A week ago

Magua sets aside the fur that acts as a door, ready to carry out his vengeance against Munro and his seed. He gave his men orders to take the girl to his wigwam and there she is. Her arms tied up on a post in the center of the place and silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

The Huron chief approaches her slowly. He doesn't want to hurry. It will be better if he takes his time. Without saying a word he takes his knife from his belt and cuts the ropes on her wrists. The terrified girl stays there, frozen in place.

"Well, we are finally alone together..." Magua says mischievously. "I must admit I got angry with that old chief when he gave you to me as a trophy...but I've been thinking that it won't be as bad as I thought. It will be funny to have a beauty like you at my mercy..."

At that point, the girl is trembling from head to toe and the Huron enjoys the vision. He thinks about what her father would feel if he saw her in that situation.

"Remove your dress" Magua orders seriously.

Alice can't believe what she is hearing. It's going to happen. He is going to rape me. After losing her father and Uncas, she can't think of a worst fate. Totally paralyzed because of the fear, she is unable to move until the Huron's voice startles her.

"I've said remove your dress, stupid girl!" Magua yells, exasperated. "I don't like to repeat things, so if you don't do it now, I will do it for you".

Realizing she doesn't have any other option and that he will get what he wants sooner or later, she starts unbuttoning her bodice with trembling fingers.

Magua smirks as he observes the girl removing her dress in front of him and sliding it to the ground.

Alice feels the chief's eyes over her body. Though she stills wears her long middle-sleeve shirt and corset, she feels like she is naked. It's the first time she is in so little clothes in front of a man.

Magua walks slowly and stands behind her. With a quick movement and the help of his knife he cuts the cords of her corset, instantly removing it from her body and throwing it away.

Alice can't help a sob at the feeling of a piece of her undergarments as important as her corset, being discarded in such a rude way. She thinks about her father and how he would suffer if he knew what is about to happen to her. And Uncas...his beloved Mohican warrior...the only man she would have liked to give him her virtue...What would he think if he knew she had been abused by another man? In the deep of her soul, she knows he would love her anyway, but now she will never know. Because he is dead like her father. And now the man who was responsible of both of their deaths is going to force himself upon her. In her eighteen years, he has never felt so helpless.

When Magua stands in front of her again, she is looking at the ground, totally ashamed of her vulnerable situation. Slowly, he slides the cloth of her shirt down of one of her shoulders, revealing her pale skin underneath. At that moment, she raises her head and Magua repairs on the terror reflected in her eyes. He has already seen it moments ago, but this time is different. This time it reaches the deep of his soul and the tiny spark of goodness that remains inside him.

There was a time when he was a good man. A man happily married with a wonderful woman and with children who adored him. But all of that was taken away from him in the most cruel way, condemning him to madness. Since then, he had not believed in goodness again. If white men were so cruel, why did he have to be kind? If they treated his people badly, he would treat them worse.

And now there he is, in front of his enemy's daughter. The man who killed his beloved family without mercy. And on the verge of finally finishing his long-awaited revenge, he finds he can't do it. Not this way. Not against a girl who is as innocent as his own wife and children were when someone ended with their lives. For a moment he thinks about releasing her. Waiting for the Mohicans to come to her rescue and let them take her away, safe and sound. They won't put up a fight if they realize that she has not been harmed in any way. He is about to apologize to her and tell her the truth about her Mohican lover, when something happens.

"Please, don't do it"she says, her voice barely a whisper. Tears roll down her cheeks and her eyes look directly at him with a pleading expression.

Those words... Magua's eyes fills with hate the second they came out from her mouth and that spark of goodness is replaced by the usual madness once again, as he remembers the last time he heard those words. His wife had pronounced them, right before Colonel Munro cut her neck in cold blood. Those words had not worked then. And they won't work now.

Throwing his knife away, Magua grabs her roughly by the arm and throws her on the furs that act as a bed.

Crying desperately, Alice watches in terror as the Huron lays on top of her. Please God, let this be quick...

Back to the present

It's been a while since Alice stopped fighting her new captor, allowing him to drag her whenever he wants to go. It's a vain effort to try to free herself from his grip and even if she managed to do it, she couldn't run far before he catches her again.

"Are you tired, Miss Munro? We can take a rest if you want".

Alice is surprised by his offer because over the time she spent traveling with the other indians, they had never allowed her to rest. She doesn't want to show her weakness but her body is so extremely tired that she feels she is going to collapse at any time if she keeps on walking.

