thrilled to be able to contribute. “And,” I said, “you’ll give a really short inaugural address.” I smiled. “But your second one will be even shorter.”

  All that anger I’d seen in GW’s face was gone. He looked at us, asking, “And by becoming president of the United States, I’ll command all the different military branches we have seen today? The army, navy, air force, and marines?” He took another look at the soldiers. Not one man or woman had missed a target the entire time we’d been watching. These troops were hot!

  “Not the air force,” Zack reminded him.

  “Oh, yes,” GW responded. “I nearly forgot airplanes were not invented in 1778. Perhaps I should explore the idea of creating an airplane in my time. It would certainly be helpful.”

  “Please don’t ruin history for the Wright Brothers,” I said. “They deserve their place too.”

  “It seems we all have a place in history,” GW told us. “I understand why I should go back to 1778, send the letter to my friend, procure supplies, and train my troops.” He paused. “My troops must win the Revolutionary War. I see now that freedom is important for all generations. If I don’t fight for it in mine, there will be no one to fight for it in yours.”

  It was a great speech. Short, too. George Washington really knew how to pack a punch with very few words.

  “If you’re ready, then let’s go,” Jacob said, and was about to put the cartridge into the back of the computer when GW interrupted.

  “Wait!” GW commanded. As he said it, my heart started to race. I didn’t want him to have changed his mind about staying again. We didn’t have time for that.

  “War is serious business,” George Washington told us. “And although I am a serious man, I have come to enjoy the merriment, jokes, and mirth of your time.” I thought this was strange, since GW hadn’t cracked a smile all day. Maybe he had been smiling on the inside.

  “I will make you a deal,” GW said. “If you give me one moment of laughter, I will once again bow my head to the strains of Valley Forge.” He crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

  Zack went first. He quickly repeated all the jokes he’d been annoying us with.

  GW just stared at him. No laughs. Not even a mini giggle. There was no sign that he was smiling on the inside, either. “I can’t think of any new ones,” Zack admitted at last. “I’m all out.”

  “Thank goodness,” Jacob said with a sigh of relief. Jacob knew a bunch of jokes about computers but decided not to tell them. Explaining what computers are would just take way too much time.

  Bo simply shrugged. He’d worked hard today. He was pooped out and back to being super shy.

  It was up to me. One good joke and we’d be headed back to Valley Forge. I needed one that General George Washington would understand. A funny one. One that would prove a point.

  I got it.

  “What kind of tea did the American colonists thirst for?” I asked the father of our country.

  “I do not know,” George Washington replied.

  “Liberty.” I smiled at George Washington, knowing, like the marines, I’d given it my best shot.

  And then it happened. GW began to smile. It started slow at first. Just a chuckle. A little shake in his chest. Then, finally, with only eight minutes left on the computer’s clock, GW laughed.

  Jacob didn’t waste even a second more. At the sound of GW’s first snicker, he slipped the cartridge into the back of the computer and opened the green hole.

  GW ruffled my hair and smiled. “Well done, my children,” he said, and all on his own, he jumped through time.

  Bo, Jacob, Zack, and I held hands.

  On the count of three, we jumped.

  And on four we landed, because time travel is really fast.

  February 16, 1778

  We landed outside the front door of George Washington’s headquarters at Valley Forge.

  “Oh, there you are,” Martha Washington said as she stuck her head out from behind the horse-drawn carriage. “Everything is prepared to go, just as you desired.”

  The wagon was hooked to the horses. I walked around to the back of the wagon and sure enough, the wooden crates we’d seen in GW’s bedroom were neatly stacked inside. They were totally packed up for their departure back to Mount Vernon.

  “Very good,” GW told his wife, looking distracted.

  Good?! It wa
s good that she was ready to go?! What did he mean? I hoped GW hadn’t changed his mind again about going back to Virginia.

  He turned to Jacob, asking, “I have come to understand that you do not have very much time left on your fancy time-traveling machine. You have been announcing the minutes regularly.” He nodded toward the computer in Jacob’s hand. “How much time do you have remaining?”

  “Six minutes,” Jacob reported after a quick check.

  “Can you linger for five?” GW asked us.

  “We can stay for five minutes fifty-nine seconds if we need to,” Jacob reported.

  “No, we can’t,” Zack groaned. “We don’t know what happens if we run out of time. We could be stuck here. We might be trapped in 1778. We might never get home.”

  I began to laugh. “You really did run out of jokes!” I cheered.

  Jacob put an arm around his brother, saying, “It’s nice to hear you worry.”

  Bo simply smiled. It seemed that Zack wasn’t the only one who’d gone back to normal. Bo’d worn himself out talking so much. He’d spent all his courage for one day. I watched him swish his foot back and forth in the snow, acting shy, just like normal.

  “Please stay for a brief part of your precious time.” George Washington began to take long strides toward the front door of the house. “There is something I need to do.”

  “We’ll be here,” Jacob said, carefully keeping one eye on the computer clock.

  “Would you like a firecake while you wait?” Martha Washington took out a wrapped package from the wagon.

  “What’s firecake?” I was curious. It sounded like a weapon.

  She brought out a small biscuit. It looked more like a tortilla than a muffin. The edges were burnt.

  “This is what our soldiers eat when there is nothing else. It is made of flour and water. We cook it on a fire.” She pointed to the burnt parts. “No one enjoys them, but often there is nothing else.” She handed us each one. “I had them made to eat along our journey home.”