p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Clementine nearly jumped out of her skin when she awoke./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"The redcoat soldier she had seen at the farm hovered over her, his brown eyes locked on hers./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;""She's awake," he announced loudly, prompting a stiff shush from the others. He sighed and folded his arms over his chest as Chingachgook strode to them silently./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;""How are you feeling, child?" he whispered, pressing the back of his hand against her forehead as she sat up. Still dazed, Clementine looked around at the unfamiliar forest. The sun was already disappearing behind the horizon./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;""Where—what happened?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;""You fainted," he said lowly, reaching to his pouch and retrieving small scraps of pemmican. "Eat. You will need your strength tomorrow."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"She nibbled at it feebly. It didn't taste like anything, and it didn't give her any kind of relief. Chingachgook trailed to a nearby tree and sat at the roots, shutting his eyes calmly./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Retreating sunlight shimmered over the leaves, casting its final glow on the forest. She could see Uncas and the girl in pink laying in the grass a few yards away, looking out over the sea of brush ahead of them. Clementine hadn't the slightest idea where Hawkeye was, but she never expected to. Even after years of knowing him, he was still an enigma to her./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"With the English soldier to her left, the woman in blue sat to the right, adjusting the puffy skirt of her dress as she settled into the grass. She was, in every sense of the word, very beautiful. She had the same slender, feminine body and dark hair as Clementine, but with fairer skin, expensive clothing, and petite features. She looked like a porcelain doll./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Clementine wondered if the soldier loved her. Who wouldn't?/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"She, on the other hand, wore essentially rags on her defeated shoulders, her thick, black hair shaggy and tangled from being tied tightly around the wound on her head./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"It suddenly hit her again. She tried to control her breathing as her eyes began to burn, but no tears fell./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Clementine began to feel guilty. There was panic coursing through her—a residual fear—but admittedly she could not feel any sadness for the event. She had simply gone numb to the whole thing. She lied and told herself it was because she couldn't remember the details, and went back to observing the new people that surrounded her./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"The woman in blue shuffled in the undergrowth and Clementine watched as she trudged over the trunk of a fallen tree, finally spotting Hawkeye perched quietly in a small ditch a few yards out. She didn't give it too much thought; she was probably enamored by him already./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Losing herself in thought, she stared over the darkening horizon, chewing on her last piece of meat. She shot a quick glance at the redcoat, her eyes accidentally meeting his before she flushed pink and looked away./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Duncan almost chuckled./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"The girl was adorable. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes still sparkled a bright golden brown despite her trauma. From the moment he first saw her, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Such a fragile, tender thing—to think she had been through such unspeakable suffering was beyond him./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Clementine shivered. The cool of the night was beginning to set in the air and she realized she had left her shawl back in the forest behind the cabin. She curled up with her knees to her chest, resting her chin on her arms. The soldier cleared his throat./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;""Are you cold, miss?" he asked, laying his gun down to turn to her./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;""Just a bit," she returned shyly. Clementine watched in the dark as he shrugged off his long coat, wrapping it around her arms as she laid on her side. It was still warm from when his body heat./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"She stared up at him as he turned back and perched his gun up again. He stared over the ledge intently, but his focus was elsewhere. Duncan willed himself not to take even the slightest glance at her in order to spare himself from embarrassment; he had found himself quite intrigued with the girl./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Maybe it was because he was the one to carry her, unconscious and cold, from the place she had known her entire life. It was sensible to feel guilt to a slight extent—he'd touched her knowing she would never go back home. Maybe that guilt was what caused the feeling in his stomach when their eyes met. It was assuredly not because she was beautiful./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Duncan was sure the guilt would fade soon. He would be able to leave all of this behind-the war, the Indians, the girl. It wouldn't be long before he'd be with Cora in England, married and happy./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"It suddenly felt wrong to think that./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"This little woman was getting under his skin. He knew nothing about her. They had hardly even met, much less had an actual conversation. And yet, he had some small thought at the back of his head that maybe Cora was not the one for him. She wouldn't even bother sitting next to him for the night, but this frightened young lady who didn't even know his name was curled up at his side./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"He tried to push that thought aside. Cora would come around soon enough, he was sure of it./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"A faint rustling in the grass brought him back to reality. Immediately on edge, he took aim towards the field ahead and cocked his gun, only to be met with a tender hand to his shoulder. Duncan hesitantly tore his eyes away from the horde of shadows emerging from the trees, looking to the girl at his side. Her amber eyes were blown wide, shimmering in the slivers of moonlight that trickled in through the overhead leaves. Her gaze did not waver until she brought her finger to her lips, pointing behind Duncan's head wordlessly./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Curiosity overriding over his nerves, he followed her hand slowly and squinted at the sight—several scaffolds were perched in the trees, hoisting up bodies wrapped in cloth. He had seen something of this nature before; it almost made him want to thank the barbarity of the Indians, because the army of Huron savages began to silently retreat./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Duncan sighed in relief and leaned his gun down once more. He glanced to his right. The girl was sitting up, his military coat wrapped tightly around her arms. He wanted to smile./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;""Thank you," he nodded, catching her attention, "Emmeline."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;""Thank you," he nodded, catching her attention, "Emmeline."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"Though her eyes looked sad, the girl smirked and shyly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "It's Clementine."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;"His face grew hot. She really had gotten under his skin. Far too quickly./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; min-height: 16.1px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial;""Clementine, then," he repeated warmly. "My name is Duncan."/p