A/N
So, this fic has been changed to a M for safety reasons.
I really hope you enjoy, this was a fun chapter to write.
/
Down a dark, long tunnel the party were herded, shouts and the muffled sounds of battle all about them, confusing senses and bearings. Erin felt like she had no choice but to follow the hands and voices that ordered her ever forward. She chanced a glance behind her, seeking the form of Uncas, worried how badly he was hurt, she couldn't find him in the fray. Cora's hand found hers and Erin looked over to see that Cora held Alice clasped to her.
A group of officers were escorting them on either side, and then more came to greet them, bringing torches into the gloom; the man at the front bearing a uniform that stated his rank was higher than the others.
Duncan stepped forward. "I'm Major Duncan Heywood!"
"Captain Jeffrey Beams. We didn't think you'd make it through."
"I must speak to Colonel Munro urgently. His daughters are here too."
Captain Beams looked doubtful but raised his torch, illuminating the three, very muddy, bedraggled women. His lined face suddenly seemed to grow several more wrinkles. "Come with me."
They burst from the clammy darkness into the full roar of noise the fort contained. Men shouting, cannons blasting, babies crying and the lament of dying men. It sounded like a symphony of suffering. The smell of smoke was near choking and Erin coughed, all her senses feeling assaulted.
"Nathaniel, Uncas!" a voice hailed.
"I need to talk to you, Jack!" Nathaniel said, pointing towards the man who had spoken, who replied, with a disconcerted wave, that he understood.
"Thought you weren't joining up!" Another man was signalling to them from a part of the ramparts, barely making himself heard over the noise.
Uncas gestured a greeting back. "Didn't," was all he managed, as they were bustled ever onwards.
Through the mist of gunpowder a large building loomed, the door yawning open.
Another blast, and a part of the big wooden wall to their right exploded in fire and splinters, causing all three women to let out shocked gasps. Alice had begun to jog forward, spurred on by the chaos, and something else, a man making a determined beeline for them.
He was stocky but lean, with a perfectly coiffed and curled grey wig, a red coat laid carelessly across his arm as he hurried forward. Upon clearly seeing Cora and Alice, he visibly sagged in defeat. His worst fears had all come true within that harsh moment, his steps faltered, but Alice's only sped up.
"Papa! Papa!" She flung herself into his arms before he could speak.
"Alice, Cora! Why are you here?!" He embraced his daughters and then wrapped his coat tenderly about Alice's shoulders, and without a backwards glance to anyone else, he guided them towards the open doorway.
Those left hurried inside, to what was obviously the main part of the fort. Corridors winded out of sight into darkness, giving the place a labyrinthine feel. They were guided down one hallway, which was gloomy, with hardly any light, and then into a big room with a fire burning brightly in the hearth and candles scattered over tables and sideboards, a few more mounted on walls with silver shining plates behind them.
"Get Mr Phelps!" Munro directed over his shoulder, and a younger officer obeyed the command.
"Why did you allow them to come?" The question was angry and directed at Duncan, who looked flabbergasted. "Where the bloody hell are my reinforcements?"
Duncan looked like he was about to speak, but it was clear Munro had no intention of paying what he had to say any mind.
"For God's sake Cora, why didn't you stay away from this hell hole? I told you to stay away!" His rage was aimed at his eldest, chiding her for her age, for her responsibility to her sister.
Alice flinched at his raised voice and he reached out a hand to comfort his distraught youngest daughter with a slight pat on her back, reining in his tone and taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Why did you disobey me girls?" He sounded gentle but concerned, and bewildered looks were exchanged between the sisters, the realization slowly washing over everyone in the room.
A short moment of silence took over the proceedings as everyone stared in shock, everyone but Erin, who was slowly beginning to feel strangely numb, she felt like she was watching a movie again.
"When? How?" Cora searched for a defence.
"My letter..."
"There was none." Cora glanced at Duncan.
"What?"
"There was no letter." Cora looked frantic now.
"I sent three couriers to Webb."
Duncan stepped forward, ready to take on any responsibility. "One called Magua arrived, he delivered no such letter, Sir."
