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Life from 1770-1865 for our ancestors. History, fiction and family lore. |
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Chapter 5 The next two weeks after James got home, he could see that Nancy treated Will differently than before he had gone down the river on the raft. Not only was she still shaving him every other day, but she demanded he still wash out the nappies and wash her feet among other things. Will carried around a distasteful look on his face but that didn't stop him from being around more than he needed to be. The first chance James had, he rowed across the river and was waiting for Carl when the trading-post opened up for business. He looked over the tools he would need for taking trees down and building cabins and figured in his head what it would cost and how much he could buy and how much he could spare from his own tools. He also asked if Carl had any mail for him. Carl stated that indeed he did. By mid morning James had accomplished his tasks and was back home. February 17, 1774. My Dear Son James; We are all fine here in Norfolk. Mary is coming to terms about Richard's death and is moving on with her life. We are all trying to get over and coping with the loss of Richard. Your mother is more attentive to your brother, Theodore than ever. Maybe because he's the only son she has close by. He's ten now but she still treats him like her baby. Jean Louise and Sara Ann ignore Ted when he tries to demand his way. The unrest in our colonies is getting more prevalent every year. I think I told you about the Boston Massacre, when our citizens were mowed down by British troops. It was under provocation, for they were being jeered at by our citizens. Now, last December we had a Boston Tea Party where a group of citizens took over a ship full of tea from India and dumped it overboard. We are being occupied now with British troops, similar to the occupation of Scotland after the Battle of Culloden. That was a bloodbath, and for years after it happened, Scotland was taken to task by British Soldiers. And that was less than thirty years ago. I hate to say it, but I think the tensions will only get worse until we have a war. You take care of yourself and yours! Your loving Father, William. Several times James made trips across the river to buy tools at the Trading-post and Nancy made only one of those trips with him to visit her family but decided to stay home on the rest of his trips. She had a fit when James said he was taking Will with him to help raise the cabin for Chief Akanadi. She didn't want to be by herself so James made another trip across the river to talk to Nancy's Mother, Rachel, and asked if she would allow Easter or one of the other children to stay with Nancy while Will and James were gone. Nancy had a sour look on her face when James walked into the cabin with Easter in tow. However James noticed that Will was all smiles about the whole deal. Easter was sixteen now and she didn't have a beau as of yet. She was quite a bit plainer looking than her sister, but James thought the reason Easter still didn't have a beau was that Easter didn't encourage anyone that might be suitable. Caleb was twenty one now and had found a fifteen year old girl that he was quite enamored with. Pheraby (Phebe) Farmer was a black haired, green eyed girl that was thin as a rail. Easter's description of Phebe was, “She has a stick figure and when she turns sideways she disappears.” Strongheart did his usual Whip-poor-will sound one morning and James and Will met them on the trail. They were going to the village without horses and were loaded down with tools. Strongheart took a few of the tools from the two men and they set out walking swiftly. They were carrying axes, adzes, hatchets, two crosscut saws, draw knives, chisels, froes along with a plumb bob, square and measuring string. On the way to the village the men exchanged news that they thought the other one might not have heard. Strongheart brought up some news that was quite shocking. “You remember Jim Bonnet?” “Yes I remember Jim. How is he doing!” “He's not. According to Mrs Bonnet, Jim's pain got so bad this spring that he took his Blunderbuss out into the woods and blew his head off. I didn't know a Blunderbuss had that much power so he must have used plenty of powder. Tom said he had his boot off so he could pull the trigger with his toe. Even though Tom found Jim, he thinks it is for the best. Now Jim no longer has to suffer. Mrs. Bonnet feels between her and Tom, they will manage. After making the appropriate noises of sympathy the conversation continued on to Caleb and Phebe and how Easter might end up being an old maid. When Strongheart raised his arm, they continued walking in silence. Stopping at nightfall, they ate some dried jerky and bedded down even though they only had a mile to go, but did not wish to be a bother and enter the village after dark. In the morning the three men arrived at the village. They had a big confab with the Chief about where the site of the cabin should be. Then they went through the area around the site selecting and choosing which trees they wanted to cut down for the walls of the cabin. The members of the tribe were expressing a lot of interest in the project by then, so James gave the four axes to three men per ax and told everyone they would have a little competition to see which team could cut a tree down the fastest. James and Will gave a demonstration in chopping a tree down and how to make it fall in the direction a man wanted it to go. After selecting trees far enough apart to be safe, James gave a holler and then walked around the teams, encouraging and instructing them on how to get the most out of each lick. Strongheart and Will helped the women clear the site of all the brush and branches, by evening the landscape looked like a different place. The next day the men that had swung axes all day were sore and didn't want to face another day swinging an ax. Chief Akanadi sent them hunting and drafted another sixteen braves to take their place. Then it was James making the rounds once again. On the third and fourth day the eight teams split the day. After the fourth day there were enough logs cut to take a break and get back to it on Monday. Besides, James had left the shovels at home. When they got home Nancy was happy and decided Will and James needed a good shave and their hair trimmed. Easter insisted she wanted to try shaving a man and used James as her first try. That night James was embarrassed when Nancy insisted on her marital rights and was louder than usual. James didn't know if it was for his benefit or Easter's. It was only the hundredth time he thought, 'Who are you?' He thought about that. He knew the relationship had changed between Nancy and Will. He thought about that too. He knew the child Nancy was carrying had to be his. He thought about that as well. It was late in the night before James went to sleep. Having an early start of heading toward Chief Akanadi's village, the three were carrying the shovels and the small stone-boat. James had brought along enough hemp rope with them to give the stone-boat a gang of tuggers when it was loaded with rock. They reached the site of the cabin by nightfall and were treated to a stew that was still in the pot over a fire. The next day they laid out the parameters of the cabin and James demonstrated how to dig using the knees and feet for better leverage. With six guys and two shovels the foundation was dug out within the day. Then it was time to begin dragging the stone-boat up the sloop from the creek with rock and filling in the foundation. Meanwhile logs were being cut for length and being dragged to the site. Once the foundation was filled with rock the first logs were put in place and the dirt inside the cabin was spread and leveled. By the end of the week the four walls were up and rocks were being brought to the site for the fireplace. When James and Will got home that weekend it was a repeat of the last weekend. Nancy wanted Will to shave right away, so while James jumped into the creek for a bath, she shaved Will. Then when Will was taking his bath and washing the nappies, Easter shaved James. Nancy took James out to the garden and fields to show him everything that Easter and Nancy had accomplished through the week, while the men were gone. James was impressed. “Wow, you girls are keeping up even without Will.” “Yes we are. But, Easter is wanting to go home. She thinks I will be fine without her. Maybe I would be, but I always feel like someone is watching me. I know it can't be, but I feel my hairs on the back of my neck rise at times and I look around but no ones there. It might be an unreasonable fear of what's in these woods, but I can't help it.” “Alright! I'll take Easter home and I'll have Will stay. We should get along without him this week. The cabin building is coming along great.” “Can you take Easter home now and get back before dark? That way it will be just you and me tonight in our cabin!” “Sure. If I hurry the trading-post might still be open and I'll see if Carl has shingling nails. Run and tell Easter we are leaving. I'll get some money from the house.” Nancy ran to the field where Jonathan and Easter were. She felt light as a feather and in high spirits. Easter was going home and she had Will to herself again. Already she had plans with all Will could do for her. Carl had nails and James was glad to get them. Even if they cost a pretty pence. Shilling was more like it! It was dark by the time he got home. He remembered what the native buck had told Strongheart, so he thought this was a good opportunity to sneak around and observe what was happening at his home while he was away. He saw Nancy and Will sitting on the bench by the cabin door with Jonathan. He then slipped around by the fireplace and stayed close to the corner of the building, mentally thanking Strongheart for showing him how to walk like a ghost. What he heard was confusing to say the least. Nancy was lecturing Will, “You have all next week for us to do things. I'm not kissing you now for washing out those nappies. James will be home and I don't need him to see us kissing. Besides that, tonight is James's night. You have to understand. He's my husband and you need to keep that in mind. Next week I'll get the switch out if you don't behave.” “Not that! I'll be good.” Will let out a sigh even James could hear when he got up and walked to his cabin. Nancy got up from the bench and walked into the cabin. When James thought enough time had passed he walked to the door and stepped into the cabin. Nancy exclaimed, “There you are. Did you get the nails?” “Carl had them and I got them.” “I hope you're not spending too much money on them Indians? I'm still upset that you left part of our money with that Banker. Of course, that gives you another reason to make another trip next year. I'm not going to discuss this with you right now! Jonathan is asleep so let's go to bed.” By Monday morning James was still as confused as he had been Saturday night. Nancy was kissing and whipping Will? That was mind boggling! After a half a mile of carrying the nails, James was ready for Strongheart to take a turn lugging those things. “This is awkward, carrying a box of nails.” Strongheart stated. “Let's rig a carrier out of poles and we'll both carry them.” Strongheart disappeared off the trail and James heard Strongheart's hatchet working. Coming back with a couple of saplings James helped measure and put the braces in place and tie it together with rawhide straps. Then they piled their rifles, hatchets, knives and nails on the litter and were ready to start out again. As they walked, James started confiding to Strongheart, “I've got a problem.” stated James. “It seems Nancy is doing things a married woman should not be doing. I don't know how bad it is or what I should do about it.” “Different people look at things differently. Would you want me to go back and set up a watch and tell you what I see?” “That would help. Thank you!” It was Tuesday morning before the two men made it back to Chief Akanadi's village. After outlining the work that would be taking place this week, Strongheart slipped away and headed back the way they had come. It was dark before Strongheart arrived back at James's farmstead. Strongheart slipped around each cabin, but didn't see anything. There was no light to be seen from any of the cracks between the logs and Will's cabin had some snoring sounds coming from it. The weather was too warm to have a fire in a fireplace and cooking happened outside a lot during this time of the year. The fire-pit in the front yard of James's cabin still had hot coals in it so Strongheart knew it had been used. Strongheart withdrew from the farm and headed into the woods for his sleep. Before daylight Strongheart was back to the edge of the trees, waiting for anything to happen. The sun was up for almost an hour before he saw Will come out from the trees on a well worn path that led from Will's cabin. Strongheart saw Will sit down on the bench by the door of James's cabin and wait. About a half an hour later the door opened and Nancy stepped out to talk to Will. Strongheart was too far away to hear what was being said, but all at once Nancy sat on Will's lap and started kissing him. Then they went inside the cabin. Five minutes later Will came out with a basket of nappies and headed for the creek. For the next hour he was washing them. He seemed to spend more time then what was needed in rinsing them out. Then he went to a small lone tree and commenced to spread the pieces of cloth over the limbs. Once he was done with that, he left the basket and went back inside the cabin. Half an hour later, Nancy, Will and Jonathan left the cabin and headed to the corn field. Strongheart wondered how they got everything done with the late start that they had. That question was quickly answered once they started hoeing. Will started hoeing down the center of the row, faster then he saw anybody hoe before. Then he saw why. Will's hoe never got close to the corn plants. Nancy came along behind, taking her time, and hoed between the plants. When the sun was overhead the two grabbed Jonathan, who had been playing at the end of the corn rows, and headed for James's cabin for the noon meal. Strongheart slipped out of the tree line and ran to the outside wall of the cabin and around the cabin to the gun-port on the north side of the house. From the open gun-port he could plainly hear what was being said inside. Nancy was doing most of the talking. “I don't care that you were tired last night! If you're going to be my second husband, I need you to act like my second husband anytime my first husband is gone! Have you got that?” “It's not right with some of the things you make me do. James wouldn't like this.” “James doesn't need to know. Besides, some things are only for James and James doesn't do some things. You won't be doing some of the husband's things until something happens to James. But for right now, James is being a good man and I wouldn't think of doing anything bad to him. While it's still hot outside and Jonathan takes his nap, you are doing what you didn't do last night and worship me or I'm getting the switch! Am I making myself clear?” “Yes, beautiful Nancy. I'll be good.” “You'd better be, or you get the switch. If you are really stubborn' I'll tell James that you did the unthinkable and took advantage of me! You know he'll believe me and take you out and shoot you. Believe me, he will!” Strongheart didn't stick around for what he knew would haunt him for life. Instead he headed for Will's cabin and examined Will's latch on the cabin door. It was a two by four board, that pivoted on a bolt in the middle of the door and dropped into a wood slot. No one was getting through that door. Strongheart decided that he would have to wait for Will to come home for the evening. The rest of the day was spent watching Nancy and Will hoeing the corn patch. It was the middle of the night before Will came stumbling down the path, dead on his feet. He was too tired to protest when Strongheart met him at the door and followed Will into his cabin. “Will, you need to leave! I've seen what that woman's doing to you. Her mistreatment will only get worse.” “What do you mean leave! I have no place to go. James needs me! Nancy will kill me if she finds me! I can't leave!” “Oh yes you can! And you will. Bundle up your clothes, strap on your knife and grab that old blunderbuss. We're leaving. I'll talk to James and he'll understand. You won't ever have to see Nancy again if you don't want to. I'll light a candle and you can start gathering up your stuff.” Strongheart hoped he was getting through to Will. “Alright Strongheart, I'll do it! I'm a man! I will not be afraid of that awful woman!” “Now you're talking!” Leaving the clearing, Will looked back, remembering all the hard work and good times that he had with James. James had always treated him as an equal and Will would never forget. Then he thought about the other side of the coin. Nancy and the Sea Captain were alike. He would never forget those people either, at least not with good will. Strongheart led the way down the creek to the wooden canoe, carrying his rifle and Will's blunderbuss, while Will carried his bundle of clothes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Nancy opened the door the next morning and there was no Will sitting there. Jonathan was busy playing on the floor, so Nancy thought she'd risk leaving him and ran to Will's cabin. The door was open and his blunderbuss was gone. She pulled the rope that was attached to the two by four door latch through the hole that was made for the rope and latched the door thinking, 'He went hunting without telling me! He's going to hear about that.' Will never came back from hunting that afternoon and Nancy grew more upset as time passed. She took Jonathan with her the next time she went to Will's cabin. That's when she saw that Will's clothes were gone. Carrying a twenty eight month old child for three miles while being seven months pregnant, was not something she did everyday, but she had to confirm her fears. The canoe was gone! By the time Nancy got back to the cabin it was dark. After feeding Jonathan and putting him to bed, she sat in the dark and wondered, 'What am I going to tell James?' