The Sailor, The Mohawk, & The Giant Malamute

Manniakuni was the daughter of a Monsey chief and an Oneidas princess of the Iroquois nation. One of the counter raids by the Monseys, or Minisinks had her father see and take hostage her mother during a raid. Manniakuni was born the next spring and was the pride of her father. He taught her all the skills a man would teach a son since no other children were born for years after. She spent most of her time with her father, learning the bow and the spear. By 10 she was as good as any boy her age with a bow.

     Minisinks were the mountainous brothers of the turtle tribe to their east, close to the water. The Dutch traders gave the Delaware tribes guns to increase the beaver pelts that could be shipped to England and Amsterdam for making hats, all the rage in Europe at the time. But, by 1702, when Manny was born, the beaver population had been over-harvested and the Delaware tribes of Turkeys, Turtles, and Wolves were in decline. Many of the Lenni Lenape had moved west to continue in the fur trade, but her family had returned to the ancient practice of growing maze. This was not lucrative, but it did feed the tribe and some was held back to sell to the Dutch traders in Trenton for shipment back to the Netherlands. Once the fields were cleared by the men, the women of the village would plant, cultivate, and harvest the corn. The men hunted by gathering in large groups and banging thigh bones in their palms to drive animals into the river for easy capturing.

     At 12, Manny was quite able to speak Dutch, something she learned from a priest at the local mission. She would go to Trenton to help negotiate the prices they got for the maze. Fall of 1714 she went to the market as usual when a certain Isaac Vries decided to add her to his shipment back to Amsterdam. Two of his men grabbed her and several others held the three women with her at bay while she was kidnapped. The women wept as they saw their beloved Manniakuni being drug up onto the ship moments before sailing.

     The men objected, but gold soon quieted them down. Isaac had her brought to his cabin thinking she would help pass the time on the trip home. He had just the buyer in mind that would pay top dollar for an exotic young woman in a city of blonde Nordic women that looked much alike. There was a loud commotion at the door as she anticipated what was coming next and had used a knife of one of his men to stab both men, one in the throat and the other in the belly. The door flew open as all three tumbled through the doorway. The men fell to the floor clasping their wounds and she rolled onto her feet with the knife in her throwing hand and eyeing Isaac’s forehead. He raised his hands in the air and pleaded for mercy in a sneering manner he approached all transactions. He was 45, overweight, and drank way too much for his own good. He’d be good looking for his age if he didn’t carry so much weight around. She told him that the knife was not balanced right for throwing, but it would sink into his head at this distance quite nicely all the same. He was surprised twice, once for her knowledge of knives and second that she could speak Dutch so fluently. He settled back in his chair and poured two drinks, pushing one to her side of the table.

     She waited for the two men to crawl out the door to tend to their wounds then closed it gently and turned back to Isaac. As she sat down across from him the knife was slipped into her belt in such a way as to allow easy access. The two of them sat quietly sizing up the other in a calculating way. Finally he asked if she had had any rum before. She said she had not had any fire water since it was strictly forbidden in her village after some ugly fights had broke out between members of the tribe while they were drunk. He leaned over and pushed the glass closer to her side of the table. She shook her head and started to look around the room. In the small room: there was a bed wide enough for two against the wall, a table and three chairs, a lantern hanging on the wall, a small porthole on the far side of the room, a large trunk in the corner, and half a dozen bags of various sizes at the foot of the bed. He asked if the accommodations were adequate. She said “for what?” “Living quarters of course.” “For me?” “For us.” “ No us.” “You’ll adjust or I’ll throw you into the sea and no one will say a thing to me for doing so.” She fingered the handle of the knife as she wondered what the men would do if she killed their captain. He saw her fingering the knife and changed the subject to the price of maze in Trenton, and how it had shot up in the last month. She stood quietly letting the tension continue. Finally he told her that the only other quarters for the journey was below deck with the crew and several of his men or in the hold of the ship with the pelts and rats and spiders from the banana plantations of the Dutch West Indies. When she said she’d prefer the hold he went on to describe one other companion down below, the corral snake with venom that could kill in seconds and were so small one wouldn’t know it was close until it bit. The snake talk did the trick.  She walked over to the bags and started looking through them until she found a couple of blankets which she quickly spread on the floor as far away from the bed as possible and sat down on top as if to say that would be her bed for the voyage. He was in no hurry to find out how good she was with a knife and decided to finish the evening drinking instead of pushing her any further. She felt trapped and got depressed and quit talking. He spent the rest of the evening drinking into a stupor. He had succeeded in getting her to stay in his cabin, which was a victory all by itself. He was quite satisfied with the evening’s progress, figuring there would plenty of time to get his way later in the voyage, maybe he could arrange to “save” her from the crew. He was good at deception and thought it would be easy to arrange an attack where he comes along to save from a horrible fate at the hands of a cruel crew. When he started snoring, barely sitting in the chair, she finally relaxed enough to lie down on the blankets. The blankets were rough and the floor uneven so falling asleep was a problem. She kept waking up with a start thinking she was home and not recognizing her surroundings. She wondered how long she could hold out in a determined struggle with a man twice her weight without a knife to equal the odds.

     Morning came, and she was sore where veer a part of her had touched the floor. She was too stubborn to show the pain though preferring to seem unaffected by the hard sleeping arrangement. He had a head ache that made him sorry he had drank so much, it wasn’t like being dead would be any more painful. He looked over at her and she turned away. He didn’t care since his head gave him something more important to think about than some Indian girl in his cabin. There was a knock at the door and the first mate entered asking if he could do anything for him. The first mate looked over at Mannikuni as if she should be on the captain’s bed, not the floor. But he said nothing and waited for instructions from the captain. Finally the captain grunted the word later and the door closed quickly, once again leaving the two of them looking anywhere but at each other. Isaac finally asked her what she thought the next few months would be like on the voyage to Amsterdam. She said she hadn’t given it much thought, since it was two days ago she was in her village seeing to the needs of her family. He looked away knowing she had every right to still be in her village seeing to the needs of her family. But now you are a hostage and as such need to decide how best to survive the journey to Europe. She didn’t think it was a matter of surviving but rather whether she would submit to the desires of a cruel captain and an even worse crew. She said she would rather die than submit to any advances he may make. He assured her she was worth more than any nights of fancy would cost if it meant her not finishing the voyage. She said he should keep that in mind as the weeks pass by with no other encouragement to justify keeping her alive. He laughed that she was so cavalier about her fate. He admired this girl of 12 and wondered what her father must be thinking right now. Did the father know she was still in control of her destiny, days after he lost her. Isaac thought her training was a good one, since neither he or his crew had gotten what they wanted from her so far.

     Weeks went by, and still, Manniakuni kept her poise and regal bearing. A bed had been brought to Isaac’s cabin and a blanket used to divide the room into thirds. One third was for him, one third for her, and one third for the two to share the table and water basin that was set up on the table next to a portal. Isaac had stopped thinking of her as his personal property at this point and looked forward to their talks in the evenings after he left the bridge. The men were confused by his behavior, since they were a definite part of the abduction. They still obeyed their captain but they saw changes in him that were disturbing in that he seemed nicer and more tolerant than before. Then there was the matter of the Indian princess calling the shots as far as saying what is what in the cabin.

     He asked her about the history of her tribe, and she was happy to tell him about the Oneidas tribe of the Iroquois nation. She was proud of being part of the Iroquois Confederacy, and knew well the power of the Confederacy and how they made other tribes pay tribute after defeating them in battle. Her father was a Monsey (Minisink) and was the warrior tribe of the Lenni Lenape that the Dutch called the Delaware. Minisinks were warriors and her father was no exception. Just the fact that he was part of a war party that attacked the Iroquois in reprisal for an earlier raid on a Monsey village, proved he was brave and worthy of her love and admiration. Her mother had fought when he entered the teepee during the raid. Later he said it was both her beauty and the fight she gave him that made up his mind to take for his bride. Years after the abduction her father wore scars from her fingernails in that fight. He called them “love marks.” Her mother told her from when she was little that men were beasts and were as dangerous as any creature that walked the forest floor. Men would respect her for what they were afraid of not what they thought she wanted. She would have to learn how to train men to do whatever she wanted them to do. It was dangerous, hard, exhausting work but the alternative was dishonor or worse. She thought her mother was wise and listened to every piece of advice she was given. Her father told her men were like beasts and that the only thing they respected was strength and honor. The trick would be for a woman to show both and avoid getting killed in the process of doing so.

     After a couple of months, Manny wanted to go on deck for some fresh air. The room had become somewhat aromatic even with daily chamber pot emptying. She told him that she was going on deck and he said nothing he figured it would be an even match, a small 12 year old girl and a crew of blood thirsty sailors with one thing on their minds. He decided to stay in the cabin so as not have to punish her for whatever she ended up doing to the crewmembers. It would be their word against hers and he could say there was no proof on either side of the controversy. Besides he was more than a little interested in how she would fare, since he had personally decided that she was too dangerous for him to try anything. He knew there were criminals of all sorts on his crew, it was understood when you sign men up in ports of call there are always pasts no one will talk about.

     Manny woke up early with a bad case of cabin fever. She threw the blankets off and got up. Washing her face in the bowl and looking in the mirror she noticed Isaac watching her from his bed. She told him she was going up on deck now, and he said that he could not provide for her safety if she did so. She said she didn’t need a man to protect her. Then she pulled out four knives from under her deer skin skirt and tested the edges of each one with piece of leather. All but one slid through the tough leather with ease. The dull one was carefully sharpened with a stone from her pouch for 10 minutes or so then the test, which it passed. With a smile she slipped two of the knives inside her knee high boots, the other two went inside her vest and disappeared instantly from view. With the knives out of sight she looked like an innocent 12 year old girl again. Isaac pitied the first fool to grab her thinking he was in for a good time.

     Manny slowly made her way down the hall that led to the ladder. A cabin boy carrying fresh bedding hurried by too busy to even look at her. At the foot of the ladder she could hear the shouting of orders above to trim that sail or move that pinning. She took a deep breath and started up the ladder to the deck. She poked her head up and looked around. There were at least 20 sailors in the immediate area, all but two of which were busy working. Those saw her at once and began whispering to each other. The crew had discussed the girl many times but couldn’t decide if she was fair game or not. The captain hadn’t said anything either way. A woman on board was historically considered bad news. A hostage was typically for the taking. The word was that the captain was not partaking of her charms, there fore the crew should have their due.

     The two men came over to talk to Manny. They asked what her name was and told her that she shouldn’t be up on deck, that it was dangerous with the sails and ropes being worked in the morning. The bigger man offered to walk her back to her cabin. His name was Pierre, a helmsman out of Marseille, that didn’t take the helm for another two hours. His buddy was one of the night pit crew just getting off work. She said she just came from the cabin and needed some fresh air. Pierre said he knew a place out of the way where she could get some air and not get hurt by things swinging around on the deck. She said she could find a safe place on her own and stepped to a place that seemed out of the way, unfortunately it was also to the side where few crew could see. The crew were now looking to see where she went, since she was out of sight all of a sudden. They all knew Pierre and had seen him attack women in ports all over the world. They just assumed he would attack her as well and went back to doing their work.

