The Black Swan

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Another year, another season, and Gabe was out plowing the field once again. Mule’s reins were draped over Gabe’s shoulders, and he threw his weight into the plow. Mule was getting old, and he needed all the help Gabe could give him.

“Gabriel!”

“Whoa, Mule.” He tipped back his hat and ran his sleeve over his forehead. “Hullo, Remember. What are you doing here at this time of day?”

“I must talk to you.” He sounded distressed.

Gabe just nodded. “I have to stop for nooning anyway.” He unhitched Mule and walked him to a patch of shade, then slid the feedbag over the animal’s head and patted his neck. Uncle Zeke might be a hard man, but he was careful with his animals, and he’d taught Gabe to be as well. With Mule settled, Gabe threw an arm around his friend’s shoulders.

He was startled when Remember stepped out of his embrace.

“Remember?”

“This is what I had to talk to you about. Harry trailed after us the other day.”

Gabe tilted his head. Harry was the youngest of Remember’s twelve siblings, about seven years of age.

“Gabriel, he saw us.”

Having lived with Indians for ten years, Gabe saw nothing wrong with having a male lover, but he’d learned things were different here.

“He was afraid you’d hurt me. I convinced him we were just wrestling, but…” He gave Gabe a mournful glance. “We have to find sweethearts.”

“But you’re my sweetheart.”

“We can’t be. We’d be banished from Braddockville. I won’t let them do that to you.”

“Suppose we left?” They could go west over the mountains, or north to Canada and become trappers. Gabe knew how to hunt and trap. He wouldn’t mind leaving behind his uncle and his family.

A look into Remember’s eyes told him that his friend would do this for him, but leaving behind his own family would tear him apart; Gabe wouldn’t do that to him.

“No, you’re right, we’ll find sweethearts. Is there…is there one you like?”

“Anne Miller.”

Anne’s father had a small cow herd. Gabe had seen Anne walking through the village with pails hanging from her shoulder yoke, a saucy sway to her hips. She delivered milk to the folk who lived in Braddockville. “She’s a pretty girl.” And his friend was a good man, even if he was as poor as a church mouse and most girls in the village wouldn’t give him a second glance.

Remember hunched a shoulder. “And you, Gabriel?”

“Must I choose now?”

“It would be for the best.”

“I think…” He scrambled for a face, for a name. “Mary Patel?” She worked the fields for Farmer Grey, and the Virginia sun had bleached her hair a very pale blonde. Almost as pale as Remember’s.

“She’s very pretty, too.”

“All right, then. I reckon we’re going courting.”

“I reckon we are. But…one last kiss?”

Gabe woke with the feel of Remember’s lips on his.

Although it was dark in the cave, he could tell it was the dark of night and not of being so deep in the cave sunlight couldn’t reach where his friend had hidden him. He knew that at some point during the passing hours, when he’d relived those times with his friend, he’d become a creature of the night. Hunger gnawed at his belly, and not for a fat, juicy rabbit. He would have moaned at the hollow feeling, but there was something else that distressed him even more: what would his reaction be to his friend when Remember returned? Would he see Remember as his friend or as his dinner?

“Ho the cave.”

Oh God, he was already back.

“Stay out of here, Remember! I’m warning you—it’s not safe!” He recalled the sweetness of his friend’s blood, even better-tasting than the Redcoat’s, and his mouth flooded with saliva. He swallowed and licked his lips, inadvertently cutting his tongue on a canine tooth. His mouth filled with the taste of copper, and both teeth elongated to fangs as his hunger grew.

No. He’d be damned before he let anyone, least of all himself, harm Remember. He’d walk into the daylight first.

“I’ve brought you dinner.” Remember walked into the crevasse where Gabe hid and held up a rabbit by its ears. Its hind legs kicked out sluggishly—it was still alive.

Gabe could hear the blood flowing through the rabbit’s veins. He watched as his friend took his big knife from its sheath at his waist and brought it to the rabbit’s neck.

Instead of slicing it through, however, he carefully shaved the fur off. “I didn’t think you’d want a mouthful of fur, Gabriel,” he said, and he offered the animal to Gabe.

Gabe groaned, seized it, and sank his fangs into its throat. The rabbit gave a tiny shriek and its legs kicked out a final time before it went limp.

The blood wasn’t as tasty as Remember’s—it was more like a wine from a poor vintage—but after the first gulp, he couldn’t stop, and he drank until he’d drained the last drop from the animal’s veins.

He realized with dismay that it wasn’t enough. “Remember?”

“Never fear. Did you think I’d leave you to hunger?” His friend pulled another rabbit out of the sack Gabe hadn’t even realized he’d been carrying, shaved its neck, and offered it to him.

While Gabe drank, Remember put together a small fire, skinned and gutted the first rabbit, and roasted it.

“Thank you.” Gabe shifted uneasily. He needed something more, but he was uncertain as to what it could be.

“We always made a good team.”

“Aye, we do—did. Remember…how is it you know so much about what happened to me?”

“Mother Morwen, the wise woman who lives in the forest outside Braddockville, used to tell me tales. Ma wasn’t happy about it, but there were so many kids she couldn’t keep track of me.”

“You said something about a…a transference?”

Remember sighed. “Yes. There was nothing I could do to stop you from turning, but I can offer you something that will make your existence more…bearable. Do you trust me, Gabriel?”

“What? You know I do.”

“I don’t know if you’ll still trust me after—”

“After what?” Gabe felt as if his skin was on fire, and if he didn’t get some relief soon, he’d seize Remember’s knife and slice off his own skin. “Tell me. Please. I’ll do anything.” He thought for a moment. “Except harm you.”

“No need for that. You’ve already had some of my blood. Now…I need to have some of yours.”

“Is that going to turn you?”

“No, I promise it won’t.”

“Very well.” Gabe held out his arm. He’d been wounded in battle and knew he could bear the pain.

“No, not that.” Oddly enough, Remember seemed nervous.

“I’m not going to turn you,” Gabe insisted.

“You won’t…” Remember drew in a deep breath. “Bite your lip. Gabriel, bite your lip.”

Gabe knew he must have looked confused for Remember to repeat himself. He looked deeply into his friend’s eyes, then nodded. His fangs hadn’t retracted, and he sucked his lower lip into his mouth and bit down. Blood began to dribble down his chin. He raised a hand to catch it, but Remember was there before him. Only not with his hand. He sealed his mouth to Gabe’s, licked at the tiny wounds with his own tongue, and swallowed.

Gabe moaned softly and leaned into the kiss, for it couldn’t be misconstrued as anything other than what it was.

And it had been so very long…

Neither Gabe nor Remember had married, although they both had women back home. This…this was better than any kiss his woman had ever given him.

Finally, Remember pulled back. “There. It’s done.”

“What’s done?”

“I’m your black swan.”

“My what?”

“Your black swan. We’re tied together for eternity. I’m sorry I tricked you into this, but it was the only way for you to survive another sunrise. I can help you now.”

“How?

“I’m able to go out in the sun. I’ll get you back to camp, explain the situation to General Washington, and during the day when you must avoid the sun’s rays, I’ll drive one of the wagons with you safely hidden away in it. And at night we’ll both gather the information the general needs.”