The Sword of the Banshee (46 page)

“India!” Quinn called, chasing after her. “Wait!”

India was lost in her thoughts. She walked briskly out the door and down the road in the pouring rain. Quinn raced after her. He slipped in the mud as he grabbed her arm. “Don’t do it! It is suicide!”

The rain spattered India in the face as she looked up at Quinn. Like a sleep walker, she pulled her arm away and started walking again.

“If the British know you are Lady Fitzpatrick, they will hunt you down and crucify you.”

India continued to take long strides away from him. Suddenly Calleigh took her arms and turned her around to face him. The rain was soaking them both, and it was thundering. “Look at me,” he demanded.

“I am going to tell them,” she said.

“I forbid it!” he roared. “I have given you your way with everything,” Quinn exclaimed. “When you needed a gentle touch, I was gentle. When you needed me to move slowly, I moved slowly. When you needed to lead, I followed
.
God damn it, India, when it comes to your well- being,
I am in charge
.”

He took her face and bent her head back, kissing her fiercely. India struggled, but Quinn’s grip was like iron. For the first time, Quinn allowed the full measure of his passion to pass from his body into hers.

At last, he let her go and India staggered back several steps, staring at him. She put her hands to her face astonished. She had never felt such intensity of emotion from anyone, and it startled her.

Thunder rumbled and Quinn turned on his heel, disappearing down the road.

Chapter 37

The next morning, the Overmountain Men received word that the Cherokees were raiding neighboring settlements, and they left Munroville immediately. It was no surprise that once the snow melted, the warfare resumed. Quinn and Ian went with them.

India was up all night tossing and turning. On two occasions, she left the wagon and walked the deer path by the stream. Until last night, the Revolution had been her only reason for living, but now Quinn was back.
Should I risk it all for the Revolution? Would revealing my identity motivate the Overmountain Men or bring on needless danger?
She rubbed her forehead and paced again
. The gamble is great, and the stakes are high now that happiness is a possibility once more.

When she heard the news that Quinn was gone, she left the tavern feeling sick to her stomach. After the heavy rain last night the road was muddy, and she picked up her skirts walking out onto the bridge. Even though Quinn’s words and actions confused her, the intensity of his passion last night on the road told her he was sincere.

India looked at the stream and her throat tightened. She thought of their idyllic days on the Brandywine River. She could see Phineas fishing and feel Quinn pull on her apron strings as she passed by him. She remembered the scent of fresh cut timber that lingered at the mill and felt the cool breeze on her face by the river.
Was all that possible again
? The agony of losing her bid for happiness was great.

Thoughts about her future were pushed aside when the women of the community asked Lucretia and India for help guarding and maintaining their homes. Several men, including Algernon, were left to insure the safety of Munroville, but the absence of the majority of males during spring planting presented a problem. Over the next month, India and Lucretia would roll up their sleeves and travel from cabin to cabin helping with childcare and housekeeping while the women of the settlement worked in the fields plowing and planting. It was demanding work and everyone was on edge watching the woods for Cherokee. India fell into bed each night too exhausted to worry or even consider her future.

When the men finally returned, the Calleigh brothers were not among them. The Overmountain men said they had business at Sycamore Shoals and did not know when they would return. They also brought word that there had been a bloodbath at a settlement called Waxhaw. The British butcher Tarleton had been victorious over the patriots there in battle and had given little quarter to the men, slaughtering most of those captured.

India’s breathing quickened. 

“Was anyone taken prisoner?” she asked her hands in fists.

“Not many,” was the reply.

She bit her lip and tried to control her breathing
. Perhaps Phineas wasn’t there, or if he was, he had escaped
. The Overmountain men looked at her strangely. They had never seen this Irishwoman show any kind of emotion. India left the tavern, slamming the door behind her.

That evening, Reverend Lamb told her that the Hennessey twins were in a town on the North Carolina coast called Bath and requested a meeting with her. India jumped at the idea. They may have news of Phineas.

The next morning, Algernon and Lucretia climbed onto the wagon, and India mounted her horse. They were headed once more for the Carolina coast. India was happy to be leaving Munroville. The antipathy of the Overmountain men was starting to wear on her, and she looked forward to seeing her old friends again, Prudence and Penelope. Lucretia was relieved to be leaving as well. Her time for confinement was drawing near, and she wanted to be near familiar faces.

It was approaching midsummer by the time they arrived in Bath, North Carolina. It was a quiet port on the Ocracoke Inlet near the Pamlico River surrounded by tobacco plantations. The town was small but thriving with a grist mill, shipyard and a school.

The Hennessey twins were staying right in town at the home of a friend. He was an officer in the Continental Army and currently in the field. It was the largest home in Bath, a dark, imposing residence built more in the style of New England dwellings, a stark oblong structure with clapboard siding, shutters and two stone fireplaces. The rooms were small with dusty faded carpets and aging Chippendale furnishings.

The gloomy surroundings appealed to the eccentric twins. “We positively love it here,” gushed Prudence when they arrived. She had not changed. She was still cloaked in her Diviner’s robe. After the dogs settled down and quit barking, she added, “It is absolutely crawling with spirit life.”

Algernon put the bags down and looked around. Lucretia looked out the window at a circle of stones and a fire pit near the tree line. “May we have a Diviner’s meeting tonight?” she asked.

“Of course. That would be delightful,” Prudence said, and she looked at Lucretia’s belly. “We have to prepare for your little one as well.”

Penelope stepped up and put her hand on India’s cheek. “You look tired, dear.”

