Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (81 page)

Ian, Cosette, and Charlotte were in advance
of the army with the scouts who were locating the best path for the
two armies and their wagons and cannons through the forestland.
They were easily able to slip away from the advance party and kill
game for helping to feed the two armies on their march
southward.

In September they had arrived in an area
west of Yorktown and had united with the southern American army of
General Greene. True to his word, Admiral Comte de Grasse had
indeed sailed to Chesapeake Bay with his twenty-nine ships and had
driven the British fleet out of those waters. It was not until
shortly before the British Chesapeake fleet came limping into New
York harbor that Commander of British forces in America Henry
Clinton learned what had happened and that there never was going to
be an attack on New York City by the American and French
forces.

General Cornwallis and his army were
completely surrounded with no hope of relief. The American and
French forces west of Yorktown pressed the battle to take that city
by digging trenches and moving mortars and cannons into place to
bombard the British fortifications. Once the British had lost two
key fortifications to the Americans west of Yorktown, their defeat
was assured. Being outnumbered and surrounded, Cornwallis sent out
a messenger with a white flag to plead for terms of surrender. In
October of 1781 Cornwallis had formally surrendered his forces to
Washington.

Ian and Cosette stayed the winter and helped
to feed the Army by hunting game. They had stopped off in Valley
Forge and retrieved James and Melissa’s tent and furnishings and
their oxen and wagon. In the springtime, they returned the Oxen and
wagon to the farmer and gave them to him as a gift. They then
returned to New York City.

Ian and Cosette sat in the parlor of the
Millhouse home with everyone as a celebratory meal hosted by Thelma
Millhouse was being prepared. The upcoming weddings of Stuart
McCloud and Rebecca Davis as well as Laura Millhouse and sheriff’s
deputy Lucas Ross were announced to congratulations by all.

The British were still in New York City
until they could arrange for an orderly evacuation including
loyalists and Tories who did not dare stay in America. However
their occupancy was not that of any type of governing body. All
hostilities had ceased and a treaty would be signed in Paris to
cement the peace. New York City was again under American civilian
control.

Charlotte, Priscilla, and Oliver had
previously moved into the Davis home so that it not sit empty and
be taken by the Crown for quartering soldiers. The rest of the
family lived with the Millhouses excepting for James and Melissa
who still had a leased cottage in Manhattan.

By now, Celeste and Celine could communicate
with Li and Sophia nearly as well as with Ian and Cosette. Ian and
James laid plans to get the bank up and running in New York City,
and after that was accomplished, another bank would be started in
Boston and later on, a third one in Philadelphia. James and Melissa
would locate permanently in Boston where he would run that bank and
Charlotte was going with them to live there. Ian and Cosette would
live in New York City where Ian would run that bank, as would
Cosette. Priscilla and Oliver would live in New York City too and
would work at that bank. Li and Sophia were staying, and would open
the bank at Philadelphia along with Ian when it was started, but Li
would have to be trained by Ian before that.

The entire group was quite enthusiastic
about what the future in America would hold for them. Ian and
Cosette had departed from New York City the following spring in
1782 for the land of the Seneca. They were afoot, and attired in
their usual frontier garb. They carried no firearms whatsoever, but
each had their short sword and knife.

Ian wanted to show Cosette the American
frontier and intended for her to meet Moon Owl’s people. They
detoured to the Seneca tribe of Gray Wolf where Ian presented the
Sachem a tomahawk pipe, which was considered to be a highly prized
possession.

The former captives, both women and children
all flocked to see Ian. All of the children wanted to see and touch
Cosette’s hair, which she had allowed to regrow. The children were
constantly hanging around Ian and asking questions, which warmed
Cosette’s heart, having heard the story of their captivity and
return.

Ian asked the Sachem if he could have the
pipe that Moon Owl had smoked at the council when they had
celebrated the return of the captives taken by the Shawnee. After
spending two days with Gray Wolf’s Seneca, the two departed
northward for Tall Elk’s village near the shore of Lake Erie. Ian
had been teaching her the language of the Iroquois while they had
been traveling, and in typical vampire fashion, she had picked it
up in under a day, becoming fluent in only one more day.

