Glancing back, Uncas found the Munro girls trailing closely behind. It wasn't even midday, and yet they had survived a massacre, escaped a war party, and taken a particularly treacherous journey downriver. Cora held a look of grim determination, whereas Alice's expression was alarmingly flat. She looked beyond him, as though her mind retreated elsewhere before the next terrible event could befall them.
Not if he could prevent it.
Uncas followed his family down a path that winded through the rock and dipped beneath the falls. As their party entered the cave, Uncas listened to Duncan question Nathaniel on their plan. Not for the first time, he was glad his brother was the one who took it upon himself to deal with the interrogation, as he was feeling especially piqued with the officer at the moment.
In a display of chivalry, Duncan had pulled Cora out of the canoe, which led to her stumbling and drenching Uncas's musket in the water, rendering it temporarily useless. Aside from the morning's altercation, the fact that Duncan had murder in his eyes at finding Nathaniel freed made Uncas wish he could leave him behind.
He tried to shake off the annoyance. There was a real enemy to defend against. The musket was likely wet already, and he would probably have time to clean it. Then again, if his powder was wet too, none of it would matter. He'd have to assess his gear as soon as possible.
With a firm task in mind, Uncas was able to focus. He brushed by the others to look around their small refuge for any threat. The space seemed smaller than he remembered—less a cavern, and more of a den, with one side composed of falling water. There were signs of others who had been here in the years since his family's own visit: beads, bone, fragments of cloth. Small offerings that had been burned or otherwise broken down by water and time. Spirits liked to live in unusual places such as these, and with the right offerings a group of travelers may find refuge.
Satisfied that there were no other people here recently, Uncas turned back to the others. The girls were being assisted down the steps. He found himself taking Alice's cold hand and leading her forward. Could she find some bit of peace here? If anybody recognized sacred ground, it would be her.
He tried not to be disappointed when she didn't respond to his touch. Their unexpected reunion was bringing with it all of his vulnerabilities. Of course she still kept her distance from him. Nothing in that regard had changed. Yet Alice didn't seem to be aware of anything at all as he brought her to the wall of shimmering water and released her hand.
He returned to his family to take stock of supplies, but couldn't resist a glance back. Alice remained in a daze. At least Cora was there for her—all he could do was keep her safe.
Uncas examined his powder. Despite his leap into the water, what little there was left in his horn remained dry. Not enough to mount a proper defense, but it was something.
Nathaniel called out in Mohican. Uncas responded to his brother's inquiry in English so he wouldn't have to repeat himself to the soldiers.
"One load."
Perhaps the others had better luck. As they checked, he hefted his tomahawk and raced up the steps. If the Hurons somehow knew where to look, they would descend on them in moments, and his single load wasn't worth anything with a wet musket. Still, he could keep watch, and think.
How many men he could take on in this narrow passage? Ideally they would send one or two to scout ahead first; those would be easy. But if an entire war party descended up on them at once, they would be easily overtaken. The Hurons may be hampered by the narrow passage, but so were they, and without firepower, they would be overrun.
Uncas gritted his teeth. He would have to make sure the Huron's leader was counted among the men he cut down before his own body was riddled through with bullets. It was Magua's mad determination that drove their pursuit and little else. Without him, the Hurons' victims would be treated more reasonably. The women, at least.
The thought of Alice bound and in fear sent him into a cold rage, even knowing that she would possibly be safely ransomed back to the English along with her sister. He stifled the urge to turn and look for her.
Something heavy dropped beside Uncas, startling him out of his thoughts. He glanced down at his pack and drew up to his knees, gathering his composure.
Chingachgook did not sit to join him immediately. Instead, he approached the wall of falling water, and announced himself to the spirits around him. After begging for safe keeping for their group, he tossed what remained of his tobacco into the water, then sat down beside Uncas. A silence stretched before them.
Uncas began cleaning his musket with smooth, practiced motions before speaking in Mohican. "No sign of Hurons."
Chingachgook acknowledged this with a grunt. "Then they have no knowledge of this place. Good. Our footprints are now dry. It will take a clever tracker to find us."
"The one who looks for us is clever." Uncas shoved the ramrod into the barrel with more aggression than needed. "Only a bullet will keep Le Renard Subtil from the daughters of Munro."
"We have only your one load." With a sinking heart, Uncas took his time considering this as Chingachgook continued. "Our enemies swarm around us. The Yengeese can go no further today. They are weak now, wounded."
