"What did Grandpa Thomas do for you to remember him so well?" Mary asked, her little head titled to the side.
Adé knelt to her level and smiled.
"It was your grandfather that first told me about the Assassins. He told me how it felt to be free and how it felt to hold power like the Assassins do. And it's a feeling I've never been without since."
She was too beautiful to be human. She had to be a spirit, with a voice of song bird that shared her soul. Antinanco wondered if she could fly. Perhaps, if she jumped, wings would appear and she would join the birds in flight.
He had to see her again. It had to be magic, she must have bewitching powers as he was so entranced by her.
The forest was quiet and he rarely travelled this far on a hunting trip, so he took each step with caution, as anyone would on unmarked ground. He knew Anne had left that day with her family and had made their way to the Davenport Homestead, on foot as suggested by the tracks. Antinanco kept to the trees, following the sound of chatter as he neared the congregation of Assassins. He hardly ever ventured this far out as these men often unnerved him. Trained killers were not the best people to be around while hunting on their land. But, if Anne was among them, then perhaps they were safer than they looked.
After discovering her father and Adé were Assassins, Mary immediately told her sister. And Anne, being Anne, wanted to confirm this and to find out what her father was, once and for all.
They woke up early the following morning, dressed themselves and waited by the door. Soon, their father made to leave for the Davenport Homestead, only to find his daughters demanding to join him. With little support from his wife, he gave in and the family arrived at the home to Achilles Davenport, the Colonial Mentor. With brief introductions out of the way, the mischievous Shay took a shine to the girls.
"Now, who is the bravest to take me on?" Shay laughed, passing over wooden practice swords that the girls were delighted to receive.
"I am! I am!" Both girls waved their swords about as the Irishman stroked his chin and pretended to ponder this decision.
"I'd say... Mary! You look the bravest."
Mary stuck her tongue out at her sister as Anne rolled her eyes and sagged.
"Anne, why don't you find Kesegowaase." Shay suggested as she nodded and left them.
Tossing the wooden sword to the side, among other various weaponry, Anne stepped into the forest. Kesegowaase was another native, like the boy she'd met, Antinanco, however, not from the same tribe. But she didn't know this.
"Do you know a boy called Antinanco?" She called up to Kesegowaase who sat perched on the branches above her.
"I do not know that name." He shook his head.
"Oh. He looks like you, I thought-"
At this, Kesegowaase chuckled.
"Not every boy or man of a similar race is automatically related, Anne. The boy is not from my village. I am from the Wolastoqiyik tribe, in Canada."
"That's further north, isn't it?"
"Yes, child, it is. Where did you say this boy came from?"
"Deep in the woods by Lexington. I don't know the name."
"Ah, that must be Kanatahséton, a Kanien'kehá:ka village." He nodded to himself.
"I'll never remember those names." She giggled and Kesegowaase smiled.
"Come up here. I'll teach you about my tribe and show you how to climb."
With a grin, she nodded and bounded up to a climbable series of rocks. She managed to scramble to the top where a long log was the only way of reaching Kesegowaase sitting in the tree on the other side.
"Could you start telling my the story now?" Anne asked, anxiously looking down from her height.
"Of course." He said and cleared his throat. "When I was younger, we lived in a protected village and everyone helped everyone else. I knew how to fish, how to hunt so even as a boy I could help my people. Then, the French army came. We were trained to be mercenaries for them. When I was sixteen, I was fighting for the French and that was when I met Achilles and Liam. They invited me to join the Assassins and I accepted."
Anne continued to pace the rocks, tentatively stepping forward, then withdrawing her foot again.
"Are you nervous?" Kesegowaase called out, noting that his story had not distracted her enough from the problem she faced. "Are you afraid of falling?"
"Yes. What do I do?"
"What do you usually do when you are nervous?"
"I sing."
"Then sing."
Anne closed her eyes and searched for a song. She recalled one that she'd often heard on board the ship to America, where a large Scottish woman had sung it regularly. While it annoyed many of the crew, as it appeared to be the only song she knew, Anne didn't mind.
"My bonny lies over the ocean,
My bonny lies over the sea,
My bonny lies over the ocean,
So bring back my bonny to me."
"Now, deep breath and hold out your arms for balance." Kesegowaase encouraged.
"Bring back,
Bring back,
Oh, bring back my bonny,
To me, to me,
Bring back,
Bring back,
Oh, bring back my bonny to me."