She nods and they stop in a clearing. After sitting on the ground, that man offers her his canteen of water and she is forced to accept it because of her extreme thirst.

"Miss Munro, let me explain you…"the native says, sitting next to her. "Me and my family met you and your sister on George Road. You were heading to Fort William Henry, but your party were attacked by a group of Huron, the same tribe that held you captive until now. All soldiers were killed, except Major Heyward. My father, brother and me saved you and escorted you…"

"What are you talking about? she cuts her off, perplexed by all that nonsense. "Do you really think that I'm going to believe that a group of red men were able to kill an entire British party? My father's men are expert soldiers, used to walk this land, and I'm not so stupid to believe that they were slaughtered by a group of savages. Savages like you!". She spats the last words with repulsion in her voice. In fact, she had never thought all the red men were savages, she even was intrigued by them when she came to America, but after discovering she had been kidnapped by a group of them, she changed her mind about it. And her opinion about them was reaffirmed when she found herself been captive again of the one who is sitting next to her. She doesn't fear his reaction. In fact, since she woke up in that indian village, far from everything and everyone she knew, she has wished to be dead.

Extremely hurt by her words, Uncas can't help a spark of anger in his voice when he replied. "We are not savages, Miss Munro. Not all of us" he answers very serious, in a cold voice.

"Then, why do you kidnap a helpless woman like me? Why does your family hold my sister captive?" Alice asks, raising her voice.

Uncas is aware he has to be patient with Alice but the situation is overwhelming him and he is completely lost, trying to deal with it alone. "Your sister is not captive. She wants to stay with us because she loves my brother".

"What?" Alice can't believe what she is hearing. How can this man pretend that I believe my sister is in love with one of his kind? She had heard enough stories about the red men to know how they used to kidnap white women to force them to marry the warriors. Probably this was Cora's case. And hers too if that man manages to take her to his village. I'd prefer to die than to spend my life by his side. I want to marry Arthur and come back to England. I must escape and reach Fort William Henry to tell Father about all of this. He will be able to rescue Cora somehow. And what happened to Duncan? She is starting to believe the worst..."Cora would never love anyone of your kind. She is a respectable lady who was going to marry Major Heyward, an honorable British soldier. What have you done to him?"

Uncas can't take it anymore. He really doesn't know Alice. The sweet and kind girl that embraced him in that cave and shared with him a soft and timid kiss, now is accusing him and his family of kidnapping her and her sister and killing Major Heyward. He knows is because of her lack of memory and her complicated situation but the fact of her believing that he is no more than a brute savage is simply unbearable for him. He is used to that kind of prejudices from white people, but Alice was different… "Why are you acting like this? I'm only trying to help you, don't you see it? My family and I are not savages and you have no right to accuse us of kidnapping and killing people when the only thing we have been doing since we met you and your sister was protect you, despite all the danger we faced because of it!

Alice flinches, hearing him yelling at her and Uncas feels bad instantly. What happened to me? I shouldn't have yelled at her like that. The Alice I knew is still there inside her and she is only acting this way because she is completely lost. I'm so stupid…

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you" Uncas says sincerely. Not knowing how to keep on with the conversation and knowing she needs some time to herself, he adds. "I'm going to pick some berries to eat". Without saying anything else, he rises from the ground and goes to some bushes. It's now or never. Knowing she won't have many chances to escape from him, Alice gets up and sprints towards the trees. She is aware that surely he will catch her but she has to try it. Her father must know what happened to Cora and if she doesn't reach the fort, he will never know. Maybe I can hide among the trees.

Focused on the task of picking berries, Uncas still hears a movement behind him and when he turns around, he sees Alice running towards the trees. Throwing all the berries to the ground, he sprints behind her. It doesn't take him so much to catch her.

Feeling a strong arm grabbing her by the waist, preventing her from running away, Alice feels the frustration of all of her chances gone and she starts kicking and punching the man with all of her might. "Let me go! I won't be your prisoner!".

Uncas tries to stop her blows without hurting her and both of them fall to the ground in the struggle. He takes the chance to place himself on top of her, immobilizing her between his legs. "No! Someone help me please!" Alice screams, hitting him on his chest. "Alice, please…" Firm but gently at the same time, Uncas grabs both her wrists, blocking her arms on top of her head.

Alice freezes in terror, watching her in such a vulnerable position. Suddenly, a vision comes to her for some seconds and she feels a dejà vu…a man on top of her…As fast as it comes, the vision goes away but it doesn't make it less terrifying. I've been like this before…was it at the indian village or it was with this man and his family? She couldn't see the man's face on her vision but it was a red man… And what will happen to me now? Is he going to rape me? She can't help tears from running down her cheeks. "Don't hurt me, I beg you".

