I was sitting with my mother in our kitchen, when I asked, "Mother, where is Father?”

"He is at a Sons of Liberty meeting, George," she replied. "Why do you ask?"

“Oh, I was just wondering,” I said. My father is in the Sons of Liberty. This is a group of people opposing the high taxes that Britain is making us pay.

My father didn't come home that night. My mother and I were worried. "Knock, knock," someone was at the door. I opened the door and saw our neighbor. He looked tired.

"Your husband sent me, ma'am. He went off with the others to fight the British," he said.

My mother sat down at the table and put her head in her hands. "Thank you, Richard," she said.

After our neighbor left, I ran over to the rug and pulled out a key from underneath it. It was our hiding place for it. Then I unlocked my father's trunk. In it was my father's old rifle. He had his new one with him. I grabbed it and ran out of the door faster than my father's horse. My mother started running after me. "Come back!" she screamed. After I ran for what felt like a mile, I turned around. I had outrun my mother. I pulled my compass from my pocket. I decided to head north towards Lexington.

I traveled until dusk. I needed to find a place to stay. I looked around. I was in the middle of nowhere. I kept on walking. Then I saw a silhouette of a man walking toward me. "Who goes there?" said a gruff voice. The man came closer. When I could finally see him, I saw that he was an old man with gray hair and a stubble beard. He looked like he needed to shave.

"George Baker," I replied. When the old man saw that I was a child he let out a sigh of relief.

“l thought you was the British," he said. "Are you homeless?" he asked.

"No," I answered.

"Then what are you doing out here?" he said.

"I-," the man cut me off.

"Come with me," he said. "You can explain in the house.”

When we got to the old man's house, the man said, "My house is nothing much. It's partially destroyed because of the British. Them horrid Brits." The house looked dreadful. Windows were broken. Shingles were lying on the ground. "The name's John. John Harrison. You can call me John.”

If the outside of the old man's house looked bad, the inside of it looked ten times worse. Silverware, plates, bowls, and more were lying on the floor, broken from the British raid. "What were you going to tell me?" the man asked. I told John everything. I told him about running away to save my father to the present moment. Afterwards we sat in silence. Finally he said, "You should stay over tonight. We can set off for your father tomorrow morning."

At dawn the next morning, I woke up to John shaking me. "I've heard that the British are moving to another town. Your father might be there!" he screamed. I sat bolt upright.

"Where is it?" I asked.

"At Concord," he said. Concord was far away.

"How are we going to get there?" I asked.

"By horse of course!" he replied. Almost a minute later I was already dressed. We rode on John's horse for what felt like a hundred years. Finally we got to edge of the town of Concord. The town's church bells were ringing, and the men were coming into the town with their guns. There were so many people we didn't know what was happening. I kept looking for my father, but I couldn't see him. I was scared.

I asked someone what was happening. "The British are here searching for weapons," the man said. John and I saw some British soldiers searching the buildings. John and I got off the horse and mixed in with the men. I kept looking for my father, but there were so many people there I couldn't see him. I was really worried for him.

Soon we saw smoke. The courthouse was on fire! "They are trying to destroy the town!" I thought. The minutemen rushed to the scene thinking the same thing I was thinking. They fought the British soldiers at the North Bridge, and the British started to retreat. John and I joined some other men to hide along the side of the road out of town. When the British retreated, we attacked them.

As John and I celebrated our victory, I felt an arm on my shoulder. I turned around. There stood my father. "I'm proud of you son," he said. "I saw you fighting against the British." We walked back into town, and I told my father everything.

My father had left his horse in Concord, so once we got to town, we got his horse and started riding home with John. When we got to John's house, I gave him a hug. My father thanked him for taking care of me.

After we left John, we rode for a long time. Finally, we reached our home. The minute my father and I walked through the door, my mother ran over to us and gave us a hug bigger than any bear could give. "You never run away like that again or you will be in big trouble, George Baker! You don't know how scared I was. You could have been hurt," my mother scolded. We just stood there looking at each other. Then we all burst out laughing. After we stopped laughing and settled down, I told my mother everything. It was nice to relax. After all, fighting for your country is hard work.