Fire Along the Sky Fire Along the Sky

by Sara Donati

  “No if we do it right.” And he lifted the blankets to crawl beneath them.

  “Wait,” Lily said, breathless already. “First I want to know . . . what's a grumfie?”

  He hid a smile against her breast; she could feel it, as surely as the warmth of his breath and the words he spoke against her skin.

  “Shall we stop now and have a Scots lesson?”

  And then he did her a real kindness: Simon Ballentyne pulled her down into the cave he had made for the two of them, and spared her from the embarrassment of an answer.

  Chapter 18

  Inquest regarding the Death of Cookie Fiddler,

  Manumitted Slave and Servant

  Officials present:

  Circuit Judge Baldwin O'Brien

  for the Northern District of Hamilton County

  in the State of New-York

  Constable Jedadiah McGarrity

  Ethan Middleton, Esq., Recording Clerk

  15th Day of January 1813

  Paradise, New-York

  Statement of Mrs. Anna McGarrity,

  Constable's Wife

  Claes Wilde may be a pure idiot for taking up with Jemima Kuick, but stupid ain't ever been a hanging offense and were it, why, none of you men would be sitting here in judgment on him for you'd all have gone to the gallows yourself long ago. It's the curse you bear, you men, being led around by—well, I don't suppose I need to say it plain. Claes has done himself a mischief, but he didn't raise a finger to hurt Cookie and I'd bet my good name on that.

  It's Jemima you want to be asking about, for Jemima was here in Paradise and Nicholas was gone away to Johnstown, and that I know for a fact as he brought post back with him and the newspapers too, and a whole box of Elixir of Life, a favor to me, you see, for I do depend upon it as my husband there can tell you. Nicholas Wilde was gone and Jemima Kuick was here, and when he came back he found he was a widower without a housekeeper nor anybody to cook for him or look after his Callie. And just shortly after that it was, that Jemima started taking covered dishes over to the orchard house, she who never lifts a finger for a neighbor unless it's to scold. You listen to me, Baldy O'Brien, you had best let Nicholas Wilde go and look a little harder at his bride, for it was Jemima who profited from those deaths, and no one else. Motive and opportunity is what you're after, as I understand it. My husband there explained it to me. Motive and opportunity, and I ask you, who else but Jemima had them both in abundance?

  Statement of Mr. Jan Kaes, Trapper & Veteran

  I'm here to speak for my daughter Becca LeBlanc, who's in childbed still and can't come herself to say what she knows of Jemima Southern. Mima made plenty trouble up by the millhouse, back in the days when they were in service there together, she and my Becca. You may call it hearsay if you like, Baldy O'Brien, but young Ethan there will put it down just the same on paper and that's all I care about. So listen. Jemima be mean as a kicked dog, just like her pa before her. Bitter to the bone, that's what I'm saying. Now that be a shame, but as far as I understand it, the legislature down in Albany ain't made a sin of meanness, yet, by God, and wouldn't it put them all out of business if they did? And the other thing I got to say is this: Jemima couldn't have struck Cookie on the head and dumped her in the lake, and I'll tell you why. For all her years Cookie was quick of eye and limb, and Jemima moves like sap in January.

  Statement of Mrs. Margaret Parker, Widow &

  Unemployed Housekeeper

  While you high-and-mighty men are trying to figure out about Dolly Wilde and Cookie and whether it was Nicholas Wilde or Jemima who worked such evil deeds, let me remind you that the first Widow Kuick died not too long ago, and that needs looking into. You had best call Hannah Bonner here to speak for she might know something about that, and while you're at it, ask her to tell what she knows of how Isaiah Kuick died too, for that sorry business weren't never settled. Jemima stood in this very meetinghouse and swore Hannah had killed Isaiah Kuick but she shut up right smart when Becca Kaes—for this all happened before she went and married that no-good Charlie LeBlanc—when Becca told about that letter that went missing. I for one think Hannah Bonner must have it, and you need to see it to make sure justice is done. She's a blight upon the name of good women everywhere—it's Jemima I'm talking about here, Curiosity Freeman, not your precious Hannah, so there's no need for you to make such eyes at me. Jemima Southern Kuick Wilde is a blight upon the nation, and who will stop her, if not you, Judge O'Brien?