In the hot air of the room Erin began to feel sick, she reached out, grasping the back of a wooden chair as the people around her desperately tried to understand the situation.
"Does Webb not even know we are besieged?" Colonel Munro sounded stunned.
"Sir, Webb has no idea, and he certainly does not know to send reinforcements." Duncan looked back at Cora, dread finding them both.
Munro sagged again, his chin resting upon his chest in true defeat. When he looked back up, there was something different about his face, his eyes, he looked as though he was reeling and would stumble at any moment. Then he caught the concerned gaze of Alice, who expected him to make everything safe and sound, and he gathered himself, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth in fatherly comfort.
The Colonel took in a deep breath through his nose and reached out, his hand tenderly upon Cora's arm. "What happened to you?" The question was soft and directed at Cora, but Duncan spoke for her.
"An ambush on the George Road."
"We're fine," Cora reassured.
"Are you all right?" Alice said, soft and low, her eyes worried and upon her father, knowing that something was wrong, something she hadn't fully been able to form into true understanding yet.
"Yes," Munro answered, almost too quickly.
"What will happen here Papa?"
He embraced Alice, understanding her need for comfort. "It'll be all right girl." He patted her back with a tender rhythm.
"This Magua led us in to it. Eighteen men killed, the rest wounded, went back to Albany." Duncan continued, his eyes shifted to the three silent men stood in the shadows cast by the dim firelight. "These men guided us here."
Munro let go of his daughter and turned to Chingachgook, Uncas and Nathaniel. "I thank you. Do you need anything?"
A glance passed between the three.
"Help ourselves to a few horns from your powder stores," Nathaniel said.
"What else?"
"Some food," Uncas put in.
The Colonel nodded in understanding. "You shall have it. I am indebted to you. Go and get your side seen to young man."
This drew Erin's attention and she tried to move her head, but she felt very woozy, like she had when she'd drunk far too much vodka at her first party.
"You too Major, your shoulder is bleeding."
"Yes Sir, it is not deep," Duncan said, swatting away the concern.
"We also have another woman with us Father, her party was attacked on the road too," Cora added, and Erin felt all eyes upon her, she'd been hidden near the fireplace, at the back of the room up until that moment.
She meant to take a step forward to introduce herself formally to Colonel Munro but her feet felt leaden. She heard a feminine sharp intake of breath but wasn't sure who it was. The people in the room weren't just looking at her, now they were staring at her.
She chanced a look down and saw her once white sleeve was now a bright red, wet and grotesque in the dancing firelight, and the soft drip, drop of blood pooling upon the floor at her feet felt suddenly very loud.
The knowledge that she should probably have checked the wound she'd received outside the fort, then wrapped it up to stop the flow of blood, and also sat down when she felt dizzy, were all laughably apparent as Erin felt her stomach drop and blackness engulf her.
She may have been able to push out one last word, or she may have only imagined it in her mind, but it solidified the moment so well.
"Shit."
/
Erin thought she only blacked out for a few seconds, her body crumpling to the ground like a boneless rag doll. She was jostled back into consciousness as she was bundled up into someone's arms and carried, in a hurry of talk and movement, through the corridors and hallways, to a dark room that was cloyingly warm, with a strong odour of bitter herbs and iron.
Somewhere she could hear the faint cry of men in pain, and her fingers clutched at her rescuers shoulder, seizing the cloth she found there with cold hands. They smelled of sweet sweat and burnt wood, a musky earthiness that somehow felt comforting.
Her arm throbbed.
Gently she was placed upon a bed, and she gripped at her one solace of material for a moment as they pulled away. They stayed her hand with a kind patience, making her release her hold. She gazed up into the face of Uncas, a soft smile upon his lips in understanding, his dark eyes consoling her pain.
"Erin?" Cora's voice distracted her, breaking their eye contact.
Uncas moved aside, allowing Cora to come forward.
"Why didn't you say anything?" she scolded, and Erin fought back the pricking of tears.
