Freedom's Ghost by Eliot Pattison
Author:Eliot Pattison [Pattison, Eliot]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781640093218
Published: 2023-08-24T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter 9
DUNCAN HAD NO TIME TO parse his confusion as they hurried back to the house. He was late for meeting Sarah at the First Fare ball, so he left Achilles in the care of Esther. Drawing a basin of warm water, an insistent Moll wiped the charcoal and grease off his body. She poured him a mug from the kettle as it began to steam on the hearth. He took a hesitant sip and looked up in surprise.
âAye, âtis the true leaf from the East,â Moll confirmed. âAnd youâll nay be saying anything to Miss Ramsey, sir. I saved some from back before the no-import pact began, so Iâll neâer be feeling guilty. Thereâs nay restorative like the true leaf,â she added as she gripped his chin and vigorously scrubbed at his neck. âAnd if half of what Solomon and Tobias are saying is to be believed, you be quite the hero, deserving of the nectar.â
âWe couldnât have made it without Cuff,â he said, nodding to the big man who stood before the hearth, still in his sodden clothes, resisting all entreaties to speak of their adventure in Salem Harbor beyond a muttered and repeated âWe got âem, we got âem.â
Half an hour later the Scottish cook had him cleaned and attired in what she called his ânumber oneâ woolen waistcoat with Ben Franklinâs watch, which she treated like a sacred relic, prominently displayed on the chain draped across his abdomen. She insisted he wait as he stepped to the door, then she disappeared into her room and returned a moment later with two adornments. âI found this ribbon and fashioned little flowers for the two of you.â She pinned a little bundle of white ribbon, gathered at the center to resemble a flower, to his lapel and tucked the other into his pocket. âTo remind Miss Ramsey,â Moll explained, âthat First Fare is all about the hope of spring.â
Pollard had made the Hancock warehouse, the largest in town, available for the ball by moving most of the stored goods to upper levels and pushing the rest to the outer walls, then covering them with sailcloth. The resulting hall was gaily festooned with lanterns and bunting. A fiddle was played from a platform made of stacked crates that were decorated as an altar to Neptune, to whom the festival was dedicated. As the fiddler wrapped up his tune, a mariner leapt up to play jaunty songs on his hornpipe, which appeared fashioned from a narwhal tusk. From time to time the militia drummer offered his own disjointed contribution. Duncan roamed the perimeter of the crowd, thickest around the bowls of rum punch. After a series of short but polite conversations, he extracted Sarah from a covey of marinersâ wives.
âWhy, Duncan McCallum, look at you, the proud Jacobite!â Sarah teased as he pinned on her ribbon flower. She might be the only one present who would know that a white rose, popularly recreated as a cockade in white chambray ribbon, was the sign of the lost Stuart throne and its Scottish heir Charlie the Bonnie Prince.
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