Land of the Free (43 page)

“Thank you, sir.”

March 12, 1813

Presque Isle Bay,
Pennsylvania

Presque Isle on the
southwest shore of Lake Erie was connected to Pennsylvania by a
narrow reef that the locals called a causeway.

Yank arrived at the factory
docks after the first shift was at work and waited for Percy to see
him.

“Colonel.” Percy hurried
toward him and offered his hand.

“Commandant.” Yank shook the
younger man’s hand.

“You nearly beat the courier
in getting here,” Percy said. “I just got the message about your
impending visit yesterday evening. It was quite a
shock.”

“A shock? Why?”

“Well, sir, perhaps you were
unaware – that is… You were reported killed in action at Fort
Detroit.”

“Yes, someone else told me
that.” Yank gestured toward the ships under construction. “This is
very impressive.”

“We’re in a race with the
British.” He looked around, then lowered his voice. “I didn’t
really apologize properly to you – that morning - in New Jersey.
I’m truly and deeply sorry for the wrong I did. Now, looking back
on it, it seems as if I must have been possessed by a
demon.”

Yank decided it would be
best not to comment.

Percy was at a loss for
words for a moment. “I’m married, you know?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, indeed.” He nodded
vigorously. “It will be two years in May. May
5
^th
,
in fact. Two years.”

“Well.
Congratulations.”

“My wife is the former
Elizabeth Chapman of Newport, Rhode Island. I believe you know the
family.”

“No.” Yank shook his head.
“I don’t think I’ve had that honor.”

“Ah. Perhaps it was your
father of whom they spoke.”

“Perhaps. Is your wife here
with you?”

“No, no. I feared that the
winter here would be too harsh but she will be joining me in May.
In fact, we are planning an anniversary celebration in May. Do you
think you will still be here, Colonel? It would be our very great
pleasure if you could attend.”

“I should be gone and out of
your hair in a few days, Commandant,” Yank replied.

“I was wondering,” Percy
began. “That is…”

“You have nothing to fear
from me, sir. The President wanted a firsthand account of this
facility.”

“Oh. I thought perhaps it
might be to evaluate me.”

“I have no doubt of your
competence, Commandant, and I am certain that I will discover
nothing to change my opinion while I am here.”

“I know there’s some
suspicion about my appointment here, given my personal friendship
with Commodore Chauncey.”

“Is there?” Yank said,
shaking his head. “That is truly a shame.” He gestured toward the
shipyard. “Could you perhaps assign someone the task to show me
around?”

“I am only too happy to show
you myself.”

“That’s very
kind.”

~

Alexander Percy used his key
to unlock the door of the house he was renting. “Marina?” He peered
into the dark entry hall. “Marina?”

“Stop shouting and close the
door,” she whispered.

He pushed the door shut.
“What is wrong with you? Do you think he’d follow me home in order
to see if I was living with his wife?”

She lit a candle. “Did you
lock the door?”

“Marina…”

“Lock the door,
Alexander.”

He shot the bolt. “You
really must calm down.” He took the candle from her and used it to
light an oil lamp, then he walked into the parlor.

Marina followed him in and
made sure that the window curtains were tightly closed. “What did
he say?”

“He said he would be here
for one or two more days.”

“What else did he
say?”

“He said that the President
wanted a report about the shipyard, but I am most certainly the
target. My friendship with Isaac Chauncey has made me
suspect.”

“Will you stop,” she
complained. “This has nothing to do with your military career. He
has come to kill us for our adulterous behavior.”

“That’s
ridiculous.”

“Do you not find it an
extraordinary coincidence that my husband would turn up here at
this exact moment in time?”

“We have been here together
for nearly three months, Marina. Why would he wait?”

“He’s been held as a
prisoner of war by the British until very recently. That is why
everyone thought he was dead.”

“Where did you hear
that?”

“In town today.”

“You asked about your
husband in town?”

“Don’t call him
that.”

“What should I call him
then?”

“Something else.”

Percy thought for a moment.
“What if I just told him?”

“Told him what?”

“That you thought he was
dead when you came here.”

“Do you plan to tell him
that you’re married?”

“I have done,” he said. “I
did so when first we met.”

“Then my believing him dead
does little to excuse me of adultery.”

“It does a great deal to
curb what may his murderous reaction to learning that we are
together.”

“What makes you think that
he would not tell your wife?”

“It isn’t done.”

“What isn’t
done?”

“No man would do such a
thing to another man.”

“Some code of silence
between adulterers?”

“Really, Marina.”

She paced away then came
back. “The thing to do is nothing. Just go to the shipyard as you
always would and we’ll pray that this is all just a huge
coincidence.”

March 16, 1813

Michigan
Territory

Annabelle Priest opened the
door, gasped, burst into tears and threw her arms around Yank’s
neck.

“Is your brother here?” Yank
asked.

Annabelle released her grip,
wiped her eyes and stepped back. “You came to kill him.”

“No,” Yank chuckled. “I want
to avoid him. I checked the barn and saw that his horse was gone,
but for all I know he’s gotten a new horse.”

