The Fiery Cross

by Diana Gabaldon

  This Day Twenty Gentlemen Volunteers joined the Army, chieflyfrom Granville& Bute Counties. ney were formed into a Troop of Light Horse under the Command ofMajor MacDonald. A Re

  gulator taken by the flanking parties laying in ambush with his Gun. T

  he Commissary took out of his House part of a Hoghead of Rum lodged therefor the Use of the Regulators. Also some Hogs which were to be accounted to His Family,

  Monday, the 13tb of May

  Marched to O'Neal. At 12 O'Clock an Express rider arrivedfrom General Waddell, with a Verbal Message, the Express not daring to take a Letter Jorfcar of its being intercepted. Ybe Purport of which Message was that on nursday Evening the 9tb Instant the Regulators to the Number of two nousand surrounded his Camp, and in the most daring& insolent Man ner required the General to retreat with the Troops over the Yadkin River, of which he was then within two Miles. He refused to comply, insisting he bad the Governor's Orders to proceed, 7-his made them more insolent, and with many Indian shouts they endeavoured to intimidate his Men.

  ne Generalfinding his Men not exceeding three Hundred, andgenerally unwilling to engage; and man), of his Sentriesgoing over to the Regulators, was reduced to comply with their requisition, & early the next Morning repassed the Yadkin River, with his Cannon and Baggage; the Regulators agreeing to disperse and return to their several Habitations.

  A Council of War was held immediately to deliberate on the Subject of the Intelligence brought by the Express, composed of the Honorable John Rutherford, Lewis DeRosset, Robert Palmer, & Sam Cornell, of His Majesty's Council, and the Colonels & Field Officers of the Army, U%erein it was resolved that the Army should change their Route, get into the Road at Captain Holt's that leadsfrom Hillsborough to Salisbury, pass the little andgreat Alamance Rivers with all possibleExpedition, & march without Loss of Time to join General Waddell; accordingly the Armygot under March, and before Night encamped on the West Side of little Alamance, a strong Detachment being sentforward to take possession of the West Banks of Great Alamance, to prevent the Enemy's Partiesfrom occupying that strong Post.

  nis evening received Intelligence that the Regulators were sending Scouts through all their Settlements, and assembling on Sandy Creek, near Hunter's.

  Marched andjoined the Detachment on the WestBanks of GreatAlamance where a strong Camp was chosen. Here the Army halted till more provisions could be brougbtfrom Hillsborough, for which purpose several Waggons now emptied and sentfrom Camp to Hillsborough

  The Fiery Cross 563

  Intl ought this Evening into Camp that the Rebels rlligcncc being br

  ed to attack the camp in the P

  madefior an Engagement, and one tight, the Necessary preparations were intend

  bird of the Army ordered to remain under Arms all Night, & the Remainder to lay down near their Arms. No Alarnigiven.

  the 146 of May Tuesday,

  Halted, the Men ordered to keep in Camp.

  11 Night, as in the prcceeding. No alarm. ne Army lay on their Arms a

  the 15th of May

  Wednesday, k in the Evening, the Governor received a LcttcrftOm the About 6 O'Cloc rc the Council of Way, wherein it was deterInsurgents which he laid befo

  the Rebels early the next MornMined that the Army should marcb against offering them Terms, and that the Governor should send them a Letter

  stig, in Case of Refusal, should attack them. alarm) tbol the Rebels lay ne Men remained all Night under Arms. NO

  withinfivc miles of the Camp.

  From the Dreambook: Hillsborough, May 15

  aLast night Ifell asleep early) and woke up before dawn inside a gray g n talk to we cloud. All day, Ive felt like I was walkin i side a mist; people

  and I don't hear them; I can see their moutbs move, and I nod and smile, and then go away. ne air is hot and muggy and everything smells like hot metal. My bead aches, and the cook is clanging pans.

  what I dreamed of, and I can't. ncre s I'Pe tried all day to remember ear a battle, but I bave the onlygrayy and afeeling offear. I've never been n

  feeling that whatI'm dreaming of is cannon smoke."

  COUNCIL OF WAR

  AMIE CAME BACK from the Council of War,

  well after suppertime, and informed the men briefly of Tryon5s intent- The general response was approval, if not outright enthusiasm.

  "Ist gut we move now," said Ewald Mueller, stretching out his long arms and cracking all his knuckles simultaneously.

  growing moss!" "Longer we stay, we are This sentiment was greeted by laughter and nods of agreement. The mood of the company brightened noticeably at the prospect of action in the

  men settled down to talk around the fires, the rays of the setting s morning; ing off tin cups and the polished barrels of the muskets laid carefull un gfintfeet. y by their

  Jamie made a quick round of inspection, answering questions and adminis tering reassurances, then came to join me at our smaller fire. I looked at hi narrowly; in spite of the stress of the immediate situation, there was a sense in suppressed satisfaction about him that at once excited my suspicions. of

  "What have you done?" I asked, handing him a large chunk of bread and a bowl of stew.

