Moses shoveled potatoes in his mouth, dripping gravy on the table and talked between mouthfuls. “Bad things happening all over. News of the build-up of Tory and Indian forces on the upper Susquehanna, especially at Unadilla and Onipua. They’re also preparing to move against the outlying settlements. Blackberry Valley is a prime target. Despite what Colonel Allerton has done to reinforce your fort,” he spat, “you are weakly defended. I would leave if I were you.”
“My husband has gone to Albany to appeal to Brigadier General Edward Hand, begging for additional troops to protect us.”
Moses pointed a hunk of cheese at her. “Thayendanegea is hot for destroying any Patriots. He holds all of ’em responsible for destroying Tionnontigo and Onaguaga, his villages. He will be swift and merciless and his numbers are growing.”
Tionnontigo had been destroyed?Juliet hoped Ojistah’s second sight warned her away before the attack. She cared for the old woman.
Caroline set a platter of warm rolls on the table, shooing away the children so the men could eat without being interrupted. “Brigadier General Hand said we would be well-protected by the garrison at Fort Stephens under Colonel Elijah Cummings. They are thirteen miles distant and could come quickly if trouble loomed.”
The frontiersman blew a whistle between his two front missing teeth. “The logic is the same as setting your hair on fire and putting it out with a hammer. Ain’t going to happen.”
“What am I to do? The snows will soon be upon us. My husband is gone. I am a lone woman with eight children. Where would we go?”
“I would take my chances and leave if I were you.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
In her dreams, Onontio came at her, his scalp plucked bald save for the stiff brush atop his head and his black eyes gleaming in murderous rage through his hideous war paint. He sneered at the sword she pointed at him, knocking it from her hand, before she could lift it to swing. He grabbed her arm, spun her around and pinned her back against his chest as, with his other hand, he drew his razor-sharp blade from left to right across her throat. He released her and she crumpled, the light of life fading from her eyes.
The next day, Juliet tugged her shawl tighter around her, unable to dispel the recurring nightmare. She and Caroline had stayed up late the night before debating what to do with Moses Bent’s dire warnings.
Juliet strode with as long a step as her dress and petticoats would allow. Caroline kept in step beside her, their skirts swishing in unison across the frozen ground as they made their way to the Powers’ home. The town, stood cheerless now that the freezing moon had come and the ground was frozen hard as a rock. The trees in the forest dropped the rest of their leaves with the sudden frost overnight.
How quickly the season had changed. Now the bare tree branches stood out starkly, silhouetted against dark evergreen pines and hemlocks. In the fields surrounding the Bells’ house, dried-up cornstalks clattered like skeleton bones in the wind. Though it was not snowing, the early morning wind was kicking up snow crystals from the ground and they rattled cheerlessly against the glass panes of the homes they passed. Anger burned, blazing-hot, rendering her immune to the cold.
Where was Joshua? Her heart sank with still no news from him. She prayed he was safe.
She clenched and unclenched her hands, recalling the terrible events befalling the frontier over the recent months. Shocking news had come of the fall of Fort Benkins and Fort Halsey. Men cut to pieces in the most shocking manner. Men had holes from spears in their sides, their arms cut to pieces, tomahawked, scalped, and their throats cut. Two hundred and twenty-seven scalps had been taken, a handsome incentive of ten pounds for every scalp paid by the British. A few lucky women, now widowed, had escaped, and suffered terrible privations, fleeing through the unforgiving wilderness with their children.
By mid-September Caughmawaga destroyed the German Flats. Sixty-three homes and fifty-seven barns were burned to the ground. Grain and fodder, over a thousand horses, cattle, sheep and hogs were taken. Three people were killed. Too close.
If the rumors were true, with War Chiefs Onontio and Thayendanegea on the move, the entire area might flow red with blood. The enormity of reality piled on top of her like a million invisible blankets, suffocating her under the weight.
Concern grew in Blackberry Valley. But Allerton, the buffoon, remained unmoved. Juliet prayed his foolishness wouldn’t be their demise. She shuddered as hideous images flared through her mind.
Grace smiled when they entered the Powers’ home, and then took their wraps. “They are in the dining room having breakfast, but you will have to wait until they are done. The Powers’ do not like their meals disturbed.”
Boots dripping snow, Juliet marched into the dining room with Caroline on her heels.
The men stood. Charity sneered. Comfort harrumphed. Cornelia and Chastity tittered between one another.
Bethany narrowed her eyes on Grace and said, “How many times have I told you not to disturb us during meals. There will be repercussions.”
“It isn’t Grace’s fault,” said Juliet. “I chose to interrupt.”
Charles Powers jerked his tight waistcoat over his girth and with stentorian imperiousness, intoned, “What do we owe the honor, Miss Farrow and Mrs. Bell?”
“We’ve come to complain concerning the lack of protection there is for Blackberry Valley,” said Juliet, impatient with the forced smiles and sneering glances sent her way.
The men took their seats again.
Colonel Ichabod Allerton held up his glass in a toast. The wine was deep red and the glow from the candles reflected off the glass. “To the continued safety of Blackberry Valley.”
“Hear! Hear!” murmured an echo of followers and they drank the toast with obvious pleasure.
Allerton set the glass down on the polished oak table and delicately brushed at his lips with the knuckle of his index finger. “I’m available to hear complaints from the local citizenry, especially one so lovely as you, Miss Farrow.”
A vein pulsed in Juliet’s neck. Her spine went ramrod straight.You patronizing fool.“Not good enough, especially with you camped in luxury. Don’t you feel any responsibility to those who are vulnerable and under your protection?”
