The Cogan Legend (6 page)

“You're not serious, are you?” Rachel asked.

“Yes, I'm serious. It'll be fun,” He smiled as he looked at the two.  “It will.”

Rachel turned toward Ann as she shook her head and wondered why she too was being punished.

Charles again reiterated, “This will be an adventure for all of us.  One you will not forget.”

Everyone could see Rachel's anger as she excused herself and went up the steps.

Ann, still in shock, looked at her father, “Why are you so insistent on us going hunting with you?”

Charles let his irritation show. “I'm paying Rachel to accompany you, and since you're going, she must go as well.”  

Ann asked to be excused.

As Ann entered the room, Rachel was still fuming.  “I want you to talk your father out of this.  I didn't come here to go hunting,” she complained as she paced in front of her bed.

“I didn't either, but he is insisting that we go.”  Now they were angry at each other.

After the anger subsided there was no conversation for the remainder of the evening.  Ann turned in early, and Rachel expressed her anger on paper as she wrote to Tom.

The next morning Rachel insisted Ann ask her father about the deer hunting again.  “If I would've known we were going to have to go hunting, I wouldn't have agreed to come.”

“I'll ask, but I think his mind is made up.”

Mary was already serving breakfast to Charles and Lewey when they appeared.   Both girls displayed no anger as they sat down, but neither smiled.  A moment or two passed when Rachel nudged Ann.  

“Father, this hunting escapade you discussed, you really weren't serious?”

“Oh yes, I want you to purchase the clothing you need to stay warm.  Early tomorrow morning we're going.”  

Again their mood turned sour and neither spoke.  After breakfast they dressed for the walk to Gratztown.

It was snowing lightly as they walked to town for their hunting attire.  Rachel complained all the way.  “I didn't come here to go hunting, and now it's snowing on top of everything.”

“It might be fun,” Ann told her friend.

Rachel gave her a stare.

As they entered the store, the clerk beamed; he was glad to see them. They made their request and he directed them to the clothes.

Ann inquired, “Is there a dressing room available.”

This surprised him; he had to think for a moment, and then proceeded to do some shuffling of the merchandise and boxes.  “There, is that adequate?”

They looked at each other and the area he had prepared.  “It's okay,” said Rachel in a disgruntled voice.

They had picked out several pair of long underwear and pants.  Ann went first, undressing while Rachel watched.  She put on the first pair of long underwear which was way too short, and Rachel burst out laughing at how she looked.

“I look that bad?”

“I can't help it; you look so funny.”  Rachel could hardly speak through the laughter.

Ann couldn't help but laugh either.  She finally found a pair that fit.  Then it was Rachel's turn.

Hearing the laughter the clerk came closer and asked, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Rachel yelled, “You stay right there, mister! We're fine.”

They giggled and joked the entire time they tried on the clothing.  After about an hour they finally found outfits that satisfied them.  They decided to wear the new outfits back to the lodge.

As they walked Rachel looked at Ann, “You look like a hunter with your boots and your hat.  I can even see you carrying a musket.”

“Well you look pretty dapper yourself,” Ann exclaimed.

They joked and laughed all the way back to the lodge.  Rachel now accepted her fate.  She had no choice but to try and make the best of it.

They went to the stable first to get Lewey's opinion.  “How do we look?” Ann inquired.

He looked at both for a moment.  “Oh yes, that will do fine,” he uttered never cracking a smile.

Now the big test: showing Mary and Charles.  As they entered, they caught the two holding hands, snuggled together.  They broke quickly when they saw the girls.

“Well, Father, this is how we're going.  Do you approve?”

“You wore the outfits from Gratztown, and you feel warm?”

“Yes, I do,” said Ann.

“And you Rachel”

“I'm very comfortable and warm,” Rachel acknowledged.

“Well that should do then,” Charles responded.

At dinner Charles announced the departure time for hunting.  “I'll wake you at five o'clock, you best get to bed early.”

Ann asked, “Five o'clock.  Why so early?”

