16
On this very night, they married. Colonel Gansevoot performed the ceremony, there being neither a priest nor a Protestant Reverend available to do the honors.
“I had hoped,” said Skenan, “to spend the night in the Oneida village of Oriska, but the town is now gone, burnt down by the Mohawks in revenge for the Oneida taking sides with the Americans.”
“It’s gone? It’s burned?”
“It is so,” he answered. “But, do not fear, my family lives in another town we know as Kanonwalohale. Perhaps if we leave here tonight, we will reach it in two days. Or maybe three.”
“Three days?”
He nodded. “Depending,” he said, “on how long we will decide to stay at the cave.”
She grinned, and, raising up onto her tiptoes, she kissed him. Then, looking up into his eyes, she whispered, “Do you think the pine bough will still be there?”
He laughed. “I think so, but if not, perhaps we can find another. I can think of no more perfect place for our first night together. Do you agree?”
“Oh my darling, I do agree with you…that is, if the bear has not already claimed the cave.”
Bending his head, he kissed her and said, “Then, we shall find another, and perhaps better, cave.”