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into
Cherokee country and brought him back.
    â€œAfter the court martial, we blindfolded him and made
him drop to his knees. Then we shot him. We shot him four
times before he was dead.” Elijah looked away. “I’d rather be
shot myself than take part in another execution.”
    â€œWhat can you do?”
    â€œThe same as Sergeant Malcolm did. Just hope for a better outcome. I know a place to hide, an abandoned cabin. I
found it by accident while reconnoitring before the siege. It’s
in the swamp about ten miles northwest of Charleston.”
    â€œWhoever would be so foolish as to build a cabin in a
swamp?”
    â€œA newcomer who knew no better. In summer, the flood
plain is solid ground. It would look like a good place to clear
land for a farm. The settler couldn’t have known what happens in late winter, when the creeks overflow their banks.
When I saw the cabin—that was in April—it was a foot deep
in black water. But there’s a loft you can reach by a ladder.
That’s where I plan to hide. The fighting can’t last muchlonger. General Cornwallis will have to give up.”
    â€œElijah, what makes you think nobody will look for you
there?”
    â€œI doubt anyone knows about the cabin. It’s hidden by
trees. From the look of the place, nobody’s been there for
years. The swamp is crawling with alligators.”
    â€œYou say it’s just ten miles from Charleston. Wouldn’t you
be safer farther away?”
    â€œSouthern Command has better things to do than send a
platoon to search for one runaway private. If the war ends
soon, there be no more need to hide. If it doesn’t, I’ll move
on.”
    â€œHow will you live while you wait?”
    â€œI’ll stuff my cartridge cases with hardtack biscuits. In the
swamp, I can set snares. On the ridges there are deer and
turkeys. I’ll have plenty of time to fashion a bow and some
arrows.”
    â€œI’ll never forget how you learned to hunt with a bow and
arrow.”
    â€œNor shall I.”
    â€œIt was after we left the Mohawk Valley, when we were
camped beside Oneida Lake. I was watching when that young
warrior, Okwaho, tied a dead squirrel high up in a pine tree.
He made you shoot and shoot until finally you hit it.”
    â€œAnd then he took me deer hunting.” Elijah smiled. “I
haven’t used a bow and arrow for three years. I reckon I still
can . . . after a bit of practice.”
    â€œWhen will you leave?” Charlotte asked.
    â€œTonight.”
    â€œThat soon?” She saw that there was no way she could dissuade him. All he had needed from her was a listening ear.
“People who care about you should be able to find you.”
    â€œWho cares about me?”
    She laid her hand upon his arm. “I do. You and I have
been friends for a long time.”
    â€œThrough thick and thin.” He nodded. “All right. I’ll tell
you as best I can. Follow the broad way north out of Charleston. The first three roads branch to the left, then there’s one
to the right. That’s the road to take. It skirts the swamp. There
are plenty of trails leading in. I can’t be clearer than that.”
    She withdrew her hand. “Unless there’s an urgent reason,
I won’t tell a soul.”
    They left the graveyard together. He went into the church
instead of walking back along Meeting Street with her.
    A long, hard road lies ahead for him, she thought. Who
knows what he’ll find at the end?

Chapter 11

    AS THE DAY WORE ON , a feeling of dread settled over Charlotte. She feared for Elijah’s safety, because it seemed likely
that if soldiers on his own side did not capture him, then the
rebels would. She feared for him in other ways as well. Even if
he reached the abandoned cabin, an alligator-infested swamp
was not a good place to spend months alone in hiding. In
such a situation, his melancholy might deepen to despair.
    Her