A week passed and still he did not return. The smiles on the street grew concerned but she did not stop to talk, rushing straight to the house after classes and the October air grew cold and sharp. Saturday she awoke resolved to go to Boston on Sunday and look for him. The decision made she felt more at ease for the first time in days and she laid down briefly to rest. Outside the wind lashed at the house and the soft hiss of snow began to scratch at the window but under it she thought she heard something else. She climbed from the bed and checked the back door. No one was in sight but a brace of rabbits lay by the step, a fine coating of snow clinging to the fur. She knelt quickly and inspected the incision where they had been field dressed, recognizing Connor's work. She scanned the area. "Connor, where are you? We need to talk!" There was no answer but she could see tracks in the snow leading back to the woods. She ran into the house and grabbed her cloak, pulling it around her shoulders and ran out into the snow after him.
In the woods the trail on the ground disappeared but a fallen log newly cleared of snow showed his path had moved to the trees. She knew she was not up to following in the trees but kept to the ground trying to judge which path he had taken by the branches that remained snow covered versus the ones that had cleared. Eventually she came to an area where he returned to the ground and she picked up the pace. She followed his steps to the edge of a sharp drop. Eyeing the pile of leaves below she sighed and shook her head and eventually found a path down the steep hill. She slid in the freezing slush as she reached the bottom and stood shaking the snow from where it clang to her dress and cloak. It was hours until dark but the sky was overcast and the air getting colder. The wind was beginning to erase the evidence of his passing and the snow continued to pile. She hurried along the trail calling out for him, pulling the cloak tighter around herself and tucking her arms in. "Connor, I just want to talk to you. I know you're out here! Where are you? Connor!"
Lost in thought Connor didn't realize where he was going until he was almost to the door of the house. Experience had told him that the first real snow of the season would be soon and he had taken advantage of the animals coming out to forage to hunt now before it came and they returned to their dens. The field where he hunted was not far from the house and it was hard to overcome over a decade of habit in the course of week. Trying not to feel self-conscious he peered in the window by the kitchen but didn't see anyone and the room was uncharacteristically dark. He moved to the living room window and spotted her curled up on Achilles's bed. He frowned at that both for the time, it was midafternoon and he had never known her to sleep during the day, and the location. When he had come by Monday while she was at school he noticed that she had slept down stairs. He knew from experience their bed was much more comfortable and he began to wonder if she found the memory of him so off putting. The first fat flakes of snow began to fall and freeze against the window pane. He watched her briefly but she didn't stir and he sighed and returned to the door. He dropped the string of rabbits and turned back to the fields. If he hurried he would have time to get more before returning home.
Connor finished field dressing the rabbit and added it to the sack, turning back for his village once more. There was a brief break in the snow, the clouds opening to allow one last moment of sunshine before the storm began again in earnest. If it hadn't he might never have spotted the dark shape up on the hill. He approached it cautiously, hurrying when he saw the outline of a body spread out under a cloak already coated with snow. He turned the prone figure over and his breath caught. Carolyn was almost blue in the cold, her skin like ice and snow caked on to her cloak and dress. "What are you doing here?" He didn't really expect a response. He checked her briefly to make sure she was still breathing and then picked her up carefully and carried her back to the village. Laying her out on the straw mat, he covered her with a blanket while he built up the fire.
Thinking back on the men at Valley Forge who lost fingers and toes to frost bite he knelt and removed her boots and stockings and positioned her feet closer to the fire. He took her hands and held them between his own blowing on her fingers to try to warm them. He thought briefly and then drew her fingers into his mouth, sucking on them lightly until the flesh began to warm. He switched to the other hand and considered her where she lay. Her breathing was still shallow and her skin like ice. The snow on her dress had begun to melt, soaking the cloth but she wasn't even shivering. The building had been designed to house more people. With just the two of them the fire was not enough to warm it fully. Connor did not mind the cold but he knew the dangers if she did not warm quickly. The little heat that had built up was rapidly leaving, being pulled away by the biting winds that rushed across the roof.
He sighed and pulled her up, his hands going to the laces on the back of her dress. Pulling the cloth down he saw why she wore such a high necked dress, the marks of fingers still visible though the yellow bruises were fading. He carefully stripped her of the wet clothes and laid them out by the fire to dry. He eyed his own wet clothing and removed it slowly before laying down next to her covering them both with the one thin blanket he had. He drew her back against his stomach and wrapped his arms around her, her icy skin leaching the warmth from his body. It seemed like ages before her breathing deepened, she began to tremble lightly and then to shake violently with the cold. He breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed her arm beneath the blanket but she still did not wake. He pulled her tight against him and held her until the shaking subsided, her skin finally grew warm to the touch and she began to relax against him. Sleepily she turned in his arms and wrapped up against him. He flushed as his body reacted to her presence, causing her to freeze in his arms. She opened one eye nervously and seeing him breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed against him again. "I'm freezing. Where am I?" She shivered and pressed herself up against him glad for his warmth. The memory of her cold and blue raced through him. "You're safe. You're with me." She struggled to keep her eyes open. "God, I'm tired." He swallowed hard and pulled her to him. "No, you have to stay awake. Wake up." He drew her beneath him and kissed her.
