"Wilhelm's back!" Matthew Bradley yelled from his spot near the fort's main gate. "Wilhelm's made it back!"
They had sent him out nearly ten days ago to contact the militia and ask for help. Everyone gathered to see him and to learn if he had successfully found them. But before anyone could ask him a single question, his wife Margaret pushed her way through the crowd and fell weeping into his arms.
"Alright, get back on the wall." Daniel called out. "We'll wait for you inside, Will. Don't rush. We've been waiting for days, a few minutes more won't make a difference."
Wilhelm nodded and quietly walked his wife away from the crowd. Everyone who wasn't on duty filed into the tavern. Twenty minutes later, Wilhelm arrived.
"Well?" Esa Greene asked.
"They should be here in two days. I rode ahead. They have about 100 men and two cannons. The cannons are slowing them down."
"Hallelujah for that." Zach Morgan said. "We can take care of those savages once and for all."
"We just want to find a way to establish peace. This land is big enough for all of us!" Daniel said.
"Really? Tell that to Martha's children! Tell that to Mary Wheaton! We need to stop trying to get along and prove once and for all who's stronger." Zach said bitterly.
"Hatred only makes things worse." Daniel said.
"What do you know of anything! Your brother and his family wasn't slaughtered! Your wife wasn't killed defending this fort! Your peaceful ways is what keeps bringing us here - locked inside our own gates!"
"Zach, why don't you be quiet. You're forgetting a pretty big chunk of history. You arguing, Dan and Becky haven't suffered enough? Are you saying they haven't made sacrifices? Is that what you are saying?" Matthew stood angrily.
The room fell silent. All eyes turned from Zach to Daniel, waiting.
"Wilhelm, get some food and rest. We're all grateful as can be." Daniel said. "Two days is a long way off. There won't be a moon tomorrow night. Darkness makes a good opportunity for them to attack. We need stay alert. I'll see if I can stall things. I guess I better go out there and see what we can do. Maybe Chief Grey Wolf will speak with me." He sighed and the crowd broke up.
"Dan, you can't be serious. You're going outside those gates?" Matthew grabbed his arm.
"Two cannons, Matt. You know what could happen. If even one tribe decides to turn back, we'd be saving lives."
"But it can't be safe! Why we don't know half the tribes out there! Any one of them would love the prize of killing the great Daniel Boone!" Matt said.
"If we don't warn them there will be a bloodbath. The anger between us will never heal." He sighed heavily.
"You are going to walk out there?" Tom Walker asked his eyes wide. Looking out over Daniel's shoulder something caught his eye. "Oh good Lord! Everybody run! Good luck, Dan'l." Tom patted him on the shoulder and everyone seemed to find a reason to be somewhere else.
"I guess you heard." He said turning and facing her. "That took longer than I expected."
"Well, I couldn't just abandon my spot. I had to get someone to cover it. That slowed me down." Her voice was tight; controlled. He waited.
"When?" She asked. Her face was pale and her voice unfamiliar and shaky.
"Now is always the best time, don't you think." He said softly, still waiting for a flash of anger. He wanted to reach out and draw her into his arms, but knew he couldn't dare. Holding her close to him, he would lose all his resolve.
She drew in a deep breath and bit her lip. "I won't breathe until you are back. And I won't do anything but pray." Her voice shook. "I understand it; why you have to go, but Dan . . ." She swallowed hard and he could hear so many unspoken things in her voice. "Please, . . ." Her voice failed her then and kissing his cheek quickly, she turned and ran. Daniel's shoulders slumped. Drawing a deep breath, he steeled himself against his desire to run after her, and run away with her. He was burdened with his responsibility. He picked up his hat, but left Tick-Licker behind.
He strode forward confidently. At least, that's how he hoped it looked. As he neared the gates, he could see Katie, Rose and Israel. He paused and hugged them. "Don't fret." He said kissing each of his girls. Seeing Anna, he kissed her too, and hugging Israel he said, "Look after your Ma."
"My Ma's with her." Anna said. He nodded grateful, glanced once more around the settlement and then he was gone.
***DB***
Rebecca Boone stood at the wall of the fort that bore her husband's name. She would rather be almost anywhere else. Her mind was filled with the warm memory of last month when Mingo and Chandrika had come for a visit. They had spent gloriously peaceful days together watching the children play, talking, cooking, fishing. Each night after the children were fast asleep, they would sit up for hours talking. She longed to travel backward in time and live those days again. She prayed that Mingo and Chandrika were safe, and far from all the troubles. She prayed their child would live in a world of peace.
