Free Crown of Serpents by Michael Karpovage

gathered around as the soldiers explained the various attributes of their uniform.
    “I remember years ago an incredible display of relics on the top floor of that fortress,” said Jake, pointing. “Is it no longer up there?”
    Hibbard’s jaw tightened. “It’s completely empty now. The public was stealing our pieces. It was despicable. Priceless silverware, even a Brown Bess British musket like that soldier is holding.” She motioned to the weapon as the re-enactor explained to a tourist the significance of the royal blue regimental lacing on the front of his coat. “An original Brown Bess was valued at over sixty thousand dollars. We only use replicas now. The originals are in a vault. We didn’t have the proper security measures or the personnel to monitor the displays. Let alone pay for it all.”
    “I’m sorry,” replied Jake.
    Hibbard nodded. Leading him on, she elaborated that with her successful financial background in fundraising she was appointed by the association’s board and given emergency authority to save the site by any means possible. She was authorized to sell current relics in their museum and even freshly unearthed items of value. She was not happy about giving up any of the fort’s property, but as she said, she wasn’t hired to make friends. Instead, her role was to save the fort.
    Her biggest loss to date was the selling of the enormous oversized American flag that flew over the fort during the War of 1812. The association had purchased the flag from a private collector a few years back for over nine hundred thousand dollars. Although she sold it off for a profit, she took no pride in the act. She had no choice.
    Just in front of the French Castle, Hibbard stopped and showed Jake the rectangular excavation dig site where the SUNY Buffalo archaeology team had unearthed the Boyd Box, as she dubbed it. She explained that this was the foundation of an old soldier’s barracks used by Seneca Indian warriors during the brutal winter of 1779-1780. The box was hidden in the stone wall behind a large boulder. Obviously forgotten. Perhaps the original owner had died, she speculated, as many did that winter.
    Upon discovery she personally took possession of the box and conducted a quick overview of the contents determining she could fetch a considerable amount of money on the market. She admitted that she had not had time to read the journal contents in its entirety. Unsure of the true value of the items, she decided to send out an exclusive RFA to determine its worth.
    She told Jake that the Military History Institute’s appointment was the first one of only two that day with six major organizations competing in all. She divulged to him that the parties included two Ivy-League universities and three wealthy personal collectors. She had chosen MHI because her late husband had served with Director Paul Jacobson during the Korean War. She then asked him to follow her into the main castle. Jake took off his beret upon entering.
    She explained the castle’s history as they entered. The castle, the oldest building in the eastern interior of North America, was the lone permanent structure of the original strategic promontory at the outlet of the river into Lake Ontario. Built in 1726 by the French to resemble a large trading post — to calm the hostile Iroquois fears — the stone structure was in fact an imposing citadel capable of resisting enemy assault. She said it sat three floors tall with an attic level that provided defensive positions for muskets and light cannons through its machicolated or overhanging dormers. Hibbard led Jake into the main vestibule and up a set of worn wooden stairs to the second floor.
    On the second floor Hibbard paused. “In 1759 the fort was taken over by the British after the French and Indian War and used during the fur trade. It was held throughout the Revolutionary War and used as a base for the British and their Iroquois Indian allies to raid the New York and