Riverbreeze: Part 3 (36 page)

“But will he hang?” Robert asked. “Wesley knows how to read. He could get off by pleading benefit of clergy.”

Jamie swore. “Damn. You’re right. We have to do it ourselves, either kill him or give him to Opechancanough.”

“Which one?”

Jamie pressed his lips together, thinking. He took a breath and let it out. “I don’t know. Originally, when you wanted to kill him yourself, I thought it would be a bad idea. I thought it would destroy you somehow, but now…I feel like I want to kill him too.”

Jamie didn’t sound too convincing though. Robert realized he would have to make this decision and to save both of them, he said, “Let’s give him to Opechancanough. Let them kill him. That way we won’t have any blood on our hands.”

Jamie pressed his fists against his forehead. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation! How to kill our own brother!”

Robert got mad. “
Half
-brother. And do you think he would hesitate to kill one of us in order to get what he wants?”

Jamie shook his head sadly.

“Look.” Robert continued. “We’re wasting time. Elizabeth is counting on me to save her. I’m going now whether you’re ready or not. And I’m going to tell Owasewas that he can have Wesley. Maybe that will save us when Opechancanough wages war on us again.”

Jamie nodded, finally assenting. “All right.” He embraced Robert and they hugged each other tight for a moment. “Let’s go.”

Finally they had a plan. Finally they had a destination. Finally they were going to rescue Elizabeth. Robert felt ready, more than ready. He went into the kitchen to tell Nick and Owasewas their plans while Jamie went upstairs to say good bye to Evelyn. Robert also took a few moments to hold his son in his arms, feeling the warmth of his little body close to his. He mourned the loss of his second child, but took comfort in the promise of future children.

When Jamie returned, Robert wolfed down a dozen corncakes and a mug of cider, then he and Jamie loaded up on powder and shot for their pistols. They sent Dolnick to inform Sheriff Huett to cancel the search party, and then the four men took off, fire in their blood.

* * *

They traveled by shallop down the river. Even though Robert and Jamie had never been to Burcher’s cabin, they knew approximately where it was, learning the location that day Elizabeth had gotten lost in the woods. It was located behind Phillip and Maureen’s property on the north side of Morris creek. Phillip may have even given the tract of land to Burcher; Robert didn’t know.

He estimated it would take them about an hour to reach Morris Creek which ran off the Chickohominy River, then from there he didn’t know how much longer it would take. Burcher’s cabin was four or five miles from the mouth of Morris Creek and they wouldn’t be able to take the shallop the whole way. The creek became too narrow and shallow at the two or three mile point and from there they would have to walk. But the four of them were good at walking, Robert thought wryly.

Robert manned the tiller while Jamie and Nick sat at the middle oar locks where they could either handle the sail or row if need be. Owasewas sat in the bow, close to the forestay.

It was another beautiful day, clear sky, not too cold and a steady breeze that filled the single sail and carried them swiftly down the river. The tide was also going out, expediting their journey. Robert saw all this as a sign of good fortune. He felt confident that this rescue would take place without a hitch.

The only time he worried that something might go wrong was when they passed Sheriff Huett’s property. He worried that they might meet someone on the river. He didn’t want to have to spend time explaining what they were doing, but it was inevitable. They met Charles Crockett just as he was tying his boat up to the dock.

“Where are you going?” Charles called out.

“We’re going to Burcher’s cabin to rescue Elizabeth.” Jamie yelled back before Robert had a chance to make up an excuse. Oh well, the truth was out now, he thought.

Charles looked shocked for a second. Then he shouted back, “Wait for us!”

“No! The search party is off!” Jamie yelled back. And then, by then they were far enough past the dock that conversation was no longer possible. They left Charles standing at the dock, staring after them, a bewildered look on his face.

“I hope they don’t decide to follow us.” Rob said.

Jamie just shrugged his shoulders. “We may need their help.”

