CHAPTER 16
It was the beginning of August--the Flying-up Moon--when Pierrotreturned from Lac Bain, and in three days more it would be the Willow'sseventeenth birthday. He brought back with him many things forNepeese--ribbons for her hair, real shoes, which she wore at times likethe two Englishwomen at Nelson House, and chief glory of all, somewonderful red cloth for a dress. In the three winters she had spent atthe mission these women had made much of Nepeese. They had taught herto sew as well as to spell and read and pray, and at times there cameto the Willow a compelling desire to do as they did.
So for three days Nepeese worked hard on her new dress and on herbirthday she stood before Pierrot in a fashion that took his breathaway. She had piled her hair in great coils on the crown of her head,as Yvonne, the younger of the Englishwomen, had taught her, and in therich jet of it had half buried a vivid sprig of the crimson fireflower.Under this, and the glow in her eyes, and the red flush of her lips andcheeks came the wonderful red dress, fitted to the slim and sinuousbeauty of her form--as the style had been two winters ago at NelsonHouse. And below the dress, which reached just below the knees--Nepeesehad quite forgotten the proper length, or else her material had runout--came the coup de maitre of her toilet, real stockings and the gayshoes with high heels! She was a vision before which the gods of theforests might have felt their hearts stop beating. Pierrot turned herround and round without a word, but smiling. When she left him,however, followed by Baree, and limping a little because of thetightness of her shoes, the smile faded from his face, leaving it coldand bleak.
"Mon Dieu," he whispered to himself in French, with a thought that waslike a sharp stab at his heart, "she is not of her mother's blood--non.It is French. She is--yes--like an angel."
A change had come over Pierrot. During the three days she had beenengaged in her dressmaking, Nepeese had been quite too excited tonotice this change, and Pierrot had tried to keep it from her. He hadbeen away ten days on the trip to Lac Bain, and he brought back toNepeese the joyous news that M'sieu McTaggart was very sick withpechipoo--the blood poison--news that made the Willow clap her handsand laugh happily. But he knew that the factor would get well, and thathe would come again to their cabin on the Gray Loon. And when next timehe came--
It was while he was thinking of this that his face grew cold and hard,and his eyes burned. And he was thinking of it on this her birthday,even as her laughter floated to him like a song. Dieu, in spite of herseventeen years, she was nothing but a child--a baby! She could notguess his horrible visions. And the dread of awakening her for all timefrom that beautiful childhood kept him from telling her the whole truthso that she might have understood fully and completely. Non, it shouldnot be that. His soul beat with a great and gentle love. He, Pierrot DuQuesne, would do the watching. And she should laugh and sing andplay--and have no share in the black forebodings that had come to spoilhis life.
On this day there came up from the south MacDonald, the government mapmaker. He was gray and grizzled, with a great, free laugh and a cleanheart. Two days he remained with Pierrot. He told Nepeese of hisdaughters at home, of their mother, whom he worshiped more thananything else on earth--and before he went on in his quest of the lasttimber line of Banksian pine, he took pictures of the Willow as he hadfirst seen her on her birthday: her hair piled in glossy coils, her reddress, the high-heeled shoes. He carried the negatives on with him,promising Pierrot that he would get a picture back in some way. Thusfate works in its strange and apparently innocent ways as it spins itswebs of tragedy.
For many weeks after MacDonald's visit there followed tranquil days onthe Gray Loon. They were wonderful days for Baree. At first he wassuspicious of Pierrot. After a little he tolerated him, and at lastaccepted him as a part of the cabin--and Nepeese. It was the Willowwhose shadow he became. Pierrot noted the attachment with the deepestsatisfaction.
"Ah, in a few months more, if he should leap at the throat of M'sieuthe Factor," he said to himself one day.