Carolyn awoke in the morning with a start. Aware of her unusual location she stat up quietly, wrapping the blanket around herself. Connor knelt by the fire, the smell of roasting meat filling the room. She spotted her clothes on the other side and walked over there, picking them up. "They're still wet." Connor pointed out. "I don't care." She shook her head and turned her back to him, starting to pull them on hurriedly. He watched her dress, her back to him. "You're awfully shy today." Her hands froze on the ties. "Funny. I don't remember undressing last night." He flushed as she tugged the dress into place firmly. Shivering she turned and moved closer to the fire, not meeting his eyes. "Contrary to what you may think, I'm not your whore. " He shrugged. "You didn't seem to mind the attention last night." The hands she held to the fire trembled. "I was half dead last night. Did that excite you? Is that why you do this?" He grimaced at her. "You were responsive enough for someone claiming to be half dead." "I came looking for you because I wanted to talk, I intended nothing more." He frowned, his voice steady in a low growl. "You went out right before a snowstorm to an area you were not familiar with, not knowing where you were going or how to get back. If I hadn't found you when I did you would have died." She stared into the fire. "Then you should have left me there."
He reached around the fire and offered her a piece of roasted rabbit the smell bringing back memories of their meal behind the house, the thought of the taste now ashes in her mouth. She shook her head. "I don't want anything." He sighed. "Don't worry. Last night didn't mean anything. Do not think that it means I changed my mind and intend to stay. I guess this was my turn to say goodbye. Tell me what you think need to tell me." He saw something flash in her eyes and held his breath. A mask of her own slid over her features and her back stiffened. He swallowed and waited, not sure even now that he knew what she was that if she cried and begged him to stay he would be able to deny her while he still had the scent of her on his skin.
She took a breath. "I'm leaving. The next ship I can get out of the colonies I'll take. I meant to ask you if you wanted me to leave the house until then. It is your house. It was before I came." She swallowed and continued. "Also I meant to ask you what I should tell people. People have noticed that the ship came in and you are not in town. As you are staying I thought it would be best you have a say it what people are told." He shrugged. "Well I suppose the truth is out of the question. You can simply tell them that we are no longer together and you are leaving. As far as the house you are free to stay there until you can get your boat. I'm fine here." She looked around the room. "Where is here?" "This is my village. Several families used to live in one of these buildings. I was born in one of these houses. It's time I stopped trying to be something I'm not. Ratonhnhaké:ton was good enough for my mother. It's a warrior's name, not a child's like Achilles gave me. " She looked around the empty space, his clothes and weapons hanging from the wall. "And they're all gone now?" He nodded "All headed west. You should really eat something." She stared into fire. "I want to go home." He looked across the fire at her. "You have not been outside. There's almost 3 feet of snow on the ground." She pulled the cloak tighter around her. "I don't care." He sighed. "Stubborn as ever. Let me finish eating and then I'll take you back."
Connor headed out first into the snow, breaking a path through the drifts. The air was icy but the sky clear and the sun reflecting from the snow was blinding. He pulled his hood lower, shielding his eyes. Carolyn followed in his wake, her skirts catching in the snow piled to either side of the path he broke, the hood of her cloak doing little to shield her eyes from the glare until she finally pushed it back in frustration. He kept his attention on the path before him and one ear on her labored breathing behind him. Her pace slowed and he urged her onwards. Finally gaining the road back to town he turned to consider her. She gasped for air, her face flushed. "Why is it so hot?" her usually deft fingers fumbled at her cloak, dropping it in the snow. She pulled at the high neck of her dress, sweating visibly. "Are you out of your mind?" He grabbed up the cloak and pulled it back around her shoulders as she pushed at his hands weakly. He grabbed her face and examined her. Her skin was burning to the touch, her eyes unfocused and her breathing heavy. "Dammit! Now what?" he swore.
The rumble of wagon wheels drew his attention and he flagged down the passing merchant. The man was disinclined to transport someone visibly ill but Connor persuaded him to take them at least to the edge of the homestead. He climbed up in the back, holding her to his chest. Her initial flailing died down and she eventually just laid there and rasped for breath. Reaching the house he put her in Achilles's bed and ran for Dr. White.