Pride of the King, The Read Online Free PDF Page A

further. There is no time to waste. By journey's end there could be snow."
    Rene and his father left to repair the damage done to their bateaux during the storm. The party who had found Lauren consisted of twenty-two men who had been trading flour, corn and pelts in New Orleans for the precious commodities of silk, sugar and gunpowder imported from Paris and the Indies. They made this arduous journey once a year from the village of Kaskaskia in the Illinois Country to obtain supplies for their isolated colony to the north. Originally, the group had been over ninety souls strong, but the hurricane had left the convoy fragmented and disorganized and several crew members had died.
    For the rest of the morning the group worked at a feverish pace, mending sails and repairing holes in their flat-bottomed barge-like vessels called bateaux . The men were tired but anxious to start for home. Although it took only three weeks to paddle down the Mississippi, the return upstream took a painstaking three months. They missed their families and wanted to put the exhausting journey behind them.
       Monsieur Lupone stood up, wiped his hands on his trousers and ordered, "Finish tarring that last canoe and we’ll be off. There’s one thing left I must attend to before we embark."
    The storm had left the group with no skipper, and the men turned to Gabriel Lupone for leadership. His patient but firm disposition won their respect as well as his keen sense of justice.
    He started up the hill toward the house with Rene behind him. He turned to his son and barked, "What are you so interested in? Don't start any silly, schoolboy ideas. We know nothing about this girl, and I cannot be saddled with an injured female. Now go back to the crew and put the last of the pewter into those crates."
    Grumbling, Rene returned to the bateau and pitched pewter plates into a wooden box, watching the plantation house. His father was right. He was interested in this girl. She would be an inviting diversion on the way home, and he secretly hoped that they would be unable to locate her family.
    Gabriel entered the sitting room and looked at Lauren apprehensively. He watched the girl sleep while he considered his options. He concluded that there was only one solution, to find her family immediately. "How are you feeling?” Gabriel asked as he squatted down in front of the girl.
    Lauren opened her eyes and swallowed hard, trying unsuccessfully to clear her throat. Monsieur Lupone dipped a drinking gourd into a bucket of water and placed it to her lips.
    "Where is your family, your husband? I must know so we can find you shelter."
    Lauren only stared at him.
    "Have you no family, child?"
    Lauren shook her head slowly.
    "Where is your husband? You must find the strength to tell me. Our party must return to Kaskaskia immediately. I am sorry, Madame--is your husband dead?"
    Lauren licked her lips and whispered, "Dead."
    "I am sorry," he said, sympathetically. "Do you live here?"
    Lauren considered the question a moment then said, "No, the English Colonies.”
    Lupone blinked in disbelief, slapped his thighs and bellowed, "Well I can't take you there! Damn it to hell!"
    He stood up and paced the room, shaking his head. He turned to the window and looked down at the group of men, loading the last of the supplies onto the bateaux. He knew they must start for home. "What the hell am I supposed to do?” he mumbled to himself.
    He turned away and paced again. Suddenly, he stopped and looked down at Lauren. "It is the only way. You must come with us."
     
    *                 *              *
     
    "Mama, come quickly! They're home!" cried the child dashing from the cabin, leaving the door open.
    Madame Lupone wiped her hands on her apron and took a shawl from the peg. "Come, little one," she said softly as she picked up the baby. Glancing into the cracked mirror on the bureau, the woman smoothed her hair into place.
    The years had been kind to Anne