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Hal nodded, sober

‘I’ve arranged your sailing You leave tomorrow’ He stood and lifted Dottie ‘Here, sweetheart Kiss your Uncle John goodbye’

A month later, Grey found hi off the Harwood and into one of the small boats that would land therenadiers hoe island near thelike it The river itself was larger than any he had ever seen, nearly half awide and deep, a dark blue-black under the sun Great cliffs and undulating hills rose on either side of the river, so thickly forested that the underlying stone was nearly invisible It was hot, and the sky arched brilliant overhead, hter and much wider than any sky he had seen before A loud hurowth – insects, he supposed, birds, and the rush of the water, though it felt as though the wilderness were singing to itself, in a voice heard only in his blood Beside hi with excite

‘Cor, is that a Red Indian?’ he whispered, leaning close to Grey in the boat

‘I don’t suppose he can be anything else,’ Grey replied, as the gentle was naked save for a breechclout, a striped blanket slung over one shoulder, and a coating of what – frorease of so Grey’s own thought The Indian’s skin was considerably darker than Grey’s own, to be sure, but a rather pleasant soft brown in colour, so like dried oak leaves The Indian appeared to find the Grey in particular with intent consideration

‘It’s your hair, ht to have worn a wig’

‘Nonsense, Tom’ At the same time, Grey experienced an odd frisson up the back of the neck, constricting his scalp Vain of his hair, which was blond and thick, he didn’t co instead to bind and powder his own for formal occasions The present occasion wasn’t formal in the least With the advent of fresh water aboard, To, and it was still spread loose upon his shoulders, though it had long since dried

The boat crunched on the shingle, and the Indian flung aside his blanket and came to help the men run it up the shore Grey found hih to smell hiamy, certainly – he wondered, with a sht be bear-fat – but with the tang of herbs and a sweat like fresh-sheared copper

Straightening up froht Grey’s eye and slishman,’ he said, in a voice with a noticeable French accent, and reaching out, ran his fingers quite casually through Grey’s loose hair ‘Your scalp would look good on a Huron‘s belt’

This h, and the Indian, still s, turned to them

‘They are not so particular, the Abenaki ork for the French A scalp is a scalp – and the French pay well for one, no renadiers, who had stopped laughing ‘You come with me’

There was a small camp on the island already, a detachave Grey a slight wariness, but who turned out to be no relation, thank God, to Lord Enderby’s family

‘We’re fairly safe on this side of the island,’ he told Grey, offering him a flask of brandy outside his own tent after supper ‘But the Indians raid the other side regularly – I lost four men last week, three killed and one carried off’

‘You have your own scouts, though?’ Grey asked, slapping at the un to swarht theain, but there were several ether around their own fire, but one or two squatting arenadiers who had crossed with Grey on the Harwood, bright-eyed and watchful

‘Yes, and trustworthy for theGrey’s unasked question He laughed, though not with any huave hi news of hon

General Wolfe had spent no little ti but disappointment froathering the main body of his troops sonable fortress, it perched on sheer cliffs above the river, co both the river and the plains to the ith her cannon, obliging English warships to steal past under cover of night – and not always successfully

‘Wolfe’ll be charenadiers are coreat store by those fellows, fought with ’e eaten alive – try a bit of this on your hands and face’ He dug about in his carease, which he pushed across the table

‘Bear-grease and mint,’ he explained ‘The Indians use it – that, or cover themselves with mud’

Grey helped himself liberally; the scent wasn’t quite the same as what he had smelled earlier on the scout, but it was very similar, and he felt an odd sense of disturbance in its application Though it did discourage the biting insects

He had made no secret of the reason for his presence, and now asked openly about Carruthers

‘Where is he held, do you know?’