The Canadian Highland

by Ken Busato

After helping Mama clean up after dinner, I went for a walk along the river to clear my head. Finding a suitable spot far enough away from the chatter of the camp, I laid down on the sand to watch the stars in the sky. The moon was full, and it was not too difficult to see the shape of the land along the horizon.

  Suddenly I heard a familiar voice coming from behind me. “Am I disturbing you Molly?” asked George as he came close.

  “No George,” I replied. “All I want is to get away from everyone for a while and just enjoy the quiet.”

  “Would you like me to leave and go back to camp?” he asked with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

  “No, of course not. There is a space for you right here beside me.”

  Settling down in the grass, I could feel the warmth of his body next to mine. I was overcome by a desire to kiss him where he lay. I could sense he shared the same feelings, for as soon as he lay down beside me, I could feel his hand searching for my own.

  “The sky seems so peaceful tonight George,” I said quietly as I gave his hand a playful squeeze.

  “I hope we can have this calm weather for a while. When the thunderstorms hit these parts, they can be as bad as what we felt when we crossed the ocean.”

  My mind drifted back to how awful that night was, most likely one of the worst nights of the whole trip. The constant movement of the boat was bad enough, and the death of poor Isabella McIntyre was terrible. What sadness her widowed husband must carry in his heart.

  “Are we going to find peace here George?” I asked as I moved my body closer to his.

  “Ah Molly, I hope so, and not simply for my own sake. My wish is to help you and your family and hopefully earn my own living so I can provide.”

  “Provide for what?”

  “A family of my own of course.” George turned his body so that our faces were mere inches apart. Through the darkness, I could make out the tenderness in his eyes and the rugged handsomeness of his appearance. As he moved to kiss me, I closed my eyes and returned his embrace with equal feeling.

  “So what is this?” a familiar voice spoke as it moved towards us. “My niece and the good Mr. Cooper? Perhaps not so good by what I see!”

  “Uncle Willie,” I stammered as I jumped up from off the ground, “It’s not what it appears to be at all.”

  “And what exactly should it appear to be?” he asked, slurring his speech in the process. I knew he had been drinking, and I hoped his mood was less confrontational than normal.

  “Your niece and I have had feelings for a while now,” George started. “We have kept it from everyone so as not to disrupt your family from the more important purpose of making it safely to Red River.”

  “And now that we are here, you think you can just do as you damn well please? We Frasers have more respect for our kin than you can possibly know. You back off from Molly right now, or by God I will take it out on you with my fists. It seems to me a good scrap might be just what this Fraser needs to make this land feel more like home.”

  By now, I was completely enraged by my drunken uncle. “You will not lay a hand on George,” I screamed, “Or by everything I hold dear you will hear from my fists.” Both George and Willie seemed to be struck dumb. “I’ve put up with a lot on this trip, and like Mama, I have suffered in silence for far too long.” I was just getting started, but as soon as I opened my mouth again, I was silenced by a noise that cut through the night. We could all hear a musket shot in the distance and the gallop of horses fast approaching.

  “What is that?” I yelled, forgetting for a moment what I was so mad about.

  “What the hell do we have here?” my uncle chimed in. “Cooper, you and I can take up this argument later, but now it looks like we’ll have to say hello to some visitors.”

  With the full moon, the night was clear enough to see five riders approaching from the distance. They were in a line as they rode towards us. Two of them had only one hand on the reins, the other hand lifting a large object over the head, most likely a musket. Frightened, I immediately moved behind George, who also made sure to put himself in harm’s way.

  We were a good distance from the main camp. The fire that was burning there did not look large at all. I looked at George and my uncle, thinking we should run to the safety of that fire, but before I could speak the men were upon us. Two of them slowed down to confront us, while the others made their way to MacDonnell and the rest of the settlers.