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strongheart and Will had a full moon to find the canoe and row across and against the current. By the time they got to the east side Strongheart knew he had to stop and rest. Will was completely exhausted. So they slipped under the trees and went to sleep. The sun had been up for a couple of hours before Will was shaken awake by Strongheart. Strongheart handed Will a couple of pieces of cooked meat. After a drink from the river, Strongheart was ready to go. Getting into the canoe they began rowing against the current for another three hours. By this time Strongheart was ready to beach the canoe and proceed by foot. Will was anxious remembering his time with Nancy and was almost paranoid about the future. “Where are we going Strongheart? I suppose you have something in mind.” “Yes, we are going to kill two birds with one stone, Will. And I'm sure you will like it as well. You remember the man we were talking about a few weeks ago? His children think they're old enough not to need help. They need a few more years to be able to do that. His wife is hoping they can survive, but they need help. You can be that help. Are you willing?” “Let's go see. What if it doesn't work out? Is there something else we could do?” Will did not have a good impression of Mrs, Bonnet a year ago. She had treated him like she didn't even see him, while she couldn't do enough for James. “You could come and join my village. We would gladly have you. Not every man has to be a Brave. The thing is, our society has a few restrictions if you're not a Brave.” After crossing the creek and arriving at the Bonnet clearing, Strongheart gave a yell. “Hello.” There was no response. Walking a few more rods, he stopped and yelled again, “Hello the house!” Mrs. Bonnet stepped out of the cabin with five children following along behind. “Strongheart, What brings you here?” Strongheart noticed that the oldest boy, Tom, was missing. More than likely Tom was out hunting. Strongheart knew Tom had to be having a tough time finding anything to shoot because this area was hunted out by Strongheart's village. “I have a problem I think you could help me with. Will here is a friend of mine. He has found himself without a place to be. And I thought of you. You could give him substance and he could provide you with meat and fellowship.” “I see he has a blunderbuss. We already have one of those. Does he shoot it better than my son when he shoots his?” Strongheart thought for a minute and realized Mrs. Bonnet was driving a hard bargain. He looked at his Kentucky Long-rifle and thought. That's eight pounds worth of sweetening the pot. “I think you are right Mam. It would be a lot better for you if Will had this long-rifle. Don't you agree, Will?” “Ya, but I don't have the money to pay you. What will we do?” “Don't worry about it. James owes you. I'll collect from him!” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- James was trudging home on Saturday after another productive week. Many hands helped the progression of the cabin. The rafters and cross saplings that were hewed down flat, were all in place and tied together with rawhide straps. He had left this morning with a dozen men making wood shingles. With all the help, he could see next week being a two or three day week, unless he decided to show them how to put a puncheon floor in. Strongheart stepped onto the trail about a half a mile from home. “We need to talk,” he said in all seriousness. “Yes. What has been happening?” James asked. “Is everything alright?” “Better! But not alright. Nancy was abusing Will.” “What do you mean, abusing Will?” “Let's just say that Nancy enjoyed having Will's head up her butt! And I mean literally.” “And this was all Nancy's doing.” “Oh yes, it was.” “Alright, I guess I'll have to live with it. Where's Will?” “He's over at the Bonnet place. Next time I'm over that way I'll stop in and see how he's doing. I think he's fine over there James. That reminds me. I need your rifle. Here's your blunderbuss. A rifle was what it took to convince Mrs. Bonnet to give Will a try. I know! But you made more than that off him with all the work he has done for you these last years. We'll just call it even.” “No! I can't take that Blunderbuss home with me. Nancy will know right away I had something to do with Will running away. I'm going home and tell Nancy I'm going out to find Will. I suppose you guys took the canoe across the river.” “Yes we did. It's on the north side of that bluff by the river. Maybe you can go and talk to Will and he'll tell you where it's at. You didn't hear it from me.” “Alright, I understand.” “Good luck with Nancy! I'm glad I'm not you!” With that Strongheart ran down the trail and disappeared. James went and hid the Blunderbuss. When James got home, he found a crying Nancy and a cabin that was a mess. Nancy had cut more fabric off the nappy fabric that James had bought for her and had left the dirty nappies in a pile by the door. The first thing out of her mouth was, “Will is gone! You have to go find him and bring him home.” “When did he leave?” “Wednesday. I thought he went hunting, but then I found his clothes were gone and his blunderbuss was gone. Then I checked and the canoe was gone. Go get him!” “Now don't get so excited. Have you taken care of the horses since Will left?” “No, I wasn't worried about the horses.” “I'm going to go check on the horses. Take these dirty nappies down to the creek and wash them out. Jonathan is old enough for you to train him to go to the outhouse or piddle outside if he can't hold it.” Horrified, Nancy looked at James's back as he walked out the door. This was the first time he had found fault with her and she didn't like it. It felt like the light and fun in her life had died and she wasn't happy. What James found was terrible. It looked like the horses hadn't been staked out on grass for the last three days. One corner of the corral ended in the creek so at least they had water. He went into Will's cabin and got some corn to give them and then picketed them out on some grass. After an hour he saddled Buster and headed to Rockford. The river was low and Buster could walk across it without James getting wet. On the way to Rockford he looked at his problem from all sides. Nancy needed to have someone around. She needed someone to boss around. She didn't use the good sense God gave her! And most of all, she was carrying his child and didn't need to be upset. He needed someone there with her. And right now, he was so disgusted, he didn't want to be anywhere near her. He had an excuse of needing to help put a puncheon floor in the cabin he was helping to build. That would give him two weeks to come to terms with how he now viewed Nancy. Getting over his feelings of disappointment would really help! Stopping in to talk to Nancy's mom, Rachel, he still didn't know how much he should tell her. “Hello Rachel. How are you?” “James! Did you bring Nancy with you?” “No I didn't. Will left last week while I was gone and the canoe is missing. I came with Buster looking for the canoe. Have you seen Will?” “This is the first I heard about it. When did you say he left?” “I didn't. Wednesday or Thursday. I think I need to find the canoe and get the Blunderbuss back. I know! Will heard Bill Hart talking to me about Jim Bonnet shooting himself and the straits his family has found themselves in. I wonder if he knows where they live?” “That would be worth a look.” “Ya, I think so. Could I ask you for a favor? I need to be gone next week. Could I have Easter keep Nancy company for the next week or two? I should be done by then.” “ I don't know. Easter said she thought Nancy was mad about something and wasn't happy with her being there.” James thought 'I'll bet', and said, “I don't know anyone else to ask.” He thought for a minute and said, “Would it help if I could pay Easter? Or maybe, would Julie or Ben be willing to go with Easter?” “They have their own work here. I especially missed having Easter here the last time, because she is able to keep her sister and brother in line hoeing in the garden and not goofing off.” James was running out of ideas. “Could you hire someone you know to work in the garden? I would give you the money to pay them with.” Rachel thought about that for a minute. “I saw a notice that said; young lad for hire. It was on the trading-post bulletin. For a shilling and eight pence, I could hire him for ten days worth of work for that. But you have to take Ben with you as well as Easter and you have to get Easter to say yes. Alright!” “Good. I'll go talk to Easter. Are they out in the garden?” “Yes, go talk to her.” Going out to the garden, James could see the three of them in the garden, close together. It was a practice to talk while hoeing to make the day go faster. James walked up to the three and caught their attention. The first thing out of Easter's mouth was, “No! I didn't tell Mom this, but something strange is going on at your cabin. The whole week I was there, it was, 'Will would do that, I don't have to ask Will twice to do that and then she kissed him when he got back like no married woman should. Then she was mad if I didn't treat her like a queen. Just like when we were growing up. Only she's worse because now Mom isn't there to straighten her out.” “I'm sorry! I don't know what to do. Will ran away last week because she has become so abusive to him. That kissing was the nice side. She also felt she had the right to whip him. So he ran away. She has two months left until she has the baby she's carrying. I don't want to upset her while she's pregnant. If your brother or sister were to come with you, would that help? In two weeks I'll be back and maybe Nancy will be close enough to having the baby so that your Mother can stay and help deliver the baby. Nancy doesn't want to stay alone and I don't know if I trust her to stay alone. I have no idea what she'll do!” Easter stood there stunned. Her brother-in-law had just poured his heart out and it was a shock to think that something could shake James. Could she handle her sister for two weeks? She may not like it, but she could make it work for James's sake. “Alright, I will go if Ben comes with me. That way it can be two against one if need be.” “I really appreciate you doing this for me. Once you gather whatever you need to take, would it be alright if you would use Caleb's boat to cross the river? I need to talk to someone and find my canoe.” “We can do that. We'll see you back at your cabin.” James got back on Buster and headed for the Bonnet place. Getting close he could see four bodies working out in the garden. “Hello the house! He yelled. Mother and three children came out of the cabin. “How are you today Mrs Bonnet? James asked. “We're fine. I hope you haven't come to take Will away, have you?” “No, I just came to see how he's doing.” “He's doing fine. He told me some about why he had to leave. It sounds like one thing led to another and before he knew it your wife had turned into a different person. I don't mind telling you, power and guilt can do strange things to people. It just slips up on you. I know Jim felt guilty for not doing better for his family. I just never thought he'd do what he did. I know he'd take it kindly if you would leave Will with us. He's such a big help and the kids just love him.” “That's what I wanted to hear. I'll trot out to the garden and hear it from Will. Nice seeing you Mrs. Bonnet.” “Call me Stella please. You're practically family now!” Stella looked at James with longing written all over her face and she thought, 'Why can't Nancy just die and free James? That scarlet hussy shouldn't even be alive after what she's all done!' Stella so wanted to tell James that he had options. He had a right to take Nancy's life if she had been unfaithful. That's how Stella saw it! “In that case, call me James! Good day Stella.” Riding out to the garden, James saw Will was wiping his brow and watching him ride up. “It's good to see you, Will. Is this where you would like to be?” “Yes, I think so. Stella has been more than nice and I'm really enjoying the kids. I'm hoping you're not thinking of making me go back. I don't know what to think of Nancy. I think in her mind, she was playing a game, but it got out of hand.” “It got out of hand all right! But you should have stopped it. If I remember it right, you enjoyed teasing her and thought she was beautiful, which she is. Even though you might not think so, that teasing encouraged her. However I think you should stay right here. Where's the canoe exactly?” “When you cross the creek below the cabin, turn towards the river. At the river, go down stream about one hundred rods. It's along the river in that area. You should see it.” “Goodbye Will. I hope things work out for you.” James turned and headed for the creek and the river to find the canoe and hide it better before he went home. He thought about Nancy and his situation and started wondering if he had overreacted. He had been gone for three months. He had left the two alone together. She was a young woman of only twenty years of age. James never gave Will a thought of being disloyal. Maybe it wasn't a question of being disloyal as a question of being weaker than temptation. Temptation or character flaw? Flawed humans? Mm!! The canoe was there and James slid it farther into the trees. Then he went home. Nancy was there, but not there. It was like she wasn't aware of her surroundings. Her mind was somewhere else, and not at home. Easter and Ben watched Jonathan while James hoed in the garden. When Monday came James was ready to leave. He had shown Ben how much corn to give the horses and where to stake them out on grass. He left the blunderbuss behind for Easter and Ben to use if they needed it. With nothing weighing him down except his knapsack, he spent a lot of the day jogging and arrived at the village cabin by mid afternoon. There was a huge pile of shingles waiting for direction on how to put them on. A couple of middle aged men came out of their lodges. They got on the roof with James and started taking instructions from James. One side of the roof was a third done before they quit for the night. By then, there were six guys on the roof. The next day James left men working on the roof while he took eight of the men to cut some more trees down. The cabins inside dimensions were fifteen feet by thirteen feet. James had decided to cut tall enough trees to get two, thirteen foot logs from one tree. By evening James had demonstrated how to split the logs and get two halves with a three inch plank out of the middle. He could make furniture out of the three inch planks. With draw knives the planks would be smoothed down to two inch planks. By evening the shingles were on the roof and men had been shown how to smooth out the half logs and planks. For the last four days all James could think about was Nancy's mess. What should he do about it? He was committed to another run on a raft next year. He had teased Nancy this spring that he was taking Will with him. But James had known he couldn't do that to Nancy because there was too much work to do without Will being there. Now, he didn't know who he could trust to do what Will had done. As he pondered his dilemma he began to smile. The answer was right there in front of him. Caleb! Who better than a brother-in-law. James decided it was time to bond the riff between Nancy and himself. And he must talk to Caleb. At the cabin, the fireplace needed to be built. The four foot wide by six foot high hole in the one end wall was still there where the men walked in and out of the cabin, putting in the floor. James explained how far they could do the floor with wood and where they would lay flat stones for a stone floor in front of the fireplace. He then told Chief Akanadi that he would be back in a week to help build the fireplace. Arriving home he could see Nancy was still surly and snippy with her brother and sister and they were disgusted with her and ready to leave and go home. James felt he needed to apologize to Easter and stroke ruffled feathers. “Easter, thank you so much for coming this week. Please don't be too hard on Nancy. She's just irritable with the baby and herself. Tell your mother thank you. I'll be home next week but I will be gone the next and I'll still need you, or else your mother. Someone should be here. After another two weeks, she could have the baby at any time. After Easter and Ben left, the confrontation that James had been dreading was here. Jonathan was playing outside, so James began speaking. “Nancy, Will said you were whipping him with a switch.” “So what. Men switch their wives all the time. If Will wasn't doing what I asked, I switched him.” “Have I ever switched you? Did I ever switch Will” “No!” “Do you think you need to be switched?” “Maybe.” “Should you have been doing what you did with another man?” “No.” “Should that deserve being switched?” “Yes.” “Go outside and cut a switch and bring it to me!” Nancy got up, grabbed the hatchet and went outside. A few minutes later she returned with a switch and James saw it was smaller than his thumb at the big end. “How many times did you do wrong with what you did?” “Five times!” “Remove your bloomers and raise your dress. Now, get on your hands and knees. Now count the lashes. Did you do wrong?” “Yes,” Wack, “One!” “Did you do wrong?” “Yes,” Wack, “TWO!” “Did you do wrong?” “Yes,” Wack, “THR..EE!” “Did you do wrong?” “Yes,” Wack, “F..OUR!” “DID YOU DO WRONG?” “YES!” Wack “FI..VE!” “You're forgiven! Never do that again!” “I WON'T!” That night after James and Nancy had snuggled down in bed and James was almost asleep, Nancy said in a quiet voice, “I'm sorry.” “You should be. Now go to sleep. Tomorrow I have to talk to Caleb and bring home the canoe” “Why Caleb?” “I have to replace Will. Now go to sleep!” Chapter 6 James wondered for the hundredth time, 'How did he let himself get talked into this!' He knew if they were successful this walking would be well worth it. The year is 1776 of our Lord and Christ and they were on a mission. On July 4th the Colonies had declared their independence and the frontier had some very valid concerns. The Cherokee had signed treaties, years ago, with the English Government to help protect the British against all enemies, and one thing about the Cherokees, they took pride in keeping their word. Every Cherokee that had a resentment against the encroachment of white people, was killing and burning the settlers. James's militia unit was being joined every day with more groups of men from surrounding towns. It was an army any man would be proud to be part of. They were going to Georgia to the village of the Great Sachem of the Cherokee Nation to demonstrate to the Sachem there is might in numbers, and to make the Cherokee understand that the Cherokee should no longer side with the British. The Iroquois League had treaties with the British as well, but they had decided to remain neutral. It was up to the frontiersmen to convince the Cherokee League to do the same. It was anticipated that they could all be in the middle of Georgia in eighteen to twenty days. It was a fast walk, for seven to eight hours a day. The day was split in two with a two to three hour break at high noon. ------------------------------------------------------------ James thought about how he ended up on this trek, heading south. He had left home, early one morning to cross the river, to visit the trading post and replenish some supplies that was needed. When he got there the only person in the trading post was Carl, who informed him, “You need to go over to the Boar's Head and listen to what's been