It was grim work. They buried the bodies where they were. In all twelve men had gone out from the fort to face the dark work of burying the dead. The same men who had crossed the wilderness together, and built a life in the midst of it, stood beside Daniel in this hour of death. As they prepared to lift Susannah and lower her into the ground, Esa said, "Lord, almighty! She looks 'xactly like . . "
"Hush up!" Tom Walker said glancing at Daniel. Daniel hesitated and then said, "Wait." He found looking at Susannah nearly impossible, but a glint of silver against her pale skin caught his eye. Reaching out, he removed a silver necklace from her cold body.
"The little girl will be grateful for it Daniel." Esa said. Daniel slipped it into his pocket and nodded. They slowly moved Susannah toward the gaping hole they'd dug in the earth. Daniel turned and walked away. He intended to only go over to where the horses stood waiting, but just kept walking. He walked away from the fresh mounds of earth; away from the shattered wagons; away from the body being lowered into the earth.
Mingo caught him up. "Daniel," he began, but seeing his face, he said only, "I'll walk back with you brother." Daniel nodded and silently they walked through the shadows of the trees.
As they neared the outskirts of the fort Daniel said, "Don't say anything about me running off. I'm ashamed of myself."
"Daniel, you've nothing to be ashamed of." Mingo replied.
"I know she should've had family with her. It's only right. But I just couldn't stomach it. It was like watching my own, sweet Rebecca . . . " His voice caught and he stopped abruptly.
"No one expected you to go at all. There were plenty of men to do the work. You did right by her." He said reassuringly. It was not like the tall man to doubt himself.
"I dunno." he said. He sighed. Looking around he realized that for the first time in his life, the land, the trees, the sky brought him no comfort. "All her life, all she longed for was family. You know, she was younger than Mima when she was bound. Her mother dead, her father gone, and her sisters taken from her. She's had enough pain." Daniel paused. Was it Shawnee?"
"I don't know. Most likely a band of renegades; outcasts with a radical approach to dealing with white settlers."
"Renegades." He repeated. "They've hurt us before." He turned toward Mingo. "I want to know everything - whatever you learn, you tell me." His voice was harsh, enraged. He walked ahead to the fort. Mingo stood watching until he disappeared inside the walls of Boonesborough.