For where your treasure is, there will you heart be also.
Matthew 6:21
Chapter 1
The cabin was newly burned. Wisps of smoke still curled from the blackened logs. Cautiously Daniel approached. Behind him Mingo walked silently. Careful by nature, neither man spoke, communicating with gestures and expressions. Finally they crouched behind a screen of shrubs and surveyed the immediate area. Birds whistled and sang from the surrounding forest. Evidently whoever had burned the cabin was gone.
The late afternoon sun was dipping toward the distant horizon. Slowly Daniel rose and beckoned his companion. The two men split and circled the cabin, eyes to the ground, looking for the messages contained in the Kentucky soil. After searching for several minutes the two men reunited before the ruined door.
"It was a small party. From the sign I make 'em to be white. What about you Mingo?"
Mingo nodded his head silently. "Three, from the sign. The cabin's inhabitants were taken. I counted a man, a woman, and two children."
Daniel nodded his head in return, then looked at the golden afternoon sky. "It'll be dark soon. Let's make camp and head out in the mornin'. They 're headin' south, but with two children they won't make good time."
Mingo turned and melted into the forest to gather wood. Daniel constructed a fire ring and made a snug little camp about fifty yards upwind of the cabin near the smokehouse. He peeked inside and retrieved a haunch of bear meat. Mingo returned with the firewood and soon the two men were feasting on salted bear meat and strong coffee.
"You know Daniel, it's odd that only the cabin is burned. All the outbuildings are intact."
Mingo's observation brought several minutes of silence as the two men thought. Mingo continued, "It'll almost like the cabin contained something that needed to be destroyed." His dark eyes held his friend's as the idea took root in Daniel's mind. He nodded silently.
"Either that, or whoever lived here wouldn't come peaceable and the men who took 'em had to smoke 'em out."
"Maybe both." Mingo's eyes conveyed his confusion. "Or neither."
"Before we set out after 'em, maybe we'd best look around that cabin a little better. It should be cool enough by mornin' if we're careful."
Mingo responded by rolling into his blanket and scooting down beside the flickering fire. Daniel sat drinking his last cup of coffee as the summer moon reached cool fingers through the trees and caressed the fallen timbers of the still-smoking cabin.
In the gentle light of early morning Mingo nudged Daniel's foot and the frontiersman instantly opened bright green eyes to greet the day. He rose and stretched as Mingo stirred the morning fire. After a quick breakfast of bear meat washed down with hot black coffee the two men stepped over the ruined threshold and surveyed the earthen floor.
They split apart and carefully examined the base of every support log. Finding nothing, they each turned to the blackened fireplace. Using their knives they explored the fireplace for any loose stones. But the fireplace contained nothing out of the ordinary.
"Well, Mingo, that was a good idea we had but if they burned the cabin to get rid of somethin', I'd say they were successful."
Mingo nodded and started to rise from his crouched position. As he did his right knee bumped into a protruding stone. The sharp edge poked painfully beside the kneecap and caused the Cherokee to drop back to his knees. His left hand pressed on the edge of the hearth stones and his weight caused one rock to tip. The shift was just enough to show a vacant space beneath the rock. Curiously Mingo lifted the hearthstone to reveal a cavity about eight inches by six inches. In the bottom of the hole lay a metal box.
Mingo lifted the box and Daniel bent beside his friend. The lid was tight and Mingo used his knife to pry it loose. Inside the box was a folded piece of heavy paper. Carefully Mingo pulled it free of the box. When it was unfolded the two men exchanged a knowing glance. It was a manumission paper.
"Freed, April 22 1775, one Nemo, his slave wife Maida, and two children Zena and Leander. Signed: Jacob Matheson. Witnessed: Hadden Becket, Attorney at Law. Surry County Virginia." Mingo's voice solemnly read the words. Then he looked up into Daniel's eyes.
"It is unlikely that freed slaves would leave their manumission paper behind if they voluntarily abandoned their cabin."
Daniel frowned and nodded. "The three men who took 'em were white. But why?"
"Heading south, Daniel, I would assume these whites to be a type of bounty hunter. Once, when I was a boy, an escaped slave staggered into Chota telling of running from what he called 'slave catchers'. I've never forgotten the panic in his eyes. He wouldn't stay with us but continued on north after only an hour's rest. I never did know what became of him."
The two men stood silently for several minutes. Then Mingo raised his dark head. "Daniel, this family is free. Without the papers they can be sold to anyone. They can be split apart and sold to different buyers. We must go after them."
Daniel looked into Mingo's eyes, then nodded. "Yes, we must. This paper is from Virginia, and we are bound to her. These people are free citizens of Virginia. It's just the same as if one of our settlers were taken by the Shawnee." Mingo carefully replaced the paper in the metal box and placed it in his pack. Then while Daniel scattered the fire Mingo placed the remaining bear meat inside his pack. Less than five minutes later they were following the footprints, heading south.