"Miss Munro, this is Tom Smith" Michael introduces amicably, as soon as they arrive the clearing where his friend is. Tom seems astonished at the vision of his companion coming with a girl.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Smith" Alice says politely, looking at the man in front of her.
"The pleasure is mine, miss" Tom answers, looking at his friend with a confused expression.
"Miss Munro was heading to Fort William Henry when she was kidnapped by an indian. Fortunately, I was able to knock him out and rescue her" Michael explains. "I offered to escort her there".
For some seconds, Tom seems even more confused, but one look from his friend is enough for him to change his expression to an amicably one . "Oh, of course we can escort you to the fort, Miss Munro".
Alice smiles at him. "Oh, thank you. It's very kind of both of you". She doesn't repair on how Michael is looking at her from head to toe, while she speaks to Tom.
"Well, it's better for us to move on and find a safe place to spend the night". Michael announces and starts walking along his friend, Alice following them, some distance behind. She can't help nerves coming to her at the idea of sleeping near two strangers but she tries not to think about it. Those men seems kind enough to trust them.
"Michael, how can she be heading to Fort William?" Tom says in low voice, so the girl doesn't hear it. "The fort fell to the French almost two weeks ago".
"It seems she doesn't know it" Michael simply answers. "But let her think that we are taking her there. That way she will trust us". Then he adds with a mischievous smile. "She is really pretty, don't you think so?"
Tom smiles back. "Yes, I'm glad you found her. We've been traveling for so long, without enjoying a woman's warm".
"Don't worry. Tonight both of us will have fun with her".
Uncas' eyes open slowly and it takes him some seconds to remember where he is. The sky is getting dark and he lays sprawled on the ground. He gets up slowly, touching his painful head. Some smalls cuts are on his forehead and he repairs on the broken bottle on the ground. Someone used it to hit him from behind.
Alice. He notices that she is not by his side. Desperately, he looks in all directions, trying to see her somewhere, but it seems she has vanished.
The person who hit him surely has taken her and, given how hard the impact of the bottle was, he is sure it was a man.
Not wanting to waste more time, he makes sure he has his knife and tomahawk on his belt and picks his travel pack rifle from the ground. It's not loaded because he used the last powder in the fight with the Huron, but it can be used as a weapon anyway.
I must find her, before anything happens to her. He knows what some men can do if they find a pretty girl alone in the woods. With that thought on mind, he sprints towards the forest as if his own life depended on it.
Night will come soon, so they have found a place to sleep. After finish the food that was given to her, Alice is unsure what to do next. It seems then men are preparing furs on the ground, so she approaches them nervously.
"Excuse me, sirs…where I'm going to sleep?" She asks, noticing that there is only one fur, so she supposes they will be about to prepare another one for her. Of course, she must sleep at a considerable distance from them because of the sense of decorum.
"You will sleep here" Michael simply replies. She can't help from notice a change of attitude in his voice. He seems less polite than before.
"Well…in that case…where are you going to sleep? She asks innocently.
Both men share a complicit gaze, before Tom replies. "We only one two fur. You will have to share yours with one of us".
Alice can't believe what she is hearing. "What are you talking about? I can't sleep by your side. It's improper!"
Michael approaches her slowly. "We are escorting you. Giving you our protection and food. The less you can do is to be more grateful with us".
Alice walks slowly backwards, as Michael approaches more and more to her. She is getting worried about the change in the men's attitude towards her, but she tries to keep things at bay, being as polite as possible. "Sorry sirs. Of course I'm really grateful to you, but I think the best solution is that I keep on traveling on my own".
Aware that the safest option for her is to go away from those men, just in case they try to do something improper, Alice tries to leave but is restrained by Michael, who grabs her arm roughly.
"You are not going to go anywhere. When I rescue a pretty girl from a savage, I expect to have some benefit from that". Michael says with a smirk, grabbing Alice by the waist and kissing her lips by force. Catching her breath, she finally manages to part away from him.
"Don't you dare to touch me again, you bastard!" Alice exclaims furiously, slapping him with all her might.
