Into the Wilderness (95 page)

"And
should they not?"
Elizabeth
asked, made curious by his dire tone.

"Billy
Kirby will be out here, egging on half the village," replied Nathaniel.

At
any other time,
Elizabeth
would have been intrigued enough by this strange answer to ask more questions,
but as they approached her schoolhouse she found herself jumpy and at odds. On
her first visit here in the last week the sight of the cornfield in rubble and
ashes had made very clear the animosity they faced.

As
they approached the building she relaxed. The new wood, hardly weathered in the
few months, shone butter—yellow in the misting rain. Curiosity's muslin
curtains hung at all the windows, and there was no sign of mischief since she
had been here two days ago with Hannah to bring more books and sweep.
Automatically she felt for the reassuring shape of the key, which she kept
always in her pocket. On Monday she would hold school again, although she knew
she could count with assurance on only five students: Hannah, Anna Hauptmann's
two, and the McGarritys' boys.

Jed
and Nancy McGarrity had come up to
Lake
in the
Clouds to tell her so, carrying a bushel of plums between them which they put
down on the porch. Jed took off his battered cap and squinted sideways at her,
his long, homely face set in a frown. There were flecks of red on his cheeks
above his beard. "My Nancy's pa didn't take to me, either, when we got
married," he said. "And we done well enough, never caused nobody
harm." He nudged his wife, who had not looked up from her own dusty bare
feet.

"We'd
be pleased if you'd take the plums in payment for the summer's schooling for
our boys," she said so softly that
Elizabeth
had trouble hearing.

"Ian
and Rudy are welcome in my classroom,"
Elizabeth
had answered with all the dignity
she could muster. She knew that these two, in their best dress and scrubbed to
a shiny pink to pay this visit, would not understand her urge to hug them both
in gratitude. "And thank you kindly for the plums. I am sure we will be
glad of them in the winter."

Now
Elizabeth
anticipated the
first day of school with less trepidation, knowing she would have students,
even if they were few.

They
came around the corner and she felt Nathaniel jerk in surprise, pulling her out
of her daydreaming. Over his shoulder she saw that some papers had been nailed
to the door. Protected as they were under the eaves they had remained almost
dry, but they flapped weakly in the wind.

Nathaniel
put a hand on her arm, but she shook him off with a frown, and went up the
three steps to the door. She tore the newsprint down with a jerk, leaving the
nail behind. Turning slowly to Hawkeye and Nathaniel, she finally raised her
head.

"Well?"
said Hawkeye finally.

She
cleared her throat twice. "From an Albany paper, dated yesterday. And she
read out loud:

REWARD

Today Secretary of the State Treasury
Morris opens an inquiry into the matter of funds stolen more than Thirty years
ago. In the aftermath of the siege of Fort William Henry and the subsequent
Savage Massacre of the retreating British and Militia troops by French forces
and their Godless Indian allies, a cask of gold coins was stolen from the Fort
for transport to Montreal, but never reached its destination.

The Government of this State has claimed
the fortune of some Five Thousand Guineas as payment and restitution for
expenses and losses suffered by the Citizens of New—York in fighting France for
George II.

Long believed Irretrievably Lost in the
heart of the Wilderness, a reliable Source has reported a sighting of the
unusual five—guinea gold pieces in recent circulation. Any report of these
coins should be brought immediately to Secretary Morris at his offices in
Albany. A Reward will be made to Persons contributing to the safe return of the
monies to the State Treasury.

"Well,
goddamn the judge for an old fox." There was something of admiration in
Hawkeye's voice.

"What's
the other one?" Nathaniel asked.

Elizabeth
read
again, this time her voice wavering in anger:

MISSING
PERSON

Sought: Any reliable word on the
whereabouts and condition of Dr. Richard Todd of Albany and Paradise. He was
last seen going into the bush some eight weeks ago near Fish House. Information
should be directed to Judge Middleton of Paradise, concerned friend of Dr.
Todd, and representative of his affianced, Miss Katherine Witherspoon. Foul
play is feared.

Elizabeth
crumpled the newspaper in her fist. "It's time to speak up."

Nathaniel
raised a brow in surprise. "I thought we were on our way to do that."

"It's
time to speak up in public view," Elizabeth said. "Or they will
charge one or both of us with murder. Hawkeye, can you fetch my father to the
trading post?"

Hawkeye
grinned. "Trussed like a Christmas turkey, if need be."

For a
moment,
Elizabeth
thought. These men before her were so much alike not just in their appearance
and posture, but also in their simple willingness to listen to her, and what
she had to say. It was a great blessing, and she blinked a brief prayer of
thanksgiving.

"Julian
should be there, too," said Nathaniel. "Your father didn't come up
with this plan on his own."

She
shot him a startled look; he knew her brother better than she had thought. "Yes,
of course you are right."

Hawkeye
shrugged, wiping the rain from his face. "Shouldn't be too much
trouble."

"Then
I'll go fetch Kitty," Nathaniel said.

"Yes,
we need Kitty," agreed Elizabeth. "Affianced of Dr. Richard
Todd."

"By
God." Hawkeye laughed out loud, slapping his leg. "And I was starting
to fear that you two had lost your spunk out there in the bush."

Nathaniel
came up the steps, crooked a finger under Elizabeth's chin, and turned her face
up to his. "You feeling up to this?"

"Oh,
please." She grabbed his wrist and held it away from her. "Nathaniel,
it would be dangerous to let this foolishness grow out of all proportion."

