a month.'
'I can't get to Temperance and back in a month.'
Nathaniel cuffed him hard. 'You let a man ride a frozen corpse through the woods. You tied dogs to it and you lost it. Can't ain't a word you want to be using right now.'
'But, Nathaniel, that's too far.'
'Well, then, we'll wait here for the preacher to come by on his circuit.'
Seth looked from the musket to the cow, and then at all the stern faces surrounding him. 'I guess I can catch a boat to the coast and another to Temperance.'
'Good man.' Nathaniel turned him toward the barn and gave him a shove. 'Milk your cow. We'll be waiting.'
Owen composed his messages quickly-a coded one for Prince Vlad, and a cover letter for the Frosts. In the Prince's note he outlined the mystery, reiterating everything from the identification of the wendigo down through discovering that the body never got buried. He described Ilsavont as 'Mister Frozen Corpse.' He wasn't sure what the Prince would make of that, and he hoped he didn't assume Owen had gone mad. The letter to Doctor Frost talked about trapping and mercantile issues. He referred to Ilsavont by name and suggested the letter could be communicated to the Prince. With any luck at all, the Prince would make the necessary connections, especially if Msitazi got to Prince Vlad before Plant delivered this note to the Frosts.
With the messages sealed up tight they gave Seth his instructions. Nathaniel made him repeat them back twice, then told him to get moving. Seth protested that he wanted to start in the morning, but Nathaniel remained adamant. 'If I don't see your feet on the road now, we're finding dogs and Makepeace will ride you to Kebeton.'
The big man smiled. 'Always liked Kebeton.'
Seth groaned and acquiesced. The four of them watched him leading his cow down to Hattersburg.
Nathaniel sighed. 'Well, we cain't go back to town. Not sure what that idiot will tell them, but best to give them time to forget.'
Owen opened his hands. 'Everything points west. Du Malphias is out there somewhere. We don't know what he's doing, but we know whatever it is, it's going to be bad.'
'I reckon you're right. Something terrible bad.'
Owen nodded. Seth's story about Ilsavont confirmed the man had died. It just wasn't possible to thaw him out and have him live. Or was it? The Shedashee had magick he'd never seen before.
He looked at Kamiskwa. 'It is possible to bring a man back from the dead?'
'A wise man knows nothing is impossible.' The Altashee's eyes tightened. 'There are stories of great warriors wrestling demons. Maybe one could have been used to make Ilsavont move again.'
'But that wouldn't be life.'
Nathaniel shook his head. 'Does it matter? Dead men brought back to life or dead men filled with demons?'
Owen snarled. 'There has to be a logical explanation.'
'That would be a comfort.' Nathaniel spat. 'On account of the fanciful ones ain't bringing me no peace of mind at all.'
Chapter Twenty-Six
June 9, 1763
Hattersburg
Lindenvale, Mystria
T hey spent the rest of the day and night at Seth Plant's place in case he decided to return. They also wanted to be there in case anyone came up from Hattersburg to investigate Plant's abrupt trip to Temperance. Owen used the time to copy the technical notes from one journal into the other, providing a very concise and direct compilation of useful military data.
He also took time to fire several shots through the Ryngian musket so he could evaluate it for his report. He carefully paced off forty yards and set out targets. He loaded half a charge and shot. The ball sailed out forty yards but missed low. Three shots later he'd determined that it could take a full charge and delivered the ball out to sixty yards with fair accuracy.
'Not a bad piece.' Owen sucked at the tip of his shooting thumb. A little bead of blood appeared beneath the nail. It throbbed in time with his pulse-closer to annoyance than pain. He'd felt much worse in battle.
'Du Malphias' expecting a lot of action, I'm thinking. Nice vent spike there.'
Owen nodded. The brass firestone assembly had a small triangular thorn off to the right side. It picked up heat from the brimstone combustion. If the blood under the nail became too much, the shooter could just press his nail to it. The metal would melt through and blood would spurt, relieving the pressure.
'The Ryngians make good weapons. Good soldiers, too.' Owen shook his head. 'You see them massed in those blue jackets, marching forward with bayonets fixed, it turns your guts to water.'
'Good reason to leave war over there.' Nathaniel stretched. 'Or figure a way to end any war here fast.'
For supper they harvested some onions and tomatoes from Plant's house garden. Makepeace mixed them with pemmican before frying it up. While he cooked, the others explained to Makepeace Bone what they were doing. He took it all in with a grunt here and there, then served up dinner at Seth's table.
Owen wanted to dig right in, but Makepeace wouldn't let them start unless they joined hands and bowed their heads as he offered grace. 'Dear God, wonderful and terrible, we thank Thee for these gifts. May they strengthen us body and soul for to face the challenges Ye set before us. Amen.'
The solemnity with which the giant offered the prayer surprised Owen. Based on the previous night's drinking and grave-robbing attempt, he hardly expected Makepeace to be pious to any degree.
'It's been a long time since anyone has offered to say grace.'
Makepeace nodded. 'Not many do. Most men out here only get churchy when the minister is looking their way. I was raised Virtuan. Kind of got away from it. Then the Good Lord got it in His mind to be reminding me of what I owes Him.'
The man patted the top of his head. 'In Second Kings God went and sent two she-bears to kill children who mocked his prophet Elijah. Well, I was mocking a man said he was a prophet. Mocked him for being bald, and an idiot, but mostly bald. 'Bout a day later a he-bear sent by the almighty came and near scalped me bald.'
'What did you do?'
'Well, my scalp was flopping down over my eyes, so I just feeled about best I could. Me and the bear, we had a bit of a tussle. I heard tell you ain't supposed to kill the messenger, but that was long after and all.'
Nathaniel kept his voice low. 'Killed it with his bare hands.'
'Only fair, really. Bear didn't have no gun. But when it was over, I was tore up a bit, clawed and gnawed. I went a-crawling, blind like Saul, and I was saying to myself 'The Lord is my shepherd,' over and over. Then a man was there, a shepherd out where there weren't no sheep. He done stitched me up, fed me the sweetest bread I ever did eat. And one morning I woke up, He was gone. No trace of Him around, neither, and I ain't second to nobody when it comes to tracking.'
The giant glanced skyward. 'Then I looked up and done seen His footprints in the clouds. Now I'm a sinner, but I sin lots less than before, and I take my praying serious.'
Owen's eyes narrowed. 'You don't wear any sign…'
Makepeace smiled broadly. 'When you been touched by the Lord, or His surrogate, you ain't much in need of signs.'
Nathaniel nodded. 'I'm thinking we're seeing signs from diabolical forces, if you're wanting God's honest truth.' He proceeded to outline what Prince Vlad had explained about Ryngian power and what he expected them to do in the west.
Makepeace Bone absorbed it all, then nodded solemnly. 'I been a-wondering when God was going to call me to do His work. Sounds like this du Malphias feller is a Diabolist at the very least. Iffen you'll have me, I'll be going with you. If not, I reckon I'll go anyway.'
