Bride of New France (21 page)

Laure and the others travel for days in this way. Each time they reach a set of rapids in the river, they must disembark on the shore and walk through the forest to get past them. The men hoist the canoes and the supplies over the sharp rocks and through the brush. Madeleine, who has not yet regained her strength, is carried on a makeshift stretcher over slippery stones and back into the canoe.

Ville-Marie is the last settlement before the forest completely takes over. Beyond there are lakes and other Savage tribes. Only crazy men with contracts to the King seek their riches beyond the French settlements, ever hungry for new sources of fur. Ville-Marie is also the newest French town, with only a few hundred residents, and the one most likely to be attacked by the Iroquois. Much of the conversation Laure has heard on their journey up the river and even on the ship and at the hospital has been about these particular Savages. They are the ones who for decades have been fighting the French. Even the other Savages fear the Iroquois, who are numerous and allied with the English in the colonies to the south.

The old Jesuit travelling with them lost a portion of his ear when he was captured by the Iroquois a few years ago. But he says he is fortunate, as most do not escape but instead meet brutal deaths once caught by these people. Laure imagines these Iroquois to be larger than ordinary men, at least five heads taller than any French soldier. They are said to move through the forests like silent and cunning beasts. If you encounter an Iroquois warrior on a forest path, there is no chance of surviving the meeting. As terrified as she is, a part of
Laure wishes to catch a glimpse of one of these men through the forest.

Madame Rouillard says the Iroquois are no different than any other men. They just happen to be the enemy, that’s all, and enemies are always turned into monsters. As for the Jesuit priests, she thinks they would have been better off staying in Old France studying medicine or law or becoming teachers the way God had intended. In her opinion, coming across the sea to a new land altogether and expecting the people to embrace their Christian ways was the most foolish notion she had ever heard.

“This might well be blasphemous,” Madame Rouillard said, “but one thing I have learned after years of trudging through brush and swamp and ice to get from one place to another to bring a new baby into this country is that some other spirit watches over this place. The God we bring from France is just as lost as we are on the winter trails of this country.”

Still, Laure thinks that the young Jesuit’s pale face is magnificent, much better to look at than those of the fur traders.

By the third day, Laure can whisper the names of many of the trees they pass: cedar, poplar, maple, oak. She learns to study the swirls of the river water for signs of upcoming rapids. The French men also tell the women of their fur-trading exploits across the land, how far they have gone to the west and to the north. Even the Jesuit priests take the opportunity to boast a little about their experiences converting the Savages to the Catholic faith. Since they set off, the Savage men on the canoes, with dark, greased arms and long hair, have been urging them to be silent for their safety, reminding the French men of the threat of the Iroquois. Laure thinks that the sound of French
words is beginning to irritate them. The Savages don’t speak to the women, only to the fur traders, and in their own language. They don’t speak much at all, and when they do it is always in hushed voices and must be translated for the others by the French interpreter.

As they journey on, when all there is to say about the sameness of the new country has been said, the passengers fall into a sort of trance. Laure watches the forms of the trees dip out into the water and the bright sun in the clearings. The only sound is of the heavy paddles skimming through the water. Laure is covered in insect bites and thirsty from the heat. Her muscles ache from sitting in the canoe and on the ground and from walking over the rough terrain. Her stomach burns from eating meat grilled almost to ash over the open fire. The Savages that guide them look pleased that the group is finally quiet.

After a few days it becomes obvious that moving ever farther into this new world is weakening Madeleine. Her eyes have grown dull and she is no longer aware of those around her. She doesn’t seem to recognize Laure at first when she speaks to her, and a vacant look inhabits her eyes most of the time. Laure hopes that Madeleine’s face is only swollen because of the burning sun, the insect bites, the thirst and hunger that afflicts all of them, and that somehow, despite these rough conditions, she is getting better. Just before they left Québec, a physician had looked at Madeleine and said that the fresh air might improve her condition. The Soeur hospitalière caring for Madeleine had denied his claim and told Laure that the risk to her friend’s health in attempting such a journey was a great one.

