His eyes widened.
So long? And why did ye not tell your man about it? he demanded, incredulous.
She was startled, and fumbled for a reply.
IwellI didnt think... I mean, it wasnt his problem. She heard the sudden intake of his breath, no doubt the precursor to some biting remark about Roger, and hurried to defend him.
Ithehe didnt actually do anything. Just looks. And... smiles. How could I tell Roger he was looking at me? I didnt want to look weak, or helpless. Though she had been both, and knew it. The knowledge burned under her skin like ant bites.
I didnt want to... to have to ask him to defend me.
He stared at her, his face blank with incomprehension. He shook his head slowly, not taking his eyes away from her.
What in Gods name dye think a man is for? he asked at last. He spoke quietly, but in tones of complete bewilderment. Ye want to keep him as a pet, is it? A lapdog? Or a caged bird?
You dont understand!
Oh. Do I not? He blew out a short breath, in what might have been a sardonic laugh. I have been marrit near thirty years, and you less than two. What is it that ye think I dinna understand, lass?
It isntit isnt the same for you and Mama as it is for me and Roger! she burst out.
No, its not, he agreed, his voice level. Your mother has regard for my pride, and I for hers. Or do ye maybe think her a coward, who canna fight her own battles?
I... no. She swallowed, feeling perilously close to tears, but determined not to let them escape. But, Dait is different. Were from another place, another time.
I ken that fine, he said, and she saw the edge of his mouth curl up in a wry half-smile. His voice grew more gentle. But I canna think that men and women are so different, then.
Maybe not. She swallowed, forcing her voice to steady. But maybe Rogers different. Since Alamance.
He drew breath as though to speak, but then let it out again slowly, saying nothing. He had taken his hand away; she felt the lack of it. He leaned back a little, looking out over the dooryard, and his fingers tapped lightly on the boards of the porch between them.
Aye, he said at last, quietly. Maybe so.
She heard a muffled thump in the cabin behind them, then another. Jem was awake, throwing his toys out of his cradle. In a moment, he would start calling for her to come and pick them up. She stood up suddenly, straightening her dress.
Jems up; I have to go in.
Jamie stood up, too, and picking up the bucket, flung the buttermilk in a thick yellow splash across the grass.
Ill fetch ye more, he said, and was gone before she could tell him not to bother.
Jem was standing up, clinging to the side of his cradle, eager for escape, and launched himself into her arms when she bent to pick him up. He was getting heavy, but she clutched him tightly to her, pressing her cheek against his head, damp with sweaty sleep. Her heart was beating heavily, feeling bruised inside her chest.
That sounds lonesome, Obadiah Henderson had said. He was right.
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CREAMED CRUD
JAMIE LEANED BACK from the table, sighing in repletion. As he started to get up, though, Mrs. Bug popped up from her place, wagging an admonitory finger at him.
Now, sir, now, sir, yell be going nowhere, and me left wi gingerbread and fresh crud to go to waste!
Brianna clapped a hand to her mouth, with the muffled noise characteristic of one who has just shot milk up ones nose. Jamie and Mr. Bug, to whom crud was the familiar Scottish usage for curds, both looked at her curiously, but made no comment.
Well, Ill surely burst, Mrs. Bug, but I expect Ill die a happy man, Jamie informed her. Bring it on, thenbut Ive a wee thing to fetch whilst ye serve it out. With amazing agility for a man who had just consumed a pound or two of spiced sausage with fried apples and potatoes, he slid out of his chair and disappeared down the hall toward his study.
I took a deep breath, pleased that I had smelled the gingerbread cooking earlier in the afternoon, and had had the foresight to remove my stays before sitting down to supper.
Wan crud! Jemmy crowed, picking up infallibly on the word most calculated to cause maternal consternation. He pounded his hands on the table in ecstasy, chanting, Crud-crud-crud-crud! at the top of his lungs.
Roger glanced at Bree with a half-smile, and I was pleased to see that she caught it, smiling back even as she captured Jemmys hands and started the job of wiping the remains of dinner off his face.
Jamie returned just as the gingerbread and curdsthese being sugared and whipped into creamy blobsmade their appearance. He reached over Rogers shoulder as he passed, and deposited a cloth-bound ledger on the table in front of him, topped with the small wooden box containing the astrolabe.
