Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (26 page)

She smiled then as she saw how attentive
Stuart had become recently when around Rebecca. She was now
listening to Laura listing the virtues of James Barrows and it was
not hard for Cosette to pick up on how smitten she was concerning
James. Seeing this she again thought of Ian and sighed deeply,
thinking
Ian where are you?

***

“We have been in the land of my people
nearly all day now. We could see a hunting party at any time.”

“Do not look around right now, but maybe
that is who has been shadowing us for the past half-hour.”

“I have seen nothing.”

“I have and so has James. He signed to me
some time ago, and he is watching them too.”

“How many?”

“Anywhere from four to six I would say. When
we get below that bluff just ahead on the left we will stop and
call out to them.”

In less than a minute they were there and
Moon Owl stopped the Oxen. Ian and James fanned out some thirty
feet apart and around that distance from the two ends of the wagon.
They stood far enough out from the bluff that they could easily see
anyone who was atop it.

Ian called out in the Iroquois tongue then
saying “We come in peace with Moon Owl, a daughter of the Seneca.
We seek Tall Elk. You have no need to hide from us.”

A brave presently stepped forward and the
first thing Ian noticed was that he did not have the distinctive
Mohawk hair style. He spoke then “We Seneca watch over our lands,
but we do not hide ourselves from unarmed white men.”

Moon Owl spoke then, saying “I am Moon Owl
and these two white men take me to be with my people, the people of
Tall Elk of the northern tribe of the Seneca.”

“We know of Tall Elk. He looked at Ian then
saying “Have you seen any Mohawks?”

“We have.”

“How many?”

“Nine.”

“Were they peaceful?”

“They became peaceful.” There was a pause as
they digested that.

“We did not know that they were peaceful
now.”

“They will be more peaceful in the
future.”

There was a pause as they digested that and
then he said “You are two days journey from the village of Tall
Elk.”

“Then we had best be going. We would like to
camp near water tonight.”

“You will cross water before night comes. Go
in peace.”

“Please take this gift from us and go also
in peace” said Moon Owl as she handed Ian a small packet of tobacco
wrapped tightly in a scrap of oilcloth. She had prepared it from
their supply for this very purpose.

The brave opened it and smelled it, saying
“It is the white man’s tobacco. It is good.” He passed it back to
the ones behind him then, saying “We will smoke it this night at
our camp and tomorrow night at our village. Thank you.”

The three nodded, smiling and Moon Owl urged
the oxen forward as the braves melted into the forest after the one
who had spoken raised his hand in a farewell gesture.

At their camp it was the usual routine of
one of the two getting game for Moon Owl to eat and her cooking it.
The two stayed on patrol away from the camp fire for much of the
time. There was no chance whatsoever of anyone surprising them at
night, and neither Ian or James bothered to eat human food in her
presence any longer while traveling.

Two days later they came to a gentle knoll
and Moon Owl pointed to a low ridge saying “My village is beyond
that hill, by a river. Even as she spoke, Ian became aware of
people moving stealthily toward them. He and James moved out in
front of her and the oxen some fifty feet or so and waited
empty-handed.

Presently eleven braves stepped into view.
Ian held up his right hand and said “Greetings. We come in peace to
see Tall Elk.

“We are the people of Tall Elk. Who is this
woman?”

“I am Moon Owl and you are Gray Fox” she
said with a dazzling smile.

His face split into a broad smile as he said
“Moon Owl; it is you! Where is Pierre?”

“He was murdered by a man who took me and
these two killed him and brought me here.” Three others came to
them then, smiling and greeting her by name as Gray Fox said “Come
to the village now. We will tell everyone that Moon Owl has come
home.”

***

The family sat in the large parlor waiting
expectantly for Henri to speak. They had decided to avoid the
Lafayette suite of rooms at the other hotel. Henri had easily lost
the man following him because he wanted to make sure that he never
got to see any of the family outside of himself. So they had met in
the suite reserved for the Laforges.

