She snorted with his falsehood, his strong thighs holding her hostage. “To resign an intense conversation to seasonal predictions is laughable. What are you hiding? At the very least, I’d hoped you’d have them warn the Colonists of Captain Snapes and Onontio’s planned attacks.”
Joshua’s movements were slow, cautious. “Your cousin, Colonel Faulkner would consider the caution treasonous. What would he have to say concerning your Patriot loyalties?”
His question came with a deeper meaning, approaching her in a roundabout fashion like a trout circling bait. “After what I witnessed on the Hayes’ farm…I want no one to suffer violence, Patriot or Loyalist.”
He probed her with his gaze. “What kind of man is your cousin?”
Again, another inquiry loaded with innuendo. “I’ve met him once when he was home from the Colonies. He stayed for two weeks and went back, spending years away from home and his family. I can tell you of his son, Edmund. He was the one relative who was ever kind to me. As children, we played hunt the hare for hours in the garden. If Colonel Faulkner is anything like his son, he is of good temperament.”
The nine fresh graves and the man’s loss of his family triggered a jarring memory of Edmund. When his mother called, he wanted to remain hidden, becoming fearful.Strange.If her mother was alive, she’d want to be with her.
Not to forget Joshua’s ambiguousness, she leaned back, at ease and in control, and laughed aloud, her laughter echoing over the river. “I am going to learn the language so I won’t have to hear of wintry predictions.”
Chapter Fifteen
Two Eagles spoke to them patiently in his language, pointing out objects and repeating their Indian names over and over. He gestures were meaningful, marking each word with a specific tonal melody. What Juliet found frustrating was changing the melody changed the word. Mastering the rising and falling pitch proved maddening whereas Mary followed his words closely, picking up the language with ease.
“Odéka’, eñgade´gat,” said Juliet, practicing some of the Iroquoian words. “I said, spoon, I make a spoon.”
Joshua shook his head and laughed. “You said, ‘fire. I make a fire.’”
“It is all for naught. Attempting the words is like running through a patch of thorn trees and catching unpronounceable syllables on every barb.”
Juliet heard the roar first. They arrived into a basin, carved between two forests, framed by jagged escarpments of slate. Crystal cold water streamed over a mountain shelf, creating the most magnificent waterfall she had ever seen. A silver mist rose with a rainbow half the size of the falls and she inhaled the damp woodland scent of ferns, mosses and wild mint.
Joshua steered the canoe to shore. “We’ll make camp.
Julie wondered if they would ever make it to Fort Oswego. She was anxious to get there and seek help from her cousin. England yawned and the so quiet saneness of her little cottage called to her. Foxglove and lilies growing by a stone fence, and bread pudding, and her books. She blew a tendril of hair from her eyes. Was he delaying their arrival?
“You are to learn how to shoot a gun, and I hope with a fair degree at accuracy.”
She loaded the gun as he had instructed her before.
“Good.”
He stood behind her. A solid wall of muscle and sinew pressed against her back. She sucked in a shallow breath as he helped her lift the rifle.
“You must have the butt end pressed to your arm or the recoil will give you a heck of a bruise.” He pulled her closer as he pushed the gun into her shoulder. When he leaned over and sighted down the barrel with her, pleasant shivers traveled up her spine with the brush of his beard against the softness of her cheek. His hand came to rest at her waist.
“Fire.”
She sighted and pulled the trigger the recoil causing her to fall backward. He caught her and steadied the gun in her arms. His heartbreaking grin and the sultry heat radiating from his body made her mouth dry.
“What did I shoot?” she said, breathless.
Joshua threw back his head and laughed. “A leaf.”
Her shoulders sank. “A leaf?”
“We’ll spend some time practicing. You’ll learn quickly.”
After firing several more rounds and improving, he pulled her through the woods, identifying plants he learned from Two Eagles. “This is willow bark. Boil a tea. It is good to reduce fevers. Over there is knitbone, good for broken bones. Elderberry juice made from crushed elderberries is good for stomach complaint.”
“When walking as you are now, you are a clear giveaway for men tracking you. Walk on stones to leave no footprint.” He broke off a branch and swept it over the area they had tread. “This will hide your trail.”
“You are very experienced.”
“You never know when such knowledge will save your life.” He smoothed the hair back from her face, and she leaned into him. He dropped his hand and gestured back to camp.
