I neglected to mention earlier, I don't own The Last of the Mohicans or any of its characters.
Chapter 3
We continued on our path until we came across a cabin. A burned out cabin, recently burned out in fact. Cora and I stayed behind while the men slowly advanced upon it. It was then that I saw it, and I shrieked in horror. My sister flung her arms around me and Nathaniel spun around and cast me an angry look. There were bodies, but not the bodies of soldiers. It was a woman and children, and further off the body of a man in civilian clothes. A family. Who would do this? Many, I know now, but did not know then. I did not comprehend that somebody would kill a defenseless child.
The woman's body was closest to us, and her eyes were open and vacant. Uncas walked over to her and felt her pulse, although it was obvious even to me that she was gone. Then I realized. He did not feel for her pulse. He needed to touch her. He knew her. By the way he looked away and blinked, it seemed almost as if he were fighting off tears. Cora started talking about burying the bodies, and Nathaniel snapped at her that they would do no such thing. Cora then accused him of being heartless, and that even strangers deserved a decent burial. She did not understand. She had a loud opinion, and this Nathaniel seemed to bring it out in her especially. Upon hearing her say this, he walked towards her in a nearly threatening way, causing her to step backwards. "They are not strangers, and they lay as they are!" He said in a low voice.
I stayed quiet. Uncas had gone into the remains of the building and gazed around, his shoulders drooping. I ached for him, I wanted to hold him. I wanted him to cry in my arms. He looked so young, younger than Nathaniel. In fact, he looked vulnerable at this moment. Was the real horror of war only catching up with him now too? Even though he was a warrior and had killed other men before, seeing his friends lay massacred must be another experience altogether. I have never spoken to him about this since. I sense that it would serve no purpose for us. Cora and Nathaniel reconciled eventually and Cora relayed to me that Nathaniel had told her this family would often welcome them during their travels, and they had spent many nights at their house and grown very close to them. They did not bury the bodies because we were still being followed and had to move on swiftly.
On we went in silence, until dawn was approaching. We made camp on a hilltop. I had never slept in the outdoors before, and never without the warmth and comfort of a blanket. Though it had been a hot day, as darkness fell a chill entered the air. I lay down on the lumpy ground and waited for Cora to join me to provide some companionship and warmth, but she never did.
The three men had spread to different locations all around us in order to keep watch, and Cora sat beside Nathaniel and I could faintly hear them talking late into the night. I was irritated by this. My sister was abandoning me for this new man she'd met, a man that obviously made her forget about her younger sister. Cora had always been the strong one, the one whose incessant task it had been to watch over me. I pouted. I was the spoiled younger one. Nobody at all seemed to be paying attention to me and the fact that I was shivering in the dark.
After much tossing and turning I must have fallen asleep, but awakened at the sound of a click of a gun right beside me. My head snapped up, my breath turning into a ragged pant. I could see a large group of Indians and French beneath us, silently moving in the darkness, clearly looking for something. Looking for us! My body, without my full permission, started to scramble up in panic.
Just then a hand reached over my mouth and a body threw itself over me. I desperately struggled and tried to scream, but of course no sounds emerged, the hand was too firmly planted on my face. After what seemed like an eternity, my body relaxed and waited for pain, for death even, though it did not come. That is when I came to recognize the whispered voice of the "Shhhhh", I had, after all, been anxiously listening for it all day. Uncas!
He had been close to me, and I had not known. So, so close. His warmth enveloped me. "You must not move, they will pass" he continued to whisper into my ear, as the men's slow footsteps made leaves and twigs snap on the forest floor. And indeed they did pass, and his hand slowly moved from my mouth, though his body remained. I could feel his breath on the side of my neck. Surely he must feel my heart beating! When the men were completely out of sight, his body slid away, and the cold air took his place. He did not move far, for fear this silly girl that I am would put us in danger again, I supposed. Or maybe, just maybe he wanted to be close to me for other reasons…
What nonsense I thought. In beauty I paled in comparison to Cora. She with her womanly curves, spirited eyes and sharp, stunning contrast of pale skin and dark curly hair. I with my limp mouse brown hair, eyes of a nondescript color and the body of a child. No man ever noticed me in her presence. Nevertheless, the closeness of Uncas made me feel safe. That was it about him, I realized. He radiated an inner calm, such wisdom for someone his age. Nothing seemed to surprise him or scare him. All this I had gathered by studying him for just one day, and it was enough to calm me to the point of allowing sleep to claim me once more.
The next day was marked with exhaustion. We traveled endlessly. My feet were blistered and my calves ached. There was a stabbing at my side and a burning in my lungs. I fell behind many times, and Uncas, ever behind me, slowed his steps accordingly. Interestingly, it never occurred to Cora or I that these men may not be trustworthy, or that their intentions may be in any way ill. Although truth be told we had little choice but trust them, there was never a doubt in our minds. They had, after all, risked their own lives by fighting off our attackers. We had learned from Nathaniel that they had been on their way to a place called Can-tuck-ee because they did not want to be caught up in the French/Indian war that was raging all around us. When Cora asked if they were not part of any larger tribe that they could join, the answer was that the tribe they belonged to, called the Mohicans, had been wiped out by war and disease, and that Chingachkook and his son were the last remaining Mohicans by blood. Though the three of them sometimes stayed with friendly tribes for a few days, they could not truly be a part of them. Nathaniel himself was the son of settlers that were murdered, much like the scene we came upon yesterday, and had somehow been overlooked and survived. Chingachkook and his wife, when she was alive, passed through and found the little boy, and cared for him as their own.
Finally we caught sight of the fort, but before we saw it we could hear it. Something was terribly wrong. My insides twisted when I saw what was making the terrible noise. The fort was besieged by the French! How could this have happened? Why had nobody warned us from coming? The walls of the fort were surrounded by hellfire itself, the thundering of the cannons deafening. The soft edges of my innocence were melting away by the seconds. Was this the real world I had been sheltered from all my life? Cold fear gripped me and would not let go. Nathaniel looked unsure. "Are you sure you want to enter there?" he asked, and Cora screamed "Of course, our father is there!"
A lake separated us, but an old canoe was found at the shore, and so it was that we advanced upon this sight of hell on the water. As we came closer the water itself was aglow with flames, for darkness had already befallen us. We came to the sally port, and it took some explaining from Cora before they would let us enter. Once out of the water and in the fort, we ran towards the centre of it amidst absolute chaos, for the outer edge was the most dangerous as canons frequently found their target. Someone must have alerted our father because there he was, waiting for us. Upon the sight of him my feet moved even faster. His face equaled security and victory in my mind, like it always had. After all, what harm could possibly befall one in the presence of one's father? I threw myself into his arms while shrieking his name.
"What are you doing here? Where are my reinforcements? Where is Duncan?" he shouted, instead of welcoming us. "I sent you a letter to stay in Albany. Why did you girls disobey me?" "There was no letter!" Cora responded, panic showing through in her voice. "And Duncan is dead! We were ambushed, Papa! These men saved us and brought us the rest of the way!" It took awhile for the story to sort itself out. Papa sent us to his quarters while he continued to talk with Nathaniel, Uncas and Chingachkook. We reluctantly followed the servant he sent to take us there, wanting to hear the rest of the conversation between them.
That night I slept like a rock. The bed, though by no means the softest I'd ever lain on, felt luxurious beneath my tortured limbs. Not even the deafening noise could keep me awake.