Hello again all! Thank you all for the amazing response to my last chapter; I'm so glad that so many people are enjoying this story. We have finally arrived to the point where both stories will start intersecting and I'm excited to share what lies ahead. Enjoy! As always, notes/translations are at the bottom.

Chapter 7-Mohicans Trade/News of War

Ethan breathed hard, his heart pounding as he tried to block against the stick that Anen:taks was using against him in place of a tomahawk. He tried to duck but he wasn't fast enough and Anen:taks pressed his stick against his throat. "A:re. Again." Anen:taks said, giving him an encouraging look before turning around. "Ona:to! Ka:ts." Ona:to, part of Ben and Ethan's friend group and a member of the Turtle Clan, stopped practicing with Ben and jogged over to where Anen:taks had been working with Ethan. Anen:taks gestured to Ethan. "Practice with him a bit. You're one of the best with a tomahawk in your age group." Grinning at the praise, Ona:to got into an offensive position with his stick while Ethan prepared his defensive stance. "Spread your feet apart more, Tekariho:ken. It will give you more balance." Anen:taks told him as he stepped back to watch him and Ona:to spar.

'This is harder than it looks.' Ethan thought. That morning, Anen:taks had come by the house and asked if he could take Ethan with him for some hand-to-hand combat practice. Ongewasgone and Tsiron:iare had both readily agreed, and Ethan was excited at the thought of finally learning how to use the tomahawk he'd received at the adoption ceremony a few weeks ago. But Anen:taks had told him he wouldn't need it right now. "You have to start with the basics first. Later, you will learn to use it." Ethan had felt disappointed when he had been handed a stick. But the other boys his age who were practicing their skills with them used them too so it was alright. At least at first. The other boys already knew how to block and attack with swift speed, and were in excellent shape. They had barely broken a sweat even though it had been well over an hour since they had started practicing. Ethan was drenched in sweat and his shirt stuck to his skin. Most of the boys-Palatine and Mohawk alike-were shirtless but Ethan didn't feel comfortable doing that yet.

Out of the corner of his eye, Anen:taks gave the signal to start and they began. Ona:to moved quickly to attack; Ethan had barely blocked his first move before a second one came. By the third one he was feeling exhausted. 'I have to keep going.' Suddenly, the stick went flying out of his hand and he fell on his backside. Blinking, he looked up to see Ona:to standing over him, grinning albeit in a friendly way, before extending a hand to help pull him to his feet. "That was good for your first time." He told him before moving off to let Anen:taks take his place. He held out a water flask towards Ethan which he took and drank from gratefully. "Keep at it, kia:se. You will get there." Ethan nodded but couldn't help feeling small compared to the others. They were so much more advanced in their combat skills. He had never done anything like this before.

"Come on." Anen:taks took the flask back from him when he was done. "Why don't you change your shirt and then come keep watch with me at the entrance?"

Ethan shifted his feet, trying to stretch his muscles from having stood as still as he could for nearly an hour. Both Anen:taks and Ongewasgone had been trying to teach him the importance of staying as still as he possibly could for a long period of time. It was something that Mohawk children usually mastered at an early age but Ethan wasn't used to it yet. It didn't seem natural to him. Beside him, Anen:taks gave him a sympathetic smile. "Don't tense up so much. Let your muscles relax while keeping them still. Often, when we are hunting or tracking, you might have to stay still for a long time. But if your muscles aren't relaxed, you won't be able to move when you need to very well." He reminded him. Ethan nodded. Ongewasgone had told him the same thing.

