Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (11 page)

“Yes, and since Edwards is a vampire, it is
likely that he has guessed that Aimee is one too, but they don’t
have her name.”

“No, but they have the name of Ian and
Henri, and they are investigating the kidnapping of a little
girl.”

“Yes. When Edwards came to my office I gave
up Ian’s name as our agent in New York City. I was just trying to
steer the conversation away from the subject of his brother’s
death. That will turn out to have been a mistake on my part.”

“Are we suspected in any way?”

“Not at this time. Edwards was not well
mentored. As I said, he likely still thinks that I am human. I
think he has only recently crossed over. I suspect that Moreau did
that. He may even have given the names of Henri and Ian to Miles to
investigate.”

“Why do you say that?”

“He is the brother of Aldric Moreau who Ian
killed in Austria. He is likely behind all of this.”

“That makes perfect sense. What of that man
with a hook for a hand and that red-headed woman?”

“I don’t know, but Dalton thinks they are
from France. Maybe an old grudge…mmmm, but maybe they are
survivors; you know…… from one of the raids that the Lafayettes
carried out over there?”

“That seems likely. If they tangled with the
Lafayettes they should both be thankful to be alive” she said while
laughing.

“Maybe that is how that one fellow got the
silver hook he wears for a hand now. If they try something here,
they will wish they hadn’t.”

“Hmmm; loss of a hand would be a reason to
seek revenge. Do we need more than the six
Adepts
we have
staying here now?”

“No. But you are always to have no fewer
than three of them armed and with you when I am not around. And
don’t have anyone in our home that we don’t know until this is
over. I will continue to have two with me at all times at the bank.
I have to get a dispatch to Henri regarding all of this. I just did
send him a packet of letters from Ian.”

“Do you think they are stupid enough to move
against the Lafayettes in France?”

Laughing then he said “It is hard to imagine
any vampire being that stupid, but I will warn them anyway. I
wonder if they will pursue Ian in America. I will send notice to
him as well.”

Ian handed the sealed package to Captain
Mcwhertor as he was making his last inspection prior to departing
from New York Harbor. “I will see that Mr. Milliken receives this
package Mr. McCloud.”

Ian knew that the man would make good on it,
being as Milliken held the title to his ship, and to the ships of
eleven other traders on Ian’s list as well. “Have a good voyage
then, sir.”

“And a good day to you too, sir.”

Ian turned and walked down the gangplank.
Looking to the north he saw some British soldiers arriving at the
wharf area. He laughed to himself as he thought
they are looking
for two bankers, and not for one frontiersman
. He and James had
separated before daylight for that reason. James wanted to speak to
Laura before leaving if it did not look to be too risky and Ian had
wanted to post all of his letters to home before they departed.
They had arranged to meet at a dock frequented mostly by local
fishermen and trappers. Ian and James would blend in with the
regulars with the clothing they were wearing.

Shouldering his rucksack he walked past the
soldiers as they went from ship to ship asking about two young men
traveling together. He wore buckskin pants and a brown
linsey-woolsey home-spun shirt, complete with a broad-brimmed hat
and a large hunting knife in a sheath at his side. Finishing that
frontier look were well-made boots that almost looked like
moccasins, with fringed tops, tied tight with rawhide just below
the knees.

Within an easy hour, he was at the fisher’s
wharf area and had settled into a chair at a local tavern, seated
near a window so as to watch for James to arrive. He nursed a pint
of ale as he took stock of the events of the preceding days and of
their success at moving all of the funds to safety. By now, Grundy
knew they were gone and likely was trying to turn New York City
upside down to find them. James would have to be quite careful.

It was some forty minutes when he saw James
making his way along the wharf, similarly dressed as Ian. He
blended in well and it appeared as if he was not being followed. By
prior arrangement, he settled himself on a barrel near the water’s
edge and pulled out a piece of wood and began to whittle. That was
the sign that he had not seen anyone following him. So they sat
patiently watching the way he had come. In some thirty minutes, no
one looked out of place so Ian ventured out and joined him. Soon
they were rowing away from shore in their recently purchased dory,
heading west across the Hudson.

