Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (52 page)

***

“Yvonne, Bartholomew took something from
me.”

Fastening her green eyes on Priscilla Yvonne
sighed and said “What is it, Priscilla?”

“He took my tooth brush.”

“Tooth brush?”

“Yes. I stole it from some rich Tories when
they were gone to church. I got a copper flask and bowl too. He can
steal his own stuff. Why should I be stolen from because I am small
and weak? I try to help everybody here and still that ingrate
steals from me because he is big and strong.”

Visibly angering now, Yvonne got up and went
to find Bartholomew. In minutes she reappeared, now in a rage and
flew out the door, rocketing to the barn and returning moments
later with Grundy. The two went upstairs without a word to anyone
and there was a crashing sound then that all downstairs could hear.
Shortly Yvonne appeared with a smug look on her face and leaped to
the bottom of the steps, handing Priscilla the tooth brush.

“Here; Bartholomew changed his mind. This is
really nice. I wish you had found two of them” she said with a
smile.

Grundy appeared at the top of the stairs,
looking grim and leaped down in one bound. He rocketed back out the
door to the barn where he resumed sharpening his sword.

Yvonne spoke up then saying “We move to the
Stedman property this week. I want no incidents like this to happen
again. If one of you steals something from another, I’ll have
Grundy kill you. You’ll be on your best behavior and you won’t
steal anything from them nor touch any of the livestock on their
property either. Bartholomew, get yourself down here now!”

Bartholomew jumped down to the landing,
holding his shirt sleeve to a cut on his jaw and wiping a bloody
nose, staring daggers at Priscilla. She shrank away and Yvonne
slapped Bartholomew soundly, rocking his head to one side. “Don’t
you even look at Priscilla like that you lummox! She has done more
for this coven in one day than you have since I brought you over.
She will be in charge of the tenant house at the Stedman’s. What
she says, you do or you will answer to me, Stefan, or Grundy.” She
looked around the room, hands on her hips saying “This goes for all
of you. Do I hear any objections?”

The room fell dead silent as all stared in
dread at Yvonne. She put her arm around Priscilla’s shoulders and
said “Walk with me Priscilla.” They exited the house then, walking
slowly together toward a shady grove. It was an overcast day,
drizzling rain now and then so the two wore no head covering of any
kind. Coming to the grove, Yvonne turned to Priscilla and smiling
she took both of her hands and said “How are things going between
you and Oliver?”

Sensing immediately how to please Yvonne,
Priscilla blinked her big eyes a few times and looked down and then
looked up, smiling shyly and then laughing as she rolled her eyes
“Well, it is better… mmmm it is really getting better” she said, as
if conspiring with Yvonne about something.

Uncharacteristically giving Priscilla a hug,
Yvonne grasped her shoulders gently and said “I am glad, Priscilla.
I had hopes for the two of you” as she thought
good, you are
being bound to this coven and you are worth more than the others,
outside of Grundy. This is working well…

Priscilla smiled a bit more then, nodding as
she thought
I do like Oliver better each day Yvonne, but I am
leaving this coven with or without him, and nothing will stop
that.

Ian, Moon Owl, James, and Melissa strolled
about in Boston around eight o’clock in the morning, taking in the
sights and working their way down to the wharf area. Ian was
looking for a boat to rent and he finally spied a thirty five foot
fishing Ketch at anchor not four hundred feet from the wharf. It
had two jibs and had seen better days, but was seaworthy in all of
the important areas. All of the netting had been removed and was
being repaired. There were charts and instruments aboard and Ian
found the owner in only minutes by asking around. Repairs to the
ship had just been completed and the owner was eager to defray the
costs so both parties benefitted from the rental. After a short
conversation he paid the owner his fee plus five gold sovereigns as
a good faith deposit in case of damages. He told the man that he
hoped to be able to keep her out until the next afternoon. It did
not hurt that the man had met Ian at Faneuil Hall once and had
heard Revere and Hancock both speak well of him.

In two hours they were out of sight of land
sailing on a gray sea, it being an overcast day. The two women had
never been on a ship of any kind in their lives and were thrilled
beyond their ability to express it.

