Chapter 24: Redemption
Uncas strode slowly through the ever changing forest, quietly admiring Mother Nature's gift of color as the first hints of autumn began seeping its way into the once vibrant green leaves. Their tips appeared as though they had been lightly dipped in red, yellow and orange war paint. A somewhat hysterical smile crossed his lips at the irony of his thoughts, feeling like these many weeks passed as though he and his siblings were engaged in a silent war against their father. A war that was made increasingly worse by their sister's sudden and rather rapid decline in recent days. Only yesterday he came upon Nathaniel and Pru in the river sitting side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Both with their long, wavy locks cascading down their back and with their heads tilted up towards the sky. He had silently watched as Nathaniel reached over, gripping her hand in his as a silent stream of tears flowed from the corner of her eyes. Pru was sinking now and quickly. Uncas's smile faded at the memory. Pru was sinking now and quickly. Everything from her physical self, with the blueish black circles that darkened her eyes to her sorrowful whimpering in the middle of the night. She falling deeper and deeper into a black pool of misery and both he and Nathaniel felt powerless to stop it. Uncas sighed heavily and focused his attention in front of him.
He pushed past a few low hanging tree branches as he made his way through the overgrown brush to where he had tracked them to the cliff. Slow and quiet Uncas edged his way forward until he saw them sitting at the base of the cliff's stoney wall. Pru was laid out on her right side, legs curled up against her body and with her head resting in Nathaniel's lap, sound asleep. Nathaniel sat methodically rubbing her hair with his right hand while his left laid along her stomach. Uncas furrowed his brows, thinking it a strange position for his siblings to be sitting in, but as he took in Nathaniel's forlorn expression and the way he gently drew his thumb across her belly, the understanding of what was really happening finally struck him. His mouth fell open and quietly he crossed towards them. He knew Nathaniel was looking at him, but he could not draw his eyes away from Pru. He dropped into a crouch in front of her sleeping form and placed his hand beside his brother's atop her belly. He shifted his eyes towards Nathaniel's. A silent understanding passing between them. Then slowly he gazed upon Pru's belly. Inside their sister grew a baby. A beautiful baby created in the purest form of love. Truly a special gift from the Great Spirit. Uncas swiveled his head towards his brother. Their eyes meeting again in discontent. Both reading the other's mind. Uncas watched as Nathaniel slowly shook his head back and forth. Anger flickering brightly behind his cerulean blue eyes and said, "Enough is enough."
"Enough is enough," Uncas quietly concurred and dropped into a cross legged positions beside Pru's curled up legs. "Enough is enough…"
Nathaniel and Uncas helped to lower an exhausted Pru onto one of the logs placed around the communal pot of food as Uncas could not remember the last time he saw her eat. And while he would not have forced her before, everything was different now and he vowed to take excellent care of her until she was safely back in Martin's arms. Slowly, he withdrew his arms from around her back and quickly strode over to the steaming pot of corn mush, scooping several heaps into a bowl before making his way back to his siblings. He plopped down next to Pru and passed her the bowl. Pru smiled wanly at him and instead of grabbing the bowl, gently patted his right cheek.
"I couldn't eat now even if I wanted to. My stomach is too tight," Pru said as she gently pushed the bowl back towards Uncas.
"Please ntuxkweyëm. At least try. If you try and can't I won't force you but please try. I know you haven't eaten in awhile," Uncas implored her. "Martin would want you to eat."
Pru sighed. Uncas had played exactly the right angle to get her to eat and so lowered her hand from Uncas's cheek and cupped the bowl.
Nathaniel squeezed her left hand, having forgotten that he was still holding it and gently released it so she would be able to utilize both her hands while she ate. Then both brothers watched as she slowly began scooping out small finger fulls of corn mush and depositing them into her mouth. Nathaniel nodded his head, satisfied that Uncas had gotten her to eat and began scanning the village. His eyes darted this way and and that until finally they paused when they fell upon their father. Nathaniel sucked in a deep breath and watched as Chingachgook weaved his way through a cluster of wigwams. This was it, he thought.This was his moment.
