Sàmhach, the Silent One
Copyright© 2026 by CaptainPig
Chapter 9
Glossary
Waabishkiigoo-gichigami (WAH-bish-kee-goh gee-chee-GAH-mee) Algonquian name for what we call Lake Erie. Our Lake Erie is named for the Erie Indians, a tribe that was wiped out in inter-tribal warfare in the 1740s.
Dachaigh Fergus (DAH-kheeg, the final guttural g is minimized almost sounding like a k, FER-gus) Fergus’s Home
Kachelofen (KAH-kel-OH-fen), a tiled masonry heater. Fired for an hour once or twice a day, it retains and releases the heat slowly versus a conventional fireplace which loses 95% of its heat up the chimney.
Bràthair-athar, (BROW-hirsh AH-hir, father’s brother, uncle)
Athair-cèile (AH-hir KAY-leh, father-in-law)
Bràthair-cèile (BROW-hirsh KAY-leh, brother-in-law)
Baintighearna (BAYNT-yar-nah, ‘Lady’ used when addressing a social superior)
Màthair (MAH-hir, mother)
Sinn-seanair (SEEN-sen-are, great-grandfather)
Netta Ban-tràill Dorrie, Angus and Dorrie’s housekeeper
Maighstir òg (MAA-ster ohg, where the “ó” sounds similar to the “o” in “rogue.” The “hg” is pronounced softly, almost like a “k” sound
Duschbad (DUUSH-bad, German name for a shower bath)
We only drove for a couple of hours that evening, stopping about thirty miles from River City and taking rooms at a coaching inn.
Rising early the next morning, we had breakfast and then were back on the road, stopping every few hours for fuel and maintenance checks on the motor carriages. We would eat a quick meal of ready food from the fuel depot’s kitchen, then we were back on the road, traveling until mid afternoon when we stopped for the night at another coaching inn. We spent the next two days traveling in that fashion.
It was a fairly comfortable journey. Seanair had purchased the newest, most up to date motor carriages available. They were six wheeled with four driving wheels in the rear powered by one of Herr Diesel’s multi-fuel engines producing twenty five horse power and equipped with the new sound muffling devices. They had power assisted steering for the two front wheels and the latest synchronized shifting eight speed transmissions, easing the driver’s tasks tremendously. The wire spoke wheels were fitted with the newly invented inflatable rubber tyres. With their leaf springs and hydraulic and compressed gas shock dampeners easing the bumps and ruts, they could travel at an astonishing fifteen miles an hour! Only the great aerships could carry passengers faster and in greater comfort.
Each motor carriage was fitted with four rows of seats with three seats in each row, so each carriage could carry twelve in comfort. The seats were even fitted with springed cushions. I rode in the motor carriage carrying Seanair and Seanmhair along with a driver, Ainslie and all seven of my girls.
We continually altered our position in the column, sometimes leading, sometimes trailing, sometimes in the middle. We also switched seats in the vehicle at each stop so that each of us rode in every position except the driving seat. The armsman driving each vehicle was replaced by a rested arms-man at each stop.
In the afternoon of the third day of travel since we had left River City, we crested a hill to see the waters of a mighty inland sea in front of us.
We halted for a moment and Seanair said, “Waabishkiigoo-gichigami is the native name for this lake. That means “the Neutral Sea”. When we see it, that means that we’re nearly home.”
Another half hour of driving brought us to a side road which passed through a stone gate arch with the words ‘Dachaigh Fergus’ carved into the lintel. We passed through this gate and drove into a wooded section. About a quarter mile in, I saw a crew of wood cutters working off to the left.
Another quarter mile further and we left the woods and began passing mixed fields and pastures. On the left we could see a village of native long houses.
Seanair said,” When Fergus McKerr received his grant of 100 square miles of land in 1797, there were several villages of Kickapoo Indians on it. He made an agreement with them that they could continue to live on the land in return for working as hunters, loggers, farmers and herders for him. In return, he paid them in goods and protected them from attacks by other tribes and they helped prevent whites from encroaching on the lands. The arrangement has stood for more than 200 years, and both sides have been happy with it. Over the generations, we have more than doubled the size of the estate.
“The first Fergus brought in a doctor and teachers to teach them Gaedlish. All of the Kickapoo living on our land can read and write now and if any want to pursue higher education, we pay for it. All of the teachers in their village schools are Kickapoo now, and we just got the first ever Kickapoo to become a doctor and a nurse working in our clinic.”
