Nathaniel stood for a long time, listening to the winds. He thought of Elizabeth, who trusted him to do what was right. He looked into his own heart and knew he had done just that, and no less. For his family, for himself. When the rush of his blood had calmed enough, he went into the cave and collected the gold coins. Then Nathaniel started down the mountainside to put them back where they belonged, and to collect Billy Kirby's body.

Chapter 58

In the next few days, Elizabeth found herself unwilling to leave home, even in the face of visits which could hardly be put off. Her father was not coping as well as she had hoped; there were Kitty and her new baby to look in on, and her schoolchildren seemed to seek her out at every opportunity as if they could not quite believe that she would still be in evidence if the schoolhouse was not. Determined to spend the day at home in spite of all of that, Elizabeth first took up some mending and spent all her time retrieving her needle, or nursing a stuck finger. Finally she resolved to make a list of those books and supplies which had survived the fire. She assembled paper and quill and ink, and found that even the quill felt awkward in her hand.

"You've been to the window five times in a half hour Many-Doves said. She spoke Kahnyen’keháka in front of Liam, a sign of her distraction and irritability.

Runs-from-Bears had left for Albany four days ago; Elizabeth could not imagine what was keeping him so long. If Bears did not come back today Nathaniel would go off after him, an idea which did not bear long consideration.

Elizabeth watched Hannah for a moment. The little girl was coping better than the rest of them were with the aftermath of the fire, perhaps because she had taken on Liam as her personal responsibility. When she was not reading to him, or helping him read, she pressed him into service of all kinds.

Immobilized by a broken leg, Liam had spent the morning mending a harness for Nathaniel; now he watched closely as Hannah demonstrated how to braid corn for drying. She picked up the sharpened deer antler attached to a rawhide loop that slipped over her middle finger, and slit the husk. Then she removed all but four good strands, which she plaited into the string of cobs which trailed off Liam's lap. They had already finished two longish braids, which Hannah had hung over the rafters by climbing the ladder Nathaniel had raised in the middle of the room. Liam would have climbed that ladder if she had asked him; Elizabeth had no doubt that he would climb up on the roof, at Hannah's request. He would do whatever he had to do to prove his worth to the household, and to earn his place.

There was a hollowness to the boy's cheek, and a kind of damp—eyed distraction that Elizabeth understood very well: she too was constantly finding herself caught between sorrow and anger at a brother who was suddenly and absolutely beyond redemption.

She forced her attention back to her list, a melancholy business. Most of the books she had here were not suitable for the children, and all the other materials, from quills to hornbooks, had been lost. On a fresh sheet of paper she began a letter to Mr. Beekman, the merchant who had been so helpful in Albany. At least there were funds enough to replace what had been lost. When she looked up again it was time to start to cook, and Nathaniel was coming up the porch stair, and not alone.

Many-Doves let her sewing drop to her lap, her whole body trembling. By the time Runs-from-Bears came through the door, she had already taken it up again and her expression was calm, although her eyes sparked when she looked up to greet him. Elizabeth looked away, not wanting to intrude.

Nathaniel dropped down on one knee next to her chair, and rubbed his cheek on her shoulder.

"All's well."

She raised a brow, and he nodded. "No sign of Richard in Albany, and van der Poole was as good as his word. The suit's been dropped."

Carefully, Elizabeth put down her quill, and then she turned to him and placed her hands on his shoulders."Are you sure?"

"Bears?" Nathaniel asked, not taking his eyes away from her.

Runs-from-Bears came across the room, pulling some papers from inside his shirt.

"The judge sent this along, said you should put it in a safe place. And there's a letter from Mrs. Schuyler there, too."

"It is over, then?" Elizabeth asked, because she could not quite grasp it.

"Looks that way," Nathaniel agreed.

"Well, then," Elizabeth said, turning to Bears. "What took you so very long? We were concerned."

"Your aunt Merriweather," said Bears. "She ain't exactly a fast traveler."

"Who?" asked Liam, looking up from his work.

"Aunt Merriweather!" answered Hannah for Elizabeth, unable to hide her excitement. "From England, and cousin Amanda."

"And the husband, too. Spencer." He had found a basket of corncake, and he paused to swallow. "But Mrs. Schuyler talked them into leaving the servants behind in Albany."

"At least there's that," Elizabeth said. Nathaniel's keen eyes were on her. There was a wondering there, questions unasked.

"Bears told them about Julian," he said. "And Kitty, and the rest of it."

Elizabeth pushed out a large sigh of relief. "Where are they?"

"At the judge's."

"Well, then, let's go!" Hannah said, in a businesslike way. "She'll want to see you right away."

"Certainly not," said Elizabeth firmly. "They've traveled all day, and she'll want her tea and her bed. Tomorrow is soon enough. Now if you'll pardon me." Without another look at Nathaniel, she picked up her shawl and left them.