Into the Wilderness
Page 230
She raised a brow, not directly in encouragement, but neither did she turn away.
"What happened to Dutch Ton, as you call him? Did you find his body in the clearing when you returned there with your young Mohawk friend?"
"No," she said. "We did not. Otter found his trail, but there was no time to follow it. Dutch Ton is either dead in the bush, or he will make himself known one day."
"Does this frighten you?" asked Samuel Hench.
She shook her head. "He saved my life, once. I don't have any reason to believe that he would come after me in anger."
But Nathaniel had seen her tilt her chin like that before, and he knew how to read her anxiety. Maybe better than she did herself.
* * *
Samuel Hench accompanied them back to the Schuyler estate under a velvet dark sky. Van der Poole had lent them a lantern, and it swung back and forth on its handle with a steady squeak. Walking in a bobbing pool of light with the men on either side of her, Elizabeth enjoyed the fresh night air after the long hours in close company, as tired as she was. Samuel Hench was a surprise, but a pleasant one, and she wished for more time to spend with him.
"Didst thou not wish to talk to me of a business matter, cousin?"
She felt Nathaniel's surprise even though his face gave none of it away.
Elizabeth began slowly. "You are still in the Life?"
"I am."
"I would like to engage your help in a fairly delicate matter." She paused. "To be blunt, I would like you to act as my agent where I need to remain anonymous. The first step is to provide you with the necessary funds, and the second step is that you stop in Johnstown and visit a black smithy in the vicinity of the courthouse. Then there is more business of the same kind for you in Paradise with a slave holder by the name of Glove, if you will see this through to the end."
She laid out her plan. Even in the simplest terms, it sounded fantastic and, she feared, self—interested. But for many weeks, even for months, she had been wondering how best to do what she felt she must do, and now that there was no lack of funds, and a means to her end, she could not be still. If Nathaniel objected to the large amount of money she proposed to spend, there was no sign of it. She thought that if she dared look at him she might even find him smiling.
Her cousin was another matter. It was a large plan, and perhaps too ambitious. Unfortunately, his face stayed in shadow and she could not judge his reaction.
"Thou realizes that each of the men will bring a price of somewhere around three hundred dollars? Is the blacksmith well trained?"
"I expect that he is, I have no direct knowledge of him." Elizabeth stopped and put something in Samuel Hench's hand, "When you speak to him alone, please call him Joshua, and give him this." The pale stone in the center of Joe's bijou flashed once in the lantern light. "If he would like to come see us in Paradise, we will tell him what we know of the death of the man who gave us this for him."
Samuel Hench nodded thoughtfully. "I will invite him to accompany me to Paradise, if he so chooses. I understand that the two young slaves at the Glove mill can read and write, and keep books. And they are skilled managers?"
"That is perhaps a bit too much to claim, but they are both capable and hard workers, and with considerable talents."
Nathaniel's silence was becoming more noticeable. She tried to gauge his mood with a sideways glance, and saw him lost in thought. Samuel Hench was concerned with the details of the task she set before him, and seemed not to notice.
"Just two more issues, cousin. First, there are no further directions for me on the matter of the others, just that three young women be given their freedom. Have I understood thee correctly?"
She nodded. "I will leave the matter of who, and under what circumstances to your discretion. I do not wish to know any names, unless this becomes necessary for some other reason. But it is quite important to me that for each of the young men who are given their freedom, one young woman is given the same opportunity."
There was another long and comfortable silence. Finally Samuel Hench stopped, and turned to them.
"Nathaniel, how dost thou feel about this plan of thy wife's? It will cost something close to two thousand dollars before it is done."
"We can afford it," Nathaniel said easily. "At the moment, at any rate."
She squeezed his arm thankfully and said nothing.
"Well, then. It is a worthwhile undertaking and I will make it my Cause, under one condition. The young women will need support after they are released. Help setting up a home, and provisions, and some kind of meaningful work. Husbands, eventually. I will take on responsibility for their settling well, after thy funds have bought their freedom."
Elizabeth nodded without hesitation. "That would be a relief to me. I do not mind so much how it is done, cousin, as long as it is done. And as long as it is done without knowledge of my—or our—participation. I do not wish these people to feel any obligation to us and I do not want to further complicate our position in Paradise. We have enough to deal with as it is.
Samuel Hench smiled, finally. "If thy purpose were not wholly laudable, cousin, I might be tempted to call thee devious."
Elizabeth felt Nathaniel's arm tense under her hand. She thought he would laugh out loud at this, and was preparing to pinch him when she realized that his attention was suddenly focused elsewhere. At first Elizabeth heard nothing but the river and the night wind in the corn, but the hair on her arms and the nape of her neck rose and she felt the danger there in the pit of her belly, as keenly as she felt the child rise and kick weakly in protest at her sudden silence.