  He didn't bother denying that he'd been doing something.

  "Got Cornell alone long enough after the Council, to ask him about Stephen Bonnet." He ripped off a chunk of bread with his teeth and swallowed it with the minimum of chewing. "Christ, I'm starved. I've not eaten all day, what,Ail creepin' through the brambles on my belly like a snake."

  "Surely Samuel Cornell wasn't hanging about in the brambles." Cornell was of the Governor's Royal Council, a stout and wealthy merchant f one

  Edenton, and grossly unsuited by position, build, and temperament f rom or snaking through brambles.

  "No, that was later." He swabbed the bread through the stew, took another enormous bite, then waved a hand, momentarily speechless. I handed him a cup of cider, which he used to wash down the mess.

  "We were searchin' out the Rebel lines," he explained, the obstruction cleared. "They're no far off, ken. Though 'lines' is giving them the benefit of considerable doubt," he added,

  scooping up more stew. "I've not seen such a rabble since I fought in France, and we took a village where a gang ol smugglers were. Half of them whoring and all of them drunk; we had t winethem up off the ground to arrest them. This lot's little better, o pick could see. Not so many whores, from what I rest of his bread into his mouth. though," he added, to be fair, and shoved the

  The Fiery Cross 565

  At least half the Governor's army was slightly the worse for drink at the Moment, but that was so usual a condition as not to call for comment. I gave Wm another piece of bread, concentrating on the important aspect of the conversation.

  "So you've found out something about Bonnet, then?" He nodded, chewed, and gulped.

  "Cornell's not met him, but he's heard talk. It seems he works his way up and down the Outer Banks for a bit, and then disappears for three or four ('Iuonths. Then suddenly, one day he'll be there again, drinking in the taverns in .Edenton or Roanoke, gold pieces spilling from his pockets."

  "So he's bringing in goods from Europe and selling them." Three or four Months was the time it would take to sail a ship to England and back. "Contraband, I suppose?"

  Jamie nodded.

  "Cornell thinks so. And d'ye ken where he brings the stuff ashore?" He wiped the back of a hand across his mouth, seeming grimly amused. "Wylie's Landing. Or so rumor says.11

  "What-you don't mean Phillip Wylie is in cahoots with him?" I was shocked-and rather distressed-to hear this, but Jamie shook his head.

  "As to that, I couldna say. But the Landing adjoins Phillip Wylie's plantation, to be sure. And the wee shite was wi' Bonnet the night he came to River Run, no matter what he may have said about it, later," he added. He flapped a hand, dismissing Phillip Wylie for the moment.

  1, "But Cornell says that Bonnet's disappeared again; he's been gone, this past month.
So my aunt and Duncan are likely safe enough, for the moment. That's one thing off my mind-and a good thing; there's enough to worry about without that."

  He spoke without irony, glancing round at the encampment that sprawled around us. As the light failed, the fires began to glow through the dimness of twilight, like hundreds of fireffies along the banks of Great Alamance.

  "Hermon Husband is here," he said.

  I looked up from the fresh bowl of stew I was dishing out. "Did you speak to him?"

  He shook his head.

  "I couldna go near. He's with the Regulators, ayeP I was on a wee hill, lookin' down across the stream, and saw him in the distance; he was in a great mass of men, but I couldna mistake his dress."

  "What will he do?" I handed him the full bowl. "Surely he won't fight-or allow them to fight." I was inclined to view Husband's presence as a hopeful sign. Hermon Husband was the closest thing the Regulators had to a real leader; they would listen to him, I was sure.

  Jamie shook his head, looking troubled.

  "I dinna ken, Sassenach. He willna take up arms himself, no-but as for the rest. . ." He trailed off, thinking. Then his face set in sudden decision. He handed me back the bowl, and turning on his heel, made his way across the camp.

  I saw him touch Roger on the shoulder, and draw him aside a little. They spoke together for a few moments, then Jamie reached into his coat, drew out

  566 Diana Gabaldon

  something white, and handed it to Roger. Roger looked at whatever it was for a moment, then nodded, and tucked it away in his own coat.

  Jamie clapped him on the shoulder, left him and came back across the camp, pausing to laugh and exchange rude remarks with the Lindsay brothers.

  He came back smiling, and took the bowl from me, seeming relieved.

  "I've told Roger Mac to go first thing in the morning, to find Husband," he said, setting about the stew with renewed appetite. "If he can, I've told him to bring Husband here-to speak face to face wi' Tryon. If he canna convince Tryon-which he can't-perhaps Tryon will convince Husband that he's in earnest. If Hermon sees that it will mean bloodshed, then perhaps he Will prevail upon his men to stand down."

