Preparing For The Future

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As Adam lay on the floor of the longhouse, his mind elsewhere, the matriarch had had time to think. She had spoken at length with this traveling soul, but the primary beneficiary of this exchange had been Adam.

Before letting him return to Fort Edward, she intended to ask him all the questions she had about her people's future.

The chief was the chief, but as the matriarch, her role was to advise him. Adam, thanks to his unique identity, could help her find the best path for the Haudenosaunee.

She began by dismissing Tayohseron, then served Adam a warm drink made from harmless herbs.

"My boy," she said, keeping her expression controlled, "I've done my best to answer your questions. Now, I'd like you to do the same. I have many of them."

"Uh, very well. I'll answer them honestly as much as I can."

"Good. My first question is… Do the Haudenosaunee still exist in your time?"

Her voice was so low, so serious, that Adam couldn't help but shiver. The matriarch's dark eyes stared at him with such intensity that he felt as if they could pierce through him.

The apprentice matriarch looked at him with an equal intensity, which was perfectly understandable. No people wanted to die out.

Oh… damn. Straight to the hard questions. I guess it's better to tell the truth.

"The Haudenosaunee… people refer to your nation as the Iroquois. There… there aren't many left, like with other tribes. I don't know the exact numbers."

He saw the matriarch's lips tremble, and he couldn't ignore the reason.

"Th-there… there aren't many left? We… we're close to disappearing in your time? W-why?"

"Why? I don't really know," Adam replied, uneasy with his own ignorance. "I suppose it's because the English, then the Americans, took over the lands you currently occupy."

"How?!"

The matriarch's voice cracked like a whip, making Adam jump.

"They're going to drive us off our lands?!"

Her face changed in real-time under the weight of her anger. Her muscles, tensed, twitched as her eyes began to resemble those of a wolf. The apprentice matriarch wasn't in much better shape.

"We've been friends with the English for so long, and yet you say they're going to betray us? Take our land from us? Why?!"

"Well, for land?" Adam said, trying to recall the little he knew of American history. "The English occupy a vast area near the coast, right? In the south, there are the Spanish, and to the north there's us. I believe we're also to the west. But first, there's you. If they want to expand, they have to crush you first."

Adam saw the old matriarch's hands shake more intensely. On the backs of her hands, her thick veins stood out like snakes.

"C-continue, my boy, please," she said in a dry voice betraying all her fury.

"I-I barely know the history of this continent, but, basically, um, there's going to be a major war between England and their colonists. We'll support the colonists, and they'll win. The Redcoats will be forced to leave the continent."

"The Redcoats will lose this war? And you say they'll have to leave? That's…"

The old woman seemed to struggle to believe it. For her, understandably, the Redcoats were a formidable army that could only be defeated if the entire world rose against them. The French could only stand against them thanks to their numerous Indian allies.

"Yes," Adam whispered. "The colonists will forge their own country, the United States of America. In very little time, they'll conquer all these lands until they reach the Pacific Ocean. Um, that's like a very, very large lake on the other side of the continent. They'll fight many wars against the Indians, but no tribe will stop them," he said, thinking of the old westerns he liked to watch on TV. "This country will then become an industrial power and finally the world's greatest military power."

The two Mohawk women looked at Adam with devastated expressions. It was like announcing the end of the world to them. It didn't match what the Great Peacemaker had foretold, who had promised the submission of the red serpent and the white serpent before the black serpent.

The matriarch, like all the chiefs and previous leaders, thought that this black serpent represented them, the proud and honorable Haudenosaunee. But according to this young man, it could be otherwise.

"The black serpent… would be the English colonists?" murmured the old woman.

Adam remained silent, waiting for the next question. Although he was talking about events that had happened long before his birth, he felt a certain pain in his chest.

"You say the English will lose the war against the colonists. When will this happen?"

"I'm sorry," the young man replied, shaking his head, "but I don't know. I wasn't very interested in history before I came to this time. I'd rather say nothing than guess at a date."

"Then," said the matriarch in a lower tone, "will France really support the colonists?"

Adam had thought about this a lot, especially during his Atlantic crossing to the New World. He remembered things he thought he'd forgotten.

"Yes. The king—I think it was the current king's son, Louis XVI. We helped the United States defeat the English, but it cost us dearly. The kingdom was bankrupt, and there was a rev… OH."

