Nooch: Mohican word for father

Chapter 21: Time to Say Goodbye

"I feel as though I'm about to open Pandora's Box."

Standing beside the kitchen table, Tom cast a suspicious look at the small wooden chest he had placed on top of it. Simple in design and obviously hand crafted, the strongbox was the size of a lunch cooler, with a very old padlock securing it from being opened. From the moment his late mother's attorney arrived unexpectedly with this new delivery from her estate, Tom had felt uneasy. Usually he was delighted when a clerk from the law office came by, because it always meant he was about to receive a new diary. But today was the first time the attorney made the delivery himself. That deviation from the norm, combined with the delivery coinciding with Uncas and Alice's disappearance, and the item being a locked chest instead of a journal, set this particular heirloom apart from all the others. Staring at the chest with a sense of foreboding, Tom feared what its contents would be.

Not helping the situation was what the lawyer, Mr. Kimble, had told Tom before he departed. Up until now, all Tom had known about the handing down of the heirlooms was that Cora Munro and her husband, Nathaniel Poe, began the tradition by giving the items and a history of the family to the oldest of their children. They also gave strict instructions that the items and family history were to be passed down to the first born child of each consecutive generation by the current possessor, along with an ominous warning that nothing was to be divulged to or discussed with anyone who wasn't a future or prior heir. That included any mention of the physical descriptions of the diaries and Uncas' musket. If these rules were broken, and anything was shared with an outsider, family or otherwise, it was made clear to each consecutive heir that a terrible tragedy would befall two beloved family members, and would affect future generations to come.

The mystery of why his ancestors had demanded complete secrecy be maintained had always puzzled Tom, as did the fact that his mother had broken that tradition by publishing one of the diaries, and sharing the history of the family and the heirlooms with Anna. But when the lawyer took Tom aside to speak to him privately, some of the conundrum became clearer to him. And he had a dreadful feeling that the contents of this chest would answer any lingering questions he still had.

While Tom pondered the chest, Anna, Cora, Norman, and the Spencers stood around the kitchen table with him, waiting in silence for Tom to explain his remark about Pandora's Box. With a palpable feeling of trepidation filling the air, Cora finally spoke up.

"Dad, what's going on? You looked pretty shook up when Mr. Kimble arrived with this box, and you went white as a sheet when he spoke to you in private by his car just before he left. What did he say to you?" she asked. Still staring at the wooden chest, Tom replied.

"Aside from telling me that this is the strangest estate request he's ever handled in his entire career, he also told me something that answered a nagging question I've had for some time now."

"What question is that?" Norman asked. Expelling a deep breath, Tom began to explain.

"As the next in line to inherit the estate, my mother explained the rules regarding my inheritance on my eighteenth birthday. After giving my promise to follow those rules to the letter, she told me the history of my family, and showed me the musket and diaries that she would one day pass down to me. This included the diary that was eventually published, along with the ones Cora Munro wrote prior to her arrival in the colonies. Mom also told me that other items would be forthcoming at later dates, but that she was not at liberty to tell me what they were or when I would receive them. All she would say is that I would have to wait until they were delivered to me. From that day forward, Mom drilled into me the need for secrecy regarding the inheritance. Then out of the blue, she suddenly announced several years ago that she was going to publish one of the diaries in the form of a book. And she told Anna everything she had told me about the inheritance. Needless to say, I was shocked."

"I remember that." said Anna. "You questioned why she was breaking the terms of the inheritance, but she refused to tell you her reason for doing so."

"No she wouldn't." Tom replied, with a hint of resignation in his voice. "All she would say is that I had to trust her, and that I would find out why at the proper time. Which apparently is now. You see, when Mr. Kimble took me aside, he told me that Cora Munro left two special sets of instructions for my mother. One instructed Mom to publish one particular diary into the form of a book and publically distribute it, and to include the family history in that book as well. Cora also designated a specific time for this to be done. The other instructions pertained to the distribution of the heirlooms to me, including the staggered delivery dates of the additional diaries, which no previous heir, including my mother, was allowed to read. Neither Mom nor I were mentioned by name in these instructions, only as the eighth and ninth heirs to the estate. But Mr. Kimble said that the way these letters were worded and addressed, it was as though Cora Munro knew who we were."

"Oh my god." Elena whispered as Richard placed his arm around her shoulders.

"It's all just coincidence." Anna argued, still unwilling to face the mounting evidence that Uncas and Alice were back in the 18th century again. Frustrated, Cora looked over at her mother.

"Mom…" she started to say, but stopped when Anna raised her hands dismissively and glanced away.

"Out of all those diaries, how did your mother know which one she was supposed to publish, Tom?" Norman inquired.

"By a number marked inside the leather cover, along with a physical description of the journal itself, and a brief description of its contents." Tom explained. "I often wondered why Cora numbered each diary, and I assumed it was simply a way for her to keep them in chronological order. She may have done, but I also believe it was to identify that specific journal. My mother instructed Mr. Kimble, per Cora Munro's instructions, to share this information with me when the time came to deliver this chest. She also told him, again as directed by my ancestor, to inform me that up until now all of the previous heirs, including my mother, received the entire contents of the inheritance all at the same time. I am the only one to receive specific items on specific dates, again per Cora's implicit instructions."

Pausing for a moment, Tom took a deep breath and pointed at the chest.

"The timing of this latest delivery is no coincidence." he continued. "I think the tradition behind this entire inheritance was a very carefully orchestrated effort on the part of Cora Munro and Nathaniel Poe to get these various items into my hands at specific times, and to get that one particular diary published, knowing that Norman would read it."

Staring at the wooden chest, Norman shook his head in disbelief. "It's as though Cora Munro was leaving clues for us so that we would know who Uncas and Alice were when we met them." he murmured.

"That's exactly what she was doing." Tom concurred. "Which means she and Nathaniel knew about us. And that sends shivers down my spine because there's only one way they could."

"Then there's no doubt anymore." Richard conceded. "That time collision did send Uncas and Alice back to the 18th century. Otherwise there's no other reason to explain why the Poe's arranged all of this. Or would even have known how to go about it for that matter."

"But why all the secrecy?" Elena asked. "So many people throughout the generations were deprived of their family history because of it."

"That's exactly why." Cora replied, who like her father was putting the pieces of this mysterious puzzle together. "My namesake knew these items would pass through many hands over the course of two hundred and fifty plus years. By limiting who knew about the items and the family history, she made it impossible for Uncas and Alice to have this knowledge unless they were who they said they were. If the information outside of that one diary had been allowed to become general knowledge over the centuries, we all would have continued to assume that Alice and Uncas were two victims of violent trauma, suffering from amnesia and assuming the identities of two historical figures they'd read about. Cora Munro wanted to ensure that didn't happen. And I think she especially wanted to keep the contents of this chest secret as well, because what's inside must be something that no one but us would understand."

"Then I think it's time we find out what this box contains." Tom stated with resignation.

"And why Cora Munro went to so much trouble to get it to me."

"Did Mr. Kimble give you the key?"

Running his hand over the locked chest, Norman admired the craftsmanship of the piece while asking Tom if the lawyer had provided a means to open it. As Norman took note of each detail of the chest's construction, it became obvious to him that a lot of love had been put into it by its maker. Further inspection revealed the inscription "NP, December 1758" neatly carved into the bottom of the chest, confirming it had been made by Nathaniel Poe, and when he had made it.

"There is no key. Never has been." Tom replied, as he rummaged around in his portable tool box for a hammer and screwdriver. "Cora and Nathaniel wanted to make sure no one but me opened this box. I'll have to break the lock in order to get inside."

"It's a shame you have to do that." Elena said with regret. "That lock is an antique."

"I know." Tom agreed, still rummaging for the right tools. "Locks like this were rare in the colonies at that time. Nathaniel and Cora must have paid a pretty penny to purchase it. I hate to break it, but without the key, there's no other way to get it open."

"Wait. Maybe there is." Richard suggested. "Give me a can of spray lubricant, and that case of small screwdrivers. And the thin drill bits too."

"What are you going to do?" Elena asked, peering over her husband's shoulder to watch.

"I'm going to see if I can pick this lock." Richard replied, inserting the spray can's applicator straw into the keyhole and squirting the lubricant inside. "These old 18th century locks didn't have complicated mechanisms like modern locks do, so it should be easy to open once this lubricant loosens everything up inside. The mechanisms are probably frozen solid after sitting around for over two centuries."

"You know how to do that?" Cora asked in amazement, while peeking over Richard's other shoulder as he also carefully lubricated the iron hinges on the lid and hasp.