going on with the raids to our homesteaders, up and down the interior. England is calling the natives to abide by their treaties with Great Britain and declare war on us. We got to stop them!” James went over to hear what the countryside was facing and the first thing given to him was a glass of whiskey when he walked in the door. He didn't normally drink, but this whiskey was smooth, almost like water. As he was listening to a stranger standing on a milk stool talking about how the Cherokee was taking the war to the frontier, the barkeep was walking around with a pitcher, refiling glasses. “We need to stop the Red Hoard from killing our wives and children!” the stranger kept saying. “Are you with me?” “Yes!' James's neighbors shouted. “Sign your names before you leave and we'll meet here tomorrow morning.” After signing his name, the recruiter said, “We're meeting at ten o'clock. If you are not here, you will be considered a deserter and we will find you.” James got sober in a hurry and left to canoe back across the Yadkin. James knew a deserter, if caught, was shot after being found guilty. His burning thought was, 'What am I going to tell Nancy?' and then, 'How am I going to tell Nancy about this?' When he got home James just blurted it out, “Nancy, I signed up for a three month enlistment to to go to Georgia to stop the Cherokee's from waging war with us. I have to leave tomorrow morning.” “You did what? What were you thinking? If the Cherokee's are on a war path, you have to stay here and protect us, not go gallivanting around in Georgia!” Nancy was fuming! Her thoughts were, “After all I've done for that man; moved over here into Indian Territory, gave up Will, gave him Richard, hoe his fields, and now I've missed my monthlies and he's leaving!' “Take me to Rockford! I'll stay with Mom and Dad while you're gone.” “You need to stay here! I'll send Easter here with the canoe while I'm at Rockford tomorrow morning.” Only he didn't get Easter. Mrs. Trent would only allow Ben to stay with Nancy. James could only imagine what Nancy said when she opened the door to the cabin and Ben stood there. ----------------------------------------- One thing about walking, it left a person plenty of time to think. He thought about his son, Richard, who was almost two years old. Of course, Richard took after him and was an exceptional child. Of course he was. James wasn't prejudiced in the least. Right! James thought back to last year, when he had gone down river with the raft they had put together two winters ago. April was so.. cold in the spring. And on the water it was really cold. Last year he had planned better then he had the year before. He had Strongheart, alias Bill Hart, go by land to George Town on Buster. James had Bill stop at Bill's almost cousin's place to buy three more horses. James had written Phillip Hart, and had sent the letter by post asking him to keep back his three best geldings, and he'd make it worth his while. James had hired two young adventurous men to float down the river with him. The only stipulation James had made concerning them was they must be well armed and knew how to use the weapons. This time, collecting his money at the bank went without a hitch. A lot could be said about four men armed to the teeth, riding horses and ready to take whatever action that would be necessary. When they got back from that trip, James decided he didn't need five horses to feed especially when he wouldn't need them for a while. James's plan to have Caleb come work with him, had worked out great but only to a certain extent. Caleb was willing to come work with him with a stipulation. He asked for half of the profits from the raft. James finally talked Caleb down to a fourth of the profits. What Caleb didn't understood about profits, was profit only after expenses were taken out. James hadn't been stingy with paying the two young lads or buying reliable steeds. James had thought it all was necessary but Caleb had taken exception to what James had done. Caleb really had a hard time thinking that Strongheart was being paid in tools for the building of cabins. Part of the agreement was Caleb and Phebe staying behind and helping Nancy put in the crops and stay for a full year. After James had gone over the expenses with Caleb, Caleb had taken offense and left in a huff. Since Caleb left before the year had expired, James felt he didn't have to pay Caleb the full year's profits, but three-fourth's of the one-fourth of the profit since Caleb worked nine months of the year, and not the twelve months. All the Trent men thought James was a so-in-so and a thief. Last fall Easter had rowed across the river with her mom's consent, just to tell James that the women folk didn't feel the same way about things as the men did. That didn't help much since he still lived with Rockford across the river. The Trent men were not shy about verbally bashing James. The upshot of all this was James had the money to buy the land he was on, only to discover the land was unattainable because it was still native land. Da, he should have known that. Deep in the recesses of his mind he probably did know that but had fallen in love with the spot he was on. When the expedition recruiter had looked for volunteers, he had convinced James that not only would he receive script for his time but he would also be in front of the line to acquire land of his choosing. The script would also help pay for the land if the rebels won. Getting the Cherokee on their side would be a big help in shaking off the shackles of England. James was now fully committed on the rebel side. He knew if they lost, he could be hung or worse, because his name was on the list of recruits taking this journey. The White Man's fear of the Cherokees was a very real fear. The practice of pushing outsiders out of their territory with violence was a longtime practice of the native people. With the encouragement of Crown Agents to the Cherokee Chiefs and support of Royalists to the British Government, the Declaration of Independence only added fuel to the fire that was burning along the frontier. The Cherokees had strong treaties with the British and had fought on the British side during the French and Indian Wars. In the Cherokee's eyes, being on the British side had always meant being on the winning side. Strongheart and James agreed that the Cherokee needed to be on the Colonies' side. James had stressed how fighting against neighbors would only kill both people. Peace would only come after they kicking the British out of their country. Strongheart was at that very moment in the Sachems village talking up the Frontiersmen's positions. Strongheart had laughed at James's estimation of how fast they would be traveling to Georgia. Strongheart had said he could travel twice that fast on a bad day. As soon as James had committed himself to being a rebel and signing on the sheet of paper, Strongheart had taken off for the Georgia Frontier. Marching to Georgia gave James the realization that the country held a hodgepodge of people. Scots, Irish, Germans and Black Dutch. He had never heard of Black Dutch before he bivouacked close to a guy with black hair and black eyes. James saw the guy and had to introduce himself, “Hello, I'm James Bertie. Who are you? “I'm Marcus Alexander. Pleased to meet you. With a name like Bertie, you must be English.” “That's right. With a name like Alexander you must be Italian or maybe Greek?” “Wrong on both guesses. I'm Black Dutch!” “Black Dutch! I never heard of such. Do you have some African blood in your makeup?” “No, not hardly. But, I have Spanish blood. You see, during most of the sixteen hundred's, Spain occupied the lower half of Holland. Spanish Soldier, mixed with Dutch girls. When Spain left us behind we were unwelcome in Holland, so we came to America. So, there you have it. Black Dutch!” The trek to Georgia was hot and miserable under the August sun. It was end of August by the time they arrived to where the fighting was taking place. They were assigned duty under Captain Andrew Pickens and were told the story about how he and his men of twenty five, had fought hand to hand in a meadow against two thousand Cherokee. He lost eleven men and the Cherokees left sixty five dead and fourteen wounded. Nobody knew how many dead and wounded the Cherokees had carried off the battle field. James thought the number of Cherokee's in that battle had to be a gross exaggeration. While they were five hundred strong under Captain Pickens all they did was walk into deserted villages and burn the lodges and crops. What James didn't know was, Strongheart and other braves were keeping ahead of the militia and moving the women and children away. After his three month enlistment, James was ready to go back to North Carolina. With another twenty some men that were tired of the burning, they headed back. Strongheart saw the men leave and was tired of his southern cousins so he left too. It was early September and Caleb was leaning on the counter at the trading-post. That morning he had picked the tomatoes in the garden, sliced them and laid them on planks to dry in the sun. The corn was still drying in the fields with their ears hanging down on the stalk of the plant so he felt nothing was urgent that needed doing. In other words, he was playing the bum instead of hunting for the winter or chinking the cabin before winter. Caleb was still smarting over the perceived wrong he'd experienced from his brother-in-law, James. Caleb's mom hadn't even been that supportive. She had pointed out to him that he had worked for only nine months and had made three times what a hired man would make in a year. As far as Caleb was concerned, it was the principle that mattered. He was still upset with his mother for siding with James and allowing Ben to help Nancy out with the fall harvest. James was giving Ben his old blunderbuss and for a thirteen year old boy that was a real treasure. Of course James needed a Kentucky Long-Rifle to go with his three month hitch. One of the reasons Caleb was at the store and not at home was the baby, him and Phebe had now. The little girl was two months old and had a very bad case of colic and he had to get out of the cabin, because it was screaming all the time. Leaning on the counter, he saw one of the young lads, Joseph Henshaw, who had floated down the river with James last year, walk through the door. “Well Joe, what brings you into town?” “I'm running short of powder and lead. I heard that the English are cutting us off since the rebels declared their freedom and I need to stock up before we can't get it any more. You should stock up as well Caleb.” “Powder has been going up too much for me. It will go back down when the red coats gather up the ringleaders of this revolt and hang them. You would think that those dissenters would realize what happened to the Scots is going to happen to them. That brother-in-law has rocks in his head, running down to Georgia to stop an uprising when we got Indians twenty miles away from us.” “That remains to be seen. We can't have those redskins burning out settlers any time they want to. What's Nancy doing while James is off fighting Indians. Is she still across the river on that unsanctioned land for settlement. I'd be worried if I was James. If those redskins find out James is fighting against their own kind, they might take exception to that. Has she got anyone protecting her?” “My little brother is all. Jonathan is almost six, but he would be no help standing off a war party. If you weren't married and had a life of your own, I would suggest you go out there. I'm sure James would pay you for helping Nancy get ready for winter.” “Well, the thing is, I don't have a life or a wife. I got married right after getting back from that trip to George Town and was the happiest I've ever been. Ginger was pregnant with our first one and then she bled out and died! I was in a stupor the first month after she died. Going down to Georgia would have been good for me but I was too late waking up. I think I'll cross the river and talk to Nancy. You still have that boat?” “I do. Let's cross the Yadkin and we'll see how my sister is doing!” Chief Akanadi was steamed. He didn't know if he was more disappointed with the human race or angry! The Sachem of the Cherokees had started a war they couldn't win. And Akanadi hadn't been called to Georgia to voice his opinion. Not unusual. With the distance involved, the Northern Cherokee were mostly ignored. Three months ago a scout had come with news that a group of men were cutting across their land and Brother James was among them. Now this report come telling him that villages were being burned in Georgia, and it was by heavily armed White Man. He thought about James and needed to find out what was going on. He went looking for the two men that scouted that area. He found one of them. The other was out scouting. Chief Akanadi approached Waha's family's cabin. The tribe had eight cabins by now and related families lived together like in the past. Each cabin had a loft where the children slept and a lean-to that housed firewood and sometimes a couple. The Cherokees had not given up the practice of pulling a flap back on the lodges or cracking a door open to a cabin and yelling in. “Waha, are you home?” Waha came to the door with a greeting, “Yes I am. Is there something I can do for you?” “Let's step outside. Now, have you been scouting over by James Bertie's cabin?” “Yes, I have! I think his squaw has kicked him out. He hasn't been around for the last three months and for the last two month there has been another man there. He's been acting like a kept man. Harvesting food with her, hunting for her and throwing his arms around her.” “Didn't she have a second man she was doing those things with a couple of years ago?” “Yes, she did. I think James ran him off and they came to an understanding. Do you think James did something foolish and left her with someone else? She's really a good looking squaw.” “I don't know, but I think he might be in Georgia with that fighting. If he is, I'll burn him out like the White Man is doing right now down there. Can you find me Gatsanula and have him come see me?” “Will do, Chief.” Gatsanula's name meant swiftest, and he was the swiftest runner Chief Akanadi had. Where other runners could make it to the Sachem's village in a week, the other runners would need a week to rest up. Not Gatsanula! He could run all day and was never tired. Two weeks later, Akanadi had his answer. Gatsanula had talked to Strongheart. And yes James was doing what he was told to do. Strongheart tried to explain to Gatsanula that when fighting, White Man had to do as he was told or get shot by his own side. Chief Akanadi's first thought was, 'How foolish!' but then thought, 'How strong a War Party would be if the braves couldn't back away and leave whenever they felt like it??!' Chief Akanadi was ready to go on a War Path of his own. The next day Akanadi chose five of his senior warriors and set out. When they were two hundred feet away from James's cabin, Chief Akanadi told his warriors to stay put. The senior warriors had developed patience, which was why they had been chosen to come. It was late in the day and the end of October, so there was a chill in the air and the nights had begun to get longer. The Chief slipped quietly to the edge of the trees and knelt down to get comfortable and observe the clearing. As it grew dark, he noticed that the gun port on James cabin was open and a red glow was coming from it. Taking a chance, he crossed the clearing to look inside. The scene was what he would expect in one of the tribes cabins. A mother, adolescent boy, two small children and a father were having their evening meal. He left the scene and went to check on the other cabin. There was no one there, although a gun port was open and the fire in the fireplace was out. Sticking his head close to the opening, he could smell tobacco curing. He went back to his observation by the tree where he had crouched by earlier. It was two hours after dark when he noticed the man and woman leave from one cabin and walk to the other cabin. He looked into James's cabin and saw that the children were asleep. Running to the edge of the clearing, he gave the caw of the crow and waited. Ten minutes later the five warriors emerged from the trees and he instructed each one what they should do. One of the warriors went to James's cabin and tied the door shut. Nancy walked with Joe to Will's cabin. If she could, with out having trouble brought upon her, she would verbally thank her brother Caleb for the part he played in being able to enjoy herself. Thinking back to the time James took the switch to her was laughable. 'Five times!' and the switching? She knew how to make a switch sing. James could take lessons from her. Of course, she knew were it all started. Jonathan Rush knew how to turn a butt red and how being objectified, was fun. She had made a mistake with Will. She had thought a lot about where she went wrong and decided some men didn't like what Jonathan did to her. It wasn't the switching. Will had enjoyed the switching and being made to do what she wanted. Of course he did. When James came home, she'd have him switch her a time or two and all would be forgiven. The fun was well worth the pain. Now Joe was another matter. At first he had been reluctant to have anything to do with her. But Nancy had worn him down. After all he was a man and she had her ways. After cooking a few meals for him and being sweet, he had been putty in her hands. Chief Akanadi had a plan that went off without a hitch. Slipping into the cabin, nether lover knew what was behind them until Nancy was jerked away from Joe and two arrows entered his body. Nancy screamed until a cloth was shoved into her mouth and another cloth was rapped around her head to keep the gag in place. Then a rope was tied around her neck and and another rope tied her hands together. She was pulled to the door by the rope. When she tried to pull back, she felt like she was being choked. As she was leaving, she looked back and saw smoke coming out of one of the gun-ports. After stumbling in the dark for hours an Indian said a word she didn't understand and they stopped. Walking up to Nancy the man untied the cloth from around her head and said in perfect English, 'Sleep.' “Let me go. Don't do this to me. If you let me go, I promise I'll be good.” Chief Akanadi thought that was a stupid thing to say, but had a reply of his own. “If you're not quiet I'll put the gag back in. You chose it!” He then tied the lead rope to her hands and around a tree. “Sleep.” Nancy didn't go to sleep but sat and thought. 