"I could scout around, find more powder."
Chingachgook's waved his hand dismissively. "You risk being noticed, leading others here. Better to stay hidden."
"Trapped. Run to ground. We will be discovered, and there are too many!" Uncas needed to be doing something. Now there was no enemy to kill or river to navigate, only watching and waiting for the inevitable.
They would come. Not for hours yet as they combed the riverbank, but they would come. And with a single load of powder, what could he do then?
It took him a while to notice Chingachgook's silence. Realizing he was worked up like a petulant child, Uncas took a deep breath and followed his father's gaze to the waterfall.
"We are Mohicans. They cannot trap us here. Others would not survive such a fall, but we can."
Uncas scoffed. "We flee, we save only ourselves."
"Without a fight, the Hurons will come with cool hearts. There is no need to kill the women here. They can take them north. We can follow."
Uncas eyed his father in skeptical silence. If they did not kill Alice and Cora right away, it was because they had a worse fate in mind for them. So many things could go wrong with this plan.
"We stay, we fight, we die. Who will protect the daughters of Munro then?"
Together they looked down upon the others in the chamber below them, the scene bleak. Alice was still facing the water as Nathaniel held Cora. The English soldiers were all in bad shape, including Duncan, whose body was angled away from the couple as he pulled taut on a bandage around his thigh.
No amount of anger would change what needed to be done. With Uncas's curt nod of agreement, the conversation ended. Chingachgook got to his feet and descended the steps to assist in Duncan's efforts.
Uncas watched Alice as she stood against the water, half in shadow, have in an eerie pale glimmer—ghostlike in her stillness. Dread crept up his spine. It was as though her life were draining away before his eyes, and despite every effort, there was nothing he could do about it. His father was right. If they were found, Alice's last chance at survival relied on his abandonment of her.
This new refuge held the same sort of feeling Alice might find in a cathedral, though where stained glass should have been, a wall of shimmering water took its place. If she peered into it hard enough, she could almost see hints of what lay beyond.
A cry of pain sounded, and she returned to herself to look around. A soldier dressed the wound in his companion's belly. Alice felt a twist of nausea in her own. The deep laceration would likely be fatal even if they had the supplies to treat it. The man was a breathing corpse.
The day's massacre tore through her mind in a haze of blood and death: all things she didn't want to make sense of. If she allowed herself to feel for this stranger, to recognize the horror of it all, she would be unable to hold herself in any longer. She would only crumble.
Alice backed away and found herself by Cora, who was wrapped in Nathaniel's arms, tears streaming down her face. It was as if she were unable to stand without him. That, too, was unsettling. Cora was never that dependent on anybody.
Alice moved past them unnoticed. She had the curious feeling of being a wraith, unseen, as others lived on. Duncan gritted his teeth as Chingachgook treated his bloodied leg. The Indian had pulled her to her feet in that terrible valley and guided her to safety. Why had she ever been so intimidated by this man? He had only looked out for her when her own father couldn't.
No. Papa looks for us still.
She moved up the steps, continued moans from the injured soldier chasing after her. Death had followed her ever since the attack on the George Road. It was here too.
Ahead, the glimmer of the falls called to her. Nurse would tell her it was a veil between one place and another, just like in the stories. If she passed through, she would enter another world.
It could only be a better one.
Perhaps that was where the spirits of so many fallen had gone today. She stepped closer, water collecting in droplets on her skin.
"Get back!"
Uncas grabbed her and threw himself back to the ground, using more force than needed in his sudden fear. She had not yet been falling, then. Alice stumbled back with a gasp and dropped into his arms.
He held her tight, fear for her life and anger that she would further endanger it overwhelming any ideas of giving her the space he'd thought she needed. He had been close to losing her too many times today only for her to—what? Give up? She did not get to make that choice. If Alice wouldn't fight to keep going, he would do it for her.
Her legs splayed across his haphazardly, but she made no further movement, no response to him. She only stared ahead in frozen terror as her breathing continued to sound harsh and labored.
Uncas refused to feel guilty for startling her. Frightened was better than dead—and anyway, how could she scare him like that?
Slowly, his anger subsided, leaving fear behind. He ought to take her back to the others. He would soon. For now, he clutched Alice closer.
Alice came to herself as she struggled to breathe. The heat of strong arms around her kept her tethered to this reality. She had not fallen; she was not drowning.