"Yeah!" Richard laughed. "I was a big fan of Sherlock Holmes when I was a kid, and I always dreamed of becoming a private investigator when I grew up. So among other things, I taught myself how to pick locks. But instead of becoming Sherlock Holmes, I became Doctor Watson instead!" he added mirthfully. "Still, the lock picking came in handy in college whenever Norman and I wanted to play a prank on somebody!"

"I remember that!" Norman chuckled, as Richard prepared to work on the lock. "I've got some stories I can tell you about this guy and our college shenanigans. But that's for another occasion."

Having decided on two particular tools, Richard inserted them in the keyhole and began to manipulate the lock's internal mechanism. Everyone fell silent, and watched intently as he jiggled the tools in the keyhole. In less than a minute, he began to feel things moving inside. "Okaaay. I've almooosst….GOT IT!" Richard triumphantly declared as the padlock popped open with a loud click.

Grinning proudly, Richard stepped aside so Tom could stand before the chest. With nervous hesitation, Tom stared at the strongbox for a moment.

"I'm afraid to open it." he admitted. "I have this awful feeling that whatever is inside is going to change our lives forever."

"Do you want me to open it, Dad?" Cora offered. "I'm the next in line to inherit it, after all."

"No honey, I'll do it." Tom replied, smiling at his daughter for offering. "I have to do it. For myself more than anything else."

After carefully removing the padlock from the chest and lifting the hasp, Tom opened the lid, revealing two packages lying inside of the box. Both had been carefully wrapped in brown parchment that had been sealed with wax, then wrapped in twine around all four sides, the knot having also been secured with red sealing wax.

As everyone observed the contents of the chest, their eyes were drawn to something that had been written on the parchment wrapping of each items. Clearly written in Cora Munro's distinctive handwriting, the message on one package indicated it was to be opened immediately, while the other stated it was not to be opened until after dinner that evening.

Following the instructions, Tom picked up the package he was to open. With great care, he cut the twine and broke the wax seal on the parchment, then gently unwrapped the fragile paper, revealing a leather bound diary. Retrieving the reading glasses he'd set down on the table, Tom slipped them on and opened the cover of the journal. Silently, he began to read the beginning of the first entry, and after a moment, he could only stare at what was written on the page.

"My god." he finally whispered, his expression changing from surprise to grim acceptance of what he'd just read. Turning the page, he saw the entry went on for several pages, much longer than any Cora Munro had written in previous diaries.

"What is it, Dad? What does it say?" Cora asked. Glancing at Norman and the Spencers, she could tell they were as anxious to know what the book said as she was. Only her mother was not. Standing beside Tom, Anna glared at the second package still in the chest as though she dreaded knowing what it contained as much as what the diary would say.

"It um….it begins with an unusually long entry, dated the day Uncas and Alice went missing on their hike." Tom explained. "I'll read it to you." With a deep sigh, he sat down and began to read as everyone else took a seat as well.

"August 10th, 1758. They are alive! Alice and Uncas are alive! Words cannot describe the immeasurable joy that I, Nathaniel and Chingachgook feel to be reunited with them! What a delightful and unexpected change from the somber mood we felt earlier today, when we arrived at Promontory Mountain to offer our prayers to Alice and Uncas a year after we thought they had perished there at the hands of the Huron. Our sadness was great as we approached the cliff, the deep wounds of our grief still raw and unhealed. My eyes were wet with tears, and I saw Nathaniel and Chingachgook swallow hard, their own eyes moist.

As we approached the base of the mountain, we looked through the trees ahead and were surprised to see two people falling to the ground. We hastened forward, and could not believe our eyes when we saw Alice and Uncas lying at the foot of the precipice. At first we feared to approach them, believing them to be the spirits of their former selves, like we saw a year ago a few days after their deaths. But when Uncas began to moan and move his head from side to side, our feet could not bring us to them fast enough! They are alive! How this miracle occurred, I know not. Nathaniel and Chingachgook cannot understand how this is possible either, despite Uncas and Alice's best efforts to explain it to us. It all seems so fantastical. Not only the phenomenon that transported them to another century when they fell from the cliff a year ago, but also how strange it will be 255 years from now. But it matters not, because they are alive, and fate has brought them back to us again! And to that, our joy knows no bounds!

As I write this, I cannot help but steal glances at Alice and Uncas as they lay sleeping beside each other in the camp we have made for the night. I still cannot believe they are really here! And married no less! I knew during our ordeal last year that Alice was attracted to Uncas, but I never thought her feelings ran deep enough to marry him. The lives they were each raised to are completely different, making them complete opposites of each other. But to see them together now, I see that they are not opposites at all. They are totally suited to each other, and I now cannot imagine Alice married to anyone else. What they went through together, both at the hands of Magua and in this place they have been living since their disappearance, proves they would endure and sacrifice anything for each other. Theirs is a unique love that runs exceptionally deep. And their wedding sounded so beautiful too. Oh how I wish I had been there to share that special day with them. My baby sister. My little Alice. A married woman. And to Uncas no less, her Mohican warrior. I am so very happy for them! As are Nathaniel and Chingachgook.

For their part, Alice and Uncas are as delighted to be reunited with us as we are to be with them. And they were thrilled to meet their little nephew, Edmund. Yet there is a sadness in those two. Nathaniel and Chingachgook can see it as well, and it troubles them as it does me. The three of us had a chance to speak of this in private earlier this evening. They have made the same observations that I have, and share my doubts and fears. We first noticed it as soon as Uncas and Alice's initial surprise at being reunited with us wore off, and the reality that they had returned here from where they had been for the past year began to sink in. In fact, this place where they have been living, and the people they know there, are all my sister and her husband can speak of. It is obvious they miss this place that has been their home for the past year, as well as their new friends. They made lives for themselves there. Lives they did not willingly leave behind. And I wonder, as do Nathaniel and Chingachgook, if Uncas and Alice will be happy living again in the time they were born to, or if they are even capable of living here anymore, based on the changes we have seen in them.

Life on the frontier is nothing like what my sister and brother-in-law describe the future as being. It is unlike even the most modern of cities in this time, including London. Truly the world will be a very different place in another 255 years. I cannot comprehend it, nor would I want to live there. Everything about this place…and about Alice and Uncas…is so different. The clothes they are wearing, the way they now speak, their names for each other, the strange belongings they possess, especially those objects they call smart phones. And then there is Alice's key chain and Uncas' shirt, items they purchased this morning. Both are imprinted with an image of Fort William Henry, which apparently has been rebuilt as something called a living history museum. How ironic that Uncas and Alice lived that very history when it occurred, then returned to that same place so many centuries later, walking amongst people who had no idea where they came from.

But what astonishes me most of all is the brazen way Alice now behaves. She is so open in her affection toward Uncas, touching him in a manner that makes me blush. Even now, the intimate way she is curled against him as they sleep is so unlike her. I understand they are married, and their intimate conduct is perfectly fine for when they are in private. Nathaniel and I are no different. But to behave that way in front of others is another matter entirely, even if we are family. And earlier when she undressed to bathe. She did so with no hesitation in front of all of us, stripping down to items that can barely be called undergarments, I thought I would die from embarrassment! It was bad enough when Uncas removed all of his clothes as well, save for a form fitting cloth garment covering his private area that left nothing to the imagination. Alice then proceeded to frolic about with Uncas in the water in the most scandalous of manner. Then the two of them walked back to camp in this same state of undress, with their scanty garments now wet and clinging to their bodies even more than before. I could not believe this was my little Alice. I understand that we now live on the colonial frontier, and are no longer in London. But I could see that even Nathaniel and Chingachgook were uncomfortable with their behavior. I must have a word with Alice at the proper moment. No doubt Uncas' father will have a word with him as well.

It is getting late, and tomorrow will be another long day of travel afoot. So I will end this entry with a wish, which I make on a falling star I just chanced to notice. My wish, my deepest wish, is for Alice and Uncas to be happy here with us."

After Tom finished reading the first entry, the kitchen was quiet as a tomb as everyone comprehended what Cora Munro had written. Finally, Norman broke the silence.

"Well. That confirms our suspicions as to what happened. Uncas and Alice were at the Point when that time collision took place. And just like the last time, they got caught in it again."

"What does the next entry say, Dad?" Cora numbly asked.

"The next one is dated two days later." Tom explained. Again, he read out loud.

"August 12th, 1758. Yesterday morning we began our return to the cabin we'd been living in, following my father-in-law's suggestion that we stay there until we can decide where we will go from there. If we can come to a decision soon enough, there will perhaps be time to reach this new destination before the first snow. But more likely than not, we will spend another winter at the cabin. Uncas suggested we make the cabin our permanent home. But in truth I do not think neither he nor Alice care much as to where we stay, since the home they want to live in does not yet exist. I feel so bad for them, for they miss their house so much. It was a lovely home, as I could see from the images of it that Alice showed us on her phone, and I can understand why they miss it so. Both of them are clearly unhappy with the thought of having to rebuild their lives yet again, and in the time they were born to, and I share Chingachgook's concern as to whether their marriage will survive now that they are back here with us.