There
was a satisfied flashing in his eyes. Her plait was gone, subjugated into a
neat roll on the back of her head, so Nathaniel settled for tugging on her
earlobe.

"Just
as you say, Boots. So let's get a move on."

"Wait,"
Elizabeth said. "I'm confused about something first."

Nathaniel
glanced at his father, who shrugged.

"If
you paid my father's agent for this schoolhouse with the five—guinea pieces,
then he must be the 'reliable source' referred to here." She held up the
crumpled newspaper. "But if so, my father would have to turn those coins
over to this Mr. Morris. I cannot imagine him so set on punishing me that he
would willingly hand his money over to the Treasury."

Hawkeye
squinted up at her. "You've got a keen eye for detail, woman, and you know
your father pretty well. I don't doubt you're right; he wouldn't want to hand
over the gold, if he had it."

"But
of course he has at least some of it." She was overcome with sudden sense
of dread.

"Nathaniel.
You did pay my father for this land with the gold?"

Nathaniel
said, "Let's go inside."

* *
*

The
schoolhouse smelled of raw wood and beeswax and the great bunch of wild lilies
Hannah had arranged in a vase. An errant moth bumped sleepily against the
closed window, which provided a view of the marsh and the lake, pretty even in
the rain. The sun struggled to break through, touching the forest here and
there tentatively. But
Elizabeth
's
whole concentration was on Nathaniel. She pushed back her hood, and looked him
straight in the eye.

"You
did pay my father for this land with the Tory Gold?" she repeated.

"Not
exactly, Boots," said Nathaniel. "Couldn't risk putting those coins
into circulation. Once Chingachgook made up his mind to spend the gold, he gave
us leave to spend what we needed to get the mountain—”

“But
not to hand over the coin, because that would have brought the treasury down
our necks," continued Hawkeye. "But then it turned out there wasn't
time to melt the gold down before you two took off for Albany—”

“Because
we left three days earlier than expected." She finished his thought for
him, remembering quite clearly the hurried, hushed conversations between the
men when she had come to
Lake
in the Clouds in
the middle of the night. Another thought occurred to her.

"You
knew about my father's debts to Richard Todd, or you wouldn't have been
planning on taking the gold with us when we left."

Hawkeye
said, "We had a pretty good idea. Your father don't exactly keep his
troubles close to the vest.

The
tic in Nathaniel's cheek was fluttering hard. "Are you angry?"

"I'm
too confused to be angry yet."
Elizabeth
walked to the other side of the room, and then back again, deep in thought. The
men watched her, while they dripped rainwater onto the polished floor.

"There
is a very obvious question. If you did not use my aunt's gift, or
Chingachgook's gold, what bought this place, then, and paid off Richard
Todd?" Her voice strained high and then broke.
 
"The mythical gold mine on Hidden
Wolf?"

Nathaniel
ran a hand through his hair in the way he had when he was trying to puzzle
through a problem, and the dim light caught his earring with a spark. Spinning
silver in a heavy elongated drop. Similar in design to the one Hawkeye wore,
similar to the mass of silver and copper necklaces and and bangles and knee
bands all the Kahnyen’keháka wore.

"There
is a mine," she said, sitting down heavily.

"Well,
not a gold mine, at any rate." Hawkeye's tone bordered on the apologetic.

"Copper?
Silver? Diamonds?" She was close to hysterical laughter.

"Silver,"
said Nathaniel. "The Kahnyen’keháka knew about it before the Europeans
came."

She
drew in a deep breath.

"Aha.
Since you could not risk the gold guineas, you took the silver when we left for
Albany, and traded it for cash. Which in turn paid the debts. How long have you
been mining the silver exactly?"

Nathaniel
blinked. "Ten years, maybe."

"And
you take it out . . . ?"

"Bears
takes it out one canoe trip at a time."

His
tone was calm, but his eyes were hooded with worry.

"Let
me see if I understand," she said, quite softly. "My aunt
Merriweather's gift, those two thousand pounds, that has not been
touched?"

"It's
earning interest."

"And
there is the output from the mine, which is . . ."

He
shrugged. "I'd say there's maybe twenty thousand dollars by now."

"Nineteen
five," corrected Hawkeye. "But it ain't ours, not really. Bears looks
after it, sees to it that it gets distributed among the Kahnyen’keháka. What we
borrowed from the silver money in the spring we'll pay back when you two go to
Albany you can take care of that, too."

"I
see. With the gold, I presume. There are one thousand five—guinea gold
pieces?"

"Closer
to fifteen hundred," said Hawkeye, grinning now.

With
an incoherent sound of surrender,
Elizabeth
put her face in her hands. After a long minute, she looked up.

"I
married for money."

Nathaniel
glanced at his father, and then at her. "It looks that way, Boots. Do you
mind very much?"

She
laughed. "I'm not sure. I will have to become accustomed to the idea before
I can say." She found her handkerchief and wiped her brow with it. "If
my father or brother should find out about the mine—"

Hawkeye
grunted. "It would get loud around here," he said. "And it might
complicate things in Albany, down the line."

"Of
course we must go to
Albany
,
soon, to settle our agreement on this place." Elizabeth paused to look
around herself. "But how is that relevant?"

Nathaniel
said, "There's still that bench warrant issued for you. The mine would
make things look suspicious."

Elizabeth
came
to stand in front of him, so that she had to raise her head to look into his
eyes. She was close enough to feel the heat of him. "Did you marry me to
get this mine, Nathaniel Bonner?"