by Ken Busato
It was at dinner on the 19th that the bell sounded for us to retreat behind the walls of Fort Douglas. I quickly grabbed Calum’s hand as we ran for protection. The little fires used to cook dinner were left behind as we hurriedly made our way to the safety of our fort. I could barely see what was coming in the distance, but I knew whatever it was, it was probably very large and dangerous.
My first concern was the family. Close beside me were Mama and Liam, although he was tugging at her, trying to pull free from her grasp. He wanted to turn around, he wanted to fight like the other men, but Mama would have none of it. I heard her scold him angrily, and for a moment it appeared she would hit him if he didn’t do what she asked.
Papa and Willie were back near our tent, taking a final look with some of the other men. A last look was made to round up any left behind.
Inside the fort was chaos. Women were crying and little children were screaming. For those settlers new to this land, this was probably something they had yet to see. I have been in this land a long time, and the threat of danger still brings a chill to my heart. But unlike many of the women and children who wanted to hide, I wanted to climb a ladder to see what was going on.
Leaving the armoury was Governor Semple, followed by around twenty men. George was with them. My heart sank and a flood of tears rushed from my eyes. As the small party stormed past, George looked at me, but just as quickly he turned his gaze away.
At the main entry to the fort, Semple and his men stopped for a moment to gather themselves. By this time, Papa, Uncle Willie, and the other men were coming to the fort after checking one final time for any settlers left behind. I knew what was about to happen even before Semple pointed at Willie to join him. Papa turned to his brother, yet no amount of convincing could change his mind. Willie was handed a musket and a pouch. Among all the craziness of the moment, I witnessed the tender embrace of two brothers, my uncle and father. It looked as if Papa was saying goodbye, and this caused another flood of tears to well up inside and slide down my cheeks.
“Let’s go men,” I heard Semple order as they left the shelter of the fort for the openness of the plain. Papa walked towards us while the gates were shut.
“Where are they going?” I demanded.
“Metis are coming,” Papa replied. “They go to meet them south near Seven Oaks.”
“How many of them are there?”
“Molly, now is not the time to concern yourself with such things. Tend to your brothers, make sure they are safe.”
“Damn it Papa,” I screamed, unaware of how loud I actually was. “Uncle Willie and George are out there. I need to know they’ll be safe. Don’t tell me to find some place to hide with women and children. I’ll have none of it.”
I heard Papa scream my name as I tore away from him, desperate to find a vantage point somewhere in the fort to see what was going on. Almost everyone charged with defending the fort were now with Governor Semple, so it was an easy matter to find a ladder to get a distant view. Warily, I climbed up to the top of the wall to gain a vantage point. Although shortly after the dinner hour, there was still more than enough sunlight. Far off in the distance, there were clouds of dust and sand low to the horizon. This is where Semple was leading the men.
“Molly,” Papa yelled up from down on the ground. “You don’t want to be up there right now. I pray nothing happens, but you don’t want to see it if something does.”
“Papa, I can’t just sit around and wait for George and Willie to come back. I’m not leaving here. Climb up that other ladder and stand beside me.”
“Stubborn girl,” Papa exclaimed, as he went to fetch another ladder to climb up and stand beside me.
Off in the distance, the clouds of dust and sand were clearing. Squinting my eyes, I could see many men, all of them on horseback, racing towards us. Semple, Willie, George, and the rest were on foot. What raced towards them looked large, maybe fifty to sixty men. The Metis were dressed in blue, with what looked to be red sashes tied around their necks. They were armed with any kind of weapon you could imagine: muskets, pistols, clubs, arrows… They were expert riders, men on horseback about to confront a smaller company of men on foot. If a fight broke out, our men would not stand a chance.
“This looks awful,” Papa declared as he climbed up to stand beside me. “This might be revenge for the destruction of Fort Gibraltar.”
“You don’t know that,” I desperately responded, wanting to believe the lies that were coming out of my mouth. “Semple is a reasonable man. He’ll talk to them peacefully.”
“Semple might be reasonable, but Cuthbert Grant is not. And if his men are looking for a fight, there’s not too much can be done to stop them.”
“What are they doing?” I cried, pointing off in the distance. Fighters started to turn in opposite directions. The stamping of hooves was getting louder as dirt and grass spat from underneath the Metis horses.
“I don’t have a spy glass,” Papa said anxiously, “But it looks like the Metis are breaking off into two groups. They mean to surround the men.”
“Why did Willie have to go?” I pleaded. “You had the chance to keep him here, safe behind the walls!”
“Your uncle would not stay out of this fight, no matter what I said. The damn fool better not let his emotions get the best of him.”
