A/N

Music this time, Wilma Holmes - Out Of Touch

/

It was early afternoon that they emerged, sweat soaked and nearly spent, into a clearing, the trees falling away to an open meadow, and Erin felt her heart leap at the sight. There, amongst the swaying grasses was a burnt out cabin, still in the same state it had been when she had last stood at this place.

The Camerons'.

They were so close.

Chingachgook let out a low statement that he guessed they were only a few hours from their final goal now.

"Rest," he said, with a distracted wave back towards his companions.

"But... we are only a few miles from the falls, Father!" Nathaniel argued.

"We need rest. Can't take the mule the rest of the way, too much rocky ground, which means we will have to carry your brother. No good if we collapse half way there and can't get back up. Rest."

They eased Uncas down upon a blanket, brought him a little out of his shivering stupor and made him drink as much as they could before he became distressed and tried to bat them away.

As Erin watched them go about the necessary tasks of making a short term camp, she began to understand from what was said, the very way the men spoke, their entire body language and the sorrowful mood that clouded everything they did, that if they did not reach their target by nightfall at the latest, Uncas would not see another dawn.

They all finally sat in a crumpled heap, too exhausted to cook anything to feed their gnawing stomachs, instead eating what stale bread, cheese and dried meat they had left. The unappetizing meal was washed down with generous amounts of fresh water.

The day was a little cloudy and Erin silently felt grateful for this small mercy, at least the burning sun had not been beating on their backs all day.

Nathaniel said he knew of a nearby well the Camerons had used for their water source, so he set out on the short journey to gather more, knowing they would need it.

In the tension of their travels, Erin had forgotten all her own injuries, the cuts and bruises only remembered when she clumsily brushed against them thoughtlessly, which she now did in wiping away the sweat upon her face, wincing and letting out a low hiss of pain at the sensation. She knew she must look quite the bruised mess, the cuts upon her cheek and lip now a crusty mass of scabs, but none of it mattered, only this last push mattered.

She glanced around, and seeing Chingachgook was busy sorting through various bags, she discreetly pulled out her phone, something Erin had avoided doing in fear that it had finally died, and would be of no use to call for help when they crossed over to her time. Erin had already gone over, ad nauseum, within her mind what she would do if that was the case. As much as she hated the idea, she would have to leave Uncas alone at the waterfall and then follow the little solar-lit path down to the big meadow.

The Big Circle re-enactment would be over now, nearly two weeks after she'd first arrived in 1757, and there would be no people there to offer her aid. So, she would just have to travel on another mile to the civilian campsite where she knew there were bound to be people, families on vacation, which meant human contact, phones, help.

Erin took a deep breath and, making sure she was fully hunched over the screen, so only she could see any light, she pressed the button and stilled. A faint illumination appeared, the screen softly glowed and numbers became visible.

10%.

She did a little covert fist pump in celebration and quickly turned off the screen, hoping that small number would be enough.

Erin pushed the phone back into her pocket and leaned back, her legs stretched out before her, hands supporting her weight behind her. She slowly became acutely aware that since Nathaniel had left, the air had felt just a little heavier, a sensation Erin had attributed to her own tight, fraught nerves, but even after the good news that her phone still worked, the feeling didn't lift. Erin turned her head to see Chingachgook's eyes upon her, scrutinizing her in the same way she thought she had seen when they were in the cave behind the big waterfall. He continued his blatant study of her without any discomfort that he now knew she had noticed him, and Erin's brain buzzed with something to say to break the sudden muggy tension.

"I will not ask what you cannot give, although I know my son will ask it," he said, without any explanation.

Erin was a little taken aback with how straightforwardly and calmly he addressed her, as if she would somehow understand the context without any more being spoken. She frowned, trying her best to gather together thoughts that would make sense. "Do you mean... Uncas?" Her tone was unsure, hesitant.

He shook his head slowly, but his eyes remained knowingly on her.

"Nathaniel, then?"

He nodded. "Do what you can for Uncas. Make him happy if you have the power. If you do not, let him find his own path. I will ask for no more than that."

Erin's frown deepened. "But... he wants to come back, and I will do all I can to make that happen. I promised-"

"Promises you cannot give." He heaved himself up and without any further words he went to Uncas' side, setting to the task of grinding herbs to help Uncas get through the next few hours, mumbling a low quiet song meant for his youngest son's ears alone.

Erin watched him a moment, not truly knowing what had been asked of her, or just what Chingachgook thought Nathaniel would ask of her. She lay back upon the grass, the summer breeze welcome upon her damp skin, and she allowed her eyes to close for whatever brief sleep she could find.

/

Erin awoke from a light doze only a short time later as Nathaniel returned, carrying a heavy load of water skins. Her eyes went instinctively to check on Uncas, he was sleeping once more, his father lay nearby, seemingly in deep sleep too.

