MOLLY AND THE REGICIDES

Ruffling of a Connecticut tomboy caught up in the concealment of two of the judges who sentenced Charles I, who are now (1661) being sought by Charles II. Molly first sees Colonel Goffe and General Whalley by the light of the moon on the night of Aunt Anne's borning; she takes a fancy to the Colonel, safeguards the two in the wine cellar until they can escape disguised as a load of hay. Ignoring the warnings of twin brother Mark, taunting a suspicious royalist with the chilling ""At night all cats are gray,"" she has no fear of the treason penalty, turns dangers into an ambiguous relationship worthy of a twelve-year-old: she wants to be ""Matt,"" yet feels rebuked when the Colonel tells of a wife and children in England. After a mad-moment haircut, it's ladylike teasers and ""I like you as a girl"" from friendlier neighbor Caleb. Mark fills in the history (girls can't go to school) as Molly fills out in a generally agreeable effort.