Our return trip so far has been uneventful, and tonight we made camp at the edge of the forest beside a beautiful meadow. It is pretty here, and is such a peaceful place. It is a place where we would normally have enjoyed staying, and I believe that is why Chingachgook chose it. But something happened as we were setting up our camp that changed all of that. Uncas recognized the meadow. Apparently, it is where the farm they lived on will one day be located."

"Oh my god!" Cora whispered, covering her mouth in shock. Glancing around the table, Tom met everyone stunned expression with his own. Shaking his head, he sighed and continued reading.

"It broke our hearts to watch Alice and Uncas as they walked out into the meadow, holding each other tight while pointing out where everything would one day be located. To say they were devastated when they returned to camp would be the greatest of understatements. And we did not need to ask them where their house would be. We knew it was where they had both fallen to their knees and wept, clinging to each other for comfort. Both of them refused their evening meal tonight, despite the fact that we had fresh meat and delicious wild roots to eat. Instead, they sat on their blanket for the remainder of the evening, deeply depressed and speaking to no one.

There was a magnificent display of color when the sun set tonight, but my sister and her husband paid no attention to it. I can well imagine them having enjoyed many such sunsets on their back porch, and perhaps that is why they could not bring themselves to watch this one. It brings back too many memories of happy times that are now too painful to remember. As soon as darkness fell upon us, Alice and Uncas laid down to retire for the night. My sister curled up against her husband and was asleep almost immediately, exhausted from the day's long walk, and from crying for most of the evening. Uncas laid awake however, deep in thought as he stared up at the night sky. He did the same earlier today as we traveled through the wilderness, staring at the ground lost in his thoughts instead of keeping alert for signs of danger. This behavior was worse than it had been the day Uncas and Alice returned to us. During that afternoon's journey, Uncas had focused on looking for familiar locations, and reminiscing about what would one day stand in those places until his father finally signaled him to be silent.

Uncas was more vigilant after his father's warning that day, but even so I frequently witnessed him

nudging Alice while pointing to a particular area. And it was the same during yesterday's travels. But today he paid no attention to his surroundings at all. At least when he was looking around for familiar places, there was a chance he would spot something amiss. But he would not have today.

Uncas' constant distraction puts our protection solely in the hands of Nathaniel and Chingachgook, who could greatly use his help. They alone must bear the task of keeping us safe, both on the trail and in keeping watch over our camp at night, a duty they must split between them. They refuse Uncas' offers to take a turn standing guard, for fear that he would serve as much good as placing our safety in the hands of my infant son. This behavior is so unlike the Uncas of old, who I once knew to be an alert and astute warrior, always aware of his surroundings, and constantly watching and listening to the forest for the slightest indication that something was not right. It is as though Uncas has forgotten the dangers the wilderness holds, and clearly has no interest in resuming his former lifestyle.

This troubles Chingachgook and Nathaniel deeply, and I share their fears as to whether Uncas is capable of returning to his former way of life. His and Alice's survival depend on this, and if he cannot recover his focus and his skills as a warrior, I fear for their lives. I must confess that tonight, I am filled with a deep sense of foreboding for what lies ahead."

"Wow." Richard commented, after Tom finished. "It sounds like Uncas and Alice are having a hard time adjusting to being back in the 18th century."

"Yeah." Norman glumly concurred. "They're happy to be with their family again, but they're not happy being back in colonial times."

"And to think that's all they wanted when they first arrived here." said Cora, staring vacantly at the chest. "To go back home to the 18th century and find their loved ones. And now that they are back, and they have found them…they want to be here with us. If it wasn't so heartbreaking, it would be funny."

"Why did this have to happen?" Elena softly cried as she leaned against her husband. "I miss them so much."

Slipping his arm around his wife's shoulders, Richard pulled her close to comfort her as she wept, pressing his cheek against her head.

"We all do, babe. We all do." he murmured.

While the exchange between his companions took place, Tom turned the page to the next entry. As he read it to himself, his face suddenly went pale. Quickly, he began to flip the remaining pages, giving each a brief scan before moving on to the next. Upon reaching the end of the diary, he slowly lowered the book and stared blankly at the table top. His actions went unnoticed by all except Norman, who had been watching him as his thoughts drifted over memories of Uncas and Alice. After witnessing Tom's reaction to whatever he'd seen in the diary, he dreaded finding out what Cora Munro had written next.

"What is it, Tom? What's in that next entry?" Norman asked, steeling himself for the reply as everyone else focused their attention on Tom as well.

"There's um…..there's a gap in the dates after that last one. The next is dated several weeks later." Tom explained. Reluctantly, he began the next entry.

"September 2nd, 1758. It has been weeks since I have written, this being my first opportunity to do so. We only just returned home to the cabin this afternoon, and we are all exhausted. The journey home from Promontory Mountain was long and arduous, and one that was frequently fraught with danger. Several times we encountered raiding parties from enemy tribes, which resulted in our having to take shelter and hide each time until the danger had passed and it was safe to travel again. Despite our caution, one encounter resulted in a deadly skirmish with a small group of Abenaki. We prevailed in our battle against them, thanks to the fighting skills and marksmanship of Nathaniel and Chingachgook. But the cost of this victory was great. As we looked over the bodies of the dead, we mourned their loss deeply. They were so young, with their whole lives ahead of them. If only we had followed Uncas' suggestion, we never would have crossed paths with those Abenaki that day, and the dead would still be alive.

Oh I miss Alice and Uncas so! I cannot believe they are gone. We all feel their absence, but none so much as Chingachgook. There is a deep sadness in my father-in-law's eyes, deeper than I have ever seen in them before. And although he has not spoken of it, I know he now regrets his decision to not do as Uncas suggested. But he must live with that decision now, as must my husband and I. And we must all accept that Uncas and Alice are gone…and that we will never see them again."

A paralyzing silence settled over the room, broken only by the soft whimpers coming from Cora and Elena. No one could believe it.

Uncas and Alice were dead.

Numb, Norman stared at the tabletop, then glanced at the equally stunned and bereaved faces seated at the table with him. When Cora completely broke down, he took her into his arms to comfort her. Across the table, Richard did likewise with Elena. Closing the diary, Tom removed his reading glasses and slowly laid the book on the table. Beside him, Anna sat ramrod straight in her chair, her face revealing an inner struggle to come to terms with the fact that Uncas and Alice were gone. Suddenly, without warning, she leapt out of her chair with a strangled cry, and bolted out the back door.

"Anna?"

Softly calling his wife's name, Tom paused just inside the back door of Uncas and Alice's kitchen. Quietly, he watched for a moment as Anna sat across the room, crying convulsively in one of the plaid chairs in front of the large stone fireplace. In her hands, she hugged one of Uncas' denim work shirts, which had been sitting on top of Alice's sewing basket on the opposite chair, waiting to be mended. Moving away from the door, Tom crossed the room and took a seat beside her on chair he pulled over from the large kitchen farm table. Gently, he placed a comforting hand on her arm to console her as she grieved. Meanwhile, Norman, Cora, and the Spencers slowly made their way into the kitchen as well. After watching the older couple for a moment, they left them alone and began to wander about the downstairs rooms, immersed in their own grief.

Everything in the house was exactly as Uncas and Alice had left it five days ago when they went on their outing. The sewing basket on Alice's fireside chair, the grocery list she was putting together on a magnetic notepad attached to the refrigerator, and a cookbook lying open on the kitchen counter with a sticky note marking the page for a recipe she had intended to make. On the wall next to the refrigerator was a black slate chalk board with "Uncas' Honey-Do List" burnished into the top of the decorative wooden frame, and several uncompleted tasks written on the slate in chalk. Carefully suspended over the kitchen fireplace was Uncas' musket, and hanging on a peg near the back door was the black baseball cap he loved to wear. And in the bedroom, sitting on top of Alice's dresser, were the two stuffed reproductions of the original Tigger and Pooh, propped up beside the Winnie the Pooh storybook Alice loved to read to Uncas.

Fingering one of the ears on the little bear, Richard swallowed hard as he remembered the day he gave the toys and the book to Alice in the hospital. Glancing about the bedroom, his eyes settled on a picture frame on Uncas' nightstand containing a photograph of the young couple, their bright smiles a testimony of how happy they were when the photo had been taken. As the image of his young friends blurred, Richard blinked several times to clear the tears welling up in his eyes. Wiping away several that ran down his cheeks, he left the bedroom and returned to the kitchen, joining a weeping Elena where she stood in front of the refrigerator. Watching his wife tenderly running her fingertips over Alice's neat handwriting on the grocery list, Richard's eyes drifted over to Uncas' to-do list on the chalkboard, a mix of Alice's precise script and Uncas' less careful scrawl, hers in pink chalk and his in blue. Noticing the various chores had been prioritized with pink stars, some of which showed signs of having been crossed out with blue, erased and rewritten in pink again, Richard chuckled softly as fresh tears began to form.

