Part 1 (1/2)
Shadowbrook: a novel of love, war, and the birth of America.
Beverly Swerling.
For Michael, R.I.P., and for Bill, as always.
These Things Are True ...
ABOUT EUROPEANS.
Britain and France spent the first half of the eighteenth century fighting over empire. This story takes place during the decisive battle in that long conflict. In North America it was known as the French and Indian War, in Europe the Seven Years' War. It was a death struggle fought in a New World, the glory and extent of which the opponents did not imagine, and home to a rich and remarkable culture they did not understand.
ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS.
From the moment the Europeans discovered their paradise it was doomed, but the indigenous peoples-the Real People, as they called themselves-put up an immense struggle to hold back the tide. I have tried to be true to their history and customs, but this is a story and I am a storyteller. When I couldn't find details of a ceremony or a ritual, I made them up. My one rule was that I always extrapolated from what my research uncovered; teasing out the weave, never creating from whole cloth. Moreover, I never added or embroidered something that was by its nature pejorative. The bad stuff-or what seems so to us when judged by the standards of our culture and our time-is all there in the record.
ABOUT WORDS.
The linguists tell us that in the eighteenth century there were some hundred thousand languages and that now there are six thousand. Moreover, among all languages past and present, only two hundred or so have ever been written down. Native Americans had a complex and sophisticated system of pictographs, but essentially theirs was an oral tradition. Its strengths and its depth were wondrous, but much of it is lost. I worked with both Iroquoian and Algonkian dictionaries (all created in modern times to try and stanch the mortal wound) and have tried to give the flavor of the speech with some authenticity. I have, however, avoided the complicated accent marks that have been developed as p.r.o.nunciation guides. They are beyond the scope of this tale and my ability. So too the grammar. I apologize for the inevitable mistakes.
ABOUT RELIGION.
I know I have not been able to explain in proper depth or complexity the belief system of Native Americans. What the story contains is as true as my research allows; it is no doubt a vast distance from all truth. The rest, since it is part of my own Judeo-Christian heritage, is familiar territory. Here it is only necessary to say that Catholic theology is a long, ever-flowing river. What you see of the water depends on where you happen to be on the sh.o.r.e. The att.i.tudes, customs, and practices, even some of the core beliefs described in this story, are accurate for the Church of that time and the religious orders as they were then. It is in many cases not the same now.
This Too Is True ...
ABOUT US ALL.
Love in all its many splendors has not changed in any fundamental way. Two hundred and fifty years ago it was as it is now-enough to move the world.
Important Characters in the Story.
The People of Shadowbrook, also known as the Hale Patent.
AT THE BIG HOUSE.
Quentin Hale: Also called Uko Nyakwai, the Red Bear, and very occasionally by his secret Potawatomi manhood name of Kwashko, Jumps Over Fire John Hale: Quentin's elder brother Ephraim Hale: Father of John and Quentin Lorene Devrey Hale: Ephraim's wife, mother of John and Quentin Nicole Marie Francine Winifred Anne Crane: A young woman of French and English ancestry, traveling through the American colonies on her way to Quebec Kitchen Hannah: The Big House cook Corn Broom Hannah: A Big House maid Six-Finger Sam: A general handyman Clemency the Washerwoman: The laundress, and among the Patent slaves, the keeper of the oral history Jeremiah: In charge of the stables Little George: Jeremiah's a.s.sistant Runsabout: A Big House maid and mother of the twins, Lilac and Sugar Willie Taba: A young Ibo girl bought at the New York slave market in 1754 AT THE SUGARHOUSE.
Moses Frankel: The chief miller, in charge of the grinding of wheat into flour and corn [Indian] meal as well as the production of rum and ale Sarah Frankel: The wife of Moses Ellie Frankel Bleecker: Their daughter, a widow Tim Frankel: Son of Moses and Sarah; never married Deliciousness May: The mother of Runsabout and a Hale slave a.s.signed to the Frankels Big Jacob: Husband of Deliciousness and father of Runsabout; a Hale slave a.s.signed to the sugarhouse and gristmill. He is also the horse trainer of the Patent.
Lilac and Sugar Willie: Slave twins, children of Runsabout, but a.s.signed to the sugarhouse. They are four years old when Quent returns to Shadowbrook in 1754.
T THE SAWMILL.