"What happened to Dutch Ton, as you call him? Did you find his body in the clearing when you returned there with your young Mohawk friend?"
"No," she said. "We did not. Otter found his trail, but there was no time to follow it. Dutch Ton is either dead in the bush, or he will make himself known one day."
"Does this frighten you?" asked Samuel Hench.
She shook her head. "He saved my life, once. I don't have any reason to believe that he would come after me in anger."
But Nathaniel had seen her tilt her chin like that before, and he knew how to read her anxiety. Maybe better than she did herself.
* * *
Samuel Hench accompanied them back to the Schuyler estate under a velvet dark sky. Van der Poole had lent them a lantern, and it swung back and forth on its handle with a steady squeak. Walking in a bobbing pool of light with the men on either side of her, Elizabeth enjoyed the fresh night air after the long hours in close company, as tired as she was. Samuel Hench was a surprise, but a pleasant one, and she wished for more time to spend with him.
"Didst thou not wish to talk to me of a business matter, cousin?"
She felt Nathaniel's surprise even though his face gave none of it away.
Elizabeth began slowly. "You are still in the Life?"
"I am."
"I would like to engage your help in a fairly delicate matter." She paused. "To be blunt, I would like you to act as my agent where I need to remain anonymous. The first step is to provide you with the necessary funds, and the second step is that you stop in Johnstown and visit a black smithy in the vicinity of the courthouse. Then there is more business of the same kind for you in Paradise with a slave holder by the name of Glove, if you will see this through to the end."
She laid out her plan. Even in the simplest terms, it sounded fantastic and, she feared, self—interested. But for many weeks, even for months, she had been wondering how best to do what she felt she must do, and now that there was no lack of funds, and a means to her end, she could not be still. If Nathaniel objected to the large amount of money she proposed to spend, there was no sign of it. She thought that if she dared look at him she might even find him smiling.
Her cousin was another matter. It was a large plan, and perhaps too ambitious. Unfortunately, his face stayed in shadow and she could not judge his reaction.
"Thou realizes that each of the men will bring a price of somewhere around three hundred dollars? Is the blacksmith well trained?"
"I expect that he is, I have no direct knowledge of him." Elizabeth stopped and put something in Samuel Hench's hand, "When you speak to him alone, please call him Joshua, and give him this." The pale stone in the center of Joe's bijou flashed once in the lantern light. "If he would like to come see us in Paradise, we will tell him what we know of the death of the man who gave us this for him."
Samuel Hench nodded thoughtfully. "I will invite him to accompany me to Paradise, if he so chooses. I understand that the two young slaves at the Glove mill can read and write, and keep books. And they are skilled managers?"
"That is perhaps a bit too much to claim, but they are both capable and hard workers, and with considerable talents."
Nathaniel's silence was becoming more noticeable. She tried to gauge his mood with a sideways glance, and saw him lost in thought. Samuel Hench was concerned with the details of the task she set before him, and seemed not to notice.
"Just two more issues, cousin. First, there are no further directions for me on the matter of the others, just that three young women be given their freedom. Have I understood thee correctly?"
She nodded. "I will leave the matter of who, and under what circumstances to your discretion. I do not wish to know any names, unless this becomes necessary for some other reason. But it is quite important to me that for each of the young men who are given their freedom, one young woman is given the same opportunity."
There was another long and comfortable silence. Finally Samuel Hench stopped, and turned to them.
"Nathaniel, how dost thou feel about this plan of thy wife's? It will cost something close to two thousand dollars before it is done."
"We can afford it," Nathaniel said easily. "At the moment, at any rate."
She squeezed his arm thankfully and said nothing.
"Well, then. It is a worthwhile undertaking and I will make it my Cause, under one condition. The young women will need support after they are released. Help setting up a home, and provisions, and some kind of meaningful work. Husbands, eventually. I will take on responsibility for their settling well, after thy funds have bought their freedom."
Elizabeth nodded without hesitation. "That would be a relief to me. I do not mind so much how it is done, cousin, as long as it is done. And as long as it is done without knowledge of my—or our—participation. I do not wish these people to feel any obligation to us and I do not want to further complicate our position in Paradise. We have enough to deal with as it is.
Samuel Hench smiled, finally. "If thy purpose were not wholly laudable, cousin, I might be tempted to call thee devious."
Elizabeth felt Nathaniel's arm tense under her hand. She thought he would laugh out loud at this, and was preparing to pinch him when she realized that his attention was suddenly focused elsewhere. At first Elizabeth heard nothing but the river and the night wind in the corn, but the hair on her arms and the nape of her neck rose and she felt the danger there in the pit of her belly, as keenly as she felt the child rise and kick weakly in protest at her sudden silence.
