The Ghost (28 page)

We can't be far from the garrison, she said, looking around, trying to remember the notches she'd seen in the trees before, a little trick she'd been shown by her father as a child, when he taught her to find her way in the forest. She'd always found the things she'd learned from him extremely useful, but this time, her knowledge failed her.

We're lost, aren't we? Will asked, beginning to panic.

Not really. We'll find our way. It's just a question of observation. But the changing light and the snow had fooled her, and this was unfamiliar terrain to her. Unconsciously, she had remembered several key things on their way out earlier that day, but now they looked different in the early darkness. And there were odd, eerie sounds all around them. All the boy could think of were war parties, although there had been none in the three months he'd been there. I'm sure in a moment, we'll find our way again, she said calmly, and offered him a sip of water from the flask they carried. Even in the darkness, she could see that he was pale and frightened. She didn't like the situation much herself, but she felt more in control than he did. But then again, she was a great deal older.

They tried another path this time, but wound up back in the same place. It was like a magic merry-go-round they could not escape, round and round and round they went, always to end in the same clearing.

All right, she said finally, they had tried three ways by then, and there was only one more, a fourth one. It seemed entirely wrong to her, and appeared to be heading north instead of south, but she was willing to try it. We'll go this way, and if that fails, we'll just keep going. Even if we don't reach the garrison, we'll end up at one of the forts on the river eventually, or a homestead. We can always spend the night there. He didn't like the idea at all, but he didn't want to argue with her. She was extremely strong-headed, he could tell, and she had gotten them into this mess in the first place, insisting on finding the waterfall, and then stopping in the clearing as if she were looking for gold or something. He was beginning to think she was more than a little cra2y, and he didn't like it. But he had no better suggestions.

She pointed to the way they should go, and he followed her reluctantly. She was clearly in the lead now, and they didn't return to the clearing again, but she could tell by the stars that they weren't going in the right direction either. But at least they were not going around in circles anymore, and if they could find the river, she knew that, eventually, they would find civilization. But they rode for a long time and saw nothing, and this time she knew they were truly lost. It had been more than two hours since nightfall. She wondered if the colonel would send out a search party for them, but she hated to cause him all that trouble. And just as she thought of it, she realized they had run out of water. There was always the snow of course, but they had not taken adequate provisions for an overnight journey, and the air around them was suddenly crisp and freezing. Both of them were shivering. But there was nothing for them to do but keep going.

And as they rode steadily along, their horses beginning to stumble by then, she heard the sound of hooves in the distance. There was no mistaking it, and she turned to the boy beside her. He had heard it too, and he looked at her with wild frightened eyes, ready to bolt and ride hell-for-leather in any direction.

Stay still, she said harshly to him, grabbing his reins with one hand, and pulling his horse sharply into the deeper brush alongside her own. It was even darker there, and she knew their horses would give them away, but perhaps if the other horses were far enough away, they wouldn't find them. There was nothing she could do but pray, and she was as frightened as Will, but she knew she couldn't show it. She knew full well it was her fault they were lost, and she was sorry to have gotten him into this mess, but there wasn't a great deal she could do now to save them.

