Free Love Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan by Melanie Dobson

site of the old fort, in the center of the island.” Henry clicked his tongue and the horses moved forward, out of the barn. “The fort burned down a long time ago.”
    “That sounds like the perfect location.”
    “Step!” Henry commanded as he directed the horses left, lumbering farther up the hill. Then he glanced over his shoulder again. “I don’t think I’ve ever driven up to Fort Holmes at night.”
    “It’s a grand adventure for both of us, then.”
    “Indeed.”
    The minutes passed slowly as Chase’s heart beat faster. When his assistant had given him the satchel, he’d told Chase about the incredible power of this invention, but Chase needed someplace dark to test it. Someplace remote. Tonight he would finally see if it was as grand as Richard proclaimed.
    Chase leaned back on the seat. “I thought Fort Mackinac was the only fort on the island.”
    “It’s the only active fort now.” Henry paused. “Fort Holmes was active for just a few years. Run by the British.”
    “The British?”
    Henry glanced back at him. “You haven’t heard the story of the British taking over our little island?”
    Chase shook his head.
    They turned right at the top of the hill, the hotel lights fading away behind the trees as Henry began to tell the story. “Heads of fur traders used to come here to trade, back in the last century. Whoever controlled our island was master of the Great Lakes…at least the upper portion. Both sides wanted Mackinac when we fought with the British again in 1812.”
    Chase couldn’t see much around them, with the light from the carriage lantern fading into the darkness, but he could smell the scent of lilac bushes mixed with the odor of the horses harnessed in front of them. “We must have won the island.”
    “Eventually, but it took awhile. When President Madison first declared the second war on the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, no one bothered to tell the commanding officer at Fort Mackinac that we were at war again. Unfortunately for us, the British telegraphed their men over on St. Joseph Island, and they rustled together an army of natives and voyagers to fight with them. The new army rowed right over to Mackinac, and the soldiers here were in so much shock that the British took control of the fort without so much as a gunshot.”
    “No one was hurt?” Chase asked.
    “Not that time around. The Americans surrendered, and the British built a blockhouse and stockade at a higher point on the island to protect the larger fort and called it Fort George. Legend has it that it burned down twice on their watch.” Henry sniffed. “Seems to me, someone was trying to tell them something.”
    Chase leaned forward. “How long did the British occupy the island?”
    “For three years. An American army invaded the island in 1814 in an attempt to take it back, but they were sorely defeated. When the Americans finally got the island back, they renamed the fort for Major Holmes since he was killed in that battle. There isn’t much left up there anymore.”
    Perfect. All Chase needed was solitude, darkness, and a cloudless sky.
    Henry stopped the carriage by a hillside. “You’ll have to climb from here.”
    Chase grabbed the satchel and hopped out of the carriage. “How far up?”
    “A couple hundred feet, if you stay on the path.” The driver handed him one of the lanterns. “Don’t rush for my sake. I’ll enjoy the night and maybe even take a little nap while you’re gone.”
    Chase took the lantern and clutched the satchel in his other hand. The hike was a strenuous but quiet climb through the forest, far from the chaos of the dog races and hotel music. Chase breathed a bit harder with every step up the steep hill, but he didn’t stop. He’d come to the island to test out this new invention, and he wouldn’t return to the hotel until he had tried it.
    Trees circled the site of the old fort, and he climbed a small hill where the blockade probably stood at one time. A