Into the Wilderness
Page 216
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Hawkeye's rifle stock hit the floor with a thump, and the group of men around Moses jumped like rabbits. Moses himself stayed steady, his fist curled white around the barrel of his own rifle.
But Hawkeye talked to all of them, drew each man in the room in with his eyes. "You're wanting to ask about Hidden Wolf, and by God it's time to get it out in the open. The mountain belongs to my daughter—in—law and my son, by law. They got the paperwork, anybody wants to doubt my word." He pointed to an old hand—drawn map on the wall. "I can draw the boundaries, if that's necessary. But I think you all know where they lie."
"You planning to keep us from hunting on the Wolf?" asked Dubonnet, his thin voice spiraling up in a harsh arc.
"I don't make the gaming laws," Hawkeye said coldly. "If you hunt out of season, it's the judge you'll answer to—ain't that so, Alfred?"
The judge nodded, reluctantly. "The gaming laws and restrictions will be enforced on private and public lands."
Hawkeye grunted. "So this is what we got to say. You can track your game onto the Wolf same as always. Berrying, that kind of thing, that we've got no problem with. But there'll be no more timber taken from our land—" Billy Kirby made a protesting noise, and Hawkeye nodded at him. "I see you, Billy. Not another tree from our land, do you hear, and we don't care what terms you got to offer. There's plenty of timber out there otherwise. No trappin', either."
"How about looking at the Wolf, Hawkeye, that still allowed?" Moses' tone was all spit and poison.
"Well, now, I dunno," Hawkeye said slowly."I suppose so, long as you all don't get too close, Moses. As for the rest of you, stay off the Wolf past the strawberry fields. Any man found farther up than that, my son here will take you before the judge for trespassing. Now, me personally, maybe I'll shoot first, depends on what I catch you at."
Billy Kirby spoke for the first time. "Ain't like you ever caught anybody up till now."
There was a new silence in the room as Hawkeye looked at Billy. As he held the gaze past the point of no return, the younger man blanched, but he did not look away.
"You don't want to be the first, Billy," Hawkeye said, so softly that the skin rose on Nathaniel's nape. "Not now that you've had fair warning. You all leave us to our own business, keep your hounds and your hands off what don't belong to you, and there won't be any trouble."
"What about them Mohawk? How many more of them you got headed this way?" Archie Cunningham directed this at Hawkeye, but Nathaniel stepped forward.
"My family is my own business," he said. "Anybody interferes with them, I'll deal with it myself. And the law will back me up on that, won't it, Judge?"
Nathaniel had never seen Middleton look so miserable. He cast a glance at his son, whose jaw was strung tight enough to hear his teeth grinding, and then nodded.
"That's all we wanted to set straight," Hawkeye said. "You'll find us good neighbors, if you'll leave us in peace."
* * *
Elizabeth was silent most of the way up the mountain, busy sorting through the conversations in the trading post. Snatches of sentences came to her, so that her temper flared and flared again. She saw Julian's pale face, the way he had avoided looking at Kitty at all. He had gambled on the knowledge that Elizabeth could not expose him without exposing Kitty at the same time; he had won. She could not cause more pain where there was already so much.
In front of her Nathaniel walked with his head up, watching the woods. She knew that Hawkeye did the same behind her. The men carried their rifles at the ready, and their tension hummed almost loud enough to be heard. Elizabeth fought with a wave of fear and anger. She would not be forced from her new home; she would not be Miss Middleton again, to please her father and console her brother. But she remembered Robbie's words, and she knew he was right: this would take no good end. Hawkeye had offered a truce in a conciliatory tone, he had sought out every eye in the room. But few had met him in return; she had watched carefully. It had been a rational offer; the only possible way to live together with these people who had been at war so long that they could not face the idea of its alternative. You'll find us good neighbors, if you'll leave us in peace.
Axel, bless him, had stepped forward. "Ja, Dan'l. We've never been anything else," he had said. "Ain't no need to expect less now. You're welcome here anytime, and you'll find most of us will be glad of the company of any of the Hidden Wolf folk."
It had been a relief to be reminded of this. That there were other people, reasonable people, in the village. Jed McGarrity, and his family. Curiosity and Galileo and their children. The Gloves, who had greeted her kindly. And other families, enough of them to make Paradise home.
Elizabeth had accepted Nathaniel's arm to leave the trading post, and then stopped to speak to Anna about the pile of dry goods on the counter. Hurrying to catch up to him at the door, a foot on the tail of her skirt had held her up.
We'll find that mine, came a soft voice. And then we'll find you dead in your beds. It might have been Moses, but perhaps not. She had not turned around.
Chapter 48
Elizabeth held her breath well into the second week of the school session, and then, cautiously, she allowed herself to exhale. There had been no trouble from the village, no disruptions of any kind to herself or her students. Every morning thus far, she and Hannah had walked down Hidden Wolf with no escort save for the company of Hector and Blue, Hawkeye's dogs. The hunters were sorely vexed by the unprecedented and apparently endless ban on deer tracking, and were willing to take on escort duties, even if they did not take them very seriously; they were easily seduced away by the promise of a squirrel, and would turn tail and head for home as soon as Elizabeth put the key in the schoolhouse door. Nathaniel was less than enthusiastic about this arrangement, but Elizabeth had argued for it and persuaded him in the end that it would not serve anyone to have her appear frightened to her students.