'Was James behind this? Did he get his friends to abduct her and kill Joe.' She knew that if those two arrows hadn't killed Joe, the fire had. Stupid her. Joe's death had to be because of her. It was her truth and it would take a lot of convincing from someone before she would change her mind. The next morning the sun was up for an hour before they started walking. Nancy watched as the braves chewed on some jerky and drank from a stream that was nearby. Akanadi untied her hands and told her to drink. After she had drank some water she got up and started running. It hurt every time she stepped on a twig or stone with her bare feet. The braves ran behind her, but never quite caught her. After running until she had to stop to catch her breath, the braves walked up and tied her hands together in front of her and put the lead rope back over her head. She realized then that they had been playing with her. By late afternoon they stopped at the edge of Chief Akanadi's village. Chief Akanadi stepped up to Nancy and said, “You see that stake in the middle of our village. You have to run to it to become safe with us. If you run the other way we will run after you and kill you. Do you understand?” Nancy saw everyone was coming out of their cabins and lodges and lining up in front of her with sticks and stones. Akanadi untied her hands and took the rope from around her neck. “Run squaw. Which way is your choice, but you will run!” Remembering being chased that morning, she knew she had no choice. She ran for the stake with blows and stones raining down on her. Thankfully she made it. After getting her breath back an old crone came up to her and held out her hand. Taking the hand, Nancy was led away to an old hut down by the creek. It stank like sweat and had a little fire going in the middle of the lodge. The old crone left her there but came back a few minutes later with a bowl of stew. It had been twenty four hours since she had last eaten and she wolfed the stew down. There was an old mat on the ground inside the hut with a tanned hide beside it. She walked over to the mat and pulled the hide over herself and instantly fell into a deep sleep. The next morning the old hag walked into the hut and motioned to her. Nancy followed her out to an open privy where the old crone squatted and did her business. Nancy followed suit. From there the old hag went to a cabin with Nancy trailing along. At the door each of the women were given a bowl of stew, which they ate while standing. Then they were given the task of digging up turnips. The day was cold and wet and the old hag was coughing. The numbing stupor of the abduction that she had experienced was wearing off and she began to worry about her boys. 'If only she could talk to someone that could tell her how they were? If only she knew they were all right! That Brave that talked to her on the trail spoke to her in English. He would know what happened to her children. But would he tell her?' Thoughts like that kept running through her mind. She hardly noticed when the old hag was no longer helping her, but was in the dirt kneeling on her hands and knees. Hearing her grasping behind her, Nancy ran to her side and looked around. The other women in the field had gathered in a group looking at Nancy and the old hag. “Help her! Can somebody help her?” One of the young squaws ran back to the village and Nancy saw the middle aged buck that spoke English walk towards them. When he got to the old hag, he shook his head and said, “Bring her back to the sweat lodge and you will take care of her.” “I can't carry her! Help me.” “She has the coughing sickness. Nobody wants to touch her. Drag her!” “Drag her?” “Put her on her back and reach beneath her arm and lift and walk backwards.” “Why are we taking her to the sweat lodge?” “That's what the Medicine Man says to do. The hot moist air helps here.” And he pounded on his chest. Chief Akanadi thought it was all a waste of time, because the old captive would spit up blood sometimes when she coughed. Everyone knew that wasn't a good sign. Nancy did as Akanadi told her and started dragging the old hag to the village. The woman was dead weight and out of breath Nancy had to stop before she got there. She looked at the old woman and the hag had red bubbles coming out of her mouth. Nancy dropped her and knelt down beside her. The old hag wasn't breathing. Nancy jumped back in horror. “She's dead!” “Go back to digging turnips. She's dead. Nothing we can do now.” “But she's dead. Do something!” “If she had anyone, they would take care of her. She doesn't and no one wants to touch her. She's an old captive and slave for the village. Most of the people didn't want her to touch their food, let alone touch her. Tomorrow someone will dig a hole for her.” Nancy couldn't believe what she was hearing, and became angry and thought of her own situation. “Take me home! Where are my children? Why did you take me? Why did you kill Joe? Let me leave, please!” “Was this Joe your husband? Tell me!” “No! What has that got to do with you taking me?” “Is James your husband?” “Yes!” “Then what were you doing with Joe? We found you in vigorous coupling. You shame James with what you do! James owes us for what he did. You owe James for what you did. I don't think James is going to give us anything for you. I think you need to think about staying for a long time.” “I'll run away.” “Silly squaw. We find you and drag you back. Then we punish you for leaving. If you work, we will provide for you.” “And if I don't work?” “You will work! One way or another. If you don't, we will turn you over to the single Braves lodge. There you become a Wife of Many.” Nancy all at once felt sick to her stomach and leaned over and retched. Nancy was appalled and crushed. She couldn't believe that she would sink to the depths of pleasing a bunch of smelly Braves. Then she remembered what her father had told her about the white brothels after she became pregnant with Jonathan. That reminded her, “Are my children alright?” “We left them as they were. We didn't take them.” “Thank you. That means a lot to me.” Chief Akanadi nodded and walked away thinking, 'She might become a true being yet!' Nancy knelt on the ground sobbing. The tears slowly subsided and she rubbed her tummy. She had someone she needed to protect. Ben woke because of the crackle and roar of a fire. He slid off of his tick and opened the gun-port between the two platforms. It was light outside, but not from the sun. There was a big fire to the east, and it looked like it was at Will's place. He went to the door of the cabin, but he couldn't get it opened. He returned to his bed to check on Jonathan and Richard. They were still asleep. His sister, Nancy wasn't in the cabin, but he knew that a lot of times at night, she wasn't there. After thinking about it, he crawled back into bed and went back to sleep. The next morning Ben woke up and looked at the west wall to see what time it was. The beam of light was high on the wall, showing that the sun hadn't been up that long. Ben got up and opened the east gun-port. He couldn't see Will's cabin because the trees were in the way. He left the shutter down to let light in. It was the first week in November and it had gotten cold outside during the night, so he set about getting the fireplace started. There were a few coals amongst the ashes, so he put dry shavings against the live coals and then set split firewood on top. Remembering the jammed door last night, he walked over to it and tried it. It would only move a couple of inches. Peering through the crack of the door he saw the problem. It was tied shut. He went back to Nancy's raised bed to get help and pulled back the curtain that was around it. Nancy wasn't there. That was unusual, since she was always there in the morning. Jonathan was awake and stirring, “What's the matter?” He asked. “I don't know. Your Mom's not here. The door's tied shut and we can't go looking for her. We have a hatchet and ax if we need to break the door down, but I don't want to do that.” “I can crawl through the south gun-port with the shutter down. I did it this summer anyway.” “Alright. We'll try that.” Ben didn't know if Jonathan could do it, but it wouldn't hurt to try. About then Richard woke up and started crying for his mother. They had celebrated his second birthday a week ago and now he couldn't understand why his mother wasn't there. Ben didn't know what to do first, so he chose to drop the shutter on the south gun-port and tried to shove Jonathan out the hole in the wall. Sliding out on Jonathan's back didn't work, so Ben pulled him back in and turned him around. When Jonathan fell to the ground outside, Ben went to pick up Richard off his bed. With Richard in his arms, Ben went back to the door. From the door he heard, “I need the hatchet!” “Alright, I'll get it.” Ben took the hatchet to the gun-port and gave it to Jonathan. A minute later a wack could be heard and the door flew open. “Let's go to Will's cabin and get your mother.” exclaimed Ben. Richard was still sniffling and didn't want to be put down. “Yes, let's.” was all Jonathan said. Once the two boys started walking towards Will's cabin they could see the smoke trailing into the air. Arriving at the cabin, they could see nothing but charred remains of the fireplace and pieces of logs. Ben tried to hold it together and act like a grownup. “Let's go back. Your mom's not here.” Walking back to the other cabin, Ben had some thinking to do. Nancy and Joe weren't around and might even be dead. There was leftover cornbread in one of the cupboards. He'd have breakfast with the other two boys and wait awhile, but he might have to row across the river and get help. That was almost three miles of carrying Richard and then rowing across the Yadkin, and then walking home. It was a little scary to say the least. Strongheart arrived at Chief Akanadi's village. He knew he had to do some straight talking to get James out of hot water. He could hope that the Chief never found out, but that was a game James couldn't afford to play. It was late in the day and Akanadi was in his cabin for the night. When Akanadi saw who was at the door he stepped out for some privacy while talking to this unwanted Brave with this conversation. “You traveled fast. How did you hear what I was forced to do?” “I didn't!” “I took his woman and burned down his cabin. I could have burned his crops, but it's too late in the season for that. Now you pay to get her back? I don't think James wants her back. She was playing the part of an unfaithful wife. Nobody would want her! She's not a worthy person.” “What happened?” “I scouted and found three children in one cabin and two rutting people in the small cabin. We killed the man and grabbed the woman and brought her here.” “You should have killed her too. James forgave her twice. It would be better if she was dead.” “I'll not do that.” “Has she got to you too?” “Maybe! Someday I might kill her. Not now. Do you need a dead replacement?” All at once Akanadi had a solution to James's problem and his. If this worked, there would be no snooping fathers coming around causing problems. “I have a dead woman that you could take and burn and say it's James's squaw. If you can carry her fifteen miles, she's yours.” “I'll make a travois and drag her. What was Nancy wearing when you found her? “Only a dress.” The Chief was leaving no doubt in Strongheart's mind about Nancy. “That's how I'll take this body then. The lighter the better.” “We have a travois made that the squaws were using in digging up turnips. We'll make another one tomorrow.” “I need Nancy's dress. Can you get it for me?” “I can do that. Wait here.” The Chief stepped back into his cabin and Strongheart could hear some talking. Akanadi came out with a buckskin dress that had seen its better days. Strongheart saw him disappear around the corner and then reappear as he walked to the little sweat lodge by the creek. He disappeared inside and came out momentarily, then turning back went in again. When the Chief returned he had the dress and stooped to pick up a body that was laying on the ground. He then walked to the edge of the garden and layed the body on the travois that was on the ground. Akanadi picked up one end of the travois and dragged the body back to his cabin. With no a nonsense tone in his voice he said, “You can dress her!” and disappeared back into his cabin. Strongheart traveled for a couple miles and then slept. The next day it was mid afternoon before Strongheart was a quarter mile from the clearing. He dropped the travois and slipped quietly to the edge of the clearing. He saw no one so he ran to the cabin and saw the south gun-port was open. There was no one in the cabin. Running down the path to Will's cabin he slowed down and walked quietly, stepping off the trail. He heard voices before he saw them. James's father-in-law and brother-in-law, Joe and Caleb were in the clearing looking at the burned out cabin. It was quiet except for the talking. Strongheart couldn't hear it all, but most of it. They were looking at a shriveled and burned up corps in the middle of the cabin. It sounded like neither man wanted to dig a hole for it and thought they should find a Constable first to give the responsibility to him. After a while they left. Strongheart smiled to himself and went back to the body. The wind had shifted and there was a south easterly breeze blowing. Perfect, he thought. By the fireplace, the corner of the wall was partly standing. He brought some wood in and layed it into the corner. Then, he dropped the three day old dead body into the corner, on top of the wood and tried to pull the body into a fetal position. After dark, he lit the wood. He folded the travois up and carried it north. James walked into the clearing of his cabin. He walked to the cabin and the door was open but no one was home. He strung the rope through the hole in the door and latched it shut. James walked to the path leading to Will's cabin and followed it to the next clearing. He looked at the burned out cabin and thought of Chief Akanadi. His thoughts were, 'It had to be him'. At the edge of the clearing to the south of the cabin, he saw a mound of dirt with a cross. On it was written, 'Here lies Nancy Bertie and Joseph Henshaw'. James read it one more time and thought, 'Joe Henshaw, I never would have thought'. It was getting dark and he was tired. James went back to his cabin and looked into the cupboards for something to eat. He found a moldy piece of cornbread and a moldy piece of cooked meat. He went to the door and threw the meat across the clearing. Then he shaved the worst of the mold off the cornbread and ate it. Then he laid down and went to sleep. The next morning James woke up from a nightmare. Nancy had been laughing and running after someone but he didn't know who. All he knew was that it wasn't him. It was predawn and cold outside, but he put his coat on to go out and sit on the bench outside. After a while the sky was turning light and his stomach growled. James went back into the cabin to get his rifle and walked downstream on a trail, down to a spot that he had success at hunting before. Hunkering down, he waited. He had the rifle propped up with his knees when a young deer walked into his sights. James thought, 'I guess I'm lucky in some things.' He shot and the deer dropped. He gutted the deer where it fell. Then he picked it up and walked back to his cabin. Throwing the deer on the kitchen table, he went to start a fire in the fireplace and to warm up the cabin. Putting the drying racks over the fire, he set himself to butchering the deer and processing the meat. By noon, James had a belly full of meat and was dreading what could have possibly happened to Richard so he lowered the draft on the fireplace and walked down to the Yadkin river. The canoe was gone so he hid his rifle and possibles behind a tree and walked into the river, not really caring if he emerged on the other side. At times when the weather was nice, Strongheart had encouraged James to learn how to swim. Crossing the river turned out to be easier than he thought it would be. He came out almost straight across from the Trent cabin. Walking by Caleb's boat and his own canoe, all he could sarcastically say was, “Thanks Caleb!” Walking up to the cabin door he knocked. Rachel came to the door and gasped, “James, you're all right! Come in. Your all soaked you poor thing. I told Joe he had to get that canoe back across the river! Would he listen to me? No! Sometimes I wonder what that man does! Come on, get out of those wet clothes. I'll get some of Joe's long johns you can wear. The children are outside playing. They are fine! Isn't it terrible what happened. Oh James, I'm so sorry. I don't know what ever possessed that girl. I thought I had brought her up better then that. That just goes to show that no matter what you do sometimes, a child can just tern out bad! Here's the long johns. Put them on. Turn around and don't worry about it, We're family.” Rachel was rambling and James took comfort in it. Richard was the only one of the children in the house. Feeling relief, James picked him up and exclaimed, “Wow have you grown!” James was a little put out when Richard fussed, wanting to go straight back to Rachel. “It's been over three months since he's seen you. And he just lost his mother. What do you expect?” Easter came in with the children from digging the last of the goober peas. When she saw James in the cabin in the long johns, he barely had time to stand up before she was giving him a hug and exclaiming, “You're back! I'm so sorry about that pig sister of mine. Oh, I meant my big sister. You swam the river? Wow! Mom, do you have some clothes of Dad's we can borrow. It's getting late if we are going to get home tonight. Let's take those wet clothes with us and dry them at home.” “Now wait a minute young lady, You are not going anywhere without a chaperon. And you're not going anywhere with this young man and his children without a marriage license. You may be eighteen years old but you're still young enough for me to take you across my knee. Well, I guess you are too big for me to do that. James, I can see I'm going to have to take my two girls and your children and go home with you. Ben, when your Dad gets home tell him where we are and what he has to do to get me home.” James was completely flummoxed. “BUT,... but, Nancy just died and I don't know how Easter feels about this. And......” “James, you can't raise those children by yourself. And if you don't know by now how Easter feels about you, YOU are deaf and dumb!” “But why can't Ben go home with me?” “Because we have to convince Joe to be in favor of this marriage. What better way than to have Joe go without me for a while. I think it will only be a week and he'll have a preacher at your doorstep. Let's go!” The trip across the river was uneventful, but when they arrived at James cabin, Rachel had tasks for everybody. “James, get us some wood in here. Ben, dig us up about four big turnips and some carrots. Julie, we need some water. Easter, start slicing up that deer meat into cubes. I need to sit here and get something into this little one's tummy. You really need a milk cow for this guy.” “Ya, I know. I'll have to scout around and see if I can find one of the old bossy's that's just had a calf. We have a lot of work around here to get ready for winter. I think the tobacco burned up in Will's cabin, but we need to dig up the rest of the things in the garden and pick the corn before we get a hard freeze. I need to get busy and bring in some meat to dry and preserve. A two year old black bear would be nice for his tallow as well.” After a week, James had trained a cow to milk and had shot a Timber Buffalo and two mature deer. Easter was in a working mood to prove to James that she would be a great help mate. The turnips, carrots, and goober peas were out of the garden and they had a good start on the corn. The sleeping arrangement was another matter. The boys were supposed to sleep on one tick and the girls on another. James found he would rather sleep on the floor in front of the fire, and did. Three in a tick wasn't that comfortable, so Easter with a little nudge from mom, slept by James. Nothing inappropriate was taking place because mom was watching, but it was nice having a warm body close to sleep with. Rachel was doing everything she could to get James used to the idea of taking on another wife. The following Saturday, James went to the trading-post to check on mail and find out about how everyone was taking the Indian Attack, so close to Rockwell. Every time he saw someone it was, 'We're so sorry for your loss. We're glad to see you're doing well.' Going into the trading-post he saw Carl at the counter as usual. “Have you got some mail for me Carl?” “Yes I do but I also got some news for you. You need to go to the pub and find out what's eating on your dad-in-law. He's been hitting the whiskey pretty hard this week.” 