  I could not quite believe what I was looking at. These men were something I had never seen before. They were dressed in a very strange way, most likely in the fashion of this country. At York Factory, the natives were mostly wrapped in fur, which eventually was something we did as well, but these men were hardly dressed at all. The only item slung across their chest was a pouch, and their pants were made of loose, tanned animal skin. Yet, it was their face I found most distressing. They had markings covering their cheeks; even in the dark I could tell that streaks of white, blue, and red covered their face, and on their heads were arranged a number of feathers. Giving the reins to his companion, the man closest to us dismounted. Holding his musket in front of him with both hands, he started to yell at us violently.

  “Etranger, etranger, etranger!” He kept repeating this strange word while holding his gun high and shaking it in the air.

  “Now hold on,” my uncle yelled, as he raised both hands in front of him to show we were not armed, and not dangerous. “We’ve just made it to this land only a little time ago, and no man, woman, or child among us is looking for any kind of trouble.”

  “Vous êtes pas les bienvenus! Aller maintenant!” the man yelled as he continued to walk slowly towards us with his gun stretched out in front of him.

  “They are Metis,” George whispered to me.

  “What are they saying?” I whispered back.

  “I don’t know exactly, but I’m sure it’s not to say hello.”

  “Listen,” my uncle insisted. “We are not here to cause you any trouble, but if you think we are going to just leave because you are waving a gun in the air, then you are going to have to think again.” This time, it was my uncle, full of alcohol and confidence, who was moving towards the Metis. “I’ve seen men like you before, all high and mighty with a gun in your hand. But do you have what it truly takes to point that thing at me and pull the trigger?”

  “Uncle, you don’t know what he is capable of,” I pleaded.

  “Mind your own Molly. George,” my uncle commanded not looking back at us, “Make sure she does not get hurt if this man decides to do something foolish. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes Willie,” George replied.

  “Good then. Now where was I? Ah yes, it just don’t seem like a fair fight, the two of you with your muskets against me.”

  “Me too,” demanded George, not wanting to be left out.

  “Stay out of this one George. You have more important things to take care of.” My uncle took a deep breath and continued to challenge the Metis. “That paint on your face doesn’t frighten me one bit. As far as I see it, you are probably trying to hide something with all that paint and all of those feathers. Maybe it’s your fear.”

  Sensing my uncle was someone this native could not bully so easily, he started to take a step back towards his companion.

  “Vous êtes pas les bienvenus! Aller maintenant!” he shouted again. These words were meant to be menacing, but they did not have the desired effect. Taking his eyes off my uncle for a split second, the Metis turned around to look at his companion. That was all my uncle needed to lunge forward and tackle him to the ground.

  Through the darkness, you could hear the heavy breathing of a tussle as both men tried to lay claim to the gun. The second Metis jumped off his horse, only to be met by George who left my side. Although young, George had the strength of ten grown men as he wrestled the second man to the ground and start to strike blows to his face and chest.

  My uncle pulled the
gun from his assailant’s hands and threw it away. He didn’t need the musket: he would say hello using his fists only. The gun fell a few feet away from me, and Willie had his man pinned to the ground.

  I quickly picked up the gun lying at my feet. I don’t know if it was loaded, but at that moment, I didn’t care to find out. Pointing it in the air, I pulled the trigger. It let out a loud shot that startled me and everyone else. There were yells in the distance as some of the settlers came running towards us.

  “Get up all of you,” I commanded.

  Taken by surprise, everyone simply stopped fighting and got up where they stood. Not to be completely outdone, my uncle punched his victim in the stomach once more.

  Papa came running up to me, along with Doctor Edwards and Mr. Docherty. “Molly,” Papa pleaded, “Give me the gun. Willie, George, let go of those strangers and come back to camp with us immediately.”

  I dutifully obeyed Papa and gave him the smoking musket still in my hands. There were so many things in the wilderness I had no idea I could do. Shooting a gun was certainly one of them.

  “Quitter maintenant!” Doctor Edwards ordered, as he took the gun from Papa and threw it back to the man George had attacked with such energy. We could hear the horses of the other three Metis returning. Not waiting for their companions, the other three rode past as quickly as they had come. It did not take too long for the other two to join their companions and escape back to Fort Gibraltar.