     With his buddy acting as lookout, Pierre closed in on Manny in among the tied off ropes and lines. He mumbled something about two hours before he had to report to the bridge, and stepped up, till he was towering over her and grabbed her shoulders and arms in a steel grip, his rum soaked breath coming down on her face like a north wind. Manny raised her feet off the deck causing him to adjust for her additional weight at an awkward angle. Then she raised her arms straight out which caused him to lose his grip on her shoulders. She dropped to her knees in front of the big man. He reached for her head, commanding her to hold still or he would hurt her. His buddy said to hurry up that he wanted some company as well. Pierre told him to shut up or he wouldn’t get any of the fun. Just as his hands closed in on her head she clasped her hands together and with all her might slammed him in the groin as hard as she could. Pierre screamed in pain and fell to the deck, holding himself and cursing that he would make her pay for doing that to him. His buddy charged at her and she drove her index and middle fingers of her right hand into his eyes before he could stop his forward progress. Then he too was writhing on the deck screaming and cursing. By this time, Pierre had recovered enough to grab her from behind and whisper in her ear he would strangle her when he was done with her. She twisted around to face him and while doing so pulled one of the knives from her vest, keeping it close to her side. He started to rip her vest off, when the blade slipped into his solar plexus and headed for his heart. By the time, he figured out what was happening the blade was piercing both ventricles. He started to say something, but had lost his ability to speak, so he stared at her as he slid to the deck dead long before his body came to a rest. Pulling the knife out quickly she reused it immediately, plunging it into the left side of his buddy’s chest who was still crying about his eyes. By the time she twisted and jerked the blade back out and wiped it on his shirt he too couldn’t speak or move for that matter. She stood up checked herself for blood. Sure enough her deerskin vest and pants were soaked to the point there was very little tan color left on her front side. She slipped back to the ladder and went back to the cabin where Isaac was still in bed. He smiled when she came in still dripping with blood. He asked if she was able to get any fresh air, completely ignoring the blood soaked clothes. She said it was nice but still needed to try again before sundown. Apparently, the crew is busy in the early morning and maybe later it wouldn’t be so crowded, up there.

     By the time Isaac made it up on deck, the crew were standing around the two dead men. Isaac asked if anyone saw anything. Several said they saw Pierre and his friend talking to the Indian girl, then all three were out of sight. The next thing anyone saw or heard was Pierre screaming and then nothing. Isaac asked if anyone saw what happened. When no one spoke up he declared their deaths as accidental and said there would be a service for them in an hour. Only four men showed up for the service, Pierre wasn’t much for making friends. When finished, the two men were released to the sea in sail cloth and tied with rope. The service was short and sweet. Later that day she returned to the deck.

     Her cleaned clothes were hanging up, all signs of the event were gone and it was almost dry. Her change of clothes were for colder weather, so she was sweating by the time she felt sea wind hit her face. Only six men were on the deck at the time and none would look at her. This was just fine with her as she walked along the upper deck behind the tired helmsman, having worked the night before. She was a little surprised at the speed the ship was moving in the heavy seas. She stared at the foamy water, wondering what was below the surface she saw. For the next two weeks she went on board two to three times a day without any further problems. The crew actually talked to her in polite talk when it was appropriate to speak. Still no one actually stopped to talk to her.

     Halfway across the Atlantic Ocean, crews celebrate safe voyage to that point and pray for the second half to go well too. Actually, the celebrating plays a much bigger part in the ceremonies than the praying. So after a couple of hours, all the men are in a party mood and looking for something to do to mark the occasion. It was dusk and Manniakuni was getting dressed to go up on deck when Isaac said maybe she should pass on tonight’s routine of deck walking. She asked why and he told her there are a lot of drunken men up there right now and it’s best to let a sleeping dog lie. She asked what sleeping dogs have to do with going on board. He said they’re drunk, I already told you. Manny just went on dressing without a word. As she closed the door to the cabin, she heard hooting and hollering from down below as men shouted out their drunken state. She hesitated for a moment thinking about what the captain had said, but decided the men wouldn’t try anything after the Pierre incident.

     Just as she reached the foot of the ladder, men were coming up the hall and men were coming down the ladder at the same time, all of them drunk. The resulting congestion put her in among two dozen men that haven’t been in any port for months. The inevitable happened. One of the men asked if she wanted to have a drink and shoved a bottle of rum in her face. She said no thank you, but the man kept trying to pour some down her throat. She was pressed between all the men in a way that didn’t allow anyone to back and let her by. But in their drunken state they saw her still standing there as an invitation to include her in the festivities and now three or four men were rubbing up against her and soon a hand from the side slipped under her top and she yelled for them to remove their hand. When it didn’t move but rather continue to snake its way towards her breasts she screamed and dropped to the floor. The men that were pressed against her slammed into each other and all of a sudden she was on the floor with the hand still stubbornly clamped onto her. She leaned over and sunk her teeth into the arm that was attached to the offending hand and a scream was heard. The men how wanted no part in what was starting to take shape started to pull away to the side and leave the area. What was left were 18 men with their eyes focused on a young Indian girl on the floor of the hallway with a tight circle of men staring down at her. Someone said “no pushing there’s plenty of time for everyone here to enjoy her company.”

     Manniakuni was a warrior princess. The important part of that title was warrior. There are hundreds of daughters of chiefs and head of clans but very few that have the physical strength, stamina, and high threshold of pain to become warriors. Four men stepped forward each reaching for an arm or leg. Manny flipped onto her back which had all four smiling at what seemed to be submission. Then a knife appeared out of nowhere and a quick flash of her hand was seen in the darkened hallway. A hand with four inches of forearm still attached landed on the floor. Then another swipe of the blade and another hand appeared on the floor. As the men saw it was their hand that was on the floor they cried out in anguish. She spun around and removed two more hands before the second two men realized why the first two were upset. She sprung up on her feet and with a knife in each hand she began a cartwheel with a six foot diameter. This allowed her to come up quickly in each man’s face and have easy access to their chest and abdomen. Each thrust was into heart muscle and pulled out as fast as it went in to allow for reinsertion into the next man in line. With both hands working the chest area and her feet kicking the knee joints and snapping cartilage as she wheeled around the circle, men were collapsing onto the floor dead before they hit it. There was little if any screaming while this was going on. The last six men realized she was killing every man she wheeled into as she went and jumped back out of the circle she was making. She stopped on her feet and 12 dead men, lay in a circle including the first four she had included in her circle stabbings. The twelve men were lying two deep in a rough circle with her in the middle and a three foot clearance for her feet. Two of the remaining six had pistols on them which was against the ship’s rules. All ships have that rule except for pirate ships. As the two men drew their pistols to fire, she dropped to the floor and threw the two knives in her hands. One landed in the middle of the first man’s forehead. The second missed the mark and went one inch outside the rib cage landing in the wall behind with a thud. The shot he fired was low and buried itself in one of the dead men in the circle. She pulled the two boot knives out and sent one into the stomach of the pistol holding sailor. He cried out in pain and lunged forward tripping over the dead bodies of men in front of him. He landed face first almost in her lap which allowed her to go from ear to ear easily and shove him to one side. The last four froze with indecision. Do they jump her now that she was down to one knife they could see or run and hope they weren’t the one she decided to bury it in as they were running away. While they stood there paralyzed, she pulled out the knife from the second shooter’s belly and jumped back up on her feet. Two ran, two lunged for her after someone yelled out “get her.” The first man lunging hit her at chest level and drove her back into a pile of dead men, but didn’t move after they landed since a knife was through his throat and well into the cerebral cortex of his brain by the time they came to a stop. The second got caught up in the legs of men in front of him and ended up awkwardly falling inside the circle while wilding flailing his arms to get his balance. He then grabbed at her arm in a desperate attempt to keep her from using the knife she still had left. He did get hold of the hand with the knife in it but her other hand came up in a tight fist and knuckled his ear in two quick poundings that left him holding his head ad crying out in pain as he blacked out. He didn’t come to because of the stab wound in his chest where his heart was. Then she was on her feet running after the two that got away. They had quite a head start so she was putting much effort in the length of her strides. The first had gone up the ladder to the deck and by now was asking men for help, so she took after the one that ran into the hold of the ship. With only one knife on her she started to wonder if she should be running down inside the ship with sleeping men off duty in bunks below. Up ahead in the darkness she saw him, still running too afraid to stop and tell anyone what he had seen. He fell silently into some barrels at the end of a passageway with no lights. She was sure of the throw and felt around until she found him lying still in the dark. She had a little trouble extracting the knife because it had lodged deep in the skull and had to use both feet as leverage to pull it out. Now on to the last that had gone on deck. It was a long ways from way down below to the deck and when she made it she had to rest to catch her breath. She looked around but couldn’t see him anywhere. The men on deck were staring at her since she was covered in blood and there wasn’t even the smallest part of her that was tan or clean skin. All they saw was a totally dark red, wet girl standing looking for someone. They all looked away as she crept around the main mast looking in all the nooks and crannies for the 18^th attacker. Twenty minutes later under a tarp that covered a life boat she saw him shaking from fear. She stabbed the foot that was showing that caused him to cry out. Then she stabbed his leg. Then the other leg. Then his buttocks. Then when he jumped up from panic and pain she buried the knife in his heart muscle and another thrust in his face. Pulling out the knife she returned to the hallway and retrieved the other three knives.

     When she quietly opened the cabin door again, Isaac was in bed waiting for her. He said he assumed by the amount of screaming in the hallway that she had had some trouble. She said she tired and went to her makeshift bed to flop down exhausted from all the running. Isaac did not go out of the cabin that evening but instead listened while body after body was hauled away into the night.

     In the morning, when she woke up, she was stuck to her blankets and had trouble getting all the dried on blood off her clothes and her body. The basin was lumpy when she finished and sat back down to rest. Later she got up and spent hours putting a fine edge back on all four knives. As with the first services, she did not attend the services for the men she had killed the day before. She figured, and rightly so, that it would cause a commotion for her to be there. It wasn’t like she would have something nice to say about any of them. That night Isaac told her she would have to stay in the cabin for the rest of the voyage. With almost half of the crew dead the rest will have to pull double duty and will have a tough time getting us into port in London as it is, I cannot afford you to protect yourself from one more man in my charge. She said it was just as well, she didn’t like to sharpen knives anyway.

     It was an exhausted crew that brought the ship into the London docks that fall. The survivors hit the streets and told of an Amazon woman that stole aboard in Veracruz and hid in the hold of the ship in the banana stacks that snuck out in the night and slit the throats of sleeping men.    

TO BE CONTINUED

When Bear woke up, Manniakuni was packing their things into his pack. She had decided to go with Bear until she no longer could or until she made her way back to her father’s village on the Delaware River in the Pennsylvanian colony of her birth. He had a bad headache as he started to remember the night before. He reached up and touched his ear, the top was still gone. He would touch his ear before all future battles to remind himself he can lose a battle if he isn’t careful. As he watched her packing her things in his pack it became obvious that she intended to go with him. This pleased him greatly as he fixated on her beautiful face now close to normal with the swelling down.

     She said they should leave Paris, immediately, because there would be an investigation for sure. The bosses of the palace were well connected to officials in the country and to the King himself, Louis the XIV, now deceased but his friends of the court were still very much in power. Louis the XV was five and wouldn’t be of any concern for years. Bear mumbled something about having paid for the whole month, which lead to him wanting a refund before he’d leave. A refund he got since the clerk at the desk wasn’t about to argue with a huge man with half an ear and blood occasionally dripping onto his shoulder.

     Bear didn’t feel like walking back to Versailles so he rented a buggy for the two of them. By this time, the stable owner was used to dealing with Bear and laughed a little when he saw his ear. Bear didn’t laugh so the owner quickly said the rate per day and finished the transaction with no further delay. He looked over to Manny and there was a sign of recognition but he refrained from saying anything. The last thing he wanted to do is offend Bear in any way, he had heard of stories in France and England about a giant Indian that no one could kill.

