A great uproar was unleashed in the room. From every corner, the men protested. “We canna allow it!”
Holding up his hands again, Arran was able to get the men to quiet once more. “We have no choice. Soon, they will outnumber us. I dinna want to see another man die a senseless death. It isna worth the sacrifice.”
“How can ye even speak such vile things?” One of the men stood and stared at Arran. “Ye have poured yer blood and sweat upon this land longer than the rest of us. And ye’ll just give up?”
Arran was tired and weary. He’d never known such exhaustion in his life. All he wanted was for it to end. “I willna ever forget watching my friends and neighbors be slaughtered in front of my eyes at Seven Oaks.” He swallowed the emotions clogging his throat. He could not give in to them, especially here, in front of these men. “As governor of Assiniboia, I canna allow anyone else to die for this settlement. We will surrender to Grant in the morning and remove to Jack River House. From there, each man and woman will have the liberty to go where they please.”
“Where will we go?” asked an Orkney man. “I have no homeland to return to.”
“There are some who have gone southeast into America,” Arran said. “Others have gone to lower Canada.”
“Lord Selkirk promised us land,” said another. “I will not leave Rupert’s Land until I hear from Selkirk.”
Several sounded their agreement.
Arran nodded. “Then you may wait at Jack River House until Lord Selkirk makes his wishes known.”
“We will be back,” said a Highlander who put his arm around his teenage son. “This is our home now. We may remove to Jack River House, but we’ll be back.”
There were nods all around. Arran admired their dedication—had felt it himself time after time—but today had changed everything. Eleanor and Miriam were now his priority.
“In the morning, I will return to Frog Plain and surrender the fort to Cuthbert Grant.”
There were still those in disagreement, but they were fewer and less intense.
Arran hated what he would have to say next, because he knew it would break the spirit of many of them. “Grant’s other stipulation is that we leave with only the clothing on our backs, and whatever personal items we can carry.”
“We must forfeit our animals?” the Orkney man asked.
“And our weapons?” said the Irishman.
“Aye.” Arran’s voice was grave. “Everything must stay.”
Another outcry filled the room, this one louder and more passionate than before. For several minutes, Arran let them scream and yell at him, but he could do nothing. It was Grant’s stipulation—not his own.
“If we want to leave with our lives, and the lives of our wives and children, we have no choice,” Arran said. “I ken you’re angry—I’m angry, too—but nothing is as important as the lives of those we love. I canna watch anyone else die.” His friends’ deaths would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. He had been unable to save them—he couldn’t let that happen again.
The men railed against him.
James finally stood, lifting his hands to quiet the room.
“Finally, a voice of reason,” one of the voyageurs said.
Arran’s back tightened and he prepared himself from an onslaught by his friend. He had watched James’s response toArran’s surrender in front of Grant. James would be ashamed of Arran’s fear and willingness to give up the fort.
“I have been at Fort Douglas longer than Arran or the rest of you.” James crossed his arms, his graying beard resting on his sleeves. “MacLean may be the governor of Assiniboia, with authority over the settlement, but I’m the chief factor for the Hudson’s Bay Company post, and I have authority over this fort.”
A hush fell over the room and Arran clenched his jaw. In all these years, he had never thought that he and his friend would come down on two different sides. They had always been a team—of the same mind. Losing James’s friendship would be just as detrimental as losing everyone else.
James turned and met Arran’s hard gaze. “I have always respected you, Arran. I stood by your side time after time, defending this fort with my very life. But today—” James stopped and worked his jaw back and forth for a second before he continued. “I saw what it truly meant to defend this place with a life—twenty-three to be exact—and I can say I never want to see it again.”
Arran’s pulse picked up speed as James walked to his side and then turned to face the others.
“I will surrender this fort,” James said, “and everything within, if it means we all live.”
No one said a word as they stared at Arran and James, disgust and betrayal in some of their eyes.
“What do we need to do?” Old John asked.
