Timecachers (25 page)

“It seems to me,” said Adam, “that just about anything can put a person in violation of Georgia law, especially being Cherokee or even associating with them.”

“You are quite correct,” Benjamin replied. “It is the intention of Governor Lumpkin to make life as difficult as possible for any of the Cherokee Nation to remain in Georgia. He has made it clear that they intend to remove us from our land, regardless of how he must go about it. Even if that means disregarding federal laws. He had the full support of the former president Jackson, and has gained enough momentum in his efforts that the current president can do nothing to stop him.”

“What about the letter from General Scott that the storekeeper gave you?” Tom asked. “Do the contents of the letter change anything?”

Benjamin pulled the letter from his pocket, unfolded it, and began to read it aloud.

“Cherokees! The President of the United States has sent me with a powerful army, to cause you, in obedience to the treaty of 1835, to join that part of your people who have already established in prosperity on the other side of the Mississippi. Unhappily, the two years which were allowed for the purpose, you have suffered to pass away without following, and without making any preparation to follow; and now, or by the time that this solemn address shall reach your distant settlements, the emigration must be commenced in haste, but I hope without disorder. I have no power, by granting a farther delay, to correct the error that you have committed. The full moon of May is already on the wane; and before another shall have passed away, every Cherokee man, woman and child in those states must be in motion to join their brethren in the far West.

My friends! This is no sudden determination on the part of the President, whom you and I must now obey. By the treaty, the emigration was to have been completed on or before the 23rd of this month; and the President has constantly kept you warned, during the two years allowed, through all his officers and agents in this country, that the treaty would be enforced.

I am come to carry out that determination. My troops already occupy many positions in the country that you are to abandon, and thousands and thousands are approaching from every quarter, to render resistance and escape alike hopeless. All those troops, regular and militia, are your friends. Receive them and confide in them as such. Obey them when they tell you that you can remain no longer in this country. Soldiers are as kind-hearted as brave, and the desire of every one of us is to execute our painful duty in mercy. We are commanded by the President to act towards you in that spirit, and much is also the wish of the whole people of America.

Chiefs, head-men and warriors! Will you then, by resistance, compel us to resort to arms? God forbid! Or will you, by flight, seek to hid yourselves in mountains and forests, and thus oblige us to hunt you down? Remember that, in pursuit, it may be impossible to avoid conflicts. The blood of the white man or the blood of the red man may be spilt, and, if spilt, however accidentally, it may be impossible for the discreet and humane among you, or among us, to prevent a general war and carnage. Think of this, my Cherokee brethren! I am an old warrior, and have been present at many a scene of slaughter, but spare me, I beseech you, the horror of witnessing the destruction of the Cherokees.

Do not, I invite you, even wait for the close approach of the troops; but make such preparations for emigration as you can and hasten to this place, to Ross’s Landing or to Gunter’s Landing, where you all will be received in kindness by officers selected for the purpose. You will find food for all and clothing for the destitute at either of those places, and thence at your ease and in comfort be transported to your new homes, according to the terms of the treaty.

This is the address of a warrior to warriors. May his entreaties by kindly received and may the God of both prosper the Americans and Cherokees and preserve them long in peace and friendship with each other!”

Benjamin finished reading and stood silently for a moment before saying, “I believe this to be more of an ultimatum than an appeal. It changes very little. It may encourage a few to report to the forts, but I know many of us, myself included, will remain on our land and continue to hope for justice. More importantly, the arrival of General Scott and his troops will certainly embolden the Georgia militia, and cause them to act with even more aggression.

“I tell you of this danger now because this is your final opportunity to avoid becoming involved in illegal activities. You have said you wanted to offer your help, but you must once again consider the danger you are placing yourselves in. Up to now, you have done nothing illegal, except for being in the Cherokee Nation without a permit, which is usually not enforced except when politically convenient. However, if you attend this meeting you are knowingly violating Georgia law, the penalty for which can be quite extreme. I have given you examples of the actions taken against many of our prominent citizens. Some of them had the resources to fight in the courts; you do not. I do not need to tell you that those who could not afford to defend themselves can expect to suffer the full consequences of the Georgia legal system. Being white will probably not help, and none of you have any way to prove your identities, at least none that the Georgians of this time would recognize. It is imperative that you understand what you face, and do not take your involvement lightly.”

“I appreciate your frankness,” said Adam. “Even though we discussed the severity of the situation before, you have just made it most clear to me that each of us must carefully consider what we are about to do and express any uncertainties now, before we go any further.

“Speaking for myself, I’m prepared to go forward with our plan, regardless of the threat to my own safety. I don’t say this lightly. I know the outcome of these events, at least in my timeline, and my conscience will not allow me to stand by idly while this injustice is occurring. However, I can’t make this decision for everyone. We all have to agree, once again, that this is the best course of action before we proceed.

“Alice, as a woman, the danger to you may be the most significant. I apologize if I am offending you with a sexist attitude, but in this situation I believe it is a true statement. You know enough history of these times to be aware of some of the shameful actions that occurred, including those intended to cause humiliation to women. How do you feel about going on?”

“I’m not offended,” Alice said, “and you just stated one of the most valid reasons that I need to go on. These offenses are not only going to occur to women, but to many people simply because of their race. I’m not sure how much we can change things, if at all, but I’m here, you know, and I have to try.”

“I can concur with that,” said Tom. “I had the most difficult time accepting that we actually traveled to the past, but I have had to face the facts. I said before, the only other choice is that I’m dreaming all this. In that case, it doesn’t matter what I do, I’ll just wake up before anything grave happens to me. Don’t worry; I’m not counting on that. I’m taking this seriously. I’m certainly no hero, and I don’t know for sure how I will react in a life-threatening situation. I’d like to believe that I will respond honorably, having been raised to put others before myself and to always make a stand against injustice when I see it. Well, I see it here, and I am going to make a stand.”