“Did you get to see Laura?”

“No. And it was too risky to approach her
house.”

“Rebecca will tell her everything that she
knows so she will know that we got away. Likely they think we were
gone last night anyway, so she will not be too worried.”

“Are you looking forward to seeing
Boston?”

“Yes, and the frontier even more.”

“We are not buying another building in
Boston are we?”

Laughing Ian said “Hardly. We should hide
the rest of our funds in that area though. Who knows where we will
be from time to time?”

“I’m impressed that you thought to have a
wagon modified.” He spoke of the wagon that they had bought and had
modified to have a false bottom. It awaited them in Hoboken at a
carpenter’s shop.

Within three hours the two were departing
from the carpenter’s shop. The silver and gold coins a little
further north were safely hidden under a rock so large that it had
taken the two of them to move it the night before. Within around a
half an hour the two arrived at the wooded site where they had
concealed the rest of their funds, and within only another half
hour they had retrieved it and secured it in the false bottom of
the wagon. In only an hour after that, they had gone to a local
tannery which James had found while they had been hunting and
scouting the area one night. They bought a medium load of green
hides there and a heavy waxed cotton tarpaulin to cover the smelly
load. After the hides were loaded and the tarp tied down, the two
departed heading north. A load of stinking hides piled high in the
back would assure that neither curious redcoats nor patriot
militiamen would be too anxious to search the wagon for contraband.
The tarpaulin helped a lot in keeping the smell of the hides
minimized. The two looked to be just two more of the rugged
frontiersmen who sometimes made their ways to coastal cities of the
colonies to trade.

They had both purchased long rifles, made in
Lancaster Pennsylvania. Powder and shot aplenty had been bought at
that time and all was concealed beneath the false bottom of the
wagon with their funds. They also had two of the commonly seen
‘Brown Bessie’ English muskets visible behind the seat and both had
commonly used flintlock pistols stuck in their waistbands as well.
It was deemed best to conceal the long rifles because the British
had a real fear of them and they were not above confiscating
one.

Ian had given their dory to the carpenter
with the provision that it be available for them to use in the
future. It was to be kept at the carpenter’s home which fronted on
the Hudson on a seventeen acre plot of land. Ian tipped the man
handsomely just to be especially forgetful should agents of the
Crown come asking questions. The man was a patriot, hating the
occupation and the increase of taxes and so was not likely to be
sharing secrets with any redcoats or strangers.

The two made slow but steady progress toward
the north in their wagon. James had bought two young healthy draft
horses for the journey and they had just enough gear aboard to make
it look as if they were only two frontiersmen who camped wherever
they found themselves each night. Ian figured that it would take
them nearly a month plodding along as they were. Both he and James
were in no hurry, and in fact they were enjoying seeing the scenery
unfold mile after mile.

***

“What do you mean they can’t be found?”
shouted Colonel Grundy at the top of his voice. Angrily he swept
the entire contents of his desktop off of it with a swipe of his
hand as he rose from the chair, face red with rage.

“Sir we have every available man watching
the wharves and we have men watching the bank, the boarding house,
as well as the Millhouse and Davis homes.”

“Well, at least we confiscated their funds.
Have you totaled the amount we took yet?”

“Sir, there were no funds. The safe was
found standing open and empty. We searched the place from top to
bottom and came up empty-handed.”

“What?” he roared in anger. “No funds at
all? How can that be? Someone is aiding them. We will find who is
conspiring and helping them and prosecute them too, so help me
God!” He thought
how could they have gotten away cleanly and
with all of that money to boot? They must have started some time
ago to move that much gold and silver. Who has helped them? It
couldn’t be that Captain Norris. He has long since left New
York.

