Chapter 22
Over dinner, Ethan expressed his desire to visit Grey Coat, a leader of the Shawnee.
‘I’ve met him before. He’s a good man and I value his judgement of the situation. Do you happen to know where he camps at present?’
The colonel looked perturbed but imparted the information anyway.
‘About a day’s ride away, but you’ll need an armed escort, and I can’t spare anyone from routine patrol for a few days.
If you’d care to wait awhile… I mean, when I sent you the message, I didn’t expect you quite so quickly.
’ He looked away suddenly, his voice dropping low.
‘I knew you and Grey Coat were old compatriots, so to speak, so I thought…’
‘I’d prefer to get going as quickly as possible. Grey Coat won’t be there forever. Summer is almost over. It won’t be long before they leave their summer lodges and head to their traditional hunting grounds. The sooner I can speak to him, the better.’
Lochranza detected a hidden meaning in the way Ethan had cut across whatever else Colonel Cayford had been about to say.
‘If you’re happy to go it alone, that’s fine with me. All I want is to know that the security – of all concerned – is assured.’
There was something conspiratory about the look that flashed between them, and the colonel had spoken low so the women would not hear. A secret?
Lochranza was intrigued.
Ethan was onto his favourite subject. The new nation. The United States of America.
‘A fledgling nation must be subject to law and order. Otherwise, what hope do we have of surviving?’
Already Lochranza was drawing a message in her mind. It wasn’t the first time Ethan had sounded less like a lord and more like an American colonial. What was more, the change suited him. He was more relaxed as an American, and when aroused, a fierce passion burned in his eyes for the new country.
Her uncle had asked her to report on her husband, though spying on him might be a better way of describing it.
Up until now, she’d merely made notes at the back of the old journal she’d brought with her and written a few short letters describing her impressions of the new country.
From now on the tone of her letters to her uncle would reflect her new understanding of Ethan in a more personal manner.
His politics didn’t seem to matter, due mostly to having made love with him and finding herself not caring much about whether he was more loyal to the Crown or the colony.
The colonel agreed with him on most counts, speaking in a deep baritone through the pillar of cigar smoke that rose in front of his face.
‘Although we have gained our independence, this country is still a maelstrom of diverse interests. The natives are disinclined to change, preferring to carry on growing their crops and hunting game just as they’ve always done.
More migrants are landing in ports along the eastern seaboard every day with little in their pockets but a dream sparking their eyes.
Every country in Europe would still like to get their greedy hands on a few million acres here.
But we won’t let it happen,’ he said, more loudly, his hand slamming the table so hard, the cutlery jumped and the crockery rattled.
‘We shall have peace in this territory against all-comers.’
The whisky bottle at his right hand was nearly empty. Nobody objected to his drinking – odd, she thought, for people who had descended from the very first settlers who held rather straight-laced views.
Being drunk was obviously acceptable in a man faced with the onerous job of keeping law and order in a frontier fort. One of the other women had informed her he was a widower and that he’d also buried their two children alongside his wife.
Their attitude to her was just as obvious. Sleeping in the same room, albeit in separate beds and separated by a modesty curtain, was not acceptable.
‘We are respectable gentry of refined breeding. We know how to behave, no matter the circumstances. I’m sure we will manage very well indeed,’ Lochranza had replied.
‘I shall avert my eyes when need be, and being a man of honour, he will no doubt smoke outside until such time as I am cosily tucked in the top bunk, aloft and out of harm’s way. ’
The serious look she adopted helped Mrs Prendergast suspend disbelief. Lochranza and Ethan had already decided that the upper bunk would not be used. The lower was plenty enough for them, snuggled tightly together or one lying on top of the other!
The colonel was beginning to ramble. ‘It was difficult persuading the local tribes of red men not to take up arms, but I think I succeeded. Anyway, the robber band – disaffected foreign soldiers, et cetera – seems to have melted away for the time being. But it’s best they go before trouble starts.
Best for everyone,’ he grumbled, his eyes searching around him for another bottle.
Ethan listened politely, but Lochranza could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn’t convinced about these incursions into Indian territory.
‘You know the British made a pact with Chief Tecumseh who has united the Indian nations to grant lands to the Shawnee and recognise it as a separate nation for indigenous peoples. It was on the condition they fought on the British side against the Americans. They kept their part of the bargain, we – and I’m talking both the Americans and the British – did not.
Thanks to vested interests. Money talks, Colonel.
Money always talks louder than anything and merchants rather than military rule the roost! ’
The colonel slowly dispersed the ash on the end of his cigar.
‘That’s what worries me. There’s a hint of revenge in these raids. Interested parties evening up the game.’