"Nathaniel?" Uncas questioned, as he followed his brother's eyes to where their father had disappeared amongst the villagers.
Nathaniel shifted his eyes back towards his brother. "Yes," he plainly stated in answer to Uncas's unspoken question. Yes. It was time to put an end to this madness once and for all.
"Natty?" Pru spoke, seeing an all too familiar twinkle in her brother's eye.
"Hmm?" Nathaniel murmured and dropped into a crouch in front of her. "Stay with Uncas and keep eating. I'll be back in just a moment. I've got to see about something real quick."
Pru narrowed her eyes at him, but as she was too tired to inquire any further merely said, "Alright." And nestled herself in against Uncas's side as she continued to take one small bite after another.
Nathaniel rose to his feet, nodded his head in Uncas's direction then quickly turned on his heels, vanishing into a small crowd of Delaware people.
Chingachgook sat cross legged, his body slightly hunched forward, stoking the small fire that was nestled in the center of their wigwam. All alone, as he so often was these days and with only the soft crackle of splitting embers to keep him company. He had always known times of quiet, of solitude as the well trained warrior inside of him understood their value. Though this was like nothing he had ever experienced before. The weeks following Martin's forced departure from the village had been long and stagnant. Though above all, they had been silent. Hours seeping into days and days seeping into weeks, with nothing but the ever growing eeriness of the still air around him. It had been ages since he last heard his daughter's voice address him. Let alone looked into her brilliant blue eyes. She had neither glanced his way nor spoken to him since the day they left the farm and his sons had quickly followed suit. Uncas first, with his disappointed eyes and quiet looks of disgust. Then Nathaniel, who he knew, tried hard to understand. His eldest son, who had stayed up into the wee hours of the night practically begging for answers to what he could not possibly comprehend. He was losing them, all of them and for what? What was this life they were all living? What was this life he was fighting to preserve? He had become a ghost to his children. Just as Kima was, only he was still alive.
As the thought flooded his mind, Chingachgook could no longer keep his frustrations at bay and began forcibly smacking at the small fire with the long knobby stick in his hand. Tiny orange and red flickers burst into the air, illuminating their wigwam in a twinkling blaze of heat and light.
"Whoa! What the…," Nathaniel immediately gasped as he stepped past the wigwam's buckskin flap and into the center of their home. "What are you doing?"
Chingachgook quickly paused his actions, surrendering the stick into the blaze and began stomping out any remaining fiery embers into the dirt that made up their floor. "Are you alright Nathaniel? Did you get burned?"
"What? No," Nathaniel brusquely stated as he took a precarious step back from the chaos. He had never seen his father so spastic. The way he stomped wildly around the wigwam putting out rouge embers, as though he was performing an old tribal dance. It was unsettling to say the least. Though the chaotic site is not enough to deter him from his chosen course. Nathaniel blinked his eyes rapidly, bringing his mind back into focus and said in an angry rush, "This is enough father."
Chingachgook stilled himself, Nathaniel's forceful tone only slightly taking him by surprise as he raised his eyes to his sons'.
Nathaniel paused as he briefly held his father's silent stare before continuing, "I'm finished watching my little sister wander around this village like a ghost. Not eating or sleeping. Caught up in some wicked game that you are playing with her. A game that's ripping her apart. That's ripping our family apart. A game made all the worse because it was played under the guise of love!" Nathaniel's eyes blazed as his rage continued to bubble up to the surface and suddenly he felt the need to move, to shift his body this way and that in wild circles around the wigwam. Though not trusting himself to do so, for fear of his father's reaction, kept his feet firmly planted into the soft earth where he stood. "Did you even notice that she's been sick? That's she's lost weight and is wafting away into the wind like the browned leaves of autumn. She's suffering." He swung his right arm out in the direction of the wigwam flap and continued, "Right now Uncas is sitting with her, practically force feeding her. Because if he doesn't, she will certainly die. Just as the child inside her will!" He spat out at him.