“I have some things to discuss with you,” India said, nodding. Penelope had been right. She had lost weight, and there were dark rings under her eyes.

After they bathed and ate supper, Algernon and Lucretia excused themselves and went upstairs to prepare for the bonfire. India and the twins moved into the drawing room for coffee and cake. The Hennessey women always had to have a sweet after supper.

The drawing room was one of the nicer and newer rooms of the house with dark green wainscoting and pumpkin colored drapes. The twins sat side by side on a leather settee eating dainties. They discussed with India the details of the expanded network that was necessary in the South now that the British had shifted their campaign.

“Our Continental Army is faltering,” Penelope said. “It will be mainly a partisan war from now on and that is where we come in.”

India agreed. She listened to their news from General Gates, and then they explained new and completely astonishing ideas for sabotage and harassment techniques from poison to homemade explosives. As usual, she was astounded.
How did these harmless looking old ladies devise such deadly strategies?
India looked up nervously at the ceiling. She wondered, for a moment, if the spirits were indeed guiding these two.

“Now dear, if you are in agreement, we will send out runners tonight and start to employ these strategies,” Prudence said.

“Yes, ladies, these are truly brilliant ideas,” said India.

They smiled sweetly at her as if she had just complimented their cake.

“Have you heard anything about Phineas? Was he at Waxhaw?” India asked, anxiously.

The twins looked at each other and shook their heads apologetically. “We don’t know, dear but we will put a trace on him starting tonight.”

India swallowed hard and nodded. “I would appreciate it.”

The twins watched her closely. They knew something else was bothering her.

“There is something else that I must discuss with you,” India said with a sigh, and she rubbed her forehead. “It is a dilemma that I am having. It is regarding my true identity and whether to reveal it or not. I am unsure whether it will help motivate followers or simply create unnecessary risk. You see back in Ireland my name was--”

Prudence interrupted. “We know dear who you are and what you did back home.”

India’s jaw dropped. “That I was leader of a rebellion?”

They nodded.

“Did Quinn tell you?”

“Who?” Penelope asked.

“She is referring to Mr. Calleigh, I believe,” explained Prudence, cocking her head and smiling at India.

“Don’t try to tell me the spirits informed you,” India exclaimed.

Their eyebrows shot up. “Why yes. That’s right,” Prudence said with pride. “They did!”

India sighed and nodded, deciding to hold her tongue about the spirits. “I thought perhaps, you ladies may be able to shed some light on this for me.”

They blinked at her innocently for a moment.

“We are flattered that you are consulting us,” Penelope said, bending down and picking up one of the little dogs. “It is, of course, for you to decide. Is it a risk worth taking? Do you think you still have the power to inspire?”

“Let the spirits tell you,” said Prudence. “They will know.”

India nodded her head and sat quietly for a moment her eyes on the carpet. At last she looked up and said, “I believe the spirits have been telling me what to do all along. Friday next, I will make the announcement in Munroville.”

*            *           *

Shortly after their discussion, India retired to her bed chamber. She was tired and relieved that at last she had made the decision. She knew that she could never live with herself if she did not exhaust every possibility to win this war, even if it was a futile attempt which risked her life.

She undressed behind an Oriental screen and put on an indigo blue silk dressing gown that she found in the mahogany wardrobe. Just as she was about to crawl into bed, she noticed the glow of a fire outside her window.

India walked to the window seat and sat down, looking at the clearing toward the back of the house that had a fire pit. Algernon, Lucretia, Prudence, and Penelope stood by the fire holding hands. Their eyes were closed, and they appeared to be chanting something. India noticed that as they chanted, the fire would leap suddenly high into the night sky as if some unseen force fueled it and gave it energy. And then, just as fast, it would drop back to its former height. The Diviner’s did not appear to have anything to do with it. They had not unclasped their hands to add fuel or tossed salts on to it. India gazed in wonder at the phenomenon. It raised the hair on her arms, and she was reminded once more of the blaze long ago at Cragmere Ruins when she was a child. It seemed like bonfires accompanied all the great moments of her life. She let the drapes drop over the window to darken the room and crawled into bed.

*           *            *

Lucretia and Algernon elected to stay in Bath until the baby was born, but India decided to return to Munroville as soon as possible. Now that she had made up her mind, she was determined to move forward to try to enlist the aid of the Overmountain men once more. She stayed two days in Bath laying down plans with the Hennesseys and training the local partisans so they were ready for Cornwallis when he swept to the north. Everything must be in place before she went back into the mountains.

Two men volunteered to escort India back to Munroville. They were all on horseback which made the trip considerably shorter. There was no wagon lumbering over rough roads and there no fears about taxing Lucretia’s strength.

India enjoyed the company of the two militiamen who accompanied her. They were friendly, outgoing tobacco farmers born who were raised along the North Carolina coast. They shared a multitude of interesting stories with her and were considerably different in attitude from the surly and insular Overmountain men of the high country.

When they reached Munroville, India had only a few hours to rest before her meeting took place. The couriers sent out by the Hennesseys had been there just two days ago informing the Overmountain folk that she was on her way to share important news from the Low Country.

India stayed with Reverend Lamb and his family. After a short rest, she bathed, pulled on a gold print gown over a clean shift, and tied her hair into a knot. It was imperative that she dress simply and modestly when she addressed the group. She looked at her face in a cracked mirror in the bedroom and remembered the fancy dress wigs she had worn at Ballydunne. Much had happened since those days. Her life had taken a course she had never anticipated.