Nearby in one of the small bedrooms just off the kitchen, which Uncas had commandeered as his temporary workshop, a grim Norman and Cora held each other as they stared at an unfinished wooden rocking chair sitting on a tarp in the middle of the room. On the floor beside the chair was a paint brush and a can of wood stain, which Uncas had intended to apply to the chair. Allowing their gaze to wander, they noted pieces of wood in various sizes neatly arranged on one side of the room, and the hand tools Uncas used to construct his furniture organized on a makeshift work bench on the other. And tacked up on a bulletin board beside the work bench were the plans for the workshop Uncas was going to build for himself, along with copies of several order forms for custom pieces he had been commissioned to make. Orders which would now go unfulfilled, and a workshop that no longer needed to be built.

Unable to stand being in the room anymore, Norman and Cora also returned to the kitchen, sniffing and wiping away their tears as they rejoined the others. Taking a seat at the large wooden farm table, the couple glanced about the room as each of them recalled memories of all the happy times they'd spent in this house with Uncas and Alice. Still seated beside Anna, Tom absently caressed her arm as she leaned against the back of the plaid chair, clinging to his other hand for comfort. Vacantly, they stared at the wood Uncas had neatly stacked in the iron grate inside of the fireplace, in anticipation of the first cool evening on which he and Alice would have enjoyed a relaxing fire after a long hard day. As Norman's gaze roamed the kitchen and settled on Uncas' black baseball cap, he remembered that Tom had leafed through the rest of the journal before reading the second entry.

"Just out of curiosity, what was in the rest of the diary?" he asked Tom.

"I only skimmed over it." Tom explained. "But as best as I could tell, the remainder pertained to everyday life at the cabin. I scanned the pages for Uncas and Alice's names, and only found brief mentions of them here and there, briefly stating that the family missed them very much. The remainder of the entries are extremely short, taking up only one page, if that. And occasionally two very short entries shared a page, probably in an effort to conserve paper. And there are gaps in the dates as well, where she must not have felt there was anything worth writing about, or just didn't have the time. The last entry was dated the following year in the summer of 1759, somewhere in late June. She wrote about baking a cobbler with the wild strawberries she picked that morning."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Tom massaged the bridge of his nose before saying something he knew no one wanted to hear, not even himself. When he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion.

"I know what happened is hard to accept, because we all loved them so deeply. For one beautiful year, Uncas and Alice were a part of our lives, and we must be grateful for the time we were able to spend with them. But they're gone now. And whether we want to or not….we have to let them go."

"It's time to say goodbye."

After taking one last look around Uncas and Alice's kitchen, the grieving Van Houten family and their friends exited the home that Uncas and Alice had loved so much. As Tom closed and locked the back door, Norman held the screen door open for him while Cora, Richard and Elena waited for him on the enclosed porch with Anna. Once the door was secured, they descended the porch steps, each of them taking note of Woody the cat as they passed him by. Still huddled on the same step he'd been sitting on for the past five days, the runty little tabby continued to wait for Uncas and Alice to come home. Listless and looking thinner than usual, the condition of the depressed kitty confirmed Tom and Anna's suspicions that he had stopped eating. Any lingering doubt was erased by the untouched cat food in the bowl in front of Woody. Deeply concerned, Cora paused at the base of the stairs.

"Poor little guy." she said, as she reached over to pet Woody's head. "We've got to get him to the vet. He's going to die if we don't. Uncas loved Woody. He'd never forgive us if we didn't do something to try and help him."

"Why don't you and I take him?" Norman suggested to Cora, who nodded in agreement. Also reaching over, he scratched behind one of Woody's ears, drawing a faint croaking meow from the little feline. "Is there a carrier we can put him in?" Norman asked.

"There's one back at our house." Tom replied. "We brought it over this morning with the intention of taking him ourselves. I'll call the Veterinary Hospital and let them know that you and Cora will be bringing Woody instead of Anna and me."

Numb with grief, the three couples reluctantly left Uncas and Alice's little grey house behind. Slowly, they began to walk back to Tom and Anna's farmhouse, the men with an arm around their woman's shoulders, and the women holding their man about his waist. Their movement was slow, their steps heavy, laden with the weight of their devastating loss. Before they were half way between the two houses however, they came to a stop as a US Forestry Service SUV sped into the driveway with its horn honking frantically. Behind the wheel was Brian, and in the passenger seat beside him was Peggy. Spotting his friends walking down from the grey cape cod, Brian turned his vehicle to the left and veered off up the section of the dirt driveway that branched off towards the house.

Hitting the brakes, he skidded the SUV to a stop a safe distance in front of the sad group, kicking up a cloud of dust behind him. As the doors of the vehicle swung open and the occupants got out, The Van Houtens, Norman and the Spencers stood frozen in their tracks. After a few seconds, Anna covered her mouth with both hands and let out a shrill cry.

"Hey everybody! We're home!"

After exiting the back seat of the SUV, a smiling Uncas and Alice came around to the front of the vehicle and stood beside an elated Brian and Peggy. Grinning broadly, Uncas waited for a reaction from the stunned group of individuals standing before him. And he soon got one when, en masse, they rushed forward, laughing and crying at the same time as they surrounded him and Alice in a group hug. In a blur of tawny colored fur, Woody also came racing over to greet Uncas and Alice, weaving his way through a forest of legs while repeatedly croaking his raspy meow, which he continued to do even after Uncas scooped him up.

Having wisely stepped out of the way, Brian and Peggy laughed along with their friends as they watched everyone take turns lavishing Uncas and Alice with hugs and kisses while telling them how much they were missed. Even Woody showered his returning 'parents' with affection, licking and rubbing his face on Uncas and Alice as they took turns cuddling the purring kitty. Gradually, each member of the happy welcoming party took a few steps back to give Uncas and Alice some breathing room.

"What happened to you?" Anna excitedly asked, as everyone tried to calm down. "We searched all over for you. For days and days. But we couldn't find you. Where have you been?"

"Back in the 18th century. In 1758 to be exact." replied Uncas, who along with Alice looked completely worn out and relieved to be home. "Alice and I have so much to tell all of you. And I know you must have a million questions for us. But before we get to all of that, would you mind terribly if we took a hot shower first and changed our clothes?" he asked.

"It's been a long five days."

"Do we have any pickles?"

In no time at all, the Van Houten household was bustling with activity as preparations for a celebratory dinner commenced. While Uncas and Alice headed upstairs to take a shower in their old bedroom, Brian and Peggy went to their friend's home to get them some clean clothes. Meanwhile in her kitchen, Anna prepared the ground beef mixture she would form into hamburgers, while Elena and Cora worked on the side dishes, a garden pasta salad and a tossed salad of fresh greens with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Outside, Tom readied his grill for the burgers, while Norman and Richard set up an eating area on the screened in side porch with two long folding tables placed end-to-end, and folding chairs. That done, they covered the tables with vinyl tablecloths, and set the top with citronella candles, plates, glasses, silverware, napkins, and an assortment of condiments to accompany the meal.

As soon as Brian and Peggy returned with the clothes and brought them upstairs, they also pitched in with the party preparations. While Peggy helped Anna assemble the ground beef into patties, Brian was put in charge of refreshments. Immediately, he began slicing up lemons for the ice tea Anna had made that morning, and brought the spigotted glass jug containing the tea out to the porch. He then went to work on making a batch of watermelon water from his own recipe. When he was done, Brian placed a large pitcher of the tasty beverage on the porch table, along with an ice bucket. By the time a refreshed Uncas and Alice came downstairs and entered the kitchen, the impromptu dinner was nearly ready.

"Feel better?" a smiling Tom asked, as he entered the kitchen carrying a foil covered platter of piping hot grilled burgers.

"Much!" Uncas replied, savoring the aroma of the burgers as Tom walked by him. "You know, my whole life I never thought there was anything better than taking a bath in a lake, stream or river after a long hard day of hunting and trapping. I still enjoy swimming in them. But I gotta tell you, nothing beats a good hot shower!"

"Indeed!" Alice readily agreed. "And of all the showers I've taken over the past year, I never enjoyed one as much as I did this one. Is there anything we can do to help with dinner?" she offered.

"Nope!" Cora cheerfully assured her. "We've got this shindig under control! You two are the guests of honor, so take a seat on the porch, relax, and prepare to be spoiled rotten and waited on hand and foot!"

"Sounds good to me!" Uncas replied with a grin, earning him a playful elbow in the ribs from Alice.