“Sir, shouldn’t you tell Colonel Davis that
you are watching his home?” asked the young captain.

“I’ll be the judge of procedures in this
matter, captain. Keep looking and asking. Someone somewhere has
seen them. We have only to find that person. Now get out of here
and get me some results!” The young captain saluted smartly and
hastily departed, closing the door of Grundy’s office softly as he
left.

Within minutes Grundy and a small detachment
of Royal Marines were enroute to the Millhouse mansion. His anger
and frustration consumed him, burning within him as an unquenchable
flame. Before dark, he had had the home, grounds, and two
outbuildings searched. The three ladies and the staff stood by
stone-faced and spoke not a word to him after their initial
greeting. He made an attempt at some humility before departing, but
Thelma Millhouse spoke not a word to him, only staring coldly into
his eyes. She thought
you are going to find out eventually that
a widow can write letters and that this widow can write letters to
people in high places. One day I will have you before your
superiors for this day’s work; have no doubt of that!

“Land ho” shouted the lookout from the
crow’s nest. Everyone aboard the merchantman Elsie’s Cloud paused
to look westward then in anticipation. It had been a long voyage
and none of them had ever seen the new world.

Stu came quickly up to the aft deck and
joined Cosette and Angus at the helm, asking how long before they
were at their anchorage.

“Likely four hours, laddie. New York City is
at the other end of this island.” Before land was sighted they knew
they were close as they had been seeing a lot more seagulls than
usual that morning. Cosette peered toward the horizon, her brow
furrowed in thought, a look of longing in her exquisite gray eyes.
The very thought of a reunion with Ian caused her to feel a flush
of emotional heat. She longed to peer into his frosty blue eyes and
savored the thought of the indescribable surprise she would see in
them. She allowed herself then to go back in her memories to the
feel of his arms around her and the taste of his kisses on her
lips.
Oh Ian! It has been so long! How I have longed for you!
Will I see you this day at long last?

Armando joined them then, saying “Less than
four hours in this wind, Cosette. We shall all dine this evening in
the New World.” Only those three at the helm knew that Cosette was
not human. It seemed that God had smiled on her then, putting the
late afternoon sun behind a thick blanket of clouds so that she
could likely be on deck to see their entrance into New York
Harbor.

“It cannot come too soon for me.” She turned
to the three then, saying “I will forever be grateful to you for
this….for bringing me, and for all of the time we spent together
coming across.” She reached to Armando and embraced him first, and
then Stuart, and finally she came close beside Angus at the helm
and took his arm, laying her head upon his shoulder. “Thank you
again, Angus.”

The time passed too slowly for all of them,
but in less than four hours they dropped anchor in New York harbor.
Elsie’s longboat and eight crewmen took them to shore, and soon
they were making their way to the harbormaster’s quarters to
register. All of them peered about at the strange city. It was a
bustling place; however it was not near as big as London or Paris,
but was rivaling Edinburg already in size if not in population.

Within the hour they had concluded the
business with the harbormaster and had met a customs man who was to
board the ship the next morning. They were free to see the sights,
so soon enough Cosette, Angus, Armando, and Stuart were in a
carriage heading to the Milliken Merchant’s Bank of New York. The
driver of the carriage was a bit unsure of its location at first,
and then he remembered that it had begun life as the New York
Mercantile Exchange.

They were there in some fifteen minutes, but
as they neared it the four knew that something was not right. There
were British soldiers all about the place and even a single guard
at the door itself. Angus and Cosette walked to the door and asked
to speak to the commanding officer. In less than two minutes a
young lieutenant who introduced himself as Allen Walker came out to
ask how he could help them.

Angus stepped forward smiling and offering
his hand, saying “I am Captain Angus McCloud and we have just
arrived from Edinburg. I am seeking my nephew, Ian McCloud. He is
an agent of Robert Milliken of London sent to start a bank in New
York City.”

“I see sir. You say you just arrived?”