Into the Wilderness (104 page)

"I
for one am glad that you have kept your heads," she said. "And I see
no reason that you should not make a home here for yourselves. But I am an
immigrant myself, of course. It is easy to be generous with that which one does
not possess." She hesitated, and Nathaniel knew she was wondering who
might now be living on those lands these men had so easily claimed for their
own.

Desjardins
raised a hand in a conciliatory gesture. "Madame, I beg you to excuse my
colleague's temper. It has been a difficult process, trying to make our way in
this country. Last week we rented a carriage from a livery not so very far from
here, at the cost of one dollar per day—"

"That
is a reasonable price," interjected van der Poole, his hands folded across
his ample belly and his head resting comfortably on his goiter.

"Yes,
indeed. But not until we returned the rig were we told that we owed another
dollar each day for the use of the horse. A miserable animal I might add, prone
to crow—hop."

Nathaniel
cleared his throat. "Let me guess. That would have been Morgan Blake's
livery on Black Creek."

The
Frenchmen glanced at each other. "You see, Mr. Bonner. We require the
assistance of a good guide, an informed man with experience, if we are to make
a home for ourselves and our families."

"You
do," Nathaniel agreed. "But I ain't the right man for that job."

"Can
we not tempt you and your good lady with land? We have two hundred thousand
acres of prime forest and pastureland, on the shores of
Lake
Ontario
—"
Pharoux's enthusiasm rose as quickly as his temper.

"The
survey is not complete," interrupted Desjardins. "But we have every
reason to believe that the property is as it has been described to us. We call
our settlement Castorland, for we are told that there is a great abundance of
beaver. Would you not be interested in joining us to expand your
holdings?"

Nathaniel
felt van der Poole's attention focusing on him, waiting to see how he would
react to this offer of yet more land, when he had just married into a thousand
acres.

"We
are well settled where we are," Nathaniel said. "I'm sure the judge
can recommend a good man who's interested in going west."

The
servant approached with a platter of beef, and Desjardins took generous
portion. "We are on our way tomorrow to visit Mr. Schuyler at
Saratoga
. He has a guide
in mind, I am told."

Elizabeth
's
eyes darted between the men; Nathaniel could almost see her thoughts, the
questions rising like bubbles to the surface, but her cousin stepped in with a
question before she could find a way to get started.

"Speaking
of travel, when wilt thou return to
Paradise
?"
Hench asked. "Perhaps I could travel with thee. I have a few days, and I would
like to visit with the rest of the family there."

Nathaniel
made it clear to Samuel Hench that he was more than welcome to accompany them
to
Paradise
, if he had his own horse and cared
to leave tomorrow.

"So
soon?" asked the judge, sitting forward. "You've only been in Albany
two days."

"We
need to be at home," Nathaniel said. He shifted uncomfortably. Having
called the afternoon's dream to mind, he could not easily put it away again.

"We
have heard nothing yet of your travels through the bush, Mrs. Bonner."

Pharoux's
fork clattered onto his plate. "You have traveled through the bush,
madame?"

"Mrs.
Bonner has been all the way to
Canada
and back again," the judge offered.

"But
this is wonderful!" cried Desjardins. "My wife planned to stay behind
because we heard that the journey was too arduous for women. But perhaps if you
would speak to her, Mrs. Bonner—”

“I
would tell her to stay with her children in
Albany
." Elizabeth's fingers strained
white on the stem of her wineglass. "I would tell her to wait until you
and your colleagues have made a suitable home for her."

Desjardins'
face fell.

"It
was difficult for thee then, cousin?" Samuel Hench's question was fueled
by concern rather than bald curiosity, and in response the line of
Elizabeth
's jaw softened,
and she lowered her chin.

"It
was the most difficult and the most important experience of my life," she
said. "I will never be the same again."

"I
see thy mother in thy nature," Hench said with a distant smile. "In
thee is the same combination of fire and ice that ruled her, and in the end
caused her to leave the Life to join Alfred Middleton in the wilderness."

The
room fell quiet at this, and he seemed to realize what he had said. He bowed
his head.

"Pardon
me, cousin. I am too familiar."

"No,
not at all."
Elizabeth
's
voice was hoarse. "My mother may have left the Friends to marry my father,
but she stayed a Quaker in her heart. Enough so that I value the truth, and
would not have you apologize for speaking it."

Judge
van der Poole said, "Since we are speaking so plainly to one another, and
have come to such an understanding, then perhaps Mrs. Bonner will satisfy my
curiosity. I know I have not been very clever in disguising it. Jack Lingo has
long been a problem to us all, and I would like to know if I can thank you for
removing that particular thorn from my side. Will you tell us what happened to
you?"

Nathaniel
watched her over the edge of his wineglass. She might simply silence the judge
with a withering look, but some part of him hoped that she would not. It would
do her good, to tell this story in this small group of men who were ready and
even eager to find favor with her. Maybe then she could be done with this
business, finally. She sought out his gaze.

"Boots,"
he said, as if they were alone. "It's your story to tell."

And
so she told it, slowly at first with hesitations that had all of the men in the
room leaning forward, their eyes reflecting candlelight and curiosity. She
searched out her words carefully, looking down into her lap at times with a
small frown. At the worst of it, she crossed her arms across her belly and met
Nathaniel's eye. When she was finished, there was a small silence. Even the
servants seemed to be paralyzed, until the judge gestured for more wine.

"Mrs.
Bonner," began Desjardins in a subdued voice. "You are an amazing
woman, if I may say so. But there is one thing you have not told us, and if I
do not ask I will always be curious."

