Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (48 page)

Jennifer laughed again at the comic relief
of the thing “Ouch! Quit making me laugh, Marie. It still hurts!”
Marie looked closely at Jennifer and said “You’ve been stabbed, in
the stomach, Jenny. That is why it hurts to laugh!” Both laughed
then as Jennifer again said “Oh! Ouch Marie! Quit that!” Marie held
her close then, laughing all the harder.

Li and Mustafa took another of the prisoners
to a back room and began the grim and bloody job of interrogation
while some of the others began to stack the bodies.

At the door upstairs, Henri turned to Robert
pointing eastward “Go that way one block and you will find two of
the King’s Gendarmes. Thank them and tell them that Mr. Laforge
says all went well and to depart after a half-hour. Give them this
package.”

Robert nodded and trotted off to the east as
Henri went west. Within one block he approached two figures
standing in the intersection and said “Mr. Laforge says thank you
and all went well. He said to give you this. You are to wait for a
half-hour before leaving.” He handed them the package which
contained a goodly sum of money and turned away, returning to the
house about the same time that Robert did.

Robert looked at him and said
“Insurance?”

“Yes.”

Laughing he said “Henri, you think of
everything. Tonight went well.”

“It did.”

Downstairs Celeste said “It is working,
Louis! His head is knitting itself back to his neck. Look!”

Louis looked and said “Marie told me this
could be done, but I’m having trouble believing it even now!
Celeste, you did so well tonight!”

“I was lucky. Jennifer got shot in the
neck.”

“You were more than lucky. I saw you shoot
one and you were very calm.”

Winking at him she said “I had several good
teachers, handsome. You were one of them. Look! It is really
growing back together now!” She took a flask and tried to dribble a
bit of blood into Steven’s mouth.

Upstairs Henri said “We lost one of your men
I fear.”

“Yes. Steven was a good one. I have had him
on bodyguard duty at our home since this started. Margaret and I
are going to miss him, Henri.”

“Well, we have two that need imprinting
downstairs. If you like, take the pair of them. We will teach them
English while we help them
imprint
and you can decide when
you and Margaret go home to England whether or not to take them
along.”

“That is kind of you, Henri.”

Clapping Robert on the back he said
“Nonsense. What are friends for if not to help one another? It is I
who should thank you.”

“How many survived?”

“Three I think, two females maybe, or was it
all three females?”

Shrugging Robert said “Do you think Moreau
or Edwards was among these tonight?”

“I hope so. We’ll know soon enough.”

“Ian would have approved of tonight’s work,
would he not?”

“He would. I wonder what he has been up to
tonight.”

Esmeralda approached her father, King
Charles with the letter. “Papa, I have a letter for you.”

“Oh Esme, can’t you give it to someone else
to read?”

“But Papa, it is from Ian McCloud.”

“McCloud? McCloud, yes the Scot. Alandra’s
husband; let me see it.”

He read it, and then he re-read it.

“What, Papa?”

“Ian thinks that we might be able to get
Gibraltar back if we come into the war now and move to take Florida
and Alabama back from the British.”

“Papa, they are so busy with fighting the
French and the Americans now, and they also have a war in India to
fight too. He might be right.”

Laughing, the king said “You occupy yourself
too much with world affairs, Esme. I wish you would think about
marrying again.”

“Oh, Papa! I want to be near you and help
you. You need me with Mama being dead and gone.”

“I do Esme. I do. You know, I was discussing
this matter several times with my ministers and some of them think
we should do what Ian suggests. My Prime Minister, Redondo, is in
favor of us formally entering the war.”

“Have you not been supplying them since it
started anyway?”

Laughing he said “I can’t keep too many
secrets from you. We have been supplying the Americans with
gunpowder through New Orleans since 1776.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“That is because it has been an official
state secret. We took Natchez, Baton Rouge and Mobile already and
we are going to take Pensacola soon. I haven’t heard one to speak
against it other than wondering about the cost. My prosecutor,
Chavez is very supportive of the idea. There was a banker too,
Roberto Rodriquez. He thought the same thing I recall. I saw him
recently at a state dinner. You know, the one where that American
Ambassador, uhm, Lee is it?”