We continued driving, the road passing around a hill and as we rounded the turn, we could see a stone walled compound ahead. The walls were about ten feet high with crenelations rising another two feet. A great gatehouse stood at the center of the wall facing us, with arrowhead bastions at each corner. No attacker would be able to shelter at the base of the wall. The wall was at least a quarter of a mile from corner bastion to corner bastion. I could see guards on top of the bastions and gatehouse.
As we approached the gatehouse, the gate swung open and we were able to drive through without slowing.
Inside was what appeared to be a complete town, with dozens of cottages, stables, workshops, graineries, and two long buildings that I thought must be barracks. There were paddocks for horses and corrals for cattle. A stone lined canal ran along one side of the village and water wheels turned, grinding grain and pumping water up into reservoirs on top of stone towers.
Passing through the village, we came to a compound surrounded by a stone wall about five feet tall. Passing through the gate, I saw a large ornate garden of bushes, flower beds, grassy lawns, and sitting on an island in a small lake, something that looked like a party pavilion.
Past the garden, three great houses sat on three sides of a cobbled courtyard with a large fountain in the center. We drove across the courtyard to the center house and halted under the porte cochere that fronted an elaborate door at the top of five broad stone steps.
Alighting from the motor carriage, we gathered together at the bottom step.
Seanair said, “Dorrie, please take the girls in hand. Sàmhach, come with me. I need to introduce you.”
I was surprised, because for the first time since I had met him, Seanair looked a little uncertain.
As we started up the steps, a pair of liveried footmen opened the door to allow us to enter. Just inside the door we were met by a man wearing a kilt and stockings of McKerr tartan and a green vest with polished brass buttons over a white shirt with billowing sleeves.
“Good day, Bannerman,” the man said, giving a half bow. “Your father is waiting to receive you in his study.”
He turned and strode away, obviously expecting that we would follow him. As we stepped off, I could hear the girls’ excited voices fading as they followed Seanmhair across the cobbled yard to the house to the left of the main house.
The man, who was what I would learn was called a butler, led us down a short hallway to an elegantly carved paneled oak door. He rapped once on the door, then opened it and stood aside so that Seanair and I could enter, Ainslie silently following me, then he softly closed the door behind us.
The room was paneled in dark figured wood. Bookshelves covered one wall and a desk and chair sat near a large bay window. Two men were seated in upholstered chairs next to only the second Kachelofen that I had ever seen, with glasses of what looked like whisky in their hands.
They were obviously father and son and their resemblance to Seanair meant that they were almost certainly his father and brother.
“So you have returned,” growled the older man. “Perhaps you might care to explain to your bràthair and I what had you haring off in the middle of the night without even so much as a word to us.”
Seanair replied, “I received a message from Clan Chief Alistair that Sorcha had been murdered in River City and that her son was wounded. Dorrie insisted that we set off immediately to go and retrieve the boy, so I took my motor carriages and a half dozen armsmen and went to get him.”
The men’s gaze shifted to me.
“This is the boy, then,” the older man asked.
“Yes, Athair. Sàmhach, this is my Athair, Fergus McKerr, the sixth of that name and my elder bràthair, Fergus the seventh. Athair, this is my garbhach, Sàmhach MacSorcha.”
“Sàmhach, the silent?” Fergus VII asked.
“Yes,” Seanair replied. “Sorcha named him ‘silent’ because he was born mute. He has no vocal cords, so no way to produce sounds. He uses the deaf sign language to communicate. His man Ainslie here knows sign language so he acts as Sàmhach’s voice.”
“So, you are our newest McKerr,” said Fergus VI. “Aren’t you glad to learn that you have all of this wealth and comfort to look forward to.”
I was both puzzled and angered by his remark. Ainslie spoke for me as I signed, ‘My name is Sàmhach MacSorcha, not McKerr. My mother sacrificed all of this wealth and comfort to give birth to me and worked hard to raise me. I will not dishonor her memory by changing my name. And I care nothing for your wealth.”
For the first time since we entered the room, his manner softened.
“There is fire in you, boy,” he said with approval. “ That is good. That you choose to honor your mother by keeping her name is even better. Welcome home.”
He turned to Seanair and asked, “Where is Dorrie?”
“She has taken Sàmhach’s girls next door to get them settled in our house.”
“Sàmhach’s girls?” Fergus VII asked.