Blackbird

by Henderson, Nancy

  Robert nodded, and Katherine breathed a sigh of relief. Thomas had always been a trusted, dear friend in whom she could confide her dreams and secrets. Everything about him unsettled her now, especially the way he had looked at her, the hatred in his eyes right before he had slapped her. Pratt’s men had asked if she had wanted him locked up, but she had said no.

  However, she now feared him. She had been wrong about Thomas. She had been wrong about everyone.

  Except Adahya.

  Robert tugged on her sleeve, the candle lamp he carried swaying nervously. “The guards went to the privy. We have to hurry.”

  Taking the lamp, Katherine held his hand as they hurried out to the parade grounds.

  Robert pointed to a small plank building which served as a storehouse. “They’re in there.”

  Katherine pushed the door open and crept inside. The room was dark, save for a betty lamp on the wall. It cast eerie shadows that seemed to dance in time with her heartbeat. The air inside was musty and cold, and her lungs tightened with every breath. She hated to think of Adahya here, to think that he night be hurt or lonely or worried for her.

  Or angry with her.

  She rounded the corner to find a single narrow jail cell. Robert said Adahya and Joshua were in the same cell, but it was so small, so dark. She did not see how one could fit comfortably, much less three.

  Joshua rushed to the bars, his entire face one large bruise. Both eyes were nearly swollen shut, and the corner of his mouth was crusted with blood. “Kate, thank the lord. Robert said you would come, and I knew you’d make them see reason!”

  Katherine did not know how he could talk from the swelling. “Who did this to you?”

  A movement in the dark corner of the cell caught her attention.

  Once, so long ago, she would have liked nothing better than to have Joshua this happy to see her. Now she looked past him to the man who was chained the wall.

  As if depicting the crucifixion, his arms were stretched out and bound to the wall with iron shackles. She had never seen anyone in chains, and the image was both shocking and disturbing. She recalled being tied to the village burning stakes and the fear that went with it.

  Frantically, she fumbled with the keys Robert had given her and unlocked and removed the mammoth padlock from the door. It creaked in protest as Joshua forced it open.

  “Robert’s outside waiting,” she told Joshua, her eyes never leaving Adahya. “Hurry.”

  “Kate, tell me you don’t actually care about that man.”

  Ignoring him, Katherine ran to Adahya and threw her arms around his neck. “I was so worried. You’d been gone so long, and I looked for you everyday--”

  She felt every muscle in his body tense. “You should not have come here, Katherine.”

  “But I had no choice--”

  “I forbade it, Katherine!”

  Katherine refused to cower. She knew what Adahya thought. He thought she had come here because she was in love with Joshua. He still did not trust her.

  He was looking at her as if he expected her to apologize. She would not allow him to make her feel ashamed. Joshua was her friend, and she had come to his aid, regardless that he had not done the same for her. She had done nothing to break her vows to Adahya, and she would not be ashamed.

  She stepped back from him. “When we married, you promised to trust me.”

  “Katherine, you could have been in great danger here! You could have been killed!”

  “But I wasn’t.”

  Joshua gave a loud sigh. “Kate, tell me you don’t love this savage.”

  Katherine stared at Joshua. Then turned back to Adahya.

  Yes, she did love this man. She supposed she had loved him from the moment she had shown him how to kiss. She had not known it then, of course, but she knew it now.

  She also knew love was not perfect. It was not the ideal state where problems and arguments did not exist. She and Adahya still had their challenges. Their life was not without problems, and their relationship had obstacles. But that was what life was all about. They would always have difficulties, but they would work through them together. Because there was love.

  Yes, she loved Adahya. She loved him for everything he was. She loved him for his brothers who did not understand her, for his mother who hated her, for his beliefs on warfare that went against her. She loved him. All of him, good and bad. And she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

  She locked her gaze with Adahya’s eyes which were now a part of her heart. “Yes, I do love Adahya. More than anything in the world.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  “REDCOATS are coming!” Robert’s voice echoed from outside. “Kate, hurry!”

  Katherine scrambled with the keys and quickly unlocked Adahya’s chains. He grabbed her hand and led her toward the parade grounds.

  “Halt right there!”

  The fort was sparsely garrisoned, but it seemed as if every redcoat in the fort had cornered them.

  Joshua raised his arms in surrender. “Let the Mohawk go. It’s me you want. The others can go free.”

  Adahya stepped toward Lieutenant Pratt, but a redcoat jabbed the barrel of a musket into his side and forced him back.

  “Pratt, you know me.” Adahya raised his voice above the commotion. “You can trust my loyalty to you. Let me take Knox to Butler. I can be at Fort Niagara in a fortnight.”

  “No, I will stay here!” Joshua interrupted. “Just let them all go. Please.”

  “Release him to me,” Adahya said, “and I will bring you the names and locations of three Colonial officials who plot against you.”

  Joshua raised his voice in desperation. “Lieutenant, please, let them go unharmed. Let Katherine and the Mohawk--”

  “The savage isn’t going anywhere!” Thomas pushed his way through the crowd. Without warning, he snatched one of the soldier’s muskets and pointed it straight at Adahya.

  “No!” Katherine yelled and then let out a hearty scream.

  It all happened so fast. Too fast for anyone to do anything to take it back.

  Katherine lunged for the weapon, but a redcoat grabbed her around the waist and held her back.

  Joshua threw himself in front of Adahya. The musket exploded. Smoke and sulfur cut the dead night air. Adahya caught Joshua as he fell.