Uncas's arms began to slacken, so she clung to him before he could shift away, anchoring him close as she stared at the falls in horror. She hadn't meant to endanger herself. She didn't want to die.
She felt his lips press roughly against her forehead, his fingers running through her wet hair until they tangled at her nape, his sigh as he leaned back, holding her against his chest. The pounding of his heart seemed stronger than the roar of the falls. She buried her face against it, focusing on that constant thud as she waited for the terror ripping through her own chest to subside. It was not enough.
She peered up at him, watching as his eyes turned from the water to meet her own. The moment they did, she was drawn forward as if by a spell.
It had been just hours since they parted—seemingly for good—but she had only felt desolation since. Here was warmth, life, what she wanted more than anything.
Uncas kept very still as Alice gripped his shoulders, dragging herself closer. He dropped his gaze to her lips in time to catch one word as it was snatched away by the falls: "Uncas," spoken as a plea. But what could he do to help? There was no assuring her of anything. Death was coming, whether it found them in an hour or in a day. Their only solace was that it hadn't arrived yet.
As she climbed up him in a tangle of limbs, Uncas gripped her arms in an attempt to steady her. Soon her breath was against his mouth, her large eyes dark and intent. Again, "Uncas," and with it, desire.
Now he understood. Alice spoke only of what she needed, and did he not need her just as badly? He would do anything for her, anything for this last moment alone.
He cupped her face gently, but as her lips crashed against his, found himself caught up in her fervency. There was a desperate pull between them, wandering hands tugging aside damp cloth and grasping at the heated skin beneath. Her bodice had too many buttons; he settled for dragging his hands over it, over her breasts until she arched up against him, shifting her weight closer.
Gone was the shy, sweet girl of the George Road. They were no longer sharing in small delights as they had at the fort, but battling an unyielding tide for something to hold onto. Together, they would find it.
Before he caught up with what was happening, bare thighs squeezed his, Alice having settled herself above his leggings. He felt beneath her skirts, up the stocking to the smooth skin of her hip, confirming that only his breechcloth now lay between them. He groaned, blessed friction wearing away the last of his reserve as she fumbled too long with his belt.
Bracing her back with his other hand, he turned them both to ease her onto the stone floor. Her long limbs wrapped around him, trapping him against her. No, he would not abandon her now. He sat back just enough to release the front of his breechcloth from its belt before capturing her mouth with his and pressing her down, one hand buried in her hair to cushion the back of her head.
He reveled in their bodies' intimate touch, slick warmth was made all the more intense in contrast to the cool air. Alice writhed and rolled her hips beneath him, ready. He guided himself into her, taking several slow thrusts to firmly settle within her.
Yet despite the heady pleasure, Alice tensed, fingers digging into his back. Belatedly he supposed she may need more care than he had given her, and began to pull away. She held him close, so he stilled and kissed a trail down her neck, sucking away beads of moisture collected from the spray of the falls.
His hand travelled down her slowly softening body to just above the place they were still joined. This time he felt her gasp and press forward invitingly, so he circled his thumb until she was writhing again, until he couldn't help but to thrust back in ever increasing strength, until his hand was gone and he was grinding his hips in a way that kept her gasping. Finally, she released a soft cry that was carried away by the falls.
Alice opened her eyes to find Uncas watching her closely with an expression that was somehow both gentle and ardent. As she revived from that state of wonder, her awe gave way to unexpected shyness, and she glanced away briefly, then peeked up at him from beneath her lashes. As he continued to move within her, she realized he had yet to find the release of his own pleasure.
Her mind was now clear enough to study him, the way his damp shirt clung to strong shoulders, the necklace swaying with his rhythmic movement, the tattoo just visible on the exposed skin of his chest. She wanted to reach out and touch him again, but was now too aware of herself, too uncertain. It didn't feel the same anymore, not since she had recovered, and not without that extra contact down there.
Instead, she felt strange—full, although she had even unaware of the lack before. But maybe, now that she thought of it, it felt better with each stroke. She closed her eyes. It occurred to her to meet his thrusts, willing her body to be compliant, trying to reach bliss once more.
Unwanted thoughts intruded, memories of this very day which had been so easily banished before. In this of all moments, she didn't want to think of Magua's bloodstained mouth, of Cora's near death, of the chaos that had begun even before they had left the fort. What would her sister think of her, to be engaging in carnal pursuits, unmarried, and at such a time? And what would her father say, if he knew she had disobeyed him so soon, and so entirely? Yet it would be nothing compared to what Uncas would face should their liaison be discovered.
