Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (15 page)

Early the next morning some two hours before
daybreak he stole silently from the camp and headed south, but
stopped to tell a sentry who he was and that he was going hunting
for game. In less than three miles he came across the scent of deer
and shortly had bagged one with a well-placed head shot. He drained
his last two flasks and refilled all four, leaving the kill to
scout around for small game.

Within two hours he had eleven rabbits and
had them secured on one end of a spruce pole and the deer carcass
on the other end. He rocketed toward the camp then, slowing to a
walk when within a half-mile of it and putting on his boots once
more. Just after sunrise he hailed the sentry and then came into
camp laden with game. Several of the men ran to him to take his
burden. Among them was Darren who was astonished. “Ian. By Heaven
you have already made some kills this day and it is barely an hour
into daylight. I did not even hear you fire.”

Ian nodded, only saying “Wind direction.”
Darren noted the head shot and shook his head “Another head shot.
You are more than lucky with that long rifle my friend. How on
earth did you get those rabbits?”

“Snares. I could not sleep so I set snares
near a game path.”

“At night?” Roberts said, obviously
astounded.

“Well after all Darren, it was a full moon
last night.”

Colonel Knox then walked up, looking in
astonishment and laughing as he said “I did not see you this
morning and I feared that maybe you were a Tory spy after all.”

Ian threw back his head and laughed heartily
at that. The morning was spent in good camaraderie as Ian saw the
well-disciplined groups harness the animals and start southward,
with the artillery and supplies. As they headed out, he said to
Knox “If you can use a hunter, I will stay with you for a while and
keep you supplied.”

“Ian, you have a deal there my friend. We
can use men like you all of the time. We have food, but we need to
make that last as long as possible. Please do call me Henry unless
a lot of others are about, you understand.”

“I do, Henry. I will go on ahead and see
what I can scare up before lunchtime.”

By around one o’clock that afternoon, Ian
had returned with some eighteen rabbits and one deer. By evening he
had brought three more deer in, along with seventeen rabbits. Knox
and the entire company were astounded and glad too. It was assumed
that he had caught the rabbits with snares being as none were
wounded.

Staying with them for a total of five days,
he then informed Darren and Henry that he would be gone for a
while. “I have a companion, a good hunter by the name of James
Barrow. I will send him back in my stead for a while.”

“Glad to hear that, Ian. We can use all of
the game we can get. Thanks to you, I have been able to divert some
of our hunters to buying grain and hay for our animals. That alone
takes a lot of time. May I ask you something?”

“Yes.”

“The Continental Army has a special corps of
riflemen, a sharpshooter’s corps. They are used especially for
killing enemy officers in battle. I would like to recommend you for
that, if you would agree. Enlistment is for a year at a time and
the pay is terrible.”

“I must decline, Henry. I have business to
attend to in Boston and New York City and obligations too. I am
happy though to help in other ways. I can look for places to ford
streams and hunt for you when I can be away. James can do likewise,
but I doubt that he will want to enlist either.”

“I had to ask. I figured it was a shame to
waste such talent hunting game when we have a war to win. You are
not offended then?”

“No Henry; not at all. I’ll be leaving
now.”

“You’re traveling after dark then?”

“I do that a lot” he said and then he shook
hands with Knox and with Darren and shouldering his ruck sack and
his long rifle, he trotted out of the camp angling eastward. Soon
he was rocketing to the east and within six hours had slipped past
the militias’ pickets and was at the tenant house in the west end
of Boston. Knocking softly before entering he found James waiting.
He updated him in hushed tones being as Moon Owl was asleep in her
room and heated two kettles of water at the fireplace. In about an
hour he was settling into a hot tub of water and relaxing as James
questioned him about the column.

Moon Owl came from her room then although it
was not yet daylight and seeing him exclaimed “Ian! You are back,
mon ami!” She rushed over to the tub, smiling as Ian drew a towel
over himself, laughing.

He then briefly recounted his adventures to
her while he finished bathing and then grabbing the towel he
wrapped himself, stood, and went to the room he and James shared so
that he could dress.