Before long, the meal was placed on the porch table and everyone took their seats. After the food and drinks were served out, the happy gathering joined hands and bowed their heads as Tom said a prayer of thanks for the safe return of Uncas and Alice. The meal then commenced, with Woody enjoying his own dinner from the bowl of cat food that Brian placed on a bench behind Uncas' chair. Occasionally, casual conversation took place around the table, but mostly a tranquil quiet suffused the porch, with everyone content to enjoy the food and each other's company. After he'd finished eating, Uncas leaned back in his chair and gave a contented sigh.

"That was delicious! My compliments to all the chefs!" he said with a smile as he looked at the faces gathered around the table. "I didn't think I would ever get to eat a meal like this again."

"Neither did I." Alice agreed, both hers and Uncas' faces once more reflecting immense relief to be back on the farm. But for an instant, a slight trace of melancholy flickered across their faces as well, and Tom decided it was time to hear the couple's story.

"What happened out there?" he asked them.

For moment, Uncas and Alice remained silent. Then together, they began their story with a description of their visit to the Fort William Henry Museum, and then to Promontory State park. After he and Alice told of how it felt to revisit these important locations from their past, Uncas explained the abrupt change in the weather while they were sitting on the cliff, and then the change in the atmosphere as they were heading down the side trail to the base of the cliff. He then explained how they jumped to the bottom to avoid the falling rocks when the ground began to tremble in what he originally thought was an earthquake.

"But it wasn't an earthquake." Uncas reflected. "It was time overlapping itself again."

Uncas then explained how he and Alice briefly blacked out when they landed on the ground, and of their initial confusion when they regained consciousness a minute or so later, only to find themselves surrounded by Chingachgook, Nathaniel and Cora. Together, he and Alice then told of the joyous reunion that took place, and of the conflicting emotions they both felt soon afterwards when the full impact of being back in the 18th century again set in. Alice added that it quickly became obvious to them, as well as to their families, how much she and Uncas had changed since they'd been gone, and had fully adapted to their modern 21st century lifestyle. More than once the couple noticed how their behavior embarrassed their family members, who were having a hard time accepting the fact that the two of them were no longer the Uncas and Alice of old.

Curious to know what Cora Munro had written in that section of the published diary that had been destroyed by water, Tom asked Uncas if he found out what happened when Chingachgook, Nathaniel and Cora reached the base of the cliff to retrieve his and Alice's bodies for burial after Magua was defeated. Uncas replied that he did, and proceeded to recount what he'd learned from his brother.

According to Nathaniel, the trio was surprised to find no trace of the couple's bodies when they reached the cliff base. After thoroughly searching the area, Nathaniel and Chingachgook concluded that somehow the pair must have fallen into the river that flowed nearby and were swept away by the fast moving current driven by a nearby waterfall. It seemed unlikely, given the distance from the cliff to the river, but it was the only explanation they could come up with.

For several days, Nathaniel, Chingachgook and Cora conducted a slow and thorough search along both banks downriver. When the search turned up nothing, they reluctantly gave up, and returned to the base of the Promontory five days after Uncas and Alice supposedly died to perform a burial ceremony without their bodies. As the trio approached the cliff, they spotted Uncas lying on the ground with Alice kneeling beside him. Immediately, they bolted over to them, and Nathaniel said that as they did, he noticed an odd tingling sensation in the air, and that the ground was trembling. When they reached Uncas and Alice, Nathaniel said they had no sooner knelt down beside the pair to assist them when two men and a woman appeared out of thin air. And just as quickly as they appeared, the strangers vanished, taking Uncas and Alice with them.

Dumbfounded, Nathaniel, Cora and Chingachgook had not known what to make of this strange occurrence, and could only stare at each other in shock. After a few moments, they began to compare notes, and discovered that all three of them had felt the static in the air. And they also noticed the unusual clothing that Uncas, Alice and the three strangers were wearing.

Chingachgook thought that Uncas and Alice's spirits must have remained at the place of their deaths, and that the three strangers were likewise ghosts, who had come to guide the lost ones to the spirit world. Unable to offer any other explanation, Nathaniel and Cora agreed with Chingachgook, and the three of them said a quick prayer and made an offering of tobacco before leaving the area. Later that evening, as the sun began to set, Nathaniel and Cora stood with Chingachgook on a nearby mountain peak to say their final goodbyes to Uncas and Alice.

"So your family members saw us, just like we saw them." Norman remarked, while Uncas refilled his glass with watermelon water and took a sip.

"Mmm." Uncas murmured as he swallowed his drink. "Yeah, they did. The next day, Nathaniel said they headed back to the settlements, and took up residence in a vacant cabin that used to belong to one of our friends. He said they were going to try to make a go of it there. But it was hard for Nathaniel and Nooch to live on that farm. That home was one of several I used to visit with them whenever we passed through the area to trade our furs at one of the settlements, so there were a lot of memories associated with that cabin that were painful for my father and brother to remember."

At that point Uncas fell silent, a profound sadness casting a shadow over his handsome features. Twirling his glass in a circle, he contemplated the ice cubes swirling around in his drink. Sensing there was more he wanted to say that was difficult to speak of, his companions patiently waited until he was ready.

"All three of them were hurting." Uncas slowly resumed. "Nathaniel, Cora...my father. They all had a hard time dealing with the belief that Alice and I were dead. But it was worse for Nooch. He was devastated. He told me that with each passing day, it became harder for him to go on without me. And he said that what made it even worse for him was seeing me and Alice again five days after he thought we'd died. It tore him up because he took that as a sign that our spirits didn't want to go to the spirit world. That we wanted to stay by the cliff and wait for our families to find us."

With that, Uncas gave a mocking snort of laughter and shook his head.

"It's kind of ironic that that's exactly what Alice and I were trying to do when we ran away from the hospital." Uncas stated. "Only it wasn't the spirit world that we were trying to get away from. It was the weird settlement we thought we'd been taken to." With a grim smile, Uncas glanced at the faces gathered around him before continuing his narration.

"Having my brother with him helped my father, and he was happy when Nathaniel and Cora married. But seeing the two of them together was a constant reminder that he would never see me happily married to a wife of my own. Then the baby came, and as much as he loved his grandson, it hurt to know that I would never give him any grandchildren."

Pausing once again, Uncas leaned forward, his brow furrowing as he rested his forearms on the table. Beside him, a misty eyed Alice gazed sympathetically at him and tenderly rubbed his back. Expelling a deep breath through his mouth, Uncas told what happened next.

"By mid-summer, Nooch couldn't take it anymore, and he decided to return to the Promontory so he could be there on the anniversary of the day he lost me there the year before. He told Nathaniel and Cora he wanted to go there to pray, but what he confessed to all of us in camp our first night back was that he was hoping Alice and I would show up again….and that we'd take him with us when we returned to the spirit world again."

"He wanted to die?" Brian asked, incredulous.

"Yeah." Uncas solemnly replied. "Life lost all meaning for him after he thought he lost me. As much as he loves Nathaniel….and he loves him dearly….it wasn't enough to make up for my not being there. He just couldn't face another day without me."

"A noted author once wrote that the death of a loved one is an amputation." Tom offered as an explanation to Chingachgook's motives. "You were his only blood son. His pride and joy. Losing you left an empty place in his soul that no one else could fill."

"I guess it did." Uncas quietly replied. "But it broke my heart to find out my father felt that way. Anyway, when Nooch announced his plans to revisit the Promontory, Nathaniel offered to go with him. The Huron village was so close to the mountain, he didn't want him going there alone. And my brother was missing me a lot too, so he wanted to visit that place again, thinking maybe it would make him feel close to me and help ease his pain. Then Cora said she wanted to go because she was missing Alice. When Nooch refused, stating he wanted Nathaniel and Cora to stay at the cabin and raise their son, they knew he didn't intend to return, and they would have none of it. By the time the discussion ended several days later, it was decided that all of them would go, including the baby."

Pausing yet again, Uncas' face broke into a smile, and he gave a little laugh.

"Poor Nathaniel was really up against it. At the same time he was arguing with our father to let him come along, he was also arguing with his wife to get her to stay behind. He won one battle, but lost the other!"

"My sister can be very determined when she makes up her mind to do something!" Alice piped in.

"That's for sure!" Uncas mirthfully concurred. "It's a long trip on foot, traveling through the wilderness from that cabin to Promontory Point. But Cora did it wearing a long skirt, carrying a baby in a cradleboard on her back, and a pack of supplies over her shoulder. It took them nine days to reach the area. They made camp about a half a day's hike away, and set out for the Promontory after dawn the next day. They got to the base of the cliff right when the time collision dumped Alice and I back there again."

"How on earth did the two of you get back here?" Anna asked, spurring murmurs of curiosity from everyone else.