The fresh air doesn’t make any of the travellers feel better because its curative effects are coupled with cold water that splashes onto them over the sides of the canoe so that they
feel wet all the time. The air is also filled with thick swarms of blackflies that the Savages urge the rowers to avoid. These insects are worse than the mosquitoes, as they tear off a piece of flesh when they bite. Laure’s neck and scalp are a mess of bites, but she refuses to cover herself in the bear grease that the Jesuit priests and the Savages have put on their skin. The prayers the priests utter to the group are spoken from glistening faces. They look more like sorcerers than priests. Seeing Madeleine so weak, Laure wishes she could order the canoes to turn around, to begin to undo the journey up the river.

After a week of travel, they finally approach Ville-Marie. It is a smaller settlement than Québec, but larger than the other encampments they have passed along the way up the river. It is clearly the fur-trading centre of the colony, the gateway into the fur-rich lands and waterways beyond. They have heard enough stories and encountered enough canoes laden with pelts to support the claim. Its newness and dangerous challenges, along with the opportunity for greater fur wealth, attracts the boldest of the adventurers of New France. The courage of these crazed men surrounds Ville-Marie with a joyful energy. Laure finds herself forgetting the future for a brief moment.

Laure sees a gathering of people awaiting them on the shore. Even from a distance, she can discern that they are mostly men. She can’t tell what rank or sort of men they are. They wear their military jackets from France over baggy breeches. Some of them have long hair with bits of animal pelts and bright Savage weaves around their waists. Several more distinguished soldiers with muskets stand with a priest to greet them. Laure jumps
when one of these soldiers fires a pistol in the air. They mustn’t have any cannons to welcome them with. Like at Québec, there are a few religious women and some Savage girls waiting for them as well. It is the most interesting settlement Laure has seen since Québec, and for this she is relieved.

The men on the shore rush toward them, waving their arms and cheering. Laure doesn’t know what they are so excited about. Forest life must be even more terrible than she expected if their dirty cortège receives such an eager welcome. If their pathetic group was seen travelling down the Seine to Paris, they would be apprehended and thrown straight into prison. But it is difficult here to dress in fine clothing and to remain clean and untouched by the woods.

Laure only hopes that there is a physician somewhere in this settlement. Someone who can revive Madeleine. Even the loud calls from the shore have not awakened her. “We have arrived,” Laure says, leaning in close to her friend’s ear. Despite Laure’s vigilant guard, there are still welts on Madeleine’s neck from the insects. “We don’t have to travel any further. For the rest of our lives, we are free to stay here.” As she utters this statement, Laure is thankful that Madeleine’s eyes remain closed.

    13    

L
aure cannot imagine what the rest of their lives will be. Truly, it is better that Madeleine isn’t awake to see this. Behind the crowd gathered at the shore, Laure can make out a few cabins on the hill beyond. There are a dozen or so, constructed of rough wood. The dwellings that belong to the Savages are off to the side of the settlement and made of bark. Smoke rises from the cooking fires.

“Welcome to Ville-Marie, ladies. As you can see, your arrival was greatly anticipated.” The captain of their journey smiles, relaxed in the new environment. He has reached the place he calls home.

A few canoes piled high with animal pelts sit moored on the shore. At the sight of these, the old Jesuit priest sitting in front of Laure grows agitated. “What’s the point of working to convert Savage souls when there are so many greedy fur traders waiting to corrupt them?”

“Welcome, Father, to the new world of commerce. King’s orders,” says the young man who had commented on Madeleine’s frailty at the start of their journey. He slaps the
priest’s dark-robed back and clambers out of the canoe. His breeches are rolled up to his knees as he hurries through the water to the shore.

The priest yells after him, but the young man quickly blends in with the other fur traders on shore. “And now women for them too. What an unholy mess is being constructed here. These men do nothing but drink and fight. What kind of example does this set for our converts?”