     Manny and Bear rode quietly along in the buggy, each with their own thoughts. She wasn’t really comfortable, yet, with Bear and he didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that she had chosen to go with him for fear that she might change her mind. It wasn’t midmorning yet when they pulled into the compound’s outer area and Bear dismounted and helped her down. There was loud barking that got louder as Klondike rounded the corner and headed straight for Bear. Even Bear fell backwards six or seven feet as Klondike landed in his chest with all 310 pounds of excitement. Jaque “the fist” Labelle followed soon after and greeted the big Indian with an enthusiastic hug. Klondike went next to Manny and sniffed at her, then jumped up with his paws on her shoulders taking her to ground and licking her face in spite of her protests. Both men laughed and said he likes you. She wasn’t laughing as she futilely attempted to avoid another lick that covered her face. Jaque helped her get out from under Klondike and lifted her up on her feet. Bear said this is Jaque, a trusted friend and guardian of our dog. Bear asked Jaque where Bill was and was told at the Palace as usual. He’s taken to sleeping there as well drinking and telling stories of his sailing days. Jaque looked back at Manny when she wasn’t looking and nodded his head in her direction as if to ask what the story was with her. Bear simply said that she was with him. Then he told of what had happened in an abbreviated form that wouldn’t waist time, leaving out key elements that left Jaque still wondering about Manniakuni of the turtle tribe, Unamis, Lenape princess and new companion to Big Bear. She was still a proud daughter of a Lenni Lenape chef, Bear did not tell her the tribe had been conquered and was currently paying tribute and referred to as women. He didn’t feel it was his place to tell of what had happened to her people. He also didn’t want to get into what happened at the defeat of the 6000 in 1716.

     Elizabeth came out of a back room and came over to Manny and introduced herself as Bill’s granddaughter. Manny introduced herself as Manniakunni of the Turtle or Unamis tribe, a Lenni Lenape princess. Elizabeth was happy to have another woman in the compound and invited her into her quarters. Bear was glad to have Manny safely inside the Jesuit compound and went to the Palace to find Bill. After asking several servants he found Bill in one of the hundreds of back rooms of the Palace where he was sleeping off a night of drinking, a woman asleep by his side. Bill rolled out of bed when he woke enough to recognize Bear’s face in the fog of his mind. He asked Bear if there was something wrong. Bear told Bill the story of the Pleasure Palace and the dead boss and his band of merry men.

     On the way back to the compound, Bear told him about the cage and how the likely winner was killed by a silenced gun in front of everyone so the corrupt bosses could win large bets with big odds placed on the likely losers. Bill said it sounded like the perfect crime in that the victims were all floating down the Seine with its strong undercurrents by the time they figured out they were in trouble. Bear had been thinking about the cage and asked Bill if he was up to taking money away from rich men that cheated on bets and murdered men for wealth. Bill liked the sound of taking money from murderers and if some got killed in the process, the better.

     Bear said he’d wear his armor, while Bill made the long bets against the smaller opponents in the cage. So Bill would walk up to obvious betters and offer 10 to 1 odds that Bear could defeat the man in the cage offering to take on all comers. Then flash 50,000 ducats and ask if any have 5,000 to put up, or some variation of the plan that would work as well. They figured they would have to play it that way instead of having Bear pretend to lose to get the long odds money. It would be too difficult to fake the loss and live. And the next night would be hard to explain how he was ready to fight again so soon after a defeat. The only things they had to figure out were how to avoid being killed and how to collect their winnings from men who kill the winners rather than to pay off a loss. They thought there would be a lot of men that would have to die before they could put a lot of money in the bank on Monday. The only way would be wait until they were sure there was big money on the dock before deciding to act on any plan they came up with.

     Bill had his friends in the King’s Guard help him make up the grapeshot packs for Bear cannon. Fifty grape-sized pellets fit into each packet and a couple firings behind the compound proved the scatter was thirty feet at thirty feet. Ten packets were added to the cannon ball rack along with 20 3” balls, more than enough to blow the end of the pier into the river if things got out of hand. Six of the Royal Guard wanted to come along, they said they had lost a good friend to the cage two months earlier and will enjoy seeing the bosses get what’s coming to them. Beside s they would be in a position to keep the authorities out of the matter of so many dying in the fighting. The power of the bosses did not extend far enough up in the sheriff office to pose a problem, in fact, they would be glad to see the pier shut down. There had been way too many bodies showing up in the river downstream to cover up with suicide stories. Bill was delighted to have Guardsmen to handle the certain investigation that would come from so many dead on the waterfront even in Paris where dead bodies were as common as prostitutes in that part of the city. Bill and Bear laughed as they thought what a surprise this weekend would be for these men that never lost.

     That night, Bill, Bear, Jaque, and Klondike were in their quarters. Manny and Elizabeth were in Elizabeth’s quarters. Jaque was the first to breech the subject by asking how it was that Manny was with him. Bear said he saw her at the Pleasure Palace and couldn’t get his eyes off of her. Bill asked Bear if he knew what she did for a living and Bear said he didn’t care about that at all. Bill mentioned that she had colonial Indian appearance. Bear went on to tell them that she was Delaware, Unamis or Turtle to be exact. A princess he had promised to return to her father if she stayed with him. Bill asked Bear more about the Delaware being Lenni Lenape. Bears said their tribes had been enemies at one time. There was a great war in 1716 where many died.

     Bear went on to tell the tale of the defeat of the 6000. The counsel had decided that the only tribes that had not been conquered yet with any large land holdings were the Delaware, so it was decided that the Iroquois would attack their villages take some of the women as wives to be part of the Iroquois Nation. All six nations were to send braves for the battle, with the Seneca providing most of the warriors since they were the largest tribe. The battle was bloody, but lasted only an hour or two. The Delaware were told the amount of tribute to be paid once a year and they agreed without a fight. After the first tribute was paid, it was noticed that it was far short of the amount they were given originally. They said the Monseys, or Minisinks, were not going to pay. The Wolves were not about to pay tribute when they didn’t lose a battle. They said that their weaker, more passive brethren had lost and should pay. The elders said it would destroy their entire empire if a single tribe could get away with refusing to pay. The Minisinks will be taught a lesson that all will hear.

     The battle would be one of destroying the entire village. Kill all the men and take the women and children to serve as brood mares and child slaves. The original plans were to include all six nations, but later they changed to being mostly Seneca with select bands of Mohawk used to demoralize the enemy in battle. Mohawk were known as the most ferocious warriors in the colonies and the sight of several coming into view would paralyze men with fear. The day of the battle was clear and sunny. Bear had hand picked twenty two braves from the Bear clan he had fought with before and each were experienced fighters with dozens of scalps on the poles outside their teepees.

     As they made their way to the meeting place north of the Mountains that housed the Minisinks, Bear was amazed at the number of braves showing up. There were thousands of well armed men from various tribes each with a distinctive head dress. Travel was hindered by the sheer numbers involved. Mid-morning up ahead, were heard the sounds of battle cries as the leading rows of Seneca engaged the enemy. Bear was getting impatient as he and his band waited for a chance to fight. Finally Bear raced ahead, his men right behind. Instead of finding hundreds or even thousands of warriors to battle, a dozen braves stood holding back a wall of Iroquois. Men were falling on his right and he pushed through a crowd of Seneca to find a boy sending arrows and men to their deaths. Bear went into battle mode and his braves fell back some to avoid getting killed by accident. They had seen this before and wanted no part of that hatchet. The chief of the Wolves and another did make a stand, but Bear was able to kill both easily. The boy though, managed to sink two arrows into him before Bear sheared him in half with one swift downward swing of the hatchet. A squaw had just stabbed him with a knife or he would have gotten the boy before the second arrow could have been launched. Bear stopped long enough to take the boy’s as well as the first two scalps, but when he found the unconscious squaw he just looked at her face, to see what a woman warrior looked like. He would not take her scalp, only a man’s scalp killed in battle could be carried on a belt. A warrior doesn’t kill women or children.

     There were four more bands of 10 that were making progress to the village a slow and deadly matter. Bear ended up being shot twice more and picking up another arrow before finally arriving at the grove. He stood for a couple of moments before running ahead. He had never seen such a sight in his countless battles over the years. Piles of warriors dead with others using the piles for protection from the rain of arrows coming out of the trees. It was obvious even from a distance that the Iroquois were not firing into the trees but were defying those in the trees to fire on them. There was also plenty of ground fighting which he soon joined. Once inside the grove he could see the trees were alive with women and children only, each were well defended with boards and thick leather ties that made getting to them under these circumstances impossible. All the while the arrows showered down on the warriors without end, men fell by the hundreds. Sworn not to kill women and children, the Iroquois braves were frustrated and began to commit suicide by refusing to protect themselves from the deadly fire. The sight of men allowing others to kill them was so horrible that Bear turned away and left the battle. He knew he couldn’t go back to his village with the shame of defeat on his name, so he spent the next few years at sea. Later he returned to lead his tribe and had managed to live in peace for the most part until he was approached to watch Bill’s back while Elizabeth was in Paris. Negotiating the support of the Bear clan while he was in Europe was his way to make up for his part in the defeat of the 6000. During his leadership the Mohawk and in particular the Bear clan were able to make it back from near extinction from years of warfare with neighboring nations over the previous 100 years.

     Manny told Elizabeth that she was a princess of the Lenni Lenape Unamis Turtle tribe that the white people called the Delaware. Seafoam had heard of the Delaware of course, but couldn’t figure out what a princess was doing in Paris. Manny said that in 1711 when she was twelve years old, white men came in the middle of the day when she was playing with her friends and grabbed her. They went immediately on a ship and she was on the ocean before her father even knew she was missing. Braves from the village were sent far and wide looking for her. They never found her but they did find some of the men that were involved that day. Their deaths were slow and painful. They were slowly burned alive for several days, a trick they learned from the Mohawk. Elizabeth still didn’t know how Manny ended up in Paris, but since Manny wasn’t volunteering the information it would stay a mystery a bit longer.

     Bear and Bill were busy getting ready for Friday night. Bear wanted Klondike along but Bill thought it would be too dangerous. Jaque wanted to go but Bill thought Jaque didn’t really add much fire power to risk losing Klondike guardian, so he was told he couldn’t go either. Manny and Elizabeth were automatically out. Effa and John were allowed to go, Effa for her expertise with a sword and John for the same reason. They would be in close at first to see what was going on where most couldn’t. Then when things heated up in the battle they were to back away and seek cover as well as providing protection from behind, in case there were allies of the bosses behind them when the cannon started to sing. The guardsmen were to keep the street clean of problems, like the authorities or additional strangers trying to join the fray.

     For two days they oiled their armor, cleaned their guns, checked the racks of powder and shot and balls, and planned how they would take on the most dangerous men in Paris and live to tell about it as well as having all the money present on pier 7 that night.

     A wagon with reinforced walls of oak and lined with iron plates for protection was staged in front of the compound. The driver’s bench was covered with iron lined box surrounding it as well. Two priests were going, one to drive and other to keep the driver safe from being shot. Joshua would drive a team of four Arabian stallions that were also protected with double thick leather blankets with a strong mesh between that covered their entire bodies. Bill had taken one of the lead horses out behind the compound and fired several shots into the leather to ensure someone couldn’t prevent their escape by merely shooting the lead horse and have him fallen and trip the rest. Not only did the balls and shot not penetrate the mesh, but the horse didn’t even flinch a single muscle when Bill fired his rifle, including doing so right by the horse’s ear. Bill was satisfied that this team and wagon could return all inside to the compound no matter how many tried to stop them. Abraham would be the guard next to the driver. Abraham had been away when the shoot out happened or he would have been in the running according to all the priests. A special rack with compartments to hold loaded and cocked rifles was attached to his side of the wagon, that jutted out over the horses above their hind quarters high enough not to interfere with their running. This rack held 12 across and 12 down, 144 shots without reloading a single gun. The top of the box, sides, front, back as well as the entire walls of the back where benches ran the full length were omega shaped clasps that would have a loaded and cocked pistol in each. Each pistol would have the handle sticking out so a man could quickly grab and shot as long as he could keep finding pistols to grab. Unlike the rifles in front where there was a place to return the rifle to its slot in the rack, the pistols were to be dropped to the floor because it would take too much time to stop to replace them in their clasp. Bill didn’t count the pistols but he was sure that there were at least 500-600 of them. The walls had slots that allowed easy firing yet protected a man’s head and body. Bill asked a couple of the Jesuits why they had such a war wagon but no one would answer the question. The back gate had a door in the middle and once inside there was a bar of iron 2” thick, 6” wide and 4’ long that fit snugly in reinforced metal racks. Bill thought that an army couldn’t get to the 12 people this wagon held comfortably. Bear was curious and insisted on firing the cannon at the wagon, both men were amazed to see the ball stuck in the wall when the smoke cleared. They were ready and it was only Thursday noon.

