head to gaze at her.
Any fear she’d felt subsided. She took the rope from a startled Farmer Fairley, then chastised the bull in her native tongue. " Comporte-toi bien ou tu seras castré et finiras dans ma marmite ! "
Behave, or you will be gelded and put in my stewpot!
The animal followed docilely as she led it toward the paddock.
From behind her she heard Joseph let out a breath.
And then Killy spoke. "I’ll be damned."
* * *
Connor and his brothers began their second full day in Albany by heading below stairs to break their fast and talk over their plans, careful to speak only in Gaelic lest they be overheard and their words carried to Haviland .
"Either Wentworth has already set sail for New York, or he doesna wish to be found," Iain said.
Connor nodded his agreement, finishing his breakfast of eggs, sausages, and bread with a swallow of hot coffee. "What are you goin’ to say to Haviland ? We’ve no more proof today than we did yesterday."
"I dinnae ken just yet." Iain looked across the rough-hewn table at Connor. "But we owe it to the men no’ to give up."
Morgan tore off another bite of bread. "If it weren’t so near Christmas, I’d say we should journey to Fort Edward and seek witnesses there."
"What we need are the army ledgers Wentworth’s clerk kept."
Connor thought he knew where those ledgers were. " Haviland probably has them and knows full well he’s cheatin ’ the Rangers. He’s lyin ’ to us, the mac an uilc . "
Son of evil.
"Wentworth is gone, and so Haviland sees his chance to bring the Rangers low." Morgan tossed back the last of his coffee. "I wonder if he kept their pay for himself."
Iain’s face settled into a scowl. "I wouldna put such a thing past him, but we cannae accuse him wi’out proof."
Anger churned in Connor’s gut to think that any man could so blithely deprive another of what was rightly his. "I’ve a mind to take what belongs to the men from the next British supply train."
Iain arched a dark brow . "We’ve only just freed the MacKinnon name from the taint of murder."
"Now you would see us hanged for thieves?" Morgan chuckled.
Connor shrugged. "At least we’d be guilty."
It enraged him to think of men who’d served so faithfully — some of them, like Killy , McHugh, and Forbes, from the earliest days of the war — being deprived of the coin they’d earned by risking their lives. He had no doubt they and their families would make it through the winter. A canny man could provide for his family by harvesting the bounty of the forest, and the Rangers were cannier than most. But after all they’d endured, they shouldn’t have to face such deprivation.
Haviland , pampered officer that he was, would never understand the hardship the Rangers had faced. Long marches in sweltrie heat and bitter cold. Gnawing hunger. Exhaustion. And always death — death that stalked them from behind every hillock and tree, death that cut down their comrades beside them, death that turned wives to widows and left the bodies of heroes to molder on the forest floor.
Nay, Haviland could not understand. Yet, how could he deny the service the Rangers had rendered? These men had fought for Britain, turning the tide of the war, bringing victory when British generals had known only defeat.
"We will go to Haviland and demand to see Wentworth’s ledgers. All the proof we need is there."
"And if he refuses to produce them?" Morgan asked.
"We’ll pay the men ourselves," Iain said. "I’ll ask Annie to sell some of her mother’s jewels to see the men well settled. I’m certain she’ll agree."
Connor and Morgan exchanged a glance. Although the wealth a woman brought to her marriage belonged by law to her husband, Iain had intended never to touch Annie’s jewels, her inheritance from her mother. "Nay, I’ll ask Sarah to part wi ’ some of the coin Wentworth left for her. Those jewels are all Annie has of her family."
Their discussion was
Any fear she’d felt subsided. She took the rope from a startled Farmer Fairley, then chastised the bull in her native tongue. " Comporte-toi bien ou tu seras castré et finiras dans ma marmite ! "
Behave, or you will be gelded and put in my stewpot!
The animal followed docilely as she led it toward the paddock.
From behind her she heard Joseph let out a breath.
And then Killy spoke. "I’ll be damned."
* * *
Connor and his brothers began their second full day in Albany by heading below stairs to break their fast and talk over their plans, careful to speak only in Gaelic lest they be overheard and their words carried to Haviland .
"Either Wentworth has already set sail for New York, or he doesna wish to be found," Iain said.
Connor nodded his agreement, finishing his breakfast of eggs, sausages, and bread with a swallow of hot coffee. "What are you goin’ to say to Haviland ? We’ve no more proof today than we did yesterday."
"I dinnae ken just yet." Iain looked across the rough-hewn table at Connor. "But we owe it to the men no’ to give up."
Morgan tore off another bite of bread. "If it weren’t so near Christmas, I’d say we should journey to Fort Edward and seek witnesses there."
"What we need are the army ledgers Wentworth’s clerk kept."
Connor thought he knew where those ledgers were. " Haviland probably has them and knows full well he’s cheatin ’ the Rangers. He’s lyin ’ to us, the mac an uilc . "
Son of evil.
"Wentworth is gone, and so Haviland sees his chance to bring the Rangers low." Morgan tossed back the last of his coffee. "I wonder if he kept their pay for himself."
Iain’s face settled into a scowl. "I wouldna put such a thing past him, but we cannae accuse him wi’out proof."
Anger churned in Connor’s gut to think that any man could so blithely deprive another of what was rightly his. "I’ve a mind to take what belongs to the men from the next British supply train."
Iain arched a dark brow . "We’ve only just freed the MacKinnon name from the taint of murder."
"Now you would see us hanged for thieves?" Morgan chuckled.
Connor shrugged. "At least we’d be guilty."
It enraged him to think of men who’d served so faithfully — some of them, like Killy , McHugh, and Forbes, from the earliest days of the war — being deprived of the coin they’d earned by risking their lives. He had no doubt they and their families would make it through the winter. A canny man could provide for his family by harvesting the bounty of the forest, and the Rangers were cannier than most. But after all they’d endured, they shouldn’t have to face such deprivation.
Haviland , pampered officer that he was, would never understand the hardship the Rangers had faced. Long marches in sweltrie heat and bitter cold. Gnawing hunger. Exhaustion. And always death — death that stalked them from behind every hillock and tree, death that cut down their comrades beside them, death that turned wives to widows and left the bodies of heroes to molder on the forest floor.
Nay, Haviland could not understand. Yet, how could he deny the service the Rangers had rendered? These men had fought for Britain, turning the tide of the war, bringing victory when British generals had known only defeat.
"We will go to Haviland and demand to see Wentworth’s ledgers. All the proof we need is there."
"And if he refuses to produce them?" Morgan asked.
"We’ll pay the men ourselves," Iain said. "I’ll ask Annie to sell some of her mother’s jewels to see the men well settled. I’m certain she’ll agree."
Connor and Morgan exchanged a glance. Although the wealth a woman brought to her marriage belonged by law to her husband, Iain had intended never to touch Annie’s jewels, her inheritance from her mother. "Nay, I’ll ask Sarah to part wi ’ some of the coin Wentworth left for her. Those jewels are all Annie has of her family."
Their discussion was
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