Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (22 page)

Turning then he departed and soon two ropes
seemed to be towing a skiff containing two rucksacks, very heavy
strong boxes and a number of muskets and pistols through the inky
harbor waters rapidly toward a wooded shoreline.

Cosette thanked Thelma Millhouse for the cup
of tea she handed her and sipped it delicately. She and Stuart had
moved back into her home the following day after being evicted. It
seemed that General Howe himself had come to beg Thelma’s
forgiveness and she had been in a mood to forgive the boorish
behavior of Grundy provided that he never set foot in New York City
again. However she stipulated that from then on, injured colonists
would be given equal treatment in her hospital should any apply. He
seemed not to like that until she informed him that she was adding
an annex to it beginning in the springtime.

Thelma regarded Cosette anew, thinking
what a lovely young lady! She is an exotic beauty for certain.
Lovely exquisite eyes, and her skin….like polished ivory and that
smile could enchant every man in His Majesty’s army easily. Her
voice is so silky and her husky laugh is bewitching. What is it
about her? She seems to have some quality about her person that I
cannot define. Ian was the same way. That voice of his….an
indefinable quality about it. His skin, so dark like someone from
the Mediterranean, yet he is Scottish. His skin seems to have a
quality of burnished bronze. What a striking couple and no doubt
she loves him deeply. They are a rare and perfectly matched
pair.
She had no idea how correct that last thought was.

Sensing herself being scrutinized, Cosette
nonetheless smiled sweetly at Thelma, turning as Stuart, Laura, and
Rebecca entered the parlor. Laura said “We are taking Stuart on a
sightseeing trip today. There is to be no snow and it will be sunny
all day so why don’t you come with us, Cosette?”

“How kind of you to ask, but I don’t want to
leave Thelma all alone here.”

“Nonsense. Merriam is here. You young people
go on and have a good time.” They all stood then, Cosette coming to
Thelma and hugging her briefly before going to get her hat, coat
and gloves.

Soon the four of them were in the
Millhouse’s best and largest carriage with four matched black
Morgan horses cantering along, taking them toward the center of the
city. Cosette sat lost in thought but smiled pleasantly at each
comment and participated in the chatter as if she had not a care in
the world. She thought
Ian, I long for you. Are you safe? What
would you do in my place?
She sighed deeply, thinking
what
else can I do but wait near the bank you started. Some day you will
come back to finish your work.
Things could be far worse.
Look at what delightful and charitable people I have met who are
your friends, Ian.
I miss you so, and you think I am dead.
Do you think of me at all? Come back to me……

***

The driver of the carriage waxed eloquent,
basking in the compliments of the pair who had hired him for a day.
They were an odd pair, the lady a stunning red head with striking
green eyes and the man a morose character with brooding eyes and a
silver hook in lieu of his right hand. They were generous, paying
him two days’ worth of fares and just asking to be driven all about
the city and to show them every place that he had taken Ian McCloud
that first day. Arriving at Government House he came down and
helped the lady out of the carriage, doffing his hat and promising
to be there when they came back. The two had gone into the place
and were gone the better part of half an hour.

All that they did really was to confirm that
he had indeed filed papers that confirmed that he and one James
Barrows were there to start up a bank for Robert Milliken in
London. They did get a description of him and that was invaluable
being as Yvonne had only seen a mud-covered warrior who had easily
kicked her into a fire. All she had recalled was his glowing frosty
blue eyes and his unbelievable swordsmanship. Now she had a
description of sorts, and a location, so the day was unfolding
nicely.

Soon the driver had taken them to Milliken
Merchant’s Bank of New York and again the driver had assisted her
from the carriage. This time the two of them walked about the
building, peering through a few cracks in the boards that General
Howe himself had put up to protect the building from vandalism.
Clearly the place was a new building, yet it was vacant. “Driver,
what happened to this place?”

“I am not sure ma’am. There is a story
circulating that one of the two bankers took a lady to a dance and
that an officer in His Majesty’s army came to the dance and was
jealous when he came there and saw who she was with. Story goes
that he provoked the banker to a duel and was humiliated something
awful.”