The weathers good for another two months, maybe, he said casually, sitting down and sticking a finger into the huge dollop of creamed crud on his plate. He stuck the finger in his mouth, closing his eyes in bliss.
Aye? The word came out choked and barely audible, but enough to make Jemmy quit babbling and stare at his father open-mouthed. I wondered whether it was the first time Roger had spoken today.
Jamie had opened his eyes and picked up his spoon, eyeing his dessert with the determination of a man who means to die trying.
Aye, well, Fergus will be going down to the coast just before snowfallif he can take the surveying reports to be filed in New Bern then, that will be good, no? He dug into the gingerbread in a businesslike way, not looking up.
There was a silence, filled only with heavy breathing and the clack of spoons on wooden plates. Then Roger, who had not picked up his spoon, spoke.
I can... do that. It might have been no more than the effort it took to force air through his scarred throat, but there was an emphasis on the last word, that made Brianna wince. Only slightly, but I saw itand so did Roger. He glanced at her, then looked down at his plate, lashes dark against his cheek. His jaw tightened, and he picked up his spoon.
Good, then, Jamie said, even more casually. Ill show ye how. Ye can go in a week.
Last night I dreamed that Roger was leaving. Ive been dreaming about his going for a week, ever since Da suggested it. Suggestedha. Like Moses brought down the Ten Suggestions from Mount Sinai.
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In the dream, Roger was packing things in a big sack, and I was busy mopping the floor. He kept getting in my way, and I kept pushing the sack aside to get at another part of the floor. It was filthy, with all sorts of stains and sticky glop. There were little bones scattered around, like Adso had eaten some little animal there, and the bones kept getting caught up in my mop.
I dont want him to go, but I do, too. I hear all the things he isnt saying; they echo in my head. I keep thinking that when hes gone, it will be quiet.
SHE PASSED ABRUPTLY from sleep to instant wakefulness. It was just past dawn, and she was alone. There were birds singing in the wood. One was caroling near the cabin, its notes sharp and musical. Was it a thrush? she wondered.
She knew he was gone, but lifted her head to check. The rucksack was gone from beside the door, as was the bundle of food and bottle of cider she had prepared for him the night before. The bodhran still hung in its place on the wall, seeming to float suspended in the unearthly light.
She had tried to get him to play again, after the hanging, feeling that at least he could still have music, if not his voice. He had resisted, though, and finally she could see that she was angering him with her insistence, and had stopped. He would do things his wayor not at all.
She glanced toward the cradle, but all was quiet, Jemmy still sound asleep. She lay back on her pillow, hands lifting to her breasts. She was naked, and they were smooth, round, and full as gourds. She squeezed one nipple gently, and tiny pearls of milk popped out. One swelled bigger, overflowed, and ran in a tiny, tickling droplet down the side of her breast.
They had made love before sleeping, the night before. At first, she hadnt thought he would, but when she came up to him and put her arms around him, he had clasped her hard against himself, kissed her slowly for a long, long time, and finally carried her to bed.
She had been so anxious for him, wanting to assure him of her love with mouth and hands and body, to give him something of herself to take away, that she had forgotten herself completely, and been surprised when the climax overtook her. She slid one hand down, between her legs, remembering the sense of being caught up suddenly by a great wave, swept helplessly toward shore. She hoped that Roger had noticed; he hadnt said anything, nor opened his eyes.
He had kissed her goodbye in the dark before dawn, still silent. Or had he? She put a hand to her mouth, suddenly unsure, but there was no clue in the smooth, cool flesh of her lips.
Had he kissed her goodbye? Or had she only dreamed it?
BEAR-KILLER
August, 1771
THE HORSES NEIGHING from the direction of the paddock announced company. Curious, I abandoned my latest experiment and went to peer out of the window. Neither horse nor man was in evidence in the dooryard, but the horses were still snorting and carrying on as they did when they saw someone new. The company must be afoot, then, and have gone round to the kitchen doorwhich most people did, this being mannerly.