Her mind fluttered for a moment, remembering something she had forgotten over the last few hours, something she had promised Uncas she would do, but in the hurry of their travels it had been fully disregarded. Cora's letter.

Her hand went reflexively to her pocket, feeling the crinkling of the paper within, she glanced up at Nathaniel as he busied himself in tying ropes together. Erin remembered the men had said something about making Uncas a sling out of blankets and rope, so that they could carry him upon their backs in turns the rest of the way. Erin had offered to carry anything else she could feasibly manage, but both men had agreed they would hide some things in the rubble of the cabin until they returned.

Erin paused a moment, hand clutched around the material covered paper. She wondered if she should just hand over the letter to Nathaniel, but she remembered that Uncas had said Cora had meant the letter for her. Erin felt reluctant to read it, afraid that she would just feel angry at her friend, when all this time the imagined encouragements of the Munro sisters had kept her going most of this hard day. She didn't want to dislike Cora for her choices, but she feared that was all she would feel. A friendship broken, a bond snapped, and Erin wanted to keep up the pretence that she didn't know, that she didn't have to face it, that nothing had changed.

Knowing she was doing her usual tack of avoiding hard situations, Erin set her jaw, fully aware that Cora deserved the right to have her say, to tell her own story. Erin would have to deal with whatever came after, no matter how it made her feel.

She reached within her pocket and pulled out the paper, it was scrunched up after being so carelessly stored and she smoothed it out between her palms, careful not to smudge the already rather splotchy ink writing. Erin took a small breath in and let her eyes settle over the words.

Dear Erin,

I earnestly wish I could have told you what was to come, and I wish still that you will never read this letter, but if you are reading this, Uncas has become too sick to continue. I did all I could for him in the short time I had, but I know this wound will be his end. I am sorry and heartsick over this most unwelcome news. Please know, I am grieving with you. I did not make my choices carelessly, but with much inner reflection on what was the best for the situation and what Uncas wanted. I am unsure if I made the right choice, but I must believe I have, and your heart is not wounded beyond repair from what I know may feel like my unkind silence.

Uncas told me he wished to take you home, to your own time, and although I do not fully understand what he means, in some ways, I believe I do. He fears for you to remain here, in this place without him. If the worst should come and you cannot return home, you have a place here with Alice and me, should you need it. My dear friend, I sincerely hope you do get home, even if it will be with a heavy burden of sorrow. I wish I could somehow lighten it and share your pain, all I can give you is my esteem and deepest feelings of warmth, and to write to tell you now, that you are all forever in my thoughts.

I implore Nathaniel to take you the rest of the way and keep his brother's oath, if Uncas cannot. As much as I wanted to tell you and Nathaniel of Uncas' fate, I knew I would be betraying what had been told to me in the strictest confidence. I could not refuse his last request, it is a noble one, to see a loved one to safety. I hope you and Nathaniel can forgive me, I understand if that is now impossible, but I have to stand by my own convictions. Please tell Nathaniel I love him more than I dare write here and if he cannot come back to me, my heart will break, but I accept it as a consequence.

Yours in deepest respect and affection,

Cora.

Erin brushed at her nose, re-reading the letter more than once, searching for that unpleasant feeling of indignation and blame, but it didn't come. She could imagine Cora in this very moment within Fort Edward's walls, sat in a silent dark room as she was consumed by anxiety and worry and deep bone gnawing guilt that she had not made any of the right choices - that her friend now despised her, that the man she loved was lost to her, and that a man she admired was slowly dying somewhere out in the wilderness.

She could easily comprehend Cora's own nervous disquiet that when she arrived at Albany in a few days, she would wait fruitlessly for a man who would never return.

Erin was a little surprised to find she could only feel sympathy and understanding. Now she was sat here on the edge of any potential future for Uncas, Erin didn't truly think Cora's knowledge of this situation would have changed much in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps Erin and Nathaniel would have come to the same conclusion, that Uncas going with her was the only way? She would never know. What she felt fairly certain of, was that these facts would only have brought dread, worry and maybe even delay in their travels. They all may have been at another fort or town's doctor's surgery, or heading to a distant village seeking reprieve, instead of on the cusp of what could be salvation.

Erin took another deep breath in and looked up towards the engrossed form of Nathaniel. He hadn't really said anything about Cora's part in all this, but Erin knew he must be aware of it. She could now guess that Cora's frantic whispers to him at Fort Edward upon the parade ground were in relation to this very subject. Was he angry? Could he forgive Cora, or was this something that would break them apart? Erin bit her bottom lip fretfully.

Maybe she could help him understand.

She quietly got to her feet, hoping not to disturb those who still slumbered, and made her way over to where Nathaniel sat, crouching to her haunches beside him and extending out her hand, letter and all. He glanced at her with a raise of inquiring eyebrow.