“Who was this man?”

“Gravely or something like that.”

“Could it have been ‘Grundy’?”

“No…wait…yes, yes! Grundy was his name.”

“And what became of this Grundy then?”

“I don’t know, but they might help you at
Government House with that.”

“Why is this building boarded up and
abandoned?”

“The rumor is that Gravely…umm… Grundy had
them evicted from a boarding house and they had to come here to
live and then they just vanished. The day after they had been last
seen the Crown took over the building and began to quarter troops
in it.”

“Whatever for? Is the Crown doing that in
New York City now?”

“No. We are still under civilian rule now.
Speculation is that it was Grundy’s personal revenge.”

“And this young lady who they fought over;
do you know who she is?”

“No ma’am, but they might know something
about it back at Government House.”

“Then we shall return there now,
please.”

Nodding, the man assisted her into the
carriage and soon they were proceeding toward Government House. As
they turned a corner, Yvonne noticed a large carriage passing the
other direction. Sitting in a window on her side of the carriage
was a young man who looked a lot like the description she had
gotten of Ian McCloud. Opposite him was a young lady wearing a
broad brimmed hat like the one Yvonne was wearing and she had on
sun glasses. Yvonne stared at the pair, unable to take her eyes off
of the man.

She stuck her head out the window and called
out, saying “Driver turn around quickly and follow that carriage we
just passed!”

Liri had just finished bathing her son and
had gotten him to lie down for a nap. Marie was rocking Celine who
was cooing and playing with her nose, laughing as Marie would
scrunch her features and make faces and then alternately would
smile at her and say “Boo.”

Celeste came into the room then with a fresh
diaper just in case it was needed. She sat down next to Marie then,
and they chatted some about what Henri had reported in the
courier’s latest dispatch. He had assured them that they had the
man under surveillance and that Henri was leading him all about
Paris to see who the man might contact.

Liri said “It sounds as if things are going
well. We are watching him watch Henri and he knows nothing of it.
What could be better?”

Celeste said “I want so to tell Cosette
about everything but we have only recently sent letters her way.”
She sighed “It takes so long to communicate and I do want to know
whether she has learned that Ian is near Boston.”

At the first mention of the name ’Cosette’
the baby smiled and turned to Celeste and at the second mention of
it she gurgled happily saying “Cosette, mama” as she held out her
little arms toward Celeste.

Taking her then as she looked at Marie and
Liri, Celeste said “What do we know about Cosette, Celine?” Her
face went blank then as she stared out the large window overlooking
the front veranda, a faraway look suddenly coming into her eyes.
Again her mind’s eye looked across the sea, across time and space
and she said “Cosette is staying at the home of a Thelma Millhouse
with Stuart McCloud. They are both well and are honored guests
there.”

Marie said “Stuart is with her then? Oh that
is wonderful! I hated it that she was over there alone.”

“They are right this minute riding in a
carriage with two young ladies. It is a sunny day there in New York
City.” Both Liri and Marie looked at her with awe. They were
astounded by her prescient powers, even though having seen them
exercised before.

Celeste said “I am getting a clearer picture
of Cosette than I did of Ian. I got the information we needed about
Ian, but I have a clearer picture of what Cosette is doing for some
reason.”

Sophia and Aimee came into the room then as
Liri spoke “Cosette spent time with Celine before she left us.
Don’t you recall all of the times she rocked her to sleep and sang
to her for those few days she was with us?”

Sophia spoke then “Liri is right. Celine
cannot have those kinds of memories of Ian because he and Alandra
left shortly after she was born. She and Cosette have a bond of
sorts that she does not have with Ian.”

Marie leaned forward intently as Sophia sat
down with Aimee. She was wide-eyed as she said “Celine has your
gift, Celeste. And the two of you together are especially
powerful.”

Sophia put her hand over her mouth as she
stared wide-eyed at the others. Little Aimee’s mouth hung open as
she stared with incredulity at Celeste too.