In September, when he was six months old, Baree was almost as large asGray Wolf--big-boned, long-fanged, with a deep chest, and jaws thatcould already crack a bone as if it were a stick. He was with Nepeesewhenever and wherever she moved. They swam together in the twopools--the pool in the forest and the pool between the chasm walls. Atfirst it alarmed Baree to see Nepeese dive from the rock wall overwhich she had pushed McTaggart, but at the end of a month she hadtaught him to plunge after her through that twenty feet of space.
It was late in August when Baree saw the first of his kind outside ofKazan and Gray Wolf. During the summer Pierrot allowed his dogs to runat large on a small island in the center of a lake two or three milesaway, and twice a week he netted fish for them. On one of these tripsNepeese accompanied him and took Baree with her. Pierrot carried hislong caribou-gut whip. He expected a fight. But there was none. Bareejoined the pack in their rush for fish, and ate with them. This pleasedPierrot more than ever.
"He will make a great sledge dog," he chuckled. "It is best to leavehim for a week with the pack, ma Nepeese."
Reluctantly Nepeese gave her consent. While the dogs were still attheir fish, they started homeward. Their canoe had slipped away beforeBaree discovered the trick they had played on him. Instantly he leapedinto the water and swam after them--and the Willow helped him into hiscanoe.
Early in September a passing Indian brought Pierrot word of BushMcTaggart. The factor had been very sick. He had almost died from theblood poison, but he was well now. With the first exhilarating tang ofautumn in the air a new dread oppressed Pierrot. But at present he saidnothing of what was in his mind to Nepeese. The Willow had almostforgotten the factor from Lac Bain, for the glory and thrill ofwilderness autumn was in her blood. She went on long trips withPierrot, helping him to blaze out the new trap lines that would be usedwhen the first snows came, and on these journeys she was alwaysaccompanied by Baree.
Most of Nepeese's spare hours she spent in training him for the sledge.She began with a babiche string and a stick. It was a whole day beforeshe could induce Baree to drag this stick without turning at everyother step to snap and growl at it. Then she fastened another length ofbabiche to him, and made him drag two sticks. Thus little by little shetrained him to the sledge harness, until at the end of a fortnight hewas tugging heroically at anything she had a mind to fasten him to.Pierrot brought home two of the dogs from the island, and Baree was putinto training with these, and helped to drag the empty sledge. Nepeesewas delighted. On the day the first light snow fell she clapped herhands and cried to Pierrot:
"By midwinter I will have him the finest dog in the pack, mon pere!"
This was the time for Pierrot to say what was in his mind. He smiled.Diantre--would not that beast the factor fall into the very devil of arage when he found how he had been cheated! And yet--
He tried to make his voice quiet and commonplace.
"I am going to send you down to the school at Nelson House again thiswinter, ma cherie," he said. "Baree will help draw you down on thefirst good snow."
The Willow was tying a knot in Baree's babiche, and she rose slowly toher feet and looked at Pierrot. Her eyes were big and dark and steady.
"I am not going, mon pere!"
It was the first time Nepeese had ever said that to Pierrot--in justthat way. It thrilled him. And he could scarcely face the look in hereyes. He was not good at bluffing. She saw what was in his face; itseemed to him that she was reading what was in his mind, and that shegrew a little taller as she stood there. Certainly her breath camequicker, and he could see the throb of her breast. Nepeese did not waitfor him to gather speech.
"I am not going!" she repeated with even greater finality, and bentagain over Baree.
With a shrug of his shoulders Pierrot watched her. After all, was henot glad? Would his heart not have turned sick if she had been happy atthe thought of leaving him? He moved to her side and with greatgentleness laid a hand on her glossy head. Up from under it the Willowsmiled at him. Between them they
heard the click of Baree's jaws as herested his muzzle on the Willow's arm. For the first time in weeks theworld seemed suddenly filled with sunshine for Pierrot. When he wentback to the cabin he held his head higher. Nepeese would not leave him!He laughed softly. He rubbed his hands together. His fear of the factorfrom Lac Bain was gone. From the cabin door he looked back at Nepeeseand Baree.
"The Saints be blessed!" he murmured. "Now--now--it is Pierrot DuQuesne who knows what to do!"