“We have more correspondence from America to
share” said Marie as she passed a letter to Aimee, Celeste, and to
Henri who had not had time to read the personal ones. After each
had read their letters they exchanged them with others who also
read them.

“Cosette and Stuart are staying at the
Millhouse home as Celeste told us and it seems Ian has left Boston
to return an Indian woman to her people this spring. Likely they
are there by now. The startup funds for the two banks are hidden in
cemeteries in and around New York City and Boston. He was helping a
column of men move artillery to Boston and the British fleet
abandoned that city and left. He has reason to believe that the
person who sought his harm has since been discredited and hopes
that it will be safe to return to New York City in the summertime
or later and resume work on the bank.”

“Oh! That is good. Cosette will find him
then” said little Aimee as she squeezed Jennifer’s hand, smiling up
at her. Jennifer reached and put her arm around Aimee, drawing her
nearer and kissing her.

“Our Jennifer, alias Miss Anjolie, is doing
a fine job as our contact for our friend in the King’s Gendarmes,
Claude Rousseau.” There was a smattering of applause and Jennifer
blushed a bit, nodding towards the others as Aimee smiled broadly.
Henri continued saying “She also followed him to the home of the
Marquis de Sade recently.” There was an instant change in
everyone’s demeanor then as some leaned forward expectantly.

“It seems that Monsieur Francoise may be
investigating the death of his brother, or supporting those who are
doing that for other reasons.”

Marie spoke then saying “We should assume
that whoever escaped from that coven in Austria has since contacted
both Francoise and this Miles Edwards of London to try to learn
about us. We may assume a motive of revenge because we now know
that there is an Arnaud Moreau who is the younger brother of
Aldric.”

Li spoke then “We have kept the existence of
our family secret from this investigator then?”

Henri said “Yes. For now he seems intent on
following me around; that is as long as I allow him to, this
evening being an exception.” There was scattered laughter then from
the others. “I am only taking him to places still held in the
Lafayette name.” Everyone nodded agreement since the name ‘Laforge’
was to be the next name that Henri and Marie would use.

Henri continued “We know that two vampires
were sent to America to find Ian and we must assume that they are
waiting for him to return to New York City and resume work on the
bank. The fact that I am being followed tells me that this goes
back to that incident in Austria as well. It is safe to assume that
some of the vampires who escaped from the Francoise mansion have
joined with Moreau to exact revenge, so Cosette could be in danger
even now.”

Sophia spoke then saying “This Moreau must
have brought the younger Edwards over when he went to London the
first time. It seems to me that we can expect him to return to
France and to see what this investigator has learned.”

“That is a very good point Sophia. After
all, what good can he do in England now? He might even recruit
vampires from here to help him take Henri.”

Mustafa’s eyes glowed deep amber then as he
said “I will be only too glad to take care of him when he comes
here.” Li’s eyes glowed too as he nodded agreement.

Henri spoke again saying “We may want to see
who he contacts here. It would be nice to know if he has any
vampires hereabouts that he is friendly with. That way we can make
a clean sweep when we strike.”

Everyone nodded then, most with their eyes
glowing.

Louis said “Celeste, can you warn Cosette
some way?”

Celeste looked up from Celine who was asleep
in her arms, saying “I have never tried to do that but I will try
it once before I
cross over
.”

Henri said “I have sent word to Cosette
concerning this, but it takes weeks to get a letter to America even
from England. New York City even now is a sizeable place so we
should be assured that Cosette will be safe simply by being just
one person among thousands. By summertime she will know all that we
do and can help by warning Ian when he returns.”

Little Aimee piped up then saying “Ian has
his prickly alarm. He will know it as soon as one of them lays eyes
on him.” she said with pride.

Celeste thought
when he returns to New
York City will he be thinking of banking or of Moon Owl?

