Chapter Text
Alice desperately watched Uncas fighting Magua. While the young Mohican was a skilled warrior, he was no match for the experienced fierce Huron. Uncas had several knife cuts and judging from the blood stain on the shirt a gash tomahawk wound on his left was getting bigger by a minute. He lifted his eyes and looked at Alice trying to communicate how sorry he was for not being able to rescue her. The woman’s gaze was full of concern and fear, but also showed how deeply she cared for him, more than for anyone or anything. Besides, Uncas saw a hint of determination in her eyes when she broke free from the Huron who was holding her arm.
The Mohican tried to fight with the last bits of the strength left in his body, but it was not enough. When Magua threw Uncas down the cliff, Alice started moving towards the edge. She wanted to be with her love, at his last resting place. Magua saw her determination, which Uncas had noticed moments earlier and was at first mesmerised by it. He did not expect it from this weak Yengeese girl. But the Huron made a noticeable effort and broke the spell. He grabbed Alice’s wrist and pushed her back to his men. She was not going anywhere; she was to stay with him. That was what the sachem had decided.
When Chingachgook arrived at the scene with Nathaniel at his heels, there were no Hurons in sight but the dead bodies of those dispatched by Uncas. The elder Mohican looked over the cliff edge and saw his son’s body stretched on a stone that was held in place by two tree trunks. He gave a sign to his white son who was looking around surprised to find no trace of Hurons or Alice. Nathaniel came closer and together with a considerable effort they managed to pull Uncas back on the cliff. Cora showed up panting heavily and ran straight to them.
“Is he... dead?” she stammered while Nathaniel was trying to feel Uncas’ pulse.
“Let me,” she touched on the side of the neck. “A weak pulse is there, but we need to stop the bleeding, otherwise he is not going to make it,” she resumed professionally. Suddenly, a thought hit her, “But where is Alice?” Cora started to look around frantically. “Alice..”
Nathaniel put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug, “I will track them down. As soon as we have taken care of Uncas.”
That night, they found a shelter in a large cave. Cora stitched Uncas’ wounds and set his dislocated shoulder. All of them prayed to whichever Gods they knew that Uncas would survive the night and that he would be spared a fever. It was decided that Nathaniel would leave early in the following morning in search for Alice. Nathaniel went to the mouth of the cave for the first watch, while Chingachgook was keeping vigil at his son’s side.
Their prayers were answered at first. The night was uneventful and in the early hours Uncas stirred and opened his eyes.
“Alice...” he moaned. In an instant, everybody was with him.
“I am going after her, brother,” Nathaniel said, “I will track the Hurons down. I am leaving right away. You fight for your life, understand? You must survive! I love you so much, brother.” Uncas gave the slightest of nods and fell back into unconsciousness again. Nathaniel hugged Cora tightly and kissed her. “Don’t expect me back too soon. It will take a while,” he whispered.
“Take care. Come back to me, to us... with Alice,” she pleaded. “God speed you,” thought the young woman watching Nathaniel’s back as he left.
In the following days, Uncas remained weak and eventually the injuries were taking their toll. His body succumbed to fever and he slid into delirium. Chingachgook and Cora took turns wiping him with a cold, wet cloth in an attempt to break fever. Uncas mumbled Alice’s name over and over again and something unintelligible, at least to Cora, in Mohican.
“What is he saying?” she asked Chingachgook.
“He says he is sorry for your sister. Sorry that he could not save her,” came a reply. However, Chingachgook’s pensive look suggested that there was more to what Uncas had rambled, something the elder was not sharing with Cora.
“Why did Uncas race after her alone?” Cora inquired.
Chingachgook raised his eyes up to the sky meeting the cave ceiling with his gaze instead, “Only Great Spirit knows. Was reckless.” Cora shook her head slightly. Uncas had never appeared an impulsive person to her because he was not such one indeed.
“You know why, Chingachgook,” she thought to herself, “and I suspect, I do, too.” She realised that Uncas cared deeply for her sister, that he loved her, more than life itself. Cora hoped, it would not create an awkward situation, once Alice was back. If she were ever to come back, an inner voice warned. Cora wished above all for the safe return of Alice together with Nathaniel. Her wish was, however, not to be granted.
A fortnight after his leave, Nathaniel appeared at the cavemouth with a sombre, apologetic look on his face. He was alone. By then, Uncas’ fever had long broken, and he was gaining strength with each passing day. Given the extent of his former injuries, his recovery was surprisingly swift. He, Cora and Chingachgook all looked up at Nathaniel, anxious to hear his story.
“I tracked the Hurons up to Magua’s village, where he had apparently held Alice captive,” Nathaniel started in the earnest tone, “but by the time I arrived there, the village had already been raided and burned down. Magua did not survive, he caught fire, I saw what remained of him.”
“And Miss Alice?” came Uncas’ deep concerned voice.
“Brother, I am glad you to see you feeling better...” Nathaniel noted.
“But what of Alice?” both Cora and Uncas simultaneously cut him off.
“Of her, I have only found this,” he removed a large piece of cream-coloured cloth from his bag and gave it to Cora.
She inspected the fabric, “Alice was wearing this dress... then.” She swallowed.
“Did you track the raiders?” Uncas demanded sharply.
“Yes, brother, I did. But they quickly came to the road where regular soldiers had been walking and nothing could be discerned there. There were no female footprints or traces on the way to the road. I am so sorry,” Nathaniel looked at Cora ignoring Uncas. He came closer to tightly hug the young woman who started sobbing on his chest. Nathaniel murmured soothing words in English and Mohican into her ear and gently stroked her hair.
As Uncas was clearly unsettled, Chingachgook came forward and put a hand on his shoulder, “Your brother is an excellent tracker. He did everything in human power, everything that could be done.” The elder hoped with all his heart that Uncas would not take off in a foolish action to look for Alice.
On the following day, the group left the cave and headed for the cabin the Mohican family built in a forest clearing previous year in order to have a place to stay on their travels. It was several days of walk away from the cave. They formed a silent, sombre procession with everybody focused on own thoughts. Cora’s grief for her sister was evident on her face and in her posture with drooping shoulders and slow steps. Nathaniel tried to support her offering his hand where possible. Uncas who took a piece of Alice’s garment with Cora’s permission to store in his supplies bag retrieved the cloth from time to time to look at it tenderly, to bring it to his lips and to touch his cheek with it before putting it back into the bag again. On one evening, he sewed a pouch for the cloth and attached a string to hang it around his neck. Usually not a man of many words, Chingachgook said almost nothing on the entire journey and appeared to be contemplating the future. Once the travellers reached the cabin, he did not have the heart to bring up moving further west with Uncas to winter with Delaware. Observing his blood son, he figured that the only possibility for Uncas to settle down and to start a family and for Mohican blood to be carried on had disappeared together with a pale, golden-haired English girl.
Later that month they travelled to Albany where Cora and Nathaniel registered their marriage. It was a quiet affair as Cora was still mourning Alice. Nathaniel’s suggestion to retrieve the trunk she and Alice had left at the boarding house before going to Fort William Henry brought her to tears and Nathaniel quickly dropped the subject. Everything in Albany was a painful reminder of Alice to Cora and she just wanted to leave the town. Alice was also on Uncas’ mind as he moved around lost in thought, almost mechanically. Upon their return to the cabin, he took to frequent hunting being away for several days sometimes. Uncas made sure there was no shortage of meat at the cabin, but it did not bring him the pleasure it used to do. The joy was gone from his eyes, until Cora gave birth to baby George. Uncas eagerly spent time with his nephew, and these were the moments his face lit up a little.