Simon Fraser, John Stuart, his second-in-command at Fort St. James, and I face La Malice in the explorer’s small log cabin. “Account for your disgraceful behaviour on the beach, La Malice,” Fraser demands.
La Malice’s eyes narrow. “Account for myself, Monsieur? Do you know how long I’ve been with this Company?”
Fraser’s reply is curt. “Your length of service in the North West Company is not the issue. Mr. Scott is an apprentice clerk and as such he outranks you.”
“That whelp is to be my superior officer?” La Malice barely contains his anger, his eyes burning into me. “I was trading furs when this boy was still in his crib.”
Fraser does his best to control his rising temper. “Clerks are selected by merit, not age, and you’ll do well to remember that, La Malice. Your insolence and insubordination ensure you’ll never be more than a voyageur. Should you lay one finger on Mr. Scott, I’ll see to it personally that your days in the North West Company are over.”
Although I appreciate the idea that I outrank La Malice, I am also disturbed that he is obviously so much stronger and more forest-knowledgeable than I am. I want to say something to calm his anger with me but there is no chance.
“There’s also the issue of that girl of yours,” John Stuart adds. “She hasn’t been seen for a while and the locals are talking.”
“She’s no concern of yours,” La Malice replies. “Besides, there aren’t any rules in the Company against having a bush wife are there? If there were, I fear you’d be most severely reprimanded yourself, Monsieur Fraser.”
The slightest hint of colour flashes on Simon Fraser’s cheeks, and La Malice smirks at his discomfort. “Like I said, she displeased me so I sent her back north to her father.”
Fraser is incredulous. “Do you seriously expect me to believe that a seventeen-year-old girl travelled all that distance upcountry by herself? Some of the Carrier have a different idea as to what happened. They claim the two of you went out on the lake last week, but only you came back.”
La Malice jerks his knife out of its scabbard. “Bring those savages who make such false accusations to me so I may defend my honour!”
“Quiet, you fool!” barks Fraser. “We live in peace here only because Chief Kwah allows it. If they hear you talking like that, you’re bound to get us all killed.”
“Two go out and only one returns. Coincidentally enough, that’s the same fate that befell Gilles Morel at Fort Misery, wasn’t it?” John Stuart says. “You remember Fort Misery, don’t you, La Malice? And Gilles Morel? You should. After all, you were the last one who saw him alive.”
Fort Misery. I remember how puzzled Luc was that the cabin was abandoned and smashed up. So that’s what happened, I think to myself.
“How many times do I have to tell this story?” asks La Malice. “Morel and I were gathering firewood near the mouth of the river. We walked on the ice. It cracked. He fell through. That’s it.”
“Then you abandoned the post,” says Fraser, barely keeping his own anger in check. “Fort Misery alone should have made the Company enough money to pay for the upkeep of all our bases in New Caledonia. Instead, a good man vanishes and a productive fur trading fort is abandoned to the porcupines.”
La Malice is stone-faced. “The Natives who lived there were hostile and refused to trade with me. I was alone and I feared for my life. What would you have done? And as far as Morel goes? These things happen in the pays d’en haut. The wilderness is a dangerous place.”
“Especially for those left alone with you.”
La Malice grins. “Some people are unlucky, I suppose.”
“And some people have difficulty with the truth,” says Stuart.
La Malice’s voice drops to a whisper. “Are you calling me a liar, Monsieur Stuart? If so, we may need to have some words.”
Words. It seems to me as I listen to this angry conversation that it may come to much more than words, but I know that it is not my place to say anything.
“Two people last seen in your company are missing,” says Fraser coolly. “We have only your account as to why, and yours is a word I have trouble believing. Hold your tongue and mind your place, La Malice, or I will ensure that the next person to leave this post will be you, and it will be no mystery why.”