He scanned the area surrounding the palisade and the Palatine settlement to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. His eyes settled on the Mohawk River. There didn't appear to be, but he also knew he wouldn't likely be able to tell yet if there was. 'Unless it was something big or loud.' Ethan thought. He had never thought about these things before he and Olivia had arrived in Canajoharie. They had never been a part of his life before. His classes at Boston Latin had taken up most of his time and he had never been expected to do much physical labor. It had been expected that he would follow in his own father's footsteps and oversee their business interests. Of course, that had all changed when they had been forced to move to the frontier but there hadn't been enough time to learn much before the Abenaki had attacked. Now it was clear to him that he was nowhere near the skill levels of the boys his age in almost anything they did. It took him so long to complete a task that took the others only a short time to finish. So far no one seemed impatient with him but to Ethan's surprise, he was with himself. He still tried to ignore those feelings but not as much as he had before.

"Tekariho:ken!" Anen:taks was waving a hand in front of his eyes. Ethan blinked, realizing he had been lost in his thoughts again. He looked sheepishly at Anen:taks. Anen:taks gave him a firm look. "You cannot let yourself get lost in thought like that, kia:se, especially when we are on watch. Others' lives depend on us to stay focused." "Sewakatathrewahton." Ethan said, embarrassed. He seemed to be saying that a lot lately to people. Anen:taks nodded, accepting Ethan's apology. "We have visitors. Friends of our family." He pointed to the rough dirt road that led from the palisade down through the Palatine settlement. Two men were approaching the palisade, leading a palomino mare. One of them lifted his arm in salute and called out to Anen:taks who answered them with his own salute before gesturing to Ethan to follow him down to meet them. "Who are they?" Ethan asked as they started down the road. "Chingachgook and his son, Hawkeye also known as Nathaniel. They are Mohicans." Anen:taks answered. As they made they got closer, Ethan got a better look at the two men and stopped in his tracks. 'Could it be?' He blinked and looked closer. He was almost certain of what one of the Mohcians was when the younger of the two men looked straight at him with his green eyes. "She:kon, Chingachgook. Hawkeye. Welcome again to Canajoharie." Anen:taks said as he extended his forearm, clasping both mens' in turn. "It's good see you again, Anen:taks." The older one, Chingachgook responded with a warm smile. "Passing on your skills, I see." Hawkeye spoke up as he turned to look at Ethan. Anen:taks nodded, motioning for Ethan to come closer. "This is Tekariho:ken, also called Ethan, the new son of my uncle and aunt and my new cousin." Anen:taks made the introduction as both Mohican men glanced at each other with surprised expressions. Ethan didn't know how exactly he should greet them. Since they weren't Mohawks, he wasn't sure if any of the greetings he had learned would be appropriate. "Hello, Tekariho:ken." Chingachgook greeted him while Hawkeye gave him a friendly smile and a nod. "Hello, sirs." Ethan responded, not sure what else to say. Both of the Mohican men chuckled at that. "No need for that. Sirs, that is." Hawkeye said with a slightly raised eyebrow and a sardonic smile. Ethan felt that familiar feeling of embarrassment creep back but before he could say anything else there was a shout of welcome from Ongewasgone who was making his way back from hunting with several of the Bear Clan men. "Welcome, my friends." He said to the Mohican men when he reached them. "You have met my son, Tekariho:ken, I see." Ongewasgone placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder with pride as he said this, noting that the boy did not shy away from his touch. A warm glow filled him as it did every time Ethan showed some sign of acceptance of his new life. "We have." Chingachgook reached out and clasped his forearm. "Blessings on your family, my friend." Ongewasgone returned the gesture. "There is plenty of room for you in our new home. Tsiron:iare and our daughter, Otsi'tsa'ko:wa will be glad to see you as well." He said as they turned to make their way towards the palisade. "A daughter, too? Your family has grown since we saw you last." Hawkeye commented. As they made their way back up to the road, Anen:taks and Ethan followed behind the three men. Ethan looked questioningly at Anen:taks. "Is he…?" He gestured towards Hawkeye. Anen:taks nodded. "Yes, he was born English like you and adopted." Ethan took that information in as they re-entered the palisade. It was his first time seeing another English adoptee. He wondered if his story was anything like his and Olivia's.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Tsiron:iare." Chingachgook said as she and Olivia began to clear the dishes from the table after supper. Tsiron:iare smiled her acceptance, and she and Olivia left the room. Ongewasgone dropped a hand on her head briefly in affection as she passed, and both Chingachgook and Hawkeye gave her warm smiles when she smiled shyly at them. They were kind men, like their adoptive parents. Slowly, he was becoming more comfortable with thinking of Ongewasgone and Tsiron:iare as their parents. It still was a little awkward, and he had yet to call either of them father or mother, but it was a start.

