Ok, sorry it took me so long to come up with a new chapter; I have had a really busy summer. More to come, soon though, including flashbacks with Connor Macleod and George Washington.

We decided to get a couple hours of sleep each, then we set off towards Fort Johnston. By mid morning, we had arrived there.

"Wait Jack, are you absolutely CERTAIN that ALL of the men in your group were killed the other day?"

"Yep, I even counted up all the bodies"

"Well, Mr. 'ANTHONY STILES', I guess this is where we part," said Sue; I could already hear the disappointment in her voice. Then, she surprised me when she grabbed me, pulling me to her, and gave me a deep kiss on the lips. Then with a grin, she said "Now get goin, you old Koon!", giving me a smack on my butt.

So I did. I went in and went to see Colonel Mark Berryweather and handed him the letter that we had brought from General Miller, explaining how we had been ambushed, and that I was the only one who survived. (Fortunately, the letter hadn't mentioned that there had been 1,000 of us, so it was a lot easier to get away with) Still, he found it pretty impressive that I was the only survivor. Therefore, just a few days later, he made me part of a special group that they had just formed. The British in the area had been rallying together local Indians to help them with the war. It was our job to find out who and where those Indians were, then if possible, try to counter negotiate them and, if necessary engage them in battle.

Heh, THIS was when I REALLY needed Sue, if ever there was a time.

She was almost part Indian, herself. You see, her first teacher was an Indian and she really loved them; for this reason, I myself had really come to appreciate them, and the last thing I ever wanted was to be part of a team to try and exterminate them. He actually put me in charge of a small group of my own of about 100 men. We went Northeast, heading through villages and individual houses. We were no longer dressed in uniform, but rather, were meant to give off the impression of a large group of traveling hunters.

I split my own group into three groups of about 30. We went into an Inn and I went up to the Inn Keep.

"Good day, sir. Robert McCain. My friends and I have come here all the way from Georgia to do some hunting before it starts getting too cold. So, I was wondering where we can find some local Injuns, you know they make the best trackers; we really just need someone a little more familiar with the territory to get us started the first few days."

"Where have you boys been!? Haven't you heard, there's a big war going on! Not the best time to be up here hunting. And, Injuns'!? Are you people insane!? They hate white men, especially Americans, and especially right now. In fact, many of the local tribes have been banning together with the redcoats.

"What!?" I said, giving my best "totally shocked" look, "Well, I'll be a fish sandwich!". I turned around to my men, who tried to play along as best they could. "I didn't know about any war, did you guys?" They all shrugged their shoulders and tried to look confounded. I turned back to the Inn Keep. "Ya see sir, we have been out on hunting raids for over 6 seasons." (I had to admit to myself, it did seem a little lame, even at the time, but I it was all I had!-)

"We didn't even know about any war. And as far as Indians go-Ha! Sir, you're looking at the group that single handedly took down the legendary Mammoth Moose herd, up in Western Canada, so I don't think we'll have any trouble with a few Injuns. Then again, they sound like they could scare up some of the local game, and if that's the case, we may just have to go Injun hunting! Right men!?" I tried to sound excited at this point, now acting for both the Inn keep AND now my own men, since I REALLY didn't WANT to kill Any Indians. "So, if you could be so kind, this seems to bring us right back to my original question: Sir, where do you think we might could FIND some of these pesky Injuns around here?"

He let out a big, labored sigh. Well, it is Your funeral. Ok, I hear there is a rather large encampment of them about 20 miles south of here, but like I said, don't say I didn't warn you!"

"Looks like we camp outside, tonight." I gathered the rest of my entire group and we headed south, through the woods. We made camp about an hour after dark. Then, later on, while I went out to check the parameter, I felt the buzz; I walked a little further out from the rest of the camp, then tried to get the person to show there self.

"Alright, come out!" I said, drawing my sword. Then I heard someone walking out from the trees, and noticed it was Sue. She had what may be the most serious look I have seen on her face, even now.

"Sue, I-"I know, she broke in. "I had heard that some local men in the area were looking for Indians. Let me guess, you got stuck with the job of leading their little excursion?"