'Oh wow, just what I need, a drunk father-in-law'. “Thanks Carl, I'll see what his problem is!” James knew what Joe's problems were. He had just lost his daughter that had always been his pet, and now his wife was making demands on the poor man. James felt like he was caught in the middle. Maybe Joe and him could rebuild Will's cabin and move Joe and his family out there. James had appreciated all the help and company that he had been given this past week. He sighed and walked out of the trading-post. Entering the tavern, James immediately saw his dad-in-law. Joe was sitting in a corner with his head resting on the table. 'Good grief!' James thought. He walked over to the table and sat down. Joe raised his head and looked at James, “What are you doing here?” “I was kind of wondering about that myself. You don't need me. You're drunk enough for both of us. You want to talk about it?” “What's Rachel doing, trying to set you up with Easter. Where's the one year waiting period after your wife dies. She's disrespecting her own daughter's memory by trying to get you hitched. Has she no shame?” “She sees I have need of a wife and you have a daughter that is willing to marry me. I'm not too keen on this myself. Why don't we go back to my cabin and you talk it over with your wife?” About that time, Ben walked in looking for his Dad. “Ben, would you come over here and give me a hand with this Drunk?” “I'm not drunk! Get away from me!” Joe took two steps and tripped on his own two feet and went crashing into a table. He lay on the floor and was completely passed out. “Give me a hand Ben, and let's get him out of here. We'll put him in my canoe and take him to his wife. Maybe she can talk some sense into him.” They got him out of the pub and to the shore and into the canoe without any help from Joe. By the time they got to the west side of the river, Joe's skin had turned pasty and white. Dragging the canoe onto the shore, the two turned their attention back to Joe. “Ben, I think your father's dead. You see if you think he's breathing.” “I don't think he's breathing either James. What am I going to tell Ma?” “The truth! He killed himself. We had nothing to do with it. Let's leave him here and get a hatchet and ax and rawhide and we'll make a travois to carry him three miles. He's not going anywhere.” James could see where his future was going. Build another cabin, raise children and grow old. It would be up to him to build something for the next generation. That's what you did. Chapter 7 James stopped for a moment to rest after chopping another tree down. It was cold outside and the only way to keep warm was to keep swinging the ax. While other pioneers were in a cabin keeping warm, he was outside, chopping down another tree. Last fall had been stressful to say the least, with coming home to a burned up cabin and everyone gone. James came to find out his wife was gone, dead and in a grave. Then Joseph Trent fell and knock himself in the head and died on the way over the Yadkin. That left his mother-in-law, two girls and a boy, for James to take care of and provide for. They all moved into his cabin with him, his son Richard, and Jonathan. Yes, James finally gave in and married one of those sisters, Easter. She had turned nineteen and she thought he should marry her, so he did. Now, she wanted him to build a bigger cabin for herself and James and she wanted to leave her family in the old one. “So they could have some privacy.” is what Easter told him. Hopefully, he'd have all the logs cut down before spring planting needed to be done. Although it would be after spring planting before he would begin construction on the new cabin. He was in the midst of swinging his ax when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. It was Strongheart sneaking up on him. James lowered his ax and turned around. “Hello stranger, I haven't seen you all winter.” “Yes well, I'm about to become more scarce. Did you hear what our Georgia cousins have done to us up north? They gave our land away. I mean our land in North Carolina, they gave it to the White Man Colonies. Silly! We never had a voice or say with that treaty. Not only that, but it's only good if the rebels win their war with the Crown. It's totally stupid! If settlers start pouring in and it gets too crowded we'll head to Tennessee and join my Shawnee friends. Chief Akanadi has no plans at all. He thinks it's just a sick joke. Let's quit talking about that. It looks crowded around your place. Have you got a new family?” “Ya, you could say that! Or an extension of the old family. I married Nancy's little sister, Easter. Her father, Joe Trent died on us and the whole family has moved in on me. That's why I'm chopping down these medium size trees. I need to build another cabin.” Strongheart didn't know how to say what he came to say, but he plunged ahead anyway. “You know Nancy died, don't you?” “I know. She's in that grave with Joe Henshaw. Don't remind me!” “No, the squaw in the grave is an old hag that no one wanted. Nancy is dead in the body of a woman called Ischemia. In Cherokee it means sorrowful. She abodes in Chief Akanadi's cabin. It is a good thing you are married. Otherwise you might be tempted to bring her home. I hope you never tell anyone about this, but I thought you should know. Chief Akanadi has no plans to leave anytime soon. He loves his cabin.” “Now you tell me. I think it is time you tell me everything that transpired. All of it! I would feel very unfriendly toward you if you weren't completely honest with me.” James was still steamed that Strongheart hadn't stayed around and waited for him to get back from Georgia. It had been a very low point in his life and he could have used a friend. “Alright, I'll tell you. When I came back, Akanadi had already heard about you being part of the White Army that burned villages and crops in Georgia. In his mind you had turned against him and all of us Cherokee's. So Akanadi burned Will's cabin in retaliation and killed Henshaw. He had taken Nancy captive as part of his revenge. She had slipped into her untrustworthy ways and I figured you wouldn't want her back. That's when I asked if he had a body laying around. He did and was glad to get rid of it. We used it to make it look like she had died in the fire. I thought and still think it was the best answer to your predicament.” “Ya right! Except now I'm married to two women! Now what am I going to do?” “Nothing! Your Nancy is dead. Her body lives inside another squaw, but that shouldn't bother you. That squaw lives in a different place. I wouldn't worry about it. Let sleeping dogs lie. Go on with your life!” “I'm going to have to. I have no choice! That's not quite right, I never had a choice with this last marriage. Maybe having the in-laws around will keep everything alright. I hope so! Strongheart, would you like to ... let's say, in a year from this coming spring, take a trip down the river on a raft again?” “If I'm still around? Ya, I would like to do that. In the meantime, you wouldn't have an extra ax around, would you? I haven't had a good ax in my hands or an ace in my shoulders in a long time.” “You know I always have an extra ax around whenever I'm chopping trees down. Take this one and I'll grab the other one!” As James continued the repetitive licks of swinging an ax, he thought back to the Nancy he had met six years ago. She had been so playful and so full of life. That love of life and being away from people must have sparked the desire to find other games to play. The games she had chosen to play had destroyed her. Had she ever been trustworthy? Maybe before she met Jonathan. He had opened up for her a whole new world of excitement. She just couldn't turn away from the thrill. Sad, what a mess she had made of their life! James thought about the idea that the United Colonies could own the land he was on. Or maybe they would sell the land to speculators to fund the war the rebels were engaged in. He knew most of the lands that weren't settled, that the tribes had released, belonged to some rich person or syndicate, who then sold it off to poor people like him. There would be some risk in buying this land, but some people would take that risk. James thought about that and decided he'd wait a bit and see how the war went. Right at the moment, he had a cabin to build. The sun was overhead when Ben showed up with some cooked meat and water. James stopped chipping away on the tree he was chopping on and looked over at Strongheart. “Bill, let's take a break. This is Ben, Easter's little brother. He has a little bit of food for us to eat. This is Bill, Ben. While we are resting, would you put a few licks in for me while I sit here?” Ben picked up the ax and began to chip away at the tree. “That young lad is doing very well. How old is he anyway.” James knew Strongheart had enough of swinging an ax for the day and was ready to do some more walking to wherever he was going. “He's fourteen years old now. Yes, he can handle an ax pretty well now.” “Well, I'm going to mosey on. I'll see you when I come by this way again. You know, these logs would go twice as far if you could split and shape them. Then stucco them by having nails and a wire webbing for support for the stucco.” Strongheart had a straight face when he said it and James wondered if he was serious. “You're pulling my leg. Right?” James couldn't imagine how this would work. “I think it would work. I've seen it used with bricks down south where it's hot and there are no trees.” With that Strongheart left. Ben had been all ears when they were listening to Strongheart. “You think we could actually do something like that James?” “I don't know. For the stucco to stand up to the elements, It would have to be hard. Sand mixed with glue. I wonder how many animal hoofs it would take to make enough glue. I would have to talk to Carl at the trading-post to see if he could get wire and how much that would cost. We could dovetail or tongue and groove the logs at the corners and make a square corner. That would be nice! If we didn't have to smooth the split log that would save time and help hold that ... What did Strongheart call it? Stucco! That's it.” Ischemia was feeling very bloated and fat. Being seven months pregnant for the third time didn't make things any easier. She had used all her physical and psychic wiles to lure Chief Akanadi into taking her into his cabin as his third wife. She hadn't realized that when she accomplished that feat, that she was third in almost everything. She got all the chores the other two squaws didn't want to do and had to be careful not to make them jealous or she was hit or switched. Akanadi, couldn't or wouldn't help her in any way. The squaws were rulers of their households and if the Chief objected with how they ran the households, the first squaw could put his belongings out the front door and he was out of the house and into the cold. Ischemia saw she was right. Akanadi couldn't and wouldn't help her in any way. He didn't plan to spend the winter in the bachelor's lodge and be out the door of the cabin that he helped build. Plus he thought Ischemia needed to learn to be totally submissive to the life she had not grown up with. Akanadi had plans for Ischemia, to the point of not demanding a husband's rights while she was carrying the child that was in her womb. Children were becoming scarce in their community and in the other villages of the native people. His thoughts were, 'Maybe, just maybe she would have one or two more children in her.' The first wife, Yonah, had turned into a shrew when the second wife, Wayani, came into their household and Ischemia hadn't helped the situation. Chief Akanadi would whisper for her to be patient the few times he would lie by her at night. Ischemia tried to keep a stiff upper lip because the alternative was much worse. In order to stay warm and eat, she would have to accept the rules of another household or go to the bachelor lodge. Chief Akanadi was her best choice in protecting the baby growing inside her. The small cabin had a loft like all the cabins that the village had built. Yonah had seven children and Wayani, who was only twenty five summers, had two children. The oldest boy of Yonah's was fourteen summers old and would soon be going to the bachelor lodge. If a boy became randy and started bothering a wife or sister, he would be sent to the bachelor lodge sooner by the first wife. There were no babies in the household. Chief Akanadi had the largest family for a reason that no one there knew. Chief Akanadi thought he knew, but as of yet had not shared his suspicions with anyone. He thought it all started with the bachelors. He had been lucky when he went to the lodge as a young boy. He had an aversion to sharing a squaw with someone or anyone that was in the lodge. He noticed that after a young man had been in the Bachelor's Lodge for a while, they all had pain when they urinated, After a while the pain would go away. He was lucky when he was seventeen that Yonah and her mother had built a bigger lodge and Yonah had a perpetual scowl on her face. As a child the people called her Yonah, which meant bear. All the Braves thought she was a bad tempered soul and they wouldn't look at her. Akanadi knew her better than that and didn't rebuff her advances. He had discovered, as a young boy, that she had quite a pleasant soul. That is, until he brought a second wife into her lodge. Then she truly became the bear. Wayani stood up to the stress as long as she could and then did something stupid. She confided in an old boyfriend and they did more than kiss. She then shared with her husband what the rest of the tribe had, and Akanadi went through the pain of urination for a time. For the last six years there had been no more babies born into their family until the baby that Ischemia was carrying. Among the young maidens, they had one or two children and then their wombs closed. Through the winter Ischemia had made herself useful with tanning hides, making moccasins and knitting socks. Rolls of thread could be had at the trading-post. Akanadi had a brown haired, Gray eyed Brave that kept his hair short, for buy powder, and rolls of thread among other things. After the first set of socks were made, everybody wanted a pair. Making that first pair of socks insured that all Ischemia was allowed to do was sit in a chair and knit more socks. A peaceful feeling of thankfulness came over her that she knew how to knit. It was the end of April before Ischemia went into labor and delivered a blond haired, blue eyed baby girl. Akanadi looked at her and said, “Now you can give me a boy that will someday be Chief!” “As you wish, my handsome Chief Akanadi! Only you can make it so.” Ischemia was no longer adverse to having relations with this man. “The mothers have always owned the home hearth. I am changing that. My Braves and I are building the cabins now, so that makes it ours. The cabin I build this summer will be mine and you will move in with me without my other wives. They can decide if they will move someone else into their cabin or be happy. That is the way it will be. It is a shift in power that is a long time coming” The tribe named the child, Galalo, meaning sky, because of her Blue eyes. The Nancy within Ischemia named her Mary. It was the middle of May and planting gardens and fields were in full swing when Bill Hart made his appearance out of nowhere. He wasn't walking with the normal spring in his step. He walked up to James and said, “I need your help!” “How can I help you.?” James didn't know why Strongheart would be dressed as a white man or have his hair cut short. “I have pains. I know it comes from Wife of Many, but I've been so careful. I never go there. Now it hurts to water a tree. A pain I get, I can hardly stand. Our Medicine Man recommends sweating out the pain in the sweat lodge, but I've seen men that have this and after a while they start twitching and start becoming simple. Older Warriors can't be taken on enemy raids because they get tired easily and they get non trustworthy. I don't want to get that way.” “This is serious! I think I know what it is. Europeans have had this for centuries. Easter, I know we were planning to add another acre to the two acre field that we are planting into tobacco, but let's keep it the same size that it is. I have to go with Bill and find a doctor for him. It might take as high as a week before I'm back. Can you three handle the planting until I get back?” Easter, Julie and Ben all nodded. “You go, husband of mine! We'll get as much done as we can get done. Hurry home.” Easter always wanted to show James that she wanted him to be happy with marrying her and working to build her a cabin. She didn't want James to have the slightest twinge of regret. Not after what her sister did to him. James ran into the cabin and to the sleeping platform. He slid a plank to the side and reached in to get his money bag. He felt there was more than enough money in it for buying whatever they might need. There would be no need to go to his buried money. He slipped the money belt in under his shirt and grabbed his rifle, ball and powder bag, along with some dry meat. All that time Rachel, his mother-in-law was watching him. “Where are you going, James?” “I need to help a friend. I'll be back as soon as I can.”James ran out the door. “Humph! He didn't tell me anything. He's running around and we're at home working. Just