This supposition was almost instantly borne out by a high-pitched shriek from the back of the house. I poked my head out into the hall just in time to see Mrs. Bug race out of the kitchen as though discharged from a cannon, screaming in panic.
Not noticing me, she shot past and out of the front door, which she left hanging open, thus enabling me to see her cross the dooryard and vanish into the woods, still in full cry. It came as something of an anticlimax, when I glanced the other way and saw an Indian standing in the kitchen doorway, looking surprised.
We eyed each other warily, but as I appeared indisposed to screaming and running, he relaxed slightly. As he appeared unarmed and lacking paint or any other evidence of malevolent intent, I relaxed slightly.
Osiyo, I said cautiously, having observed that he was a Cherokee, and dressed for visiting. He wore three calico shirts, one atop the other, homespun breeches, and the odd drooping cap, rather like a half-wound turban, that men favored for formal occasions, plus long silver earrings and a handsome brooch in the shape of the rising sun.
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He smiled brilliantly in response to my greeting, and said something I didnt understand at all. I shrugged helplessly, but smiled in return, and we stood there nodding at one another and smiling back and forth for several moments, until the gentleman, struck by inspiration, reached into the neck of his innermost shirta dressy number printed with small yellow diamonds on a blue backgroundand withdrew a leather thong, on which were strung the curved black claws of one or more bears.
He held these up, rattled them gently, and raised his eyebrows, glancing to and fro as though searching for someone under the table or on the cabinet.
Oh, I said, comprehending immediately. You want my husband. I mimed someone aiming a rifle. The Bear-Killer?
A flash of good teeth in a beaming smile rewarded my intelligence.
I expect hell be along any minute, I said, waving first at the window, indicating the path taken by the exiting Mrs. Bugwho had undoubtedly gone to inform Himself that there were red savages in the house, bent on murder, mayhem, and the desecration of her clean floorand then in the direction of the kitchen. Come back, wont you, and have a drink of something?
He followed me willingly, and we were seated at the table, companionably sipping tea and exchanging further nods and smiles, when Jamie came in, accompanied not only by Mrs. Bug, who stuck close to his coattails, casting suspicious looks at our guest, but by Peter Bewlie.
Our guest was promptly introduced as Tsatsawi, the brother of Peters Indian wife. He lived in a small town some thirty miles past the Treaty Line, but had come to visit his sister, and was staying with the Bewlies for a time.
We were havin a wee pipe after our supper last night, Peter explained, and Tsatsawi was a-telling of my wife about a difficulty in their villageand she tellin it to me, ye see, him havin no English and me not speakin so verra much of their tongue, no but the names of things and the odd politeness here and therebut as I say, he was telling of a wicked bear, whats been a-plaguing of them for months past.
I should think Tsatsawi well-equipped to deal wi such a creature, by the looks of it, Jamie said, nodding at the Indians necklace of claws, and touching his own chest in indication. He smiled at Tsatsawi, who evidently gathered the meaning of the compliment and smiled broadly back. Both men bowed slightly to each other over the cups of tea, in token of mutual respect.
Aye, Peter agreed, licking droplets of liquid from the corners of his mouth, and smacking his lips in approval. Hes a bonnie hunter, is Tsatsawi, and in the usual course o things, I expect he and his cousins might manage well enough. But it seems as how this particular bear is just that wee bit above the odds. So I says to him as perhaps well come and tell Mac Dubh about it, and maybe as Himself would spare the time to go and sort the creature for them.
Peter lifted his chin to his brother-in-law, and nodded toward Jamie, with a proprietorial air of pride. See, said the gesture. I told you. He can do it.
I suppressed a smile at this. Jamie caught my eye, coughed modestly and set down his cup.
Aye, well. I canna come just yet awhile, but perhaps when the hay is in. Dye ken whats the nature of this problematical bear, Peter?
Oh, aye, Peter said cheerfully. Its a ghost.
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I choked momentarily on my own tea. Jamie didnt seem too shocked, but rubbed his chin dubiously.
Mmphm. Well, whats it done, then?
The bear had first made its presence known nearly a year before, though no one had seen it for some time. There had been the usual incidents of depredationthe carrying away of racks of drying fish or strings of corn hung outside houses, the stealing of meat from lean-tosbut at first the townspeople had regarded this merely as the work of a bear slightly more clever than the usualthe usual bear being completely unconcerned as to whether he was observed in the act.