  With a look of horror, Thomas threw the gun at one of the redcoats and ran.

  Katherine rushed to Joshua’s side. It looked as if his entire chest had exploded, and she wondered by what miracle he could still be alive. She pulled him onto her lap, cradled his head in her arms.

  His eyes were dazed as he looked up at her, as if he could not believe what had just happened to him. He opened his mouth, and a gurgling sound escaped. “K-Kate.”

  “Don’t try to talk.” She smoothed the thick blonde hair from his forehead, his face quickly becoming a blur from her tears.

  Joshua raised his hand, and she gripped it tightly. “It’s enough, Kate.”

  “What? What is?”

  “A-all of it. It’s gone. The mission. M-my work. But it’s enough.” He coughed, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. “With God it’s enough.”

  “Oh, Joshua.”

  He closed his eyes, and for a moment, Katherine thought he had died. She felt Adahya’s strong grip on her shoulder, and she clutched his hand.

  Joshua slowly opened his eyes. “K-Kate?”

  “I’m here.”

  His blue eyes were clouded, and Katherine wondered if he was still able to see her face. “Kate?”

  “Yes?”

  “Go with him.” he pointed a trembling finger to Adahya. “You deserve to be happy.”

  Reverend Joshua Knox closed his eyes for the last time.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  KATHERINE, Adahya, and Robert had delivered Joshua’s body to his final resting place in Albany, and saw him laid to rest beside Katherine’s mother.

  Joshua’s entire congregation from Albany had attended
the services, as had countless Patriot officials and colonial militiamen. There were even a few Oneidas. Joshua was a hero in everyone’s eyes. In death he was a martyr to the church, and an inspiration to the Patriots. His work would live in their hearts not as an act of treason to the Mother Country but as one man trying to make a difference, trying to make a better way for the next generation.

  After the funeral as Katherine was laying wildflowers at the graves of Joshua and her mother, she had seen Thomas standing in the distance. He had not approached anyone, but stood far away as if to remain unseen. And then he disappeared.

  Through it all, Adahya had been her rock. She knew he was uncomfortable there, especially around her father who had treated him with silent indifference. To his credit, Adahya said nothing. He was like a fish out of water in her world, but the strangest thing was it no longer seemed like her world. Everything had changed. She had changed. All because of Adahya.

  Now, as they slowly made their way through the forest, back to Adahya’s people--her people now--Adahya clasped her hand with his and held it to his chest. She felt his heart beat steady and strong.

  “Are you all right?” He had been deathly quiet all morning, and this was the first time he had spoken in what seemed like hours.

  Katherine nodded. “I’m going to miss Robert.” The boy had chosen to stay with Katherine’s father and help with his congregation, as he had done before Joshua brought him to the frontier. “I just want to go home. With you.”

  Adahya wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. She tangled her arms around his neck, buried her face in the warm, familiar sanctuary he offered. All around them the forest birds sung, and she wondered if they had ever sounded sweeter. She knew that this was the closest thing to heaven on earth.

  When he released her, he was smiling. “Do you know where we are, Chogan?”

  Katherine glanced around. Their surroundings were the same as they had been for miles: ferns, pine, birch all colored by the oranges, reds, and yellows of the birth of autumn.

  “Should I know?”

  “I would hope so.”

  She looked around again, completely puzzled. When she glanced back at Adahya, he was grinning.

  “It was in this very spot that a chattering blackbird taught a bitter warrior how to kiss a lady.”

  Katherine looked at him with surprise, and the warmth of memory surged through her. She had been so innocent then, so nervous. If only she had known then how wonderfully things would turn out.

  He stepped toward her, his face only inches from her own. “Close your eyes.”

  “But I won’t be able to see you.”

  “That’s the idea.”

  He kissed her slowly, fully, promising a life time of love. An unending peace enveloped her as he tightened his embrace under the canopy of autumn leaves.

  “I love you,” she whispered as he released her.

  “And I love you, Chogan.”

  He took her hand, wove their fingers together, and slowly led her toward home.

  “Maybe we could find the place where we swam together.”

  “I swam.” His grin was teasingly wicked. “You almost drowned.”

  She laughed, and then walked in silence for a long while.

  Her thoughts remained on that day. She wondered if she would have loved him this much had she agreed to stay with him when he first offered so long ago. “Adahya?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Maybe after we swim, you can ask me again to be yours forever.”

  He scowled, yet there was playfulness in his expression. “I do not remember saying exactly that.”

  “No, but you could say it, just the same.”

  Adahya suddenly made a sweeping bow before her. At first, she thought he was making fun of her, but he bent on one knee, took her hands in his and kissed her palms. “Katherine St. James would you be Adahya’s forever?”

  “Forever and a day,” she laughed, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

  Somewhere in the forest a blackbird called out to echo that promise.

  THE END

  About the author:

  Nancy Henderson writes romance of all genres. Please check out her website at: http://www.always-a-story.com

  Other books by Nancy Henderson:

  Shadow’s Promise, historical romance

  Four Winds, historical romance

  Bounty, historical romance

  Stranger in His Bed, historical romance

  Litterboxes and Hairballs: My Life with Cats, A collection of short humor stories about life and cat ownership

  For a complete listing of Nancy’s books, please visit her website at: http://www.always-a-story.com

  Or her Amazon page:

  http://www.amazon.com/Nancy-Henderson/e/B002BLZZZG

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  Thanks for reading!