Chingachgook felt as though he had been clubbed in the face. His mouth fell slightly agape and his eyes widened as his son's words echoed in his head. Pru was pregnant. Pregnant with Martin's child. All these many months that had passed, she carried inside his child and immediately he hung his head in shame. His mind swirled as the realization settled in around him. When he first announced that they were leaving to when Martin had come pledging his love for her, to now as she wandered aimlessly around the village, she had been with child. He had single handedly deprived them of sharing those first precious moments together. The joy of the baby's discovery. The rush of that first flutter inside her womb. The whispered 'I love you's' and gentle caresses that said everything was going to be alright. He had unknowingly taken that away from her, from them and it crushed him. Chingachgook hung his head even lower than before and ran both his hands across his face, trying to wipe those moments in time away from his mind. What have I done? He thought.
Nathaniel took in his father's reaction and sensing his remorse, switched tactics. "It's not too late father. It's not too late to make this right." He crossed over to Chingachgook, gripping his shoulder with his palm and squeezing it reassuringly. "She loves you. We all love you. Please father… relent."
Chingachgook dropped his wet palms away from his face and tilted his head slightly back, staring through the glaze of tears that coated his eyes into his son's bright blue eyes. It had to be Nathaniel. His bold, outspoken son. Only Nathaniel could have breached the father son relationship and had the courage to yell in his face and bring clarity to heart. Perhaps it is because he the oldest or simply because the fire inside him burns bright. Though in this particular moment, Chingachgook believed that it was for the sheer love of his younger siblings and the hope that their family would be united again. He reached up, resting his palm atop Nathaniel's shoulder and pulled him into his embrace. "Thank you son," Chingachgook whispered into his ear. "Thank you."
Nathaniel held tightly to his father's back, thankful that their conversation had ended this way and not in a screaming match or worse. And while neither of them was prone to prolonged endearments, not Chingachgook nor Nathaniel found themselves able to let go. A testament to just how hard the past few months had been on each of them.
Several long moments passed before father and son reluctantly broke away from one another and Chingachgook finally spoke, "Where are they son?"
"Eating by the communal pot."
Chingachgook nodded his head and after squeezing Nathaniel's shoulder once more, began making his way out of the wigwam.
"I can't Uncas. I can't eat anymore," Pru said as she lightly shoved the half eaten bowl of corn mush back into Uncas's palms. Her stomach churned at the taste. It's soft growl threatening as she could feel the slow rise of bile creep its way back up her throat.
"Please?" Uncas begged, "Just a bit more."
Pru smiled softly up at him, then without answering leaned her body into his and rested her head on his shoulder. She pinched her eyes tightly shut and tried to focus on anything so that she might not vomit right here in the middle of the village and plain sight for everyone to see. Uncas sighed, not wanting to push her to do what she didn't think she was able and wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He placed the bowl to his right, balancing it on the log they shared and rubbed his hand along her forehead. He peered down at her, seeing her eyes pinched tightly shut and her teeth biting down hard on her lower lip. His heart ached for her. Then just as he was going to speak, Uncas was interrupted as their father abruptly fell to his knees before them.
Chingachgook had lowered himself to his knees in front of his two younger children, starling them both in the process as both of their backs went straight as an arrow. He gazed up at them, the weariness in their eyes making his heart sink into his feet. How could he have let this happen? Caused a state in his children where they were weary of him. He shook his head back and forth and reached up, gently gripping Pru's palms that lay nestled in her lap and softly began, "Pru…tell me daughter...how are you feeling?"
Pru gasped at not just the physical contact but at his words as well. She shifted her eyes behind him to where Nathaniel stood holding no apology whatsoever in his eyes. She watched as he took another step forward and placed his left palm on their father's shoulder. A simple act meant to encourage both of his siblings to soften their steely demeanors and give their father the chance he so desperately wanted to make amends for all the wrong he has done. Pru nodded subtly at her brother and gazed into her father's dark, lonesome eyes as she gently weaved her finger in between his own. "I'm sick…always it seems," her voice barely above a whisper.