     Late Friday afternoon, the King’s Guard showed up in battle dress, complete with the armor breastplates. They were talking no stop about the Jesuit war wagon and admiring the horses when Bear and Bill walked up. The Spencers followed closely behind. Bill went over the role of the guard that night again so there would be no misunderstandings. They were to control the street while Bill and Bear were at the cage. If there were too many men wanting into the pier area, then they were to get to Bill and Bear to tell them to withdraw at once. The guards were some of the deadliest men Bill had met, with experience in war and subduing crowds by shooting the ones in the front to get the others to get back. A number of women and priests were there to see the group off.

     It was dark by the time the wagon pulled up in front of pier 7. Everyone jumped out the back door and the driver calmed down the four stallions by singing to them. Abraham moved through the doorway that connected the driver bench and the back of the wagon and secured the back door. Guardmen moved into place and soon no one could get past them with out yielding their weapons. A steady stream of men came and went, picking up their weapons on the way out. First Effa and John went in and stood next to the cage watching the bets and some of the early fights. They didn’t see any foul play, but the fights looked even and the losers were carried out of the cage and sent on their way with friends if any or laid down on stretchers with a doctor to see to their wounds. When Effa stayed at the cage and didn’t return the time was ripe for Bill and Bear to go to the pier for the main event. Bill walked up to the cage after a fight was just ending and in a loud clear voice challenged any man to get in the cage with Big Bear, War Chief of the Mohawk Nation. Bill continued with the bet he was placing was 10 to 1 for any amount. The place came alive with men arguing and yelling to take side bets as well where they too would bet on the Indian. In the corner were men in fancy clothes talking among themselves about the challenge just issued. Finally one came up to Bill and said that he represents a group of men that would be interested in taking the bet on two conditions. The first would be that he show them at least some of the money he was betting and two that he wait until their champion arrives.

     Bill asked what size bet he had in mind. The man said their 100,000 ducats already sat on the pier in trunks behind the stands. Bill followed the man to see three large trunks and what had to be 100 men standing around with firearms watching his every move. Bill said to open one of the trunks and he was shown a trunk full of money. Satisfied there was enough money to justify risking life and limb, he led the man to the war wagon. Abraham opened up the back door and there, under the floorboards were chests of gold and coin that glimmered in the lamp’s flickering light. The man looked around as if he was determining whether to come and take the gold from the wagon with all his armed men, since he only saw two priests and had no idea that the guardmen were part of the party. Even if he knew the six guards were part of the deal he still couldn’t get his eyes to turn away from the sight of the gold. Bill saw the greed in the man’s eyes and offered a private bet of 5 to 1 if the man would put up a 1,000,000 ducats bet with half the money paid tonight if hid champion lost and the balance within 3 days. The man asked what was in the wagon right then and Bill said more than enough to satisfy all your partners with gold too heavy to haul home tonight without sending for some sort of wagon to haul it. The balance, because of the size of the bet would have to be paid at the Banke of Paris within 5 days. The man couldn’t stop grinning at his perceived fortune so large the wagon held only the down payment. He decided why rob the wagon when a fortune waited at the bank.

     The man hurried back to the other bosses that were waiting for news of the bet, tonight. There was much discussion and a couple of them stomped off in disgust. It was impossible to tell why they were out, maybe they were too suspicious of Bill and Bear and a wagon no one had ever seen before. Their regular man they used to clean up on big bets was wiry and had tattoos all over his body, making him appear meaner than his size would allow. Since they shoot the challenger where no one could see it didn’t matter so much what he looked like. But this was different. This fight called for their champion they used to use before they began shooting their opponent. His name was Namo, a sailor from the New Zealand that fought with a herb that made a man have the strength of 20 men and able not to feel pain at all. Bill came over and shook the man’s hand and wrote out the bet on paper twice, then tore it exactly in half, handing one half to the man. Then they all waited for the champion to arrive. He was around six feet tall but weighed 750 pounds. Bear was in the cage testing the strength of the cords when Namo arrived. They looked at each other up and down, as all big men do, sizing up the other for possible weaknesses. Effa and John positioned themselves next to men that seemed unusually close to the side of the cage with something under blankets they were concealing from view. With daggers drawn, they inched up to the men with their daggers ready at a second’s notice to drive them into the men. Bill had chosen a place in the stands close to the cage door to sit with the cannon and packs hidden under a tarp. Bill kept looking behind him wishing he had one more man at his back. Maybe he should have brought Klondike to watch his back.

     Namo was caught in the doorway to the cage.  Apparently, it had been some time since he last fought. Two men rushed up and started to push on his backside in an attempt to get him through the doorway. Finally, three men came up and removed the bolts on one side allowing the frame to be dismantled. A huge gap in the cargo netting appeared as the frame was removed and hauled to the edge of the pier. Namo tightened up of body and what had seemed massive rolls of fat turned into huge bulging muscles, his brown skin sweaty from the exertion. With both hands holding 4’ machetes, he crossed the blades in a defensive position and screamed at Bear to run out the hole in the cage and save his life.

     Bear let out a war cry, took two steps, and launched himself into the air. He too, had that herb in his system and the top of the twenty foot high cage ripped open with the beginning of an arc Bear’s hatchet made that ended slamming into the two crossed machetes where they crossed. Namo was so strong that Bear’s progress was stopped and through him off balance, sending him to the floor of the cage onto his back. This had never happened to Bear and the look of surprise made Bill’s heart skip a beat or two. Bill had never seen Bear on the ground before. Namo went into the offense and tried to bring both blades down on Bear vertically. Bear held the hatchet up and stiffened his right arm to stop the double blow. It worked, except the blades didn’t hit evenly spaced from center and one side came close to sliding off into Bear’s shoulder. Bear had his knife in his left hand and when the end of the forward motion of the machetes had been reached, he slid it up and into the monstrous belly hanging above him. The 18” blade went to the hilt and Bear then rolled to his right and pulled with all his might the knife through the belly, using the twisting action for increased leverage. The blade made it through 2 ½ feet before slipping out of his hand. Namo jumped backwards landing against the netting, he couldn’t feel it but he knew he had just been gutted like a giant fish. He screamed, not from pain, but from frustration. Bear was on his feet by then and grabbed his knife off the decking. A smile crossed Bear’s face, the kind that make men nauseous when they see it. The crowd was yelling and hollering for Bear to finish the job. A shot rang out as a dent showed in Bear’s breastplate. Another shot, another dent. A dagger flashed in the night and a man fell to the deck with a dagger in his head where his ear normally was. A sword was drawn and another man hit the ground. Soon two more men fell and an arsenal of rifles spilled onto the pier as the bosses turned to each other in panic wondering what to do next. Namo was holding onto the netting at his back with both hands raised above his head in an attempt to still stand up. In front of him stood the Mohawk bringing his huge hatchet up for the final blow. Namo looked down and watched as 200-300 pounds of his intestines rolled out of his belly onto the pier. He tried to change position to avoid the hatchet’s fall but ended up slipping and sliding on the bloody flooring finding it impossible to avoid stepping on his intestines now covering several square feet of the cage’s area. Bear stomped down with his armored boots, smashing the intestines flat so he could get close enough for the final blow. Then down with 60” of curved blade that hit exactly in the middle of Namo breaking the breast bone in half and continuing down through the rib cage and abdomen ending with separating Namo’s manhood in a final act of horror and humiliation. Namo slid onto the flooring and ended up on his back with the four sections folded back like a giant piece of glistening, red fruit that had been sectioned for easier eating on a breakfast table. Bear then pulled out a throwing knife and stood above Namo then buried it in the man’s skull pinning his head to the pitchy wood of the pier. What follow shocked all the men on the pier as Bear leaned over with his gutting knife and scalped the man then held up the scalp in the air letting out another war cry that chilled the blood of all those that heard it.

     One of the bosses had slipped behind the stands, when it was obvious that Bear couldn’t be shot to death with that armor on. He rounded up all the men that were guarding the chests and instructed them to kill everyone in Bear’s party. He told them that there would be big bonuses for all and to make sure the war wagon didn’t make it off the street without killing the men inside, even the horses were to die.

     On the street, the guardsmen had their hands full. The two bosses that had stormed off early were back with a street full of armed men eager to earn their share of the reward they were promised if the war wagon was destroyed and all inside shot to death. One of the guards ran to get Bill. It was time to leave. Bill called out to Bear to follow him. No one got on Bear’s way as he came through the hole. Bill mounted the cannon on Bear’s armor, slid a powder charge down the barrel then a grapeshot packet, lit the short fuse, tapped Bear on the back and told him fire as soon as you round the corner of the stands then come back for reloading. Bears turned the corner to see an army of armed men staring at him. Bear fired and quickly jumped back where Bill reloaded in under 5 seconds and Bear delivered another round into the mob that had a pile of dead and dying men in the front. This time they were ready and volleys answered Bear’s grapeshot. Again Bear jumped behind the corner where Bill again loaded the cannon. This time there was chaos when he turned the corner men were running away this time only to have grapeshot catch them in flight. The fourth time Bear turned the corner he couldn’t find a dense target just the occasional man with a rifle taking a shot. Bear held his fire and called out to Bill who came quickly and put out the fuse. Bill grabbed one of the trunks and told Bear to get the other two. Bill felt the occasional hit of rifle shot but the armor was working well and he kept dragging the trunk towards the wagon, with Bear right behind cannon still armed and facing forward. Effa and John had worked their way back to the wagon, stabbing and slicing everything in sight leaving dozens of men writhing on the ground. The guards were holding off the street mob well considering they were out numbered 100 or more to 1. They were killing every man in their kill zone and the crowd was holding back some out of fear. Bill yelled for them to get in the wagon and they didn’t waist a second doing so. From 30 yards away with the group inside the wagon Bill relit the fuse and almost immediately men were screaming as grapeshot penetrated the front lines of the mob. While still on the dead run Bill was able to reload two more times and Bear made each shot count. At the last possible second, the door opened and Bill slung his trunk into the wagon following it by jumping on top as it slid across the flooring. Bear was next with a trunk that he flicked effortlessly into the doorway followed by the second one and finally Bear with dents appearing all over his chest plate just before he jumped in. The bar dropped and they were off.

     The wagon rolled slowly, at first, as the horses began to move the heavy wagon.  Then, the oversized wheels began to play a part. Soon, they were picking up speed as the group pulled pistols off the walls and fired at a pace that must have been horrifying for the mob. Ten people firing as fast as they could see a target, dropping the pistol to the floor, grabbing another without looking, aiming at the target they were watching, then repeating the cycle. Every two seconds 10 shots were hitting the crowd and that didn’t count Abraham who was handling an amazing shot per second pace in front. They were out of the river district in a few minutes thanks to four of the biggest war horses Bill had ever seen.

     Back at the compound, there were generous shares split between the twelve that were in the wagon. Several priests rushed out to take the wagon to its hiding place deep in the hillside that had a access door only three priest even knew. Guards were set out along the compound walls, to ensure festivities were not interrupted by any surprise visitors. The party lasted the rest of the night and well into the next day. Still, no one would sit next to Bear with that huge, bloody scalp hanging off his belt. 