Uncas' heart breaks, hearing those words. He didn't mean to scare her. He only wanted to prevent her from running away on her own. It could be really dangerous for her to be alone and lost in the forest. And he didn't want for her to recover her memory only to discover he had abandoned her. And now she thinks I'm going to beat her or worse…maybe she thinks I'm going to rape her… He could never do anything like that to her or any other woman and the thought of her so scared because of it affects him in a way he can't describe.

"I could never hurt you Alice" He releases her wrists and gets up immediately. Alice stays lying on the ground, still catching her breath.

Uncas is so affected by the situation that, for the first time in his twenty five summers, he doesn't pay attention at the environment, focusing all of his senses on the woman lying in front of him. For that reason, his instinct fails him for the first time and he doesn't hear the noise among the bushes behind him.

Suddenly, he feels a bump on his head and then, everything turns black.

With a scream, Alice sees the native man collapsing to the ground, because of an empty bottle broken on his head. Then, she sees a white man standing in front of her.

"Are you alright, miss?" the man asks, offering her his hand. "Did the savage hurt you?"

Still scared about the previous moments, Alice accepts his hand and he helps her to get up. "No, I'm fine. Thank you".

The man smiles at her. He wears simple clothes, so Alice suppose is a settler. "Let me introduce myself, miss. My name is Michael Turner. I'm a trapper and I'm traveling with a friend. He is resting near here. I heard your screams, so I came to see what happened."

"Alice Munro. My pleasure, Mr. Turner". She looks at the native man, lying on his back.

"He is not dead, only unconscious. But don't worry, when he wakes up, you will be far from him". Michael explains. Then he adds. "May I ask why is a girl like you in the middle of the forest with an indian?"

Alice thinks about the answer, not wanting to tell her whole story to a completely stranger. "I was traveling with my family to Fort William Henry, when a group of indians attacked us. I was kidnapped and I don't know what happened to the rest of them. My captors were taking me to their village when this man appeared and killed them, but took me as a captive again." She explains, avoiding the subject of her amnesia.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Well, in that case I think the best solution is that my friend and I escort you to Fort William, Miss Munro. There, maybe you can guess what happened to your family" Michael offers gently. "After all, a helpless woman shouldn't travel alone in the wilderness".

Alice doesn't like the idea of traveling alone with two men who are totally strangers but it seems there is no other way she can reach the fort. She can't travel alone and at least, this will be better than be in the company of a native man. Mr. Turner and his friend are white men and she was always told that white men were usually noble by nature and that they were always willing to help a woman when it was needed. She doesn't like the fact that he smells a bit of alcohol, but men usually like to drink from time to time so she doesn't see a problem on it. Everything would be fine.

"Are you coming?" Michael asks, smiling amicably.

Alice smiles him back and nods. He starts walking and she follows him, not before giving a last look to the unconscious indian. She has not forgotten the fact that he released her the moment he had seen how scared she was, lying under him. I could never hurt you were his last words.

Maybe he was not so bad, after all…Alice discards that thought and tries not to think anymore of him as she follows his savior in the wilderness.

Author's note:

I'm back again! Sorry for not updating before but my life has been really busy over the last few months. Fortunately, I think I'm going to have more free time from now on, so I will be able to post more often. I only hope you didn't thought I was going to abandon the story because no matter how time it will take me to write the chapters, I'm planning to keep working on it. I've got a lot of ideas and I'm very excited about it!

And sorry for the first scene of Alice and Magua, it was hard for me to write it but it will be important for the plot...Also, I wanted to show Magua in the way I've always seen him. A cruel man that became like that because of the pain inflicted to him. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not justifying his actions towards Alice in this chapter or the fact that he killed Uncas in the movie. Doesn't matter how much you have suffered in life and how other people have hurt you, you have no right to make innocent people pay for it. And Alice and Uncas were not responsible of his suffer and the harm inflicted upon his family. However, I think that the trauma of watching his wife and children slaughtered in front of him, drove him crazy. He simply couldn't deal with it. It filled his soul with a desire for revenge that he was willing to take until his last consequences, that in the case of the movie was his own it doesn't mean a spark of goodness can be still inside of him, fighting from time to time to come to the surface. I've always like that of him. In fact, he and Duncan are the most interesting characters for me on a psychological level, because of their complicated minds.

I hope you keep enjoying the story and thank you for your patient!