  “Miss. Fraser continues to surprise,” Doctor Edwards said as we slowly made our way back to camp. “I have yet to encounter a woman who can do things normally set out for a man. It is truly a remarkable thing.”

  Thankfully, it was dark enough so no one could see how red my cheeks were by the doctor’s compliment.

  “Mr. MacDonell did not want to upset any of you, but this kind of reception was expected.”

  “Is this how we are going to be treated every day?” Papa angrily asked.

  “These men were sent by the North Western fur traders from Fort Gibraltar to give us a little scare. We’ve seen this before. Not everyone is happy with this little plan as you well know. Yet, from what I can see, we gave them a good scare instead.”

  “I did not come all this way to be forced back by a few ugly buggers wearing feathers and face paint,” Uncle Willie drunkenly responded.

  “Ah William,” Doctor Edwards admiringly said, “Is there nothing you fear in this world?”

  Thinking about this for a moment, Willie responded “Only an empty bottle!”

  “Excellent answer! Let’s make sure you receive a full one on return to camp. No doubt your warm welcome of the natives of this country has given you quite a thirst?”

  “I’m sure I’ll be thirsty in this land a lot.”

  Back at camp, we could see all of the settlers huddled around Governor MacDonell. Standing on a boulder above everyone, he was trying to answer all of the questions quickly coming at him.

  “I thought this land belonged to Lord Selkirk?” a loud voice angrily asked.

  “Correct,” MacDonell impatiently replied. “A huge tract of land has been given to us for the purposes of settlement. You all are aware of this, so it is pointless to ask about it.”

  “But what of these Metis?” Mr. Docherty yelled as we approached the others. “Are they here to harass us as we try to establish our homes? Will we not find peace in this land?”

  “Peace is coming Doherty! We have only just arrived here, and already our presence is being felt. The fur traders know there is nothing they can do, so instead they force a few natives on us to make us afraid. Come now everyone. Do you think for one minute I or anyone of us present here will cower in fear from this tactic of the Nor’Westers? Think of all we have accomplished together over these many months. I for one will not let a small band of Metis ruin the sense of accomplishment, of travelling so far and enduring such hardship. Take a rest, my weary Scots and Irish! Do not be alarmed by this brash reception.”

  While he was giving his little speech, I moved in close to Mama who immediately put Calum down to give me a hug.

  “Child,” she whispered, “What happened out there? We heard a gunshot and your Papa went running like the wind.”

  “Willie and George were fighting two of the Metis who confronted us,” I responded. “The gun came to me, and something made me fire.”

  “My God,” Mama squeaked. “What would make you want to do something like that?”

  “Mama,” I said calmly, looking her straight in the eye. “I think we need to start acting differently here. MacDonell wants a new Highland, but I’m starting to think if we are in Canada, then Canadian we have to become. I know you think the same way. We are both Fraser women after all? I swear to you now, if anyone I love is being threatened, then I will come to their defence, even if it means using the point of a blade or the barrel of a gun.”

  Mama took my head and gently placed it in her hands. By the light of the fire burning close by, I could see the small stream of tears gliding down her cheeks. She did not say anything, nor was it necessary for her to speak. Her daughter is growing up too fast on this adventure, and although she is clearly happy at the woman I have become, she still worries. I have done things I did not know I was capable of, said things no woman should be heard speaking. Yet in this land, these things seem right. This is a new life, and new rules need to be written. Tears of joy possibly, but also tears of sadness for the challenges that lay ahead and what I might do to meet them.

  “Let’s go to sleep,” I said softly, taking Mama’s hand from under my cheek and directing her to our shelter. She called out to Calum who took her other hand and dutifully followed us.

  “This has been a most eventful day,” she said as we lay down together to go to sleep.

  “The first of many I suspect,” I replied as I closed my eyes and dreamt about the kiss I shared with George. I could not seem to take the smile off my face as I quietly fell asleep.