Canadian Summer Series: Laura Secord's Walk
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
by Emily Hol
I'm happy to introduce this creative nonfiction piece from my friend Emily! "Laura Secord's Walk" taught me details about the well-known and inspiring story that I had not known before. Enjoy!
June 22, 1813
Laura hurried across the wet grass. Morning dew sprung into the air as she practically flew through her brother’s yard. Heart beating faster than usual, she reached the door and knocked. “Why, Aunt Laura, what are you doing here, and at this hour no less?” her niece, Elizabeth questioned, as she opened the door.
“The Americans… surprise attack… Beaver Dam,” Laura managed to get out through heavy breaths.
“Sit down and let your breath catch up to you for a moment.” Elizabeth motioned
to a chair just inside the room.
Laura shook her head. “There’s… no time.” She struggled to catch her breath, taking big gulps in.
Elizabeth’s brow furrowed as she looked at her aunt with utmost concern.
“What do you need? What is the urgency?”
“We need to get a message delivered to Beaver Dam” - Laura looked at her niece pleadingly - “and I had hoped that Charles would be able to do it.”
Elizabeth shook her head sadly, “He’s sick and in no condition to walk 20 miles to deliver a message.”
Laura’s face was masked with despair as the weight of Elizabeth’s words sunk in.
“Then I'll be the one to do it,” she answered.
“Aunt Laura, what are you saying? You can't be the one! We'll find someone else! It's too dangerous! Crossing into enemy territory- and you are unarmed!” Elizabeth cried.
“There is no one else, and there is no time to wait. It has to be me.” Laura replied decidedly.
Elizabeth tried to protest, but Laura would not hear it. This was the only way it could happen and she was the only one who could do it. Elizabeth fell silent after seeing her aunt was not to be moved from this conclusion.
“I'll go with you.” she finally decided.
“You don't have-”
“I'm coming.” she said firmly.
A tense silence filled the room until Laura spoke up. “I will be grateful for your company, but I must warn you that this journey will not be easy, so if you do change your mind, I will not be disappointed in you by any means.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I hope it will not come to that.”
After Elizabeth changed into more appropriate clothing for the journey, they set off, as the early morning sunlight was just beginning to flit through the trees.
While they walked, Laura told Elizabeth a clearer story of what had happened the previous day. Laura had overheard a couple of Americans, who had taken up lodging in the Secords' household, discussing a surprise attack over the British army at Beaver Dam. The Americans had previously imprisoned any men that were healthy and able to fight, and her husband, who still had a bullet in his leg from a previous battle, was able to remain at home. But that wouldn’t help their efforts to get a message to Lieutenant James FitzGibbon regarding the attack that was to come, so Laura took it upon herself to go to her brother's home to see if he could do it. Laura had not counted on him being sick, so the task was now left to the two of them to see that the message was delivered before the worst arrived.
The two girls walked mile upon mile, carrying the great weight of the message
with them. If they didn't send it, who else would? More importantly, would they arrive
in time?
They walked over hills and rocks, weaved through bushes and trees, taking
detours from the main roads for fear they may get caught by passing American
soldiers.
A few hours into their walk, Elizabeth began to grow weary, and exhausted, she
had not counted on the toll it would take to deliver such an important message.
I can't stop now, she thought, pushing herself to keep in her aunt’s quick pace.
The sun rose higher in the sky, beating down on them as they walked. Beads of sweat rolled down Elizabeth’s forehead, but she pursued on. Step by step, her weary feet began to drag on the ground until she stumbled on a stray root.
“Go on without me,” she moaned, sitting down on a rock.
“I can’t just leave you here. It’s not safe,” Laura contradicted.
“I’m slowing you down. It’s not worthwhile for me to stay!” Elizabeth replied.
Laura looked at her niece in despair. She was torn between whether to do as she said, and continue on without her, or persuade her to stay. It wouldn’t be right to leave her here, in the midst of miles of unfamiliar territory… but what else was there to do? She had indeed been starting to slow down the journey, and it wouldn’t do any good for any of them if she collapsed from exhaustion.
Reluctantly, Laura left Elizabeth, hoping she would find a place to rest, and she began the rest of her journey. Pressing on alone, through the brush and bogs surrounding the area. Her breaths grew heavy, her dress was torn, and she had lost both of her shoes along the way, but she would not give up. Her country needed her.
Laura reached Lieutenant James FitzGibbon’s headquarters at dusk, just as the
sun began to sink lower in the sky. She sighed a breath of relief, and with a spurt of energy rising within her, she ran the final metres finishing her journey into the encampment of the British soldiers.
After 18 hours of walking under the hot sun and through the murky bogs, she finally delivered the important message that would impact the War of 1812. Not only did she save many lives from the brutal attack, she did something no other woman had done: cross 20 miles with no guide and no arms. Only the simple goal of serving her country.
The British army won the battle on June 24, 1813, leaving Laura Secord a heroine, and a person that many Canadians would look up to for many years ahead.
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