  Statement of Mr. Horace Greber, Farmer & Veteran

  I come here to say, I never had nothing to do with Jemima no matter what Missy Parker might be whispering behind her hand. Writing it down don't make it true. I could say that black's white and white's black and Ethan there would write it down, but it would still be a lie. Just as the things been said about me and Jemima are all lies. Lies up and down and sideways, pure and simple. I can't deny that my wife left me and took our girls with her to Johnstown, but the why and how of it, that's between her and me and nobody else, not even Missy Know-It-All Parker. And if I talked to Jemima now and then about getting her cow serviced, why then that's no more than the normal intercourse between neighbors, and was done out of Christian concern for a widow woman. It shows her good sense that she seeks out the opinion of men who by nature know the business best, don't it?

  Statement of Mr. Nathaniel Bonner, Hunter & Trapper

  I came across Dolly Wilde on Hidden Wolf when I was hunting. She was near froze and burning up with fever, so I took her home to Lake in the Clouds where my wife and sister-in-law did their best to nurse her. She died soon after. She never spoke in all that time, and that's all I know of the sad business. You can badger me all you like, O'Brien, but you'll get no more from me except this: my daughter Hannah sent along this letter Missy Parker was talking about and you asked for. It's been sitting up at Lake in the Clouds ever since Isaiah Kuick died, in a bundle of papers our Hannah left behind when she married and went west. So you've got the letter, along with the statements she gave Ethan there about the two dead women. If that ain't enough, you'll just have to call Mrs. Freeman to the stand and question her, like you should have done to start with.

  Letter Submitted into Evidence

  Dated 24 April 1802

  Sealed and Witnessed

  I, Isaiah Simple Kuick, being in good health and in full possession of my faculties, write this Statement in my own hand with Miss Rebecca Kaes nearby to Witness the seal and signature. My purpose is, first, to clarify the circumstances around the death of Reuben, a young slave boy who has been part of the Kaes household since his birth and who was laid to eternal rest today. I make this confession in order to stop this business here, to forestall retribution where it is unearned, and in fear of further bloodshed. In case of my death, I will leave this document in the care of a person who can be trusted to deliver it to the appropriate authorities when and if that becomes necessary.

  Item the first. Reuben died as the result of burns that were inflicted—not accidentally, but certainly without premeditation—by our overseer, Ambrose Dye. I was present when this happened, and I consider myself guilty of not acting quickly enough to stay Mr. Dye's hand. He acted in anger and intemperance, and should by rights be tried for this crime. And yet I have not informed the authorities of this, and in fact, I have concealed it in order to protect Mr. Dye, to whom I am bound by ties too complex to name. I have made it impossible for justice to work its normal course and so I put this confession down here. Further, I do this in the full knowledge that unless he is dead or has left this area, Ambrose Dye must now be tried for murder. I cannot protect him at the cost of more lives, or something as insubstantial as my own comfort and reputation.

  Item the second. In the spirit of full confession, I make known here that while my marriage to Jemima Southern was legal, it was entered into under duress. My wife threatened to reveal the nature of my attachment to Mr. Dye to my mother and to the entire village. To protect him and myself I entered into this marriage o
f convenience. I write this knowing full well that it will cause my mother severe pain and the utmost mortification. While I take full responsibility for my actions, I make no apologies to her or to anyone else. What sins I have committed and what punishment may be mine is a matter between myself and God alone.

  Item the third. Our marriage was never consummated. I have never, at any time, lain with my legal wife or had intimate congress with her. The child she carries is not mine. Who may be the father, I do not know with any certainty, for I have never asked and have no wish to know.

  Item the fourth. Though the child is not mine, I have no wish to cause it harm, and I am content to know it will bear my name and live its life out as my legal issue, for there will be no other and I am the last of my line. While it will fall hard on her, I require that my mother acquiesce to my wishes in this matter.