It would only come at night, ye see, Peter explained. And it didna make a great deal o noise. Folk would just come out in the morning and find their stores broken into, and not a sound made to rouse them.
Brianna, who had seen Mrs. Bugs unceremonious exit and come up to investigate the cause, began humming softly under her breatha song to which memory promptly supplied the words, Oh, hell sleep til noon, but before its dark... hell have every picnic basket thats in Jellystone Park... I pressed a napkin to my mouth, ostensibly to blot the remains of the tea.
They kent it was a bear from the first, aye? Peter explained. Footprints.
Tsatsawi knew that word; he spread his two hands out on the table, thumb to thumb, demonstrating the span of the footprint, then touched the longest of the claws hung round his neck, nodding significantly.
The townspeople, thoroughly accustomed to bears, had taken the usual precautions, moving supplies into more protected areas, and putting out their dogs in the evening. The result of this was that a number of dogs had disappearedagain without sound.
Evidently the dogs had grown warier, or the bear hungrier. The first victim was a man, killed in the forest. Then, six months ago, a child had been taken. Brianna stopped humming abruptly.
The victim was a baby, snatched cradle-board and all from the bank of the river where its mother was washing clothes toward sunset. There had been no sound, and no clue left save a large clawed footprint in the mud.
Four more of the townspeople had been killed in the months since. Two children, picking wild strawberries by themselves in late afternoon. One body had been found, the neck broken, but otherwise untouched. The other had disappeared; marks showed where it had been dragged into the woods. A woman had been killed in her own cornfield, again toward sunset, and partially eaten where she fell. The last victim, a man, had in fact been hunting the bear.
They didna find anything of him, save his bow and a few bits o bloodied clothes, Peter said. I heard a small thump behind me, as Mrs. Bug sat down abruptly on the settle.
So they have hunted it themselves? I asked. Or tried to, I should say?
Peter took his eyes off Jamie and looked at me, nodding seriously.
Oh, aye, Mrs. Claire. Thats how they kent what it was, finally.
A small party of hunters had gone out loadedliterallyfor bear, armed with bows, spears, and the two muskets the village boasted. They had circled the village in a widening gyre, convinced that since the bears attentions focused on the town, it would not wander far away. They had searched for four days, now and then finding old spoor, but no trace of the bear itself.
Tsatsawi was wi them, Peter said, lifting a finger toward his brother-in-law. He and one of his friends were sittin up at night, keepin watch whilst the others slept. Twas just past moonrise, he said, when he got up to make water. He turned back to the firejust in time to see his friend bein dragged off, stone-dead, wi his neck crushed in the jaws of the thing itself!
Tsatsawi had been following the tale intently. At this juncture, he nodded, and made a gesture that appeared to be the Cherokee equivalent of the Sign of the Crosssome quick and formal gesture to repel evil. He began to talk himself, then, hands flying as he pantomimed the subsequent events.
He had of course shouted, rousing his remaining comrades, and had rushed at the bear, hoping to frighten it into dropping his friendthough he could see that the man was already dead. He tilted his head sharply to indicate a broken neck, letting his tongue loll in an expression that would have been quite funny under different circumstances.
The hunters were accompanied by two dogs, which had also flown at the bear, barking. The bear had in fact dropped its prey, but instead of fleeing, had charged toward him. He had thrown himself to one side, and the bear had paused long enough to swipe one of the dogs off its feet, and then disappeared into the darkness of the wood, pursued by the other dog, a hail of arrows, and a couple of musket ballsnone of which had touched it.
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They had chased the bear into the wood with torches, but been unable to discover it. The second dog had returned, looking ashamed of itselfBrianna made a small fizzing noise at Tsatsawis pantomime of the dogand the hunters, thoroughly unnerved, had gone back to their fire, and spent the rest of the night awake, before returning to their village in the morning. From whence, Tsatsawi indicated with a graceful gesture, he had now come to solicit the assistance of the Bear-Killer.
But why do they think its a ghost? Brianna leaned forward, interest displacing her initial horror at the tale.