It was nearly dusk, and everyone was at the ready. There would be no moon, and the darkness would be a perfect time to stage an attack against the fort. Everyone who could was on watch. They had heard nothing of Daniel, and he had yet to return. She tried not to even think of him.
Grace had sat with her as he strode out the fort on his impossibly long legs. She had gone inside unable to watch. They sat together not even speaking. She held tightly to Grace's hand praying the same prayer over and over and over. "Please don't take him from me! Please!"
Since he had left, everyone was unbearably kind to her, telling her not to give up hope, but she could tell that deep down they believed him to be dead already.
Her place was on the back side of the fort and she was grateful that from where she stood, she couldn't even see the gates. It would be too difficult to stare hour after hour, searching for his long silhouette in the distance. Here, she would be the last one to know. Israel was positioned on the opposite side, near the gates. He would tell her if anything happened; good or bad.
As the sun disappeared behind the hills, so did her hope. She had told herself that he would be home before the darkness fell, and if he wasn't then . . . She scanned the horizon. Esa Greene was to her right. "Esa!" She whispered.
"I see 'em." He said. "Better go sound the alarm. Looks like they decided to go ahead and attack." His eyes grew wide as he realized what he was saying to her. "I'm sure that they just wouldn't listen to him. Dan'l's fine. I'm sure of it." He said as he climbed down.
"I'm not." She said, but he didn't hear her as he was already gone to alert everyone to get to their positions on the wall.
The ringing of the bell seemed like a signal, not only to the settlers but also to their attackers. The fighting began almost at once, and then she had no time to think of anything, except the task at hand. They came at the walls like a wave. She fell into a steady rhythm: fire, reload, fire, reload. She had no thought as she watched the braves coming at them fall. She had asked Dan about the war long ago, how he could kill other men. He had told her then, "Well, when it comes down to you or the other fella, it is almost natural to choose you. Still when I think on it, it does bother me some." She understood it better now. There was no time for debating the rightness or wrongness of fighting - there was just you, your children, and the attackers. Thinking of Katie, and Rose hiding in the cellar with the other children, only made her resolve stronger.
The initial wave seemed to last for hours, but as the smoke of the guns died down, she discovered it had been less than an hour. The Indians retreated into the tree line, but the settlers could see them regrouping and preparing for a second wave.
"Get some water." Esa told her. "Take a rest while you can. They are coming back."
She climbed down from the wall and went immediately to Israel. He was standing with Anna in his arms.
"Ma," He said seeing her. He put his arms around her. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. They are coming back." She said her voice tight with stress. He nodded and the three of them walked over to the well. The water was cool and refreshing.
"We better get back to our posts." Israel said. "Ma, don't worry. If there is fighting, maybe Pa just can't get through. He'd have to wait until . . ."
"Don't worry about me, Israel. I'll endure no matter what." She said. She put her arm around Anna Lee, and kissed her on the cheek. "You kiss your wife for as long as you can, until they call us back to the wall." She told him, and walked away smiling at their look of surprise.
***DB***
It was near midnight. If they lasted through this night, then the settlement would likely endure. The militia was expected soon, and no doubt the sight of two large cannons would deter any attackers. They just needed to make it until the dawn. It had been hours since the initial attack, and the settlers could no longer see the grouping of the Indians in the line of the trees. It was too dark, but they knew they were still out there.
The attack was sudden this time, and the firing of rifles was what brought everyone to fight. There was no time to ring the alarm, although, after the fighting had already begun one of the young boys ran to the bell but the sound of it was drowned out by the fighting.
They were not able to hold them off this time. Near the back wall of the fort a small party of Shawnee had managed to break inside and then the fighting became violently primal. A large brave came towards Rebecca Boone, and having no time to fire her rifle, she slammed it into his arm, but not before he caught it and twisted it from her hands. He lunged at her, knocking her to the ground. She landed with a thud and he jumped down after her. She struggled to regain her footing, but he was fast and strong. He pinned her to the ground. His arm raised, she could see the bright glint of the steel of his knife. She rolled to the left just in time and his knife merely caught the side of her arm. She felt no pain, but rather only anger. He was bigger and stronger than her, and she knew it was just a matter of time, but she resolved that she would continue to fight until her very last breath.
He loomed over her again. His knife raised. She tried to strike out at him, but he had her pinned completely. In the briefest moment, a flood of memories flashed through her mind. She couldn't have described a single one of them if she'd tried. It was like a crashing together of all her loves from her mother to Daniel to each of her children - like a tidal wave washing over her. Her last thoughts then, were not of fear or anger, but a great thankfulness for all the goodness she had once had. It was in that last second of thankfulness, she heard the firing of a rifle and the brave fell dead landing on top of her.