 TO BE CONTINUED 

     When Bear woke up, Manny was still asleep. The towel was dry and he could tell that some of the swelling had gone down during the night. She was as beautiful in the morning as she was the night before. Bear had fought the Delaware before and remembered the Mohawk elders calling them the “grandfathers”. He wasn’t sure why but he thought it had to do with being the first to come into the north Atlantic lands. He was sure they had bloodlines that converge if you went back far enough. He began to think of what he would say to her when she woke up to ensure that she stay with him. There wasn’t time for any type of courtship so he decided to tell her he was going back to Pennsylvania reasonably soon and she could travel with him if she liked. He couldn’t think of anything else that would work any better, so he waited for her to wake up.

     Mid-morning, she opened her eyes and looked around the room somewhat startled by the lack of familiar surroundings. She saw Bear smiling slightly, an unfamiliar pose for him to say the least. She said she was grateful for rescuing her from the two men the night before, then as she was sitting up her head started to throb from the swollen knot that still took up half her face. She got up to wash her face and see the damage that had been done. She cursed as she saw what the man had done. Bear said that his name was Big Bear, War Chief of the Mohawk Nation and leader of the Bear Clan. He went on to tell her he had killed both men involved, after they refused to release her. She thanked him again and said her name was Manniakuni of the Lenni Lenapi tribe turtles, descendents of the Canaanites, Berbers, Lapplanders, and blood brothers to dozens of tribes from California to Ontario. Her father was a tribal chief and had sent many braves to rescue her from the Dutch unsuccessfully years earlier. He then told her he would return her to her father if she wished and would make sure no man would strike her again as long as she stayed by his side. She sat on the bed and looked into Bear’s eyes for a long time before she said that she would consider an offer such as that to be the same as a promise of marriage and she would have to think on the matter before giving her answer. She knew the Mohawks were enemies of her people and she couldn’t see how she could return to her father’s home on the arm of a Mohawk, much less one that had taken many lives in battle. Still the offer did come at the end of years of abuse suffered at the hands of dozens of men and still her money to pay for the voyage home was not nearly enough. Many of the rich in Paris were sadistic in the bed and she hated them for it. Then there was the matter of the two men last night. If any of their friends had known they were going to attack her in the alley, they would looking for her by now and may not make it through another day without Bear’s protection. The more she thought about it, the fewer alternatives she could think of. Even if she left Paris without any of her things there would still be the matter of money to get by and how she would save to a voyage back home on top of living costs. She then asked him if he knew how she paid her way in life. He said he saw her go behind the curtains at the Palace several times during the evening and figured she provided men pleasure for money. He went on to say that life is a series of circumstances, some beyond a person’s control that do not determine a destiny, but simply forms part of the life. A princess abducted into slavery can be a princess again or wife to a Chief. This time when he smiled, she blushed slightly. How could I live with a man that could end up killing my father or other family members. I would give you necklaces to give them so I would know to pass over them in battle and I would wear one as well so they do not make you a widow. This seemed a simple but effective solution and she was free to consider other things. Finally she told him she would give him an answer by tomorrow’s sunset. This satisfied Bear for the moment and he asked if she was hungry.

     The café was busy and they waited for a table. Standing there next to Bear made her feel safe like never before. She had never seen a man willing to get injured or killed to save a woman before and Bear seemed bigger than life which is quite a trick for a man that’s already bigger than life to begin with. Since Bear had to keep his head bent over inside the small café, when he saw a couple finishing up their meal and just sitting there talking, he moved over to the table and asked if they were done yet. The couple got up immediately and Bear and Manny sat down quickly before any other men crowded in front of them like that was a possibility. Manny noticed that men and to some extent women watched Bear from the time they first saw him until the last moment they were in eye shot when departing. At first this was a novel experience and she liked it, but by the time she had finished her meal she found it unsettling because not all the looks were friendly. He saw the discomfort in her face and said not to bother with the stares, that she will get used to it in time and any unusual person has to put up with the same thing everywhere they go as well. The difference being there will be no attacks for money or to humiliate them. He deliberately left out the challenges that occur when men feel insecure and try to kill the thing that has them so upset about their manhood.

     Before they were finished with their meal, the owner came out and walked over to them asking if everything was to their liking. Bear said it was up to his usual expectations and then the owner asked if Bear would be competing in the weekend activities on pier seven. Manny’s eyes went wide as she watched Bear’s icy response of dismissal. She had heard of pier seven and how they rolled the dead losers out the back of the cage into the river where the currents carried them well down the Seine before their bodies came to the surface. She felt fear for Bear’s life in what was the deadliest arena in Europe to her knowledge. There had been talk of gunshots to ensure the win of the combatant with the longest odds to maximize the winnings of the wealthy men that ran the cage. Everything she had heard of the pier was bad, and no man lived long enough to make any real winnings and the guards that everyone paid for were under the orders of the cage bosses to see to it the money came back but not the winners. She was afraid that even a man like Bear had no chance against the criminals that ran the cage, with dozens of well armed men to see to it that there were no winners but the cage bosses. She told Bear the word around town was there had never been a winner that lived to spend his money or tell about his win, not one – ever. Bear sat there, thinking about the pier he had seen the day before. He wondered why the café owner was so anxious that he competes, was he one of the cage bosses? Bear got up from the table, said he’d be right back, and went into the kitchen area of the café and asked for the owner. The cook pointed to the back of the building and Bear pushed the door open to see the owner and two other men sitting at a small table drinking wine. Bear ducked under the door frame and stood with his head bowed forward asked the owner why he was so interested in Bear going to the cage to fight.

     The owner nodded his head and the two men quickly vanished into the café without a word. He the admitted that he wasn’t going to make this offer to Bear unless Bear had shown up at the cage. Because of Bear’s size he figured the odds would run up to as high as 100 to 1 against a normal sized man. Then the bets would be placed, so if Bear after being wounded enough to appear dazed or near unconsciousness would fall to the floor of the cage and not get up the winnings would be split 50/50 later when no one was around. Bear looked at the owner with a smile on his face and said he’d let him know his decision by Friday the first night of fighting on the weekend still three days away. The owner smiled back and said this can only work one maybe two times then no one will bet against you and all chances of big odds go away for good. Even a second time would have to be months later or the fix will be suspected unless a definite period of healing has occurred between fights. Bear asked how much could be split between them. The owner said there were men there rich enough to cover and pay 100,000 ducats between all of them, it was just a matter of how to get each of them to agree to cover at those odds. Bear thought it was a shame that the cage is rigged, he could use another 50,000 ducats in the bank. Bear left the way he came, quickly and without a word.

     Back in the room, he told Manny about the owners offer. She told him how they shoot the better fighter to cash in on the long odds fighter. Bear said that it made good sense to kill the better, even better to kill the partner that would have wanted half to take the fall. She watched Bear thinking as if he was working on a plan to get the money without getting killed in the process. Manny reminded him of the simple fact that no one had ever collected on a big bet or beat these men at what they do. Bear couldn’t come up with a plan to place a bet and collect on it. Maybe if he went along with the café owner and after they shoot him lying on the ground and toss him into the river he could go back and collect his money from the owner. They must use a muffler of some sort to shoot the man where others can’t see or hear the shot or they wouldn’t get anyone to fight in the cage. He couldn’t be sure he could collect from the owner either, or whether the owner would be honest as to how much he received from the money men there the night Bear fought. The rest of Tuesday was spent thinking how to bet and how to collect from criminals. Manny had her own thoughts of whether to go with Bear or try to get back to the Delawares on her own. At one point they were both on the bed and she was able to see the sawed off arrow shafts in his back and marveled at the sheer endurance of this Mohawk. Then there was the matter of gunshots where the ball was still inside him, like the fresh wound from Monday night when he saved her from the two men. The wound was not oozing blood any longer, but the hole was no less obvious. It was ¼ inch wide and deep enough to have entered his heart muscle without a doubt. The inside was pinkish and only an inch or so deep. It was unsettling to look at and she tried not to notice the other holes where healing had already reduced there diameter and depth to appear like shallow depressions, although there was no doubt they were gun shot wounds. There were sawed off arrow shafts in his chest too, about eight or so. It was hard to tell because there were so many crease and scar tissue patches where knives and swords and spears had sliced sections off his chest in battle. She couldn’t believe that a man could live through so many wounds and still be walking the earth. The more she thought about her youth, the more she could remember stories when she was younger of a Mohawk warrior that could not die. A phantom that would fly into a battle from the sky and slaughter a dozen braves at a time with a hatchet that was bigger than a man and could drop a tree when it came through the air. Mostly these stories were told to children of the village but she didn’t remember any of the braves laughing when the children would jump up and run to their mothers when the stories got gory. She was sure that phantom was Big Bear, the man that wanted her to go with him for now. As it got dark she thought about only having another day to decide whether she would be gong with Bear. Bear asked her if she wanted to go get her things at the Pleasure Palace and collect any pay that was due. When she looked apprehensive at the thought of returning to the Palace, he told her that she could just not go back and he would give her enough money to buy what she needed for clothes and he would make sure she didn’t go hungry. Her clothes were nothing special and actually rather gaudy to fit her work, but there was the personal box of keep sakes she had under her bed upstairs that she didn’t want to part with. She said she had to go back for her personal things and that it wouldn’t take her long to grab the box. The clothes were working clothes and she never wanted to see them again anyway. Bear thought the way she was talking indicated that she wasn’t going to go back to her old life in the Palace and therefore she was deciding to go with him or at least away from Paris. She had to leave Paris because there would be too many men that knew her for her to start over again in the city. He figured that a guaranteed passage back to her father’s village would be impossible for her to say no to.

     The walk to the Palace was a quick one. She said that no men were allowed upstairs in the employee quarters, but wanted him to stand at the bottom of the stairs for when she came out of her room with the box. She wasn’t going to bother asking for Monday night’s pay since she was paid through Sunday night already. That way she wouldn’t have to speak to the bosses at all and would not have to put with all the arguing about them giving her a chance to make good money and how she owed them still for that chance. They might get rough and demand she get back downstairs and into the backrooms with customers right away. She told him there could be old customers that might pull her to the back rooms, bosses that don’t want to let her go, or even friends of the two men that want to question her about how their friends died. The authorities might even want to detain her for questioning about the murders of the night before. Not that they would think she killed two of the most dangerous men in Paris but who did kill them. She said she would try to get one of the other girls to get the box for her but doubted that they would want to get involved with a murder investigation even with such a little thing as fetching a box for her. The girls played the game pretty much as you look after yourself only and let everyone else do the same. She said she didn’t have a best friend that she could count on at the Palace. Bear said it will be safe with him there beside her, there was a good chance no one will try anything at all. He didn’t believe that, but she needed some encouragement right then and he was determined to provide whatever she needed whenever she needed it.

     They stopped at the first window they came to and she looked in. She saw one of the girls right away and motioned for her to come outside to talk. The girl looked away as she thought she would. The same happened with the next three girls as well. Only two more girls to go but they were in the back rooms at the moment so there was a pause in the plan as they stood there watching men go in. The next thing Bear knew one of the bosses was standing in the alleyway calling out her name. Bear turned and three other men were there with clubs in hand, one of them also had a pistol out of its holster. Bear said he wanted no trouble and once she gets her belongings they will be on their way. The boss laughed then his men laughed like that was a funny thing Bear said. The boss told Manny to get back to work and there wouldn’t be any penalties for being gone the night before without permission. Bear then asked what would happen if she didn’t go back to work. The boss said that they would beat her till she couldn’t walk right and beat him till she couldn’t recognize him. The man with the pistol started laughing and said what an ugly man Bear was and how having his face smashed in would improve his features. They seemed quite comfortable with talking about what they’re going to do and began to form a circle around Bear and Manny. Bear raised his hatchet and they stopped making a circle. Then one of them swung a club at Bear’s head from behind. Bear let the hatchet swing down and carried on through the arc until it sunk into the man’s groin area with the expected howl of pain briefly then he collapsed to the ground silent and still on the stone surface. The pistol fired and Bear screamed his war cry which sent the hair on Manny’s neck straight out and paralyzed her instantly from fear. Bear swung the hatchet a second time and the top half of the shooter toppled off the one side, the eyes of shock staring at his waist and legs still standing as his torso hit the ground and his arms grasped at his legs for support. Bear laughed at the man trying to save himself after he was dead. The third man ran back down the alley. The boss said you two will not live through the night and charged into the street and down the sidewalk to the main door of the Palace.