Ely Davidson: The sawyer Matilda Kip Davidson: Ely's daughter-in-law Hank Davidson: Ely's son Josiah, Sampson, and Westerly: Brothers aged fourteen, twelve, and eleven; Hale slaves a.s.signed to the sawmill Solomon the Barrel Maker: A cooper, and a Hale slave born on the Patent Sally Robin: The beekeeper and supplier of honey and various unguents and medicines used on the Patent; Solomon's woman since she was purchased at the New York Slave Market in 1720 AT DO GOOD-THE INDIAN TRADING POST OF THE PATENT, MANAGED AND STAFFED ENTIRELY BY MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, ALSO KNOWN AS QUAKERS Esther s...o...b..rry Martin s...o...b..rry: Esther's husband Judith s...o...b..rry: Their daughter; later Judith s...o...b..rry Foster Prudence: Their slave Edward Taylor: Treasurer of the community Hepsibah Jane Foster: Daughter of Judith Daniel Willis: A Friend from Rhode Island who has come to bring an antislavery message given him by the Light Within The People of the Town of Albany in New York Province John Lydius: A trader and sometimes arms dealer Genevieve Lydius: John's wife, a metisse who is half Piankashaw Indian and half French Peter Groesbeck: Landlord of the Albany tavern at the Sign of the Nag's Head Annie Crotchett: A prost.i.tute who plies her trade at the Sign of the Nag's Head Hamish Stewart: A one-eyed Scot, a Jacobite Stewart of Appin, and survivor of the infamous battle of Culloden Moor.
a.s.sorted randy barmaids, crafty millers, entrepreneurial widows, drunken tars, layabouts and ne'er-do-wells; along with the many G.o.d-fearing huisvrouwen and burghers left from the days of Dutch rule.
The People of the Potawatomi Village of Singing Snow Cormac Shea: A metis, son of a Potawatomi squaw and an Irish fur trader Ixtu: The village Teller Bishkek: The manhood father of the metis Cormac Shea, and of Quentin Hale Kekomoson: The civil sachem of Singing Snow at the time of the story Sohantes: The wife of Kekomoson Shabnokis: A squaw priest of the powerful Midewiwin Society Las.h.i.+: Bishkek's youngest daughter Pondise: Her son The People of Quebec in New France THE FRANCISCANS.
Pere Antoine Pierre de Rubin Montaigne, O.F.M.: Father Delegate of the Franciscans in New France Mere Marie Rose, P.C.C.: Abbess of the Poor Clare Colettines of Quebec Soeur Marie Celeste, P.C.C.
Soeur Marie Francoise, P.C.C.
Soeur Marie Joseph, P.C.C.
Soeur Marie Angelique, P.C.C.
THE JESUITS.
Monsieur Louis Roget, S.J.: Provincial Superior of the Jesuits of New France Mansieur Philippe Faucon, S.J.: A Jesuit priest and an artist who doc.u.ments the Canadian flora, called Magic Shadows by the Huron Monsieur Xavier Walton, S.J.: An Englishman and a Jesuit, also a surgeon THE CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT.
Francois Bigot: Intendant of Canada, the steward and paymaster of the entire province Pierre Francois Rigaud, marquis de Vaudreuil: Governor-General of Canada after June, 1755 AT PORT MOUTON IN L'ACADIE (NOVA SCOTIA) Marni Benoit Military Figures Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville: A French officer; his death heralded the beginning of the Seven Years' War.
Tanaghrisson, the Half King: Born a Catawba, raised a Seneca; at the time of the story spokesman for the Iroquois Confederacy in the Ohio Country George Was.h.i.+ngton: A colonel in the Virginia Militia. Twenty-two years old when the story opens in 1754 Pontiac: An Ottawa war sachem.
s.h.i.+ngas: A war sachem of the Lenape, also known as the Delaware.
Scarouady: Spokesperson for the Iroquois Confederation in the Ohio Country after the death of Tanaghrisson.
Thoyanoguin, also known as King Hendrick: A war sachem of the Mohawk, also known as the Kahniankehaka. Members of the Iroquois Confederacy, they were called the Guardians of the Eastern Door.
Major General William Johnson, of the New York Militia (Yorkers): An Indian trader born in Ireland, in America since 1738 and married first to a German indentured servant, later to a Kahniankehaka squaw; adopted as a chief of that tribe Major General Edward Braddock: Commander of His Majesty's forces in America at the beginning of the Seven Years' War General Jean Armand, baron de Dieskau: Commander of the French and Canadian forces at the beginning of the Seven Years' War General Louis Joseph, marquis de Montcalm-Gozon de Saint-Veran: Successor to Dieskau.
General John Campbell, earl of Loudoun: Successor to Braddock.
Major General Jeffrey Amherst: Successor to Loudoun.
James Wolfe: A British colonel at the Battle of Louisbourg in 1758; a British Major General at the Battle of Quebec in 1759.
Book 1.
Shadowbrook.
Chapter One.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1754.