They had reached the place where only one
hilltop separated them from the village when Ian and Cosette heard
stealthy footfalls in the forest around them. Stopping there, Ian
called out saying “May a son of the Seneca and his wife come
in?”

From the forest came the answer “I hear the
voice of Ian the Night Stalker. Are you truly come to visit
us?”

“I have Tall Elk, and I have brought my
wife.”

Tall Elk himself stepped into the open then,
his face split in a smile as he came to Ian and the two clasped
each other’s forearm in a greeting of friendship. Ian said “Tall
Elk, this is my wife, Cosette. Cosette, this is Tall Elk, Sachem of
the Seneca.” She smiled warmly and nodded while with a puzzled
look, Tall Elk asked “Where is Moon Owl?”

Gravely Ian said “She was killed by my
enemy.”

Tall Elk’s countenance fell then. Ian said
“It happened in the land of the Shawnee near the land of the
Delaware two winters ago.”

Tall Elk nodded slowly, a troubled look upon
his face. “Who is this enemy of Night Stalker?”

“He was an enemy of my kind who lived in the
land of the Manahatta. I burned him alive for that.”

Nodding in grim approval he said “Your wife
here; she is one of your kind then?”

“Yes. I have been fighting against the
redcoats since then and they have been beaten.”

Others among the braves came to him then,
grasping his forearm in friendship, among them Gray Fox. Their
village now enjoyed great prestige among the Seneca nation because
of Ian and Moon Owl rescuing and returning the captives who had
been taken by the Shawnee.

As they walked to the village, he gave an
account of how he and Cosette had been separated in France some
fourteen years earlier and had only recently been reunited after
Moon Owl’s death.

As they approached, the villagers came out
to greet them, having heard that the Night Stalker and his wife had
come home. Several children who Ian had befriended came smiling to
greet the pair. They all had grown and at first Ian was hard put to
recall who some of them were. Cosette had taken off her
broad-brimmed hat once in the shade of the village trees and many
of the Seneca were curious about the color of her hair and her
beautiful gray eyes. She was gracious and smiled warmly at all,
allowing whoever desired to touch her hair, and no small number of
the women and children did just that, while marveling at her beauty
and the beauty of her extraordinary eyes.

As they approached the cabin of Moon Owl,
her mother Snow Fawn came out, looking puzzled. Ian came to her and
took her in his arms gently, kissing her forehead and speaking
softly. He broke the news to her as best he could, and apologized
for taking so long to come tell her. She wept softly against his
chest and he stood there near the cabin, holding her as Cosette
tearfully looked on.

“These are for you” he said as he handed her
Moon Owl’s hairbrush, comb, and hand-mirror. She took each item and
looked at it closely, and then nodded tearfully, once more reaching
to embrace him.

“These were hers too” he said as he handed
over her sword and knife, along with her copper bowl and flasks.
She looked closely at each and looked up at Ian, saying “Is she
buried in the land of our enemies?”

“No.” he said as he produced the two large
canning jars containing her ashes. “These are her remains. I
thought it best to bring them here to the land of her people” he
said as he looked sorrowfully at her. She nodded and held the two
jars to her breast, seeming to age visibly as she walked over to
one of the two rocking chairs that Ian had made for them and
sitting down. She slowly rocked just a bit and wept then, the jars
held close to her breast.

Sorrow washed over Ian then, almost as if it
had only just happened. Tears formed and streamed from his eyes as
he knelt next to Snow Fawn. Even as he wondered if he should ever
have come to America though, he was again reminded that Moon Owl
was as good as dead when he had rescued her and would have died
horribly years earlier had he not intervened. Only by looking at
the thing in that light was he able to bear her loss at all, even
after all of this time.

Cosette was sensitive to his sorrow and came
to him, kneeling beside him to put her arms about him then as he
wept with Snow Fawn.