Semple ordered his soldiers to stand in a long line. They all stood their ground waiting for the next move made by the intruders. Two of the Metis dismounted from their horses and walked over to where Governor Semple proudly stood. “It seems like a couple of them mean to have a word with the Governor,” Papa said. “Maybe it’s just a show of force to scare us and nothing more. No one wants bloodshed if they don’t have to.”
“Molly,” Mama harshly whispered from right below me. “Get down from that ladder and tend to your brothers. Leave it alone.”
“I can’t Mama…”
“Yes you can Molly. You’ve seen much in your short life already. Heaven knows too much.”
Suddenly, a shot like a giant clap of thunder rang out in the distance. I screamed as I saw Governor Semple fall to his knees. I couldn’t turn away now, no matter what Mama said. “What’s happened?” I shrieked.
“Governor Semple has been shot,” Papa coldly stated, as if knowing all along it would happen. “He’s been shot in the leg.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. From below, Mama had climbed up and was pulling me to come down, but I held tight to the ladder as my gaze held firm to the scene being played in front of me. There was a black cloud of smoke from where the governor was shot, hovering over him like death itself. I took my hand and placed it over my mouth, covering my screams.
One of the Metis dismounted, running quickly to where the governor stooped. From the way he was waving his hands, it looked as if he meant to protect the governor from harm, yet before this lone man could reach Semple, another shot was fired, directly at his chest. Although I was far back, I could plainly see how that second shot sent Semple staggering back, only to land with a dull thud to the ground as a lifeless corpse.
“Close your eyes Molly, for God’s sake,” Papa pleaded. “You can’t see this.”
I didn’t listen to Papa’s words. Once the governor fell, the Metis began to shoot at our men, over and over. I could barely see for the smoke. The cries and screams of men were mixed with the savage sounds of muskets and pistols. From behind me, women and children were running and shrieking, while off in the distance two of the men I love were fighting for their lives. I was surrounded. My chest started to tighten, my pulse racing faster and faster. I felt my body start to go limp as Papa desperately reached out for my hand. I didn’t reach back. Mama tried to soften the blow as I fell unconscious to the ground…
…I awoke with a start. Mama was hovering over top of me, concern covering her face. She was wiping the sweat off my forehead with a wet rag. I tried to move, but I whimpered from a sharp pain creepi
ng up my right leg. It took me a moment or two to realize what was happening.
“What?” I started.
“Quiet child, you’ll be fine,” Mama responded, although I could tell she was keeping something important from me. “I told you not to go up there. I told you not to look. You are the most stubborn Fraser I have ever known.” Just then she started to burst out in uncontrollable crying.
“What’s wrong?” I begged her to tell me. “Mama, you have to tell me what happened. Is George alright? Is Willie alright? You have to tell me!!!”
Papa, close by, knelt down beside Mama when he saw I had awoken. “Oh Molly,” he cried, “I thought for a minute we might lose you. Thankfully your brother was there to help soften the blow as the ground came up to meet you.” He carefully pulled me close to him. When I did not cry out in pain, he started to squeeze me even harder.
“Papa,” I pushed him away so I could look directly into his eyes. “You have to tell me what’s happened. Please!”
“Molly, George I think is going to be alright. The Metis were brutal, and many of our men are still out there, either dead or dying. Willie made it back too, but not before a bullet pierced him in the back.”
“Where are they?” I demanded. “I can’t sit here when I’m needed.” Pushing against both my parents, I pulled myself up to my feet only to stumble from the pain coursing up my right leg. I looked down to see my ankle swollen and shaded an awful black and blue. “I can deal with this,” I said as I bit my lip to help with the pain. “We’ve got to go see Uncle Willie and George.”
My parents did not stop me. Placing my arm around Papa’s shoulder, he led me to the governor’s quarters, now turned into a shelter for the wounded. I entered the shelter, and what I saw there almost made me pass out again. Of the twenty men that went to defend our fort, only three had returned. There was George with a sad looking bandage around his right leg, John Pritchard, a Bayman who did not appear to be injured in the slightest, and Uncle Willie, who but for his faint breathing almost looked like a corpse.
“Molly,” George exclaimed upon seeing me, “I thought I might never look upon you again.”
“Oh George,” I cried as I pulled away from Papa and limped over to where he sat. “Oh George, I thought I may have lost you for sure.” I bent down on one leg and fell into his arms. My pulse started racing when I saw the dark shade of red on the bandage wrapped around his leg.
“If not for Willie, I would be lying with the rest of the dead out on the plains…Ahhh, the pain is almost more than I can bear. I may need to have some whiskey to help dull this feeling.”
“Have you been shot?” I asked hurriedly.
“A blow to the leg Molly”, George replied, trying to talk through what must be sure torture. “The flesh has been pierced, and I don’t know how bad it is. There’s no doctor to help. The only one of us who had some experience now lies dead upon the field.”
“You will get better. I will make sure no harm comes to you.”
