Fort William Henry, July 1757
Colonel Munro is sitting in his desk with the envelope in his hands. He knows he should open it but he has an idea about what he is going to read.
He is aware his older daughter Cora is enraged with him because what he has done to Alice, so he is afraid about the contents of her letter. Alice was his youngest daughter, his "little princess", and he loved her deeply, but he doesn't regret his decision. She has dishonoured him and the whole family. By god, a Colonel Munro's daughter pregnant out of married and by a soldier from a lower class! Probably the whole England already knows about the scandal. Even here, at Fort William Henry, rumours have extended between the soldiers and the settlers. He doesn't give a thought about where she could be now, from now on he only has a daughter. Full of rage, he opens the envelope and starts reading the letter:
Dear Papa,
I want you to know that my opinion about what you have done to Alice, your other daughter, has not changed at all. I'm sure that if you continue like this, you will regret it at some point. Anyway, I want to tell you something and ask you for a favour.
As soon as Alice left home, she took a boat to America. Yes, little Alice who was always so timid and afraid about everything, took a boat alone only to find her child's father. And she did it, but she told me something terrible in her last letter. That bastard didn't want to take care of her and the baby and he humiliated her with terrible words. With nowhere to go she find a job as a servant in a house but the owners only let her stay until the baby is born. In fact, that should have already happened by the time you receive this letter.
Please papa, you have to let her stay at the Fort, she can work as a cook or a laundress. But she and the baby need a roof over their heads and protection against the war. You can't leave them in the street. They are your family, even though you denied it.
As you know, I will travel there in September and I hope when I arrive at the Fort I find them there.
Yours faithfully,
Cora.
Colonel Munro sighs overwhelmed about what he's just read and the decision he has to take. At the bottom of the letter, Cora has written the address of the house where Alice is working. He won't change his opinion about Alice and she will never be his daughter again, however, imagining her living in the streets like a beggar is too painful for him. After all, it wouldn't be right denying the stay in the fort to a helpless young woman and her baby. Yes, he will let her work here but nothing more. She will be a common frontier woman.
Forest around George Road, September 1757
Uncas walks through the vegetation paying attention at his surroundings. It's better to be cautious when you are in the middle of a war. He admires the beauty of the forest and the quietness that invades it. If only the Europeans were able to see these kind of beauty instead of destroying it. This is his home and the foreigners have no right to come here, claiming the land and killing innocent women and children to get their purpose.
Fortunately, his family didn't join the militia though most of their white friends did it. He is worried about them but more about the Camerons. They are such a nice people that the only thought of them so helpless in their modest cabin makes him feel terrible. He would have stay there protecting them but he has to go to Can-tuc-kee.
He looks at his father and brother, walking ahead of him. They are eager for him to find a woman and settle with her, especially his father. He understands him at some extent because he doesn't want to see his blood dying and the only way to avoid that is when his only blood son gives him grandchildren. Right now he is the last one of the Mohican tribe. Doesn't matter how much his father loves Nathaniel, he is his adopted white son, not of his own blood.
But what about my opinion? He thinks sadly I don't want to marry any Delaware girl who I don't love. I want to wait until I find the right woman, someone who I love deeply and then we would marry and create a family together.
He is a quiet and shy man. Sometimes he feels overwhelmed with the Delaware girls' attentions towards him when he arrives at the village. He needs a quiet woman like him, who is willing to develop their relationship in a slow pace.
Deep in thought, he suddenly hears a noise between the trees. He looks at his father and brother who seem to have heard it too. Undoubtedly they are war cries!
They run towards the place and look among the trees. There is a big group of English soldiers fighting with Hurons. It's an ambush!
In fact, the Hurons are killing the last of the soldiers who seem unable to defend themselves from the attack. Suddenly, he sees a woman in a blue dress on the ground. One officer is in front of her ready to fight the enemies when they approach to them. He is trying to protect her but it's obvious it will be in vain. An English soldier alone can't beat a Huron party.
He looks at his family and they nod at the same time. They will help them.
Fort William Henry, two days later
Alice looks through the window of her small bedroom. It seems it's going to be a quiet night without attacks from the French. She wonders when Cora will arrive. She should have already be here.
Fortunately, her father let her stay in the fort, working as a cook. She can't imagine herself living out there, in the middle of a war, with her baby. Also, it's a privilege to have a room of her own in this place, even if it's a tiny one. At first she slept in a common room with other women, but her two months baby cried so much over the night, not letting the others to rest, that they sent them here.