like before!” Jogging down to the river, James soon caught up with Bill and passed him. He had everything in the canoe before Bill made it down to shore and climbed into the canoe. It was unusual for Bill alias Strongheart not to be in the lead in their jaunts. Canoeing across the river to Rockford, James went into the trading-post by himself. “Hey Carl, does White Plains have a decent Doctor there? Or is it better to go to Salem?” “All depends. The Doc in White Plains is an older fella that is good with children, but if you want to fight the French Pox, I would say go to Salem. I hear they got a new Doctor that can cure that.” “Thank you. Do you know where I can get a couple of horses?” James thought to himself, 'That's strange. It is as if he knew what was going on before I asked.' “Ya, look at the board. I think I saw a couple of horses posted for sale.” James looked on the board for horses posted and saw John Milner had two horses for sale. He took the post off the board and walked out, waving the post and shouted, “Thank you Carl!” With the post in hand, Bill and James headed east for the two miles it took to get to John's place. It had been three years since James had seen John and his family and was met at the door of the cabin by his fifteen year old daughter. “Can I help you?” “Yes, Fereby. Is your Dad home?” “Yes, he is. But he and Ma are under the weather.” “He's posted that he has two horses that he wants to sell. Do you know what he wants for then?” “I'll ask him.” She disappeared into the cabin. A few minutes later Fereby returned. “He says they're the two horses that you sold him. He would like the same money that you sold them to him.” “That would have been two pounds, six shillings. Would you have a paper and ink and quill so I can write a bill of sale and John can sign it? Are the saddles and blankets and such in the tobacco barn?” “Yes they are! You can sit on the porch here and I'll get the paper and ink.” James noticed that he wasn't invited to go into the cabin and sat down on a nearby bench. When Fereby came out with the paper and fixens he asked, “What seems to be the problem with John and Lucile?” “I'm not for sure. They have no life in them it seems. I noticed that Dad walks kind of funny sometimes and puts a hand between his legs like he's in pain. I made most of the whiskey this winter and now he acts like he isn't interested in peddling it. I'm glad we got the horses sold, but now I don't know how he'll peddle his whiskey.” “With a rope across each saddle, we could take four, of the two gallon jugs with us if the price is right. Ask your Dad.” “I'll ask him.” After a minute she came out. “Two shillings per jug is what he's asking.” James dug in his money belt and drew out eight shillings and gave them to her. “Thank you Sir.” “Your welcome Fereby. Now let's get the horses saddled and find the whiskey.” They went around to the bottom by the creek and found the horses staked out on new grass. The horses were bone thin and looked like they hadn't had enough to eat all winter. James spoke up, “Would you have any corn left over from last winter?” “We have a little corn that is in the corner of the barn, but I think the mice are in it by now.” “Could we take it with us with a couple of rawhide bags. These horses are terribly thin.” “I can do that and don't pay me anything. Just bring the bags back.” Because the horses were so thin, Fereby was feeling guilty. After having everything sorted and horses saddled and loaded, James and Bill headed out. “You know Bill,” James said, once they were out of Fereby's hearing, “John might have the same thing you've got.” “If he's got it, his wife's got it!”, replied Bill. They traveled east until they could cross the Yadkin and than head southeast. They stopped traveling an hour before dark and staked out the horses so they could graze some before dark. Before dark they moved the stakes for the horses so they were on fresh grass. The next morning James and Bill were grained the horses with the feed bags and were on their way. By mid-morning they stopped at a farmhouse that looked prosperous. Walking the horses forward, James yelled, “Hello, the house!” A middle aged man came to the porch with a rifle resting in the crook of his arm. “State your business men.” The man yelled out in a loud voice. “We haven't eaten this morning or last night. We are in a hurry to get to Salem and we were wondering if your Mrs. would feed us breakfast. Do you have enough vitals to spare two hungry men.” “Three shillings apiece for the two of you!” The man replied, put his hand on the stock of the gun and straightening his arm. “Deal!” James yelled. “Put your gun down, Sir!” James knew six pence would have been a good price for two meals, but he read into the man's face that he believed they would protest and leave. He might even believe that once inside the house, Bill and James would take advantage of the hospitality. The man looked on them as renegades and was ready to fight. “Stay out in the yard! We will bring you food when it's ready.” The man stepped inside the door and closed it. Half an hour later, the man opened the door and came out with an empty plate. Placing the platter on the porch he yelled, “Six shillings.” And stepped back into the house. He watched the men from the window and saw James come and put six shillings in the plate. Then James went back to his horse and waited. The man brought a big plate of corn pone out with butter, honey and a kitchen knife. “Eat and leave men.” “Thank you Sir!” James yelled. Bill mumbled behind him, “It's no wonder some people get scalped,” “Or some ruffians did something unspeakable to them. It looks like they lost faith in humanity.” Through eating, they climbed on their geldings and kept riding. By mid afternoon they were in Salem and in front of a doctors office. Above the door was a sign, 'Doctor Vincent Harlow, General Practitioner.' Entering into a room with a sofa and chairs against the walls, a bell tinkled when the door opened. From another open door on the other side of the room, they heard. “Be with you in a minute!” It was another fifteen minutes before a young man in a white linen knee length coat came in with a young pregnant lady. “I'd like to see you again in two weeks, Lidia. Everything is going well. Just make sure you keep eating green vegetation. If nothing else is available, eat grass that's starting to grow this spring.” That stuck James as odd. He knew vegetables were good for your diet, but grass? The Doctor saw the look on the two men's faces an said, “Oh yes gentlemen. There is some debate now that 'greens' can stop cleft lip, pleurisy and weak babies. The science of medicine is growing by leaps and bounds. Goodbye Lidia. Don't forget, I will see you in two weeks. Now, what can I do for you men?” Bill spoke up, “It's me Doc. I have a pain between my legs that makes me not want to move.” “How long have you had this pain?” “For the last five or six days. Although it could have been longer and I tried to ignore it. It really hurts when I try to water a tree.” “I don't even have to look at you. What you have is the French Pox. Doctors know it as Neurosyphilis or syphilis. It supposedly has been around as long as human beings have been around. Doctors have tried guaiacum gum, but that has proven ineffective. We are using mercury in liquid form that you take once a day, but we have also used sweating baths, mercury on the skin, and a combination of treatments, but I don't think we have found anything to cure it. Right now, eating 'greens' might be just as effective. But I can sell you a bottle of mercury and you can see if that helps. The best thing we can do as adults is have one married partner and never stray. How did you get this Sir.?” “I strayed.” “Well you probably gave it to your wife. If so, don't expect any more children to come along. This disease will stop any conception of a baby. There will be no children to care for you in your old age.” After buying a bottle of mercury and paying the Doctor they found a road house where they could eat. Bill measured his dose of mercury before eating the stew they had ordered. Finally, Bill spoke up, “I have to have a big talk with all the elders of the villages. You probable won't see me for a while. “I understand. I've been thinking that as long as I'm here, I'd like to mossy around and do some checking into how to build different houses. Why don't you head back home without me and drop the horse off into the corral?” “Could I ask you, James, to let me keep the horse for a while? It really hurts to walk or run.” Strongheart's pride was being hurt by asking. “Sure, bring him back when you're ready too. I'll see you when you are done with everything you need to do. Take care!” Watching Bill ride away, James thought of all the guidelines that were set forth in the Old Testament of the Bible and realized how it had set a way of life that made this life easier. If only people would adhere to it. While traveling around Salem he encountered people that frowned at him walking around with a jug in his hand. They made comments that included, “Throw away the devils drink and get right with God!” “It's the devils spawn that peddles the devils drink.” When he asked around he was informed that the Moravian Church had brought their people to settle here. It was because they were tolerant of others outside of their faith and tried to convert all people that they allowed people of other faiths into their town. For the next four days, James went around selling his whiskey and talking to people. He was directed to a Limestone pit, where they mined and crushed limestone and learned how carpenters were mixing limestone and sand to use in place of chinking for cabins. He also learned where a new saw mill was starting up between Salem and home. James decided he would have to swing by there and meet the owner and have a talk with him. By the time James made it home, he had an idea how he was going to construct not a log cabin but a log house. He had talked to a Wheelwright in Salem and had ordered a heavy duty freight wagon and agreed on a price. James also knew he'd have to round up his oxen and put them to work once more. Chief Akanadi's village had been one of the first places Strongheart had stopped to have a Council of the Elders. Everything Strongheart had said Akanadi agreed with. New lodges were being erected with the old ones being burned. The new ones were smaller with young Braves and boys in lodges having ten to fifteen people in each lodge. If any of them had the pain in the groin, they were moved immediately into the older bachelor's lodge. The older bachelor's lodges were for non-marriageable. None of the boys wanted to go there. Chief Akanadi kept preaching on how they all had to beat the White Man disease or the Cherokee would be wiped out and all the Cherokee land would become White Man Land and the Cherokee would be forgotten. Akanadi was chopping down trees with the other Braves. He noticed how he became tired easily and pushed himself to do better. Some of the older Warriors had to be sent out to hunt because they couldn't make their bodies chop at a tree for more then ten minutes before they had to rest for an hour. Akanadi was saddened watching those Braves. Braves that he used to look up to. The cabin that he was building for himself was no bigger than the one he had. But with a few quiet conversations about owning instead of inhabiting, most of the men were ready to help him. They were curious just to see how all this would play out. By the end of June the cabin was complete and Ischemia and Galalo had moved in. Akanadi spent a few nights off and on, at the old cabin, but then trips to the old cabin dwindled to nothing. After a week of not being in the old cabin, Yonah intercepted Akanadi and asked what was going on. “It's quite simple, Yonah. I didn't like how you were treating my last wife so I built a cabin of my own and moved Ischemia and little Galalo into it. It's really quiet and peaceful.” “But you can't do that to me. We are going to be moving in with you too. Our children need to know their father.” “If you move in you will be my third wife. As far as the children are concerned, they can come over any time and stay if they so want. They need to get to know Ischemia better.” “I won't be a third wife. I'll find someone else first.” Akanadi thought, 'I can't demand she come live with me, and I can't take the cabin away from her. The tribe and Elders would never allow that. I will just have to let it be.' He was happy with Ischemia. She had told Akanadi that she was once again carrying a child. During the winter as James had cut down trees he had put thick branches under the logs to keep them off the damp rot of the forest floor. Now that the garden and crops were in the ground, James was ready to work on the house. He had an idea of how he wanted to build the house, but had not thought about how big the house should be. After talking with Easter and discovering how many children she would like to have, he had a better idea on the size. He drew up a plan for a two story house with a dining room, living room and a bedroom downstairs. The kitchen was to be a separate building in the backyard. There would be three bedrooms upstairs. James thought about that. He would need twenty foot long boards, one inch think for a bat and board siding. Also, he would need two by fours for interior walls. Then he must split logs for the exterior walls which would be encased in sand-limestone stucco. He had made a deal with the mill owner to furnish logs for half of the lumber the logs provided. It would still cost most of the money he had buried. After the house was built, he had thoughts on how he would replenish the money he needed to buy the land. The sawmill owner wanted cured logs. (Logs that were cut down and off the ground for a year.) He said the logs cut last winter would be alright this summer. It was a busy summer to say the least. Gathering and dragging logs to the river, tying them into a raft and then floating them the forty miles downstream took time. Then driving the oxen to Salem to pick up the freight wagon and ground limestone. Then driving the oxen back home to start putting a foundation in. A foundation for the kitchen would go in at the same time and the kitchen would be built first. By fall Easter and James would have some privacy. Driving the freight wagon to Salem empty, didn't make sense to James. He made some inquiries at the trading-post and posted on the community board and offered to haul tobacco, whiskey, corn or any other thing that might need hauling. That reminded James about John Milner and his whiskey. Riding out to their place in his fleshed out gelding got him thinking about Fereby and if she still had sick people on her hands. He had forgotten to bring the feedbags back after taking Bill to Salem. Riding into the yard, James could see things looked the same around the place as the last time he had been there. “Hello, the house!” He yelled as loud as he could. No one came to the door. “Anybody Home!” He yelled again. He then noticed someone walking from the garden. It was Fereby. He trotted to meet her on his gelding. “I brought back those two bags you asked me to return. How have you guys been?” “Not so good Mr. Bertie. Our folks died on us about a month after you came to see us. A stranger stopped in looking for a horse shortly after you bought those two geldings. Anyway, he was haken with a cough and we all caught it. Us kids came out of it fine, but it killed Pa and Lucile.” “I'm sad to hear that. How are you all making out? Do you need anything?” “It's been kinda lean on the meat side of food, but thanks to you we've been buying things at the trading-post that we didn't raise. That's about gone unless I can become a better shot and start hitting something. Powder is really costly now!” “I know! It's the war. We relied on England for producing our gunpowder and now they have an embargo on the stuff. The stuff the Thirteen Colonies are producing is not the same quality and you have to use more powder every time you shoot.” “Maybe that's my problem. All I've been doing is scaring them critters out there.” “It will be another month before any potatoes will be big enough to eat. How about if I have Easter bring some stuff over?” “I ain't taken no charity! We'll starve before we do that.” “There is no reason to starve. Not if you're willing to work. Will you have enough corn to make whiskey this winter? I can buy the whiskey and peddle it for you. I can loan you money on what you can make. Is that something you would agree on?” “We planted the corn, but some of it might have been planted a little late. We don't need any early frosts, that's for sure.” “The reason I came over here was I wondered if you had some whiskey from last year you hadn't sold yet. I could buy it from you and peddle it. That would help you out.” “I only got four jugs left. The tavern has been giving me one shilling per jug.” “That's robbery, pure and simple. I paid two shillings and sold them for four. I'll pay you two shillings again, and if I can get more than four, I'll split it with you. Is that a deal Fereby?” “Deal Mr Bertie. That's more than square. I hate to ask, but do you have someone at your house that can shoot something for us?” “I have a couple, but I think the easiest one I can spare is Julie. I'll bring Juliana over and she can stay for a week. Will that be long enough?” “That would be great! We'll cook and dry as much meat as we can while she's here. Thank you, and I WILL pay you back!” “I know you will. Do you need me to pay for your last four jugs now or can you wait until I bring Julie with me tomorrow?” “Could you pay me now? You can take two jugs today and the other two jugs tomorrow. I'll get you a piece of rope.” When James arrived at home later that afternoon, he shared with the family all the news he had. They were all mortified that John and Lucile Milner had died, leaving four children orphaned. James was confident that with Fereby knowing how to make whiskey they should be alright. When James asked Julie if she would be able to go to the Milner's for a week to help them out, she said she would do that. After all, she had been doing the hunting all spring while Ben had been busy helping James. The next day James and Julie walked down to the river to his canoe, caring some of last year's potatoes, carrots and turnips. The day before James had taken the horse and was able to cross the river without getting wet. With the added weight of Julie and garden stuff, James thought they might get dunked halfway over to the other side. So they walked. They didn't have much to talk about and maybe that was why Julie spoke up about something out of the ordinary. “Has Easter told you yet, that she thinks she might be with child?” “No she hasn't! With everyone living in that little cabin like we are, it could almost be an immaculate conception.” “Oh James, Easter didn't marry you for that! She married you because you look out for everybody. And you do what is best for those around you. And you plan and work all the time. Not like my Dad or Caleb have done. They do as little as possible. And that house you are planning? Goodness, it's going to be wonderful. Someday she will have a house to keep and children to love and won't have to hoe the garden or tan hides or make moccasins. Her children will tend the garden and she can sit in a rocking chair and knit socks. She loves you for you. She loves you for what you are. Who you are! I'm almost as pretty as Nancy was and I could already be married. After all, I'm seventeen and almost an old maid. But I'm waiting, waiting for someone like you to come along. And If they don't. I'll just keep waiting. Seeing Lucile married to John made me realize I don't need to get into a hurry to get married.” “I'm glad you realize that. Marriage should be for life. Look before you leap. After your sister Nancy was pregnant, I should have looked a little harder.” “You're being silly now! Having Nancy pregnant made you want to protect her and marry her all the more. That's part of who you are!” It was the middle of October and to Ischemia it felt hotter then blazes. Ischemia sat in the shade of her cabin, feeling unable to cool down. She was barely three months along in her pregnancy and she already felt like it was eight. Ischemia felt a chill go down her spine and her forehead had sweat running down her neck. A memory of a woman having aborted a child came into her mind and she groaned, 'Oh no, not that!' Later having made a mess on the floor of the cabin, she picked up the little thing that was the size of her pinkie and put it into a piece of buckskin. Then she walked out into the woods. Chief Akanadi saw her walking through the village and followed her. When Ischemia laid the skin down and started digging a hole with a branch, he knelt down and helped her. Then she laid the skin in the hole and they covered it up. Looking up into Akanadi's eyes she said, “I'm sorry.” “It's all right. We can try again.” Akanadi knew they would try again, but he also knew that many times in the early stages of this disease aborting happened and then the woman never conceived again. He bowed his head and tears trickled down his cheeks. 