Into the Wilderness (97 page)

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*

Alfred
Middleton, onetime trapper and hunter, adventurer, land speculator and property
holder, presently judge in the township of Paradise in the state of New—York,
understood above all things how to play to an audience. This particular
audience was well disposed toward his plight and would come completely over to
his side with very little work at all, if only his son would hold his tongue.
If only it weren't for Hawkeye, who stood watching with that infernal smirk;
always knowing too much and guessing the rest. Standing there like an angel of
God, ready to do battle for Elizabeth.

He
hadn't seen his daughter for three good months, and hadn't expected to see her,
either. Julian's plan, again. She would be easier to persuade that way, or so
his reasoning went. But
Elizabeth
stood before him now with her eyes flashing and her cheeks flushed with color,
and he realized with some surprise that she was pretty, if you could overlook
the impudent way she had of meeting a man's eye. There were other men in the
room who appreciated what they saw, too: the younger ones showed it plainly,
the older ones with swift, guarded glances. The judge wondered for the first
time if Bonner might have married her for something other than the mountain.
The fact that Nathaniel wasn't here hadn't escaped the judge. All at once he
didn't feel quite so comfortable with the door at his back, and he moved
slightly forward.

The
truth was, if it weren't for the land, he would almost be glad to see her wed
to Nathaniel Bonner. She was as strong willed as her mother, but smarter: a bad
combination in any woman, but impossible in a daughter. Maybe Nathaniel could
handle her. God knew Todd hadn't been up to the job.

She
was looking at him now, holding the newspaper out toward him. He would have
blushed, if he had been capable of it. The newspaper had been Julian's idea.
Together they had gone to
Albany
,
and set it all in motion. Although he didn't like it, not at all. If the
Bonners had the Tory Gold, then that fortune was in the family, in a manner of
speaking—and he had no intention of handing it over to the state. In that case,
Elizabeth
had
made a decent match: a man with some money who would look after the land. Not
that he could say so out loud: the men in this room had a fear of the Mohawk
that would outweigh any loyalty they felt toward him. And there was Julian, who
resented everything Elizabeth had, but the mountain most of all.

His
children's voices moved back and forth: the delicate, deadly thrusts of foils
rather than the more blunt no—nonsense of the war club. The judge had been too
long in this country to remember the rules of engagement, but his children had
learned them well in his sister's household. Oh, yes. The men in the room, most
of whom had fought more than one bloody war, watched in horror and amazement at
what damage could be done without knives or firearms. He listened to the
cloaked parry and thrust, and his head ached. The judge wished to be home again
where Curiosity would fix him a hot toddy and he could contemplate his folly in
privacy. He had been foolish, in his anger and hurt pride. He had let Julian
set this plan in motion, even though Curiosity had given him that look, the one
that said that he was moving too fast and would regret it.
You set on stirrin' up a wasps' nest, best know you got some safe place
to run, first.
The judge looked at the faces in the room and he knew he
should have listened to her. Generally, life would be much simpler if he would
just let Curiosity make his decisions. It was Curiosity who told him to keep
out of Todd's investment schemes to start with. She had said straight—out that Richard
Todd would be more trouble than he was worth.

The
door opened and Kitty Witherspoon came in with Nathaniel right behind, proving
Curiosity right once again.

* *
*

There
was a transformation in Kitty; Nathaniel watched it happen as she stepped over the
threshold. Her narrow back straightened and her head held high, she walked
right up to
Elizabeth
.

"I
want to know what you've done to Richard."

The
room was close and full of people, and the mood generated more heat. Both
women's faces were pear led with sweat.

"Who
told you we've done anything at all to Richard Todd?" Elizabeth asked
calmly. Nathaniel sought out her eye, but she was focused on Kitty.

"Richard
went into the bush to serve you with a bench warrant more than three months
ago," she said. "He expected to be back in a month. He promised me
that he would be."

Elizabeth
put her hand on the younger girl's arm. "Because he could not keep one
promise does not mean he will not keep others."

Kitty's
face drained of the little color she had had, and she shook off
Elizabeth
's hand with a
strangled gasp. Stepping back, she came up against the counter.

"What
is keeping him, then?"

For
the first time,
Elizabeth
looked toward Nathaniel. He raised his head, and immediately the attention of
the room was on him. He had few friends here, but his father was at his back,
and Axel stood on the other side of the room with his rifle within reach. He
flexed his hands at his sides, felt the rush of fear and anger thrumming softly
in his fingertips.

"There's
lots of distractions in the bush," Nathaniel said.

Julian
said, "Was your rifle one of them?"

Elizabeth
turned to her brother. "Julian. How good of you to come to the point, as
usual. Since this issue interests everyone here, let me say this clearly. The
last we saw of Richard was in Canada—"

There
was a shifting in the room, a sudden increase of sound.

"He
was injured, but he was recovering."

"Where?"
Kitty's voice was hoarse.

Nathaniel
spoke up for the first time. "Kahen'tiyo."

Kitty
shook her head sharply.

"Richard
would never go to Kahen'tiyo of his own accord. He must have been taken by
force."

"He
was carried, but not by force," Nathaniel said. "The Kahnyen’keháka
saved his life."

"I
don't believe you." Her voice wavered and threatened to break. "He
ran away from the Mohawk and said he would never go back."

"He
didn't have much choice about it, with his injuries."

The
judge stepped forward, clearing his throat in an ominous way. "How did he
get these injuries?" he asked, glancing between Elizabeth and Nathaniel.