Rob made a face at him. “I don’t want their help now. I want this to be done quietly, just between the four of us.” He looked at Nick and Nick nodded back, understanding the situation and giving his promise of secrecy. Rob already knew that Owasewas wouldn’t say anything.

Jamie let out a sigh. “You’re right. I agree.” He said.

There wasn’t much conversation after that. Jamie concentrated on handling the sail and Robert had to steer. Plus Robert didn’t feel like talking much anyway. His mind was solely on rescuing Elizabeth and bringing her home.

Dear God, let her be all right, he prayed. She was alone and sick and afraid. He hoped that, somehow, Burcher had been able to comfort her, that somehow, he had been able to protect her from Wesley’s evil ways. There was no telling what Wesley might have done to her, hurt her, abuse her, possibly rape her. No. He wouldn’t think of that or it would drive him mad! He had to think of something else.

So instead, he thought of her beautiful face. He remembered the first time he saw her, so lovely, so poised, singing like an angel. He was attracted to her from the beginning even if he had denied it to himself. And then at their first meeting, he had loved how confident she was and especially that embroidery on her gown. She had been so kind and maternal to Robin, and the little boy had instantly fallen in love with her. That should have given him a clue about her character. He remembered their wedding; how quick and simple it had been. Now he wished he could have given her the wedding of her dreams with a new gown and a feast afterwards and a pile of bride’s cakes. He remembered their lovemaking; how satisfying and complete it was. She never shied away from him or rejected him and he couldn’t have asked for a more perfect partner. He had to bring her home; there was no other option because if he lost her, he would surely die himself.

But he wasn’t going to lose her, he told himself. He looked at Owasewas at the front of the boat. In the past four years Owasewas had grown into a tall, strong man, a warrior really. Three years ago he had gone through the ritual called the
huskanaw
, which translated to ‘he has a new body’. He, along with several other young teenage boys, had been beaten, symbolically killed, fed a decoction and then were sent out into the woods for several days to have a vision. If they survived, they came back, were ‘reborn’ and retrained by the men away from the influence of women.

Having Owasewas with them gave them a huge advantage. Owasewas could speak and deal with the other two savages. He was a masterful bowman, able to shoot arrows quickly and accurately; and he had perfect aim when throwing the tomahawk. And he was smart. Earlier, at the house, Owasewas had said that the two savages were probably promised something from Wesley for their help, guns most likely, for that is what Indians wanted most. He said that if they could offer the Pumunkeys a better deal, they might turn against Wesley and it would help them to get the Pumunkeys on their side. Robert thought about this and realized that Owasewas was right. The law had to be ignored this time and Robert agreed to offer the Indians Wesley’s and Burnett’s guns and he would get them more; however, he would not give up his own gun or Jamie’s. That was final! Owasewas had understood and had agreed; and then he had volunteered to deal with the Pumunkeys. It sounded so easy, but Robert was still nervous. Anything could go wrong.

Another moment of anxiety was when they sailed past the Archer’s property. Robert certainly didn’t want to encounter Phillip or Maureen or any of his servants who would know Robert. But the coast was clear and they sailed cleanly past the dock and headed for the Chickohominy River. At the mouth of the secondary river, Jamie and Nick adjusted the sail and they turned right into it, smooth and sure. But now they were going against the tide. The shallop slowed, but only slightly. Jamie was an expert at catching the wind.

They traveled another two or three miles until they came to Morris Creek. The tide was still going out, but at this point the creek was still deep enough and wide enough to accommodate the shallop. Freshwater tidal wetlands lined both sides of the creek and they encountered great blue herons, egrets and large flocks of migratory Blue-Winged Teals and Wood ducks. It would have been a perfect time for someone to go hunting, but thankfully they didn’t run into anyone.

At the mouth of the creek, Jamie and Nick took down the sail and manned the oars. Here it was perfectly quiet with only the sound of their oars dipping into the water and the wind rustling the bulrushes. Twice they disturbed flocks of ducks and the sudden explosion of quacking ducks and whistling wings made them smile.