Before she knew it, she was over on the other side.
"There you are," he smiled. "It appears this little song bird can fly."
Anne grinned, looking back at the way she had come. She held onto the branches of the tree and sat down beside Kesegowaase. She opened her mouth to talk but his hand suddenly rose, signalling for her to be silent. He frowned, peering into the cluster of branches before them.
"Stay here." He told her, before jumping into the next tree, almost as light as a feather, as he searched for whatever it was he was looking for.
With a sigh, Anne waited. She swung her legs and started whistling.
"Hello."
Anne screamed at the voice beside her ear and fell back, nothing but air rushing to greet her. A hand shot out and snatched the front of her shirt. In short, panicked breaths, Anne looked up. The boy, Antinanco, gripped her tight as she hung perilously over the forest ground, her legs still hooked over the branch. Slowly and cautiously, he pulled her towards him so that she was sitting again.
"Are you alright?" He asked, concern lined on his face.
"I would have been if you hadn't scared me like that!" She grumbled, still recovering from the shock.
"I am sorry." He bowed his head.
"It's fine." She sighed. "At least you saved me from falling. Thank you."
Antinanco smiled.
"That's twice you've saved me now." She grinned.
"I hope it does not become a habit." He grinned back.
Suddenly, Antinanco froze. He motioned for her to keep quiet as he started to climb down the tree. Once he was down, he beckoned her to follow. With one eye closed, she did so, hugging the tree as though her life depended on it. Antinanco helped her down the last few feet before he bent down, crouching, drawing his bow from his back. He silently made his way across the forest floor, motioning Anne to do the same. She followed his stare and gasped as she watched a strange, furry mammal busy itself around a tree, sniffing it, analysing it. It had a large, flat tail, prominent teeth for gnawing-
Anne squealed as the arrow shot through the beaver, the creature instantly stilling.
"What did you do?!" She cried, eyes wide as she stepped away from the boy.
"What do you think?" He said simply, approaching the beaver.
Anne stood still, watching as Antinanco bent down and drew a knife. He muttered words, inaudible to her, before slicing the blade into the creature. She turned away, afraid she was going to throw up as he cut away the skin, collecting the meat in one pack and rolling up the pelt in another.
"What was that you said?" She asked, glancing to the discarded bones and entrails left on the bloodied ground.
"It was a prayer." He told her as he stood, wiping the knife on a cloth. "I thanked the spirits for bringing this creature here and returned it."
At her blank expression, he continued.
"Everything happens for a reason. That animal was sent here so I could bring it back home to my family to eat and to trade. Sometimes we forget that. So a prayer tells the spirits we have not forgotten that they are there, looking out for us."
Anne nodded, slowly. She understood. She had never heard of these 'spirits' before. Back home, she would go to church and learn about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but not this plural 'spirits'. But the same message was taught here as it was back home. Everything happens for a reason.
"Look, follow me."
The boy waved a hand and crept further into the forest. As the stepped through the dense foliage, Anne's heart began to beat faster, terrified as she recognised the kind of path they walked.
"We should turn back." She whispered, shaking his arm as they crouched behind a bush, close by a cave. One very much similar to the one that Anne had explored with her sister, only to discover the unwelcoming inhabitants.
Antinanco smiled and shook his head.
"Watch." He told her and pointed ahead as the lumbering form stepped out into the light.
Anne squeaked but the bear didn't hear her. The two spectators were safe, hiding down wind from the creature. It sniffed the air, content that nothing was about, it turned its head back to the cave and gave a guttural growl.
At the noise, two brown, round, balls of fur returned the growl and followed their mother outside. One cub batted at the other, returning the assault with a swipe of its own. With a playful snarl, they engaged in battle, the mother bear watching on, amused.
"So, you see," Antinanco whispered, signalling to the family, "that bear attacked you for a reason. She, just like this one here, could have thought you were after her children."
Anne nodded, a smile creeping onto her lips as she watched the bear play fight. The two cubs turned on their mother snapping and gently biting at her legs to which she merely grumbled at, turning her head to give them a warning glance.
"Yes." Anne agreed. "If that mother bear didn't attack me, I wouldn't have been rescued by you. If I hadn't gone into that cave, I never would had met you." She turned, smiling at the boy. "Indeed, everything happens for a reason."