Joining Ian at the helm, Moon Owl said “I
had not ever seen the white man’s ships until I first came to
Boston. I love this… sailing. It feels so… free, almost like
flying. These are what the white man used to cross the great sea to
come here then?”

“Mmm… yes and no. The first ships were
originally a Portuguese design. They called them Carracks, and it
was nearly three hundred years ago, far to the south from here.
They were Spanish sailors mostly. Now we use Galleons for the open
ocean. He explained the difference in the two, describing each
somewhat.

“I just love it, Ian.”

“It can be frightening in bad weather. Come
here” he said as he stood to one side.

She looked at him questioningly, smiling a
bit “What; oh no! Me… steering the ship?”

He nodded, smiling as she entered the circle
of his arms and placed her hands on the helm, his over them. “Now
this I can do” she said with a chuckle, turning her head to invite
a kiss. They kissed then, and for Moon Owl the world seemed to
stand still, to somehow shrink away. It gradually became only the
circle of his arms, the helm, and his lips on hers as the wind sang
through the rigging, complimenting the ships’ creaking rhythmic
movement on the endless sea.

“Mmmm. I can see why you love to sail, Mr.
McCloud.”

“Ah, lass; that I do, but now only if I have
you with me, Mrs. McCloud. You may like it even more below deck
tonight.”

“Ooooh! You are so naughty, and now I want
to find out if you are right.”

Melissa approached then, effortlessly making
her way to the pair with two steaming mugs of coffee, walking
perfectly on the rolling deck without spilling a drop. Laughing she
said “All right you two. Enough of that! You are giving James and
me ideas! Who wants some coffee?”

Ian stepped back and invited Melissa to take
the helm then as he and Moon Owl had their coffee. James joined
them then, saying “With this overcast we can’t take bearings
tonight.”

“No, we can’t. I set course to the south so
that we would stay in Cape Cod Bay. That way we can’t get out to
sea. If this westerly holds, we will simply cross back to Boston
tomorrow. Likely we will have to tack a good bit unless winds take
on a southerly direction.”

They sailed on until darkness fell, but by
Moonrise, the clouds had parted a good deal and they were treated
to a spectacular sight. While Moon Owl had the helm, Ian leaped and
clambered to the top of the foremast to look for land. He spent a
good ten minutes aloft and then leapt to the deck, shaking his
head. “We haven’t reached the lower end of the bay yet. James, why
don’t you and Melissa take the helm for a while? Moon Owl and I
have something that needs our attention below deck.”

Laughing together, Melissa and James came to
the helm as she said “Now don’t you two capsize the ship while you
are down there!”

Laughing Ian said “Let Melissa have the helm
and hold her on one-six-zero. Keep checking for land from the
foremast every ten minutes. We won’t be too far from it even
now.”

Finding their cabin below deck they made
love slowly, savoring the experience; and afterward Moon Owl
snuggled in Ian’s arms, listening to the waves sliding along the
hull, and taking in the rocking motion and the creaking sounds the
ship made as it passed through the sea. “Ian, it is as if the ship
is a living thing and she is willingly taking us across the
seas.”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard it
described that way, but I always thought of
Elsie’s Cloud
almost as a living thing.” He told her somewhat of his voyages
aboard Elsie then, omitting the pirate battle and any reference to
either Cosette or Alandra.

Later they came topside, just as James
called out “Land Ho, a bit to starboard.”

Ian leapt to the mainsail stays and dropped
some sail on the foremast and then on the mizzen. Within a half
hour they dropped anchor fore and aft, dropping both mainsails and
swimming ashore in the moonlight. Shortly they had gathered
firewood and had a good campfire going. Moon Owl sat between Ian’s
legs leaning back on him as did Melissa with James. The women
talked a bit about things they had seen and done before meeting the
two. James spoke of his childhood in England, how he had become
sick and how Robert Milliken had brought him over, saving his life.
Ian related his story and how Cosette had saved his life. As he
told the story he began to yearn for her strongly, which surprised
him. Changing the subject he said “The pilgrims landed somewhere on
this spit of land around 1619. They had a tough winter and found
that the soil was no good for growing food so they set sail and
landed at Plymouth in 1620. That was how the first white men came
to this area, Moon Owl.”