Nodding, Celeste said “I have felt that this
was the case, but I did not want to say so until I knew for sure.
It is all true. Celine has my gift.” She looked at each of the
women in the room then, saying “Now if I cross over and lose my
gift, we will still have another in our family with the same
powers. I need to talk to Louis about this.”

“Does Louis support you crossing over,
Celeste?”

“Yes.”

General Howe was meeting with Generals
William Cornwallis, John Burgoyne, and Henry Clinton. There was a
knock at the door which an aide answered. A whispered communique
was quickly transmitted to Howe as he paused to take it.

His face reddened noticeably and he shouted
“What? In Boston Harbor? Let me see that” he said as he grabbed the
dispatch from Colonel Davis.

“Damn and blast all! This dispatch says that
there were an undetermined number of Hessians who robbed His
Majesty’s payroll ship in the harbor one night last week! We only
have a detachment of Hessians training in British arms drills north
of Boston anyway. Who is in charge of security there?”

“Sir, it is Colonel….er Captain Harold
Grundy. You sent him there after the mess here with the new bank
and the widow Millhouse.”

Howe glared at Colonel Davis and then said
through clenched teeth “You will go there immediately and interview
Captain Grundy and anyone who was on that ship! You will send
dispatches to me regarding the outcome of this investigation. By
God it is bad enough trying to oversee a war in this bloody place
with the colonists controlling ninety percent of the land mass
without having our payroll stolen! I want answers! Go now, today
Colonel Davis! And I want no word of this to get out! We can ill
afford a story like this to circulate. That would be more damaging
than the loss of the money. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir.”

“Then see to it. Dismissed!”

***

James knocked and then when Moon Owl
answered the door, he hugged her and came laughing into their
house. “Good morning, Ian. I hear there is a big hullabaloo in
Boston. Something about Hessians robbing the payroll ship from all
reports. It is being noised about everywhere right now and is as
big a news item as the war itself.”

Ian Chuckled and said “My, my; King George
might have made a mistake in hiring those mercenaries after all.
Are you ready to rejoin Henry’s column?”

“Yes. I’ll be with Melissa tonight and leave
from her place.”

“Well, it’s not too bad of a day for
wintertime. Would anyone want to go into town today for a
while?”

Within the hour the three were walking about
in Boston. It was a sunny day and the wind was not too bad either
so a lot of people were out and about. As they strolled about, Ian
and James kept hearing bits and pieces about the Hessians robbing
His Majesty’s payroll ship. Speculation was rampant and many were
shocked to learn that German mercenaries were even in North
America, let alone in the employ of King George.

There was talk also about the war in South
Carolina and how they had some fifteen inches of snow down there
and very little in Boston that winter so far. Ian overheard that
American forces had failed to take Quebec under the command of
Benedict Arnold and that Daniel Morgan had been taken prisoner
trying to take Quebec City.

James bought a pamphlet titled
‘Common
Sense’
by one Thomas Paine. It was selling well and was
becoming a very popular piece, discussed a lot in marketplaces and
other such public places. Ian bought two copies of
‘Poor
Richard’s Almanac’
by Benjamin Franklin
.

The three had a delightful afternoon then,
dining at an inn not too far from the harbor. They dropped James
off at Melissa’s apartment on their way home and Moon Owl prepared
them a small tasty stew for that night while Ian cut and split
firewood. He also filled the six buckets that he had bought with
well water from out back and lined them up along the wall of their
kitchen after filling the one of their two kettles and swinging it
over the fire.

Later after supper and the dishes were done,
Ian swung out the arm and took the near-boiling water and poured it
into their copper tub. Immediately he filled the kettle and swung
it over the roaring fire. Some fifteen minutes later he added it to
the tub and the two took a bath together, Moon Owl lay back on his
chest and they idly talked of the sights they had seen that day.
Ian stroked the hair of her head as she talked, commenting now and
then and occasionally sponging hot water onto her. He had come to
love this bit of intimate private time with her. She was a
delightful companion and he knew that he was growing to love
her.