"Hang him! Hang him for murder!" Someone else joined in. The crowd of guests buzzed with frenzied excitement. "Kill the red bastard!" came another shout.
Mekollaan tensed his muscles. There beneath the trimmed hedges, he was so close he could have reached out and touched one of the shouting men. But he was no fool. With so many armed men gathered together, he knew any attempt to free Tipaakke now would be suicidal.
"Wait!" A large man spoke up, pushing back at the crowd with a loaded rifle in his hand. "Stand back. We're civilized people, aren't we?" He stood between Tipaakke's drooping figure and the pressing crowd of angry men. "If this man has committed a crime, he will be punished. But first he will stand trial." The man turned to the two gentlemen who held Tipaakke between them. "Load the savage into my wagon and we will take him to Annapolis. There he will face his charges. If he killed the servant Jonathan last year, as Henry said, then he will be hung."
At that moment, several men came around the corner with a pack of dogs. "We got the scent, Henry. We'll find her!" a man in a green coat shouted. "Anyone up for an Injun hunt?" he called tugging on the lines of the baying hounds. "Saddle up!"
Mekollaan began to back out of the brush, slowly on his hands and knees. If he didn't get out of here fast, he would be surrounded. Men were swarming everywhere, saddling horses and carrying lanterns. Confident that Tipaakke was probably safe in the hands of the big man, he knew he had to get back to the village for help. If he was being taken to Annapolis, there would be a way to get him out of the white men's hands before they hung him for a crime he didn't commit.
Getting to his feet, Mekollaan ran as fast as his moccasins would carry him, across the great lawn and into the woods. "There goes another one!" he heard someone shout from behind. "He's getting away! Get the dogs!"
As Mekollaan made his way through the dark forest, he was tempted to leave Katelyn tied to the tree and just leave her behind, but he had promised Tipaakke he would take her back to the village alive.
"What's happened? Where's Fox?" Katelyn's eyes searched Mekollaan's as he cut her from the tree.
"We must hurry. The white men come with dogs." He grabbed her arm roughly. "Fox is being taken to Annapolis. He's been accused of killing that servant your white coward murdered last spring."
Katelyn stumbled behind Mekollaan, trying to block out the eerie sound of the baying dogs. Over her shoulder, she could make out the faint lights of lanterns bobbing as the hunters made their way through the dense forest. "Go," she shouted. "Run, Mekollaan, I will keep up."
Chapter Fifteen
Through the dark forest Katelyn ran, the howl of the bloodhounds sending chills down her spine. "Mekollaan," she cried. "They're gaining on us." Her thin shift caught on a branch and she ripped it free. "I cannot outrun them." She cradled her round belly with her arms, leaping over a fallen log and sidestepping a thorn bush.
Mekollaan fell back, grasping her arm. Behind him he could see the swaying lights and hear the shouts of men as they encouraged the dogs. She was right, the men were moving closer. He could outrun them, but not with her on his arm. There had to be a way out of this! Steering her to the left, he decided to take a chance.
"Why are we changing direction?" Katelyn clung to Hawk's arm, grateful for his support.
"If we can cross the marsh safely, we can lose them." Mekollaan ran easily, trying to guide her through the dense forest.
"The marsh? Tipaakke said I must never go into the marsh; he said it was dangerous; he said . . . "
"Silence. We will lose them in the marsh and then we will back in the direction of the village." He ducked under a branch, forcing her to duck as well. "I must get more men."
"It's the only way?" Katelyn panted. Her side was beginning to ache and her feet smarted from the assault they were taking.
"It is."
"Then I go." She held his arm tightly, finding a strange comfort as they raced through the trees. Though they disliked each other immensely, they were both fighting for the same thing . . . their lives and Fox's.
As Mekollaan ran through the pines that skirted the marsh, he questioned Katelyn's behavior. Instead of running, she should have been fighting him. She should have been screaming and trying to go the other way. She should not have been at his side, forcing herself to move faster. Was there truth in what the white woman said? Could any white woman speak the truth? Had she been held against her will? He stared at her through the semidarkness. She had stripped off her fine dress, her stockings and her shoes. She ran barefoot, the thin gown clinging to her damp body, her unbound hair streaming down her back. What other white woman would have been willing to cross the swamps in the darkness to save the lives of two red men? Had he misjudged his brother's woman?