'Life was a trial and then you died!' Chapter 8 “Push Easter, push! Goodness sake's girl. You're a mature women. What would you do if you were thirteen or fourteen? You need to push! The head's been there for the last ten minutes. Next time you get a labor pain, push.” “I don't think I can Mama.” Rachel could barely hear what Easter had said. The one thing Rachel knew, the baby had to come out, or Easter would die, she was so weak. Rachel soaped up her hand and grabbed the small rope and pushed the rope behind the baby's head. Then she tightened the noose below the baby's nose. “Julie, grab Easter's shoulders and when I say pull, PULL!” A minute later Easter clamped down in pain. Rachel started pulling on the rope and yelled, “PULL!” The head popped out and Rachel yelled, “Stop! I need to turn the shoulders a quarter turn. Man that's a big head.” Rachel pulled the rope off the baby's head and turned the body. “It feels like his shoulders are big as well.” She put the rope on the baby's head once more. After another minute, Rachel yelled, “Pull! Push Easter!” and the shoulders came out. “We did it! You did good Easter. We're just about done. One more push and we're going to have ourselves a baby! I bet it's a boy. Yep, it's a boy. If he ain't fifteen pounds, I'll eat my greens. Let's wipe him off a little and make sure he's breathing. Wow! That sounds like a lusty set of lungs. Julie, put him on his Mother's tummy. I'll go tell James what he has. Keep that towel where it is. Easter has to clean, yet.” Rachel stepped out of the kitchen house and saw James and Ben on the steps. “You got yourself a big boy. If he keeps growing like he's starting, you may someday want to hitch him to a plow. He's got to be fifteen pounds! He about wore his Mamma out to a frazzle.” “Is Easter going to be alright?” “I think so. She's going to need a lot of rest, that's for sure! I'd better go back in and make sure she's passing the afterbirth.” James looked over at the start of the new house. Last winter they had put up the walls, five split logs high. Last fall, he had brought from Salem all the exterior windows and doors for the house and stored them in the kitchen house where Easter and James had wintered. The kitchen house they had built last summer. It had a big fireplace to cook with, that included a built-in-oven above the fireplace. Each side wall had three big windows that could be opened up to let a cross draft through. It was constructed in the new style as the house. The split logs had been dove tailed and pinned together. It had bat and board siding with a sand and limestone mortar on the inside between the logs. Last winter the women had taken to cooking in the kitchen and thought they had reached the very best in cooking heaven. Now everyone wanted to get the house finished and James could only say, “All in good time.” James had spent a week at Salem, getting better acquainted with the whiskey trade. He found a trader in the whiskey business that shipped what he bought on down to George Town. From there it went on ships to Boston, New York and beyond. He had promised Fereby's whiskey for four and a half shillings by the middle of May. He also had a raft made up for the sawmill. He hoped he could kill two birds with one stone and be home in time for planting the crops. It would be tight, mainly because Rachel had thought the baby was coming sooner than it did. Strongheart alias Bill had been waiting for two weeks for James to get loose so they could travel. Everything was as ready as they could make it. The whiskey, food, horses and corn and hay for two horses, plus two disassembled two wheel carts to haul the whiskey from the mill to Salem. Before he died, John Milner had owned one of the carts that he had made deliveries in. James thought it was a great idea for transporting the whiskey so he had bought another one. Using a thin board cover over the first layer of whiskey bottles, he was able to stack the whiskey two deep. When they were going up a steep hill, the two men might have to get out of their carts and walk while leading the horses. Strongheart wasn't doing well at all. His gums in his mouth were pulling back from his teeth and his skin was white and pasty looking. His mind was becoming scattery and he wasn't always focused on thing around him. He could still sit on a raft and take care of the horses. His mood would change at the drop of a hat. One day when James walked down to check on him, Strongheart was depressed. Strongheart looked into James eyes and said, “If I get worse then this promise me something. Take me behind a tree and shoot me! I mean it! I've seen enough blubbering fools now and I don't want to get that way.” He had run out of mercury and wanted a refill. That was the main reason he was taking the trip with James. The other reason was James had asked him to go. James stepped into the kitchen house and went to the bed that was under one of the windows. Easter looked up from feeding her baby boy for the first time. “Isn't he gorgeous! And so big. He has to have been overdue. What should we name him? After Dad?” “I don't think so. You know that Joseph is a name that I have a hard time with. How does Joel sound? It was my Mother's father's name. Joel Bertie? Has a nice sound to it, don't you think?” “That sounds good to me.” And James thought, 'She's always so accommodating. What did I ever do to deserve her?' “Are you going to be alright until I get back? I'll be gone between ten days to two weeks.” “You just go. The sooner you're gone, the sooner you're back. The worst is over. Mamma had to cut me to make room for that head. And he still ripped me some. Now I have to lay in this bed for a week, just so I can heal!” “I'll enter Joel into the Bible with Jonathan and Richard. Then I'll jump on the raft and head downriver. I'll go as fast as I can.” Easter looked pale and tired. He had never seen her this way before. Nancy had never looked this fragile after Richard was born. James couldn't shake the feeling that this would be the last time he would see her, so he told her something he had never said before. “I love you!” James noticed how her eyes seemed to lose focus for a second and then tears ran down her face. “I love you too! Now get out of here before you make me cry! Goodbye my James!” “Goodbye my Easter. I'll hurry!” Everything was on board the raft, so James ran down to the river and jumped on the raft with Bill and they pushed off. It would be another cold ride down the river. The good thing about this trip was they could stand by the horses to keep warm and the trip was short. Arriving at the outlet of the creek that the mill was on, the harnesses were already on the horses with ropes tied to the harnesses and the raft. They jumped out of the raft and drug the raft as far as they could onto the shore. While the horses rested, James and Bill reassembled the carts and hooked the horses up the carts. Then they loaded the jugs of whiskey onto the carts and headed for the mill to let the owner know the raft was waiting for them when they were ready to collect it. Then it was on to Salem and the whiskey trader. On the way to Salem, James contemplated a question, 'Is whiskey peddling really profitable? There were one hundred and sixty jugs, each a two gallon jug, and he would collect four and a half shillings per jug, the return was thirty six pounds. Spitting that with Fereby, was eighteen pounds each. James had a couple weeks invested which was good profit since a common farm laborer would be fortunate if he made a pound a week working six days. But to Fereby, those eighteen pounds represented a half year's work, since James was taking half of the year's production on this trip. Fereby and her family were making less than a wage earner working on a farm.' The thought made James feel a little guilty. 'But on the other hand, the distilled grain was fed to the hogs in the woods, and you ate the hogs. The distilled corn was loved by the hogs so much that you had to build a fence around the still to keep the hogs out! A good fat hog is worth a pound or close to it. They should be able to sell twenty or thirty of them a year, once hogs become plentiful in the woods. With fall acorns in the woods plus distilled grain, the flavor in smoked hams from America brought premium prices in England.' Arriving at the warehouse, the whiskey trader, Mr. Beebe, came out of his office to greet them. His men started to unload the wagon onto warehouse carts and began taking them into the warehouse. “How soon before your ship comes to port to take this whiskey away?” James asked. “Oh, I'm not going to take this whiskey for another year or more. You have what we call green whiskey. First we check every jug for alcohol content. If it's too low, we'll distill it again. I'm confident your whiskey is better than that. Then we put the whiskey in oak barrels and put it in the cellar to age in a cool environment. After that I can sell it for double the money. Then someone puts the whiskey into small bottles and sells it for twice as much again. It's an industry that provides a lot of jobs. Do you want your empty jugs back? You can clean them up and reuse them!” “Ya, sure.” James had almost forgotten that Fereby had said, “I want my jugs back!” James tried to make up excuses why his mind wasn't on what he was doing. He sure hoped Easter was healing and getting around. Driving away with the money in his money belt, the cart felt lighter but not by much. Clay jugs weighted quite a bit, by themselves. James and Bill drove the two wheel carts uptown and found a spot in the alley to tie the horses and be out of the way. Walking into the front door with the bell chiming and the Doc. hello-in, “Be with you in a minute.” brought back memories. When Doc. Harlow came out with pregnant Lidia saying, “I'll see you in two weeks. Remember, eat plenty of greens.” The two men were gobsmacked. Then the Doc turned to the two, “What can I do for you two? Oh yes, syphilis. And I gave you a year's supply of mercury. I didn't tell you to come back in six months, did I?” “I didn't hear anything about that.” James spoke up for his friend. Bill stressed why they were back. “I still have the syphilis, don't I Doc. My teeth are loose and I can't remember anything worth a hoot. I get tired easily and I twitch and shake.” “I don't know if you have syphilis anymore or not. But what you have is mercury poisoning. You have to get rid of the poisoning before you'll know. Now you have to clean your body with vegetables and water. Lots of water and a lot of green vegetables and herbs. Come back in a year. I'll be better able to diagnose then if you still have syphilis or not. It's something you might just have to live with. Someday we might have something better than mercury, but until then a lot of people will die younger than they should. I'm sorry Bill. This is the best I can do for you.” After James paid the Doc one shilling, they went out the door. Bill shook his head and said, “I could have seen a medicine man and got the same results. Now I wish I would have gotten married.” “The past is always clear to one's eyes. No use crying over spilled milk! Now, let's go home.” James felt a wave of sadness and apprehension wash over him. It was only the fifth day away from home but it felt like he'd already been gone too long. The return trip home went faster than anytime in the past. The roads were slowly improving and it was only closer to home where the road was rutted that they broke some of the empty jugs. It was at the end of the ninth day when they rolled down the ridge and into the front yard of the new house. When James went into the kitchen house it was empty. The bed was made with clean blankets and the tick felt fuller. He shook his head and let the grief wash over him, as he knew his worst fears had became real. “James, I'm so sorry! I knew you would be devastated.” Julie had run from the old cabin as soon as she saw the two carts rolling down the ridge. “Was it the feared puss? When did she die?” James was unable to say Easter's name. Julie wasn't able to say her sister's name either. “She died the fifth day after Joel was born. About two in the afternoon. By the third day we knew her womb had turned sour and there was nothing we could do but pray.” “I knew it then! She told me goodbye about that time. I think I'd better see about Bill and the horses. He's probably about worn out. We pushed pretty hard to get here. How's Joel doing without his mother?” “We sent Ben to the trading post to find us a fresh nanny goat. Luckily Carl knew of someone that had goats. We sent money with Ben and he bought a goat. Joel is doing fine on goat's milk mixed with honey.” “I'm glad I had left some money here for you. I'm glad you were here to help.” “I'm glad I was too!” -------------------------------------- For the rest of the spring, James threw himself into the work that required his attention. With help from everyone, they planted the garden and fields. Then it was time to start weeding. Between all the work, James was taking the oxen and getting lumber for the house. James kept his mind on building the outside shell of the house and getting the roof shingled before fall harvest came. It kept his mind off other thoughts that he didn't want to have. Then on nice days, all winter long, James and Ben were chopping trees down. On the other days they were putting the first and second floors on and started putting partitions in for the different rooms. The living room had a small fireplace in it, which would be used for heating the house. All the cooking was to be done in the kitchen house. Time was flying fast and before everyone knew it, it was spring once more. However, this year, Strongheart didn't show up like he had before so James took Ben down the river with last year's logs. With the horses on board the raft to help pull the raft out of the water and carry them home, the trip only took them a week. Ben had stuck around when Fereby and crew came the past summer and helped stucco the exterior walls. He felt Fereby was colorful and interesting to talk to. He also thought there was nothing she couldn't do. It didn't hurt that she was a year older than him and she didn't treat him like a kid. Ben was sixteen years old this spring and was infatuated with Fereby. He felt about Fereby like a buck with spring fever. Finally, he approached James and stated his case. “I don't know if you know this, but last summer, Fereby and I got to know one another. When I haven't been needed here I've been going across the river to see her and spend time with her.” “I noticed you disappeared from here a couple of times when I went looking for you. I don't mind you going somewhere, but I would like it if you told me you were going and when you might be back.” “Yes well... I'm sorry about that. I didn't know how to tell you I was courting. And I didn't want a chaperone. That might have stifled what we had to say to each other. We'd like to get hitched, but Fereby is worried about the siblings of hers.” “Why? Her sister is older than she was when Fereby had to take over the family. Are you planning to desert me and move in with Fereby's family?” “Well, I don't want to.” confessed Ben, “And I'll tell you why. Her brothers and sister don't do anything all day but sit around and sip whiskey. Not only are they not doing anything, but their drinking up the whiskey Fereby would like to sell. I've been telling Fereby that she has to leave them and have them make their own way. I think she's mollycoddling them. It can only get worse if they keep drinking day in and day out! We both have seen drunks before.” “You're right. If this has been going on for too long, it might already be too late to save them. I think you need to bring the still over here or destroy it. We'll go over to the trading-post and find out when a preacher's due to come here.” Ben had been hesitant to bring this up with James, but decided it was long overdue. “We could have a double wedding, James. Isn't it about time you ask Julie to be your wife?” “I don't know what you're talking about! She likes to talk to me.” “Yes, she likes to talk to you. All last summer she'd get up and leave the cabin two hours before breakfast just so she could go to the kitchen and wake you up and talk to you. I think you would be lost if Julie didn't talk to you. You have to be sure she never finds a better beau and leaves you.” For the last year James had been fearing this moment. He knew Nancy was out there, somewhere! He had felt when Easter died, that he was being punished. And because he had to be punished for marrying Easter, Easter had died. It didn't matter that Rachel blamed herself for reusing rope or the knife off the wash basin. James knew he had to get rid of the guilt that was in him because it was affecting how he treated Joel, just like how his relationship had been affected with Jonathan. Simply because Jonathan wasn't his son, James had stayed withdrawn from him. Of the three boys, Richard was the only one he felt close to. As he sat there in the moment, he knew if he let Julie into his inner being he would have to share everything with her. “What would you like to do Ben, about Fereby and her siblings?” “I'd like to see you and our family move into this new house and let me have the cabin. I'd marry Fereby and leave her siblings behind. Let them fend for themselves. Maybe that would stop them from drinking and demand of themselves to quit drinking and take care of themselves.” “Well, that means we have our work cut out for us. We'll finish getting the crops in and then go over to the mill, to bring home the one inch wall boards for the interior walls. This will be about a four day trip. By the middle of the summer you might have a cabin for yourself. Now, I need to go talk to Julie.” Walking over to the kitchen house, James poked his head in and asked, “Julie, have you got a minute?” Because it was the middle of the afternoon, James was sure she had time. Jonathan was by grandmother while Richard and Joel were asleep on the raised tick. “Yes James. I'll grab my jacket and come out.” Julie was intrigued with why James would quit what he was doing to come and talk to her in the middle of the day. This was most unusual! James reached out and took her hand, which was also unusual and walked her past the outhouse and corals and into the woods until they came to a log that had been chopped down and was waiting for the fall to be floated down to the lumber mill. James started his confession with, “Julie, I'm sure you have became aware that I have been dragging my feet with my making any commitment towards you and expressing what I feel in my heart. I love you. You, Nancy, Easter, all three I do, have, loved. Each differently but still the same. I have something I need to share with you, but you need to promise it will stay between us. I have sinned in that I have been a polygamist and God has punished me by taking Easter away from me.” Julie was confused. 