  May the Lord have mercy on my soul. I, Isaiah Simple Kuick, sound of mind and diminished body, do hereby swear by the Almighty God and all that is Holy that what I have put down on these pages is true. Witness to my signature: Rebecca Kaes, of Paradise on this 24 day of April 1802.

  Light hath no tongue, but is all eye;

  If it could speak as well as spy,

  This were the worst, that it could say,

  That being well, I fain would stay,

  And that I loved my heart and honour so,

  That I would not from him, that had them, go.

  Supplemental Statement of Mrs. Margaret Parker,

  Widow & Unemployed Housekeeper

  And didn't I say so all along? Didn't I? You put it down there on paper, Ethan Middleton, for everybody to see plain as day. Missy Parker said from the beginning that there was evil doings up at the millhouse, and she was right.

  Statement Submitted into Evidence

  Signed by Hannah Bonner, Physician

  Witnessed by Mrs. Elizabeth Bonner

  and Ethan Middleton, Esq.

  On the 20 day of November I examined the body of Mrs. Dolly Wilde in the presence of Mrs. Bonner and Mrs. Freeman of this village, as Dr. Todd was too ill to leave his bed. The subject was a woman of thirty years, of medium height, with dark hair gone mostly white, and of pale complexion. In her life she was well nourished and her person cared for. I found no wounds as might have been made by a bullet or knife or any weapon. The few scars on her person are in keeping with the life of a farmer's wife, with the exception of a healed bite mark on her right hand. In addition, her hands and arms were heavily scratched and torn from having pushed through bush for some time.

  From the evidence available to me, and without performing an autopsy, it is my opinion that the subject died of a severe infection, most probably of the brain but possibly also of the lungs. I saw no evidence of violence done to her.

  This statement dictated to and taken down by Ethan Middleton and signed by my own hand and sworn to be true to the best of my knowledge and ability. Hannah Bonner, also known as Walks-Ahead by the Kahnyen'kehàka of the Wolf Longhouse at Good Pasture and as Walking-Woman by her husband's people, the Seneca, this first day of January, 1813.

  Statement Submitted into Evidence

  Signed by Hannah Bonner, Physician

  Witnessed by Mrs. Elizabeth Bonner

  and Ethan Middleton, Esq.

  On the 26 day of December I examined the remains of Mrs. Cookie Fiddler in the presence of Mrs. Bonner and Mrs. Freeman of this village, as Dr. Todd is recently deceased and there is no other with the training to perform this last service.

  The subject was a Mulatto Negro woman of about sixty years, very small and slight of stature but well nourished and without obvious external signs of illness. Both her ears were pierced. The body bore numerous scars, primarily of whippings to the back and legs. The right fibula was once broken and set crookedly.

  First observations indicated that the subject died by drowning when the water was at or very near freezing, for her remains were well preserved. On autopsy it was determined that her lungs were in fact filled with water, which indicates that she was alive when she fell into the lake. All other internal organs appeared unremarkable for a healthy woman of her years.

  The only wound on her person was on the back of her head, an indentation about a half-inch deep, three fingers wide, and a half foot long, regular in shape, as might have been made by a blow with a wood stave or by falling and striking the head on a wood structure such as the handrail or edge of a bridge. The blow was severe enough to slice the scalp to the skull, cleave the skull itself, and render the subject insensible. There were no other signs of struggle, that is, no broken fingernails or wounds as might have been received in a struggle for her life. In addition, there were a few grains of sand clutched in her hand and found in the folds of her clothing. Thus is it my opinion that Cookie Fiddler's death may have been an accident or a murder, but it is not in my power to declare which on the basis of the evidence I had before me. I surmise that she received a blow to the head and fell unconscious into the lake, where she drowned.

  This statement dictated to and taken down by Ethan Middleton and signed by my own hand and sworn to be true to the best of my knowledge and ability. Hannah Bonner, also known as Walks-Ahead by the Kahnyen'kehàka of the Wolf Longhouse at Good Pasture and as Walking-Woman by her husband's people, the Seneca, this first day of January, 1813.