"I didn't know, I was so swept up in everything," Erin said, limply, feeling like the blood was only just beginning to come back to her face and warm her clammy skin.
Cora already had a bowl full of steaming water, a clean cloth half dipped into it. "Let me see." Cora pulled a stool forward and sat upon it. Taking a pair of scissors she sliced Erin's sleeve fully open, exposing the still bleeding cut. Erin looked away, another wave of nausea threatening.
"Gross," Erin breathed, feeling the material sticking to her. She tried to focus upon her surroundings, an older man with a leather apron seemed to be tending to a solider nearby, a red and bloody wound upon his thigh, his teeth gritted as something black and hard was pulled out of his flesh.
"It's going to sting." That felt like the understatement of the year. Erin gritted her teeth, but huffed and puffed against the pain all the same, as Cora cleaned the wound. "It's going to need stitches." She tied a makeshift covering around it to stem the blood flow for the time being.
"Stitches, what?" Erin's wide eyes went from Cora to Uncas. "Can't you just wrap it? I mean stitches... it sounds like a lot."
"It's too deep," Cora shrugged, "too big, it won't heal on its own and you'll just keep bleeding until you faint again."
"I did not faint!" Erin was indignant. She was not some wilting wallflower, overcome by the vapours at the slightest thing. She was a modern 21st century woman, she did not... faint!
She heard Uncas chuckling and gave him a narrow eyed glare.
"Perhaps you just needed to sleep."
His timing of deciding to tease her was not appreciated.
Cora gave him an angry look over her shoulder and his smile faded.
"I'll leave you be," he said, and made to walk to the door.
"Oh no you won't!" Cora demanded, stilling his steps. "You'll roll up your shirt sleeves and help me."
His mouth formed a small 'O' in question.
"Look, this is all getting out of hand, let's just wrap it up and leave it be, OK?" Erin said, trying to sit up, but Cora pushed her back down.
"Pass me that pot, the cat gut and needle." Cora wriggled her fingers towards a shelf and Uncas obeyed, bringing the objects to her. "And that bottle, the brown glass one, that spoon too." Again, she pointed to what she needed. "Sip a little of this, it will help with the pain," she said, not looking at Erin but still addressing her.
Uncas placed the items on to a table near Cora before retreating back towards the doorway, arms crossed in silent acknowledgement that he would stay.
"Cora, I said no," Erin said, trying again, "I don't want stitches." She was pushed firmly back again.
"If you don't get it sewn up, it will turn bad and you will get sick. This is the only way Erin."
"I said no!" She pushed back against Cora, and the two women struggled for power over the other for a few seconds.
"Fine," Cora said, finally letting go. She turned to Uncas. "Hold her down."
"Miss?" Uncas' eyes passed from one woman to the other.
"Sir, I said hold her down, unless you want her wound to fester. If she cannot do what is right for herself, we must do it for her."
Erin felt the ripple of panic skitter across her scalp and her eyes met his, holding for a very tense moment, deciding if he would dare to try. Her eyes narrowed, mouth set in a grim line. Uncas watched her calmly, and Erin got the distinct and rather unnerving feeling that this is what a deer felt like when in his line of sight.
Then she was up, off the bed and darting away. He caught her easily about her waist before she'd made it even half way to the door, and she writhed against him, trying to get any kind of upper hand. She felt one of her shoes come loose and had to abandon it in sacrifice to the fierce war between them, that was, in reality, rather one sided. He brought her struggling and kicking, without much effort, back to the bed.
"For God's sake Erin, stop this nonsense!" Cora was not impressed by all the drama.
Uncas put her on the cot, his hands curling around her upper arms, forcing her to lie back and holding her down.
"No, don't, I can get help later, I swear it, just bandage it and I can..."
Cora quickly pulled off the bandage and studied it for a moment with a keen eye. "It's not bleeding as much, that's good, but it is still bleeding. I just need to wash it a little more." She poured some cool water carefully over the wound, washing the rest of the blood away, giving her a clean area to work with, and sending a jolting shock of pain through Erin's nerves and she cried out.