Moon Owl noted and admired his lean bronze
body, thinking that he looked as much like a Seneca brave as a
white man excepting for the curly black hair on his chest, arms,
and legs, and his close cropped beard. She flushed as she realized
that she found him to be quite desirable
. I suppose that I have
felt this for some time and just have not realized it
she
thought.
And I am now healed of the white man’s disease. How
strange that a white man gave me the disease and another took it
away!

More quickly than she would have thought
possible, Ian had returned fully dressed in his only town clothing.
Sitting down at their only table he spoke, saying “James, Colonel
Knox and his men need hunters to keep the column supplied with
fresh game. I’m going to help them until they can get the cannon
here.” He noted that Moon Owl looked a bit disappointed as he
continued. “I thought that we could take turns supplying them
through the winter at least. I told them that you might return in
my place.”

“That is fine with me. I can be ready to go
in the morning.”

Laughing Ian switched to English and said
“No James. You must wait at least a week before leaving. I only
left them last night.”

“Oh! Of course; I nearly forgot” he laughed
as he said “A week is too soon really.”

“No, you can say that we chanced across each
other part way and that you agreed to come to them at that time.
They will not be too concerned as long as they are getting meat
regularly. I kept them supplied with deer and rabbit. You will need
to use your rifle to take the deer though, or shoot them after you
make a kill.”

“I understand. Yes, I want to go.” Switching
back to French then he continued “It sounds like an adventure. I
would not have thought of hauling all of that artillery through the
dead of winter to get it to Boston. Whose idea was that?”

“I think it was General Washington that
ordered it. He was made supreme commander of the Continental Army
this past summer. It was a shrewd decision.”

“Do you think they have a chance at winning
this war then?”

“Not if they fight head on, army against
army. The British will win that way through attrition alone.”

“Then how can they win?”

“They must choose their battles wisely and
be willing to never surrender in order to have any hope. Most
importantly they must deny the British a clear cut victory or
conclusion to the war.”

“That makes sense. The cost of it and the
discontent of the people of England will do its work over time,
won’t it?”

“Yes. Time is against the British, and on
the side of the colonists. Say, I have an idea. Shall we all go to
town this evening?”

The two of them looked at Moon Owl with
raised eyebrows. She smiled and nodded, her eyes sparkling.

***

Stefan and Yvonne walked the deck of the
two-mast merchantman Brock’s Folly
.
Stefan looked westward,
peering from beneath his broad-brimmed hat with a scowl on his
face. “This is slow and miserably boring, Yvonne. We will be doing
this for weeks. It is a wonder that so many go to the New World,
seeing as this is the only way they can get there.”

“Cheer up, Stefan. Think of the day when we
have at last found Ian McCloud and killed him. Won’t that be worth
it?”

He sighed then, “Yes, it will be worth it to
see his face when he knows that he is going to die.” Yvonne thought
then of three times that she had made love with Constable Connors.
She would rather have been making this trip with him than with a
wet blanket like Stefan. At least they could pass some enjoyable
time in their quarters. Connors was not bad at all for a human, and
he always was considerate of her feelings when they were together.
In spite of his belief that he was such a ladies’ man, Yvonne found
that to be endearing. She resolved to take up with him again when
they passed through London on their way back to France. There was
the matter of distracting Stefan, but she would have a lot of time
to devise something. She felt affection for Stefan, the closest
thing to love that she was capable of, but he could be a boor at
times too.

She idly wondered how Ian McCloud looked.
She had seen only a tall, mud-smeared man with a beard, wearing all
black clothing. She knew though that she would recognize those eyes
if she ever saw them again. She would never forget their bright
frosty-blue glow.
I will see you again, McCloud. I will see fear
in your eyes one day.