But he couldn't help but feel awkward again as he realized that he was the only boy at the table. That was usually the case anyway, but they didn't always have visitors like they did now. Ongewasgone caught his eye and gave him a small smile, nodding towards the door. "You may go if you'd like, riien'a." Gratefully, Ethan slipped out of the room. He couldn't help but look behind him as he did so, glad that Hawkeye wasn't facing him. He wished he could talk to him, find out more about him and his life as an adopted Mohican. But he didn't think it was proper to try and get an adult to engage in a private conversation with him, especially someone he had just met.

Wondering what he should do now, Ethan noticed the stick that he had been practicing with earlier that day laying near the stairs. Maybe he could practice with it for a bit by himself. Grabbing it, he went out the back door of the house where he could hopefully have some privacy as he tried some of the combat moves he had been shown that day.

"I'm going to check on Okera, Nooch." Nathaniel stood up and left the dining room. He could tell that Ongewasgone was hoping to talk to Chingachgook alone at some point. "Probably about the newest members of their family.' Nathaniel thought. Both he and his father had been surprised but happy to see that Ongewasgone and Tsiron:iare had become parents since their last visit to Canajoharie. They had longed for children of their own and finally had what they had waited for for so many years. Out of earshot of both the children, Ongewasgone had told them about how it had happened. Both of them had been touched by the compassion displayed by their friend, and Nathaniel couldn't help but draw comparisons between his own adoption and that of the Webster children. There were differences-age and the way their birth families had passed on being key ones-but there were also similarities. It was clear that Tekariho:ken thought so or at least wondered about it. Nathaniel smirked to himself as he remembered how Tekariho:ken had kept staring at him when he thought that he wasn't looking. It was obvious that the boy wanted to talk to him but didn't know what to say. Well, he could help him out with that.

After making sure that Okera had grain and water for the night, he headed back to the house. He heard footsteps from the rear of the house and followed the sound. Terkariho:ken was behind the house, straining as he tried to practice fighting with a tomahawk by using a stick. He hadn't noticed that Nathaniel was standing behind him. 'Needs to work on his observation skills.' Nathaniel thought, as he crossed his arms and continued to watch him. The boy's movements were awkward and stiff, and he was using up too much of his strength when trying an offensive move. Nathaniel had watched enough. "Relax your arms, you don't need to try and strike so hard." Tekariho:ken jumped, dropping his stick, and turned around to look at him. His blue eyes were wide with surprise. Nathaniel walked over him and picked up the stick, motioning to him. "Like this." He moved into an offensive position and made a light but quick blow with the stick. "You need speed, it does not take much pressure to cut with a tomahawk or a knife. Save your strength for grappling, Tekariho:ken." He said, using his Mohawk name out of respect for his family and his new identity as a Mohawk. Reaching over to the boy, he took his arm and placed the stick back into Terkariho:ken's hand. After guiding him through the motions, he stepped back. "Now try it by yourself." This time as he watched, the boy's movements were much better. He still had much to learn but it was a start. "Better." He said, giving the boy a small grin and a clap on his shoulder. Tekariho:ken nodded, "Thank you, sir." "Remember, there's no need for that. My name is Hawkeye, or Nathaniel, if you prefer." The boy flushed. "I'm sorry, si-I mean, Hawkeye." He stumbled again over his words. Nathaniel chuckled, waving away the apology. "Don't worry about it. I expect your life is full of trying to remember new things right now." He made his last statement into a sort of question, sensing that Terkariho:ken might respond more to it.