All eyes turned toward Sal, who had been listening quietly to the others.

“Sal,” said Adam, “it has to be unanimous.”

Sal stood looking wide-eyed at each of them, then scowled. “Dude, are you serious?” he said. “When have any of you ever known me to back down from a fight?

“I know you all think I can be self-serving at times, but hey, sometimes you gotta be. But I can recognize injustice and greed when I see it too. You’re right Tom, there’s plenty of it here to see and it pisses me off. You might think it’s out of character for me to give a damn about these folks, but if you do, you really don’t know me very well. I couldn’t stand by and let this go down without trying to do something to help any more than any of you dudes could. Benjamin here is a good friend, seeing how he taught me all that stuff about growin’ peaches and shovelin’ horseshit, and I don’t abandon my friends. Besides, I’ve still got to return the favor by teaching him how to appreciate a good pizza or a cheese steak. Maybe for him it’ll have to be a raccoon cheeseburger or something.

“I was even starting to get to like that crazy ol’ John Squanto, and was kinda looking forward to seeing him again. At least I could rag on him without the nasty comebacks I get from Alice. But to the point, I ain’t sure what I’m in for, but I’m in,” Sal finished with a wink.

Adam turned to Benjamin and said, “I believe you have our decision, Benjamin Rogers. Please proceed to the meeting.”

Chapter twenty-three

B
enjamin led the group to a farm about a mile outside of New Echota. The farm was nestled within three foothills, conveniently secluded, making it ideal for their purposes. They followed a winding dirt lane, not to the farmhouse but to a barn; a ramshackle structure that had been built into a cove-like area of one of the surrounding hills. John Carter was standing at the barn door to greet their arrival.

“
’Siyo
,” John said, giving them the same sort of half-wave that Benjamin greeted him with when he arrived at the farm.

“
’Siyo
,” they answered, returning the wave.

“It is good to see you again, my friends. Thank you for bringing them, Benjamin. I see you were not able to discourage them from coming. I know Benjamin has done his best to explain the severity of the situation you are putting yourselves in and has made you aware of the potential consequences. Even so, I am grateful that you have decided to be here. I am certain you have not made the decision lightly.”

“They seemed most determined,” said Benjamin, “to become involved in our troubles.” As he spoke he removed two large woven baskets from the wagon. “Catherine insisted I bring along this
alisdayvdi
for you. She thought you would be too busy to think of providing food.” He handed one of the baskets to Alice to carry, and walked toward the barn door. “Have you been able to share your news with the others?”

“I have, and they received it as expected.” John turned his attention to the food baskets. He smiled as he looked under the cover of the basket Alice was carrying. “Catherine is most intuitive as usual. I have not had much time for eating, so the food is most welcome.”

A young man emerged from the barn behind John. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, with the long, straight hair, dark eyes, and similar Cherokee facial features to John and Benjamin. He was thinner than the other two men, almost skinny. He was a head taller than John, nearly as tall as Adam. His long hair was not rolled into a bun as John’s was, but braided into a ponytail and held in place with a silver clasp. Like John and Benjamin, his clothes were homespun, but well-fitted on his slender frame.

“
Osiyo
, Jimmy Deerinwater,” said Benjamin. “I did not know you were here. It is good to see you.”

“
’Siyo
,” the young man answered. “It’s good to see you again, too, Benjamin Rogers.”

“Jimmy has been keeping me company while waiting for you to arrive,” said John. He turned and spoke to the others. “This is Jimmy Deerinwater, everyone. He and his wife Rebecca have a farm not too far from here. Jimmy, these are the people I told you about.”

Jimmy shook hands and greeted each member of the team, smiling and looking each of them in the eye, holding the gaze longer than any of the other Cherokees had. “I’d be most interested in hearing more about the time you came from, and the device that brought you here. It must have been a very traumatic experience for you all, not realizing what had happened,” Jimmy said. His manner of speaking was noticeably different than the older Cherokees, more rapid and modern sounding.

“Traumatic to say the least,” said Adam. “We were only supposed to be testing a navigational device, not a time machine. We were all quite upset, even disbelieving when we first met John Carter.” He glanced at Tom. “I think John and Benjamin’s easy acceptance of time travel helped calm us down a little, but we are still very concerned about how we will be able to return.”

“It’s best you met them before me, then,” said Jimmy. “I would most likely have thought you to be escaped lunatics! I would not have believed it if I hadn’t heard it from John first. The traditional Tsalagi mythologies talk about many incredible things, but they are only myths after all. I am enough of a skeptic to be amazed at your time travel adventure.”

“Jimmy’s farm is most modern,” said Benjamin. “He has a machine to take the seeds from his cotton, a wind-powered water pump, and countless other devices he believes we will all have one day. So far he has not convinced me to adopt any of them, though.” He gave Jimmy a disapproving look.

“You would appreciate the increase in productivity that modern machinery can bring to your farm, Benjamin,” Jimmy said defensively, “if you would just give them a chance.”

“I believe I’ll stick to my old ways for now. It seems to me that you spend more time repairing your machines than you gain in productivity.” That statement brought a look of embarrassment to Jimmy and a chuckle from John Carter.

“You both may be interested to know,” said Adam, “that even in my future the debate about modernization goes on. Most new machines and techniques are met with reluctance, then acceptance when the increase in productivity is proven. But increased productivity isn’t always acknowledged as an improvement. There are many who like to see things done the ‘old-fashioned’ way.”