"Hawk, they're moving closer," Katelyn moaned, trying to catch her breath. "Don't let them catch us! I won't go back." She clung to his arm, her words frantic. "Don't let them take me. Don't let them take my baby."
Mekollaan found himself rubbing the white woman's arm to comfort her as they slowed to a walk. "They will not take you; I gave my brother my word. I will get you back to our village safely. He felt the earth grow soft beneath his feet. "Now stay beside me," he warned.
Katelyn held tightly to Mekollaan as they entered the edge of the marsh. She could smell the salty tang of the bay as they made their way through the reeds. As they waded deeper into the mire, Katelyn began to feel water seeping between her toes. Her feet sank into the soft earth each time she stepped, the black mud rising up her leg with each step.
"Keep moving," Mekollaan ordered. "We will go a little deeper, then we will cut west again. No white man would be fool enough to enter the marsh in the dark of night."
Katelyn listened to the sound of the dogs dying away as the cattails grew taller. Far ahead strange lights blinked, here and there and eerie sounds began to fill her head. "What are those lights?" she murmured.
"The marsh is filled with spirits, good and bad. Do not look, just keep moving. This is a place of great magic, light and dark. It is not a place where we are welcome." His voice was haunting.
Katelyn shivered, clinging to Mekollaan as the light of the moon faded and a macabre whistling and moaning closed in around them. "What are the sounds?" The ill-smelling mud sucked at her feet with each step, threatening to pull her under.
"The old ones say it is spirits calling out, lost souls doomed to walk, caught between our world and the next. Others say it is the mud shifting, sinking." He brushed his hand over his scalplock. "I say it is both."
"How will we get Tipaakke away from them?" She spoke to drive the unnatural sounds from her thoughts.
"They are taking him to Annapolis to stand trial. They will lock them in their jail. My men and I will take him from there." He changed direction, moving toward the forest again. The sound of the white men and their dogs died off until they couldn't be heard.
"I will go, too. I can help." She ran her hands through her hair, pushing it off her neck. She suddenly felt as if she was in a tub of steaming water. The air was thick and hot, hanging heavily over the marsh.
"You will not go. You will stay in Tipaakke's wigwam and wait for him." His face grew hard.
"I will not!" She struggled to pull her foot from the rich, black mud. "I will go with you. He is my life now. My child will have a father." She dropped into halting Algonquian. "He is my heart." She touched her hand to her breast. "I love him."
Mekollaan looked doubtfully at her. He wondered if any white man knew how to love. They were so full of hate and dishonesty. "I do not care. That is between the two of you. He thinks you have betrayed him."
"Betrayed him! Look at me! Does this look like betrayal?" She held out her hands, moisture pooling in her eyes. Her shift was plastered to her body, torn and covered with smudges of drying mud. "I would do this for no other."
Mekollaan nodded, but said nothing, taking her arm to guide her again. She was right. Her innocence was beginning to become apparent. He didn't know what
had happened, but he knew that things were not always as it seemed. And he was a man who could admit when he was wrong. But this was not his concern; it was his brother's. Tipaakke would have to hear the facts and make his judgement.
Katelyn ignored Mekollaan's accusing silence. What did she care what he thought? Once she got to talk to Tipaakke, everything would be all right. He was a fair man; he would listen to her. He would know she hadn't betrayed him. But she would have to go to him, she would have to go to Annapolis. She couldn't stand to have this strife between them. Her heart ached for him; she knew how he must be suffering.
Unexpectedly, Mekollaan cried out. "Hurry girl, I'm sinking."
Katelyn turned, horrified, to see Mekollaan sinking in the silky, black mire. "No," she cried, feeling herself begin to sink. Scrambling, she released his hand. Falling onto her knees, she crawled forward, heaving herself onto more solid ground. Turning back to Mekollaan, she screamed, watching him sink like a stone tossed into a stream. The stinking mud had already reached his waist and was sucking him down as he struggled, trying to swim.