“Arthur Lee.”

“Yes. He is always urging us to officially
enter the war on the side of his people. A move against the British
in America might be a perfect distraction for us while we make
ready to move on Gibraltar.” He paced and looked out the window
over the city of Madrid. Nodding his head he turned to Esmeralda
and said “I have been considering this ever since France declared
war on England. I have made up my mind. We go to war against the
British as soon as possible. I must assemble the ministers now.
Summon a royal courier. We must notify King Louis as well. He has
been after me to jump in to this thing for a year now. It may be
that I can bargain with him.”

“Bargain with Louis, Papa?”

“Yes. I can convince him that if he will
send help by sea for us to take Gibraltar back, Spain will enter
the war. If we only can regain Gibraltar, it will be worth it. Ian
and King Louis are both going to get their wish if Louis will
pledge help with Gibraltar.”

***

The time spent in the land of the Seneca had
been one of great enjoyment for all. Melissa had discovered a whole
new world living among the Seneca people, one that she could have
never imagined. The simplicity of their lives was appealing to her,
yet she missed Boston too, having never lived anywhere else.

The big lacrosse tournament had been the
most exciting thing of the whole summer. Ian and James had
alternated at playing goal and had prevented the Seneca braves from
scoring even one single goal. The match had ended up a lopsided
victory for the Seneca of 9-0. Tall Elks’ village had won the
dispute over the hunting area between the two tribes, albeit not
without bloodshed.

The game was violent at times as always, but
the Seneca soon learned to give the two white men a lot of space
after several encounters had left numerous of their braves bloodied
or unconscious when they tried to overpower one of them. And they
could not get the ball past either one no matter which one was the
goal tender, nor could they intimidate either one either regardless
of how much they tried to rough them up. Their Sachem reluctantly
congratulated Tall Elk on his team’s skill and they departed
peacefully, battered and more respectful of Tall Elk’s people.

There was a great celebration that night at
the village and it would soon be known throughout the Iroquois
nations how Tall Elk’s braves had bested their neighbors, not even
allowing a single goal to be scored. This was a big event among the
Iroquois of the Lake Erie region. Moon Owl was ecstatic at how well
her husband had done for her people.

In October, they packed up and departed for
Boston. They aimed to have a special tent made up for James and
Melissa who were going to winter with them wherever Washington and
the army wintered. Before leaving, Ian and James worked with the
women to add still more leaves to the attic space in the cabin.
They also laid up a good store of firewood for Snow Fawn to keep
the it warm. Mothers with young children or ill people sometimes
slept in the cabin in winter months.

The trip through the wilderness back to
Boston was uneventful and owing to a steady pace, they did it in
less than three days without pushing themselves.

Ian and Moon Owl separated from James and
Melissa when they got to their house west of Boston. Ian promised
to cut twelve saplings for tent poles for James’ tent and to
deliver them to their cottage the next day. Moon Owl busied herself
sweeping out the cobwebs and sweeping the floor of the house as Ian
brought in firewood and began to heat two kettles of water for a
hot bath.

Later the two relaxed in the piping hot tub
and recalled the events of the summer, making love later that
evening in front of the hearth.

The following day near noon they both went
to town, bringing the twelve tent poles. Leaving Moon Owl to visit
with Melissa, Ian and James took the poles to the sail maker’s loft
and placed the order for a tent like Ian’s. They then went to the
same blacksmith shop Ian had used and placed an order for a top
ring for the tent poles and two cooking tripods. The last stop was
at the stove maker’s foundry where they bought the same size stove
and smoke pipe that Ian had bought for his tent and had placed the
order for the special top cap and flashing collar for the top piece
just as Ian’s had been made.

They drove the wagon to Faneuil Hall then to
read posts about the war and as they were reading James called to
Ian “Come here, Ian. Look at this.”

