Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers

Author:Suzanne Desrochers
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction / Historical
ISBN: 9780143173380
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Published: 2011-01-18T08:00:00+00:00

13

Laure cannot imagine what the rest of their lives will be. Truly, it is better that Madeleine isn’t awake to see this. Behind the crowd gathered at the shore, Laure can make out a few cabins on the hill beyond. There are a dozen or so, constructed of rough wood. The dwellings that belong to the Savages are off to the side of the settlement and made of bark. Smoke rises from the cooking fires.

“Welcome to Ville-Marie, ladies. As you can see, your arrival was greatly anticipated.” The captain of their journey smiles, relaxed in the new environment. He has reached the place he calls home.

A few canoes piled high with animal pelts sit moored on the shore. At the sight of these, the old Jesuit priest sitting in front of Laure grows agitated. “What’s the point of working to convert Savage souls when there are so many greedy fur traders waiting to corrupt them?”

“Welcome, Father, to the new world of commerce. King’s orders,” says the young man who had commented on Madeleine’s frailty at the start of their journey. He slaps the priest’s dark-robed back and clambers out of the canoe. His breeches are rolled up to his knees as he hurries through the water to the shore.

The priest yells after him, but the young man quickly blends in with the other fur traders on shore. “And now women for them too. What an unholy mess is being constructed here. These men do nothing but drink and fight. What kind of example does this set for our converts?”

If Madeleine were stronger, Laure would gladly board a ship back to France. But there are no ships in Ville-Marie. Laure swallows hard and thinks that at least it isn’t cold in Canada like the officers at the Salpêtrière said it would be, or like the icebergs they saw at Terre-Neuve seemed to indicate. In fact, the air in Ville-Marie is thick and the sun so hot that Laure feels as if she is standing in front of a bread oven. She wonders if perhaps the boat has veered off course and landed in the French Islands instead.

The captain of their group just laughs at her suggestion. “Women have such a misguided sense of direction. This heat you’re feeling is just the summer season in Canada. Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of winter weather soon.”

Laure wonders what else she has heard about Canada that is untrue.

The only women to greet the new arrivals are a group of religious sisters. Two young Savage girls hover near one of the old women. The girls have on matching dresses, not unlike the one Laure wore for years at the Salpêtrière. The Savage girls have their hair in neat braids like Marie des Neiges at Québec. These must be some of the converts the priest was talking about. Laure stands a little to get a better look at the girls, which sets the canoe rocking. The men on the shore call out to Laure as she falls back onto her seat.

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