  "Do you really think so?" It had rained lightly in the afternoon, and banks of cloud still covered the eastern sky The edges of those clouds glowed faintly red-not from the slanting rays of sunset, but from the fires of the Regulators, camped invisibly on the opposite bank of the Alamance.

  Jamie wiped his bowl and took a last bite of bread, shaking his head.

  "I dinna ken," he said simply. "But there's nothing else to try, is there?"

  I nodded, and stooped to put more wood on the fire. No one would sleep early tonight.

  The campfires had burned all day, smoking and sputtering in a light rain. Now, though, the drizzle had ceased and the clouds had parted, shredding into long, wispy mare's-tails that glowed like fire across the whole arc of the western sky, eclipsing the puny efforts of the earthbound flames. Seeing it, I put a hand on Jamie's arm.

  "Look," I said. He turned, wary lest someone had appeared at his heels with a fresh problem, but his face relaxed as I gestured upward.

  Frank, urged to look at some wonder of nature whilst preoccupied with a problem, would have paused just long enough not to seem discourteous, said, "Oh, yes, lovely, isn't it?" and returned at once to the maze of his thoughts. Jamie lifted his face to the glowing glory of the heavens and stood still.

  What is the matter with you? I thought to myself. Can't you let Frank Randall rest in peace?

  Jan-lie put an arm about my shoulders, and sighed.

  "In Scotland," he said, "the sky would be like lead all day, and even at the twilight, ye'd see no more than the sun sinking into the sea like a red-hot cannonball. Never a sky like this one is."

  "What makes you think of Scotland?" I asked, intrigued that his mind should run as mine did, on things of the past.

  "Dawn and twilight, and the season of the year," he said, and his wide mouth curled slightly upward in reminiscence. "Whenever there is a change in the air around me, it makes me think of what has been, and what is now. I dinna always do it in a house, but when I'm living rough, I'll often wake dreaming of folk I once knew, and then sit quiet in the twilight, thinking of other times and places." He shrugged a little. "So now the sun is going down, and it is Scotland in my mind."

  "Oh," I said, comforted at having such an explanation. "That must be it." "Must be what?" The setting sun bathed his face in gold, softening the lines of strain as he looked down at me.

  The Fiery Cross 567

  "I was thinking of other times and places, too," I said, and leaned my head against his shoulder. "Just now, though ... I can't think of anything but -Oh?- He hesitated for a moment, but then said, carefully, "I dinna much

  so much I can do to t niention it, Sassenach, for if the answer's 'yes,' there's nay

  Mend it-but do ye often long for ... the other time0" I heard them, Jamie's ", I waited for the space of three heartbeats to answer;

  heart beating slow under my ear, and I curled my left hand closed, feeling the

  51nooth metal of the gold ring on my finger.

  "No," I said, "but I remember thern.'

  ULTIMATUMS

  Great Alamancc Camp May 16tb 1771

  To the People now Assembled

  in Arms, who Style themselves Regulators

  that I have ever been In Answer to your Petition, I am to acquaint you

  attentive to the true Interest of this Country, and to that of every Individual residing within it. I lament the fatal Necessity to which you have now reduced me, by withdrawing yourselvesfrom the Mercy of the Crown, and the Laws ofyour Country, to require You are assembled as Regulators, to lay down your Arms, Surrender up the outlawed Ringleaders, and Submit yourselves to the Laws ofyour Country, and then rest on the lenity and Mercy of Government. By accepting these Terms in one Hourfrom the delivery of this Dispatch, you will prevent an effusion of Blood, as you arc at this time in a state of War and Rebellion against your King, your Country, and your Laws.

  Wm. Tryon

  JAMIE HA15 GONE before I woke; his blanket lay neatly folded beside me, and Gideon was gone from the pin-oak to which Jamie had tethered him the night before mor's Council of War," Kenny Lindsay "Colonel's gone to meet with the Gove

  568 Diana Gabaldon

  told me, yawning widely. He blinked, shaking himself like a wet dog. "Tea, ma'am, or coffee?"

  "Tea, please." I supposed it was the tenor of current events that was causing me to think of the Boston Tea Party. I couldn't recall for sure when that brouhaha and its subsequent events were due to occur, but had an obscure feeling that I ought to seize every opportunity of drinking tea while it was still obtainable, in hopes of saturating my tissues-like a bear tucking into the grubs and berries in anticipation of winter.

  The day had dawned still and clear, and while it was cool for the moment, there was already a hint of mugginess in the air from the rain the day before. I sipped my tea, feeling small tendrils of hair escape from bondage to curl round my face, sticking to my cheeks in the steam from my cup.