Having unpacked all of the tools, Ian and
James went to the forest to look for Poplar trees for the cabin
they would build. They had received a warm welcome from the Seneca
people of Tall Elk and had smoked a pipe with Tall Elk and the
elders the evening they had arrived. The reunion of Moon Owl and
Snow Fawn had been touching. Both women had cried tears of joy as
they embraced each other. The gifts they had brought were
distributed by Moon Owl and there were some very happy people there
with new iron tomahawks, hair brushes and mirrors. Ian had brought
four well-made compasses and had shown Tall Elk how to use them
before giving one of them to Moon Owl with a leather thong so she
could keep it around her neck. There had been singing and
celebrating until late in the night. Ian and James had spent the
night near their wagon and Moon Owl had slept in it, no longer
being accustomed to a long house full of people.

James had gone hunting later and had
returned with an elk mare. They had presented it to Tall Elk the
following morning and he was suitably impressed that the white man
had gotten game at night. After Ian had brought him two deer on two
successive mornings at daybreak, he had begun to call the two by
their names with a last name of ‘night stalker’. So Ian was now
known as ‘Ian Night Stalker’ among the Seneca

This being their fourth day there, after
bringing in game, they had started to build a cabin for Moon Owl
and her mother. It was not too far from the two long houses that
all of the people stayed in, but was on ground that was a little
higher. Ian suggested that due to the proximity of the river just
to be on the safe side.

They had packed two double bit axes, a two
man crosscut saw, a single saw, two adzes, two draw knives, a brace
and bit set with augers, hammers, chisels, splitting wedges,
shovels, scythe, numerous other tools and a pick.

In some three weeks they had three walls up
consisting of Poplar logs and a fourth that was all flat river
stone mortared with mud and a tough stringy weed that grew nearby.
It was nearly two feet thick and formed one end of the structure,
housing the main chimney for a sizable fireplace. Constructed for
cooking the fireplace featured two swing-arms, each capable of
easily carrying the weight of the two large kettles they had
brought with smaller cast iron and copper vessels.

A wood-burning stove which they had brought
along also had been provided for with an exhaust port for its
exhaust pipe built into the same stone wall. The stone would
function not only as an end wall but also as a heat sink to store
the heat produced by the stove and fireplace.

The cattle would stay outside on the north
side of the stone wall and plans were to add their barn on to that
end of the dwelling later in the summer before they would depart.
Ian had instructed both women to heap the manure against the stones
in the barn to generate extra heat all winter long. The manure then
could be used for the community garden that they had brought seeds
for the following spring.

In another week the lower and upper rafters
were notched and fastened in place. At this point Moon Owl
suggested that they take time away from building the cabin. She
wanted to take the two to see the great falls, which was four day’s
journey to the north. Ian asked for two more days to get ready, and
asked for help from the tribe’s women to finish one of the deer
skins of the many deer which James and he had brought into the
village for meat.

She had shown her mother how to use the
scythe and had asked her to cut the tall grass that grew in
abundance near the river and to spread it in the sunlight to dry.
She explained per Ian’s suggestion that they would soon begin
thatching the roof when they returned.

Ian had taken the finished deer hide and had
fashioned a sling for Moon Owl to ride in when they were well away
from the village. It was similar to a canvas sling that he had made
for carrying Alandra and Celeste when he lived in France. When that
was ready, they departed the following morning.

As soon as they got a half hour’s distance
away from the village, Ian pulled the sling from his rucksack and
put it on. With James carrying Ian’s rucksack and sword, they
rocketed away as fast as Ian could run. After she became accustomed
to the speed they were traveling, she would tell him when to change
direction from time to time. She was flushed with excitement, never
having imagined traveling at such a speed. The wind roared in her
ears and caused her eyes to stream tears.

At midday, both he and James stopped to take
nourishment from their flasks. After doing their teeth and taking
their dried spearmint leaves, the trio was on their way once more.
Moon Owl had never even seen Ian or James clean their teeth and she
was very curious.