‘Granting them their ancestral lands was supposed to be a condition in the Treaty of Ghent. It’s a sad thing it being struck from the bill following protests from the bankers and merchants in London and New York.’ Ethan shook his head.
The colonel’s eyes narrowed. ‘I know all this and you know how I feel about it. Are you suggesting that these raids are orchestrated in order to get rid of the natives once and for all?’
Ethan kept his voice low. ‘It’s rich land. Bankers can pay for an army big enough to encourage the Shawnee to move on. Giving your fair treatment of the red man, they may make a move to get rid of you, retire you – or worse.’
The colonel’s voice lowered. ‘You have evidence of this?’
‘I don’t think we need evidence. It’s a logical move.’
The colonel’s head sagged forward. Lochranza was left with the impression that he was a sad man, one who had seen a new nation form, but also had affection for the way things used to be and the native Americans who had lived here for thousands of years before Europeans flooded into their country.
‘Sometimes I feel I’ve lived too long anyway,’ he muttered sadly.
* * *
The air outside the church, which had doubled as a dining room, was warm. Lochranza fanned herself with her hand.
‘He seems very fond of the Indians.’
Ethan, who had been deep in thought, nodded. ‘He is.’
‘Does he have a wife?’
She thought she saw Ethan wince before gathering his thoughts and answering her.
‘His first wife died many years ago. So did his children.’
‘Yes. I know. I didn’t know there was a second wife. What happened to her?’
‘She died in childbirth.’
The cabin was warm and cosy once the door was closed behind them.
Ethan lit a candle, placing it on the rustic pine table set in front of the window. With a leisurely stretching of one long arm, he drew the curtains.
He faced her head on and asked the question uppermost in his mind. ‘What did you think of the colonel?’
‘I loved the way he dresses. Not what I expected at all. And his hair! The length of it – I was reminded of King Charles the First…’
‘That isn’t really what I meant. You now know the reason he sent for me.
It’s not really British business, but I have to do what I can.
I’m going to try to persuade Grey Coat to move on.
It’s best for everyone’s sake. I have to persuade him to move south.
He won’t like it, but there are times when even the landed gentry must take a step back and give into those who make money and those who move goods. ’
‘I didn’t expect…’ She took a deep breath. ‘What I mean to say is I didn’t expect you to be willing to put yourself out the way you are doing. Isn’t it just as dangerous for you as for anyone else concerned?’
‘It could be, but I know the terrain and the raiders haven’t been seen around locally for some time.’
He made a big pretence of undressing without bothering to duck behind the modesty screen. She wasn’t fooled. He was hiding something from her.
‘How many Indians have been killed so far?’
He was in the middle of peeling his shirt over his head, half his torso on view. For a moment, he slowed before gathering the fine cotton in one hand. His face was in darkness, his body blocking the candle from her view.
‘Fifteen women and children. The raiders came at night. The men were away hunting.’
To her, it felt as though her throat was closing over. How many survived? She had to know.
‘All dead?’
Even to her own ears, her voice sounded small and far away.
Ethan nodded. ‘What would you say if I suggested you stayed here at the fort while I rode out with the lieutenant?’
She folded her arms and glaring, said, ‘Do you really want to know?’
‘I thought you would say that.’
Throwing her arms around him, she buried her head against his shoulder.
‘I’m not letting you out of my sight. We still have a wedding to attend and both of us have to be there.’
He laughed. ‘I do know that. Get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll ride out and I’ll do my best to persuade my old friend to move his people south.
It won’t be easy trying to explain to him that his land is likely to be ceded to homesteaders and developers who’ll want to chop down the trees to make money after they’ve taken the pelts of every beaver in sight. ’
Lochranza took off her clothes until she wore only the feeble light thrown by the candle. She stood looking at him. Ethan, just as naked, leaned one elbow on the top bunk.
‘Top or bottom bunk,’ she said cautiously.
Ethan shook his head. His smile was almost demonic in the feeble light.
‘The top bunk can remain untouched, though you might remember to ruffle the bedclothes in the morning.’
The bottom bunk was only a little wider than the top one, very cosy for two.
‘On our journey to the village we can plan our wedding in more detail. You need to consider what you want me to give you as a wedding present.’
Her expression hidden by darkness, Lochranza smiled secretively.
‘I do have something in mind, but I’ll surprise you with it when we get back to Glen Dirk.’
When she finally fell asleep, she dreamed of being at the wedding of Venus and her beau. The dream didn’t last. The smell of candle wax and smoke led somewhere else, to a place and an occurrence that would as always fade into forgetfulness by morning.