'What was a polygamist? What was James talking about?' The confusion on Julie's face caused James to pause for a moment. “Polygamy is the act of being married to two women at the same time. Yes, I think Nancy is alive. Strongheart says she is the wife of an Indian Chief and lives about fifteen miles from here.” Julie was so surprised that she put her hand over her mouth and her eyes became round as saucers. She had a sister that was alive? Then her face changed to becoming self possessive. Her sister wasn't coming back here and pushing her aside! No way was that happening! “You say she is married to a chief? Does that mean that she ….what's the word? Divorced? You can't be married to her! She is a different person. She's a squaw now. No way could you want her back! Would you?” “No, I don't think I would. Not because she's living with an Indian. But because she shamed me by taking up with another man while she was still under my care. I would have been forced to whip her and forgive her, if she would have stayed. By taking up with another man, she was snubbing her nose at me, belittling me. Telling me I was much less to her than she was to me. When I found out she was alive, I was already married to Easter. I never told Easter about her being alive. Now, I'm sharing my burden with you. Would you still want to marry me? Knowing what you know now?” “Yes, more than ever. By not keeping secrets from me, I got to look into your soul and see the beautiful person that you are. I know! Men aren't supposed to be beautiful. I don't care! You are the man that I have always wanted. Marry me James and I promise you James, you will never be sorry!” And so ….. Spring turned into summer and after the four day trip to the lumber mill the two couples had a double wedding. Julie moved into the kitchen house with James and Fereby moved a tick into the unfinished house. Fereby's siblings thought life was going to be great without someone always crabbing at them. The summer of 1779 was interesting for more reasons than weddings. Rowan county was becoming organized and the little town of Richmond had a strong supporter that wanted the courthouse built there. Him and his partner gave land for that very purpose. James traveled to Richmond and discovered the County, was selling land cheap, because the County needed money for the courthouse. Two pounds and ten shillings per acre for as many acres as he had money for. For eight hundred and eighty pounds James bought three hundred and fifty two acres. He paid earnest money down of eighty pounds and had thirty days to deliver the outstanding balance and would then receive the title. The horse he was on stretched his legs getting home. Then he was rushing, dragging downed logs to the river and tying them together. Digging up his money, he counted it twice and saw how much money he was short. James than decided what he had to do. He loaded up two horses on the raft and floating down river to the lumber mill with Ben riding pole. At the mill James talked to the owner. “I need to sell these trees and sell you another twenty logs. Upfront, I will need you to give me the money for all forty logs. Will you do that for me?” “What are you using the money for?” inquired the mill owner. “Land! I need two hundred more pounds to buy the land I'm on. They're selling land for two and a half pounds an acre at Richmond and I'll be short eighty pounds if you won't advance me that amount for a twenty log raft.” “For you I'll do it. Step out for a couple of minutes and I'll get the money out of my safe. Alright?” “More than alright! Thank you sir!” James replied, more than grateful, because he knew he didn't have time for another log run with the deadline he was facing. “You know there's a user fee with this advancement. I give you eighty pounds now and you give me a hundred pounds worth of logs. And none of them dare be conky. Deal?” James made a face at this request. He could see the owner's point of view, but that also meant he wouldn't concern himself about getting another raft to the lumber mill right away. “Deal!” When James walked out of the office he had eight hundred pounds in sacks. He felt conspicuously uncomfortable because his saddlebags were bulging on each side of his horse. Once outside the office, Ben handed him the horses reins and they mounted up and rode away. The two men each had a long-rifle and knife as well as Ben having a ball and powder single shot pistol that he kept by his side. James looked over at Ben and was feeling very vulnerable, James made a request of Ben, “Ben, could you accompany me to Richmond and watch my back? I don't feel safe going to Richmond by myself.” “Sure James. I'd be glad too. It would be nice to see something besides Rockford. Lead the way.” Nothing undue happened going to Richmond or paying the balance on the land. On the way home, Ben made the comment, “Richmond sure wasn't much. Just a fort and a few houses. Rockford had as much to offer as a county seat as Richmond does. The only thing they had going was someone gave the land the Courthouse will sit on. Not to be noisy, but could we stop at the Milner's and check on the kids. Fereby is worried about them.” “They're on our way home, so sure, we can stop in.” The two men rode into the yard and James gave his usual bellow, “Hello the house!” There was no answer, so they continued to ride closer. When they got to the porch, one of the four dogs on the porch stood up and growled at them. Adam, Fereby's younger brother, lay sleeping between two of the dogs. “The other two must be out in one of the corn patches.” Ben suggested. The two men turned their horses and rode towards the fields. Riding by the garden, they saw Durham, the older boy, sleeping under a tree. Durham's sister, Rebekah, was sitting down and leaning against the garden fence. She had a jug in her lap, with a silly smile on her face. “Hello Ben. Mr. Bertie. How are you?” She slurred her words as she tried to stand up. “We're fine. It looks like your weeds are getting ahead of you. It also looks like you have been slacking off since Fereby's been gone. Should I have Ben and Fereby come back and help you?” “No need for that. We celebrated Fereby's wedding a little too much, is all. This is the last jug we have so we need to get the weeds out of the corn if we are going to have any corn to brew.” “Glad you realize that. Call on us if you need some help.” “No need. We will be hoeing this afternoon once the boys wake up from their naps. You take care Mr Bertie.” “Goodbye Rebekah. We'll stop in again when we go by.” “We're fine.” she yelled and to herself she muttered, 'Noisy neighbors!' Once the two men were out of hearing on the clearing, Ben asked, “Don't you think we should do something about them kids?” “What do you suggest? Rebekah is just as old as you. They need to grow up and become self-sufficient and do what's best for them or go hungry. They need to learn to take care of themselves. Let's not tell Fereby what we found. It would just make her worry.” “We really didn't find out much. They were taking a noon nap and they need to catch up with their hoeing. I'll tell her what we found in that light. Otherwise she'll come over and yell at them. You're right James, they need to grow up on their own. We'll just give them time.” Once the men made it home with the land title everything settled down to keeping the crops and garden clean and getting the interior walls done on the house. Then it was moving out of the cabin into the house and moving Ben and Fereby into the cabin. By fall, both Julie and Fereby knew they were with child. One morning in early fall while walking the corn rows, Fereby pulled the shuck back on an ear of corn and showed Ben. “See Ben, the kernel is almost ready to start denting. It's time to start throwing some corn into the pot. If we were making whiskey we would start using the kernels. We wouldn't need as much water in the mash because of all the liquid in the corn.” “I'm glad we're not in that business. I can't see us sitting around all day, protecting a still.” “Dad often wished we had a building to have our still in, just for that reason. It's not much work for the fermentation process. It's only when you're distilling it that you need to stick around and make sure the heat is just right. I wonder if Rebekah is starting to ferment her first batch of the season.” “Once you get over your morning sickness we'll ride over there and see how they're doing. Alright?” 'I'm almost over it right now. If you would saddle the horses, Ben, I'll go tell James that we're taking them and where we are going.” It was a beautiful, balmy day with a westerly breeze. Eighty degrees, (27 degrees C.) in the hottest part of the day. The Yadkin was down to its seasonal low and they had no problem crossing. The trail to the Milner clearing was without mud puddles or branches across the trail. They took their time since they didn't want to have the horses trot and bring back the morning sickness to Rebekah. It was a picture perfect day until they arrived at the Milner clearing. Fereby yelled out, “Hello!” when they entered the clearing. There was no answer so they rode up to the door. There were no dogs on the porch so Fereby jumped off her horse and went inside. After a minute Fereby yelled, “Ben can you come in here, quick?” Ben walked into the cabin and saw Fereby bending over a covered up figure on a tick in the corner of the room. “What is it?” “It's Rebekah. She's breathing, but I can't wake her. She smells like alcohol. Let's go out to the still and see what they're doing.” The two walked out of the cabin and around the corner of the tobacco shed. They stopped there because the dogs were walking around in circles and pacing. Inside the circle the two boys layed on the ground by the still. When the dogs saw Ben and Fereby, they growled until Fereby started talking to them. “Down mutts. It's alright boys. Take it easy. Good boys.” She walked up to them as she talked and scratched them behind their ears. Then she walked up to her brothers that were lying on the ground and tried to rouse them. They were cold. The fire under the distiller pot was out. The jug that was under the spigot had run over and the dogs had tipped it over. There was a big puddle of whiskey by the neck of the jug. “I'll hold the dogs off. Pick up Durham and I'll walk with you to the house. Then we'll come back and get Adam.” Sitting in the cabin with two dead bodies was not something Ben was enjoying doing. Carrying the two boys was bad enough because they were starting to stink something awful. “Fereby, could I ride back home and bring James back with me?” “Yes, that would be a good idea. For the life of me, I don't know what happened. It looks like they were distilling off the first batch. I taught Rebekah about not saving the first jug. If you had a yellow flame, when you burned it, you threw it away. Only when you had a blue flame did you save it. Did they get over enthused for a drink and think they could do what I told them not to do? That's the only thing I can think of.” “Don't be so hard on yourself. They choose to drink that stuff. You told them and they didn't listen. I'll be right back!” Ben grabbed Fereby's horse's reins and did a slow gallop home so he wouldn't kill the horses. The horses were foaming when he pulled up in the yard and ran to the house to talk to James. “James!” he yelled as he burst through the door, “The Milner boys are dead. Fereby thinks they drank the wrong whiskey and it killed them. How do we handle this?” “Goodness sake's! How long have they been dead? What about Rebekah? Is she dead too?” “No! Rebekah isn't dead. But she isn't waking up either. The boys stink! So it must be at least a day!” exclaimed Ben. “Well, we have to get them in the ground. The sooner the better. Let's grab a couple of spades and go back. On second thought, we need to stop at the trading-post and write a letter to the County Constable and inform him about what's happened.” They took more time with the horses going back. The horses didn't want to leave the yard again and had to be kicked in the side to make them leave. When they arriving at the trading-post, they asked Carl if he could write a letter to the constable and have him come out and talk to people about the deaths. James and Ben were ready to leave when Carl exclaimed, “James, I almost forgot! You got a letter here.” “Thank you. I'll take it with me.” James shoved it into his shirt and they left. Arriving at the Milner place they saw the four dogs had taken control of the porch again. Stepping off the horses brought four growls from the beasts. “Fereby, we need your help out here!” Ben tried to yell into the house which only upset the dogs more. Fereby came out of the cabin and tried to placate the dogs. “Now Scratch, Spud, Striker and Spike, what's got into you?” Striker made a lunge at Fereby and she jumped back into the house. “Can we shoot them Fereby?” James yelled at her. “You ain't got much choice!” Fereby yelled back and shut the door. James drew his long-rifle out of its sheath and said, “Are you ready Ben?” “I'm about as ready as I can be.” “Alright, this is how we'll do it. After the first shot, our horse might bolt. That's not a bad thing. We got four dogs and two shots. We'll ride away and repack another ball and then come back for the other two. You shoot the left one and I'll shoot the right one! Ready? “I'm ready!” “Alright! On three. One two three!” Both men had their horses sideways, aimed and fired. The horses were trained to stand still with the rifles being shot from their backs, but the two remaining dogs weren't standing still and charged the two horses. The horses bolted as James had thought that might happen. The dogs chased the horses across the clearing before they turned around and went back to the porch. Then the men got off their horses and reloaded. This time James and Ben walked back to the cabin. When the dogs started getting agitated, James counted down, “One two three!” and fired. Ben yelled, “We got um!” “We were darned lucky. That's all I can say. Reload in case one isn't dead. Always reload right away. Let's make sure and then we'll drag them out of here.” They approached the porch with rifles ready and nudged the carcasses. Then James got the ropes and the two started dragging the dogs away. After the dogs were hauled into the brush, the men entered the cabin. The smell was terrible. The men carried the bodies of the boys to a place that was away from the cabin. “I need a few minutes Ben.” James stated as he pulled the letter out of his shirt. It was from his Dad. Dear Son It grieves my heart to have to tell you this. Your brother has died in the Patriots service. On May 9 the British invaded our town of Norfolk. Our town was plundered and a lot of known rebel houses were burned. Teddy swore he would die fighting rather than lose his freedom, and joined the cause. On June 1, Teddy was in the fort at Stony Point on the Hudson River when the British attacked it. We didn't stand a chance and Teddy lost his life there. He was only sixteen. I'll write to you again when I have some good news. I was saddened to hear that you had once again lost a wife. There are so many ways that life can be lost, but you have to be there for the living. Your Affectionate Father William Bertie James looked over at the two boys lying on the ground and thought, 'So many ways to lose your life. Ben and I could have lost our lives just a little bit ago. For Rebekah sake, I hope the dogs were drunk and upset and not rabid.' He stuck the letter into his saddlebag and picked up the shovel. 'Time to dig a couple of holes.' Ben dug in with his shovel and it was dark before they had two five foot deep holes in the ground. Fereby held a candle while James and Ben laid the bodies in the graves and filled the dirt in. Fereby asked, “Is it deep enough to keep animals from digging Durham and Adam up?” “It's deep enough Fereby.” Ben said. “We could throw rocks over the graves yet, but I don't think anything is going to be digging five feet down with their claws. How is Rebekah doing?” “Better, I think. She seems to be breathing deeper and sighing once in a while.” No sooner had Fereby said that than they heard a blood curdling scream from the cabin. She ran just as fast as she could to the cabin. “Rebekah!” Fereby yelled, “I'm coming.” The screaming stopped. “Fereby! Is that you? I had the most terrible dream. I couldn't wake the boys up and I couldn't walk. So I crawled! Why can't I see you? Where are you?” “I'm right here. Right in front of you!” Fereby grabbed Rebekah's hand and held it to her face. “I'm right here!” “Oh NO! I can't see. What did we do? I told the boys to throw the first jug away. Did we drink it? Why didn't they wait till we had alcohol that burned blue? Why, why, WHY?” |
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