Peter glanced at her, one eyebrow raised.
Oh, aye, he didna sayor rather I expect he did, but not so as yed understand it. The thing was much bigger than the usual bear, he saysand pure white. He says when it turned to look at him, the beasts eyes glowed red as flame. They kent at once it must be a ghost, and so they werena really surprised that their arrows didna touch it.
Tsatsawi broke in again, pointing first at Jamie, then tapping his bear-claw necklace, and thento my surprisepointing at me.
Me? I said. What have I got to do with it?
The Cherokee heard my tone of surprise, for he leaned across the table, took my hand in his own, and stroked itnot in any affectionate manner, but merely as an indication of my skin. Jamie made a small sound of amusement.
Youre verra white, Sassenach. Perhaps the bear will think yere a kindred spirit. He grinned at me, but Tsatsawi evidently gathered the sense of this, for he nodded seriously. He dropped my hand, and made a brief cawing noisea ravens call.
Oh, I said, distinctly uneasy. I didnt know the words in Cherokee, but evidently the people of Tsatsawis town had heard of White Raven as well as the Bear-Killer. Any white animal was regarded as being significantand often sinister. I didnt know whether the implication here was that I might exert some power over the ghost-bearor merely serve as baitbut evidently I was indeed included in the invitation.
And so it was that a week later, the hay safely in and four sides of venison peacefully hanging in the smokehouse, we set off toward the Treaty Line, bent on exorcism.
BESIDES JAMIE AND MYSELF, the party consisted of Brianna and Jemmy, the two Beardsley twins, and Peter Bewlie, who was to guide us to the village, his wife having gone ahead with Tsatsawi. Brianna had not wanted to come, more for fear of taking Jemmy into the wilderness than from disinclination to join the hunt, I thought. Jamie had insisted that she come, though, claiming that her marksmanship would be invaluable. Unwilling to wean Jemmy yet, she had been obliged to bring himthough he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the trip, hunched bright-eyed on the saddle in front of his mother, alternately gabbling happily to himself about everything he saw, or sucking his thumb in dreamy content.
As for the Beardsleys, it was Josiah that Jamie wanted.
The lads killed two bears, at least, he told me. I saw the skins, at the Gathering. And if his brother likes to come along, I canna see the harm in it.
Neither do I, I agreed. But why are you making Bree come? Cant you and Josiah handle the bear between you?
Perhaps, he said, running an oily rag over the barrel of his gun. But if two heids are better than one, then a third should be better still, no? Especially if it shoots like yon lass can.
Yes? I said skeptically. And what else?
He glanced up at me and grinned.
What, ye dinna think I have ulterior motives, do ye, Sassenach?
No, I dont think soI know so.
He laughed and bent his head over his gun. After a few moments swabbing and cleaning, though, he said, not looking up, Aye, well. I thought it no bad idea for the lass to have friends among the Cherokee. In case she should need a place to go, sometime.
The casual tone of voice didnt fool me.
Sometime. When the Revolution comes, you mean?
Aye. Or... when we die. Whenever that might be, he added precisely, picking the gun up and squinting down the barrel to check the sight.
It was bright Indian summer still, but I felt shards of ice crackle down my back. Most days, I managed to forget that newspaper clippingthe one that reported the death by fire of one James Fraser and his wife, on Frasers Ridge. Other days, I remembered it, but shoved the possibility to the back of my mind, refusing to dwell on it. But every now and then, I would wake up at night, with bright flames leaping in the corners of my mind, shivering and terrified.
The clipping said, no living children, I said, determined to face down the fear. Do you suppose that means that Bree and Roger will have gone... somewhere... before then? To the Cherokee, perhaps. Or to the stones.
It might. His face was sober, eyes on his work. Neither one of us was willing to admit the other possibilityno need, in any case.
Reluctant though she had been to come, Brianna too seemed to be enjoying the trip. Without Roger, and relieved of the chores of cabin housekeeping, she seemed much more relaxed, laughing and joking with the Beardsley twins, teasing Jamie, and nursing Jemmy by the fire at night, before curling herself around him and falling peacefully asleep.
