Governor Semple was hunched over in the lead canoe, but at the call of arrival, he straightened and looked toward the banks of the river. The large fort sat on the plains with the Hudson’s Bay Company flag flying proud in the wind. It had been built three years earlier when the first settlers had arrived in Red River Valley. Each winter, the colonists had made improvements on the dozens of buildings within. They would spend about six months in the fort, if the spring came as expected in April, though it could arrive as early as March or as late as May. There was no way of knowing.
Thirty minutes later, the cold and weary travelers stepped out of their canoes and trudged up the banks of the river one last time, met by the voyageurs who inhabited the fort throughout the winter. For many of them, it meant settling into a home for the first time in almost five months.
Fort Daer was similar to Fort Douglas in that it had a commodious governor’s house, a large main hall, a trading post, and a barn. But there were other small cabins within and without the stockade, built for the settlers. There would be two or three families to each home. If the weather was mild, they might build a few more from trees cut along the riverbanks.
While Arran saw to everyone’s living arrangements, Governor Semple, Reverend West, and Eleanor entered the governor’s house with Nicolette and Miriam in tow.
Eleanor had carried the baby in her sling, under her coat, all throughout the journey to Fort Daer, only handing her over to Nicolette when she had stepped from the canoe. How Eleanor fed the child, or saw to her other needs, Arran wasn’t sure. He couldn’t imagine how much more difficult the journey would be with a bairn in tow. He admired her dedication to the smallchild, though there were few women who would have stepped forward as Eleanor had to care for a baby who was not a relation. It was yet another reason he admired her, though he saw the exhaustion it had caused her in the lines around her mouth and the dark circles under her eyes.
He hoped she was not becoming sick.
“MacLean,” Semple called out to Arran before walking into his house. “We’ll expect you to bunk with us again. Be sure to join us for supper.”
Arran nodded, then returned to the task at hand. Several exhausted Kildonians looked from Arran to each other, their eyebrows raised with accusation. They did not have to speak for him to know what they were thinking. He was not one of them—one of the British high-and-mighty who had come to save the colony. He hadn’t considered it at first, but over the past week, he had witnessed enough, and overheard enough, to know what they thought of the governor, minister, and teacher. Not only were they the first British people to attempt colonizing the Red River Valley, but they lived apart from the Scotsmen in a house four times the size of the cabins ten or twelve people would be forced to share.
Governor Semple and Reverend West served purposes that were necessary to the colonists. Eleanor did not.
The last thing this colony needed was to be divided from within. Arran could have quartered with his fellow Scotsmen, but it would only encourage the division. Besides, he was the deputy-governor, and it was his right and responsibility to bridge the gap. He needed to be near the governor to help oversee the colony, especially since Semple was just as new to the Red River Valley as the others. But with each passing day, the divide and prejudice would only grow stronger if Arran didn’t address it soon.
It was several hours before he was able to join Eleanor and the others in the governor’s house. When he did, he brought with him Sean Campbell, the chief factor of the Hudson’s Bay Company post at Fort Daer. Sean oversaw the voyageurs who wintered in the fort, as well as the trading with the local Indians.
“Ah, Mr. MacLean.” Governor Semple was just about to take a seat at the dinner table. “We were hoping you would join us.”
Arran stepped forward with Sean beside him. The man was about Arran’s age and had grown up in the fur trade. His father had been a chief factor and his mother an Indian country wife. When Sean was old enough, his father had sent him to Montreal to be educated and Sean had returned to the interior to become a clerk, quickly working his way up to managing his own post. “I’d like you to meet Sean Campbell, chief factor here at Fort Daer.”
Sean’s Indian ancestry was evident in his high cheekbones and dark coloring. He was a quiet, stoic man who kept to himself. Arran often struggled to read the man, and though they’d spent countless hours in each other’s company over the past few winters, he did not know where Sean stood on political, religious, or social matters. But when he spoke, he said exactly what was on his mind, a trait Arran both appreciated and abhorred.
“Welcome to my table, Mr. Campbell,” Governor Semple said. “It’s an honor to meet you.” Semple would eventually need to travel to most of the posts under his authority. He had already spoken to Arran about several trips he planned to take over the winter months. “And may I present our minister and our teacher, Reverend William West and Miss Eleanor Brooke,” Semple said to Sean.
Sean shook West’s hand and then he bowed before Eleanor. His gaze lingered on her. “Your beauty precedes you, Miss Brooke. I had heard about you even before you arrived. I dinna believe the reports, but I see I was wrong.”
Eleanor’s cheeks colored and she offered a gracious smile. “Thank you, Mr. Campbell.”
“Shall we eat?” Arran asked rather abruptly.
“Yes, of course,” Semple said. “Please have a seat.”
There was rubbaboo, fresh biscuits, and ale. It wasn’t a grand meal, but it was warm and filling, especially after a long day of travel. Arran nodded his thanks to Nicolette, who hid her shy smile behind her hand. The baby was in a wicker basket near Nicolette, cooing and babbling as she played with a dried gourd that rattled as she shook it.
The governor’s house at Fort Daer was half the size of the one at Fort Douglas, though still sizable. The main room had a fireplace, a cupboard, and a table with six chairs. There were two bedrooms on the first level and a large, open room under the eaves in the attic. Arran assumed the governor would take one bedroom and use it as his office, while Eleanor, Nicolette, and Miriam would take the other, smaller bedroom. Arran and West would share the room under the eaves. It wouldn’t be ideal, but it would be more comfortable than the smaller, tighter cabins the colonists would share.
“How has trading been at Fort Daer?” Semple asked Sean as they began to eat.
“’Tis still early,” Sean said, scooping a spoonful of rubbaboo out of his bowl. “The furs are thicker than usual, suggesting a long, cold winter.” Though he spoke to Semple, his gaze remained on Eleanor.
She was so unlike any other woman in these parts, Arran didn’t blame Sean for the interest. Her fashionable gown was tailormade for her slender body, and her dark hair, which appeared to be refreshed after their journey, was in perfect order, with gentle tendrils framing her face. She looked as if she was prepared for an evening meal at St. Mary’s Isle Priory with Lord and Lady Selkirk, and not a humble meal in a far-off furpost. The fact that she had traveled so far, under such difficult conditions, and still maintained her composure, impressed Arran more than it should.
Though she was out of place, she didn’t show any discomfort. And it made Arran think about his own time at St. Mary’s Isle, when she had been in her element, and he had been the one out of place. He was not a nobleman, or even a man of any wealth or status in the world. Yet, not once had Eleanor made him feel like an outsider. From the start, he had been welcomed into her world with utmost respect and admiration.
Yet, he had done nothing to ease her transition into his world. On the contrary, he’d made her feel like an unwelcome outsider. Guilt burned in his gut and he swallowed the shame he felt at the revelation. Her words from the night before they left Fort Douglas returned with startling clarity. “Please do not discredit me now, before I’ve even had a chance to prove myself to you.”
As Sean and Semple discussed business matters, Eleanor met Arran’s gaze across the table. The undivided attention she gave him made every muscle in his body tighten with awareness.
William glanced between Eleanor and Arran, his thoughts and feelings inscrutable. Arran had noticed William’s increasing attention toward Eleanor and watched as he leaned a little closer to her now, as if staking an unspoken claim.
“Miss Brooke,” Sean said as he turned his focus to the lady at the table. “What would make you give up civilization to come to a place like this?”
His blunt question hung in the air as everyone turned to Eleanor for an answer.
