A Daughter Rebels by Ann Birch

Author:Ann Birch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: a brave young woman challenges her parents rules, a broken engagement offers daughter an unexpected escape to freedom, a daughters rebellion shakes her parents notions of propriety, a mothers secret ruins a daughters life, an upperclass daughter makes her own rules, anne powell must make a decision to conform or rebel, family conflicts in early upper canada
Publisher: BWL Publishing Inc.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

December, 1813

I was now approaching Niagara or Newark as some people still called it. Black smoke rose in the clear, cold air. Over every hill and field swarmed American soldiers, each carrying a firebrand, setting alight everything in their path. It was clear now that Joseph Willocks’s revenge was well in place. Jacques Vallière and I pulled our horses to a halt on the Indian trail that ran beside the Niagara River.

“Mon Dieu!” my guide said, “quelle horreur!”

I did not answer. My whole body ached from the four-day ride and the struggle to communicate. Though I could still summon French phrases learned from my long-ago French nursemaid, Jacques had once been a voyageur for the Hudson’s Bay Company and spoke a French patois that was difficult to follow. But he had been indispensable. Without his knowledge of the Indian trails that led from York along the lake to Niagara, I could never have made the journey.

Also, I had to acknowledge that without Lucy’s help I could never have been in contact with this man. Mama had gone to visit Mrs. Jarvis for tea, and I had two-and-half hours to put my plans for escape in place. It was Lucy who hired a carriage and rushed northward from our house to Marguerite Vallière’s cabin where I had once helped to deliver her infant and where she now lived with her brother Jacques. I gave Lucy some of the jewellery I had discovered in Mama’s secret drawer on the day I cleared out her bedchamber in preparation for the wounded soldiers. Two gold rings were enough to persuade Jacques Vallière to act as my guide and to furnish me with a horse that I could ride. Three gold-and-ruby bracelets were sufficient to recompense the farmhouse owners who had given us bed and board on this four-day journey.

I was, of course, dressed in Papa’s clothes, and these people assumed I was a man. In his broken English, Jacques always introduced me as his cousin Guy, and we had shared a bed together in various farmhouses for three nights. During these hours, we both remained fully clothed, of course, and I came to appreciate his honour. I also found comfort in his knowledge of the countryside we travelled through. I hoped that my secrets would be safe with him.

I wanted to trust Lucy as well. I knew Mama and Papa would grill her mercilessly, perhaps even threaten her with dismissal, but I felt quite sure that she would not betray me.

Now it was time to move onwards. I signalled to Jacques, and we set off for the village. It was a blustery day and the snow drifted into our faces, bringing with it the stench of smoke. Through the storm we could see flames rise high in the air. Jacques kept muttering “mon Dieu, mon Dieu,” as we urged our bucking horses forward into the thick of the holocaust.

Remembering the pleasant summer sunshine and green trees of my former visits to John, I could not believe what lay before us now.

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