"Yes." Ethan admitted, looking with honest curiosity at Hawkeye before dropping his gaze. It wasn't polite to stare, something that seemed the same in both English and Mohawk cultures. He felt Hawkeye's hand clap his shoulder again. "Need to talk about it?" Ethan nodded, relieved that the Mohican man was willing to talk to him. Hawkeye walked over to the side of the house, and dropped down beside it and Ethan did the same. "What do you need to talk about, Terkariho:ken?" Ethan hesitated, looking over at Hawkeye. Although it was clear that he had English heritage like him and Olivia, Hawkeye appeared in every other way to be fully Indian or Mohican. He and his father were dressed similarly in the same kind of clothes, and wore their hair much the same. They had the same tattoos on their forearms as well. Even their gestures and the way they moved was similar. All during dinner, when Ethan had been trying to look at their guests without being seen, he hadn't been able to stop wondering if someday people would think the same things about him and Ongewasgone someday. He didn't know what to think or how to feel about that.

"Just ask the first thing that comes to mind." Hawkeye encouraged him. "How did you come to be adopted?" Ethan asked finally. "My father knew my English family for years and they were friends. My family got yellow fever when I was only one or two years old and Chingachgook buried them. I wasn't among them so he looked for me and found me with two French trappers. He adopted me and raised me as his own, a son of the Mohican people." Ethan felt disappointed when he heard Hawkeye had been so young when was adopted. 'Of course he fits in, he's never known any other kind of life.' He thought. 'He doesn't know what it's like to have it ripped away from you.'

Nathaniel saw the boy's look and guessed what he was thinking. "That doesn't mean I haven't wondered about it sometimes. Especially when I was around your age. I wondered about what my ma and pa would have been like or what it would've been like to grow up with my sisters. My father told me about them and I know some things but I can't ever know what living with them would've been like. You do." Terkariho:ken nodded, a sad look coming over his face.

"You will have a good life here, both you and your sister." Hawkeye said, going on. "I've known your parents for many years; they have been my father's friends for longer than I can remember." Ethan looked down when Hawkeye said that. It was so strange to hear people refer to Ongewasgone and Tsiron:iare as his parents, even though he knew that's what they were in the eyes of their Mohawk and extended Iroquois community. But to him, his parents were still Father and Mother. Suddenly, despair ran through him again and his old anger rushed in. "I don't know if I want to be Mohawk! I was born English, raised to be English. My family used to be well-to-do in Boston, we shouldn't have been on the frontier at all. I wasn't raised to be this." He gestured at his clothes, tears coming to his eyes despite him trying to keep them back. Nathaniel said nothing, but his eyes narrowed the slightest bit at him. The boy needed to work on his respect as much as he needed to work on his combat skills. At the same time though he had a right to his feelings, and he was at the age where they reared their head in all kinds of ways. 'How Father handled ours is beyond me.' Nathaniel thought ruefully, wondering what he was in for when Juliet reached that age. Tekariho:ken turned his head away from him, and then looked back at him, seemingly surprised that he was still there. A shuddery breath came from him.

"I don't want to be an outcast. I know what other English people will think when they see me and Olivia like this. They'll point and laugh, call us names. They won't understand." He looked desperately at Hawkeye, who nodded at him. "Don't worry about them understanding. My father often told me growing up that with people like that you should not try to understand them and not to bother trying to make them understand you. They are a breed apart and make no sense." He bumped his arm with his fist lightly. "You won't be able to control how they see you but you can control how you react to it. Remember that you are not an outcast here, with your adoptive family and people. You are a valued part of a community." It would take time for the wisdom in his words to soak in, but Nathaniel knew Tekariho:ken would think them over much like he had at his age.

