Hawkwood considered his words carefully. “It is the intention of the Yankees to drive the English out of Canada and from Anówarakowa Kawennote. If they succeed, all the villages of the Kanien’kehá:ka will disappear for ever, like the ashes from the great council fire. It will be as the last time when the Yankees defeated the soldiers of the Great King. A treaty will be signed and the Nations will be forgotten. The Yankees will say that land granted by the English is theirs by right of conquest. The Yankees’ government will make the Kanien’kehá:ka leave their villages and they will sell the land. They will tell the Kanien’kehá:ka that they must live where the Yankees decide.”

“In … reservations,” Cageaga said dully, his pipe forgotten.

“Ea, in reservations,” Hawkwood confirmed.

“You believe this to be true?” Tewanias asked.

“I do.”

“The Kanien’kehá:ka could fight,” Cageaga said.

“On their own, they would lose. The Yankees are greater in number than the Kanien’kehá:ka. You could not hold out against them. You know that.”

“Perhaps the Yan-kees will sign their own treaty with the Kanien’kehá:ka?”

Hawkwood could tell that the question was posed more in hope than expectation. “They did not honour the last treaty, why should they honour the next one?” he pointed out.

Cageaga fell silent.

Tewanias took a draw on his pipe. “If you warn the English, can they defeat the Yan-kees?”

“Yes,” Hawkwood said. “The soldiers of the Great King have known many wars; more than the soldiers of the Yankees. They are better fighters. They will win.”

Tewanias sat back. Lowering his pipe, he regarded Hawkwood for a long time. Finally, he spoke. “I will have my warriors show you the path.”

“Niá:wen,” Hawkwood said, before reverting to English once more. “Do you know where the English soldiers are gathered? The nearest English garrison?”

The expression on Tewanias’s face made it plain that he’d expected Hawkwood to have that information. There were two, he told them. One large and one small.

“Where?” Hawkwood pressed.

The main garrison was located on the Île aux Noix.

Hawkwood and Lawrence exchanged glances.

“And the other?” Hawkwood asked.

“It is only a …” Tewanias searched for the word. He shook his head, looked to Cageaga for help and, when none was forthcoming, said helplessly and with some frustration, “… maison en bois?”

A wooden house? Hawkwood thought. Lawrence appeared equally mystified. Then a thought struck.

“A blockhouse?” Hawkwood ventured.

Tewanias thought about it. “Ea! Blockhouse. Yes!”

“Where?” Hawkwood asked.

“There is a small village, lived in by whites. It has no name in the Kanien’kehá:ka tongue.”

“What do the whites call it?”

“Lacolle,” Tewanias said.

14