Alice kept her eyes tightly shut, utterly ashamed of her selfishness. He would not so much as touched her, had she not been so foolish. She was his undoing.
"Nushètu?"
She opened her eyes. Uncas had ceased his movements, gazing down at her in concern. Could she do nothing right? Even the rapture she had risked his welfare for would now be destroyed.
She worked past the knot in her throat to respond. "Don't stop," she whispered.
"Alice?"
"No! Keep going." Her voice had gained a mortifying tremor.
He ran a hand through her hair in a soothing gesture, but she only broke into tears. Despite the way she reached for him in protest, he pulled off of her and tugged her skirts back in place.
Humiliated at her untimely emotional display, Alice hugged herself and turned her face aside, struggling for control. Only then did Uncas return to her, a cautious hand to her arm. She flinched away, and it was gone.
Uncas hesitated, frustrated and confused at this new development. If he had hurt her this badly, why had she wanted him to continue? Not that he'd been able to after seeing the distress on her face. Yet why did she turn away if she needed him moments before? Her behavior did not make sense.
But as soon as he had the thought, he dismissed it. After all the things that had happened today, any number of things could be troubling her. And he was tired of making assumptions as far as Alice was concerned. They needed each other. It had been this way since they left the George Road, and it would always be. He was a fool to ever doubt it.
He reached for her again with determination, though she did not resist a second time. Her body shook with sobs as he clutched her to him. Although their clothes were still damp from the river, he could still feel her warmth.
Alice attempted to speak.
"Breathe. I cannot hear you."
She took a shuddering breath, tried again.
"Don't want—you to die—because of me."
"Hush. Why would I?"
"Duncan said. Last night."
"Ah." Things were making sense again. But they had overestimated the danger; Colonel Munro had been strangely lenient. Duncan, on the other hand, would always be an interfering pest.
"And he's right, because everyone—around me—dies—"
"No."
More unintelligible words. She was becoming frantic, gasping for breath between words. "—saw him and he ate—he ate—he ate it—"
"Listen to me. We only avoid death for a while. That is not you, that is life. That is war. Your father should never have sent for you."
As she glanced away, Uncas could tell she blushed, even in the dim light. He knew it was abominable to disparage one's father to his offspring, especially after the man had just pardoned him for going behind his back already. But he meant his words, and did not have the heart to take it back.
"You have me now. I will care for you, protect you."
"We can stay together?"
She looked so hopeful that Uncas's mouth opened to to assure her before he caught himself. How could he promise such a thing when he could be leaving her behind at any moment? Outside this cave, the world had not changed. What were any of his promises worth?
"Alice...," he trailed off as her face crumpled. "For as much time as we can."
She nodded, and burst into tears once more.
Given the day's events, he did not flatter himself that he was the sole cause of her reaction. He still felt wretched. Seeing no other choice than to let her cry, Uncas simply held her, running his fingers through her hair. Following the errant strands, he discovered they had fallen across her eyes and pushed them aside before resuming the soothing movement.
Eventually her body lay calm and still. He looked down, realizing he held a complete braid in his hands, and admired the effect. Alice could never be mistaken for an Indian, but neither was she a conventional English miss. It suited her just as he did. He tied it off, then turned her to face him. She only stared listlessly beyond him.
He carried her unresisting body back to the alcove where he had originally been keeping watch. Glancing below, he saw that little had changed with the others, and their absence appeared to have gone unnoticed. He lay on his belly in the dark, one arm around Alice, tucking her close as he resumed his watch.
"Ta, hàchi!" No, never!
Uncas heard the shout behind him, followed by the approach of pounding footsteps. Alice stirred as he got to his feet. He looked back in time to see Nathaniel's scowl change to surprise as he saw Alice looking up at him blearily, eyes swollen from crying.
"Father tell you his plan?" asked Uncas in Mohican.
Nathaniel scowled once more and answered in kind. "It's no good."
"Maybe. But it's the best we have."
Nathaniel ignored that and nodded at Alice. "She knows about her father?"
Uncas gave him a questioning look.
"Crushed beneath his horse. Le Renard Subtil took his heart."