"Well, as happy as Alice and I were to be with our family again, we weren't happy being back in the 18th century. Especially after we made camp one night at the edge of the woods over there." Leaning back in his chair, Uncas nodded his head towards the tree line that lay beyond his and Alice's house. "It really hurt to see this place as an open meadow, without the barns and our homes….and without all of you being there. It made me and Alice realize where home really was for us. And that it would be a couple a hundred years before that home….and all of you….would exist." he added, glancing around the table at the people who were so dear to him.

"I couldn't sleep that night." Uncas continued. "So I laid there, staring up through the trees at the stars overhead, thinking about how Alice and I came here a year ago because of that time collision, and how we saw our families again a few days later after we ran away from the hospital. And then exactly one year later, the same thing happened again on the same date we first arrived here, and again we got caught in the opposite time period. Then I remembered Brian telling me the scientists hadn't recorded any other collisions during the course of the year, and that's when I saw a pattern forming!"

Once again Uncas leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, his face lit up with excitement and his hands gesturing animatedly as he explained his theory.

"Last year, on August tenth, the time collision that brought me and Alice here occurred. Five days later, on the fifteenth of August, the same thing happened again when you found us out there when she and I were on the run. Then this year, again on the tenth of August, another collision took place in that same spot, and Alice and I ended up back where we started from, exactly one year from when we left. That's when I saw the pattern! Every year, on the tenth and fifteenth day of August, these two worlds meet. And I figured if my hunch was correct, the year 1758 and 2013 were going to smack into each other again today. That meant that Alice and I had two days to get back to the Point if we wanted to get home again!"

"My husband is so clever!" Alice proudly declared while beaming at Uncas. "I couldn't believe it when he woke me in the middle of the night and told me what he'd figured out. I never would have made that connection, but he did!"

"What did your family think of your idea?" Richard asked. "They couldn't have been very happy about the two of you leaving them so soon after you'd come back to them."

"They weren't. Not at all." Uncas confirmed. "You see, when I woke Alice up to tell her my idea, Nathaniel had just relieved my father to take his turn keeping watch, so they both came over to see what was going on. That woke Cora up, so I got to tell everyone at the same time. Cora argued it was too risky, and my father and brother agreed with her. But they knew Alice and I weren't happy being back in the 1700's. And when they saw how excited we were at the thought of returning here…..they knew we had to leave." With a forlorn sigh, Uncas again leaned back in his chair. "But it was so hard for us to leave them behind. We wanted to leave the place. Not the people. As soon as the sun was up the next morning, we all began the trip back to the Promontory."

"Uncas invited them to come with us…..but they chose to stay. Nathaniel and Cora said that life in the future sounded too strange, and they knew they wouldn't like it here, just as Uncas and I didn't like being back there again. They wanted to live and raise their children in a place where life was simpler." Alice said sadly. "I understand how they felt. But I really wish they had come with us. Then we could all have been together as a family. Instead of being separated by 255 years." she added with regret.

"For a while there I thought my father was going to come with us." Uncas recalled. "But by the time we reached the mountain, he'd decided at the last minute to stay. He said it was a tremendous relief for him to know that I was alive. And it gave him joy to know that I was happily married to Alice. He also said it gave him great peace knowing that we had family and good friends waiting for us here. But just before the collision, I took one last look at my father before I jumped…..and I thought I saw a look of regret on his face, as though he wished he had come with us, but knew at that point it was too late to do so."

"See, that's what I don't understand." Brian interjected. "Last year when you and Alice first arrived here, there were other people at the Promontory in both centuries when that time bump occurred. There was a Huron war party up on the cliff with the two of you in 1757, as well as the body of the warrior you shot lying at the base of the cliff not far from where you two landed after you fell. But they didn't get shifted over to here. Only you and Alice did. And back here in 2012, that guy who was attacking people in the park was up on the cliff and saw you both fall, as well as the hikers down below who came to your aid. Which means the two time periods were still overlapping each other at that time. Yet they didn't get caught in it either. Then five days later, you and Alice were out at the Point with Norman, Rich, Cora, and all the other rescue personnel when that second bump took place. And your family was out there as well back in the 18th century. But this time, nobody went anywhere! Everybody stayed where they were when the two time periods split apart again. Then this year, two more time bumps took place on the same exact dates as the last two, and you and Alice went back to the year 1758 during the first one, and then came back here again during the second one. And both times, your family was out at the Point in the 18th century, but only you two went anywhere. I don't get it! Why is it that you and Alice were the only ones who got left in the opposite century in three out of four collisions, and nobody else did?" Brian commented, looking utterly bewildered.

"That stumped me too." Uncas replied. "And it took me awhile to work out that part of the puzzle. But I finally did. It was because on three of the four occasions….Alice and I were falling."

"What?" a baffled Cora exclaimed.

"We were falling." Uncas reiterated. "The three times Alice and I went from one time period to another, we were in midair, and not touching the land in any way. And the one and only time we didn't get shifted over to the opposite side was when I was lying on the ground out there, and Alice was sitting beside me. That's why nobody else who was present when all those time collisions took place went anywhere either. They were all on solid ground as well. So that's when I figured out that being grounded was the key to staying put. And being airborne was the key to moving from one time period to the other."

"Well I'll be damned." Tom said in amazement. "That makes sense."

"It does." Richard agreed. "I always had the same question that Brian did, but your explanation, Uncas, explains it perfectly."

"And that's why your family saw us last year, and why we saw them." Norman added. "When the two time periods are overlapped, anybody in the area at that time can see each other until time separates again."

"Exactly!" Uncas confirmed. "Once I had it figured out, all Alice and I had to do to come home was get back to the Point in time for today's collision. Our family came with us to see us there safely, so I made them wait a short ways off where they could still see us. Meanwhile, Alice and I took our positions on the same rock we jumped off of five days ago, since it wasn't that far of a drop. As a precaution, I told the others to grab onto a tree when the time came, and to hold on tight, just in case my theory was wrong. Sure enough, at the same time it did last year on this date, the weather suddenly changed and the air got staticky. I signaled the others to grab hold of their trees, and right after that the ground started to shake real hard. That's when Alice and I jumped. Just like the other two times, we blacked out for a minute or two when we hit the ground."

"We woke up at the same time, and immediately we looked around to see which century we were in." said Alice, picking up the rest of their tale. "Right away, we saw the railing beside the trail coming down from the cliff, and the Forest Service trail marker at the base of it. Uncas was so happy to see the marker, he ran over and kissed it!" she giggled.

"I did!" Uncas grinned sheepishly

"The marker wasn't the only thing he kissed." said Brian, purposely feigning displeasure. "When I came across them on the hiking trail, Uncas lifted me off the ground in a bear hug, spun me around in the air and planted a lip lock on me too!" Brian added, which made Alice burst into more giggles, and Uncas into song.

"I didn't know if it was day or night! I started kissing everything in sight!" Uncas sang as he danced in his seat, drawing laughter from all with his reference to a song about a love potion. "Seriously, even though that marker was out there, we still couldn't be sure what the date was. For all we knew, Alice and I might have been dumped anywhere between 1992, which was when that marker was erected, and today. Or even farther ahead into the future for that matter! So needless to say, we were pretty happy when we saw a Forest Service truck heading our way, and Brian jumped out after it skidded to a stop!"

"You weren't the only ones who were happy, bro!" Brian chimed in. "And it's funny because I was supposed to be patrolling another section of the park, but I couldn't resist going out to the Point instead."

"I just felt in my gut that I should go out there."

As the conversation around the dinner table continued, Alice revealed that she and Uncas were inadvertently responsible for creating the tradition of handing down the diaries and artifacts, after they told Cora and Nathaniel the pivotal role those items played in proving their siblings identities to their descendants. Upon mention of the diaries, Anna remembered the package the attorney delivered earlier.

"Oh for heaven's sakes! I nearly forgot! We were all so happy and excited to have the two of you home, we forgot all about the delivery that arrived today!" Leaping from her chair, Anna hurried into the kitchen to retrieve the wooden chest and its contents, while Tom relayed what the lawyer had told him when he delivered the package, of the contents inside the chest, and what Cora Munro had written in the diary that led everyone to believe that Uncas and Alice had been killed by the Abenaki.

"We saw signs that a couple of raiding parties were in the area while we were there." Uncas replied, as Anna placed the chest on the table before him. "They were probably taking advantage of the British army and militia being otherwise occupied elsewhere. The one my family encountered on their return home must have been a group of mostly inexperienced warriors. That would explain Cora's comment about the dead being so young, and why they would mourn their loss."

"We thought she meant the two of you." said Anna, who leaned over to hug Uncas and Alice in turn. "I'm so happy it wasn't." she added softly, gazing warmly at the couple before returning to her seat.