     Bear followed right after the boss with Manny in tow. Bear continued on to the stairway and sent Manny upstairs to get her personal belongings. He stayed at the bottom of the stairs in full view of all the customers in the Palace. Soon, six large men were following the boss towards Bear standing with his hatchet raised half way in the air. The front two lunged at Bear in an attempt to grab each arm and subdue him. He backed up far enough to allow a full swing in front of his body from left to right ending back up in the high position. Four arms lay on the floor writhing and twitching while pumping blood onto the wooden floorboards. The two men with eyes wide open in shock and terror screamed at their loss, helplessly sitting on the floor next to their arms, their shoulders squirting blood onto the growing pools of blood already large enough to engulf the whole area. The other four men stopped dead in their tracks. All had pistols and reached for them, after seeing that brute force was useless against this Indian. Suddenly even killing him was in question as they fumbled to cock their guns. Bear pulled all six of his throwing knives out of his belt and began to throw them one by one in a systematic rotation of targets. Only one was left and five men, counting the boss, had handles sticking out of some part of their chest or back, depending on whether they were facing him or running away when the knife sunk deep in its victim. Between the five of them there were two shots fired. One missed Bear completely, but the other landed at the edge of his right eye, taking out continuing through the temple and blowing off the top of his right ear. Bear was surprised that part of his body had actually been blown off. The blood was running down into his eye as he squinted to keep the left eye working to see with. Manny came flying down the stairs at that point and as she ran past Bear she was saying that they should go now. She didn’t even notice Bear face was covered in blood and his chest as well. She slipped on the giant pool of blood and went down hard, lading on one of the first two men that had passed out from the loss of blood at that point. She quickly got to her feet and carefully stepped over the remaining men on her way out, followed by a bloody Indian that no one in the Palace was about to stop from leaving.

     Two sheriffs arrived just as Manny and Bear walked through the doors of the Palace. Both knew Manny well and let her go on by. But when Bear started to pass they both got ready to grab him. Manny said he was with her and was a victim of the violence inside. They were glad to let him go. No man wants to detain a wounded giant if there’s any way to avoid it. By the time they got back to the room the bleeding had already slowed to a trickle. She washed the wound and cleaned up before falling on the bed exhausted. He spent most of the evening feeling his ear. He couldn’t get over that part of him was missing. It wasn’t going to grow back, it wasn’t going to heal up – it was gone. For the first time in his life Bear felt vulnerable and he didn’t like it at all. He wondered if this new vulnerability would affect the way he went into battle in the future.

     This new Bear was different from the Mohawk she had gotten to know. Bear seemed more human, less a phantom. She was drawn to Bear like a mother to a injured child. She held him in her arms as best she could, considering she couldn’t actually get her arms around him. He let her hold him and for the first time, thought of a simpler life with children at his feet and a women at his side in a quiet village tucked safely away in the woods. 

TO BE CONTINUED

     No one was talking about what happened at the shoot out still. In fact, no one could even bring them selves to look at Bear, mostly out of fear. Bill knew that one day, Bear’s ways would cause a problem socially and even legally. Now the day had come socially, at least. Bill pulled Bear aside and said maybe he should go into Paris for awhile and let the scalping episode age somewhat. If he didn’t come back in a week or two Bill would come and get him. Bear couldn’t believe it, he was on his own for the first time since leaving the clan over a year earlier. Bear had expected to watch Bill’s back as part of the deal for the Burers to support his Bear clan in his absence. But now for the first time Bill was releasing him to be on his own for a period long enough to get into trouble, but not long enough to feel free. Two years to go on the agreement which seemed at this point an eternity. Bear liked and respected Bill well enough but he missed his village and wondered what was happening with his son having the responsibility he once had. Little Bear was a big man, but those kinds of duties can weigh heavily on a young man.

     Bear first thought of bringing Klondike with him but he had just got back from a harrowing experience with Jaque the night before and Bear didn’t want to expose him to any kind of reprisal that may come out of the fire at Jean’s house. Bill would be safe and Seafoam as well in the compound of the Jesuits at Versailles. Bear decided to leave the suit of armor and the cannon with Bill. He thought it looked like he was at war and he didn’t want armies to decide to have a quick victory at his expense. Bill saw him off that chilly morning. Bill watched the giant Mohawk disappear down the road. At one point with no reference next to him, Bear looked like any other man from a distance, a great distance.

     Half way to Paris, there were buildings and farms along the way for Bear to look at as he walked. Farmers would stop to watch him go by if they saw him. Young boys would run along behind at a respectful distance for a half a mile or so and then fall to the side of the road since Bear had a five foot stride and made following difficult unless someone was willing to trot or run to keep up. It was mid-morning when Bear entered the city proper and made his way to the center of the city.

     He thought about going to the Jesuit compound, but figured that the word about the shoot out would have gotten there ahead of time. Instead, he chose to go to the dock area and find a room in one of the run down hotels. He could have afforded any hotel he wanted, but the old ones were less likely to pretend they had no room available. The gentile set was not about to put up with him standing in line at a restaurant or play next to them. Actually, he didn’t have that much interest in the theatre, eating fancy foods, or for that matter being seen at the right places that consumed the wealthy of Paris. Before he checked in at any hotel he first went to the Banke of Paris and withdrew some of the thousands that he had deposited before going to London. The manager was quite courteous, since thousands of ducats were involved and Bear signed authorization for several thousand more to be transferred from the London branch that he had won the arm wrestling contest. Bear easily had enough money to rent a villa and have servants see to his every need, but he was unaccustomed to such life styles and preferred his tavern life to the aimless squandering of life of the idle rich.

     The hotel was right on the pier, and the clerk nervously did the paperwork necessary to check him in. He paid for a month and went up to his room to check the bed for bugs and filth. The room was clean and the bedding fairly unstained so he decided to stay the whole month. Bill said he would come looking for him if he wasn’t back in a couple of weeks, but Bear was sure a month would be more like it. It was noon when he came down and asked where a man could get his meat on the rare side. Soon, he was sitting at a small café looking out the dingy window at the men walking by wondering what it was he would be doing for a whole month. The plate was huge and the double serving of beef had been as he ordered – uncooked. The owner himself brought it out to the table, no doubt curious as to what kind of man didn’t even want it seared first. The chair on the other side of the small table had been removed to accommodate Bear’s legs and waist. The owner’s eyes went wide as the full size of Bear came into view. As he placed the pile of meat in front of Bear, he bent over and whispered that he was in a position to help with women or adventure. Bear looked him in the eye and asked what kind of adventure. The owner said there were fights on dock number seven on the weekends where a man could get rich fighting with weapons of his choice, anything but guns. Bear asked who held the bets and had there been any cheating in the past. The owner said every bet had been paid for years and there were even escorts to see the winners to their homes or rooms that were paid out of the placement of the bets - 2% in advance for the escorts and the tallying. Bear smiled at the man and handed him ten times the price of the meal, which was quickly pocketed and no further mention made of either subject by the owner the entire time of Bear’s visit to Paris. Bear ate at the small café several times during the next four weeks, but never said anything to the owner or the owner to him.

     It was Monday afternoon, and there was nothing to do until Friday night on pier seven to look forward to. He decided to go down to pier seven and take a look to see if anything was going on during the week. The hotel and café were off pier 27 so he had quite a walk to get to seven. Most piers had buildings that were right on the sidewalk and were closed to the public with all kinds of signs saying no trespassing. Men were looking at the huge Mohawk as he walked by, even though they had sailed the seven seas and most everything there was to see. A man called out Injun but when Bear turned to see who yelled it out no one was looking up and he went on his way.

     Finally, he came upon pier 8 and could see there were three piers without buildings in a row then the buildings started up again on pier 5 and onward to what had to be pier 1 with nothing whatsoever showing beyond that. A few men were on pier 8 loading up a small fishing boat. He looked over to number seven but not a soul was on the decking. No one was on 6 either. But there was a cage of sorts on pier 7 that rose above the decking at least 20’ into the sky. On the outside of the cage, were poles over 12” thick and supported cargo netting that comprised the walls and roof. The netting was pulled taunt and nails driven into the poles. There was a single framed doorway facing the sidewalk side that had what appeared to be wire strung on a metal door. Unlit torches ringed the cage completely and there were various tables and chairs facing the cage from three sides. The backside seemed to be on the edge of the pier. Broken glass, broken swords and empty containers of beer from the smell of the place were strewn all along the dock. Earlier Bear had seen several of the King’s Guard in full uniform around the pier he was staying at but he hadn’t seen any from pier 20 on. By the look of pier 7 there didn’t seem to be any enforcement of law at all this far down the waterfront. This would explain the need for escorts for the winners to get their winnings back to a place it was safer to walk. Bear stayed awhile on one of the benches near the sidewalk inspecting the cage. Once inside there was no hole in the netting large enough to escape and the door looked impossible to knock down. The café owner hadn’t mentioned if the fights were to the death but the cage would make it possible to have that as a condition of the fight.

     On his way back, he noticed across from pier 23 a loud, active doorway with all kinds of men and women coming out that were obviously drunk. He stopped looking across and, after awhile, he decided to go in. Once inside the double doors, a huge ballroom opened up in front of him with a bar running the full length of the room on the far side and tables packed together on the outside with a dancing area in the middle. It was 2 o’clock in the afternoon yet the place was full of laughing, loud boasting, and cloud of cigar and pipe smoke that went down to the floor. Bear’s eyes burned as he made his way across the floor to the bar. He ordered a pitcher of beer and headed to a corner table that was empty and way out of the way where no one was sitting.

     Bear sat there watching people and quietly consuming the beer. Men were going to the back rooms with young girls but returning alone from behind the curtains. Later there was some pushing at the bar but a bouncer came up and escorted both men out of the Pleasure Palace. Three times a girl came up and asked if Bear wanted to buy them a drink or have a party in the back, but he told each of them to go away. By the fourth pitcher he was starting to feel the beer and sat back and relaxed for the first time in a long time. As he leaned back against the wall a favorite position of his that he tried to do whenever he was in a new place, he noticed a beautiful young woman across the room that looked as if she might be from the Americas. She was dark with fine features and her profile seemed to be one of the northern tribes of New England as opposed to the southern tribes where the faces were broader and the profiles flatter. Still he did not approach her and she apparently didn’t have any interest in him, at least she didn’t look his way even once the whole time he was watching her. He didn’t have much interest in women as such since he spent most of his time with men in battle or on the road to battle. There were the two girls when he was young and later, his wife who died of the fever years ago after bearing his only child Little Bear, now the head of the Bear Clan back home. After her death he was so unhappy that even when others tried to tell him of the interest of various women in the tribes he would grunt and dismiss the talk offhand. But somehow this girl on the other side of the world was all he could think of for now.

     All evening, he watched as she would go behind the curtains with men and come out later to return to the bar. Her trade was obvious, yet his interest in her was not diminished by what she did. Normally, if he saw a woman and she was of that trade he would turn away without a second’s thought, but somehow this one was different. Maybe, it was her profile that reminded him of home or the way she held her head up proudly, even when she came out from behind the curtains, whatever it was he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Finally, he saw her go behind the bar get a bag she had stashed there and go to the back of the building, not the curtained area. He figured she was leaving and lost interest in staying if she wasn’t going to be there. He still wasn’t about to approach her since rejection would be totally unacceptable to a war chief of the Mohawk Nation. He gathered up his coin purse and grabbed his hatchet and headed out the door. He could feel men watching him as he crossed the room, but that feeling was hardly unusual given his mass and bearing. As he stepped onto the sidewalk, the fresh air and darkness helped relieve his blood shot and smoke filled eyes. He turned to the right, his hotel a mere four blocks away. The sounds of women laughing and men shouting were still ringing in his ear, as he headed north along the front of the building marked Pleasure Palace.