Uncas recalled Nathaniel's odd behavior during the massacre, which no longer seemed erratic. He must have seen it all. Of course he'd try to take down Magua if he had the chance. A few words of Alice's panicked rambling became clearer. He turned to her and spoke in English. "You said 'he ate it'. Did you mean Magua?"
Alice shivered and nodded, her eyes wide.
Uncas paused, the many ramifications of this barreling through him at once. She saw her father's death—or at least, his still beating heart being consumed by the man who wished to kill her too. And now, there was no parent for her to go back to.
He tried to find a way for her to make sense of this. "Sometimes when Indians hunt, we eat the heart first. Take its strength."
Alice's widened her eyes in horror. "He stood over Papa's horse." She sat up abruptly. "How can he get away without his horse?"
Uncas glanced to Nathaniel for help, only to find his brother give a small shake of his head. "Promised Kwèni not to tell her," he said in Mohican, using a shortened form of their name for Cora.
"Papa was looking for us," continued Alice, rising to her feet. "Should we go back for him?"
Uncas looked between to the two, deciding if he should tell her the truth. Perhaps she ought to know now, but he also wanted to spare her the pain. "No. Survivors will go to Fort Edward, like us." Realizing his hedging had decided for him, he frowned at Nathaniel and looked away, avoiding Alice's eyes.
Nathaniel stepped in. "Your sister wonders about you. Why don't you go to her?"
She looked to Uncas with uncertainty. He nodded and held her hand as they descended down the steps. Duncan startled at their appearance and scowled, but Uncas ignored him.
After handing her off to sit with Cora, he met Duncan's glare with nonchalance and assisted his father with distributing what food they had in their packs. As Chingachgook sliced three apples into seven equal portions, Uncas glanced at Alice. She watched with her mouth slightly open. He would have shared a laugh over is father's precise rationing if the situation weren't so macabre. One of their party wouldn't be eating ever again.
He took Nathaniel's portion to him along with some salted pork. His brother craned his neck to check on the injured soldier, then looked back in question.
"Alive for now," Uncas explained. "Opened bowels."
Nathaniel grimaced. "Rough way to go."
Uncas grunted in agreement.
"Think he'll last the night?"
Uncas shrugged, though guilt nagged at him. Perhaps it would have been kinder to have left the soldier behind. Truly, what was one more life lost after so many others?
Nathaniel pulled him out of his thoughts. "Heyward won't get far on that leg. You'll still have him to carry."
"Me?"
"Well I sure ain't."
They both smiled at that. Uncas ate in silence, mulling over his thoughts.
"Speak, little brother."
"Munro is dead."
Nathaniel gave a curt nod. "Yes."
"Cora's father."
"Yes." Nathaniel sighed, allowing a moment of gravitas, then laughed bitterly. "Can't hang me now, can he?"
"And so...?"
"Of course, I will ask her to stay with me."
"Will she?"
"If I must beg." His eyes were back on the passage, but narrowed with determination.
A moment passed as Uncas considered.
Nathaniel eyed him again. "Go on."
Uncas frowned. "What?"
Nathaniel rolled his eyes. "Yes, your little doe will stick around too."
"She has a cousin back in England."
"She'll have a sister here." Nathaniel grinned. "And a Fox."
Uncas couldn't help from smiling in return before checking himself. "Should we be making plans without asking them first?"
"They'll agree. Just have to dump the Major at Edward first."
"Don't want to strand him, lame in the woods?"
Nathaniel chuckled. "Believe me, I want to. Cora would flay me though." They're both knew he didn't mean it—no one deserved such a thing... except perhaps a Huron. "And I did steal his woman."
Uncas raised his eyebrows.
"Not that she would have married him, mind you. But..." He shrugged. "I'd have killed him for doing the same."
"How noble."
"We understand each other."
"I wish we had something to ease his pain."
Alice followed Cora's line of sight to the injured soldier, then stared down at her portion of apple. If felt heartless to eat so near one who would never be able to again.
Cora sighed. "I cannot stand it. This waiting."
"Better than going out there. I don't think I'll be able to leave."
"I'd rather take my chances."
Cora took a large bite of her own and nudged her sister with an expression that commanded her to do that same. Alice nibbled at it.
Chingachgook began to speak to her sister in deep tones that carried over the sound of the falls. Eventually, she realized he was telling a familiar story about his wife Wah-ta-Wah, but with much more detail.
Chingachgook's family were members of the Turtle Clan, and they had often lived amongst the same clan of the Delaware people. But one summer they had chosen to make their wigwam farther away than the others in the hopes of finding more game.
