Betrayed (30 page)

Encircling both sides of a small, meandering river was a collection of fields as varied as any found in Europe. A large number of people was tending to the crops of strange tall plants that produced the grain Na'gu'set called maize. Dozens of children played a game in a small clearing that involved sticks with baskets on the end. They could make out two competing teams on the field, and each had their own net. They were scooping a small ball into a basket, then passing it to teammates until one threw the ball into their opponent's net.

The village itself was larger than Roslin. It was surrounded by several rings of sharpened, interwoven poles. There was only one narrow well-guarded break in the defensive wall, and Connor immediately recognized its similarity to a European castle wall and main gate. The buildings behind the walls however were very different than the small, dome-shaped structures of the Mi'kmaq villages near Oak Island. The Oneida had built a town of tremendously long buildings with curved roofs of tree bark. The size of the buildings rivalled anything Connor had seen back in Scotland.

“Welcome to the land of the Oneida,” said Na'gu'set.

“Those homes must hold a hundred people each!” cried Angus.

“Sometimes more,” explained Na'gu'set. “Many families live in each longhouse. Over a thousand people live in this village alone. My people never build such large communities.”

“And the farms,” said Connor, “remind me so much of our family farm. What is that strange tall crop they are growing?”

“That is the plant that grows the maize we ate in the temple,” Na'gu'set explained. “I brought it back with me from this land. The vegetable needs to be husked before being eaten. Then it can be cooked or ground up into flour for bread. It is very delicious. Much better than the dry cobs we chewed in the temple.”

“A thousand people,” muttered Whipper, “and only twenty of us. Why am I feeling nervous about going down there?”

“Do not worry,” replied Na'gu'set. “The Oneida have already been tracking us for over a day now. We would have been dead long ago if they thought we were a threat.”

“Tracking us for over a day?” shouted Whipper, looking behind him at the seemingly barren woods.

“It's all right, Whipper,” said Prince Henry. “As Na'gu'set has pointed out, we are such a small party, we won't be seen as a threat to the Oneida. I just hope we get a chance to explain why we have made this journey into their territory.”

Na'gu'set nodded towards the village. “We will soon find out. The warriors will not let us near the women and children if they sense any danger.”

“Aye,” said Prince Henry, “I don't blame them. Let's head down the hill and find out what our reception will be.”

As the group descended to the edge of the fields, a wolf howl to their right filled the late morning air. A second joined in from the left, then several more from behind. Prince Henry held up his hand, and the procession stopped. All of the children and women in the fields dropped what they were doing and ran for the village gate. Dozens of armed Oneida warriors silently materialized from behind the forest cover, bows drawn and aimed at the trespassers. Their bare
upper bodies were covered in fierce war paint, while their lower bodies were dressed in breechcloths and leggings.

“Do not move,” ordered Na'gu'set. “Do not draw your weapons, but continue to look them in the eye. The Oneida respect strength. I will go to them and try my best to explain the situation.”

Everyone waited as Na'gu'set cautiously approached the warriors. He seemed to recognize a leader. He was a tall warrior, with bare, muscular shoulders, and a head completely shaved except for a thin row stretching from the top of his forehead to the back of his neck. His dark eyes were fearless as he stepped forward with an air of authority. Na'gu'set and the Oneida warrior met and began to discuss the purpose of their uninvited trek across Oneida territory. The warrior seemed to grow more agitated as the conversation continued. Prince Henry was beginning to fear for the safety of his people. He inched closer to his sister in case he had to shield her from the onslaught of arrows.

The two men finally seemed to reach an agreement, and Na'gu'set returned to his European friends. His face, however, was lined in worry. “His name is Odatshedeh. He said that unannounced strangers are killed.”

“Did you explain to him that it is hard to announce one's arrival if one has never been here before?” asked the prince.

“I tried,” Na'gu'set replied. “I told him that we are peaceful travellers who wish to speak to the elders of the village. He said that would be impossible, for they are in a state of war. It seems that trouble has been brewing between the Oneidas and the Mahican nation to the south. They say we are Mahican spies.”

“If they think we are spies, then why haven't they attacked us?” asked Prince Henry, sizing up the enemy as his hand flexed lightly on the hilt of his sword.

“Curiosity,” Na'gu'set explained. “Your strange metal armour has some of the Oneida warriors wondering if, instead, you are spirits of the earth. They are not familiar with what you call iron, so they want to find out more about us before they kill us.”

Prince Henry looked to his men and signalled for them to hold steady. Slowly, Prince Henry took off his helmet and passed it to Na'gu'set. As Prince Henry's golden curls fell to his shoulders, a large number of Oneida warriors gasped in surprise.

“Give this to Odatshedeh. Tell him we are not spirits, but we are also not Mahican spies. Tell him we have come from a distant land, and that we come in peace. Say the helmet is a gift from one brave warrior to another.”

Na'gu'set nodded and carried the helmet to the leader of the Oneida. He explained Prince Henry's words. The warrior carefully took the helmet from Na'gu'set, his eyes widening, surprised by its substantial weight. Examining it, then rubbing his hand on its smooth surface, he carefully raised it up and lowered it onto his own head. The other warriors seemed to relax and encircled their leader. Dozens of hands stroked the strange cool surface of the helmet. Odatshedeh finally spoke to Na'gu'set, who then returned to the prince.

“It seems that your gift of the helmet and the acknowledgement of being fellow warriors has convinced Odatshedeh to agree to our request. They have agreed to take us into the village and see the band elders, but only if we disarm ourselves here.”