"Why don't you two take the diary with you tonight? Anna and I can read the rest of it when you're both finished with it." Tom offered.

"Thanks!" Uncas replied as he peered into the chest. Glancing at the diary, his eyes settled on the wrapped package beside it. As he removed it from the chest, Alice slipped her arm around Uncas' back and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Please do not open until after dinner." Alice read out loud.

"I wonder why Cora didn't want this package opened until now." Cora Van Houten asked.

"She probably wanted to make sure Alice and I were home first." Uncas replied. "My father wanted to give us some food for the journey home, thinking it would take us two days and a bit to walk here. I told him it wasn't necessary, that it would only take us an hour or so to hike to the visitor's center. And if my truck had been towed from the parking lot, which I figured it had been by now, we'd get a ride home from Brian once we got there. So I assured Nooch that Alice and I would be home in plenty of time for dinner. Cora must have remembered that, and arranged for this little package to be here waiting for us." Looking at the package, so carefully wrapped and sealed, Uncas smiled warmly and handed it to Alice.

"Here, Pooh. This is from your sister. You open it." he gently offered. Accepting the package, Alice carefully unwrapped it. Inside was a small wooden box, with the name "Two Rivers" beautifully carved into the removable lid. Upon opening the box, Alice gave a soft gasp, and tears blurred her vision as she and Uncas beheld the Fort William Henry keychain she'd given to Cora as a keepsake, and a handful of silver coins, which Uncas knew his father and Nathaniel had given to them from the savings they'd collected from their fur trading.

"There's a note in here, too." Uncas observed. Removing the note, he carefully unrolled the small, fragile piece of parchment. "It's in your sister's handwriting."

"You read it, Tigger." Alice requested, as she wiped her tear filled eyes.

"Ok." Uncas replied. Feeling emotional himself, he cleared his throat and began to read.

"To Tigger & Pooh,

I pray that you are reading this, for then it means that you made it home safe and sound. Although we miss you terribly and wish you had stayed with us, we know you would not have been happy if you had remained here. Your home in this other place is where you are both meant to be. And it gives us great comfort and joy to know that you are there with family and good friends who love you both so deeply. We know how dear they are to you, and so they are dear to us as well. Please give them our love, and our fondest good wishes. And to you dear Alice and Uncas, we wish you both a long life together filled with love, happiness, laughter and prosperity. Oh and Alice, here are your house keys. I know you gave them to me as a gift, thinking you didn't need them any longer, but now I think you will have need of them. We wouldn't want you and Uncas to be locked out of your home now would we! And here is a little spending money as well. Consider it a gift for your upcoming first wedding anniversary.

With all our love and blessings,

Cora, Nathaniel, Chingachgook, and baby Edmund.

When Uncas finished reading, everyone sat in silence for a moment, all of them deeply moved by Cora Munro's beautiful letter, and the love behind the gifts. Placing his arm around Alice, Uncas pulled her to him as close as their chairs would allow. Tenderly, he wiped away the tears that were now streaming freely down her cheeks. As her eyes met his, Alice smiled lovingly at him before glancing down at her hand as he slipped the keychain into it.

"Cora and Nathaniel went to a lot of trouble to ensure that Uncas and I weren't deemed lunatics when we got here." Alice said, breaking the quiet that had settled over the group. "And she promised to keep sending us diaries and letters, so that we'll know how everyone is doing."

"They love you both so very much." Anna mused.

"Yes, they do." Alice tearfully whispered in reply.

"Hey, come on everybody! This is a welcome home celebration! And my sister-in-law intended for this gift to make us all smile, not cry!" Uncas chimed in to cheer the group up.

With a unanimous agreement by all, the party perked up and continued on. The peach pie and blackberry cobbler that Anna had baked that morning was served, and lively conversation ensued as everyone enjoyed each other's company. Inevitably, the women began discussing knitting patterns, while the men talked about sports.

"Hey! Are we all still going to the ballgame next weekend?" Uncas enthusiastically asked, after remembering the upcoming minor league baseball game that was to take place in Glens Falls.

"You better believe we are!" Tom merrily replied.

"Wild horses couldn't keep me away!" Norman seconded.

"Me either!" Richard and Elena said in unison.

"Count me in!" Brian chirped.

"Me too!" Peggy chimed in.

"I've never looked forward to a baseball game like I am this one!" Anna gleefully stated.

"Same here!" agreed Cora.

Later that evening, a spectacular sunset washed the sky with varying shades of purple, orange, crimson and gold. Standing together by the porch door, Uncas and Brian watched the colorful display while a murmur of soft voices conversed behind them. With his arms folded across his chest, Uncas leaned against the doorframe, recalling a night just a few days ago when the sun had created a similar display over this same meadow. Noticing how quiet and thoughtful Uncas had become, Brian sensed what might be on his friend's mind.

"Missing your folks?" he asked.

"Yeah." Uncas sighed, roused from his reverie.

"I can't even begin to imagine how hard it was to leave them behind and come back here. How were you and Alice able to make the choice to leave them?"

"It wasn't easy. But in the end, there was only one choice to make." Uncas replied. Pushing himself off the doorframe, he placed his hand Brian's shoulder. "No matter where we lived, Alice and I would have been leaving family behind. We love them very much…..but we love all of you too."

Smiling, the two men embraced, clapping each other on the back.

"Not a day will go by that we won't miss them." Uncas said, separating from the hug. "But my father was right. This is where Alice and I belong. And the diaries help us to feel close to them."

With a smile, Brian nodded, and the two men went back to watching the sunset. After a time, the brilliant colors of the sky faded to pastel shades of their former glory. As darkness began to set in, Uncas covered his mouth with his hand, and gave a big yawn as he and Brian returned to the table.

"You look tired, sweetheart." Anna commented upon seeing him yawn.

"I am." Uncas replied, standing behind Alice's chair. "I didn't sleep too well while we were gone, so I'm really looking forward to climbing into that comfortable bed of ours." To which Alice agreed as Uncas massaged her shoulders.

"Well then why don't you two call it a night and turn in early?" Anna suggested. "Get a good night's rest, and then come over for breakfast tomorrow morning. I'll fix your favorite."

"Blueberry pancakes?" Uncas asked with a hopeful expression.

"With maple syrup, and a side order of bacon!" Anna laughed.

"We'll be there with bells on! Won't we Tigger!" Alice merrily proclaimed.

"You better believe it!" Uncas eagerly replied. "After five days of eating 18th century trail food, I can't wait to dive into one of Anna's famous breakfasts!"

A round of hugs and kisses then took place as everyone bid Uncas and Alice goodnight. Gently picking up Woody the cat, who was snoozing peacefully on his chair, Uncas smiled warmly at the people he loved so much. Turning to Alice, he slipped his free arm around her shoulders.

"Come on, Pooh. Let's go home."

Epilogue: August 20th, 2017

"Nathaniel Duncan Two Rivers! You come back here!"

As they entered the kitchen of the big white farmhouse, Uncas and Tom stopped just inside the door as a giggling naked toddler darted into the kitchen from the dining room, and scampered past them on his way to the screened-in porch. Running to the back of the porch as fast as his chubby legs could carry him, the little boy stuck his head between the cushions and a throw pillow on the wicker settee, thus "hiding" himself from his pursuer.

Grinning in amusement, Uncas stuck his head out the kitchen door and peered over at the settee, greeted by the sight of his son's bare behind bobbing up and down as the little one laughed. He then turned back to the kitchen just as an exasperated Alice rushed into the room carrying a bath towel over her open arms. Shaking her hands underneath the towel, she gave her now snickering husband an inquiring look.

"If you're looking for the little naked guy, he went that way." Uncas chuckled, jerking his thumb toward the porch.

Following the direction her husband indicated, Alice went out to the porch to retrieve their 14 month old son. A merry squeal was then heard before she reentered the kitchen carrying the still giggling, towel-wrapped toddler in her arms.

"I swear, you're just like your father!" Alice scolded the child, passing the men on her way back to the downstairs bathroom.

"Whadda ya mean? You've never had to chase me through the house when I was naked!" said Uncas, feigning a hurt look. His comment earned him a sardonic look from his wife as she walked past him. "Well, at least not while anybody else was home, anyway." he added with a wicked grin.

"What's so funny?" asked Anna, as she came in the back door with Norman and a very pregnant Cora.

"Alice is giving Nathan a bath." replied Uncas.

"Did he make a run for it again?" Cora asked with a laugh.

"Yep! He loves getting a bath, but half the fun is giving his momma the slip before she can get him in the tub!"

"His father used to do the same to his mother when he was that age." said a man who was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea.

Rising from his chair, Chingachgook went over to Uncas and placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

"I remember similar chases taking place through our village every time his mother tried to give him a bath in the river!" he added with a smile.

