"If we can't even find each other, the Abenaki won't be able to find us. Stop worrying, and let's go." This time Hunter took her firmly by the hand and shortened his stride to match hers. He had to be brave for her, but just being with her again gave him courage.
* * *
Stretched across Hunter's lap, Alanna slept soundly until the first rays of the morning sun grew too bright to ignore. She stirred slightly, but because Hunter was still sleeping, she chose to snuggle against him rather than stand up and stretch. They had walked for hours before stopping, and she hoped they would not have too much farther to go that day to reach the trading post.
Easily frightened, she grew tense when she heard a whistle that sounded too shrill to come from the birds who had begun to sing before dawn. She hoped it was merely her own nervousness rather than imminent peril, and attempted to listen carefully and analyze what she heard. Fully alert when the whistle came again, she was positive it was answered by a human voice speaking a language she didn't know.
"Hunter," she whispered. He opened his eyes, and she reached up to silence any response he might have made with her fingertips, then gestured toward the path that lay just a few feet away. "Someone's coming," she mouthed silently.
Hunter slid her off his lap, and then quickly surveyed the spot they had chosen to rest. He had purposely left the trail to provide them with a secluded hiding place, but now that he saw how little cover they really had, he pointed toward a cluster of blackberry vines and signaled for Alanna to follow him. Still carrying their weapons, he stayed low as he circled the vines, and when she joined him, he pulled her close.
"If it's the Abenaki searching for us, I'll let them pass and take another route back to the trading post. If they see us, I'll kill as many as I can, while you get away. Then I'll follow you."
"Don't ask me to leave you. Let's both go now."
"They're too close, they'd hear us. Don't argue with me about this, Alanna. I owe you my life, and I intend to safeguard yours."
Alanna reached for one of the muskets. "Is this loaded?" she asked.
"Yes," Hunter assured her.
Alanna swallowed hard. She had had no choice about shooting Blind Snake, but she prayed these Abenaki would not force her to kill again.
Impressed by her confidence, Hunter gave her a quick kiss and picked up his bow and an arrow. "Pray they don't see us," he whispered.
Alanna was already doing that, but she crouched even lower, desperately trying to make herself invisible. There was another whistle, this time much closer, and she was so frightened she had to remind herself to breathe. She dared not faint when the Abenaki would pass by so close she could almost reach out and touch them.
When the Abenaki
at last came into view, they were traveling in a single file, spread out with several paces between them. The first man was moving slowly, scanning the trail before he took each step, but if he had been following their tracks, he missed seeing the place where they had turned east to stop for the night. He kept right on going past them. The next man in line glanced neither to the right nor left, and their hiding place remained undiscovered.
Peeking through the vines, Alanna began to count, three, four, five, as the Abenaki braves continued to stream by. It was the seventh man who gave a shout and started for them, but Hunter grabbed Alanna's wrist to stop her from firing. Terrified, she watched the brave bend down to peer into the vines. He was so close, she thought he could probably hear the frantic pounding of her heart, but Hunter remained motionless, and she followed his example. Her knee had begun to ache again and holding her cramped pose grew increasingly difficult, but the Abenaki brave persisted in his lazy perusal of the vines.
That his friends had kept on going rather than join the curious brave gave Alanna hope that he had not signaled a warning, but expecting to be sighted any second, she was nearly limp from anxiety by the time he straightened up and followed the others down the path. She set the musket aside and collapsed against Hunter. "I thought he would see us for sure. Was he just looking for berries?"
Equally exhausted by worry, Hunter sat down and tried to catch his breath. "Yes, that's why I let him live. Fortunately, none of these vines' berries were ripe enough to pick, or they might all have decided to join us for breakfast. Luck is still with us."
Alanna wasn't sure luck had all that much to do with it, but as composed as she was likely to get, she got to her feet. "You said you knew another way back to the trading post?"
Amazed that she had recovered so quickly from such a terrible scare, Hunter also rose. They still had some of the venison jerky left, and he handed her a strip. "Better eat this. To avoid the Abenaki, we'll have to swing farther to the north. It'll be a longer trip. Can you make it?"
Alanna bit off a piece of jerky. "I shall have to."
"Does that mean yes?"
Having spent a cold and restless night, Alanna felt anything but energetic, but she tried to smile. "Yes. Lead the way."
"You're a very brave girl."
"I certainly don't feel brave. I just want to go home."
Hunter rested his hand on her shoulder. "You're with me. You're already home."
Alanna reached up to give him a kiss, but, as she saw it, they were lost in the forest and being chased by thirteen Abenaki braves who were eager to see them dead. That wasn't her idea of being home, but she thought better of contradicting him. Instead, she slung the musket over her shoulder, and gestured for him to blaze the trail.
* * *
Despite the danger they were striving to avoid, Hunter set a leisurely pace, and they did not arrive at the trading post until the afternoon of the following day. While Alanna sat on the steps, Hunter went inside to see what he could learn about the Abenaki. All she wanted was to take a hot bath and sleep for a day or two, but she was soon surrounded by half a dozen trappers who stood regarding her with lascivious sparkles in their eyes.