Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (77 page)

***

Yvonne sat in June Stedman’s parlor with
her, waiting for the maid to finish pouring a cup of tea. When the
maid had finished and had gone, she leaned closer to June speaking
in a very low voice “If you will lease a place for us to stay, we
will kill George Washington as you asked.”

“Please explain that, Yvonne” said June
Stedman, taking a sip of her tea as she regarded Yvonne over her
cup.

“It’s simple. I need a place to properly
imprint two males and a female, and I obviously can’t return to
Long Island. I thought maybe anywhere near Hoboken would do. It has
to be rural for obvious reasons, and it doesn’t have to be a long
term lease either.”

“So, short term then?”

“Yes. I just need to get them
imprinted
and have a place to stay while we plan how to get
close to him. If we fail, you won’t be out very much, and we may
succeed.”

“Very well. When you put it that way, how
can I not be interested? I’ll have Willard Williamson himself help
me find a place. He has enough of my money on deposit there at his
bank. Give me until this time next week.”

Rising then, Yvonne said “Thank you, June.
You won’t be sorry.” She was thinking
and I will be using your
money instead of mine.

“Let’s hope so. Good day, Yvonne.”

Ian had buckskin pants, boots, jacket, and
gloves made for Cosette. He bought socks, two linsey-woolsey
shirts, and a black broad-brimmed hat for her as well. She trimmed
her hair and packed away a pair of scissors being that she would
have to trim it daily to keep it short. He also had two new
fighting suits made, being that their other ones were cut and
tattered. Thinking ahead, he had also bought them two dusters,
lightweight long coats used for traveling long distances by
carriage. Four days later they left New York City at night,
crossing the Hudson in Ian’s canoe. Included in their gear was a
tent, blankets, a pair of short swords, eight pocket pistols, two
hunting knives, and two dragon pistols. He retrieved his
Pennsylvania made long rifle with shot and powder for all weapons
at his storage building behind the carpenter’s shop in Hoboken.
They bought two saddle horses, tack, and a pack horse for their
gear outside of Hoboken.

The others had agreed to stay at the
Millhouse home to protect the humans in case of an attack, even
though all agreed that would not likely happen. The two traveled
westward at night and after being well away from the coast, they
turned north, in this way avoiding any British pickets. So it was
that in four days they came to the camp of the northern Continental
Army north of Tappan, after re-crossing the Hudson at night.

Ian spotted a familiar face as they
approached a picket talking with a frontiersman. “Darren Roberts,
have you married that Pennsylvania woman yet?”

“Ian McCloud! By Heaven, I didn’t expect to
see you again. Tommy, let these two pass. They are hunters.”

Joining them then, he peered at Cosette and
said “Oh, excuse me Ma’am. I don’t know you.”

“Darren, meet my wife, Cosette. Cosette,
meet Darren Roberts.”

Riding alongside of them, Darren touched the
brim of his hat and nodded, a puzzled look on his face as Cosette
smiled and nodded. Ian said “Join us at our campsite later and I
will explain, but for now I have to see General Washington when he
is available. Can you show us to his area?”

“Yes, just stay on this road between all of
these tents and you’re going to be stopped when you get near
headquarters. Where will you camp?”

“Where do you suggest?”

“Why with me, of course, on the west end
near where we came in.”

“We’ll see you there later then.”

“I’m holding you to that now” he said as he
waved goodbye.

“He seems like a good sort.”

“He is the best. I have known him since late
’75.”

When they were stopped, Ian gave his name to
an adjutant and in minutes a young man came walking toward the two
and Ian said “Colonel Hamilton. So you are still attached to
General Washington?”

“Hello, Ian. Yes I am. And who is this with
you?”

“This is my wife, Cosette. Cosette, meet
Colonel Alexander Hamilton.”

Hamilton gave a curt bow, touching his hat
and said “I am pleased to meet you. Will the two of you wait here
while I go see when General Washington will see you?”