“What?” questioned Whipper. “We can't leave ourselves defenseless. Not with the most precious relics in all of Christendom in our care!”

“They could slaughter us!” cried Angus.

Prince Henry looked to his men then back to Odatshedeh, who had removed the helmet and waited impatiently for the party to comply with his demand.

“Lads, I don't think we have much choice. They could kill us anyway, weapons or not. I think this is our one and only chance to make a powerful ally.”

Prince Henry unbuckled his sword from around his waist and passed it to Odatshedeh. Without further questioning, all of his men did the same.

As the disarmed Templar knights followed the long train of warriors into the village, Connor noticed that many of the daily chores, from weaving to flour grinding, had been left scattered on the open ground in the race to safety. Word had quickly spread throughout the village that a peaceful settlement had been reached with the strangers, and hundreds of women and children poured out of the longhouses to see the visitors for themselves. They stared and whispered, commenting on their pale skin and golden locks of hair. The children stayed close to their mothers, some clutching little dolls made of corn husks. Connor kept looking down in fear of stepping on human waste. Of the few Scottish villages he had visited, they were always filthy cesspools, with excrement simply thrown out the windows and onto the dirt streets. To his amazement, the Oneida village was as clean as the forest. In fact, he was stunned by the overall beauty of the village itself.

“How can so many people live in one spot and not have it looking and smelling like the disgusting towns that we have back in Scotland?” wondered Connor aloud.

“And they're well fed,” noted Angus. “Not a starving one among the lot of them. Think of all the poor little waifs wandering about our towns back home.”

The warriors led them to the centre of the village and a smaller bark-covered building. Odatshedeh pointed to Prince Henry.

“Only you and I can approach the council,” Na'gu'set explained. “Leader to leader.”

Prince Henry looked to Whipper, who shook his head in concern. “It's my job to ensure your safety, Henry. You need at least one of us to go in and watch your back.”

“We had better follow their rules if we are going to win their trust,” replied the prince. “Na'gu'set will keep an eye on things for me.”

Whipper frowned, eyeing the dozens of cold, fearless warriors surrounding them. “Aye, sire,” he responded reluctantly.

“And their band council is quite different from that of the Templar Order,” explained Na'gu'set. “Inside the meeting den, you will see the chief and the clan mothers. The clan mothers are the women elders who are responsible for choosing the chief and can veto any of his decisions, including whether the tribe is to help us with our dilemma. You must treat the women as equals if you are to win their trust.”

“Now that's a concept the Templar Order should adopt,” mused Princess Sarah.

Prince Henry shot his sister a look, then stepped forward with Na'gu'set. “Thank you for your wise council, my friend. I think it is time to see if our request will be considered.”

The prince, Na'gu'set and several of the warriors entered the building through a leather doorway while the rest remained outside the entrance. The knights formed a protective ring around the princess, and the battle-hardened warriors spent the time simply staring silently at each other.
As the time passed, more and more of the Oneida people began to focus their gaze on Sarah. She would normally have felt uncomfortable with all of the attention, but she noticed it wasn't so much herself as her dress that was getting the attention. They seemed to be taken by the long, flowing materials that covered her entire body. The Oneida women, she observed, wore only a short skirt of leather that stopped above their knees. A sleeveless tunic covered their tops, while their long, beautiful black hair either hung straight down to their waist or was elegantly tied back in a long braid.

Na'gu'set finally reemerged from the hut. He caught some of the native conversation among the women and smiled at Princess Sarah.

“The news is good. Prince Henry will be out soon.”

“What are they talking about, Na'gu'set?” asked Princess Sarah, nodding to the crowd.

“The Oneida are wondering if you have mortal legs beneath your dress. Some think that you are a sky spirit and have the power to float above the ground.”

Laughing, Princess Sarah did something she would never think of doing in Scotland. She lifted her skirt up off the ground to her knees and swung her foot back and forth. The gathered people smiled and began teasing those who had thought she was a spirit.

Prince Henry and the chief emerged from the building. The crowd hushed as they approached the two groups of warriors. Over the chief's leather tunic hung strings of colourful beads and shells. His grey hair was braided back into a thick ponytail. Three large feathers splayed from the top of the ponytail; two were pointing up and one down. As the pair stopped, a dozen of the largest warriors fell in
behind their leader in a show of strength.

Prince Henrywaved everyone in. “This is Chief Sakokeaeh, and he has welcomed us to his village. The council listened patiently to our long tale. We explained how we were in need of their assistance. They asked if we were willing to barter in order to secure their help, and I offered them a dozen hunting knives and two swords. The elders have never seen iron before, and they were fascinated by the weapons. After many questions, the elders finally accepted the offer of weapons and told us they would be honoured to help us.”

Chief Sakokeaeh turned to his people and spoke briefly in his native tongue. Immediately, the mood lightened. The Oneida people swarmed the visitors, tapping their knuckles on their steel helmets, feeling the sold, iron blades of their swords and rubbing their hands on the strange chain mail. Eventually, the Templars were led to a nearby longhouse and were supplied with washing basins and baskets of food.

At night, the village burst into booming rhythms, dance and an endless feast. The newcomers were overwhelmed by the celebration and tried their best to join in. The men were passed small clay pipes, and Na'gu'set demonstrated how to puff on the end of it. The Oneida called the burning leaves in the pipe tobacco. The men always smoked their pipes, Na'gu'set explained, when big decisions were made. Sarah laughed as the children grabbed her bandaged hands and led her off to dance around the blazing fire. The stress of the past weeks melted away, if only for a single night.