"So do you want to fight, little doll? Alright. We love when women fight back" Grabbing her roughly by the waist, Michael starts kissing her neckline.
"No, don't touch me! Alice screams trying to free herself from his grip. Finally, she manages to shove him away from her, but right then, she feels a pair of arms grabbing her waist from behind, dragging her backwards.
"I want a little bit of you too" Tom says, encircling her waist from behind and kissing her exposed neck, forcefully.
With a repulsion expression on her face, she grabs the man's arms, trying to free herself again, but realizing at the same time that if she hardly had any chance to escape from one man, she has nothing to do with two of them.
"Stop it, Let me go! " She manages to hit Tom's face with her elbow, which makes him release her, but she hadn't started to run when she is trapped by Michael again. Then both men starts shoving her from one another, taking any chance to touch all over her body, until in one of those times, she stumbles with her skirt and falls to the ground, provoking the laughter of both men.
Uncas keeps running through the forest, trying to track Alice's trail when he hears screams in the distance. Her screams. His eyes fill with rage at the thought of someone trying to hurt her. It seems she is still far away from him, but he has to reach her anyway. I can manage. I've run longer distances before. He would never forgive himself if something happened to her while she was under his protection. Realizing he won't arrive on time if he keeps following the path, he resolves to run through the weed.
He sprints in the direction where he heard her screams, dodging branches and bushes, ignoring how some of them get tangled on his shirt ripping it and the small cuts on his skin.
Please Alice, hold on a bit more. I'm coming.
Looking at the men from the ground, Alice realizes that the situation is getting really dangerous for her and if she doesn't find a way to escape soon, she will be raped and maybe even killed after that. Aware that she has no chances to fight the men, she tries something different.
"I'm Colonel Munro's daughter, an important member of the British army. If you harm me in any way, my father will discover it sooner or later and he won't stop until he find you and make you pay for it!".
Both men look at each other for some seconds and then, they explode with laughter.
"Do you truly pretend that we believe that you are a well-bred lady? Your clothes are so old and dirty that you seem no more than a servant" Michael says, looking down at her. "Now, let's see what you have underneath that dress…"
Tom grabs her by the waist, forcing a trembling Alice to get up. "Look how scared she is. I think she hasn't been with a man before".
"Well, in that case, tonight will be her first time" Michael smirks mischievously.
"No! Someone's help me, please! Tom's hand covers her mouth, silencing her call for help. Then, she bites it with all her might, making it bleed.
"Aahhh!" Toms screams because of the pain, releasing her at the same time. Alice starts running towards the forest and to her surprise the men don't try to stop her.
"What are you doing?" Tom yells at Michael, still touching his bloody hand. "Why do you let her escape?"
"She won't go too far. She is totally lost in the forest and we can run much faster than her" Michael explains calmly. "Give her a few minutes of advantage and then we'll go after her. As you know I like to play with women…"
Alice runs as fast as her legs allow her, trying to go as far as she can from those monsters. Her dress makes the task of running more difficult and she has to grab the skirt with both hands to prevent herself for stumbling. She hasn't run for too long when she hears a voice that freezes her blood.
"Where are you, pretty one?"
"Do you think we are going to let you go without enjoying you before?"
"No" Alice whispers, realizing the men are following her. Their voices come from the distance but it doesn't mean they can't reach her at any time. Desperate, she tries to run faster but she is getting tired and she has to make efforts to catch her breath.
"You know we are going to find you sooner or later".
"If you stop hiding, we promise to treat you well".
They have been playing with me all this time. Aware that she has no idea where she is or in which direction she should go and unable to keep on running, Alice stops behind a tree, trying to hide herself.
The moments seem an eternity. She tries to hold her breath at the same time that she prays God that those monsters won't find her. The forest is silent now. The men don't talk anymore, but she doubts it is a good sign.
Suddenly, she hears footsteps behind the tree where she is and she closes her eyes in terror. Then an arm grabs her waist, as a hand covers her mouth, preventing her for screaming.