Chingachgook mustered a small sympathetic smile as he remembered the way that Kima had suffered repeatedly with the early stages of pregnancy and said, "I know just what will help with that. I can show you. But before I do…," he paused and released one of Pru's palms from his own. Then reached across the empty space and gripped tightly to one of Uncas's hands. Chingachgook gazed into his younger son's hopeful eyes and sighed. Uncas had matured so much in these past few months. His once chubby cheeks had thinned considerably. Showing off his mother's high cheekbones and with it the shape of his face appeared less like a boy and more like a man. A sudden pain ricocheted inside his chest as the full impact of his choices hit him harder than a tomahawk. He looked up into his children's eyes, shifting slowly between them and said, "I am sorry. It was wrong of me to force you all back here. It was wrong of me to take Pru away from Martin. Especially since, while I may have chosen to ignore it, I knew the depth and longevity of his devotion." His eyes fell upon Pru and he continued, "He has loved you since he was a young boy. His love growing more and more with each visit to the farm. I do not believe that anyone in this world will love you the way he does. And because of it, you both have created the truest type of beauty in this world with your child." He squeezed Pru's hand tightly and watched her tears spill out at his words. He brought her palm to his lips, lightly kissing them. Then shifted his eyes towards Uncas. "I blinded myself to you son and your transition from a boy to a man. I left you alone at a time when a son truly needs his father. All because I didn't want to see the look of judgement in his eyes." He pinched his eyes shut for a moment, fights back his own desires to cry and swiveled his head to peer over his shoulder at Nathaniel. "Not only did I force you back to a place that holds so much heartache but then forced you to swallow down that heartbreak so that you could attend to your younger siblings in my stead." Chingachgook released Pru's hand and reached back, pulling on Nathaniel's arm and bringing him to sit beside Pru on the log. "Please my children, please forgive me." And he lowered his forehead onto Pru's knees.
Pru lifted a shaky palm, placing it gently atop her fathers head. She could feel his body sag into hers at her touch and immediately she slid off the log and into his arms. The pads of her fingers pressing into his neck and back as she buried her face in his shoulder. "I love you Nooch," she whispered into his ear between sobs.
Chingachgook gripped tighter to his daughter, tears streaming down his cheeks as her words became like a soothing balm upon his soul. And before he knew what was happening, Nathaniel and Uncas had both slid from the log and wrapped their arms around them. "I'm so sorry. I am going to mend this. All of this."
"I know father," Uncas whispered into his cheek, his forehead pressed into the side of his father's face. The feel of Chingachgook's silky hair tickling his skin and sending a wave of comfort through his body.
Nathaniel stretched his arms around the backs of his family and tilted his head up towards the sky. The bright yellow sun showering them with warmth. His lips curled into a soft smile. Finally, he thought. Finally we are one again.
Then, as if hearing his inner thoughts, Chingachgook turned his head towards Nathaniel. Forehead creased and eyes filled with understanding. "Thank you son…thank you."
Nathaniel's face softened even more and he rested his head against his father's shoulder. Happy for the first time in months.
"It's right here," Chaska said as he pushed through the thick greenery that led to a small clearing, almost completely obscured by several low hanging branches.
Nathaniel closed his eyes as soon as they approached, knowing all too well where they were. He ducked under the branches, slowly making his way over to the center. Until his feet would move no further. He sucked in a sharp breath and fell to his knees when he saw it. In the center of the clearing laid a small white stone about two feet wide, smoothed to the touch with crude writing etched along the top. Tanda. Nathaniel leaned forward and reached out with a shaky hand, gently running his fingertips along each individual letter. "You did this?" Nathaniel questioned as he swiveled his head around towards Chaska.
Chaska squatted down beside him, gliding his palms atop the wildflowers that grew sporadically around the smooth grey stone. "I found her in the snow. Laying peacefully as if she was sleeping. I brought her here. Even before I had myself stitched up." Chaska stared into Nathaniel's eyes. "I knew you had no choice. I knew you would not have left her there if you had had any other choice. And so I did what I knew you would have wanted. I buried her myself."
Involuntary tears began streaming down Nathaniel's cheeks and he made no attempt to hide them. "Thank you Chaska. For taking care of her and for waiting…until I was ready," he murmured. His eyes finally shifting back towards the stone. "Can I have a few minutes alone with her?" His usually confident voice cracking slightly. Chaska reached out and gently squeezed his friend's shoulder, nodded his head and climbed silently to his feet before disappearing into the brush.
