Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (17 page)

“Ian, isn’t that a naughty thing to do, to
deceive all of those people just to take an Indian woman to a
dance?”

Chuckling then he nodded in agreement as he
spread the two blankets before the larger of the two stoves,
opening its doors to allow the dancing light of the fire to
illuminate the cabin. He drew her to him and tenderly kissed her,
moving his lips to her ear, and gently down the curve of her throat
as he murmured “I have something else naughty in mind right now,
Miss Orleans.”

Moon Owl gave a throaty little laugh and
said “You had better show me then, and it had better be right
away.” They made love then on the floor before the parlor stove as
the fire crackled cheerfully. Dancing shadows were cast all about
the interior of the cabin as the wind whispered softly about the
windowpanes, blending with their soft whispers of love.

***

Cosette embraced each of the officers of
Elsie’s Cloud, saying her goodbyes and thanking them all. She
stopped to talk briefly with each, sharing a remembered moment with
each of them. They smiled warmly to a man, even old Gunny; and more
than a few of them were a bit teary-eyed. They had truly embraced
Cosette on the long voyage, and now greatly appreciated her as a
personal friend and not only as the wife of their dear friend, Ian.
Lastly she turned to Angus and smiling sweetly she embrace him as
well, saying “We will find him, Angus. I won’t rest until we
do.”

Grasping her shoulders he peered into her
exquisite gray eyes, saying “Aye lassie, that you will, I have no
doubt. And it really is a good thing for Stuart to stay here with
you. I am glad he volunteered now that I have had time to get used
to the idea.”

Stuart then stepped forward, embracing his
uncle in a mighty bear hug. They slapped each other on their backs
heartily as Angus gave a forced smile. “I will deliver all of the
letters to Mr. Milliken as soon as we get to London, and his bank
couriers will get those that have to do with the Lafayette family
to them. Milliken is a good man for us to have in London, and with
you two here, we will have this mystery solved soon enough. May God
bless you and all of your efforts, Cosette.”

“God bless you Angus” she said and turning
to the officers assembled she said “And God bless all of you.
Goodbye.” She waved farewell once and then turned and walked down
the gangplank with Stuart.

In only minutes the gangplank was withdrawn.
Angus called “Cast off!” and immediately some twenty crewman pushed
Elsie away from the dock with long poles, as likewise twelve dock
workers did from the dock itself. “Drop mainsails!” The crew aloft
untied and dropped the mainsails with a series of ‘whump’ sounds,
and then they billowed full, propelling Elsie out from the loading
dock.

The two stood waving as Elsie made her way
out into the harbor, turning gracefully out to sea as the rest of
her sails were unfurled. In a quarter hour, she appeared to be no
larger than a rowboat as she moved toward the southeast toward the
Narrows.

***

Rebecca Davis sat in the parlor of the
Millhouse home with her friend Laura and her mother and Aunt
Thelma. They had been discussing news of the war and having
tea.

Rebecca said “But remember now that in
August the King officially declared that the colonies were in
rebellion, and again formally denied them representation. They
officially had said that they wanted reconciliation with the King
and for him to enforce the British Constitution and allow them
representation in Parliament. Now we hear that he has reinforced
that declaration and declared all of the members of the Congress as
traitors. This war now will not be concluded peacefully.”

“But dear, surely there is still hope for a
negotiated end of this war.”

Laura spoke then, saying “Aunt Thelma,
already the colonists control nearly all of the land and
population, and the new congress is winning people to their side
daily. I hear it openly spoken in the marketplaces when I am out. I
am certain that we will be at war here for some years to come now.
The colonists are more and more feeling as if their backs are to
the wall over this.”

Rebecca spoke again saying “Do not forget
that France, Spain, and even the Dutch would not miss a chance to
get a piece of North America back if they see an opportunity. What
if the continental army can hold on long enough to entice one or
more of those countries to attack?”

“Oh dear now do not forget that we British
have beaten them before and….” The sound of the massive brass door
knocker interrupted her but Rebecca said “I will get it Aunt
Thelma. She was so close to Laura that for years she had been
encouraged to refer to Thelma as ‘Aunt Thelma’ although they were
not related at all.