"Yeah," I said grimly. "Look, Sue, I don't know what to do; even if we manage to somehow prevent the Americans from trying to wipe out the local Indian population, they will still continue to attack our troops to try and help the British."

"Well, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it. For now, let's try and keep them from killing each other, the Americans and the Indians, I mean."

"But HOW, Sue!?"

"Well, you try to stall this little excursion, give me just one extra day, and meanwhile, I'll do my best to negotiate with the local Indians."

"Ok, I'll try. Good luck"

So, I managed to hold off the march on the Indians as best I could, but after stalling one whole day, my men began to get restless.

"Look, Sir," said Paul Williams, my second in command, "The men, and well, me too, are all beginning to get rather restless. You say we are waiting here, but what are we waiting for?"

I gave him the sternest look I could. "Look, didn't I tell you that you'd find out when the time came!"

"Yes sir, but…. Listen, if you we do something soon, I am afraid." He quickly lowered his voice, "I'm afraid the men are going to go on without you."

"Ok, look, here's what we'll do.."

Just at that moment, I was interrupted when an arrow went whizzing by my head and stuck in the tree. Next to me.

I took the arrow and pulled it out of the tree with ease; this act alone, coming from someone of my size, seemed to shock both the Indians and Americans. I didn't care; I walked right up to the one who seemed to be their leader and said.

"Hey pal, watch it! This could Hurt somebody! Do you realize how close this came to my face!"

However, as I got closer, his two friends pointed their spears at me.

"Hey now!" I said, but as I started to object, I noticed his other friends peeping out through the woods. My men also began advancing, but it was clear that we were greatly out numbered, and they were all wielding bows or guns. At that, I backed off a little. Then the leader spoke up.

"Anthony Stiles!!"

He surprised me not only with his English and tone of voice, but the very fact that he knew my name.

"We have a proposal for you!"

"Our spies have seen you and your men camped out here, and though chief Running Turtle wanted to wipe you out in the night, our Shaman, Tu Sik-Nut, advised us to do the black eagle trial."

I gave a concerned look, "what is this, black eagle trial?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We will send our best fighter up against your best man, one on one, in the old style. You win, we leave you and your Nation for the rest of the war, we win, you will all surrender to us and tell us where all of your American forts are in the area."

I thought about this for a moment, considering what it could mean for the war, for my men, for America.

"Ok, I will be the one."

I knew it was a dumb thing to do, but I just didn't want to see another war within this war, especially if you knew how much the Indians meant Sue.

I found out that part of this little Trial was also to have to use spears, which I wasn't very good at.

Then, just as we were about to begin fighting, I saw a woman in a beautiful formal dress come running up, screaming " Wait! No! You can't! Please don't fight!!"

It was Kentucky Sue! I must admit, she looked great all dressed up like that! But it was also hard to keep from laughing, simply because, in all the many years I had known her, I had never seen her dressed up before. She always wore leather pants, and an outfit that looked like Daniel Boone. But to see her like this, was almost too much. I was also wondering how in the heck she had managed to come this deep into the woods without tearing up all that silk and lace. I think the only thing that kept me from bursting out, was a death look she shot me, before going on with her act.

"No, no! You mustn't!" She then said something in Indian, which I understood a little form her teaching me. It was something like:

"Do not Do not! Please do not fight, these are my friends!"

"Sue!" I said, hoping the Indians didn't know her as something else.

"Yes, it's me, Susan!" She said, in an innocent sweet sounding voice, which again almost caused me to crack up. She gave me another look and then I continued.

"Susan, stay out of this! This is between the two of us! It is a battle of honor!"

We went on with our fight. I wasn't terrible, as I had picked up some skilled with staff weapons in Asia many years before, it just wasn't my favorite weapon to use. I thrust at my opponent, who lurched back and then poked at my face. We went on like this for several more minutes, neither of us gaining much headway, before "Susan" jumped in and managed to skillfully get herself stabbed by the Indian. I took advantage of the situation by disarming my opponent and pointing my spear tip at his face.