Charles explained, “The deer move at daybreak, and a good hunter must be in the woods before they stir.”

 “Dress as warm as you possibly can; perhaps an extra shirt may help,” instructed Charles.  

In anticipation of the hunt and unable to sleep, Charles awoke at four thirty and went into the bath area before waking the girls.  He gently tapped on Mary's door to awaken her to start breakfast.   Now it was time to wake his hunting companions.

He went into their room and in a quiet voice shook each of them, “Ann, it's time to get awake. Rachel, wake up!”  

The girls came down in their nightclothes and slipped into the bath area.   

Mary was already in the process of preparing breakfast.  As they sat down to eat, it was obvious Rachel was not happy to be up so early, but she didn't say a word.  Ann was just glad she didn't make a fuss.

“You girls are in for the experience of a lifetime,” Charles exclaimed in a gleeful mood.  He looked at Rachel who held her head down and rolled her eyes upward and then back at her plate as she ate.  Charles knew she wasn't happy.  “Tonight you can write to Tom and relay what a tremendous experience you had and tell him all about it.”  

Rachel never looked up from her breakfast and frowned even more.   

As breakfast ended Charles requested, “Go dress in your warmest garments and boots; we'll be leaving soon.”

As they entered the bedroom Rachel started, “Ann, I'm so opposed to going. I feel like quitting and taking a stage back to Philadelphia.”

“You know I don't want to go either, but maybe Father is right.  This will be an experience we'll never forget.”

“Oh please, let's just get it over.  I'm sure I'll have regrets as soon as we leave the lodge.”

Charles, already dressed warmly, retrieved his flintlock rifle, powder, and balls while the girls were dressing.  Then he thanked Mary for breakfast and gave her a peck on the check.   

As they came down the steps, Charles smiled and bit his tongue to keep from bursting into laughter.  He knew he couldn't say anything derogatory and laugh aloud or they would refuse to go.   “Now, you're dressed for the weather and look like hunters.  This is going to be a successful day.”

Overnight the weather had turned blustery and cold, and snow squalls had dropped two or three inches of new snow.  When they stepped out of the lodge, a gust of wind blew and snow fell from the roof and hit them directly in the face.

  “Oh my goodness! Now my face is all wet!” whined Rachel.  “We'll freeze to death before we get ten feet and it's totally dark.  We have to be out of our minds to be out here now.”

Ann couldn't keep quiet any longer. “Father, Rachel is right. Must we go?”

“Yes” was his only response, and he kept on walking.  It didn't discourage him at all.

Off they went, Rachel just shaking her head and muttering to herself as they followed Charles.  It was breaking daylight as they walked down a trail from the lodge toward the mountain.  It was a clear morning; the wind diminished as they approached the mountain and without sunlight to warm the hollow, it was even colder.

They came to a small creek too big to jump across so Charles looked for some logs to balance and cross.  Not far was a downed-tree ideal for walking.  Charles went first.  “Who's next?” As he put down his gun and held out a hand.  

“I can't walk across that log. I'll fall in, and then I will definitely freeze to death,” Rachel complained loudly.

“Shush, keep your voice down; we must be quiet.  Come on I'll help you,” he interjected grabbing Rachel's arm and helping her cross the log.

Next, it was his daughter's turn.  She reluctantly obeyed when he implied, “Ann, come on, take my arm.”  

Walking, the girls were warm, and except for Rachel's disgust, they were fine.  Charles had high hopes of shooting a deer; the weather was ideal.  He picked a spot he thought would be good to wait in ambush.  He felt with the snow they'd be able to spot deer more easily.  Charles scraped the snow from a wide circle around them with his boot.  

“What are you doing Father?”

 “It makes it quieter so the deer can't hear you.”

Where they were standing, the sun didn't hit them at all.  Before a half-hour had passed, the girls both shivered.  Another thirty minutes passed, and they were shaking and dancing behind Charles.  He insisted they stop moving. “The deer will see you if you keep jumping around.”