Rebecca was at the door before the butler
could get to it, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw a tall,
dark-haired young man standing behind a beautiful lady wearing a
broad-brimmed hat. Quickly she pulled open the massive door
exclaiming “Ian!” as she stepped quickly outside smiling. Suddenly
stopping she realized that the tall man was not Ian, although he
looked like him. She said “Please excuse me. I thought that you
were someone else.” Turning to Cosette, she said “Hello, I am
Rebecca Davis. You must want to see Mrs. Millhouse. Please come in
and I’ll get her.”

Cosette smiled sweetly and said “Hello Miss
Davis. I am Cosette McCloud, Ian’s wife.”

Rocketing to the west in the faltering
light, Ian replayed the events of the past week in his mind. He was
growing from having an affectionate regard for Moon Owl to loving
her. She had been as glad to see James return as he had, and had
enthusiastically embraced learning to dance the minuet to music at
last. She would take turns dancing with James and Ian as either
would play the violin.

Their excursions into Boston were always
greatly looked forward to by Moon Owl and she was a delightful
companion. These forays were more serious affairs for both James
and Ian, what with their preoccupation with being wanted by the
British High Command, so they were always a bit tense and keenly
observant on these occasions.

Ian smiled as he thought about how childlike
she was in some ways. He had come to love seeing her reaction as
she might see something that she had never seen before. No doubt
she was a far different person than the broken dispirited woman
they had rescued that night in September. She had become
delightfully vivacious and engaging, curious about everything new
to her.

He had a dread of parting from her when he
would take her to the Seneca people, and he felt guilt at how
intimate they had become. Nonetheless, even that was a part of her
healing when taken in context with the brutality of her captivity.
He supposed it was all for the better for her, but he still felt
bad that she would be hurting when they finally did part. And he
did not deny that he did not want to part from her at all, but he
knew that he could never focus on what needed doing if he had to
worry about her well-being when he was away. Given the
circumstances it was for the best that she stay with her
people.

It was dark now and Ian topped a ridge,
rocketing along the top of it toward its highest point and stopping
briefly to shed his pack, rucksack and rifle he leapt into a tall
balsam tree and in seconds was near its top peering all about. It
turned out that this was a good place to stop for a good look,
because he saw campfires back the way he had come, but a bit
further south.

Now down and moving toward the camp some
three miles away, he began to seek game. Within a half hour he
detected the scent of deer. In only minutes he had narrowed the
location down to a dense thicket with snow drifted up around its
southern side. He silently glided to within a few yards of some
eight deer, and sprang like lightning, snapping the neck of the
largest, being a mature buck. The others scattered, but he easily
ran down two more and cleanly broke their necks.

After filling his copper flasks, he quickly
loaded and discharged his pistol into one’s head. Cutting down a
spruce tree with the steel tomahawk at his belt, he trimmed it and
then he found some elm saplings to strip bark for tying two of his
kills to transport them. Field-dressing all three, he then hung the
buck in plain sight. He would take the two does into camp and send
two men back to find the buck in the morning, if wolves didn’t find
it first. Shooting another one in its head then, he picked up the
load and bounded away toward the encampment, still a good mile
away. Stopping before getting there, he shot the last doe in the
head. This way all three would be apparently killed with head shots
for all appearances. There was already enough incredulity at the
hunting skills both he and James had displayed so this was
necessary to keep suspicions at bay.

Smelling the sentry before he could even
hear Ian approach, he hailed him in a loud voice. “Hello the camp!
Ian McCloud here. Permission to approach.”

“Approach and keep your hands in sight” said
the sentry.”

As Ian came into his view, the sentry saw a
man carrying a sizeable pole with two deer carcasses hanging from
it, along with a pack and rifle to boot. “By Heaven McCloud, you
have a load there!” Turning he hollered to the camp for help and in
under two minutes some four men were there to take the game.

As Ian entered the camp, he saw the gigantic
figure of Henry Knox approaching him. “Ian, you are back, and not
empty-handed either. We heard the shots and didn’t know who could
be hunting so close to sundown.”

“Guilty Henry” said Ian with a dazzling
smile.