At this time the Delaware welcomed their family as their own, all save one. This man hated Chingachgook for killing his brother. After years of hate festering in his heart, the man came to their home one day, stinking of liquor. He approached their wigwam in a rage, tomahawk in hand, while Chingachgook was gone to the river.
Uncas was taken first, and being a child would have easily been slain had Nathaniel not seen what was happening and defended his little brother. But Nathaniel had also been young and was thrown aside, hitting his head on a rock.
Wah-ta-Wah threw herself in front of her children, weaponless, and ordered Uncas to run to Chingachgook.
Just before he made it back to his home, Chingachgook heard the yelling. Courage had left the Delaware, and he knew what wrath awaited him if he stayed to fight. He demanded Wah-ta-Wah run away with him and serve him as his wife. As adamantly, she refused, and a dark silence followed.
Chingachgook emerged from the woods to find three bodies lying on the ground: Nathaniel, with blood trickling from his head; the man, dead, with his own knife in his chest; and Wah-ta-Wah, choking to death on her own blood. Having tired of her refusal, the man had chosen to simply stab her in the chest. But in her anger she pulled out the blade and slew him in return.
She died knowing she had killed their attacker, and with the reassurance that Nathaniel would live.
Alice stared at Chingachgook, aghast at this new story. Although Uncas had told her the generalities of what happened to Wah-ta-Wah previously, this version in all its bloody detail was the last thing she wanted to hear while hiding from Indians.
Uncas had returned while Chingachgook spoke, and while his face was blank, she sensed he was of the same mind.
"My wife died painfully and without need. Do you understand?" Chingachgook was addressing Cora. "She was brave, but no warrior. If she had followed him—even taken him as a husband—then, I would find her again. And she would live."
Cora looked stricken, but held Chingachgook's gaze. After a moment, she swallowed. "If we are discovered here..."
Chingachgook nodded. "Keep your gaze low. Be a meek woman, obey all things. You will be treated better."
Cora pulled Alice against her side. Belatedly, Alice realized what the conversation had been about. Chingachgook was preparing them for the worst. She looked between him and his son, but Uncas was staring vacantly through the rock beside her.
"But I believed that if the Hurons were to... abduct a woman, they would adopt her, not...," she trailed off, unable to voice her concern directly, despite no longer being an innocent.
Chingachgook answered her. "That is the way. But I do not trust Magua, who is called Le Renard Subtil. His heart is twisted, more than any Huron."
Alice was unable to imagine sharing her body with anyone besides Uncas, let alone being forced to.
"Finish the apple." Chingachgook nodded at the slices in her hands. "Core too."
She forced the food down her throat, ignoring the rest of Cora and Chingachgook's conversation. With a new dread, she curled up on her side, facing the falls, and pretended to sleep until she actually did.
10 August
As Uncas listened to his father's story, he thought of his mother's final morning. He had wasted it arguing with her over scraping hides. "A woman's duty," he had called it. Nevermind that his father had done it himself often enough.
"Not today, little fox. How can you be a trapper if you don't know how to tan your hides?"
How smug he had been with his retort. "My wife will do it."
The feeling at been short lived, as Nathaniel took it upon himself to tease his younger brother as to the identity of the wife he planned to take. Any and all possibilities were mortifying; somehow, the best way to save face was to capitulate and get to work.
His mother had not lived to evaluate his efforts. That day was the first time he had seen his father weep. He did so openly, unashamed of his grief. And soon after that, he sent them to school, and Uncas never lived in his mother's wigwam again. Everything in his world changed. A part of him had always wondered—what if he had been fast enough?
No use dwelling on the past. His future was all that he could have a hand in, and he saw it with a new understanding. At the fort, the differences between Alice and himself seemed insurmountable. His skin, his class, nothing about him would make him acceptable in the eyes of society, regardless of his feelings for her. From the outside, nothing about their relationship made sense, and the future was a looming void. But what was evading a scandal when the real difficulty lay in surviving a war? If they could escape this place alive, anything could be possible.
Day turned to night, and Chingachgook traded places with Nathaniel. Alice remained curled up beside him on the rocky ledge. Over time they had edged closer together, until her head lay in his lap, one hand on his knee. Although the faintest of lights from the moon and stars filtered in through the falls, he doubted anyone would take notice.
Around midnight, it was time to take over the watch. He eased away from Alice and relieved his father for the night, mind still churning.