She looks at little Tommy, sleeping peacefully in his small cradle. She called him Thomas as her grandfather, her mother's father. She would have liked it to call him Edmund, but she wasn't sure her father deserved it, after how he had treated them.
The baby usually sleep really bad at nights so it's a miracle he is already sound asleep. The life in the fort is quite hard. She spends most of the day working in the kitchen and sometimes she has to help in the laundry or the infirmary too. Sometimes, Mrs. McCann or other women take care of Tommy while she works, but other times, she has to take him to the kitchen and keep and eye on him while she cooks. Then, she spends the nights trying to make him sleep, what makes her feel exhausted the next morning.
But I will manage she thinks looking at her beautiful baby I promised you once that I will be a good mother and I'll keep that promise.
She peers through the window again and what she sees makes her feel anxious. Cora is entering the fort! But she doesn't come with English soldiers as it should be. Appart from Duncan, she is escorted by three indian men! One of them is older than the others, who seem young and athletic. Cora's dress is really dirty and her hair completely undone. Alice knows something have happened to Cora during the journey to be in this situation, but she seems alright and that's all that matters.
Alice would like to go to her righ now but she sees her father appear and embraces her sister worried. I have to wait, it's not the right moment. The sadness she's just felt watching her father embracing her sister, only a daughter who has been disowned by her father would understand it. Two months have passed since she arrived to the fort and her father didn't speak to her once.
Suddenly, Tommy wakes up, making baby noises in the cradle.
"What happened my love?" Alice says sofly, picking him in her arms "Are you hungry"?
She sits in the bed and slids down her gown to feed him with her milk.
"I've spent my whole life searching for my charming prince and finally he is in front of me. You are my little prince " she says, caressing his tiny cheek with a finger "Maybe when the war ends we can find a better place to live. I'm sure we'll be happy"
Finally Tommy has fallen sleep again and, after letting him with other servant, Alice is walking through the corridors searching for Cora. She surely has finished talking with their father and is eager to see her and meeting her nephew.
Lost in her thoughts, she suddenly slips and she would have fallen to the floor if a pair of strong arms hadn't grabbed her.
"Be careful miss. It's too dark here" says a deep voice. Alice looks up and her eyes meet deep ones. By a moment she feels so hypnotized by that pair of warm and dark eyes that she lost her ability to speak.
"Are you alright miss?" the stranger asks with his deep voice. Looking at him she suddenly repairs who he is. He's one of the indian me who escorted Cora, the youngest one.
She nods quickly. "I'm fine, thank you Sir". Unable to hide the blushing on her cheeks, she continues her walk, not looking at her back.
Uncas looks intently as the woman walks away. He's just felt something looking at her eyes, but he isn't sure what it is. She is really beautiful he thinks before following his father and brother, who are talking to Jack and other settlers friends. The conversation with Munro has angered him. How can a man, who considers himself honorable, be so selfish?
"Don't you know who is that girl?" Jack asks him.
"A servant of the fort" Uncas simply replies.
"She is Munro's youngest daughter" Jack informs making Uncas and his family look at him surprised.
"Are you kidding us Jack?" Nathaniel seems incredulous "Cora Munro didn't mention she had a sister"
"That's because she was disowned by the Colonel. It seems she got pregnant out of marriage in England, bringing the humiliation to her family" Jack explains "The baby's father came to America and she followed him but he denied he was his son"
"And why is she here?" Nathaniel asks.
"Apparently, her sister is the only member of her family who still cares for her, so she begged her father to let her work here" Then he adds "She is a very nice girl, though there are a few people in the fort who look down on her for being a single mother".
Uncas thinks about what he's just been told. Now he has more than one reason to dislike Colonel Munro. What kind of father disowns his own daughter? The poor girl only had bad luck of crossing paths with a miserable man who left her alone with a child. Surely, she is a nice girl... he thinks as he remembers the pretty blonde who was inches from him just moments ago.
Author's note: Thank you all of you for the reviews and support with this new story! I thought it was risky idea so I'm glad you are enjoying it.
I'm planning to develop Uncas and Alice's story during their stay in the fort, so instead of spending only one night there, it will be a couple of days. It means some of the events will be slightly changed, so I hope you don't mind. For example, the siege of the fort won't be the first night they arrive, as in the movie.
I'm really enjoying writing this story so I'll try to update as soon as possible:)