"Stop, stop!" she panted. "No means no, I do not give my consent, do you hear me?! Does that mean nothing!"
Of course it did not. They did not understand her ravings, and she could not explain why she was so opposed to the barbaric ways of 18th century medicine. Cora re-wrapped the wound tightly and wiped her hands carelessly upon her skirts, making Erin wince at the mere thought of all the thousands of germs. Cora turned back to the table, pulled out a dripping piece of cat gut and deftly threaded a curved needle, before placing both items back into the bowl. She picked up the bottle and spoon and returned her attention to Erin.
"Open your mouth." Cora sounded stern and only brought images of a certain Nurse Ratched to Erin's mind, which only made her want to be all the more stubborn.
Erin pushed her lips tightly closed, chin jutting out in defiance.
"Erin, it's for your own good."
Cora thumbed off the cork and poured out a good measure into the large spoon, the liquid was a deep brown in colour, she reached for her patient and Erin jerked away, stating in that one movement she was not going to co-operate.
"Hold her!" Cora sounded like a captain directing their troops. "Your full weight, Sir."
Uncas pressed his chest down upon Erin, making any attempt of movement hard, the pressure causing the edges of her tight stays to brush against already raw bruises.
"Ow! Get off me!" Erin's voice was breathless and did not sound the least commanding.
"Erin." Cora's authoritarian voice drew Erin's eyes from glaring stubbornly at Uncas. "If I spill any of this I will skin you, do you understand me? We cannot afford to waste this medicine as things stand. Be still and let me do my work."
Erin's eyes drifted from Cora to Uncas. He raised his brow, stating clearly that none of this was his doing, and she should really do as she was told.
With a roll of her eyes Erin opened her mouth a few centimetres and Cora poured the liquid between her lips, the bittersweet taste glancing across her tongue and making her pull a face.
"Swallow," Cora instructed, and Erin gulped, submitting, but feeling rather bullied.
Uncas made to move, but Cora stilled him with a light touch to his shoulder. "A moment, if you'd be so kind."
The minutes crawled by, as Erin tried her hardest not to squirm against the body that held her, the closeness feeling highly improper, even for her own sensibilities. Uncas tried gallantly to avoid looking down at her, finding a spot straight ahead to be intensely interesting.
Finally, she began to feel a little strange, the fight ebbing out of her like she was being slowly drained of all will and control. Her breathing slowed, and she felt Uncas respond, his weight shifting back upon his own feet, his hands still encircling her upper arms in gentle but firm restraint. Her mind started to float away and a sleepiness began to pass softly through her body, starting at her head and moving down to her feet.
She groaned, wanting to move away from the feeling, but it followed her like a tune she couldn't leave behind, and left her body feeling heavy and leaden.
"What... did I... take?" Erin's words were slurred, speaking felt like a hardship, the words barely able to pass her lips.
"It will help," Cora repeated.
"Drugged!" Erin said, as if she were Sherlock Holmes, solving all the clues to a dastardly mystery.
She saw Uncas turn, trying to hide a smirk, and suddenly disliked him immensely.
"Sadist!" she mumbled, and saw the hint of bemused humour glint in his eyes.
She felt Cora take her arm and the now thoroughly soaked through bandage was removed. Then there was a dull, far off pain of a needle pulling through skin, the sensation washed through her nerve endings, making her feel as if she may either throw up or fall asleep, she couldn't quite decide.
Erin could feel sweat gathering on her brow and tossed her head side to side, trying to move and rid herself of the sudden hot flush, and the gnawing pain as her flesh was pierced and pulled over and over, but Uncas held her in a firm grip and her attempts were lacklustre. He was mumbling something low and sweet, his voice seemingly vibrating in her own chest, the sound soothing. It was a word her mind wanted to translate as 'be calm', but she felt somehow it was more kindred with a sentiment like 'hush.'
When Cora was done and the wound bandaged with strips of silk, Uncas gently let go and Cora tried to give Erin a comforting smile.
"See, it wasn't so bad."
Erin wanted to give them both sour looks, but instead she promptly fell fast asleep.