Colonel Munro was dead. If Cora was as earnest in her feelings for Nathaniel as she seemed, she would stay. Would Alice choose living with a cousin over staying with her sister? No. And as he was hers, so she could be his.
As the first light of day began to filter through the water, a strange hope kindled in his chest, as elusive as a dream upon waking. There would be time to work out the details of their future if they had one. After they made it to another sunset, they would know they had evaded all danger.
Uncas blinked, but the orange light at the entrance of the cave grew too quickly to be the light of the rising sun. Words drifted towards him, indecipherable in their meaning but unmistakable in their tongue. Huron.
He turned away, and ran back to the others. This was it. They were out of time. Alice's survival was in her own hands, until he could find her again. He must. He would.
Alice woke to the sound of shouting in Mohican. She stirred drowsily, wincing at the rock at her back, the ache between her thighs. Recalling where she was, she bolted upright with a gasp.
As Nathaniel argued, she looked around for the source of his anger. Cora and Duncan both looked on in concern. One soldier watched Duncan as if waiting for orders. The other with the stomach wound must have succumbed late in the night, his body laying in the far corner of the cave. As in life, there was nothing to be done for him.
Uncas crouched before her, warm hands enveloping her freezing ones.
As Cora and Duncan began shouting as well, Alice felt as though her insides were falling. She glanced at the entrance to the cave. Was this the end at last?
"It's time. I must go." He nodded toward the falls.
She gaped, understanding his intention to jump. "It is too high, you cannot—"
"—I can. This river, it is ours. We know it well. Nushètu, listen." And because of the authority in his voice, she did. "I will not survive if I stay. But you can. What will happen—I do not know. But you must hold on a while longer."
She shook her head wordlessly, eyes drifting to the cave entrance and falls.
"You must. You are stronger than your fear, I know this." He cupped the side of her face, bringing her gaze back to him, then ran his hand down her hair. She recalled the braid he had placed there overnight. "Nushe, you are mine. If they take you, they will not keep you."
He turned to look behind his shoulder. People were coming. But still, he remained.
"Be strong. For me, please. Please."
She realized he would not go without her agreement and gave him a reluctant nod, but grabbed his wrist first. "Be safe." Her fingers traced the tattooed lines there. For protection, he had once told her.
He nodded, and was gone.
Notes:
- Reuploaded to correct for formatting—thank you ELY72 and MohawkWoman for letting me know!
- Wow... it's been over a year! Thank you to everyone who had the patience to wait for this update! Because my life got a whole lot busier, I'm afraid I won't be able to update as often as I once did, though I have every intention of doing so as often as I can. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me with their comments and to those who reached out personally. It's been so long but thank you to those who have helped with details, MohawkWoman for the timeline, BrynnaRaven for the historical details, etc. You are wonderful. (I did not get this beta'ed because I wanted to post it ASAP so I apologized for any typos. Also sorry for not posting it by the end of March like I promised. Life, you know!)
- Geography for this chapter was tricky, because the movie does not follow real life. In the movie, the massacre occurs in a valley near the shore of the lake (Lake George, according to script, so I guess they didn't get far). The canoes are paddled to a river that leads them to the waterfall (Glen's Falls according to script, but the movie set is totally different). Glen's Falls is on the Hudson, but the Hudson is not directly connected to Lake George. Furthermore, Ft. Edward is 12 miles away from Ft. William Henry according to Munro. The falls are still 12 miles from Edward according to Hawkeye (Glen's Falls are much closer than that even if you take a meandering route). I gave up trying to make sense of it.
- For the love scene, I tried my best to combine what happened in the movie with the script. Where they diverged, I at least tried to keep the spirit the same. In the movie, Alice is in danger of falling and panics in Uncas's arms. There's rumors that a kiss was filmed and somehow she ends up with that braid in her hair. In the script, they are at the real Glen's Falls, and Alice is enticed by the night sky out onto an island where she might expose them. Uncas grabs her, and she's really into it!—but then she freaks out!—but then she goes ahead and seduces him anyway. Get it, girl!
- In the book, Uncas is the one who refuses to leave until Cora convinces him to, in order to save their lives later. Seeing as the movie Nathaniel took over Uncas's role in this, as well as being Cora's love interest, I figured the our movie Uncas would follow orders... for now!
Music inspiration: We Might Be Dead By Tomorrow by Soko