Nathaniel waited until the soft rustle of the underbrush had settled, indicating that Chaska was well away from him and slowly lowered his forehead to the smooth grey stone. The cool feel of the rock radiated up into his hot cheek and sent a sudden chill shooting down his back. The icy sensation reminding him of the day he lost her. Then before he knew what was happening, his once drippy tears began falling steadily from his eyes. A helpless stream of water sliding down his cheeks and depositing themselves in an eruption of tiny splashes upon the earth below him. "I am sorry I didn't save you. My beautiful Tanda. If only I had seen it coming. If only I knew what was about to happen. I would have taken that shot for you. I would have happily gone to my own demise so that this world could keep you in it." Nathaniel gripped tighter to the stone, curling his body further around it as he sobbed. "I miss you. Not a day passes that I don't think of you. I want to hold you again. To kiss you. To make love to you. I want you back…I want you back so badly. I love you Tanda….so much it hurts."
He sucked in a steadying breath through his nose, slowly releasing it through parted lips and calmly rolled onto his back beside the stone. His head carefully pillowed by the surrounding flowers, he lifted his eyes up. Though there was no blue sky to be sought, only an interwoven display of brown and green as the lush greenery stayed true to its name and continued to act as a blanket of sorts. One that concealed and protected anything and everything from sight. It was the perfect place to have laid her to rest. It was their place. He nestled his back into the earth, one hand resting on his heart and the other gently caressing her name upon the stone and quietly remembered. Every touch, every laugh, every moment. Quietly remembering all of it.
After leaving Nathaniel to his privacy, Chaska walked directly towards the stream. To where he was fairly certain Pru was. He tried not to, tried to steer clear of it, but he could not. He needed to see her. To speak to her, especially since he knew that tomorrow before the sun would even rise, she would be gone again from his life and now he had no idea of when or if she would ever return.
Chaska continued to weave his way through the forest until the soft sound of water caressing rocks flooded his ears. He could see her in the water, knee deep running handfuls of water up and down her exposed skin that peaked out from beneath the maroon travel shirt she often wore. Her hair was wet, tied up in two braids that wrapped around the top of her head. She looked like a young girl, the young girl had met many moon ago, though he knew perfectly well that she was no longer that. When Nathaniel told him that she was carrying Martin's child, he had felt all the blood drain from his face. His stomach churned and for the first time in his life he felt unsteady on his feet. While he had accepted that she had chosen Martin, there was a finality to it all now that she was with child. A complete understanding that things would never be different and the pain of that was acute.
"Chaska?" Pru questioned as she saw him peering over at her from the rocky shoreline.
The sound of his name knocking him slightly from his reverie as he crossed into the stream and over towards her.
"Did you leave Nathaniel at The Blanket?" Pru asked as he approached her.
"He needed some time alone with her," Chaska softly answered, his dark eyes lingering on the small bump around her belly. "You are leaving tomorrow?" He asked, finally sifting his eyes upward.
Pru followed Chaska's eyes away from her stomach. She knew this was hard for him and so deliberately had asked Nathaniel to deliver the news of her baby to him. Thinking it would be less difficult to hear it from him. Though the way he was looking at her now, suggested otherwise. "We are," she softly said as she rose to her feet. Martin's old linen shirt too big to show off her slightly rounded belly and she was thankful for it. The last thing she desired was to see even more pain in her dear friend's eyes.
Then suddenly, and before Chaska even realized what he was doing, he had extended his hand out and lightly dragged his fingertips across her stomach. He felt her body stiffen beneath his touch and immediately dropped his arm beside him. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I just…I just had to feel it for myself," he stammered out.
Pru cocked her head to the side, watching as his eyes fell to the stream below them. She could not imagine how difficult this must be for him. Them returning, his encounter with Martin in the forest, and now this. The baby. Quickly she reached out and encircled his wrist with her fingers, "I love you now just as I loved you then." Her eyes fell upon their joined hands and she continued, "You will always be my most trusted and dearest friend. And you will always be welcome at my home. You know that don't you? That you will always be welcome…," she trailed off. Her eyes gazing up intently into his own.