But Hawkeye talked to all of them, drew each man in the room in with his eyes. "You're wanting to ask about Hidden Wolf, and by God it's time to get it out in the open. The mountain belongs to my daughter—in—law and my son, by law. They got the paperwork, anybody wants to doubt my word." He pointed to an old hand—drawn map on the wall. "I can draw the boundaries, if that's necessary. But I think you all know where they lie."
"You planning to keep us from hunting on the Wolf?" asked Dubonnet, his thin voice spiraling up in a harsh arc.
"I don't make the gaming laws," Hawkeye said coldly. "If you hunt out of season, it's the judge you'll answer to—ain't that so, Alfred?"
The judge nodded, reluctantly. "The gaming laws and restrictions will be enforced on private and public lands."
Hawkeye grunted. "So this is what we got to say. You can track your game onto the Wolf same as always. Berrying, that kind of thing, that we've got no problem with. But there'll be no more timber taken from our land—" Billy Kirby made a protesting noise, and Hawkeye nodded at him. "I see you, Billy. Not another tree from our land, do you hear, and we don't care what terms you got to offer. There's plenty of timber out there otherwise. No trappin', either."
"How about looking at the Wolf, Hawkeye, that still allowed?" Moses' tone was all spit and poison.
"Well, now, I dunno," Hawkeye said slowly."I suppose so, long as you all don't get too close, Moses. As for the rest of you, stay off the Wolf past the strawberry fields. Any man found farther up than that, my son here will take you before the judge for trespassing. Now, me personally, maybe I'll shoot first, depends on what I catch you at."
Billy Kirby spoke for the first time. "Ain't like you ever caught anybody up till now."
There was a new silence in the room as Hawkeye looked at Billy. As he held the gaze past the point of no return, the younger man blanched, but he did not look away.
"You don't want to be the first, Billy," Hawkeye said, so softly that the skin rose on Nathaniel's nape. "Not now that you've had fair warning. You all leave us to our own business, keep your hounds and your hands off what don't belong to you, and there won't be any trouble."
"What about them Mohawk? How many more of them you got headed this way?" Archie Cunningham directed this at Hawkeye, but Nathaniel stepped forward.
"My family is my own business," he said. "Anybody interferes with them, I'll deal with it myself. And the law will back me up on that, won't it, Judge?"
Nathaniel had never seen Middleton look so miserable. He cast a glance at his son, whose jaw was strung tight enough to hear his teeth grinding, and then nodded.
"That's all we wanted to set straight," Hawkeye said. "You'll find us good neighbors, if you'll leave us in peace."
* * *
Elizabeth was silent most of the way up the mountain, busy sorting through the conversations in the trading post. Snatches of sentences came to her, so that her temper flared and flared again. She saw Julian's pale face, the way he had avoided looking at Kitty at all. He had gambled on the knowledge that Elizabeth could not expose him without exposing Kitty at the same time; he had won. She could not cause more pain where there was already so much.
In front of her Nathaniel walked with his head up, watching the woods. She knew that Hawkeye did the same behind her. The men carried their rifles at the ready, and their tension hummed almost loud enough to be heard. Elizabeth fought with a wave of fear and anger. She would not be forced from her new home; she would not be Miss Middleton again, to please her father and console her brother. But she remembered Robbie's words, and she knew he was right: this would take no good end. Hawkeye had offered a truce in a conciliatory tone, he had sought out every eye in the room. But few had met him in return; she had watched carefully. It had been a rational offer; the only possible way to live together with these people who had been at war so long that they could not face the idea of its alternative. You'll find us good neighbors, if you'll leave us in peace.
Axel, bless him, had stepped forward. "Ja, Dan'l. We've never been anything else," he had said. "Ain't no need to expect less now. You're welcome here anytime, and you'll find most of us will be glad of the company of any of the Hidden Wolf folk."
It had been a relief to be reminded of this. That there were other people, reasonable people, in the village. Jed McGarrity, and his family. Curiosity and Galileo and their children. The Gloves, who had greeted her kindly. And other families, enough of them to make Paradise home.
Elizabeth had accepted Nathaniel's arm to leave the trading post, and then stopped to speak to Anna about the pile of dry goods on the counter. Hurrying to catch up to him at the door, a foot on the tail of her skirt had held her up.
We'll find that mine, came a soft voice. And then we'll find you dead in your beds. It might have been Moses, but perhaps not. She had not turned around.
Chapter 48
Elizabeth held her breath well into the second week of the school session, and then, cautiously, she allowed herself to exhale. There had been no trouble from the village, no disruptions of any kind to herself or her students. Every morning thus far, she and Hannah had walked down Hidden Wolf with no escort save for the company of Hector and Blue, Hawkeye's dogs. The hunters were sorely vexed by the unprecedented and apparently endless ban on deer tracking, and were willing to take on escort duties, even if they did not take them very seriously; they were easily seduced away by the promise of a squirrel, and would turn tail and head for home as soon as Elizabeth put the key in the schoolhouse door. Nathaniel was less than enthusiastic about this arrangement, but Elizabeth had argued for it and persuaded him in the end that it would not serve anyone to have her appear frightened to her students.