The week before James went to the frontier
was one of great fun for Moon Owl. Ian had bought her a finely
crafted tortoise-shell hair brush, a carved ivory comb, and a large
hand-held pewter-cased mirror. He had taken it to Paul Revere’s
shop to have a folding piece fastened to its back so that it could
be propped up upon a table for her to look at herself when she
arranged her hair. Ian had brushed it that first time, and had
shown her how to arrange it in a bun and pin it properly with
pearled hairpins he had bought for her.

She had loved his attention then, as he
gently brushed her hair, talking of his family and his childhood.
She could still recall the first time Ian had put her hair into a
bun. She had listened raptly to him telling of his early days
sailing on Elsie’s Cloud
,
loving the timbre of his voice,
its gentleness. When he had finished brushing and pinning her hair,
he had gently put his hands on each of her shoulders to center her
in front of the mirror where she could see herself and could see
his face too. He wanted to see her expression when she first saw
her hair done up as white women did theirs. She felt the warmth of
his touch then and a thrill like a gentle current of electricity
passed through her body. She thought
what is happening to me? Am
I coming to love this man?

James had found another bonnet for her to
wear when going into town and she had three dresses now, and two
petticoats to boot as well as a new outer coat of fine cashmere
wool. A new pair of fashionable ladies shoes topped off her
wardrobe. Never had she had so many personal possessions and she
could count on the fingers of one hand the times she had ever so
enjoyed life. She had come well along the road of healing following
the death of her husband and the brutal harrowing events of her
abduction. Bright and vivacious, she now could be found humming
tunes when cleaning their house and laughing at the stories that
Ian and James told. She reminded Ian of a child, coming out of a
horrible situation, even though she was a woman of nineteen years.
As he thought of her, Ian realized how much fun it was to have her
around. He knew that he and James would have endured a dreary
winter without her.

When the time for James’ departure drew
near, he confided to Ian that he was spending his last night in
Boston. He had become quite friendly with a red-haired, petite,
pixie-like tavern wench named Melissa. Although seeing her
regularly while Ian was gone, he had always made sure that Moon Owl
was safely at home with two loaded pistols beforehand.

That evening, James said his goodbyes and
gave them a rough time frame of about two weeks before returning.
Ian had given him a hand-drawn map and had described various
landmarks that he would see along the way. From what Henry Knox had
told him, he was certain that he had made a good guess of where
they would be for James to successfully locate them. They all
embraced then as James left to be with Melissa.

Ian added firewood to the two stoves and
suggested that they go to town the next day or so for flour and
salt. Moon Owl agreed while washing their dishes in a pan of well
water, and he came to dry them and put them on the single shelf in
the kitchen. As they worked, Ian began to tell Moon Owl about his
life somewhat after arriving in France. He told her of meeting
Cosette and falling in love with her and marrying her aboard his
uncle’s ship. Some of their travels were discussed and he told her
of how Cosette had died in a fire, trying to save a child. He spoke
some of Anna and Alyssa and of his good times with all of his
family in France and some of his travels.

They had quickly finished the dishes and
both had sat down at the table. She listened raptly, loving his
voice and the way some of his words often had a unique Scottish
sound, although he was speaking in French. He finally got to where
he told her about Alandra’s death and that Alandra had been the
girl that he and his crewmates had rescued from the pirates. She
only nodded now and then as he spoke, sympathizing with him. This
was the first time ever that she had heard him speak a lot and his
story was compelling.

Finally she asked him if he would brush her
hair. Returning to the table she handed him the brush, sitting in a
chair with her back to him. After taking her hair down, he pulled
up a chair and sat behind her. He began to brush it slowly as she
spoke to him of her life. She had a happy childhood among the
Seneca, complete with many wonderful childhood memories. Her mother
was a native member of the tribe, albeit she was half-white
herself; and her father was a French trapper. He had been killed by
Mohicans and her mother was still alive, living with her people and
had taken a second husband who was a stepfather to her. It was he
who had agreed to let another French trapper take Moon Owl for a
wife, and she had only been married to Jacques, a good-natured
young man, for a few months before being abducted. Ian realized
then that she was one-fourth Seneca, which explained a lot about
her features looking more European than Native American.