"It's from Cora," Erin affirmed with a certain, encouraging nod. "I think you should read it too."

Nathaniel hesitated for only a moment, his eyes going to Erin's own, before he finally took the letter and gave it a quick casual read over without any ceremony, then handed it back with a disinterested air. But Erin could see from a subtle clench of the muscle in his jaw, that he had been affected by its contents. He set back to his work upon the ropes as if he hadn't been disrupted at all.

"Also," Erin pushed, "Uncas told me to tell you, not to be angry with her," Erin said, trying not to muddle her words.

"Easy to ask for favours, when you are the one dying," Nathaniel snorted.

"True," Erin said, somewhat understanding his reluctance to concede. "But Cora's intentions were good, I don't think she meant to hurt any of us. It's standard doctor patient confidentiality, I guess."

"What?"

Erin huffed out a breath, a little frustrated that nothing was simple to explain here. "I mean, when a doctor or nurse hears something private, they have to keep it private, even from family and loved ones, like... a priest and a confessor."

"Sounds like Yengeese nonsense," he dismissed.

"To you, maybe, but not to Cora. It's part of her principles. She was respecting what your brother wanted."

He glanced up at her, his eyes narrowing. "She should have told me plain."

"Maybe, but can you at least try and understand why she didn't?"

"I can try," he said, giving the rope a sharp tug. "Can't say it'll work though. Some things aren't meant to be understood. Cora and I can't help but see life from a different view. Like she's up on a hill and I'm in the grasses," he said, signalling with a single subtle jut of chin to their surroundings.

Erin apprehensively bit her lip again, not liking the sound of this at all. "Can... you forgive her?" she asked tentatively, fearing the worst.

He stopped what he was doing as if suddenly extremely annoyed with her prying, that same muscle in his jaw tightening. "Miss Cooper," he said very tartly, "I love her, I will always forgive her." He set roughly back to his work. "I didn't track her half cross the country to discard her at the first hardship."

"Oh!" Erin let out a noise of delight, her heart lifting in a wave of warm comprehension.

Seeing her relief, Nathaniel furrowed his brow. "That doesn't mean I'm not angry as hell, but I'm angry at the situation, not at Cora."

"I see," Erin said in agreement, but she didn't feel she had an ounce of energy left in her to feel angry at anything anymore.

"I would be angry at my brother if I didn't know his actions came from a place of love too. Looks like, there isn't anyone to be angry at in the end, got to feel it, then let it go. Keeping it will rot you out from the inside."

Erin nodded in understanding and looked up at the sky, watching as a few trilling small birds came sweeping down and soared level with them for a moment before disappearing into the grassland.

Nathaniel was once again engrossed in his work but his frown seemed to be unmoving. "What is your home like?" he suddenly asked, jerking Erin's gaze back from the scenic nature around them.

She considered his question for a moment, not really sure how to answer. "In some ways things haven't changed, while in others, it feels like a different world. I suppose it's similar to this time, but with more tolerance, easier lives for some, better medicine... like everything, it has good and bad." Erin didn't want to give off any impression that she thought where she was from was superior, it felt arrogant.

"Kinder?" he asked, still not willing to look up from his work.

"Sometimes," Erin said.

He gave a rough grunt in understanding. "And what did my brother have to say about it?"

Erin felt a fleeting heat rise in her cheeks, as she remembered feeling like she had browbeaten Uncas into submission, but tempered it down. "I didn't give him much choice in the matter," she gave a heavy sigh, "but he accepted it, I asked him to trust me and he said he did. I can't ask for more than that."

Nathaniel was still intent upon creating another knot in the rope, tugging at it with little expressions of effort, and silence fell over them like an uncomfortable blanket. Erin's thoughts raced with topics of discussion that would ease Nathaniel's mind. She could perhaps tell him more about how good the medicine was, how food was plentiful, how much Uncas would be accepted, but Nathaniel didn't give her chance to form any of it into words.

"Are you in love with my brother, Miss Cooper?" The question was full of animosity and accusation.

Erin instinctively felt all her defences rising up to surround her. "Well," she said with a huff of embarrassed prickly laughter, "just get straight to the point, why don't you?" Her reply actually caused him to smile very briefly and she felt herself warm a little despite his blunt, hard manner. "I don't know, maybe. I think I could, if I let myself."

"But you haven't?"

"Haven't?" Erin questioned, deliberately being annoyingly wilful in her misunderstanding.

"Let yourself?" He glanced away, another wry smile upon his lips.

"Not on purpose, no," she said, retaliating with her own sarcastic smile.

This brought another breathless laugh from him and he shook his head, finally looking over at her. "You really aren't like anyone I've met before, you know?"