"But I still didn't think I'd ever live like this." He said finally, feeling overwhelmed. Nathaniel reached out and put a hand on his shoulder briefly. "That's to be expected. Life doesn't go the way we think it will, no matter how much we think it will. But we have to go forward and make a new life." He paused for a moment before continuing. "My father had another son, my younger brother, Uncas. He was the only remaining blood son of the Turtle Clan of the Mohican people. He was killed just over a year ago and I miss him every day." Terkariho:ken looked shocked and then sad. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine losing Olivia even though…" Ethan hesitated, wondering if he should go on. Hawkeye nodded at him, raising his eyebrows. "I thought I might on the trail with the Abenaki after our parents and Father's cousins were killed. She made a lot of noise and wasn't very fast." "It's never easy facing death and change together, whether it's you or someone you love." Hawkeye said. "No matter how old you are." They sat in silence for several moments.

"Thank you for letting me talk." Tekariho:ken finally said. Nathaniel smiled. "You're welcome." He nodded towards where they had been practicing earlier. "Would you like to learn some more? There's a bit of daylight left." Tekariho:ken agreed and followed him over to begin practicing again.

"It's a wonderful thing that you've done, my friend." Chingachgook said, as he sipped his tankard of apple cider that Tsiron:iare had offered to both of them as they lingered at the table. Ongewasgone drank from his own tankard before thanking his friend. The apple cider was both tart and sweet, and a welcome respite. While he like other elders in Canajoharie was concerned about the overindulgence of some of their youth in the strong beer brewed by the Palatines, he didn't see anything wrong with drinking with caution.

"It is a gift, having children of our own. But it hasn't been easy." He looked at his old friend, knowing that of all people, he would most likely be the one to understand his concerns and offer advice to him. Chingachgook waited patiently for him to continue. "The boy you see now is not the same boy he was only a few weeks ago. It's different with his sister. She's so young that adapting to our family and culture is much easier for her. But with Ethan…" He shook his head slightly and took another drink before continuing. "There were many times before they were formally adopted where I wondered if we were doing the right thing. I know Tsiron:iare had the same thoughts. It was, of course, her choice to adopt them in the end. But with our son's unhappiness with the decision and the way he fought over the smallest of changes such as his clothes, I wondered if I shouldn't have simply brought them to our English father's headquarters in Albany. They had no living relatives, but they would have been among the English again at least. Even now, I wonder about it sometimes, if that would have been the better decision for their sakes and not our own."

Chingachgook's eyes were empathetic. "I had similar thoughts with Hawkeye when he became my son. He had no blood family left anymore either, as far as I knew, but there would have been other English families who would have taken him in." He paused for a moment before continuing with something that he had never shared with anyone before. "I came very close to it shortly after I had found him. I had already made plans to adopt him, but I stayed with an English family shortly afterwards. They were good people, respectful and hospitable like his birth family had been, and they were kind to both of us. They would've taken him in without question if I had asked. It would've made sense. They were English, he was English. But I loved him too much to offer him up." He looked Ongewasgone straight in the eye. "Later, I wondered if I had been wrong. If I had put myself before his needs. Ultimately, I realized I hadn't because there are no simple answers for these circumstances. But all children need love, and that I could provide wholeheartedly. It was no different than the love I had for Uncas. It filled me, proving to me that I would do anything I could to provide for him. You and Tsiron:iare have that same love. You haven't taken anything from your children, only given them more."

Ongewasgone sat back, taking in Chingachgook's words. Finally, he nodded slowly and gave him a grateful smile. "Nia:wen, my friend." Chingachgook smiled in return. There would be challenges ahead, both of them knew that, and Ongewasgone would turn to his friend again for his practical advice but for now it was enough.