"Yes?"

"I just realized. The French Revolution happened afterward! So the War of Independence was before 1789! There! The war between England and the British colonies took place before 1789!"

"Thirty years, then… At most," calculated the matriarch, frowning before turning her gaze back to Adam. "So, because of France's involvement, you had a… revolution. Is that a kind of war?"

"Yes, within the country. The king was beheaded, and the monarchy was abolished. France then became a republic, but it went poorly. And after that… yeah, I guess it was chaos for a hundred years. Funny enough, there are still idiots in my time who push for revolution. They have no idea what it entails."

The matriarch nodded slowly in silence, but inside, a faint hope was beginning to grow.

"So, getting involved in this war was a bad thing for France, wasn't it?"

"Uh, I guess?" Yeah, well… I wouldn't go that far. We got the republic and democracy, after all! And even if only for a time, there was Napoleon.

"I see. And this war, the current one, did you win or lose?"

"I don't know. Won, I think?"

The matriarch pondered in silence for a long moment before thanking Adam for his answers. He was somewhat surprised that her questions stopped there. He had expected to get hundreds more about the evolution of society and technology.

In her place, I would have asked a thousand, no, ten thousand questions about the future!

He was a bit disappointed, but showed nothing and left the longhouse.

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Not long after, two horses were brought to the center of the village. Many villagers were present.

With great skill, Tayohseron mounted one of them, brown and white. The second was a bit smaller and slimmer, gray with small white spots.

The matriarch and her apprentice emerged from the longhouse after a lengthy discussion and explained to Adam that Tayohseron would guide him to Fort Edward. Adam bowed gratefully to the two women before climbing onto the powerful beast's back.

The problem was that there was no saddle.

Oh, hell… Ah, that hurts. Ouch!

It didn't take him long to understand why the saddle was invented. Riding bareback required a good sense of balance and coordination, too.

Clinging to the animal's neck, Adam looked like a frightened child refusing to leave his mother's legs. This made Tayohseron laugh heartily, as he mocked him in his language.

Without an interpreter, Adam could only guess what he was saying.

Then, they set off eastward.

They followed the river where they'd swum that morning for several miles, only entering it when the terrain was too difficult. The riverbanks thus served as a sort of flat road.

Because the river twisted and turned, they lost a lot of time, but it was better than getting lost.

Eventually, they arrived at the fort's gates from the north.

Contrary to what he had thought, the Indian village wasn't that far from the fort. Barely twenty kilometers as the crow flies.

Naturally, their arrival was quickly noticed. A bell rang inside the small fortress, drawing many soldiers to the ramparts.

Upon hearing the bell, the two riders stopped. Adam dismounted and gave the horse a small pat, thanking it for bringing him here. It was definitely a good horse since he hadn't fallen once.

He then turned to Tayohseron, who was eyeing the formerly English fort warily. He seemed to expect a cannonball to be fired at any moment. Then, he looked at his new friend.

He reached into the pouch around his neck and pulled out a beautiful belt with colorful beads. It was stunning. There were even some patterns depicted.

With both hands, he held it out to Adam, who accepted it gratefully.

Wow, it's gorgeous! Not at all what I imagined!

"Thank you for this gift. I will take great care of it."

"If you need my help, come find me, my friend. I will fight by your side as long as you are not facing my people. May the spirits guide and watch over you." (Iroquois language)

Adam said nothing in response and watched him slowly leave in the opposite direction. Then he began walking toward the fort's gates.

When they opened the gates for him, he was welcomed by his comrades, friends, and superiors. Naturally, the Marquis de Montcalm was there.

"My lord, sorry for this delayed return."

"You… you're Lieutenant Boucher, if I recall correctly. We thought you were dead."

"J-just lost, my lord," Adam replied shamefully, bowing.

Colonel de Bréhant then approached.

"Did I imagine it, or did a savage bring you back here?"

"Ah, indeed, Colonel. It was the second son of the Mohawk chief, Tayohseron."

The face of the Marquis de Montcalm, as well as all the veterans who had fought on this continent for years, changed drastically when the word "Mohawk" was mentioned. Horrific scenes immediately came to mind.

"What?! He was a… How can you still be alive after encountering those bloodthirsty savages?! They're monsters!"