That evening there was a council meeting and
a festival to celebrate the return of the Night Stalker to the
Seneca. Cosette and Snow Fawn sat directly behind Ian at the
council fire. After the pipe had been ceremonially lit and passed
around to the elders and to Ian, he stood up to speak.

“Men of the Seneca of Tall Elk, you know
that Moon Owl and I went to get those who had been carried away by
the Shawnee, and you know that they were all brought back to their
families. What you might not know is that Moon Owl fought beside me
and killed many of those Shawnee responsible and helped me to bring
them back to the Seneca.” Reaching down and taking a long object
wrapped in Moon Owl’s shawl he unwrapped a pipe for all to see.
Handing it to Tall Elk he said “This is the pipe that Moon Owl
smoked at the council fire of Gray Wolf after we had brought the
captives home. She sat at the council fire of Gray Wolf between him
and me and did smoke this pipe with us on that night. Look at it,
every one of you as a reminder of who the greatest of Seneca women
was. What woman ever took the heads of the enemies of the Seneca
and made them to know fear? What woman ever smoked the pipe at the
council fire of the Seneca but Moon Owl? What woman of the Seneca
was ever greater than Moon Owl who healed a Seneca boy who was as
good as dead? She is dead, but you have with you her mother Snow
Fawn to honor with your love.” Turning to her then he reached down
and gently drew her to her feet and embraced her, seating her where
he had been and sitting down behind her.

It became silent in the long house then,
everyone staring at Snow Fawn somberly. Finally Tall Elk nodded his
head as did several of the elders and one began a conversation
concerning the upcoming lacrosse match between their village and a
neighboring village. The result of the match would again determine
who got to use a given area for hunting for an entire year. Ian
answered yes when the question was raised as to whether he would
play in the match for the village. Tall Elk beckoned for him to
take a place at the council fire beside Snow Fawn and the council
resumed their discussion as if nothing unusual had happened.

From that time forth, Snow Fawn enjoyed even
more prestige among her people, being that she was the mother of
Moon Owl, greatest of all Seneca women. Ian and Cosette set to work
on the cabin taking care of any maintenance issues that Ian could
find. It was in better shape than in previous years owing to the
women learning how to maintain it by watching and working with Ian
when he and Moon Owl would visit. In fact, Snow Fawn would never
again have to do much to the place being as it was considered to be
a labor of honor among the people of the village to assist the
mother of Moon Owl. She sat at the council fire among her people
all of the days of her life after that.

***

“Oh Johnny, you can’t continue to be angry
at me. I was just lonely and was afraid that you might marry or
return to England what with the war now ended.”

“Damn it Yvonne, I will be labeled a
deserter and lose my pension besides that!”

“I promise you, I have money enough for us;
or at least for a while anyway. I would think you’d be flattered
that I chose you to be my mate.”

“That is just it. You chose, and I wasn’t
even asked. And now I keep having these awful pains… you say they
will pass, but they hurt something awful!”

“You weren’t complaining when you bedded me
Johnny, and besides, the pains will pass and you’ll like the things
that you can do as a vampire, I promise you.” Sidling up close to
him, she took his hand and placed it inside of her blouse, which
she had carelessly left open, as she reached down low on his body
and began to caress him, between his legs. She pressed close, her
lips kissing and nuzzling his neck and teasing about his lips as
she knowingly caressed him, arousing him.

He moaned and pressed in close to her, took
a sharp breath then and sweeping her off of her feet, he bounded to
the base of the staircase and bounded to the landing above in one
leap as she gave a sultry chuckle, saying “See. You are feeling
better already” as he flashed to the bedroom and tossed her onto
the bed while ripping off his clothing.

Her laughter accompanied the sounds of
frantic movements made in the heat of passion as downstairs in the
kitchen, an elderly farmer and his wife lay on the floor of their
New Jersey farm house. The two lay staring sightlessly, each with a
circular bite wound on their necks, and already more pale than any
corpse would be.

It was a rainy day in Liechtenstein, the
cobblestones of its streets glistening as residents scurried about
their business, ducking from doorway to doorway as they hurried
hither and yon.