     As he stepped off the sidewalk to cross the alleyway entrance between the Palace and the next building, he heard a woman cry out in pain. He quickly glanced to his right and there in the darkness was that Indian girl with two men in the alley. One was behind her holding her arms behind her back to the point of her hands showing above her head in what had to be painful since they were behind her back. The cries of pain were from her arms at such angles. The other man was in front with something on his mind that was hard to mistake for anything else. When Bear stopped, they both yelled at him to stay out of this if he wanted to live to tell about it. Bear was not the sort of man that ran along when told to do so. He yelled back to let her go if they wanted to live to tell about running into Big Bear, War chief to the Mohawk Nation and leader of the Bear Clan.

     The man in front suddenly hit the girl with his fist sending her to the street where she lay in a heap perfectly still. Then, turning, he pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Bear’s chest. The second man drew a sword and stepped to the side of the first waiting for the first man to fire. Bear was already in motion when the shot was fired. The ball thumped into Bear’s chest just before he went into the air. A second pistol appeared in the man’s hand, then the entire arm with the pistol slid to the street quietly and lay beside the unconscious girl while draining blood onto the cobble stones. The man stared at where his arm just a moment before had been, when the hatchet came through on its second pass and left a half inch path between his head and his shoulders. Soon the head lay along side of the arm, followed immediately by the rest of his body. The second man assumed the stance of on guard, only to look down at his chest and see a handle sticking straight out from the rib cage and a sudden difficulty in breathing. The last thing the second man saw was the evil smile of a Mohawk warrior as he passed out. Bear bent down on one knee and gently turned the face to him so the street lamp on the sidewalk lit up her face. It was swollen to the size of a man’s doubled up fist on the left and her eye was just a slit in a rounded stretched mound of skin that connected her forehead to her neck. He shook her shoulder hard enough to wake most anyone to consciousness, but when there was no response, he leaned over gently lifted her off the ground and in one effortless motion slung her over his shoulder and stood up. Holding her in place with his left hand, he slipped the hatchet into his belt. Then, before leaving pulled the knife out of the second man’s chest and using his foot to hold each head in place, he proceeded to scalp both men with the knife one handed, while holding the unconscious girl with the other. Then, he wiped the blade on their clothes, returned it to its sheath, and attached both scalps to his belt. Before leaving the alley, he bent over and snatched up the severed arm, which he laid along side the girl on his left shoulder.

     It was late, but not so late that there weren’t any people on the street. There were looks from all of them as a huge Indian walked by with some girl with a puffy face on his shoulder. Two guardsmen stopped him briefly to make sure she wasn’t dead. While questioning Bear, one noticed the severed arm, but decided he wasn’t curious enough to pursue the matter with a man that seemed over a story tall. After all maybe it was her arm, but he knew better. He didn’t say anything to his partner who was a stickler for details. Somehow he was sure they wouldn’t be able to arrest the Indian with the hole in his chest that was oozing blood slowly and they would end up like the fellow that once owned that arm. No one else said a word to Bear the rest of the way to the hotel.

     Bear walked through the lobby and up the stairs without so much as a glance to the front desk, where the clerk averted his eyes so he could deny having seen anything unusual if asked at some future time. He was used to looking the other way, but tonight it seemed almost essential that he stay out of the business of the huge Indian. Drops of blood marked the way all the way up to his door. He unlocked the door and walked in, carried her over to the bed and gently lay her down with the right side on the pillow. The arm he put in the corner on some skins he carried for ground cover. Returning to the girl he wet a towel on the dresser with the water pitcher and bowl on it and gently laid it on her swollen face. Then he cleaned up with another towel and returned to the arm. It was well past midnight by the time Bear got down to the task of devouring the arm, all the fighting and carrying had made him hungry and there were no eating establishments open at this time of night. The girl came to, just as he was shoving the last of the bones into the wall through a loose board he found by testing each board, a trick he had learned at sea to hide the evidence that got men so upset when they found it. He quickly pushed the board back in place and turned to the girl.

     She asked where she was, and he told her. Then, she asked why he had brought her to his room while she was unconscious. Bear said that he didn’t want her to be victimized by a second group after the first had finished with her. She looked in his eyes for a long time, having spent much of her life having to figure out of a man was lying. Although the giant Indian was as scary as any man she had ever met, there was a steady, straight-forward gaze that looked true. She then felt her face and cursed under her breath when she realized the extent of the damage done to her face. She, then, thanked Bear for saving her from the two men in the alley. He grunted his acceptance of her appreciation and went back to cleaning his hatchet and knives. She, then, told him those two men had many friends in this part of Paris and she was afraid for her life when those men told others of his rescue. Bear said that they wouldn’t be telling anybody anything about last night. She understood what that meant and got quiet. Those men were very dangerous and had killed many a man for what they had on their person in that very alley. She looked at Bear closely for the first time and realized he had been shot with blood still oozing out the wound. She offered to dress the wound but he told her it would stop bleeding by morning and that it was not necessary to tend the wound at all. Then she saw the filed off shafts in his chest and numerous scars from punctures and cuts and gashes all over his chest and legs. She never seen a man with so many signs of battle on his body and became quiet as she thought about what kind of man is this. Then, she said that her name was Manniakuni, “one that speaks with two voices” and that she was of a Lenni Lenape tribe now called the Delaware. She had been kidnapped by the Dutch and taken back to Amsterdam to work for a rich merchant family. Months later she escaped and came to France where she hoped to earn passage back to Philadelphia in the Pennsylvanian colony. Bear couldn’t believe it, a member of the “grandfathers” that crossed the ice bridge into the Americas was here in an old run down hotel in Paris. He had been in many battles against the Delaware and respected their fighting ability, certainly the Monseys in the mountains. To have one of their women in his control seemed like a victory indeed after the defeat of the 6000 in 1716. He had no intention of holding her hostage but didn’t want her to go either. He hadn’t even seen an Indian women in a year and a half. Bear said she could stay with him until she thought it was safe to return to her life at the Pleasure Palace. She cringed when he said Pleasure Palace because she knew he had seen her there and knew what she did for a living. He asked what they call her and she said Manny, then he said they call me Bear. She lowered herself back down on the bed, when the throbbing began to interfere with their conversation and closed her eyes. Soon she fell asleep. Bear watched her sleep for the rest of the night, checking every hour or so to make sure her breathing was normal and changing wet towels when the previous ones got too dry. Even with her face swollen beyond recognition she was beautiful to him and he decided that night he wanted her by his side until his deathbed. He hadn’t thought much about being lonely for years but now it seemed that he was alone in the world and Manniakuni was the answer to being alone.  

TO BE CONTINUED

     Rebecca watched Matoaka as she told the story of the defeat of the 6000. The horror of the battle showed on her face, deep lines and a frown that furrowed her entire forehead and made her look very old. Rebecca did not say a word when Mat talked about Big Bear the Phantom of the Mohawk. She saw no reason to tell Mato that he was in Paris with her daughter and the Buerer family had agreed to spend a small fortune to support the Bear Clan of the Mohawk Nation. Then when she talked of her son Little Wolf, her face lit up and she looked like a young girl. But that changed quickly to a sullen mood and she quit talking altogether. Rebecca assumed it was bad news and changed the subject in an attempt to allow Mato relief from her memories.

     The subject changed to King George II, and how he was as bad as his father, George I, just another German King that didn’t care about England, much less the colonies. Mato didn’t respond so eventually they back to the house and nothing else was said that day or any other for that matter. Mato returned to the mysterious woman she was before she talked about her past. She was still Rebecca’s companion but no further word about her tribe or her son.

     Rebecca told Hans that night about Matoaka and her early life as a princess-warrior, but he seemed distant. Hans was still not talking about what was bothering him and Seabreeze wasn’t going to push him to do so.  She figured when he was ready he would tell her what was going on.

     The society functions were year round and Rebecca continued to go even though Hans had quit going some time ago. It was at one of the charity balls that Benjamin Franklin came up to her and asked if she would be interested in becoming an editor for his new publication the Pennsylvania Gazette. She knew who he was from her husband’s friends. That night she told Hans of Franklin’s offer. Hans didn’t say much so she decided to take the position if she could work at home for half the time. She went back to Franklin to tell him she would take the position. From all the reading she had done, the early exploration and early settlements were of particular interest to her. She proposed to him a series on the early arrivals of Europeans in the colonies. He agreed.

     Highlights of her series started with Juan Ponce de Leon’s search for Bimini where there was gold and the magical Fountain of Youth. He failed to find either. He returned in 1521, the Calusa Indians were less welcoming as he built a small colony on the west coast of Florida. Within a few months the Indians attacked the colony, killed many Spanish including Ponce de Leon and drove the rest away. She began with Ponce de Leon because Columbus never reached the shores of North America. Next came Hernando de Soto, who traveled extensively throughout the southeast and was welcomed by the Native peoples initially but changed when he began to enslave the Indians in 1539.

     It was almost 30 years later in 1564 the French built Fort Caroline, Florida. The Spanish settled St. Augustine, Florida one year later. And in 1607 the English founded Jamestown, Virginia. The Indians welcomed the foreigners mostly for the trade that came with them like metal tools and firearms which they thought they could use to defeat their Indian enemies.

     Because the Native population had no built in immunities to diseases, in some parts of the southeast 9 out of10 Indians died from measles to chicken pox. Alcohol was also introduced and after 200 years of European influence the history and traditions of the native population was well along the road to be destroyed.

      The information in her articles was not new, nor of any real concern to people in Philadelphia. The response from the readership was minimal. Rebecca became discouraged from writing any more articles. She voiced her concerns to Franklin but he said that she should try another series before giving up. She thought long and hard about a series and decided to pick up where Ben had left off with Silence Dogood. Six years earlier Ben had used the Non de Plume of the fictional widow Silence Dogood to tell of the mistreatment of women in society and had been wildly successful in Boston for his brother James’ newspaper The New England Courant. Being the first newspaper in Boston gave James a great position to state his views, which included being against inoculations against small pox, believing they only made a person sicker. Because James made fun of the prominent Puritan preachers, the Mathers, who supported inoculations, he was thrown into jail for his views. Ben ran the paper in his absence, but was harassed and beaten by James when released from jail out of jealousy. When she asked Ben permission to revive the Silence Dogood character, Ben thought it would cause too many problems with his brother and denied the request. Then she asked if she could tell the readers his life story and he said she could, but only if she didn’t put the readers to sleep while doing so. They both laughed but she was never sure if he meant that his life was boring or if he was giving her permission to spice up the facts to entertain the readers.

     The story she told began with his birth January 17, 1706 as the tenth son of a soap maker Josiah Franklin and Abiah Folger, his second wife. Josiah intended Ben to become a clergy, but since he could only afford one year of schooling when clergy required many years of schooling he decided to have him apprentice as a printer like his brother James. Ben loved to read and helped his brother compose pamphlets and set type, a grueling job. By 12 he was selling their products on the Bostonian streets.

     When he ran away from his brother at 17, after repeated beatings, he was breaking the law, since all people were expected to have a place in society. He took a boat to New York where he hoped to find work as a printer, he didn’t. He eventually reached Philadelphia wet, disheveled, and messy and met Deborah Read on October 6, 1723, the woman he would marry seven years later.

     Franklin found work as an apprentice printer and did so well the governor of Pennsylvania promised to set him up in business if he went to London to buy fonts and printing equipment. The governor reneged on his promise and Ben was forced to stay and work in London for several months. Before leaving for London, he had been staying with the Read family and when Deborah began talking of marriage he told her he wasn’t ready. While he was in London she married another man. Upon his return he got work as a printer’s helper and soon borrowed money to start his own business. He worked all the time and soon people in Philadelphia noticed the young Ben and began giving him work, including government jobs.