The girls couldn't take it anymore; they couldn't stop shivering and their feet were frozen.  They were jumping and prancing and making all kinds of gestures behind Charles' back trying to keep warm.  Rachel kept hitting Ann's arm and pointing to Charles and with her hands and mouth gestured for them to leave.

Charles laughed to himself knowing exactly how they felt.

 Ann couldn't take it anymore. “Father, we can't stand this anymore. Please may we leave?”

Rachel told Charles, “I'm leaving. I don't care about any deer.”  She was too cold to care.  “I've never been this cold in all of my life, and it's not me who is being punished, although I wouldn't know it.”

Charles, who was just as anxious as they were to leave, wouldn't admit that he was cold, but he did agree to leave.  This time the girls hurriedly led the way and needed no help crossing the creek.  Charles was left in back of the pack as the girls hurried to return to the lodge.

When they arrived, the girls hurried to the fire to warm up.  Charles found Mary in the kitchen.  “Mary, as funny as it was to see those two dance and shiver, on the way back I started feeling a little guilty.  Perhaps what I did was cruel.”

“I don't think it was cruel,” Mary assured him.  “Neither of them got hurt, and they'll remember it for a long time.  I think it was good for them.”

Charles sat on a kitchen chair and began removing his boots.  “I suppose they'll be mad at me though.”

“Maybe so, but I wouldn't worry about that.”  She brought him a cup of coffee from the stove.  “What's done is done.  My mom used to say, ‘No use crying over spilled milk.'

“Thank you, Mary.  It's good to have a woman's perspective on this.”  He took a drink of coffee.  “Thank you.”

Mary turned back to her chores feeling like she could burst into song at any moment.

Several hours later after warming themselves both girls approached Charles. “Father, I'm never going deer hunting or any kind of hunting again.  Please never bring it up again.”

“I can tell you, I'm never going again under any circumstance,” Rachel added.

Charles just grinned.  “But wasn't the experience worth it?”

Neither responded as they left the room.

 

CHAPTER 5

 

Two days passed after the hunting fiasco before the girls again became restless.  Rachel took her frustrations out on Ann.  “I can't take this place.  We've been here over three weeks, and the only thing keeping me sane is writing.   Deer hunting, wearing men's clothing, outdated fashions, and people who are so different from us.  It's like being locked up.  I'm ready to go home.”

“I'm as frustrated as you are, Rachel.  If you weren't here, I would run away, probably with the storekeeper in Gratztown.”

Rachel laughed at Ann's outburst.   

Ann turned toward the window. “I have a thought.  Remember that town I told you about before we left?  Sunbury?  I recall  him describing an outpost or fort.  That could mean a lot of single men.”

“Oh, that's good for you,” Rachel said, “but what about me?”

Ann eyed her friend calmly. “It's good for both of us. You'll get to see something besides the walls of this lodge and I'll…”

“I think I know what you want to do!”  Rachel stood and walked to the window to stand beside Ann.  “I guess it would be better than staying here.”

“Of course!  Anywhere has to be bigger than Millersburg, wouldn't you agree?”

“Yes, but what about it?  He'll just say no.” Rachel cleared frost off the window and peered out before turning toward Ann.  “You know that.”

“I'm going to ask to go until he gives in.  I know he will especially with Mary to keep him company.”  Ann fell backwards onto the bed.  “He'll give in; he always does eventually.”

That evening Ann began her campaign.  “Father, Rachel and I would like to get out of the lodge and see some of the country – and I don't mean hunting.”

“Young lady, you're here because this is your punishment; you're not here to be wandering all around the countryside,” Charles replied, barely looking up from the book he was reading.  “Maybe you can use this time to read a good book or learn to knit.  I know Mary would be glad to teach you.”  He glanced at Mary who had just placed another log on the fire.  

Rachel, standing by the stairway, turned and went up to their room.

“Father, geography is just as important as reading and far more important than knitting.”

Charles sighed and put his book down.  He took his time lighting his pipe and then shook his head.  “No.”  He picked up his book but the cloud of aromatic smoke around his head grew so quickly that Ann retreated.