Dismounting, Ian nodded and the two of them
walked their mounts to a shady area nearby as Hamilton made his way
back to Washington’s tent. They had no sooner tied their horses to
the tree when Benjamin Tallmadge approached them with a big smile
on his face. “Ian! Good to see you. Who is this with you?”

“Hello, Ben. This is my wife Cosette.
Cosette, this is Benjamin Tallmadge, our boss.”

Cosette smiled and nodded to Tallmadge who
gave a little bow and touched his hat, saying “what does that
mean?”

Stepping very close to Tallmadge, Ian said
in a low voice “She is also 355.”

“Oh! I see. So you and your wife both are in
the…. service?”

“Yes we are. She makes the run from New York
City to Setauket at times. We came here because we think that the
assassination report is true and we want to help.”

“I see. We talked about that again this
morning. Please come with me now” he said as he turned and walked
toward a group of large tents. As they walked he looked back and
said to Cosette “If not for your husband, I would have frozen to
death a couple of years ago, and I confess that I still don’t know
how he got me to safety.”

Cosette looked toward Ian who winked at her,
letting his eyes glow for a second as she laughed softly, saying
“Ian is more surprising than anyone I know.”

They were ushered into the tent by Hamilton
himself who then departed, knowing that when Ben Tallmadge was with
Washington, no one was allowed near his tent. The guards moved away
from the tent to form a perimeter some thirty feet away as they
always did when Tallmadge was present.

Washington was poring over a map of New York
harbor when they entered. He looked up and fixed his peculiarly
direct stare on Ian and gave a rare little smile. “Hello, Ian. And
this is Cosette?”

“Yes sir. Cosette, this is General George
Washington.”

She stepped forward as he rose and extended
his hand. “It is an honor to meet you, sir.” She was struck by his
direct stare and his size. As Ian had said, he was an imposing
figure.

Displaying a little smile he gestured to the
empty chairs “Please, be seated. I believe that you have
information on this supposed assassination attempt?”

“Sir, I think we know who is behind it.”

“Go on.”

“We think a Tory loyalist in New York City
by the name of June Stedman is behind it.”

Tallmadge spoke then saying “I know that
name, and they are a prominent Tory family, quite wealthy and quite
well connected in London.”

“I see. And how did you come by this
information?”

“Sir, I killed her husband. It was him that
tried to kill you at Valley Forge. She was with him and got away as
I was cleaning up my mess.”

Washington looked puzzled and then frowning
he said “That is not the account you gave me, Ian.”

Gesturing to the tent flap, Ian said “Sir,
if I may?”

Washington nodded as Ian got up and looked
outside through the flap and then using the three ties sewn to each
side, he pulled it closed and tied it. Turning to them then he said
in a very low voice “Cosette and I would like to show you
something. May we?”

Washington nodded.

Cosette stood then, about six feet from Ian,
and both of them facing Washington and Tallmadge. Ian said
“Cosette, take my knife from me.”

In a flash she had taken Ian’s knife and was
holding it at his throat, her other arm about his neck, her hand
under his chin, holding his head back as if she was going to cut
his throat.

Both Washington and Tallmadge were startled
and flinched a bit. Then Washington said “Good heavens! Had I not
seen that, I would not have believed it!” Cosette relaxed then and
gave Ian a kiss, turning to smile at the two who were still staring
at her wide-eyed as she handed Ian back his knife.

“Sir, what you two just saw has to remain a
secret lest you cause panic in your army.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The one coming to kill you is one of our
kind.”

The tent fell silent and the only sounds
were those of the camp outside. Then Tallmadge said “That explains
how you got me to safety so fast that night when I almost froze to
death.” Ian nodded.

Washington spoke then “One of your kind?
Just how many are there?”

“Sir, we killed thirteen of them not too
many nights ago. Three got away.”

“We? You two killed thirteen of them?”

“Not exactly. We have four friends who
helped us.”

He sat still then, absorbing what he had
seen and heard just then. “How many of your kind are here in
America?”

“I would guess that counting us, there are
now nine.”