The sound of hoofbeats grew stronger very quickly, and their horses danced but made no sound, their eyes almost as frightened as the boy's were, and then in a rush of horses and men, she saw them. There must have been a dozen of them, Indians, riding hard through the forest, as though it were broad daylight. They must have known the trail like their own hands, but as soon as they hurried past, one of the men called out sharply and they stopped within twenty yards, their horses dancing wildly. She was not yet sure if they had seen them, and she wished that she and Will could dismount and flee, but she didn't dare, and she was sure that these men would find them. They were far too at home in the forest. She put a finger to her lips as she looked at the boy in the darkness and he nodded. The Indians they had seen were riding slowly back toward them, in single file, glancing to either side. They were almost upon them, and the urge to scream was overpowering, but with every ounce of will she had, she forced herself not to, instead she dug a hand into the young private's arm, and wished she dared to close her eyes so she would not see them kill her, but she couldn't. Instead, she watched wide-eyed and terrified as the Indians rode toward them, she could see the snowshoes tied to their saddles, now they were so close. They stopped on the trail not ten feet from them, as one of the men spoke, the others halted, and he rode slowly toward them. He rode swift and straight until he was barely more than an arm's length from diem, and Sarah could feel the hair on her arms and the back of her neck rise as their eyes met in the darkness. She knew him now. There was no escaping him this time. She knew that this time he would not let her flee him. He was the leader of the Iroquois she had seen at the garrison. She did not know his name, but she did not need to. She kept her hand on the boy's arm, but her eyes never wavered from the warrior's, and there was no expression in his eyes whatsoever. The men behind him sat very still as their horses pawed the ground. They were not sure what was happening, and she did not think he would protect her from diem. She was prepared to the at his hands, but not to beg. It no longer mattered to her. But she was prepared to bargain for the boy's life. He still had long years before him, if he was lucky.

The warrior looked as fierce as he had before, and when he spoke to her, she trembled. I told you, you did not belong here, he said angrily. You do not know this place. You are not safe here.

I know that, she said in a voice that was barely more than a croak in her dry throat, but her eyes never wavered, and she sat very straight in her saddle. He saw that the boy next to her was crying, but paid no attention to him. I apologize for coming here. It is your land, not mine. I only wanted to see it, she said, trying to sound calmer than she felt, but sure that he did not give a damn about her explanations, and then she did what she knew she had to do for the boy's sake. Let the boy go, she said, he will do no harm. He is very young, she said in a voice that sounded suddenly stronger as the warrior's eyes looked deep into hers. If she had reached out to him, she could have touched him.

And you? You will sacrifice yourself for him? His English was very sophisticated, and it was obvious that he had lived and studied with the white man. But his face, his hair, his dress, his fierce aura proclaimed his proud heritage as he glared at her in open anger. Why do I not save you, and kill him? he asked, demanding an explanation from her she could not give him.

It is my fault we are here. She wished that she knew his name but perhaps it didn't matter to him. The warrior and the woman sat locked together silently, their eyes never leaving each other's, and then he backed his horse slowly away. She wasn't sure what he was going to do, but it was as though she could breathe a little better with him not quite so close to her, and he made no move to pull her or Will off their horses, though she saw both of his muskets very clearly.

The colonel is very worried about you, he said angrily, still staring at her. There have been Mohawk here recently. You could start a war with your stupidity, he said, barking at her as his horse danced. You do not know what you are doing. The Indians need peace, not trouble caused by fools. There are already enough of those here. She nodded silently, moved by what he said, and then he shouted something to the others in the dialect they spoke. And she saw the others glance over at them with interest. His voice was quieter when he spoke to her again, and she waited to hear their verdict. We will lead you back to the garrison, he said, glancing at both of them, you are not far. And with that, he turned, and led the others ahead of her, all but one who followed behind them, so they would not get lost again.

It'll be all right, she said softly, to the boy next to her who finally stopped crying. I don't think they'll hurt us. He nodded, speechless at what she had tried to do for him, and deeply ashamed at the same time, yet very grateful. She would have traded her life for his. He couldn't imagine ever knowing another woman who would do that for him.

Less than an hour later, the garrison came into sight as they left the woods, and the Indian party paused, watching them, and then after a brief exchange amongst themselves, they decided to ride all the way back with her. They had already lost hours, and it seemed just as easy to stay there for the night now, and leave in the morning. And Sarah felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her as they passed through the gates and the sentry called out, and Will started grinning. But she was still feeling too shaken to even smile. A horn sounded then somewhere, and the colonel came rushing out of his quarters with a frantic look, which turned to relief the moment he saw her.