The Beardsleys were having a good time, too. The removal of his infected adenoids and tonsils had not cured Keziahs deafness, but had improved it markedly. He could understand fairly loud speech now, particularly if you faced him and spoke clearly, though he seemed to make out anything his twin said with ease, no matter how softly voiced. Seeing him look round wide-eyed as we rode through the thick, insect-buzzing forest, fording streams and finding faint deer paths through the thickets, I realized that he had never been anywhere in his life, save the area near the Beardsley farm, and Frasers Ridge.
I wondered what he would make of the Cherokeeand they of him and his brother. Peter had told Jamie that the Cherokee regarded twins as particularly blessed and lucky; the news that the Beardsleys would be joining the hunt had delighted Tsatsawi.
Josiah seemed to be having fun, tooinsofar as I could tell, he being a very contained sort of person. As we drew closer to the village, though, I thought that he was becoming slightly nervous.
I could see that Jamie was a trifle uneasy, too, though in his case, I suspected the reason for it. He didnt mind at all going to help with a hunt, and was pleased to have the opportunity to visit the Cherokee. But I rather thought that having his reputation as the Bear-Killer trumpeted before him, so to speak, was making him uncomfortable.
This supposition was borne out when we camped on the third night of our journey. We were no more than ten miles from the village, and would easily make it by mid-day next day.
I could see him making up his mind to something as we rode, and as we all sat down to supper round a roaring fire, I saw him suddenly set his shoulders and stand up. He walked up to Peter Bewlie, who sat staring dreamily into the fire, and faced him with decision.
Theres a wee thing I have to be sayin, Peter. About this ghost-bear were off to find.
Peter looked up, startled out of his trance. He smiled, though, and slid over to make room for Jamie to sit down.
Oh, aye, Mac Dubh?
Jamie did so, and cleared his throat.
Well, ye seethe fact is that I dinna actually ken a great deal about bears, as there havena been any in Scotland for quite some years now.
Peters eyebrows went up.
But they say ye killed a great bear wi naught but a dirk!
Jamie rubbed his nose with something approaching annoyance.
Aye, well... so I did, then. But I didna hunt the creature down. It came after me, so I hadna got a choice about it, after all. Im none so sure that I shall be of any great help in discovering this ghost-bear. It must be a particularly clever bear, no? To have been walking in and out of their village for months, I mean, and no one with more than a single glimpse of it?
Smarter than the average bear, Brianna agreed, her mouth twitching slightly. Jamie gave her a narrow look, which he switched to me as I choked on a swallow of beer.
What? he demanded testily.
Nothing, I gasped. Nothing at all.
Turning his back on us in disgust, Jamie suddenly caught sight of Josiah Beardsley, who, while not guffawing, was doing a little mouth-twitching of his own.
What? Jamie barked at him. Theyre no but loonshe jerked a thumb over his finger at Brianna and mebut whats to do wi you, eh?
Josiah immediately erased the grin from his face and tried to look grave, but the corner of his mouth kept on twitching, and a hot flush was rising in his narrow cheeks, visible even by firelight. Jamie narrowed his eyes and a stifled noise that might have been a giggle escaped Josiah. He clapped a hand across his mouth, staring up at Jamie.
What, then? Jamie inquired politely.
Keziah, obviously gathering that something was up, hunched closer to his twin, squaring up beside him in support. Josiah made a brief, unconscious movement toward Kezzie, but didnt look away from Jamie. His face was still red, but he seemed to have got himself under control.
Well, I suppose I best say, sir.
I suppose ye had. Jamie gave him a quizzical look.
Josiah drew a deep breath, resigning himself.
Twasnt a bear, always. Sometimes it was me.
Jamie stared at him for a moment. Then the corners of his mouth began to twitch.
Oh, aye?
Not all the time, Josiah explained. But when his wanderings through the wilderness brought him within reach of one of the Indian villagesOnly if I was hungry, though, sirhe hastened to addhe would lurk cautiously in the forest nearby, stealing into the place after dark and absconding with any easily-reached edibles. He would remain in the area for a few days, eating from the village stores until his strength and his pack were replenished, then move on to hunt, eventually returning with his hides to the cave where he had made a cache.