To the Marquis de Montcalm, it was incomprehensible. It was like saying he had plunged into a sea of fire and emerged unscathed.

Yet, it could only be a Mohawk, as the closest Iroquois territory was indeed controlled by this tribe, whose name was notorious even to the far reaches of New France.

Adam then recounted his story, though much shorter once summarized.

You should have seen their expressions.

To the Marquis and his soldiers, Adam/François was a miracle. If he hadn't saved that little boy, he probably would have ended up dead and scalped in the woods.

Thus, Adam was welcomed as a hero rather than an idiot for having pursued an enemy into the forest. Out of the small number of soldiers who had gone with him, only two had returned. Including him, they were only three.

***

At the same time, in the Iroquois village, Onatah was striding briskly toward the matriarch's longhouse.

The place was unusually silent.

The matriarch sat alone on a thick rug, thoughtfully observing a series of small bones and engraved shells arranged on a sort of long, painted wooden board. There must have been about ten of them.

She was so focused on her board that she didn't hear her young niece approaching.

The young girl quietly took a seat on the other side of the board and waited for the matriarch, her father's sister, to finish consulting the spirits.

She didn't understand how it worked, but she knew she shouldn't interrupt.

Onatah studied her aunt's face. She looked so focused that it made her appear older. Her small eyes were hidden, and one could easily believe she had fallen asleep.

Throughout the longhouse, amulets and totems hung to protect the place. It was nearly as sacred as the stone engraved by the Great Peacemaker.

Finally, a long sigh escaped the elderly woman's worn lips. She slowly lifted her gaze and noticed her niece, sitting with her legs folded and her delicate hands resting on her knees.

"Oh, Onatah. I expected your visit, but I didn't expect it so soon."

"You knew? Did the spirits tell you?" she asked seriously, blushing.

"No. It was my eyes. The seasons pass, but I am not blind yet."

"Then… do you know why I'm here?"

"Ask your question, my child."

The young girl, not yet a woman, looked away as if afraid of meeting her aunt's gaze.

"Matriarch, can you consult the spirits for me?"

"Oh, that's rare. Isn't it the second time? What do you want to know?"

The old woman's eyes seemed to smile, which didn't escape the young girl, who blushed even more. Seeing this, the matriarch felt an urge to smile wider. It was so rare to see her this way.

"I… I would like to know what my future holds."

"That's not really the question you want to ask, is it, my child? Be honest. The spirits know everything."

"W-why? Since the spirits know everything!"

She puffed her cheeks in frustration and crossed her arms, much like her brother often did. The old woman saw her niece blush even deeper.

"Do you know? The spirits are capable of joking. They could tell you that you'll stub your toe in three days or that you'll soon bleed. Is that really what you wish to know?"

The young girl ground her teeth as her face turned as red as the chief's cape or an English uniform.

"No," she murmured.

"Then," the matriarch said calmly, "ask your question honestly."

"Please, matriarch, ask the spirits if… um, if my future is tied to that of the Frenchman."

"Kukuku!"

"You're mocking me!"

Onatah felt tears welling up in her eyes. That was why she had hesitated so much to come to her aunt. She knew the matriarch would mock her.

But she needed to know.

Since she had seen him, she had felt something very strange in her chest. Like an illness, she couldn't shake certain thoughts. She was troubled by all these overwhelming thoughts.

And whenever she thought of his face, she could feel her heart beating faster.

The old woman's face slowly grew serious again, and in a solemn voice, she said,

"Since that is your question… Let us see what the spirits have to tell you."

Onatah calmed herself and settled in more comfortably.

She watched her aunt gather all the engraved bones and shells into a small carved box before shaking it vigorously. While shaking it, she began to hum a mysterious tune.

The amulets then began to chime and tremble around the young girl and the old woman. The air grew heavier, as though a storm was about to break. This lasted until the matriarch opened the box and poured the contents onto the board.

Time seemed to freeze, and the longhouse fell suddenly silent. The old matriarch leaned forward.

"Hmm…"

Onatah felt a strong urge to ask what the spirits had answered.

"I see."

"W-what?!"

The matriarch looked at the young girl and smiled.

"The spirits say… that there is a possibility, but it will depend on a choice."

"A-a choice? What choice? What must I do?"

"The spirits are unclear, but it's an important choice… one this young man will have to make."