Fire Along the Sky
Page 121
He did not say so, but Lily saw that this single fact disturbed Spotted-Fox a great deal. She knew, too, that questions would do no good; he would not reveal what he meant to keep to himself.
“But did you see them?” Lily asked, knowing how rude it was to interrupt the flow of the story as it needed to be told, and still unable to control her anxiety and worry.
Spotted-Fox blinked at her. She ducked her head in apology and asked the question again.
“We have seen my brother,” answered Sawatis. “But not yours.”
“But why not?” Lily demanded. “Is he so badly injured? Have they locked him away by himself?”
“We have seen Blue-Jay, but we could not speak to him or ask questions,” said Spotted-Fox. “What we know of your brother we know from Red-Wing and the women in the followers' camp.”
Lily folded her hands together in her lap and forced herself to think it through, step by step. “I don't understand. They were supposed to be on the St. Lawrence. They wrote from Oswegatchie not six weeks ago.”
They had been speaking English for Simon's sake, and now he joined the conversation for the first time.
“Jim Booke wouldn't like the kind of hair-pulling MacLeod was telling us about last night,” Simon said. “Raids back and forth, like ill-tempered boys arguing over playthings. I'm not surprised to hear he moved his men.”
“What of Jim Booke?” Lily asked. “Is he there too, in the stockade?”
He was not in the stockade, Spotted-Fox assured her, but not far off either.
“His sign is all around, but we didn't have time to go looking for him.”
“Those garrison stockades are full of disease,” Lily said, mostly to herself. “A healthy man is in danger, and Daniel is wounded.”
Simon drew in a breath, and she rounded on him as if he had struck her.
“We can't leave them there,” she said. “We have to get them out. My father would get them out. My mother would get them out. How can I do any less?”
“This is Nut Island we're talking about,” Simon said. “The fortifications alone—”
She would have said things to him then that she could never have made right, but Spotted-Fox stopped her with a raised hand. He said, “He is right. No one man could get them out, not even your father. It would take an army.”
Lily felt the panic rise up from her belly into her throat, but she forced herself to swallow it.
“What then?” she said. “You must have a plan. You were traveling with the King's Rangers and on your way there. Can you get close to them? Can you get me close to them? I could join the camp, you said there are women—”
Her voice spiraled up and broke, and for a moment there was only the sound of harsh breathing and the hiss of the fire. She was proposing to join the ranks of the camp followers, the ones who washed for the soldiers and gave them the other things they required of women, in exchange for food and a place to sleep in a tent. In exchange for the chance to save her brother, Lily would have done that and more.
But Simon was looking at her, his expression guarded. He would never allow her to do such a thing, even if Sawatis and Spotted-Fox could be convinced. In that moment she hated this man she had bound herself to, for standing between herself and her twin.
Sawatis said, “We can be close enough to see that they get extra food and blankets. But there is something more important for you to do.”
“You want me to go home,” Lily said dully. “And tell my father, what? To raise an army?”
“No,” said Spotted-Fox. “There is something your people can do. Something your sister Walks-Ahead can do.”
On the back of her neck Lily's skin prickled, and a wave of nausea rose into her throat. The men took no note, and Spotted-Fox went on.
“There are only two doctors in the garrison, and they have no time for American prisoners. Walks-Ahead is a Kahnyen'kehàka healer, and she has experience on the battlefield. The British will be glad of her help as long as they don't know who her people are.”
“A well-thought-out plan,” Lily said, and Simon threw her a sharp look.
Sawatis said, “One of us would have gone to Lake in the Clouds to fetch her, if we hadn't come across you.”
“One of you will still go fetch her, if you must,” Lily said. “I'm not leaving Canada until my brother and Blue-Jay are free.”
She was being childish and selfish and eventually she must give in; Lily knew that, and still she turned her face away when Simon tried to talk to her.
They were back in the narrow bed behind the blanket, in the cold dark. Lying on her back with her hands crossed over her stomach Lily tried to make out Gabriel Oak's drawing on the wall and could not. She was so determined not to listen to any more arguments that it was a moment before she realized the latest thing Simon had said.
He was so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek, but she would not look at him.
“Did you hear me?” he asked.
“I did.”
“And?”
“You would do that. You would go on to Lake in the Clouds without me.”
“Aye, if you will promise to stay with Sawatis and Spotted-Fox and not do anything foolish.”
“And you would bring my sister back.”
