The soldiers had specific instructions and did not need anyone to tell them what to do. All at once, they surrounded the massive fort and put their ladders against the stockade walls. The walls were not terribly high, but they’d be impossible to climb without the aid of the ladders.
When all were in place, the men scaled the ladders, one after the other, and jumped into the stockade.
Arran, James, and D’Orsonnens waited near the riverside gate for one of the soldiers to open it and let them in.
Already, there were half a dozen Nor’westers in custody by the time Arran entered Fort Douglas again. Lights burned from the governor’s house, which was where Arran led James andD’Orsonnens now. He held a musket to his shoulder and wiped the rain from his eyes. With over a dozen soldiers now at his back, Arran pushed open the governor’s door and entered the common room.
Archibald McLeod sat close to the fireplace, a book in hand, while Chait Fraser and another man played a game of chess. A fourth man sat sewing a patch onto a pair of pants.
“What’s the meaning of this?” McLeod rose to his feet, the book falling to the floor. His eyes were wide as he took in Arran and the de Meuron soldiers behind him.
“MacLean,” Chait said.
“We’re here to recover Fort Douglas and send you vermin to York Factory for trial.” Arran nodded at several soldiers, who took the men into custody. “You’ll be removed from here and placed in the main hall for the night. In the morning, you’ll be transported under the guard of a dozen soldiers.”
“You canna do this!” McLeod stared, his mouth open. “This is our fort now.”
“Nay.” Arran shook his head. “This has been, and will forever remain, Lord Selkirk’s colony.”
A soldier grasped McLeod by the arm.
“Wait,” McLeod said. “Allow me to get my things.”
“Nay,” Arran said again. “We will bring them to you.” He motioned for the soldiers to remove McLeod and his men from the governor’s house.
Chait came to a stop in front of Arran, his face in a scowl. “Ye dinna deserve Lady Eleanor.”
“Aye.” Arran nodded. “But she deserves someone better than you.”
Chait didn’t respond as he was pushed out of the governor’s house by D’Orsonnens.
In less than ten minutes, the fort was under Arran’s control once again. It almost seemed too easy after all the trouble they’d endured.
“How does it feel?” James asked once they were alone in the governor’s house.
Arran stood in the room where he’d spent several hours with Eleanor, West, and Semple. He could almost see Miriam pulling herself up to the table, her little legs bobbing with uncertainty. He would love to bring Eleanor and Miriam back here, though it would never be the same without West and Semple. “Good,” Arran said. “Good, but different.”
“Aye. Nothing stays the same.” James put his hand on the back of a chair. “If it hadna been for Selkirk’s army, we wouldna had the power to regain control of the post. I’ll forever be in his debt.”
Arran nodded. If the soldiers hadn’t come, he, James, Archie, Pritchard, Heden, and Burke might be in Montreal, facing the gallows.
“Thank God we need not face the battles of life alone,” James mused. “I’m grateful He places us in communities. There is strength in numbers, is there not?”
“Aye.” Just like in his marriage to Eleanor. Having her as his wife had made him feel stronger and braver. “All these years, I’d thought if Eleanor had been with me, I would have been a weaker man. But the opposite is true.”
“She’s a strong woman.” James nodded. “She’s held her own, even during the darkest days of Assiniboia.”
“My greatest fear was that Assiniboia would destroy her. But it hasn’t.”
“Nay.” James smiled. “I think ‘tis made her stronger.”
“And she’s done it with such grace and elegance.”
“Mayhap God made her for this life.” James smiled. “All this time, you thought to protect her from the colony, when the truthwas, the colony needs her. She might very well be the key needed to solidify this colony and make it flourish and grow.”
Could it be true? She had brought so much joy and life to everyone she’d met. In the darkest days of winter, and while exiled at Jack River House, she’d been light and laughter to the lives of those suffering. She’d taught school, organized entertainments, and mourned with those who mourned. Countless people had told him of her love and devotion to them since his return to the colony. She had given them hope to continue, even when there had been talk of leaving Jack River House.
Optimism sparked in Arran’s heart again. He had no desire to leave Assiniboia. It was his home and his labor of love. Could he and Eleanor make a life here now that they had the added protection of the de Meuron soldiers? Would she want to, after all that had happened?