"Is that so?" Erin said with a raise of her brow. "That might have something to do with me being from... you know, the future." Erin wiggled her fingers at him as if she were a mystic casting a spell, she knew she was being rather childish.

"Could be," he conceded. "I thought I'd met someone different and defiant in Cora, but you, you don't talk back, you bite back! Too forward for your own good. Get you in serious trouble one day."

"Lots of women speak their mind freely where I'm from," Erin said, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm sure you'd find them all just as insufferable."

"I have a hard time imagining any other woman as outspoken as you."

Erin gave a rather tight smile. "Don't think many of them would find you charming either." Now she knew she was being insolent but she couldn't help herself, all his words felt like an underhanded attack.

"Well, I'm used to that," he gave her another droll smile and shook his head.

Erin lowered herself to a sitting position, wincing as her muscles let out painful protests at the position she'd been crouching in all this time.

"Nor do I know anyone else lacking such basic common sense. My father, the preacher, when my brother and I were boys, taught us all the principles to get us through trading with the white men, living alongside them with as little trouble as we could make. Only way to live. You," he said, with another soft snort of laughter, "you burst into every situation like you know better."

"Well, sometimes I guess I think I do," Erin said, giving him another antagonistic smile. "Hard to accept my 'place' here. In my time, women, they are equals, they have rights, jobs, pay... I don't like being treated like I don't matter, that what I say is meaningless, that I'm stuck in invisible shackles."

"I can understand that, a little too well, if only for how I see my father and brother being treated, and me... only when they see I'm neither British, French nor colonist." Nathaniel glanced at her, his expression softening. "An' I don't mean it as a slight, just a statement of facts. You're not like other women I know."

Erin rolled her eyes, "That would be used as a slight in my time."

"A slight?" Nathaniel rocked forward a little, stopping his work, now fully intrigued.

"Yep. Women... well, some women, hate being told that. A lame pick-up line, or a way to say you are better than other women." She gave him a withering look over. "'The, 'you're not like all the other girls' crap. It's cheesy."

"Cheesy?" Nathaniel said, as if just trying out the word.

"Like you are trying too hard to be accepted or too hard to stand out... I don't know!" she huffed, annoyed with herself as well as him. "Hard to explain."

"So..." he hesitated, "nothing to do with actual cheese making then?"

He said this sentence so seriously that it made her laugh, "No, not really."

"Your time sounds like a strange place."

"Compared to here, I guess it's the strangest." She tilted her head and grinned.

"Uncas will have his work cut out for him then, sounds like a constant fight, but not on a battlefield, learning how to live a different way."

"I'll be his lieutenant then," Erin confirmed, with a rather sombre air, and she wasn't sure if it was her words or her expression, but he began to laugh softly.

"In different times, I believe you and I could have been friends, Miss Cooper."

"Are we not friends?" she pushed a little tactlessly.

"Hard to be friends with someone you know is taking someone you love somewhere you can't follow."

Erin frowned. "I'm not trying to take him away. I promised him, I'd do whatever is necessary and within my power so he can come back and make his own choices."

Nathaniel gave a few dismissive nods, scoffing at her words with an unkind curl of tongue against lips. "Easy to say such grand things when you haven't put it to the test. Greed, want, desire... all strong emotions, all hungry wolves looking for a good feed."

"Hang on!" Erin countered, recoiling a little as if his words had somehow stung her. "Did you just compare me to a greedy wolf, Mr Poe?" Erin thought, rather pettily, that if he was going to be formal, so was she.

He laughed again, obviously unfazed by her irritation. "Nope, just saying things as they are."

"Well, I keep my promises... mostly," she amended, and Nathaniel raised a brow at her, waiting for her explanation with wary eyes. Erin tightened her lips, she could play along with this little game. "When I was six I promised my friend, Ada, the last piece of apple pie." Erin sniffed, avoiding his gaze. "I promised I'd watch it for her, be its guard and give it back to her, and instead, I ate it and I didn't feel a bit guilty. Still don't. It was real good pie. I guess that day I was a greedy wolf." She paused for effect. "Luckily for you, Mr Poe, I know the difference between a pie and a person."

He stared at her a moment and blinked a few times before he let out a loud boom of laughter and then quickly stifled it into his shirt sleeve in hopes that he had not disturbed the others. But it was all in vain as the sudden noise had made Chingachgook stir, and with a quick wilful look towards each other they relented that this conversation was over for the moment.

/

A/N

Friday is here and this time so am I. I was put out of commission by illness, but here I am determined to finish posting this story.

Sorry for the long break in posting, all should be back to normal now.

So, what is Nathaniel going to ask I wonder? Hmm let's see next time. This chapter was a little lighter this time, with Erin and Nathaniel having a wee nudge at each other. I think Nathaniel is testing how far he can push her, but let's see...

Anyone reading, you are most welcome here. Thank you for giving your time to the story.