We have two search parties out looking for you, he said, glancing from her to Private Hutchins, we thought you'd had an accident, he said, and then glanced at the group of Indians standing all around them. Some of them had started to dismount, and the warrior in charge got slowly off his horse and walked over to them. She dared not even leave her saddle yet, for fear that her legs would not carry her, but the colonel helped her gently down, and she prayed that the warrior who had brought her back would not see how weak and frightened she was, or that her legs would buckle beneath her. It was far different facing him here than it had been bargaining for her life with him in the forest. Where did you find her? the colonel asked him bluntly. There was an obvious respect between the two men, and they seemed well acquainted with each other, but Sarah had not been sure how benevolent the warrior was. He had seemed quite warlike to her from the first moment she saw him, but he was clearly an educated man and she got the odd feeling that the colonel liked him.

I found them less than an hour from here, lost in the wood, he said with disgust, and then he looked straight at Sarah. You're a very brave woman, he said with the first mark of respect she'd seen from him in either of their encounters, and then he looked back at the colonel. She thought we were going to kill her, he said with the same trace of accent she'd heard before. She tried to trade her life for the boy's. He had never known a woman who would do that, and doubted there were many in the world. But he still thought she didn't belong here.

Sarah, why did you do that? Private Hutchins was there to protect you. What the colonel had just heard truly shocked him, and at the same time filled him with admiration. But he could see that there were tears in her eyes now. She'd been through an awful lot since that morning. And she was, after all, only a woman.

He's only a child, she said, her voice sounding hoarse for a moment. It was my fault we were lost ' I dallied near the waterfall ' and I read the signs on the road wrong ' I thought I remembered the way we'd come, but I didn't. She was full of apologies now, and confusion, and then remembering why they'd been delayed, she looked at the colonel, and told him of the clearing. But she did not say yet that she wanted to buy it. That would have to come later.

The colonel thanked the young Indian again, and then as though remembering his manners, turned to Sarah. I assume you two have met, though in rather an odd way. He smiled, as though introducing them in a drawing room, rather than on a freezing night after she had thought he was going to kill her. Frangois de Pellerin ' or should I say count? The man she had thought was an Indian glared at him, and Sarah stared at them both in utter confusion.

But I thought ' you are ' what ' how ' how could you? she asked, looking suddenly livid. You knew what I thought ' you could have said something last night, or at least tonight when you first found us' . She couldn't believe he'd let her think that they were going to kill them, even for a moment. The sheer cruelty of it almost made her want to hit him.

But I could have been, he said with the same accent she'd heard before, and now she realized he was not Huron, but French. He was a Frenchman, although she did not understand how he had come here. He looked like the fiercest of warriors to her, but if she tried, she could imagine him in knee breeches and all that went with it. Dressed as he was, he appeared to be Iroquois, but in other garb, he could in fact have been a very handsome Frenchman. But the cruelty of his deception was something she knew she would never forgive him. I could have been Mohawk, he said without apology. She needed to understand the dangers of the land she was visiting. This was no game to them. She could have been marching to Canada by then, tied with ropes, and killed on the trail if she did not walk quickly. We could have been Mohawk, or worse' . He had recently seen what the Shawnees had done, on his trip west, and none of it was pretty. They were completely out of control, and the government, thus far, had been unable to stop them. Even last night, I could have stolen over the fence while the sentries weren't looking. You are not safe here. You should not have come. This is not England. You have no right here.

Then why are you here? she challenged him, braver now, as the colonel watched the exchange with interest. Will had long since gone back to his barracks, and had already had two stiff whiskeys.

I came with my cousin, thirteen years ago during the revolution, he said, although he did not feel he owed her an explanation. He also did not tell her his cousin was Lafayette, and they had both been formally forbidden to come by the king, but had come anyway. Lafayette had gone back ten years before. Unlike his cousin, Fran+oois knew his destiny was in America, and he could not bring himself to leave his friends here. I have fought for this country, and bled for her. I have lived with the Iroquois, I have every reason to be here.