“Help me lie down Molly. I may pass out if I sit up too much longer.”
“What happened out there George?” I quietly asked as Papa and I helped him down. He groaned as we carefully placed him on a soiled mat on the ground.
“It was all hell and some,” John Pritchard interrupted. “Those bastard Metis were here for blood, and by God they got their share. So many men felled for no damn reason at all- Sinclair, Bruin, McKay, Heden, Holte, Captain Rodgers- once I saw it was going to be a slaughter, I got the hell away as fast as I could.”
I looked at George lying on the ground. Although awake, his eyes were closed and his jaw clenched as he tried to deal with the pain of a bullet in his leg. “George, is there anything we can get for you to help ease the pain.”
“I just need to rest. Tend to your uncle. He half dragged me here, but just before the gates of the fort, he got shot. If not for the quick action of your father who pulled us both in, we would still be out there at the mercy of the Metis.”
I quickly glanced at Papa who wasn’t even listening. His thoughts were clearly wrapped up in his brother’s condition. Willie was losing a lot of blood, there was a pool of it underneath the cot where he lay, and there was nothing anyone of us could do to help him.
“George?” Papa asked. “Can you talk about it son? Do those Metis warriors out there plan to attack and take us over?”
“I don’t know what their plan is. I don’t think they knew themselves until it was too late. It was a Metis called Boucher who started it all, yelling at the governor ‘What do you want? What do you want?’ The governor tried to respond, but before he could utter a word, he was shot in the leg. That was all it took for all of the Metis to start firing. The governor fell with another bullet to the chest, and soon after everyone else in our party were shot except for the three of us who made it back. It was hopeless. I pulled at Willie and dragged him with me towards the fort. Willie might be hot headed, but even he knows when the odds are stacked against him!”
“It was not even twenty paces when I felt a stab of pain creeping up from my right leg. I knew I was shot, but I willed myself to keep moving. But the pain was too much, and I collapsed. It was Willie Fraser who pulled me from the ground and practically carried me the rest of the distance. Thank God the Metis did not give chase, perhaps afraid of cannon fire if they got too close. It was when we were within a stone’s throw from the entrance he placed me on the ground. A shot rang out, hitting him in the back.”
“And that’s when Papa ran out to save you both?”
“If not for your father, I don’t know what might have happened. Your uncle saved my life!”
“Oh Uncle William,” I lamented. “Such bravery.”
“Is my niece Molly talking?” Uncle Willie quietly asked from his bed, as if roused from a dream. “Come here and give us a kiss will you. You’ve turned into a fine young lady now haven’t you?”
I turned my attention from George to my uncle. Holding on to both Papa and Mama, the three of us quietly turned to where he lay. His breathing was laboured, and I noticed the sheet on which he lay turn red from the blood oozing from his back. The foul stench coming from him almost made me vomit. As I crept close to press my lips to his cheek, I knew he had little time left.
“Oh uncle,” I cried. “When you get better, I’ll make sure to kick your behind nice and hard. There was no need for you to fight today. Sometimes a rest from the fighting is not a bad thing.”
A little smirk formed on his lips as he softly opened his eyes to tenderly look at me. “Sweet Molly, my little Highland lass, someone had to make sure your good man didn’t get into too much trouble. It’s not an easy thing, getting shot. Someone had to help him back away from all that craziness.”
“You’re a bloody hero Willie,” Papa said to him. “But those men out there, the odds against you…”
“Now, now, John,” Willie responded. “I’ve been itching for this a long time. Those Metis were not going to harm any of you, and by God they haven’t.”
Mama came close and took Willie’s hand in her own. She pulled his hand up to her face and kissed it tenderly. “We love you, old fool.”
“I know,” Willie said as he smiled, closed his eyes, and gave up his life.
Mama placed his hand gently down on the bed. I brought myself up to my feet and stood between my parents. Mama started to cry uncontrollably, and all my father could do was stare sadly at the ground. There my uncle peacefully laid, the end result of great Lord Selkirk’s admirable plan to turn the Canadian West into a new Scottish Highland. This plan has been mired with suffering and death in its wake, and now it has taken one of the greatest men I have ever known.
I am beyond tears, beyond anger. All I know is the time has come to finally leave, if those who did this to us will let us go. I will be the first one to volunteer, to say goodbye to where the two rivers fork. Madness was this scheme from the very beg
inning, and whether because of ignorance or sheer stubbornness, we saw it through, only to have it end tragically. I left everyone, stumbling out of the shelter to a dark prairie sky littered with stars. In the distance, the sounds of gunfire and screams could be heard clearly, but my eye, my mind, was fixed on the stars. Uncle Willie, you might be up there, up in the stars. Perhaps you’re about to meet your maker. Make sure you get your drink, you’ll need your drink, and then take a good look at God and give him a great big kick in the ass from me.