"Get back!" he shouted. "Keep moving. It's everywhere!" He thrashed to keep his head erect as he sunk deeper.
Terrified, Katelyn searched the ground on her hands and knees for a branch. Remembering when Tipaakke had fallen through the ice, she knew he needed something to hold onto, something he could use to pull himself out. Getting to her knees, she snapped several long cattails off at the ground and turned to see the mud oozing over Mekollaan's shoulders.
"Get back I told you!" he shouted in Algonquian.
Undaunted, Katelyn crawled back to the edge of the swallowing earth and held the stiff cattails out to him. "Grab on!"
His arms above his head, Mekollaan labored, stretching to grasp the reeds with his fingertips. Once he gained hold, Katelyn tried desperately to pull him out, but she didn't have the strength. Slowly, he was dragging her in.
"It won't work," he muttered. "Get back to the village. Tell my father what has happened. Send men for Fox." Mekollaan was now fighting to keep his mouth above ground.
Releasing the cattails, Katelyn crawled back and skirted the quagmire until she was beside Hawk. Scrambling to her feet, she trampled on standing cattails until they lay flat in front of him.
With the cattails firmly in the harder soil, Mekollaan was able to pull himself gradually out of the mud. Panting, he lay at Katelyn's feet, unable to speak. Then, slowly, he raised his head and reached out with one muddy hand. "I owe my life to you." His words were solemn. "I will not forget."
Katelyn grasped his hand with her own, the mud that covered them mingling. She knew she had just made a friend.
Together, the two traveled through the night, and by mid-morning, reached the Lenni Lenape village. Exhausted, Katelyn allowed Mekollaan to lead her to Tipaakke's wigwam. Lifting the door flap, he motioned for her to go inside, ignoring his people, who crowded around them. "Go in. Lay down," he said in Algonquian. "I will send Won to care for you." Their eyes met for a moment as a silent thank you passed between them, and then he was gone.
Katelyn stumbled into the wigwam and dropped onto the bare sleeping platform. Though she had rinsed most of the black mud off her body, the smell of the mire clung to her. She wanted a bath desperately, but she didn't think she had the energy to make it to the stream and back. Pulling the tattered shift over her head, she flung it to the ground and stretched out nude on the platform. Tipaakke's scent enveloped her and she drifted off to sleep.
The scent of roasting meat woke Katelyn late in the afternoon. Sitting up, she looked around. Someone had been in to clean up the wigwam. The cobwebs were gone from the corners and it smelled of sweet, crushed herbs. Won, she thought, noticing the precious cotton blanket she was now covered with. Smiling, she got to her feet, wrapping the blanket loosely around her.
"Won?" Katelyn stuck her head out. "There you are." She grinned as her friend turned to fling her arms around her.
"I am glad to see you are safe." She ran her hands through Katelyn's tangled hair. "You look terrible."
"I am fine. At least I will be once we get Fox back."
"Hawk told us everything. I am glad that you and the Fox have found happiness, but it saddens me to know you have been through so many terrible things." She patted Katelyn's protruding stomach with one large hand. "What is this I see? A daanus baking in the oven? Or will it be a giis?"
Katelyn laughed. "We don't care. A healthy baby is all we want." She dipped her finger into the pot of stew that cooked on the open fire. "Mmm, I'm starved. I will bathe and then I must find Mekollaan. We will eat while we talk." Her eyebrows furrowed. "What?" She didn't like the look on Won's face. "What's wrong? Tell me."
Won shook her head. "He has gone."
"What? What are you talking about?" She clutched the blanket, her knuckles turning white. "What do you mean?"
Won opened and closed her hand in a flapping motion in the air. "The Hawk has flown."
"He's gone?" She erupted with anger. "He went without me? I told him I was going!" She balled up her fist, shaking it at Won. "I have to go. I have to set things right with him."
Won leaned to stir the stew. "Maybe Hawk is right. Maybe it would be better if you wait here, where you are safe from the white men."
"No. He would come for me. I must go to him." She left the hearth, heading for the stream, still wearing only the thin blanket. "Please find me a dress, Won. I will bathe, but then I must go."
Won followed behind her. "You do not know your way to 'Napolis."
"I'll find my way." Katelyn's chin was set with determination, her stride long and sure.