Ian came over from where he had been reading
another post and there he saw that Spain had entered the war in
June. Looking at James he smiled brilliantly and clapped him on the
back, laughing. Just then, a familiar voice called “Ian, James; by
Heaven it is good to see the two of you!”

Turning, the two saw Paul Revere making his
way toward them with his hand outstretched, a big smile on his
face. Walking up to the two with another man he looked at Ian and
said “John, allow me to introduce you to some friends of mine. This
is Ian McCloud and this is James Barrows. Fellows, this is John
Adams. He worked on our Declaration of Independence with the others
and has been busy in the Congress at Philadelphia.” They shook
hands then and Adams said “I remember you, Mr. McCloud. You were
the hunter who Washington wanted to keep for provisioning his men.
We were advised to secure you for a courier, but Washington
prevailed on us to let him keep you.”

“You flatter me, Mr. Adams. I am only a game
hunter and courier. No one is shooting at me when I do that.”

Revere continued. “Ian here sent a package
of letters to France two years ago trying to get some help over
there for Ben Franklin. Then he sent letters to Spain last year,
hoping to convince the King to come into the war.”

Adams’ eyes widened a bit and he said “Well
it is a pleasure sir; a pleasure indeed! How is it that a hunter
has such friends in France and Spain?”

“Ian and James are both bankers. Ian was a
senior officer in the Lafayette banking network in Europe before he
came here.”

“Well, now that makes a lot more sense. It
looks like your letters may have done some good after all. Have you
heard about Spain?”

“Yes. We were just now reading about
it.”

“I would have loved to be a fly sitting on a
wall in the palace when old Georgie heard about that! Do you think
he was upset very much?”

Ian said “I think his shorts were in a knot
that day.”

Revere and Adams laughed with James and then
James, using his version of a German accent said “Yah, yah! I sink
zat Georgie vass madder zen a vet hen, maybe madder zen ven his
payroll ship vass robbed right here in Boston by zose
Hessians.”

The other three threw back their heads and
laughed uproariously, attracting no small amount of attention from
others. When they had calmed down a bit Revere wiped tears from his
eyes as he said “Oh my! I am going to burst my bladder if I laugh
that hard again. James; please restrain yourself!”

Easing out of her dormer window, Cosette
carefully closed it. Soon she was rocketing toward the East River
where she did not hesitate, but swam it as fast as any porpoise and
immediately upon coming ashore she rocketed away to the northeast.
Cosette ran on, unaware that she had been followed by a petite
figure, running flat out trying to stay within sight of her. At the
river, she would have fallen behind but for the boy’s clothing she
had stolen from a clothesline earlier that day. She had cached her
dress and undergarments near the Millstone home and had simply
waited until she had seen Cosette leave via her dormer on the
2
^nd
floor.

Now she swam furiously to keep up with
Cosette, hoping she would not be seen. Coming ashore near where
Cosette had, she quickly ran up and down the shoreline looking for
where Cosette had come out of the water. Her sharp vampire eyes saw
water drops and followed them to a dirt road that was the main road
to follow the northern coast of Long Island. Taking a guess she
turned to the northeast and went that direction.

Rocketing along that road, she wondered if
she could even catch up with Cosette at all. Having nothing else to
do and glad to be away from the coven, she decided that she would
run until she would either find Cosette, or pass her. She could
always make her way back across country in the daylight, staying
off of the road. The worst that could happen would be that she
would not find Cosette and would return to the coven tomorrow to
couple with Oliver and keep Yvonne happy.

As she ran, she had to admit that it had not
gone badly with Oliver. He had not been obnoxious at all, nor was
he rough or selfish. Quite the opposite, he was gentle and
considerate, unlike Bartholomew. He desired to talk with her
afterward and thanked her so much for helping him through his
imprinting. She was not rude, but was non-responsive, being focused
solely on getting to where she could leave the coven forever. She
had to admit that had she not been so prejudiced against coupling
with anyone, she might have enjoyed it with Oliver.