Approaching Ian, Knox extended his hand in
greeting. “We might have known it was either you or James. How have
you been?”

“Fine sir. Did you know that the king has
reinforced his declaration that we are in rebellion and that all
participants will be treated as seditionists?”

“Well good for Johnny Bull! Wait until he
hears what we do to his fleet with these cannon and he will really
have something to keep him awake at night.” He roared with laughter
at his own joke then, slapping Ian heartily on the back.

The last day before leaving, he had made a
crude sketch of all of the ships anchored in Boston’s harbor. He
had labeled them as to supply ships, frigates, and men of war too,
and had estimated the number of cannon on each. He gave that to
Henry and also told him news of the fighting in the southern
Colonies as he and James had heard of it at some of the local
taverns and at a church one Sunday morning.

Knox invited Ian to his tent then and looked
at the drawing and estimates. After studying it for around a
minute, he removed his spectacles and looked at Ian with a grin
saying “This is good work Ian. Valuable information, but it may be
that some of our people there in Boston have sent this to General
Washington already.”

“Did you know that Hessian mercenaries have
arrived?”

Knox’s eyebrows rose as he replied “No.”

“I saw them in New York in August but they
never debarked from the ship I saw. Maybe they were sent to Boston,
but I didn’t see them on the streets there.”

“Hmmm. Sounds like the King can’t get enough
Englishmen to fight so he is hiring help. That is a good sign, Ian.
Let them borrow and spend themselves to death then. I will send
word to General Washington about what you have seen. He may know of
it already though. Say, when we get closer to Boston, I could use
you for carrying messages. Will you consider that?”

Nodding, he thought
we are still wanted
in New York City and the British have taken over our bank building
there for quartering troops. I am of a mind to make them as
uncomfortable as I can.

“Good, good! I need men who can move about
as quickly as you two.”

“I will be gone before daylight, Henry. I
have a lot of snares set and I want to beat the coyotes and wolves
to the rabbits I caught.”

“Snares? When did you do that?”

Ian continued to lie to him then saying “I
have known where you were all day and I stayed busy setting snares.
I got lucky around sunset getting those deer. Oh, by the way there
is a buck strung up out there and someone needs to fetch it in the
morning if wolves haven’t gotten it. I will leave you a sketch of
where to find it by a creek.”

“You are not idle for a minute, Ian. By
Heaven we are lucky that you and James came along. We were not
eating nearly as well until you two showed up.”

“Now Henry, I would have never guessed that,
looking at you.”

Knox threw back his head and laughed,
slapping his thigh.

Finishing the map Ian looked up and smiled
“Good night, Henry” he said as he handed him the sketch.

“Good night Ian and thank you.”

Two hours before daylight, he quietly left
the camp, stopping to give the sentry a hot cup of tea on the way
out. He had only his rucksack, a knife and tomahawk, having left
his rifle and pack behind. Within two hours he had twenty seven
rabbits hanging on a spruce pole and was returning to camp. He was
greeted enthusiastically by several of the men then, as he turned
the game over to the camp cook.

Henry Knox approached him then saying “You
were not joking about those snares! Ian, we have a stream to cross
and we need to find the best place. Can you go ahead and find one
for us today?”

“I will, Henry.”

“How many men do you need to take along
then?”

“None. I will rejoin you before dark.” He
turned then to get his belongings and soon he was seen trotting out
of camp toward the southeast.

Ian loved being in the American wilderness.
The sheer size of the great hardwood trees amazed him. He had never
seen trees as old or as large as these in America. In Europe and
England, trees of this size had long since been cut down. He rarely
thought of Alandra or her tragic death now with so much to occupy
his thoughts. It was rare though that he made a kill and did not
remember the first time Cosette showed him how to do that and how
to feed properly. At times when so occupied, he would feel a great
sadness envelop him, almost as an unwanted blanket. The ghosts of
his past memories sometimes invaded his thoughts unbidden, but not
nearly as often as in past months. If there was one thing that he
had been right about, it was that coming to the New World would
occupy his mind enough to drive most of those unwanted moments
away. Laughing to himself he had to admit that he hadn’t thought of
being a man wanted for sedition as being a part of that
preoccupation.