Sensing that he had changed the subject
because of thinking about Cosette, Moon Owl simply took one of his
hands and kissed it tenderly, holding it to her cheek. Sometime
later, Ian suggested they hunt before leaving. Melissa asked why
since their flasks were all full and he explained to them “Never
take anything for granted involving the sea. We never know what can
happen out there and how long we might be forced to be afloat.”

James said “I’ll vouch for that. We passed
through a frightful storm coming over.”

“It is best always to feed before sailing
just to be safe, like we did yesterday. We should hunt now and if
we make kills then we can drink what we have and refill for the
journey. People die because of unforeseen things happening at sea.
Vampires can be killed the same way.” They paired off and hunted
then, catching several rabbits inside of an hour. Not an hour after
that, they were underway.

Ian and Moon Owl took the helm until
daylight, giving James and Melissa the cabin below deck for the
balance of the night. Sunrise was spectacular, a pink display on
unimaginable cloud formations, and mercifully no direct sunlight.
“Keep her at three-four-zero James” he said and then he and Moon
Owl made their way to the bow. It was a day of broken cloud cover
and occasional periods of sunshine. Putting a blanket around her he
stood close behind, his arms about her. They talked about many
things that they had done and seen in their lives. They were now
all wearing their broad-brimmed hats, gloves and were well-covered
excepting for Ian. It was an uneventful passage back to Boston and
they sighted numerous fishing vessels enroute, half of them Ketches
like theirs.

As Boston Harbor came into view, Ian
reflected on the return trip, and how he kept visualizing Cosette’s
eyes. It was such a strong visualization that he wondered at it,
having never had such a thing happen to him in years. No doubt he
loved Moon Owl deeply, but yet he felt this overpowering pull, this
vivid memory of her remarkable eyes, and increasingly of the way
she had walked and laughed. It caused him no end of wonder, being
as Alandra had died far more recently. But it was not in the least
objectionable, strangely enough. It was somehow comforting, as if
she was alive and thinking of him as strange as that seemed. He was
puzzled by it all of the way back to Boston, thinking
Cosette,
how I loved you! Even after all of these years you can take my
thoughts away from everything else.

Celeste raised her eyes from Celine to
Marie, saying “Ian is in Boston. He and James have been sailing
with their wives.”

“Sailing?”

“Yes. They rented a ship and took a trip
that lasted overnight. Celine and I have been linked to Ian and to
Cosette for several hours.”

Marie leaned forward then, gazing with
wonder on the sleeping child. “She is a wonder, Celeste. A living
miracle; the two of you… so powerful together!”

Celeste nodded, “It seems to grow a bit each
time we do it this way. We never stayed connected to the two at the
same time before. I could see Ian hunting, sailing and what he
could see when he would climb aloft in the rigging.” She did not
add that she could tell when he was making love to Moon Owl also.
She had broken that connection then, not feeling right about
abusing her powers that way and had kept their connection focused
on Cosette.

“Cosette has made a close friend and ally in
the coven.”

“That would be who, Priscilla?”

“Yes.” They are getting close now. Cosette
asked if she would like to come back to France with her.”

“If Cosette thinks she is worthy, then she
is. Do you think she will try to find Ian in Boston?”

“She wants to go, but she is now involved in
helping the Americans to spy on the British. That is not the only
thing holding her in New York City though.”

“The Millhouse family and Stuart?”

“Yes. She is afraid for their safety
now.”

“Cosette will do the right thing at the
right time. We have to believe that.”

“Oh, Marie! I hurt so when I think of her
learning about Ian and Moon Owl. It is not fair to any of them.”
Tears began to form then in her large doe eyes, sliding down her
cheeks as she wept soundlessly for all of them. Marie came to her
then and put her arm about her, pulling her head to her shoulder as
she too began to weep soundlessly, thinking
there can be no good
end to this thing.