She
raised a brow, not directly in encouragement, but neither did she turn away.

"What
happened to Dutch Ton, as you call him? Did you find his body in the clearing
when you returned there with your young Mohawk friend?"

"No,"
she said. "We did not. Otter found his trail, but there was no time to
follow it. Dutch Ton is either dead in the bush, or he will make himself known
one day."

"Does
this frighten you?" asked Samuel Hench.

She
shook her head. "He saved my life, once. I don't have any reason to
believe that he would come after me in anger."

But
Nathaniel had seen her tilt her chin like that before, and he knew how to read
her anxiety. Maybe better than she did herself.

* * *

Samuel
Hench accompanied them back to the Schuyler estate under a velvet dark sky. Van
der Poole had lent them a lantern, and it swung back and forth on its handle
with a steady squeak. Walking in a bobbing pool of light with the men on either
side of her,
Elizabeth
enjoyed the fresh night air after the long hours in close company, as tired as
she was. Samuel Hench was a surprise, but a pleasant one, and she wished for
more time to spend with him.

"Didst
thou not wish to talk to me of a business matter, cousin?"

She
felt Nathaniel's surprise even though his face gave none of it away.

Elizabeth
began slowly. "You are still in the Life?"

"I
am."

"I
would like to engage your help in a fairly delicate matter." She paused. "To
be blunt, I would like you to act as my agent where I need to remain anonymous.
The first step is to provide you with the necessary funds, and the second step
is that you stop in
Johnstown
and visit a black smithy in the vicinity of the courthouse. Then there is more
business of the same kind for you in
Paradise
with a slave holder by the name of Glove, if you will see this through to the
end."

She
laid out her plan. Even in the simplest terms, it sounded fantastic and, she
feared, self—interested. But for many weeks, even for months, she had been
wondering how best to do what she felt she must do, and now that there was no
lack of funds, and a means to her end, she could not be still. If Nathaniel
objected to the large amount of money she proposed to spend, there was no sign
of it. She thought that if she dared look at him she might even find him
smiling.

Her
cousin was another matter. It was a large plan, and perhaps too ambitious.
Unfortunately, his face stayed in shadow and she could not judge his reaction.

"Thou
realizes that each of the men will bring a price of somewhere around three
hundred dollars? Is the blacksmith well trained?"

"I
expect that he is, I have no direct knowledge of him." Elizabeth stopped
and put something in Samuel Hench's hand, "When you speak to him alone,
please call him Joshua, and give him this." The pale stone in the center
of Joe's bijou flashed once in the lantern light. "If he would like to
come see us in Paradise, we will tell him what we know of the death of the man
who gave us this for him."

Samuel
Hench nodded thoughtfully. "I will invite him to accompany me to Paradise,
if he so chooses. I understand that the two young slaves at the Glove mill can
read and write, and keep books. And they are skilled managers?"

"That
is perhaps a bit too much to claim, but they are both capable and hard workers,
and with considerable talents."

Nathaniel's
silence was becoming more noticeable. She tried to gauge his mood with a
sideways glance, and saw him lost in thought. Samuel Hench was concerned with
the details of the task she set before him, and seemed not to notice.

"Just
two more issues, cousin. First, there are no further directions for me on the
matter of the others, just that three young women be given their freedom. Have
I understood thee correctly?"

She
nodded. "I will leave the matter of who, and under what circumstances to
your discretion. I do not wish to know any names, unless this becomes necessary
for some other reason. But it is quite important to me that for each of the
young men who are given their freedom, one young woman is given the same
opportunity."

There
was another long and comfortable silence. Finally Samuel Hench stopped, and
turned to them.

"Nathaniel,
how dost thou feel about this plan of thy wife's? It will cost something close
to two thousand dollars before it is done."

"We
can afford it," Nathaniel said easily. "At the moment, at any
rate."

She
squeezed his arm thankfully and said nothing.

"Well,
then. It is a worthwhile undertaking and I will make it my Cause, under one
condition. The young women will need support after they are released. Help
setting up a home, and provisions, and some kind of meaningful work. Husbands,
eventually. I will take on responsibility for their settling well, after thy
funds have bought their freedom."

Elizabeth
nodded without hesitation. "That would be a relief to me. I do not mind so
much how it is done, cousin, as long as it is done. And as long as it is done
without knowledge of my—or our—participation. I do not wish these people to
feel any obligation to us and I do not want to further complicate our position
in
Paradise
. We have enough to deal with as it
is.

Samuel
Hench smiled, finally. "If thy purpose were not wholly laudable, cousin, I
might be tempted to call thee devious."

Elizabeth
felt
Nathaniel's arm tense under her hand. She thought he would laugh out loud at
this, and was preparing to pinch him when she realized that his attention was
suddenly focused elsewhere. At first
Elizabeth
heard nothing but the river and the night wind in the corn, but the hair on her
arms and the nape of her neck rose and she felt the danger there in the pit of
her belly, as keenly as she felt the child rise and kick weakly in protest at
her sudden silence.

Hench
wore no weapons, but Nathaniel's rifle made a solid enough sound as he swung it
into his hands.

"Who
goes there?" His voice traveled in the dark like an arrow.

"It's
me, Nathaniel," came a female voice from the darkness behind the Schuylers'
gate. Many-Doves appeared in the circle of lantern light. "Put that down,
for God's sake. I've been waiting for hours. That old Dutch woman wouldn't tell
me where you were."