Much had changed on the Van Houten farm over the years, since the day Uncas and Alice returned from their brief, accidental sojourn in the 18th century. Uncas' woodworking business making rustic furniture continued to thrive, as did Alice's business making baked goods and herbal soaps, lotions, teas and sachets. And she and Uncas were now the proud parents of son, who was a combination of both of them in looks and personality. With the same raven black hair, chocolate brown eyes and caramel colored skin of his father; the shape of Nathan's face and mouth were clearly his mothers, including the crooked smile Uncas loved so much on both of them.

Currently, the little family was staying with Tom and Anna while an addition was being built onto their gray cape cod style home that would provide Chingachgook with a large en-suite bedroom, as well as convert the existing downstairs bathroom into an en-suite for Uncas and Alice. There would also be another bathroom added, to be shared with the bedroom that was once Uncas' workshop, and a new bedroom of equal size that was also being added. Once completed, there would be more than enough room for the family that would one day include a brother and sister for Nathan. To his sons, Uncas would teach the ways of a Mohican warrior. And to his daughter, he would sing Mohican lullaby's to her as he braided her hair with ribbons, something he would continue to do up until her wedding day.

And although Uncas and Alice continued to hike in Promontory State Park, they never returned to the cliff again, preferring to view if from a distance whenever they felt nostalgic. The time collisions continued to occur in that same place year after year on those two same dates, confirmed by the physicists who continued to monitor the area. To prevent anyone from being caught in the collision as Uncas and Alice had been, Brian and the Forestry Service would always close the Promontory off from public access each August on those dates.

As for the others, Richard and Elena were doing well, as were Norman and Cora. Married for two years, they were only a few weeks away from becoming the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl. And a delighted Tom and Anna could not wait for their granddaughter to arrive, who they planned to spoil right along with little Nathan. The farm was doing extremely well, and had considerably expanded in size over the years with the help of Uncas, Alice, and Chingachgook, who surprised his son by enjoying farming as much as he did. Part of the reason the Van Houtens decided to increase the size of the operation resulted from a growing demand for their fresh produce. With the farm now double in size, Brian and Peggy also helped out on a part-time basis, especially during spring planting and the fall harvest. Still working their full time jobs (Brian with the forestry service and Peggy with the local public library), helping out on the farm gave them an opportunity to spend time with Uncas and Alice, as well as providing them with extra income for their own little family. It also delighted little Nathan, who adored Brian and Peggy's daughter Ivy, who was only two weeks his junior. The two toddlers were an inseparable pair when they were together, and Chingachgook proudly predicted the pretty little Huron girl would one day become his grandson's bride, which she did.

But the biggest change of all was the arrival of Chingachgook the year after Uncas and Alice returned. From the moment he watched his son and daughter-in-law disappear in the time collision, Chingachgook had regretted not going with them. And with each passing day, it became harder for him to be separated from his son. By the time the following summer arrived, he couldn't take it anymore and announced his intention to return to the Promontory that August so that he could go to where Uncas was.

Not understanding the natural phenomena that made Uncas and Alice disappear in front of their very eyes, Nathaniel and Cora begged him not to go, stating it was too dangerous and that the outcome was uncertain at best. But Chingachgook was firm in his decision, stating he would rather die trying to reach Uncas than live his life without him. Throughout the summer the three of them argued over this. But in the end, Nathaniel and Cora knew they had to let him go, for as much as Chingachgook loved them dearly, they knew he would never be happy being apart from his only blood son. And so two weeks before the first collision was due to occur on August 10th, the trio had set out for the Promontory. Just as Uncas had done, Chingachgook invited Nathaniel and Cora to come with him, but the couple declined. They were very happy with the lives they were making for themselves in the 18th century, and they had plans for their future as well. Plans that would include Uncas and Alice in more ways than just the diaries.

And so on the 10th of August, 1759, Chingachgook jumped off of the same rock Uncas and Alice had when the air tingled with static and the earth shook, and in the blink of an eye found himself in surroundings that looked the same, yet didn't. After taking note of the trail marker and metal railing Uncas had described, he gave himself a few moments to get his bearings, then started out along the hiking trail in the direction of the Huron village, which would now be something called a visitor's center if he was in the right place in time. Less than an hour later, for the second time in a year's time, Brian sped into the driveway at the Van Houten farm, repeatedly blasting the horn on his truck, and watching the joyous reunion of father and son. Like before with Uncas and Alice, Brian encountered Chingachgook on the hiking trail, recognizing him instantly from the photo Uncas had taken of his father on his smartphone to show his family what a camera was.

Now three years had passed, and Chingachgook was fully adapted to his new lifestyle. In addition to helping out on the farm, he also wrote and illustrated a successful series of children's books about the customs and legends of the Mohican people, as well as a Mohican/English dictionary which the tribe used in its language preservation classes. But what truly tickled Chingachgook was teaching a weekly language class to Mohican students in Wisconsin via Skype. No matter how accustomed he became to the 21st century, modern technology never ceased to amuse him.

After Chingachgook left, Nathaniel and Cora remained in the area near the Promontory, and returned to the cliff five days later, per his instructions, to look for a sign that he had arrived safely at his destination. They found this sign in the form of a letter tied firmly to a rock with thick twine. The letter was in Alice's handwriting, and had been hurled at the cliff base by a makeshift slingshot strung between two trees that Brian had rigged up. Strapping himself to a large pine tree to take no chances, he waited until he felt the earth tremble and felt the static in the air, then shot the rock toward the cliff, amazed when it disappeared from sight. In this way, Uncas, Alice and Chingachgook were able to remain in contact with Nathaniel and Cora, who kept in contact with them through diaries and letters that continued to arrive on a regular basis through the estate attorney. A week after Chingachgook's arrival, a letter from Cora Munro was delivered that explained how the Van Houten farm came to be.

Assured of Chingachgook's safety after receiving Alice's first letter, Nathaniel and Cora left the Promontory and returned to Uncas and Alice's meadow. Together, with the prearranged help of visiting friends, they began building what, over time, would become the Van Houten farm. Contrary to what Tom had always believed, the first building to be built was Uncas and Alice's home, which Nathaniel had actually built for them, and not for his son Edmund as family history had previously led everyone to believe. Remembering the photos Alice had shown him on her smartphone, and all the features of the house the couple spoke so lovingly of, Nathaniel had taken pains to build the house exactly as Uncas and Alice found it the first time they saw it, minus the modern updates such as appliances, plumbing, heating and electric of course.

Cora Munro's letter about the house concluded with a note from Nathaniel, instructing his brother to look at a particular place on the wooden mantle over the kitchen fireplace. Locating the specific spot, Uncas discovered a message discreetly carved into the wood that neither he and Alice, nor the Van Houtens, had ever noticed before. It read:

To U & A

With all our love

N & C

xx oo

~The End~

Author Note: I hope you enjoyed this unusual tale about Uncas and Alice as much as I enjoyed writing it. Despite life keeping me busy, the bouts of writer's block, and initially juggling this story with another I was writing at the same time, it's been a fun ride! And you didn't seriously think I would kill Uncas and Alice, did you? *wink* I also hope this final chapter wasn't too long, and that you were able to stick with it to the end. There was a lot that had be explained. I must confess that when I began this story, I hadn't realized how many loose ends I would have to wrap up! And as I do whenever I finish a story, I'm going to miss the characters in this one. They've become like family to me. It was so much fun looking at the modern world through the eyes of two people from the 18th century. And it was also fun to have Uncas and Alice revisit places they knew from the past. The most fun I had was writing the wedding and honeymoon chapters, and I couldn't resist having Uncas and Alice visit Cooperstown NY, and meeting James Fenimore Cooper via his portrait in the Fenimore Art Museum. Oh, and here's a little trivia for you. The name Van Houten is Dutch, and means "of forests". I thought that would be a fitting name for Nathaniel and Cora's descendants!

I would like to thank all of my readers for hanging in there during all the long waits for new updates. It was never my intention to take that long between postings, but as any author will tell you, writing is not easy. I would especially like to thank BrynnaRaven, BlueSaffire, and Eilan21 for all of your inspiration and support. Your friendship and the laughter we share are priceless to me, and it's because of you that I was able to stick with this story and overcome some of the worst cases of writer's block I've ever encountered.

And now it's on to the next story. For all of you Second Chances fans, you will be happy to know that I will be resuming that story next. Once it has concluded, I will begin a new adventure for Uncas and Alice! I have quite a few new stories waiting in the wings, so I'm not sure which one it will be yet. Uncas and Alice will tell me when the time comes. Of that I have no doubt! And so keep watching everyone! There are still many more adventures for our favorite couple yet to come!

MohawkWoman :)