She tried to push him off to wriggle free, but he was too heavy. Panic set in then, as she feared she would be buried under him for all of time. She began to kick and flail then. Suddenly strong arms pulled him aside.
"Becky? Becky? Are you alright?"
She remained speechless and confused as she stared into the eyes of her husband. He reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders shaking her.
"Rebecca, are you hit somewhere?" He asked and she could see his panic rising.
"But, you are dead." She said stunned and wincing in pain from where he grabbed her wounded arm. It was only now that she realized that she had truly believed him gone forever.
"No, at least, I don't think I am." He said. "Darlin' are you hurt?"
She was just about to answer him when something just over his shoulder caught her eye. Moving quickly, she reached into his jacket where he kept a spare revolver and pulling it out said, "Roll!" He rolled to his left as she fired at the brave who had just raised his knife ready to strike. The brave fell over backwards.
She sat breathless and holding the smoking revolver. Daniel sat up next to her equally stunned. Finally she turned to him and said, "When this is over, you are taking me to Salem and I'm getting a new dress."
He sat stunned for a full minute before he finally laughed and said, "Rebecca Boone, you are one in a million, you know that? I'll buy you a dozen new dresses, darlin'." He studied her more closely . "Your arm is bleeding. Let me see." He ripped open her sleeve.
"It's just a knife wound." She said her voice slow. "But Dan, when did you get back? What happened?" She looked up at him trying to process everything.
"Just a knife wound? It's pretty deep, Becky." He said as he wrapped it with a piece of her torn sleeve. He looked around. "Let's get back over there by that lean to." Keeping low they crawled over to the small building together. She leaned against the wall of it, while he fussed over her arm. "I'll get you inside the tavern." He said to her.
"No, I'm alright." She said.
"Well, I don't think so. Looks like we just lost our best rifleman." He sighed and she could see his hands were shaking.
"No, you didn't. My husband taught me to shoot left-handed too." She grinned at him, her slow brain finally realizing that he was here.
"Smart man." He said smiling back.
"Well, not smart enough to stay inside a fort during an attack. What happened?"
"Well, some folks listened. Some folks didn't. Some folks tried to kill me, but it turns out, I'm hard to kill." He wanted to kiss her and put his arms around her, but instead he handed her a rifle. "Come on, prove you can shoot left-handed, but sweetheart, stay close to me. I want to keep an eye on ya!"
She blinked back tears and said, "I'll follow you anywhere."
The fight seemed to be slowing down, but she remained focused. She kept one eye on Daniel as she continued to fire and reload. It seemed as though hours were ticking away, but finally they saw the soft glow of dawn in the distance. No longer protected by the darkness, the Indians slipped back into the forest until the settlers were left alone. The silence that followed the last shots was thundering. They could hear the moans of the wounded and then the weeping of loved ones. Rebecca stood at the wall more tired than she had ever been. It was only now, that the fight had ended, that she began to feel the weight of all that had happened. She glanced around the wall, and could see the spaces where people were missing; the spaces where her friends once stood.
"Come on down." A voice said to her, and she could see Daniel standing halfway up the ladder near her, his hand held out to her. Clasping his fingers, she slowly climbed down.
"Israel?" She said, realizing she was holding her breath.
"He's fine. Look, see, he's over there with that wife of his." He smiled at her and put his arm around her at last, careful of her injured arm.
She leaned into him then, burying her face in his chest, and he held her tightly. It was only as he said, "Hush, now, love. We survived it. I'm back now. We are all fine. Shhh, hush." that she realized she was crying. She made no attempt to stop the tidal wave of tears that came over her. There was finally space and time to cry and so for once, she let herself. They stood like that a long time when finally she looked up at him to speak.
"They will be back?" She asked wearily.
"I don't think so, sweetheart. You can see the militia in the distance. We will meet and talk now, I think."
"Now?" It was the closest she'd come to complaining.
"Tomorrow, maybe." He kissed her forehead. "Today is set aside for hugging and kissing."
She leaned into him exhausted and so joyful. She was grateful later that they had these few moments together for it was as they stood in each other's arms that looking past his shoulder, she saw Anna stagger as Israel leaned in speaking her.
Pushing back from him she said softly, "Dan?"
Holding tightly to her hand, he ran to Israel who now held a weeping Anna tightly in his arms. "Grace was hit." He said looking at his mother. He turned a led his young wife to the tavern.
She felt all the joy leave only to be replaced with a relentless fear. Clutching her hand tightly, Daniel led her to where her dearest friend lay dying.