"Ok, back off!" I heard his people murmuring something about the man being a killer who needed to be punished. I looked up at them

"No! There's been enough death here today!" I said, turning my head back towards my own men, "You here that! Enough! No more killing today!" I turned back to the Indians. "Ok, it looks like we won the fight, which means you leave us and the British alone for the rest of the war. And as for this man," I said, indicating the man weeping before me,

"I think he is already punishing himself enough, don't you? Now, this was a dear friend of mine, so I want to go and bury her in my own way." I turned back towards my men.

"Mr. Williams?"

"Sir!"

"I want you to go back to fort Johnston, and tell them that we have solved the problem with the Indians, and they will give us no more trouble with the war."

"Yes Sir!"

With that, they turned and left, and as I picked up Sue's body and began carrying it away, the Indians soon did the same.

The wound had not been very severe, and so she revived fairly soon with a gasp.

I grinned down at her in my arms, and then looked back up.

"Good work, Susan."

With that, she smacked me on the cheek.

"Put me down!" Which I quickly did, all but dropping her.

"Jack Stiles, I swear, if you evr-"I won't ever bring it up, Sue, Hahahah!" I said, snickering, "But you do look beautiful like that."

Her face tensed even more at that, but soon loosened up and formed into a smile. In fact, I could almost swear at that point, that I saw her blushing.

"Awe, hush! You think so? Yeah well,.. Oh, shut up, Jack and go get my clothes for me wouldja!" She said, harsh, but with a grin on her pretty face.

"Alright then, where are they?" I asked, starting to get a little bit fed up with her little attitude.

"Go back to the town, then find a white house with a green roof, and blue windows, I think it is the only one in town that looks like that. Then, go behind it, and walk about 300 paces east. There, you'll see a gnarled old oak tree. My clothes and weapons are hidden in a thick growth of bushes right next to the tree."

"And you want me to walk all the way back there, by myself, huh?" I asked, sternly.

"Ah, come on Jack," she said, sarcastically batting those lovely eyelashes, "I don't even have my sword with me."

"Ah alright," I said, but she still wasn't getting off the hook That easily. "But, what if another Immortal comes for your head?"

"Ah, don't worry about it, babe, I got a tiny pistol of mine stored somewhere special, heheh."

"Ok, but just this once."

"Yeah, yeah, Jack, just get going."

So, I went to get her clothes. It was almost noon by the time I left, and I didn't return for another 5 hours. And it was no easy task hauling my bayonet, and sword AND her pistol, hand gun, rifle, and sword as well as her clothes.

When I got back, she was twittling with a stick.

"Took you long enough, Jack, y'-"

I dropped her clothes as soon as I got near her, and then walked over to her. I grabbed both her hands with my left one, pulling them up behind her, with my elbow pressing down on her upper back. Then I reached down and grabbed the bottom of her dress, pulling the end of it up to my left hand, exposing her nice round rump.

"Jack, what are you-YOUCH!"

"THIS! Is for all those CHEAPSHOTS! You've been GETTING! In LATELY!! Pay back's a BITCH!! Eh, SWEET CHEEKS!" "OK! JACK!! I'm SORRY! PLEASE! STOP!" By then, her butt was totally red and I stopped spanking. But as she began to stand up, I gave her a last little pinch on her sore butt.

"For good measure"

To which she let out a "yipe!" "I'm sorry, Jack, I'm sorry!" She said with a wincing grin.

I tossed her her clothes, but kept her weapons; I figured I'd at least turn my back while she changed, but after what I did, I didn't trust her with her weapons.

"Hahahah! It's just a shame he tore a hole in this dress though, would have loved to see you in it just one more time!"

I thought she was going to say or do something to me for that remark, but she remained quite. After a moment, though, she surprised me when, still naked, she grabbed me, pulling me to the ground, and kissing me on the lips. After a very long time, we withdrew from each other's lips.

"Come on, Jack, what do you say, NOW will you come with me and raise some trouble against the Brits like we did in the Revolution?"

I grinned at her, looking down into those beautiful, hazel eyes

"Well, heheh, Susan, I dunno, I think I'll have to sleep on it. Or on HER, as the case may be," with that, she began removing my shirt. I think you can imagine how the rest of it played out, heheh.

8

Like I said, more to come; not sure what I am going to do with Auto and Sue, just have to wait and see, so stay tuned!