"I
didn't shoot him, if that's what you want to know," said Nathaniel. "Didn't
knife him either, or chuck a rock at him, or push him off a cliff. I would
have, you understand, because he came bearing arms against us. But he met with
an accident before we could get down to business."

"Do
you have any proof of this?" Julian asked.

Elizabeth
said, "Robbie could have told you, but he has left for home. The people at
Kahen'tiyo could tell you what we have told you.

Moses
Southern called out, "Who's going to take the word of those Mohawk? Do you
have any white people to speak up for you on this?"

"Robbie
told me the story," said Axel. "just like they're telling it
here."

Moses
waved Axel's evidence away with one thick hand. "But you didn't see him
yourself Metzler. MacLachlan could've been wrong."

"Richard
will find his way home soon enough," Nathaniel said. "I guess you'll
have to settle for his word on it, if he's white enough for you, Moses."

"By
God," called a male voice from the back of the room. "You'd better be
right."

Kitty
held up her hand. "Wait!" she cried. "Wait! I want to know where
Richard is now. I want to know why he didn't come back with you."

Elizabeth
answered her. "Katherine. All we can tell you is that Richard was healing
slowly from his wounds when we last saw him, and that he left the village just
before we did, heading north. He did not tell us why he was going, or
where."

"If
he was injured, he couldn't have traveled on his own," Kitty pointed out.

Elizabeth
flashed a look in Nathaniel's direction. He shook his head slightly, suddenly
fearing what detail she might give Kitty. But it was too late; he saw that
immediately.
Elizabeth
had taken pity on the young woman, and she would do what she could to calm her
fears.

"He
left the village with his brother."

"By
God," said Moses Southern, pushing suddenly toward the counter. "By
God!
You dare to lie in our faces and
think you can get away with it—,"

Nathaniel
had begun to move forward as soon as Moses had, but Anna came between the old
trapper and Elizabeth first, her solid form acting as both a wall and a
battering ram. She put out one muscled arm and gave him a shove.

"Get
out of here if you can't behave no better than that," she shouted. "If
you want to talk civilized, then you step back there and use a suitable tone,
or I'll pick you up and toss you out the door myself Southern. Do you doubt I
can do it?"

Heaving
with anger, Moses looked in turn at Nathaniel and Elizabeth, and then his eyes
skittered quickly through the room, clearly counting allies: Liam Kirby had
slipped out through the back door, but Billy stood watching, his hands on his
belt. Archie Cunningham and Claude Dubonnet stood ready to reach for weapons.
The others, men not clearly on either side of this battle, but none of them well
disposed toward the Mohawk, stood aside waiting to see what would happen.
Nathaniel placed himself slightly in front of
Elizabeth
, and saw Hawkeye coming up on her
other side.

"Samuel
Todd died fighting for the Mohawk fifteen years ago," said Moses Southern.
"Everybody knows that."

"Well,
then," said Hawkeye in an easy tone that set Nathaniel's nerves humming,
for he knew well it meant that his father was on the edge of losing his temper.
"They forgot to tell Samuel to go bury his self because he's alive as you
and me."

Southern
let out a grunt. "Samuel Todd is long dead. And if you're lying about
that, then you're probably lying about the rest of it. Todd is rotting out
there in the bush."

Kitty
made a strangled noise. Furious,
Elizabeth
turned toward Moses Southern.

"If
you insist on calling me a liar again, Mr. Southern, I am afraid you might be
in real danger. You see that my husband and my father—in—law do not take well
to such insults. Now." She looked around the room, her eyes pausing
briefly on Julian, who was leaning against the counter, clearly enjoying the
entire proceeding. Then she found her father near the door, and her eyes
narrowed. "I would like to have your attention. Samuel Todd is alive, I
saw him myself. As is his brother Richard. Both these facts are verifiable, if
you care to make the trip. If you do not, I would ask you to desist in these
ridiculous claims. Father?"

The
judge stepped forward reluctantly.

"I
believe you know something about this advertisement in the newspaper?"

"For
Miss Katherine's sake—”

“How
very gallant of you," Elizabeth said dryly. "To go to such length and
expense. Julian, I expect this was your idea?"

"I
don't like to take all the credit," her brother said, looking
uncomfortable for the first time since he had come in. "Kitty was in a bad
state of mind," he added, and then he had the good grace to flush, his
neck and the tips of his ears mottling red. "Not that it was our fault,
but we thought we might as well be of help."

Elizabeth
turned a glare on Julian; Nathaniel felt her anger rising like the screech of a
hawk before it swooped down on its prey. But it was Kitty who spoke up.

Her
eyes were fixed on Julian as if she had never seen such a creature before. "Julian
Middleton," she said very softly. "I fear for your immortal
soul."

She
held his gaze until he looked away.

Elizabeth
turned to the judge. "Father, are you going to charge us with some crime
against Richard Todd? Because if you are, do it now, please."

There
was an uncomfortable silence.

"Father?"

"No,"
he said then, pursing his lips. "I have nothing to charge you with."

"Do
not sound so very disappointed, Father,"
Elizabeth
said dryly.

The
judge drew himself up to his full height. "Your sarcasm is uncalled for,
Elizabeth. It does you no good credit."

"You
see that marriage has done little to improve me, then."

Nathaniel
saw the tension in her face and in the slight tremble of her hands, and he knew
even if her father did not that she was upset and hurt. He put a hand on her
shoulder.

Kitty
Witherspoon suddenly came to life, pulling her cloak around herself in spite of
the heat. "I have heard enough. Father, please." And she pushed her
way through the crowd with the Reverend Witherspoon close behind her.
Elizabeth
was still
staring at the judge.