Won grabbed her arm. "Then I will go, too."
"Thank you. I will not forget your friendship." Katelyn squeezed her hand.
"But we do not leave until the sun rises again. Hawk did not leave that long ago. We would be foolish to start out tonight. We must gather what we need and sleep."
Katelyn hesitated. She really wasn't up to heading back the same way she'd just come tonight. "Are you sure it would be all right?" She searched her friend's dark eyes.
"Yes. I know Mekollaan. When he gets there he will sit, he will wait, he will watch. There is plenty of time to get to him." She turned to go. "Go to the stream, bathe and then you will eat. I will find you clothing for a journey."
Katelyn nodded. "Thank you," she whispered. "Tipaakke thanks you, too."
By nightfall the next evening, Katelyn and Won had reached the outskirts of Annapolis. They had made good time, and Katelyn was glad her good friend had come with her. She doubted she would have been able to find her way so quickly. As the two moved through the forest, Won told Katelyn of the decisions the Sacred Council had made and the importance of both brothers being made the next chiefs.
Katelyn's heart swelled with pride. The old chief Kukuus' decision was wise. Together, Hawk and Fox would rule their people well. It was hard to believe her Tipaakke would be chief! She was sorry that the Lenni Lenapes were being forced to leave their home and move west, and she shed an invisible tear for Tipaakke's loss. But she was relieved to know that once they left the tidewater region, Henry and his men would never be able to find her. Won said there were no white men in the Ohio country.
"This way," Won called behind her. "I know where the Hawk lights. When he and Fox come to trade, they always camp in the same place." Won shifted the bag on her shoulder, lifting a branch for Katelyn to duck under.
Katelyn smiled up at her friend. Won had made the trip as easy as possible for her, insisting on carrying most of the supplies and going out of her way to take deer trails so they wouldn't have to fight undergrowth. With her rounded stomach, Katelyn found her balance was off and her movements were awkward. With each passing day she was getting bigger and she knew she was growing nearer to her time. She only hoped the child would be born before the Tipaakke's people began to move west.
As the sun began to set, Katelyn and Won reached Mekollaan's camp. After Won sounded the ca
ll and warned the other braves of their arrival, they entered the camp.
Mekollaan came striding across the small clearing, his displeasure clear on his face. "What are you doing here?" he barked in Algonquian. "Why have you come?" He pointed one bronze finger at Won accusingly.
"We have come to help." Won held up her chin as she swung her hide bag to the ground. She was dressed in a man's loincloth and moccasins and carried a knife on her side, just as the other braves did. She had explained, to Katelyn that men's clothing was more appropriate in the forest.
"I told you to keep her there. You disobeyed me." He clenched his fist. "She was to stay where she was safe. Look at her." He held out his hand, motioning to her belly. "She is not fit to be out here. She should be home in the wigwam. The Fox will be furious."
Katelyn stepped between Won and Mekollaan. "Do not blame her." She spoke in Algonquian, inserting English words when she had to. "I would have come with or without her. He is mine." She touched her breast possessively with her palm. "I will help you."
"You will not! You will return to the village at once!" Mekollaan spoke through clenched teeth. "You must learn to obey Katelyn, I am the chief. If you are to be one of us, you must heed my words."
Katelyn looked up at him through a veil of lashes, a silly smile appearing on her lips. "You are not the chief yet, Hawk. Kukuus is my chief and he did not tell me I must stay."
Mekollaan let out an exasperated sigh. She was right, he was not yet the chief. She was smart. He fought not to return her grin. She should have stayed where she was safe; Tipaakke would be furious when he found she was there. But the truth was, any Lenni Lenape woman would have done the same. He was afraid he was beginning to like this white woman. He looked up at her determined face. Unless he picked her up and carried her back to the village, he could see she wasn't going anywhere. "Stay then," he told her gruffly. "But you must do as I say. Do you understand? I will not have my brother's precious white woman taken again."
Though Mekollaan's voice was rough and unyielding, and his words voiced disapproval, she knew she had won. And she knew she was gaining his respect. "I cannot promise I will do as you say; I must follow my heart. But I will try," she promised solemnly.
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