"Do you have a good store of powder and shot for the winter?" Ongewasgone asked after a while, changing the subject. "We do. Do you have reason to think we will need more than usual this year?" With Ongewasgone's position as a mediator and liaison between the Mohawk and the English, Chingachgook knew that he would have current news of the war. "Possibly. There were victories this year at Duquesne and Louisbourg but the English were defeated at Carillon. The unrest on both sides is great. With fall and winter coming, it's possible that there could be raids." Ongewasgone and Chingachgook both knew that there was always the possibility for raids or surprise attacks no matter what the time of year it was. Late spring and summer may have been the main campaign season for the French and the English, but smaller engagements and raids were known to occur in the fall and winter. Both men also knew that they wouldn't talk about it in this way unless the threat was high. "Our cabin is able to be defended well, and it is located away from any settlements." Chingachgook said as he thought it over. "We should be out of the way of any planned raids. We are Mohicans and have not made a formal stance in this war." "That would not be enough to protect you against a Wabanaki or French war party." Ongewasgone remembered the news that the Oneida had brought at the council meeting the previous winter of the Palatine settlers at the German Flatts. "Our Palatine brethren at the German Flatts had their town burned and a number of their people killed or taken prisoner last fall. This was despite their neutral stance and the Oneida plea on their behalf to the French." Chingachgook nodded, knowing that Ongewasgone was right. "If it becomes necessary, I will bring my family here where there is strength in the numbers of our friends." He said. Ongewasgone agreed. "We will pray it's not needed." He said. "Now, tell me, how was the trapping near you this past year, and the hunting…" The men moved on to other topics, relieved to put the topic of war behind them for the present.

A:re: Again

Ona:to: Water Snake

Ka:ts: Come here

Kia:se: cousin

Sewakatathrewahton: I'm sorry

She:kon: Friendly Greeting

riien'a: my son

Nia:wen: thank you

So FAWH and BTW have collided at last and we have a hint of what the action will be going forward. I hope no one is too disappointed that the whole family wasn't there to meet the two newest members of Ongewasgone and Tsiron:care's family (they will soon enough); I just saw their first meeting happening with only Chingachgook and Nathaniel there. I felt that it was important for that to happen for two main reasons. The first one being is that I wanted to see how Nathaniel and Ethan would react to each other since in a lot of ways Ethan looks at Nathaniel and sees what he will become someday. I thought it was likely that they would have a mentoring relationship of sorts and this is just the start of it. The other reason is that I thought Ongewasgone needed to "phone a friend" as it were and have the chance to pick the brain of one of his friends who has done what he is doing (bringing up a non-native child in a native culture) already. It's interesting to see them interact in a true "peer to peer" situation and it gives them a chance to be more honest/vulnerable in a way.

As you can probably tell, the action is going to be related to the war (known variously as the French/Indian War, Seven Years' War & War of the Conquest). The early years of the war, which was actually the third "main" war between the French and the English for control of much of the North American continent, were largely dominated by victories for the French. The Siege of Fort William Henry in 1757 (as seen in LOTM) was one of those French victories. Beginning in 1758, however, the English began to dominate in the war, with one key loss being the Battle of Carillon in July 1758. As stated in this chapter, the main campaign season was in the summer but it wasn't unusual for smaller skirmishes and raids to take place during other months of the year including the fall and winter. The German Flatts was a real settlement by the Palatines that was sadly the site of a large raid in November of 1757 by the French and their Wabanaki allies (the Wabanaki Confederacy were the principal native allies of the French and comprised the Abenaki, Mi'kmaq, Algonquin, Lenape, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Shawnee and Huron tribes). The Palatines attempted without success to remain neutral with the French and were supported by the Iroquois in this, with the Oneida sending a message the Marquis de Vaudreuil (Governor-General of French Canada) asking that the Palatines be left in peace due to the fact that the Oneida considered them to be part of their nation due to a high level of intermarriage and cultural exchange. After the raid, both the Oneida and the Tuscaroras helped shelter the surviving Palatines and provide help with burials.

It may be a while until I post the next chapter of this story (we will see) but I want to focus on getting FAWH wrapped up and this story will have pieces added on to it with the sequel. Stay tuned!