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.“You are to tell no one about your discovery.”“Tell no one? I don't understand, sir.”The commander leaned back in his chair.“I want to see this place for myself.Are those savages still on board?”“I believe so.But sir, I…”“Then we will leave immediately.They will take us.Go make the arrangements.”As Samuel de Champlain led Commander De Chaste up the path to the clearing, he was confused by his commander's coolness to the discovery.He had not asked a single question during the canoe trip.Even more surprising was the commander's strict order of secrecy.Surely, thought Samuel, seeing the sight will change his attitude.As they broke into the clearing, the two warriors once again crossed themselves and fell face down onto the ground.The commander was unmoved by their actions and simply stepped over the savages.Samuel led the tour.“It is definitely a village built on the Irish design, sir.These tangled pieces of wood used to be a stockade-style defensive wall.The wood itself is no longer bound together, but you can still make out the circular shape.We just passed through what would have been the gate to the village and this pathway led down to the village centre.Over there, those long mounds would have been the living quarters for the families of the village.And I think that pile of rotting wood may be what is left of a watch tower.”“I've been to Ireland,” commented De Chaste finally, and much to Samuel's relief.“Their villages look nothing like what you are describing here.”“Ah, perhaps not now,” explained Samuel, “but I have studied the designs of villages built hundreds of years ago.This village has exactly the similar dimensions and structures as those earlier Irish settlements.I am guessing this village is based on a design that was used between 700 and 1000 A.D.”De Chaste snorted.“I find this all hard to believe.”Samuel smiled.“Wait until you see what lies in the centre of the village.”Samuel led the commander to the rotten, but enormous uncovered cross.Samuel beamed with pride as if he had found the treasure of King Solomon.De Chaste looked down at the cross, then scanned the entire village area with a cold, calculating gaze.“Is this it?” he asked.Samuel's face dropped.“Uh…yes, sir.Isn't the cross magnificent? And these stones behind me are what I think must have been a church.Commander, we have just discovered an Irish settlement that is likely hundreds of years old! It is an incredible find! Who would have thought those primitive Celts could have travelled so far in their skin-covered boats?”De Chaste turned to Samuel, his face warming ever so slightly.“Samuel, you have discovered nothing.This is simply a series of dirt mounds and a pile of rocks.Perhaps it was an ancient native burial site.”Samuel gaped at De Chaste in disbelief.“But…but what about the cross, sir?”De Chaste kicked the base of the cross.The impact instantly collapsed a chunk of the cross into a pile of rotted dust.“A remarkable coincidence.Two logs falling on each other into the shape of a cross.”Stunned, Samuel pointed to the rocks behind him.“And the church? And the graveyard over there with the wooden crosses?”De Chaste shrugged.“All I see here is a mound of rocks, nothing more.By the savages, I see the sticks that look something like crosses.But in reality, it is nothing.”Samuel's cheeks flushed red in exasperation.“Coincidence? Nothing? Sir, I know what this is! This was an Irish settlement! I would stake my reputation as a mapmaker on it!”De Chaste's eyes narrowed into daggers.“Would you stake your life on it?”Samuel gasped.“Excuse me, sir?”De Chaste inched closer.“Why are we here, Samuel? Why did we travel thousands of miles away from our homes and our loved ones? We are here to claim this land for the King of France, to map its boundaries and to begin the process of colonization.This land will become New France, a glorious extension of our homeland.It will also allow our fellow countrymen a chance to immigrate to a land of plenty in which they can begin new and challenging lives.“Now what do you think would happen if you returned home with these outrageous stories of ancient Celtic habitations that perhaps existed hundreds of years ago? Do you think France would still have the legal right to colonize this land? Are you willing to jeopardize our future claim because you have let your imagination run wild while looking at a pile of sticks and rocks?”De Chaste lowered his voice to a growl.“The King himself has given me strict orders to ensure that the claiming and mapping of this land for France goes smoothly and as planned.Do not force me to mention your wild fairy tales of an Irish settlement to His Majesty when we return.I understand he will execute anyone he feels represents a threat to his plans of expansion.”De Chaste put a hand on Samuel's shoulder, his voice now becoming more fatherly.“Samuel, look around at this sight with new eyes.This is nothing more than, at most, a native burial ground.You do see that now, don't you?”De Chaste bent down and picked up the disturbed vines.He used them once again to conceal the wooden cross.Samuel stood and watched his commander, still dumbfounded by what he had just heard.De Chaste straightened and looked Samuel right in the eye.“I didn't hear you.What do you now see when you look around?”Samuel swallowed as he surveyed the area.“I…I see piles of rocks and sticks.It's nothing more than a native burial site.”De Chaste patted him on the back.“Good for you.You have a bright future, Samuel de Champlain.Don't throw it all away on several mounds of dirt.”“Yes, sir.”“When we arrive at the ship,” De Chaste continued, “I want you to find a dozen of the thickest clods in the crew.It's a full moon this evening.Return here tonight by skiff with some pick-axes and shovels.Do a little rearranging of the stones and dirt mounds so that no one else comes to the same silly conclusion that you somehow arrived at.Understood?”“Yes, sir,” said Samuel, defeat permeating his voice.De Chaste marched back to the warriors, leaving Samuel standing alone beside the cross.The warriors, hearing the approach of the commander, stood up and followed him down the path.Samuel crouched down and removed the vines one last time, gazing at the ancient beauty of its design.He knew that by the end of the night, the cross would remain only in his memory.Sweeping his hand along the cross, he suddenly noticed under the wood a small, rectangular stone with a crude inscription.Amazingly, it was a rounded headstone with a Celtic inscription.“Here Lies Kiera, Devoted Wife and Loving Mother.”Unable to decipher the entire inscription, he managed to sound out the name at the top.“Kiera.”Samuel de Champlain allowed his fingers to retrace the etching of the name before he bowed his head in shame.“Forgive me, Kiera, for what I am about to do.”AUTHOR'S NOTEIn Stolen Away, I have attempted to bring to life the story of a people whose blood stains one of the darkest chapters of Canadian history.Genocide was committed against the Beothuck nation by English settlers throughout the eighteenth century
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