     At 22, Ben fathered a child named William with an unknown mother, but in 1730 married Deborah Read, whose husband had run off. In addition to the print shop, the Franklins also ran their own store, selling everything from soap to fabric. Ben also ran a book store while managing the other two businesses.

     A year earlier Ben had bought the newspaper Pennsylvania Gazette     which became the most successful in the colonies. He also found time to organize the “Junto” club which later became the American Philosophical Society. Another club he organized was the “Leathern Apron Club” a secret society (non-Masonic) and later printed an article in his paper pretending to reveal Masonic mysteries. When Ben saw the series he smiled and said she could run it over the next three issues.

     As the hours increased and the days got longer, she saw less and less of Hans. He had his own problems with the business and now that the winter was in full force the orders had come to a complete halt. The spring and summer of ‘29 had not brought much by way of new orders and Hans became more and more despondent. The new equipment sat idle much of the time and Hans struggled to think of some other use for the equipment. Unfortunately rock crushing and resurfacing machines are ill adapted to other products. The bank his family had done business with for decades was not in a apposition to refinance the loan. Hans for the first time had to consider selling the business and trying something else for a living. This might be done fairly easily by a man who had tried other lines of work as a younger man but at his age this was an impossible task. The wealth of the family would stay intact as far as accounts and city bonds of Philadelphia and New York, but the cash flow for expenses would be curtailed enough that they may have to find more suitable accommodations to fit the lower revenues. He finally told Rebecca about their financial situation. She was supportive and said he was the man in her life and it didn’t matter to her where they shared their life, then she added her concern about Matoaka as a companion in their new life. He assured her that Mato could stay no matter what happens in the future, it was more the matter of a large estate needed so many people to run effectively and a smaller place back in the city made sense. She had no objection to returning to the city since her editorial job was so demanding of her time and it did take quite a effort to get to the Gazette each day. Hans advertised in New York since he didn’t think he could get much from local businessmen who would know the business climate in Philadelphia. Two months later a man with money from the rum and slave business paid him top dollar for the business, including taking over the loan on the new equipment. Hans’ mood picked up considerably with the sale and was a most agreeable man.  

     Seabreeze kept thinking about the stories Matoaka had told her. The fact that the man that had killed Mato’s father and husband was now protecting her daughter in Paris and hopefully Mato will never find out. Rebecca feared that Mato would be honor bound to avenge her father’s death. Big Bear’s father Great Bear was brother to the Bear Clan chief Hiawatha an inherited name/title passed down through the families from the middle of the 15^th century.

     The other thing that kept coming to mind was the fact the Iroquois Nations could control such a vast area of land so effectively. She went to the Jesuit father in Philadelphia and asked how the Iroquois Confederation could do such a thing. He told her the story of Hiawatha the statesman, peacemaker, and co-founder of the Iroquois League. After hearing the story she asked Franklin if she could do a multi-part series on Hiawatha. He asked her what would be the interest from the readership in such a series. She said it would show how the regard of Englishmen for their Magna Charta and Bill of Rights seems weak in comparison with the intense gratitude and reverence of the Five Nations for the “Great Peace” which Hiawatha and his colleagues established for them. He countered with the argument that such a statement would have to be substantiated with facts not just the proposition that such is true. Rebecca said that if he allowed ample space over many issues, she would include key sections of the Iroquois “Book of Rites”, sometimes called the “Book of the Condoling Council”, that contain speeches, songs, ceremonies, and records of the proceedings. This book would show that instead of a race of rude and ferocious warriors, we find a kindly and affectionate people, full of sympathy for their friends in distress, considerate to their women, tender to their children, anxious for peace, and imbued with a profound reverence for their constitution and its authors. This shows the fact that these Indians have presented themselves to the outside world in a deceptive and factitious manner. The ferocity, craft, and cruelty, which have been deemed their leading traits, have been merely the natural accompaniments of wars of self-preservation, when war is a struggle for national existence, common to all races. Ben looked at her with a new eye to her potential as a stateswoman and spokesperson for the colonies in the inevitable upcoming conflict. Then after some time he told her she could have two columns, second page and no more than one column on the back page to finish. She was surprised with his generosity. He seldom allowed so much space for any articles, even his editorials.

     When the first Europeans arrived, the land occupied by the Five Nations was in the same condition it was in the Stone Age. Ancient Iroquois towns will have implements of flint and bone, ornaments of shells, and fragments of rude pottery.  The Iroquois confederacy dates from around 1450. The Mohawks were the original tribe, from which all the others were offshoots. Although they were occasionally at war with one another, they were constantly at war with the fierce Algonquins, Lenni Lenape, who surrounded them. They also had to withstand attacks from more distant tribes; Hurons, Cherokees, and Dakotas. Yet they were not peculiarly a warlike people.  They had large and strongly palisaded towns, well-cultivated fields, and substantial houses, sometimes a hundred feet long, in which many kindred families dwelt together. Seabreeze thought of the first time she saw Big Bear and how the sun dimmed somewhat as he appeared. She couldn’t imagine him tending the well-cultivated fields. 

     At this time, there were two great dangers, one from without, the other from within. The Mohegans, or Mohicans, a powerful Algonquin tribe, whose settlements stretched along the Hudson River, south of the Mohawks, and extending to New England, waged a desperate war against them. The Mohawks and the Oneidas were the most easterly of the five tribes and bore the brunt of the fighting. The most westerly tribes, the Senecas and the Cayugas had the middle tribe to contend with, the Onondagas with its war chief Atotarho, or Wataotahlo, or Tododaho, a remorseless tyrant. Any chief that opposed him was taken off by secret means or had to hide in another village to survive. Atoarho means “entangled” and legend soon had him with his head adorned with living snakes.

     There was another Onondagas chief at that time, Hiawatha, or Hayonwatha, or Ayongwhata, or Taoungwatha, “he who seeks the wampum belt”. He had been grieved by the evil he saw in the many wars between the tribes and after much deliberation, had elaborated in his mind the scheme of a vast confederation which would ensure universal peace. Although the idea was not new, it had unique aspects. The first was a permanent government of a federal senate and secondly that it not be limited in that all tribes of men could join. The avowed purpose was to abolish all wars.

     Hiawatha started with his own tribe but Atotarho would have nothing to do with it and broke up both attempts to form a counsel to discuss the plan. Hiawatha covered himself with skins and stayed alone for some time, after which he got up and left the village leaving the smiling Atotarho to watch what appeared to be a voluntary exile. He plunged into a forest, climbed a mountain, and floated down the Mohawk River, a flight that is likened to Mohammed’s flight from Mecca to Medina by votaries of Islam. Although small, white shells strung in necklaces was not new, their use to signify peace was. So Hiawatha is given credit for inventing “wampum”.

     Early one morning he arrived at a Mohawk town of the chief Dekanawidah, son of an Onondaga father and a Mohawk mother. He was not the leading chief. That position was held by Tekarihoken, or Tecarihoga. He sat himself down on a fallen log close to where the tribe drew their water. When told of a man with with shells all over his chest Dekanawidah sent for “the guest”. The men were kindred spirits and soon word was sent to the Oneidas who said they would think on it for one day, the Indians used one day to signify one year. The Oneidas chief Odatshehte, “the quiver-bearer”, returned a year later in agreement. The Cayugan chief Akahenyonk, “the wary spy” joined for another attempt to convince Atotarho to join and finally by assuring him of absolute veto power over all decisions, he consented. Now firmly in power Atotarho was anxious to extend the confederacy to include the Seneca tribes to the west. Overcoming the initia suspicion for the Onondagas after years of war, the two chiefs, Kanyadariyo, “beautiful lake” and Shadekaronyes, “the equal skies” joined the league.

     The first members of the counsel were selected by convention but replacements were chosen by a method that had female suffrage as the determining factor. When a chief died his successor could be any descendent of the late chief’s mother or grandmother – his brother, his cousin, or his nephew – but never his son. The new chief inherited the name of his predecessor. In this respect the resemblance of the Great Council to the English House of Peers is striking. Dekanawidah alone refused to have his name passed down since he was the founder of the league and in that sense no other man could do that again. Although Hiawatha had conceived of the league, it was Dekanawidah that made it a reality by personally driving through the structure of the Grand Council.

     The hereditary enemies of the Iroquois, the Cherokees, never joined the league, probably out of suspicion. Limited success was achieved with the western Algonquins. A strict alliance that lasted many years was formed with the far-spread Ojibways, although the Huron defeat unraveled it somewhat. The Tuscaroras, expelled by the English from North Carolina, took refuge with the Iroquois. The Tuteloes and Saponies, of Dakota stock, after many wars found comfort with the Iroquois. Many fragments of the Algonquin lineage – Delaware (Lenni Lenapes), Nanticokes, Mohicans, and Mississagas found refuge in the league.

     The legend of Hiawatha over the years became intermingled with stories of Onondagas and Ojibway deities that had wild adventures. One story was when Hiawatha descended from the heavens in a white canoe which reminds one of the labors of Hercules. He stayed on earth long enough to have a varied series of adventures then established the confederacy and bestowing many prudent counsels upon the people, then ascending into the skies the way he came. He also became an Ojibways demigod, son of the West Wind, and companion of the tricky Paupukkeewis, the boastful Iago, and the strong Kwasind. In the end he was improperly identified with the Iroquois deity Aronhiawagon and the Manabozho, the fantastic divinity of the Ojibways.

   The reception of the articles from the Gazette readers was very favorable, allowing her more freedom in the choices of material for future articles. Ben was pleased with his choice of editor, and went out of his way to encourage her to experiment with unusual topics and misunderstood concepts. Her work was turning out to be critical in the success of the paper and driving the circulation to new levels with subscriptions coming in from other colonies. Her work was all consuming as she searched records of any source she could find. Many private libraries were made available to her through her friends in Philadelphian society and the vast library of the Jesuits. Her appetite for knowledge, although always healthy in the past, became a demon in her life, ruling her every waking moment. This took its toll on her marriage, particularly since Hans had a new found freedom of time and no particular interests as of yet to consume these new hours in the day. Each time he asked her to go somewhere or do something with him, if she did hear him from the thoughts running around in her mind, she would say something at least vaguely related to the subject but non-committal in nature. Eventually he quit asking her to join him.   

TO BE CONTINUED

The next morning, Rebecca woke up later than usual. She felt sad and knew why. Mato was no where to be seen and after checking her room, Seabreeze decided that Mato needed time to herself. It was afternoon before she saw her in the gardens, but did not go to her.

Supper was at eight as usual and Hans seemed far away in his thoughts. He was becoming more that way over the last few months and Rebecca thought it was the business. The summer had been busy with the construction that went on after the riots. Hans had something in July that he had to invest in more equipment to meet the demand or else the orders would go to other companies in New York and New Jersey. Hans detested debt and it weighed heavily on him. Fall was here and most of the contracts had been delivered without losing but a couple of orders to other colonies. Hans retired to his study right after supper, leaving Seabreeze to her reading in the parlor.

Mato came in the parlor with a hug for her and a smile that told Rebecca it was time for the story to continue. The two women made themselves comfortable on the divan and Mato picked up where she had left off the night before.

The birds were chirping their loudest when Matoaka woke after passing out chasing the sounds of battle in the distance. But now there were no battle cries in the distance, everything seemed strangely normal. The blood-soaked bandage around her head felt tight and was dry and stiff to the touch. Looking around she saw nothing unusual, absolutely no signs of warfare could be seen. She stood up and felt faint instantly, sitting back down quickly she steadied herself. The battle the day before replayed in her mind as tears came to her eyes. The tears were for the boy that would not see his right of passage if he had made it to 12, her husband she had waited her whole life to meet, a father who deserved a quiet old age, a brother and his wife with three children in the caves, even Two Hands Climbing deserved to