Drums Along the Mohawk Page #4

will report tomorrow morning

to General Herkimer...

at which time, a regiment...

of Washington's continental army...

will arrive from Albany...

under the command

of Colonel Fischer to help us.

Any man failing to report for duty

will be promptly hanged.

Amen.

You stick close to Mrs. McKlennar,

Lana, and do what she says.

Yes, Gil.

Well, I'd better go now.

Watch out for those new apple trees.

Gil.

Thank you, ma'am.

It used to be Barney's,

but it's no use to me now.

Might come in handy to you.

Gil Martin, I'm gonna kiss ya,

so I better do it now...

so's you won't go off with the taste

of a widow on your mouth.

Many's the time

I've seen Barney go off...

just that same way.

Good-bye. He's off.

Sometimes he'd wave.

Ten-to-one he wasn't even seeing me.

He was thinking about

all those men, you see-

all those men

going out to fight-

to kill or be killed.

Blast his eyes, loving it.

So they sent you all the way over here

to tell us to come inside the fort, did they?

It's orders. Where women and children

shall be gathered together, it says.

Me and other men over 60

are to collect and protect 'em.

You old rooster.

Don't you think I can look after myself?

Yes, ma'am.

But it's orders.

I been saving a corner shed for you.

Shed! Do I look like

the kind of a woman...

that would start living in a shed

at my time of life, like a cow?

- Yes, ma'am.

- What?

- No, ma'am.

- Go on, spit, man. Spit and get it over with.

Hey! Not there! Outside! Go on.

Get on out of here. Go on.

The old fool.

He can't even spit by himself.

Waiting, waiting.

That's all we women do, is wait.

Well, no news is good news.

Why don't you sit down, Lana?

Mosquitoes!

Mrs. McKlennar! Lana!

Here they come!

Come on out!

Here they come!

Where's John?

Have you seen Gil Martin?

Gil.

Take them inside. Go in. Anyone else, go in.

Have you seen Gil Martin?

I'm Robert Johnson, ma'am. Surgeon pro tem

of the 1st Regiment, New York line.

Then don't stand there yapping about it.

Go on in and see the general.

Yes, ma'am.

Mark, where's Gil?

Gil Martin?

Gil! Gil!

Gil!

Gil-

I'm Captain Morgan, ma'am.

There's nobody back of me alive.

No.

Well, General Herkimer, a fine mess

you've got yourself into this time.

I tell this fellow to go away.

Look after the young ones.

Shut up! You're not

giving orders in this house.

What about it?

It's- It's already mortified, ma'am.

I- It'll have to come off.

- Ja, bitte?

- Ja, Nicholas.

- Wait till I light my pipe.

- Yes.

Look out. John!

Tell me something first, Doctor.

Did you ever cut off a leg before?

Why-Why, no, sir. I-

Well, don't be ashamed.

A man has gotta start somewhere.

I'll never forget

the first deer I shot.

Gil?

Gil?

- Lana? Lana.

Gil! Gil.

Oh, thank God! Gil.

It's so cold.

Colder here than the woods.

Yeah.

Raining-

Lying there-

I remember thinking

how hot it was...

wondering-

- I'm cold.

- Yes, dear.

Wondering how long

we'd be away...

when it happened.

- I heard a crackling...

- Daisy. Daisy, some water.

Like a stick breaking...

and all of sudden, the fella

next to me stopped talking...

and fell over on his side.

Then I heard a whistle.

Shots from everywhere.

Somebody shouted

we'd been ambushed.

- I saw General Herkimer slide off his horse...

- Oh.

And grab his knee.

Peter Ten Eyck with

his head blown half-off.

Oh, darling, this is going to hurt.

- Somebody told me to lay down...

And then I saw 'em...

all smeared with paint-

yellow and red-

every color.

Oh, darling, I'm sorry.

In back of 'em,

Tories with green coats.

I got down back of a log

and aimed at a fella.

He leaped straight up

in the air.

- Darling, don't talk about it.

- He fell forward on his face.

- After that we...

Just kept shootin' as fast

as we could load...

for I don't know how long.

Amos-

Adam Hartman came over beside me.

His musket was broke.

But he had a spear.

He kept grinnin'.

I remember thinkin'...

"He's havin' a good time.

He likes this."

Pretty soon he pointed off.

- I saw an Indian comin' towards us, naked.

- Darling, don't talk.

I tried to load,

but it was too late.

Adam stood up

and braced his spear...

and the Indian came down.

I never saw a fella

look so funny, so surprised.

He just... hung there...

with his mouth open...

lookin' at us

and not sayin' a word.

- I had to shoot him.

There wasn't anything else to do.

- Oh.

- I had to!

- Yes, dear.

- Brandy, Nicholas?

- Ja, ja.

Swallow. Swallow.

- Now, Nicholas?

Go ahead.

Then it started to rain...

and I was sick.

All the time General Herkimer just sat there

smoking his pipe and holding his knee.

Then he said we'd all

better go home.

Oh, darling, don't talk about it.

Out of 600 of us...

about 240 were still alive...

but we'd won.

- We licked 'em.

- Yes, darling.

- We showed 'em they couldn't take this valley.

- Yes, darling.

- Lana?

- Yes, dear.

Do you hear? We'd won.

Yes, darling. You won.

Now you've got to sleep, Gil. You-

Adam. Adam,

help me get him down.

- Get that pack there.

- Uh-huh. Yes.

- Here.

Sleep, darling.

You sleep.

Lana?

- Lana?

Oh, Gil. Gil.

I feel as if I've been asleep forever.

You needed it.

I've been lyin' here

lookin' at you...

thinkin' how pretty you are.

Oh, darling.

Made me think of the first days

we had together at Deerfield.

I've been thinking

about that too-

the things we'd planned.

While I was out there...

I kept thinking about you

all the time-

about how good it'll be when everything's

over and we can go back home.

Gil, the Indians-

They won't be coming back

this way again, will they?

Oh, I don't reckon they'd have the nerve

after the lickin' we gave 'em.

Why?

We're going to have

another baby.

Are you glad, Lana?

I feel as-

I feel as though

I'd just begun to live all over again.

Are you hungry?

Doctor, how is General Herkimer?

General Herkimer is dead.

We couldn't stop the bleeding.

"'I am the resurrection,

and the life, 'saith the Lord.

- "He that believeth in me...

"though he were dead,

:

And whosoever liveth

and believeth-"

"I know my redeemer liveth...

"and that he shall stand

at the latter :

"And though after my skin

worms destroy this body...

yet in my flesh

I shall see God. "

Come on, Gil.

Don't stop now.

You know what Doc Petry said about havin'

plenty of hot water on hand.

I know, but the water's boiled away twice already,

and nothing's happened yet.

I don't know why we gotta have so much

hot water when babies are born anyhow.

Mr. Martin! Mr. Martin!

Miss McKlennar wants you at once!

Gil! Gil.

One of Barney's soldiers made this cradle.

Give it to me the night we were married.

Your Lana might as well have it.

- Hmm?

- That's mighty kind of you, ma'am.

Oh, nonsense!

What good is it to me?

Can't ever tell. A good lookin' widow like you.

Ah, shut up.

You make me sick.

- Great big good-for-nothing loudmouthed fool!

- Even if you are good lookin'! Ooh!

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