“He has the same old horse
and he’s gone to Toledo.” She took his hand and led him into the
house, then closed the door. “Have you come for me
then?”

“I’m just as married as I
was before, Annabelle.”

“Oh. I thought
perhaps…”

“If she’s dead I have no way
of knowing.”

“She’s not dead.” Annabelle
shook her head emphatically.

It took him a moment to
respond. “How could you possibly know that?”

“I saw her
recently.”

“Saw who?”

“Your wife.”

“Where?”

“Presque Isle.”

“You’re wrong. It couldn’t
have been Marina.”

“You left your journal here
and I looked at her picture again when I got home. It was her. I’m
absolutely positive.”

“What were you doing all the
way over there?” he asked, trying to hide his raging
emotions.

“At Presque Isle? I go there
several times a year. It’s the closest big town now. Toledo’s
almost abandoned.”

“It’s not much of a town
from what I’ve seen.”

“That’s because you haven’t
been there in a long time. That little shipyard has breathed new
life into it.”

“I was there this
morning.”

She wrinkled her brow. “What
is this?”

“What is what?”

“You came here from the town
where your wife lives?”

“Well yes. But I didn’t know
she lived there. In fact I still don’t. I think you’re
mistaken.”

She tilted her head. “Why
did you come here, John?”

“The President mentioned
some papers and I thought I might have left them here. But I would
have come on my own to see you as soon as time
permitted.”

“Did the President ask you
to stop off in Presque Isle on the way?”

“Well, actually he sent me
to Presque Isle first to inspect the shipyards. That is, he didn’t
send me here he… What are you thinking?”

“Just that the president
might have wanted you to discover that your wife is at Presque
Isle.”

“No. That’s not
possible.”

“You once told me that he
was the only man you knew that was more manipulative then Governor
William Henry Harrison.”

Yank nodded. “Yes. But he
would have no way of knowing that Marina was there.” He shook his
head. “What an extraordinary coincidence.”

“If President Madison was
interested enough in the shipyard at Presque Isle to send you, he
may have sent others before you.”

“I don’t think so.
Commandant Percy has not been at Presque Isle for long.”

“Is Commandant Percy
married?”

“Yes.”

“If a married officer was
living with the wife of another officer and discovered by anyone in
authority, would not that activity be reported up the chain of
command?”

Yank didn’t
answer.

“I was a navy wife, John. I
know the code.”

“Marina is living with
Percy?” His tone was heavy with incredulity.

“Yes. She must be. Nothing
else fits.”

He looked at her for several
seconds. “Annabelle, before we continue this discussion, may I look
through the papers that I left here?”

“Yes, of course.” She led
him into her bedroom. “I am going to shock you, John, but life is
too short.”

“What are you
saying?”

“That I wish to take full
advantage of your being here and my brother being absent.” She
began unbuttoning her dress. “Your papers are in the top drawer
there.” She pointed. “You may take them now or take them later. The
choice is entirely yours.”

“Do you need some help with
those buttons?”

March 17, 1813

Michigan
Territory

They were in the kitchen,
sitting across from each other at the breakfast table.

“What are you going to do,
John?” Annabelle asked.

“About what?”

“Your wife?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you going to confront
her?”

“No. If I do I’ll have to
kill a fine young naval officer.”

“That’s a bit
reactionary.”

“I don’t expect you to
understand.”

“How long can you stay
here?”

“How long do you want me to
stay?”

“Forever.”

“I think I might have to
kill your brother to do that.”

“He won’t be back for at
least three more days.”

“Then I’ll stay for
two.”

“And then go
where?”

“Back to Washington to
report to the President.”

She got up and walked to the
stove to get the coffee pot and refill their cups. “There is no
shame upon a man who divorces his adulterous wife.”

“What if the man is equally
guilty of adultery?”

“The fact that Marina is
living with Commandant Percy forgives you from that.”

“I was reported as killed in
action at Fort Detroit, Annabelle. Marina may have thought I was
dead when she came here.”

She put the pot back on the
stove. “So, am I to have no hope?”

“When the war is
over…”

She raised her hand to stop
him. “Forgive me, John. That sounded exactly like the kind of woman
I despise. I asked you for no promises and I shall expect nothing
of you.”

“As I started to say,
Annabelle, when the war is over and I can once again think of the
future, I will come back so that we can discuss it. Until then my
future is very much in question.”

She sat down and sipped her
coffee. “And as I said, John. I asked you for no
promises.”

He hesitated. “What happened
last night…”

“Won’t happen again until
we’re married,” she finished for him. “I know. Neither of us would
be able to handle the guilt.”

April 15, 1813

Washington, District of
Columbia

“Commandant Percy is
competent, dedicated and, in my opinion, a fine choice for the Lake
Erie command, Mr. President,” Yank said.

“What progress has he made?”
Madison asked.

“It’s quite remarkable, sir.
I spoke with several local citizens and it seems that none of the
reports you had been given about the shipyard before you assigned
Percy were even remotely true. There were indeed several unfinished
vessels in the stocks but there were no cannons, no craftsman and
almost no men to help Percy defend the bay.”