  Tissues restored for the moment, I fetched a couple of buckets and set off for the stream. I hoped it wouldn't be needed, but it would be as well to have a quantity of boiled sterile water on hand, just in case. And if it wasn't needed for medical purposes, I could finse my stockings, which were much in need of attention.

  Despite its name the Great Alamance was not a particularly impressive river, being no more than fifteen or twenty feet across for most of its length. It was also shallow, mud-bottomed, and kinked like a wool-raveling, with multiple small arms and tributaries that wandered all over the landscape. I supposed it was a decent military demarcation, though; while a body of men could certainly ford the stream without much trouble, there was no chance of them doing so by stealth.

  Dragonflies darted over the water, and over the heads of a couple of militiamen, chatting companionably as they re
lieved themselves into the murky waters of the stream. I paused tactfully behind a bush until they had left, reflecting as I made my way down the sloping bank with my buckets how fortunate it was that most of the troops would consider drinking water only if actually dying of dehydration.

  When I came back into camp, I found it wide awake, every man alert, if redeyed. The atmosphere was one of watchfiilness, though, rather than immediate battle-readiness, and there was no more than a general stir of interest when Jamie returned, Gideon threading his way past the campfires with surprising delicacy.

  "How is it, Mac Dubh?" Kenny asked, standing to greet him as Jamie reined up. "Anything ado?"

  Jamie shook his head. He was dressed with a neatness approaching severity, hair clubbed back, dirk and pistols fixed on his belt, sword at his side. A yellow cockade fixed to his coat was the only touch of decoration. Battle-ready, and a small ftisson crept up my spine at the thought.

  "The Governor's sent across his wee letter to the Regulators. Four sheriffs each took a copy; they're to read it out to every group they come across. We must just wait, and see what happens."

  I followed his glance toward the third campfire. Roger had likely left as soon as it was fight, before the camp woke.

  I had dumped the buckets into the kettle for boiling. I picked them up for another trip to the stream, when Gideon's ears pricked and he lifted his head

  The Fiery Cross 569

  suddenly, with a sharp whicker of greeting. Jamie instantly nudged the horse in front of me, and his hand dropped to his sword. My view was blocked by Gideon's enormous chest and withers; I couldn't see who was coming, but I did see Jamie's hand relax its grip on the sword-hilt as whoever it was came in sight. A friend, then.

  Or if not precisely a friend, at least someone he didn't mean to run through or hack out of the saddle. I heard a familiar voice, raised in greeting, and peered out from under Gideon's chin to see Governor Tryon riding across the small meadow, accompanied by two aides.

  Tryon sat his horse decently, if without great style, and was dressed as usual for campaigning, in a serviceable blue uniform coat and doeskin breeches, a yellow officer's cockade in his hat, and with one of the cavalry cutlasses called a hanger at his side-not for show; the hilt showed nicks and the scabbard was

  1 worn.

  Tryon pulled up his horse and nodded, touching his hat to Jamie, who did likewise. Seeing me lurking in Gideon's shadow, the Governor politely removed his cocked hat altogether, bowing from the saddle.

  "Mrs. Fraser, your servant." He glanced at the pails I held, then turned in his saddle, beckoning to one of the aides. "Mr. Vickers. Kindly help Mrs. Fraser, if you will."

  I surrendered the pails gratefully to Mr. Vickers, a pink-cheeked young man of eighteen or so, but instead of goingwith him, I simply directed him where to take them. Tryon raised one eyebrow at me, but I returned his expression of mild displeasure with a bland smile, and stood my ground. I wasn't going any where.

  He was wise enough to recognize that, and make no issue of my presence. Dismissing me instead from his cognizance, he nodded again to Jamie.

  "Your troops are in order, Colonel Fraser?" He glanced pointedly around. The only troops visible at the moment were Kenny, who had his nose buried in hi cup, and Murdo Lindsay and Geordie Chisholm, who were engaged in a vis

  cious game of mumblety-peg in the shadows of the copse. "Aye, sir."

  The Governor raised both brows in patent skepticism. "Call them, sir. I will inspect their readiness."

  Jamie paused for a moment, gathering up his reins. He squinted against the rising sun, evaluating the Governor's mount. "A nice gelding ye have there, sir. Is he steady?"

  "Of course." The Governor frowned. "Why?"

  Jamie threw back his head and gave a ululating Highland cry, of the sort meant to be heard over several acres of mountainside. The Governor's horse jerked at the reins, eyes rolling back. Militiamen poured out of the thicket, shrieking like banshees, and a black cloud of crows exploded from the trees above them like a puff of cannon smoke, raucous in flight. The horse reared, decanting Tryon in an undignified heap on the grass, and bolted for the trees on the far side of the meadow.

  I took several steps backward, out of the way.

  The Governor sat u Ip, purple-faced and gasping for breath, to find himself the center of a ring of grinning militiamen, all pointing their weapons at him.