  Interview of Levi Fiddler, Man of All Work,

  Freed Negro

  By Judge Baldwin O'Brien, Esq.

  Q: State your name and occupation for the record.

  A: Levi Fiddler. Mostly I hire out as a farmhand, but now and then folks fetch me to play the fiddle for a party. Since the new year I been working for Mr. Middleton, there, who's writing all the words down.

  Q: And before that?

  A: I worked for Mr. Wilde. In his apple orchards, ever since I got my manumission papers. Before that I was a slave at the millhouse, belonged to the Kuicks from the day I was born.

  Q: You bought your freedom from Mrs. Kuick?

  A: Not me myself, sir. It was Mr. Gathercole, who was minister when this meetinghouse was still the Paradise church.

  Q: Yes, I've heard that story. And the deceased was?

  A: My mother.

  Q: And she also worked for the accused, Mr. Wilde?

  A: Yes, sir, we started work there on the same day. She took care of the house and looked after Miz Dolly and the baby, once she come along.

  Q: What kind of employer was Mr. Wilde?

  A: Fair. Even handed. A God-fearing man.

  Q: Your mother was happy in his employ.

  A: For the first time in her life, yes, sir.

  Q: Mr. Wilde stands accused of your mother's murder. What is your opinion on that?

  A: Pardon my language, sir, but that's damn nonsense. He couldn't have had nothing to do with it. He was in Johnstown, him and Miz Callie and me, the three of us. The two of them stayed with Mr. Wilde's cousin, you could ask him, Mr. James Guthrie, a cobbler. When we drove off from here Mama was standing in the door, waving. That's the last we saw her breathing. He couldn't have had nothing to do with it, and it wasn't in him neither.

  Q: So I'm told by everyone I've interviewed. And what is your opinion of the new Mrs. Wilde?

  A: I wouldn't take her name in my mouth, no, sir.

  Q: You think she may have been involved in the death of your mother?

  A: I don't want to say nothing about that. Best you ask the other white folks.

  Q: Now Levi, before the first Mrs. Wilde died, did you ever witness any special connection between Mr. Wilde and the younger Widow Kuick?

  A: No, sir. He never paid her no mind, as far as I could see. She never come to the orchard house, you can be sure of that. Missus Kuick never could abide Miz Dolly, and my ma would have chased her off, anyhow.

  Q: Yet Mr. Wilde married her, not a month ago. How do you explain that?

  A: Loneliness, I suppose, and the other thing.

  Q: Other thing?

  A: I don't like to talk
that way in front of ladies, sir. The thing that men wants from women.

  Q: I see. Now what of the first Mrs. Wilde, Levi? Other witnesses have testified that she was out of her mind. You saw her every day. Would you agree?

  A: No, sir, not exactly. Seem to me she was all tangled up in her mind, like she was a prisoner inside herself.

  Q: Do you think she was capable of violence? Might she have hurt your mother, maybe in a fit of some kind?

  A: Why, no. It just don't seem possible. I seen Miz Dolly weeping over a dead bird more than one time, sir. Stroking it and talking to it, like maybe a kind word would be enough. No, sir, Mrs. Wilde—the first Mrs. Wilde that was—she couldn't have hurt Mama. I'd swear on it.

  Interview with Mr. Nicholas Wilde

  Q: Mr. Wilde, all charges against you in connection with the death of Cookie Fiddler have been dropped for lack of evidence. But we would like to ask you some questions about this sad business before we discharge you.

  A: I've got nothing to say except, may God bless Cookie Fiddler and keep her. She was a good woman.

  Q: Well, then. Let's start with your wife. Your first wife. Dolly Smythe, I believe was her name before you married. Your wife was unwell for the last few years?

  A: Since the birth of our daughter, yes.

  Q: And can you describe that illness?

  A: No.

  Q: You can't or you won't?

  A: Both. I didn't understand it then and I don't now. Dr. Todd didn't know what was wrong with her and neither did Curiosity Freeman or any of the others who tried to help her, and nor more do I.

  Q: Was your wife ever violent?

  A: No. Never.