“Nine. I see. Just who are you, or what are
you?”

“Sir, we are a different race. We’re not
human.” He stared, saying nothing so Ian continued “Our kind live
in the major cities of Europe and elsewhere.”

“You live… what… alongside of humans,
us?”

“Yes.”

Tallmadge spoke then, asking “Does your kind
have an interest in this war?”

“No. We don’t care much about human
affairs.”

“Well, Ian, you have certainly been helpful
to the patriot cause. Why is that?”

“I learned a lot about the situation here
from French newspapers. They would divulge information that the
British newspapers would not. I came to learn of the trade
imbalance and the money shortage. The inequality of the treatment
that the colonies received after being so loyal after the French
and Indian wars bothered me. I am Scottish after all.”

Nodding, Washington said “Please
continue.”

“Fair enough, sir. I became more and more
convinced that the grievances of the colonies were just and based
on fact. I saw my fellow countrymen treated as a conquered people
instead of the loyal subjects of King George that they have always
been.”

“Go on.”

“Well sir, I was targeted by a colonel in
the British Army for purely personal reasons and he managed to
seize our bank building in spite of our bearing papers from the
crown giving us the King’s support for two new banks in America. I
saw how easy it was for someone unscrupulous to abuse their power
here and since I became a sort of victim, that pushed me far enough
to embrace the patriot cause. Not that long ago I became aware of
the savage war being waged against the people on the frontier and
that has angered me even more.”

“I see. Well, getting back to this
assassination thing what is your view of it.”

“June Stedman is the one behind this. It was
a thing her late Tory husband was obsessed with. The other two want
to start a coven for security and companionship and we are pretty
certain they agreed to kill you in return for financial support
from her.”

“I see. Is this sort of thing common among
you?”

“Not really. We consider those others to be
rogues and we routinely kill them when we find them.”

“So that is why you killed what, thirteen of
them?”

“Well, yes. They followed me here to get
revenge for our killing so many of them in France.”

“They had no interest in this war?”

“No sir. They wanted me dead, and those
three still do.”

Tallmadge spoke then “How do you intend to
stop them?”

“We’ll kill them.”

“Well yes, but how?”

“We thought you could say that you expect
some spies to infiltrate the camp and that we know them by sight.
That way we can prowl about here without drawing suspicion. When
they make their move we’ll be waiting.”

“And you two can kill them.”

“Yes. And it is important that we take away
their bodies.”

“Why is that?”

“Dead or alive, we will catch fire and burn
up in direct sunlight.”

“What” he exclaimed with a surprised look.
“You don’t catch fire, Ian. I have seen you in sunlight.”

Cosette spoke then saying “Ian is an
exception. He can tolerate four hours of sunlight before he starts
to burn. Most of us will ignite and burn in seconds or minutes” she
said as she held up her gloved hands and wiggled her fingers,
saying “It is a rare day that I don’t wear these and a large hat.
Ian is right. Such a sight cannot be allowed to be seen, sir.”

Washington nodded, as he thought
my God!
If something like that was seen there would be no containing the
story. No telling what the rumor would become and it could cause
desertions to increase.
Looking at them he said “You say that
you are not human. What do you call yourselves?”

Ian looked at Cosette and then looking
directly into Washington’s and Tallmadge’s eyes he said “Sir, we
are vampires.”

The family sat in the parlor of the Chateau,
looking expectantly at Henri. “I just got word today that Robert
Milliken killed Miles Edwards.”

Liri spoke, asking “Was he the only one
financing these covens?”

“I think our friend, the Marquis de Sade
might have helped them that way too. There are no bank records to
support that though. He’s too cagey to leave a clue that would
implicate his own self, and he’s no favorite of the French royal
family either.”

Marie spoke then “We think that Francoise
financed the two who survived that battle we had at the Francoise
mansion when we lost Cosette. Those two went to America to kill Ian
and we later learned that they saw Francoise at least once or twice
before leaving France.”

“Do we have anything on Moreau; you know…
his whereabouts, or any other contacts he made?”