Maybe it was her tone that warned him, for he turned away to stare at his own bit of the ceiling. After a moment he said, “Do you have another plan?”
“But did you see them?” Lily asked, knowing how rude it was to interrupt the flow of the story as it needed to be told, and still unable to control her anxiety and worry.
Spotted-Fox blinked at her. She ducked her head in apology and asked the question again.
“We have seen my brother,” answered Sawatis. “But not yours.”
“But why not?” Lily demanded. “Is he so badly injured? Have they locked him away by himself?”
“We have seen Blue-Jay, but we could not speak to him or ask questions,” said Spotted-Fox. “What we know of your brother we know from Red-Wing and the women in the followers' camp.”
Lily folded her hands together in her lap and forced herself to think it through, step by step. “I don't understand. They were supposed to be on the St. Lawrence. They wrote from Oswegatchie not six weeks ago.”
They had been speaking English for Simon's sake, and now he joined the conversation for the first time.
“Jim Booke wouldn't like the kind of hair-pulling MacLeod was telling us about last night,” Simon said. “Raids back and forth, like ill-tempered boys arguing over playthings. I'm not surprised to hear he moved his men.”
“What of Jim Booke?” Lily asked. “Is he there too, in the stockade?”
He was not in the stockade, Spotted-Fox assured her, but not far off either.
“His sign is all around, but we didn't have time to go looking for him.”
“Those garrison stockades are full of disease,” Lily said, mostly to herself. “A healthy man is in danger, and Daniel is wounded.”
Simon drew in a breath, and she rounded on him as if he had struck her.
“We can't leave them there,” she said. “We have to get them out. My father would get them out. My mother would get them out. How can I do any less?”
“This is Nut Island we're talking about,” Simon said. “The fortifications alone—”
She would have said things to him then that she could never have made right, but Spotted-Fox stopped her with a raised hand. He said, “He is right. No one man could get them out, not even your father. It would take an army.”
Lily felt the panic rise up from her belly into her throat, but she forced herself to swallow it.
“What then?” she said. “You must have a plan. You were traveling with the King's Rangers and on your way there. Can you get close to them? Can you get me close to them? I could join the camp, you said there are women—”
Her voice spiraled up and broke, and for a moment there was only the sound of harsh breathing and the hiss of the fire. She was proposing to join the ranks of the camp followers, the ones who washed for the soldiers and gave them the other things they required of women, in exchange for food and a place to sleep in a tent. In exchange for the chance to save her brother, Lily would have done that and more.
But Simon was looking at her, his expression guarded. He would never allow her to do such a thing, even if Sawatis and Spotted-Fox could be convinced. In that moment she hated this man she had bound herself to, for standing between herself and her twin.
Sawatis said, “We can be close enough to see that they get extra food and blankets. But there is something more important for you to do.”
“You want me to go home,” Lily said dully. “And tell my father, what? To raise an army?”
“No,” said Spotted-Fox. “There is something your people can do. Something your sister Walks-Ahead can do.”
On the back of her neck Lily's skin prickled, and a wave of nausea rose into her throat. The men took no note, and Spotted-Fox went on.
“There are only two doctors in the garrison, and they have no time for American prisoners. Walks-Ahead is a Kahnyen'kehàka healer, and she has experience on the battlefield. The British will be glad of her help as long as they don't know who her people are.”
“A well-thought-out plan,” Lily said, and Simon threw her a sharp look.
Sawatis said, “One of us would have gone to Lake in the Clouds to fetch her, if we hadn't come across you.”
“One of you will still go fetch her, if you must,” Lily said. “I'm not leaving Canada until my brother and Blue-Jay are free.”
She was being childish and selfish and eventually she must give in; Lily knew that, and still she turned her face away when Simon tried to talk to her.
They were back in the narrow bed behind the blanket, in the cold dark. Lying on her back with her hands crossed over her stomach Lily tried to make out Gabriel Oak's drawing on the wall and could not. She was so determined not to listen to any more arguments that it was a moment before she realized the latest thing Simon had said.
He was so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek, but she would not look at him.
“Did you hear me?” he asked.
“I did.”
“And?”
“You would do that. You would go on to Lake in the Clouds without me.”
“Aye, if you will promise to stay with Sawatis and Spotted-Fox and not do anything foolish.”
“And you would bring my sister back.”
Maybe it was her tone that warned him, for he turned away to stare at his own bit of the ceiling. After a moment he said, “Do you have another plan?”
