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On a bright, breezy afternoon in the e from Weehawken tied ropes at Van Daers onto the wharf after an hour&039;s trip across the Hudson
a wagon pulled by a team of horses rumbled off the boat and onto the boards Its driver then steered the horses into the town&039;s traffic along King Street and turned to the right on the busy Broad Way, while the boy sitting next to hihts, s the intersection of Beaver Street and the Broad Way, heading south toward the Great Dock Three ed in conversation in front of a tallow chandler&039;s shop fronting the Way paused in their snide rereen of Lord Cornbury&039;s new hat and took view of the wagon One of theht his breath He said, with a sust, "Choke a duck! Corbett&039;s back!"
With that, Dippen Nack took to his heels in the direction of City Hall
Matthew heard several people shout to him frolad to be back-as ht he would never be back-the place seen, in a way Different as alien as Walker&039;s village had sees when he and Greathouse had left, onsi This much clatter and bustlei He wondered if part of Walker had not returned with hih an altered vision; he wondered if he would ever see it the sa citizens who had not witnessed such vicious murder, violence and evil, or who had not killed a woman with an axe and fired a bullet into a man&039;s body
He had returned home, but not as he&039;d left For better or for worse, he had blood on his hands as did the boy beside him, but if Tom suffered any qualhter, he kept them locked up in the ironclad vault of his soul The most he&039;d professed about it to Mattheas that he viewed it as an execution, and lawful or not it was done so it wasn&039;t worth speaking of anyto have a lot to say about it
"Matthew! Hey, there!" Running up alongside the wagon was his friend, the blacksmith&039;s apprentice John Five, need in September to Constance Wade, now the happy Mrs Five
"Hello, John," Mattheered, but he kept the tea"
"You all righti"
"I&039;ll be all right," Matthew said
"Folks onderin&039; When your partner came back last week, and you didn&039;t I&039;ve heard what he&039;s been tellin&039;, about the redskins Some were sayin&039; you&039;d had it"
"alave it back"
"You up to cohti"
"I am Give me a few days"
"Okay" John reached up and slapped Matthew&039;s leg "Welcoed woman with an exuberant, sharp-nosed face waved at him with her handkerchief and stepped forward "Oh, Mr Corbett!" she called "So good to see you! Will we be reading any i"
"No madam," he told Mrs Iris Garroife of Stephen Garrow the Duke Street horn merchant "Definitely not"
"But surely you won&039;t deprive us!"
"Soination," he said, for he&039;d decided that the spicy elees once sold at Sally almond&039;s to patrons just such as Mrs Garrow need not be revealed He knew that High Constable Farraday in Philadelphia felt the sarisly box, for there was not enough water, wine, ale or hard cider in the colonies to wash that taste out of people&039;s mouths
"are you somebody special &039;round herei" Tom asked
"Just a citizen," Matthew said, as they left Mrs Garrow behind "The same as anyone"
It was no surprise to Matthew that Hudson Greathouse had returned to New York, because he&039;d already known it to be true after Nathaniel Powers had given hiet back on, Matthew had turned off the Philadelphia Pike on the very sahter had directed his captors to Fort Laurens Tom had remained silent as they&039;d passed the New Unity ce the treacherous slope that led down to the ruins of the fort and beyond it the Seneca village, Matthew had seen that the wagon afforded hione
Matthew and Toon at the top of the hill and walked the rest of the way Passing through Fort Laurens onto the path to the village, their progress was soon accos from the depths of the woods When the first feathered brave finally showed hiain, there was athe tribe as Matthew and Tom were escorted in, but after Matthew stuck out his chest and hollered, "English!" a few , solee and speak it enough to be understood in turn
Froh health to walk out on his oo legs, with the help of a hickory stick In the time he&039;d been there, he had earned respect from the medicine sisters because, if Matthew comprehended this correctly, he had wrestled with Death in the wilderness beyond and returned grinning like a wolf It seemed, from what the solemn Indian was able to make clear, that Gray Wolf had sat before the fire with the elders and drank a cup of rattlesnake blood with theood singer, which Mattheould never have guessed
The Indians had previously brought in the two old nags that had pulled the wagon, intending-froather-to kill the wisdonity So they were allowed to graze and serve as playthings for the children until the day came that Gray Wolf was ready to leave Then the horses were taken back up the hill, the wagon was pushed to the top and turned in the direction of the English world, and Gray Wolf set off for his home
Mattheould have been interested to see how Gray Wolf had talked hi no e
Before he&039;d left, Matthew had turned around and found that He Runs Fast had come out of the crowd He Runs Fast spoke to the interpreter, and the question directed back to Mattheas: "Where soni"
"The Sky Road," Matthew said
The interpreter didn&039;t understand this Matthew tried again: "Tell hireat deed, his son was a true son, and now his son has gone to ith the spirits"
The iven "You say deadi" asked the brave, speaking for He Runs Fast
"Dead, yes"
He Runs Fast had been silent for a round Then he spoke quietly, and the interpreter said, "He wish spiritsthat to the interpreter, He Runs Fast had turned away, and had broken into a trot in the direction of the lake
Matthew&039;s wagon had reached the Great Dock, where it appeared anotherloaded and unloaded Crates and barrels were being carted up and down gangplanks, dock workers rushed around to the orders of their supervisors hollering through the sawed-off horns of bulls to a coiled up, chains rattled, horses stalers were shouting to sell their roasted chestnuts, hot cider and corncakes
"always like thisi" Tom asked
"Pretty ht back I have to find the next ship leaving for England" He set the brake and got down, then went around to the rear of the wagon In the back were two duffel bags that Powers had afforded the a supply of clean clothes for their return trip to New York, and a s, he walked along the dock until he saw a hook-nosed, bewiggedin an account book with a pencil He didn&039;t know the individual, but reasoned he was one of the dock ot the man&039;s attention from the confusion of coht
The n upi"
"No, thank you Where is iti"
"Tharf nine Leaving on the next tide It&039;d be a grand adventure"
"Thank you all the same"
Matthew set off for wharf nus He was al of shoes on the ti, and before he felt the black cane with its silver lion&039;s-head tap his shoulder none too gently he heard the sharp voice say, "Corbett! What the devil is thisi"
Matthew stopped and turned to face Gardner Lillehorne, ore a sea-blue suit, a tricorn the same aquatic hue, and a waistcoat striped blue-and-ebony Behind hier to watch Matthew receive a verbal thrashing
"Where is the prisoneri" Lillehorne demanded On the narrow, pallid face his carefully-trioatee seemed to bristle