Chaska twisted his wrist in palm and squeezed her soft skin reassuringly with his fingers. "I know Pru. I know."
The masked sorrow in his eyes made Pru's heart ache and she stepped towards him. Their clasped hands rubbing against her slightly curved belly before she moved them aside and wrapped both of her arms around his neck.
Chaska wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her shoulder, painfully happy for the physical contact. Then murmured against her skin, "I am always here. In the light and in the darkness. Always."
Pru sucked in a deep breath, nearly on the brink of tears at his heart felt remark and tightened her slender arms around his neck. She turned her head up towards him and placed a soft kiss upon his cheek. "I love you my dearest friend."
Chaska buried his face in her hair, unable in that moment to meet her eyes. It was at this moment that he accepted his fate. Pru would leave and become the wife of another. She would leave and have that man's child. He would remain here, with his people and culture. And while this stark reality would sting even the strongest of men's hearts, Chaska held no resentment towards her. No hate. No anger. Because he loved her. He squeezed her tighter to his chest, leaning down and whispered into her ear, "I love you too…always."
Pru stopped short just beyond the tree line that crossed into the glade. Her breath hitched in her throat and a sudden surge of adrenaline began scorching its way through her body. She could see him. Martin was just beside the cabin swinging his ax high up over his head and bringing it down in a swift discontented smack against the wood he was chopping. She giggled softly to herself, knowing full well that his aggressive chopping was something he often did when he was frustrated. Though no longer. She was feet away from rushing into the glade and wrapping her arms tightly around him. Moments away from kissing him and telling him of their baby that grew in her womb. Seconds away from sharing the rest of her life with him. She lifted her foot to step forward, but was stayed in place when she felt a gentle squeeze of her palm. Her father's rough, calloused fingers rubbing against her skin. She turned towards him. Their eyes met. With the wound between them mended, they needed no words in that moment for the other to understand their thoughts. Chingachgook twirled her palm in his hand and brought it to his lips, gently kissing her soft knuckles. "Now go my daughter."
Pru's smile beamed widely across her face. Her bright blue eyes twinkling beneath the sun's golden rays as she looked back at her father. He had done it. He had kept his word and brought her back to the man she loved and the father of her unborn child, despite her knowing how difficult it was for him. She laced her fingers with his and reassuringly pressed her fingertips into his rough skin. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Silently speaking through only the different hues of their eyes. Muted words of love and hope lingering between them. Until finally, Pru lightly nodded her head and turned slowly on her heels, before sprinting wildly into the glade. "MARTIN!"
Author's Note: First of all, my deepest apologies for how long it has taken me to put out this chapter. I was sick for a bit and then...well...life happens. Thank you to everyone who Pm'd me, checking to make sure all was well. I truly appreciate it!
Chingachgook has finally seen the errors of his ways and how those errors have affected each of his children. And of course, it had to be Nathaniel to bring it all painfully to his attention. What he has taken from Pru and Martin. How Uncas has changed in the blink of an eye and he all but ignored it because he couldn't face the judgement in his son's eyes. And the heartache he forced upon Nathaniel that he was not quite ready to deal with. I can assure you that Chingachgook is determined to be the best father he can. Though even the best parents still manage to make mistakes! There are still some conversations between Chingachgook and his children to be had and I promise you will get to read them.
I thought it important to address Tanda and Nathaniel's heartbreak being back after her death. And it seemed fitted that Chaska would be the one to care for Tanda in Nathaniel's absence. He truly is the best of men. Though there is still a bit more to be had in Nathaniel's story, which you will see very soon.
I am rounding the bend of Pru, Martin and Chingachgook's storyline and will soon be onto our dear sweet Uncas. Only a few more loose ends to tie up!
Ntuxkweyëm translate into sister in Lenape.
Thank you to everyone who viewed/reviewed. A special thanks to AsterLaurel, ELY72, BlueSaffire, BrynnaRaven, MohawkWoman, Evermore22, Hazel222. Your friendship and encouragement means the world to me.
Thanks for reading ;)