Otherwise they were completely quiet, albeit alert, as Jamie and Nick rowed them another two miles up the creek. At this point the waterway became too narrow and shallow for the shallop, so they all got out and pulled the light boat ashore and left it amongst the reeds.

Robert and Jamie didn’t know who owned this particular piece of property. Perhaps Burcher owned all of it from his cabin to the Chickohominy River, but Robert didn’t believe that Phillip would have given him that much land. Most of it was swamp or wetlands anyway; there wasn’t much one could do with it.

It was rough going for the first mile. They sloshed through marshland that was freezing cold. Owasewas didn’t show any signs of discomfort, but poor Nick was shivering when they finally came to the edge of the forest. He was used to working alongside a hot fire, not traipsing through icy water in the middle of winter.

“I wasn’t counting on this.” He said, stamping his feet and blowing on his hands to try to warm them up. His knee-high boots made squishing noises.

“I’m sorry, Nick.” Robert said. “I wasn’t expecting this either, but we had to come this way. I couldn’t ask Phillip to allow us to travel through his property.”

“Why not?” Nick complained. “We could have used another hand. We would have had the advantage then!”

Robert stared at him. “You didn’t say anything earlier!”

“I know.” Nick sighed. “Oh, forget I said anything. But if I lose my toes because of this, I will be extremely upset.”

“You not lose toes.” Owasewas said. “I show you what to do when we reach cabin.”

Nick was looking at Owasewas with raised eyebrows. “You know how to prevent frostbite?”

Owasewas grinned, showing his gleaming white teeth. Robert knew that mischievous look.
Here comes the punch line
, he thought, suppressing his own smile. “Stick toes in hot shit!” He said.

“What!” Nick gasped, totally taken in.

Robert and Jamie burst out laughing. Nick threw them a dirty look. Robert clapped him on the shoulder. “Owasewas doesn’t like whiners.”

Nick looked sheepish. “Was I whining?” He said.

“A little.” Rob said, still chuckling.

“Sorry.” Then Nick turned to Owasewas and looked at his bare chest. Yes, he was wearing a wolf-skin mantle, but underneath that his upper body was bare. “I’m sorry, Owasewas. I reckon I need to toughen up, huh?”

Owasewas smiled. “You live with me. You…toughen up.” He repeated Nick’s words, copying Nick’s pronunciation of the English words.

Nick laughed. “Thank you, but no thank you.”

“You like my sister?” Owasewas asked quickly.

“Ah…” Nick paused, caught.

Robert thought this was going too far and they were wasting time. “Enough! We need to move on.” He said, rescuing Nick from a sticky situation.

Nick threw him a grateful look before turning to follow Jamie who had started to lead the way into the forest.

At that moment though, they heard a strange bird call. It sounded like it was between a warbling crow call and a hoot owl.

It sent shivers down Robert’s spine. “What the hell was that?” He asked under his breath. He thought he knew—the savages—but they were still rather far from the cabin. He looked around, but didn’t see anything, either in the water or in the reeds or in the high bare branches of a lone scrub oak.

“Get down!” Owasewas suddenly warned with a sharp gesture with his hand. He quickly dropped to the ground.

The three men immediately followed and just in time too. An arrow whooshed over their heads and thunked into a tree.

Robert looked at Jamie and Nick. By the look on their faces, they were thinking the same thing as Robert. Thank God they had Owasewas with them or one of them would have an arrow stuck in them right now or possibly be dead.

Owasewas put his hands to his mouth and made a different bird call in return. This bird call was immediately answered and then Owasewas stood up. He let out another loud ululating cry which made Robert jump. What the hell was that for?

They found out soon enough. Both Pumunkey Indians appeared from out of nowhere, it seemed.

They were not friendly-looking savages. Tall and lean and hardy, these two were typical of the native population. Ugly too, with their wide, flat noses, high cheekbones and garish ornaments hanging from numerous holes in their ears