The man eventually introduced himself as Haytham, and he was fairly easy to get along with. He talked funny, and when she pointed it out, he told her it was something called speaking properly. He mentioned that a lot of people in London spoke that way, but only aristocrats. Aristocrats, he explained, were people of a wealthy background.

"So English is… is…" She frowned, and Haytham chuckled.

"English is meant to be spoken this way, yes. Those who do not speak it this way are from a lower quality of education."

She eyed him curiously, and then concentrated very hard. "Quality of education."

He smiled, "Very good."

"Very good." She repeated.

"The trick is to speak in a slow calm manner. Speaking too quickly implies that you have no control."

She nodded, "Speaking too quickly implies that you have no control."

Hickey piped up from the driver's seat, "If you teach it too much, little savage will get uppity."

"That is quite enough." Haytham said firmly. "Any more remarks about her, and you will find yourself walking to Boston."

She reached up, gently tugging on Haytham's jacket sleeve. "What is savage?"

"Don't concern yourself with it."

They spent the rest of the ride there with Haytham teaching her not only knew words, but how to pronounce them properly. She found she liked the way proper English sounded, it was crisp, and when Haytham spoke it, the authority was clear.

Once they got to Boston, Hickey went into some building with really loud people inside, drinking from very big mugs. Charles shook his head at his retreating form, "No good-"

"I've had just about enough of both of you today." Haytham said firmly. "I need you to go inform Connor that I have Katherine. I'm going to take her back to my residence, perhaps entertain her for a few hours, until Connor arrives for her."

Charles nodded, "Sir, if I may ask, what are you going to do with the girl? I know she may be your granddaughter, but I fail to see what this accomplishes."

Haytham smirked, "It lets Connor know that his daughter, as well as the entirety of his homestead, is not nearly as safe as he believes. Anything to let him know that the assassins are on the losing side of this struggle."

When Charles walked away, Haytham stared down at the young girl, not sure how to guide a native through the streets of Boston without arousing to much suspicion. Eventually he sighed, kneeling down in front of her, and pulled her shawl back over her head, "Don't talk to anyone, and stay close by me at all times. Your father was right, Boston is dangerous."

She nodded, and to her disappointment, Haytham insisted on holding her hand as they walked. She wasn't going to have a chance to run away. But even if she did, where could she go? Her father was somewhere in the city, but she had no idea where to go. All the buildings were so big, there were so many people, and she couldn't tell the difference between one street and the next.

Once they got to Haytham's house, she felt much more comfortable. The mischief had never quite been worked out of her, and her immediate thought drifted towards climbing the book case, or sliding down the stair railing. Instead of that, she was lead into the parlor room, and Haytham asked if she knew how to play chess.

She answered by taking the seat across from him, and claiming the white side.

He nodded, "Fair enough. Ladies first?"

She moved the pieces carefully, keeping in mind that they were made of glass, and not wood like the set her and her mother played with. She went with one of her favorite strategies, putting her bishop and knight in two power positions.

Haytham chuckled, "The ruby lopez? Powerful opening, however," He moved his own bishop forward, taking her pawn that was supposed to guard her queen. "Leaves you in a weak defense structure."

She frowned, bringing her other pawn up to take his bishop.

Ten moves later, Haytham had her in check mate. She moved her pieces back into place. "Again?"

He nodded, "You like this game?"

"Mommy taught me. We play when Daddy is gone. When daddy is home, we go outside."

"Why outside?" He wasn't as interested as she assumed, the conversation was mostly to push her to speak more English. He knew English wasn't Connor's first language, however, he was more than cross that Connor had let his daughter get this old with such a limited English vocabulary. No granddaughter of his was going to walk around Boston without being able to ask for help.

"We can climb trees, race up the mountain. He lets me jump off the cliff into the water if Mommy isn't home."

He nodded, cornering her rook. "What else do you do with your father?"

"He's teaching me to use a bow and arrow. I like it, but it makes my arms tired. Daddy says that soon, I'll be strong enough so that it won't."

"Why is he teaching you to use a bow? You're only five, surely that's too young." Haytham protested.

"He learned when he was five." She explained. "And he says it can help me hunt rabbits. I caught a rabbit without a bow though, I chased it for a long time, I was tired, but I didn't give up. I caught it, and then I let it go."

He leaned back in his chair, smiling at the childish mindset. "You went to all that trouble, and you just let it go?"

"I wasn't hungry." She explained. "You're not supposed to kill animals unless you need to."

"Is that your father's rule?"

She frowned, "It's the great spirit's rule."

He nodded, "I see." He moved his queen forward. "Checkmate."

She groaned, and he laughed. "Round three?"

She agreed, carefully combining several smaller strategies her mother had taught her to finally beat him. She grinned when she finally got to say, "Checkmate."

"Congratulations. The score is still two to one."

She glared at him, and then gestured towards the bookshelves, "Have you read all of those?"

He nodded, "Some of them twice. Do you read?"

"No." She said. "Sometimes Mommy reads to me. Daddy tells stories better than books."

Haytham shook his head, "You need to learn how to read. It's important, you'll use the skill for the rest of your life."

"Mommy says Mrs. Diana might teach me this summer." She said, leaning back in her chair. She looked back over to the bookshelves, "Maybe I'll be able to read those books one day."

"Well, if your father ever lets you come back, you're welcome to read as many as you like." No sooner had he finished, than he heard his front door kicked open. "That should be him now. Connor, Katherine and I are in here."

She grinned, hearing her father's loud footsteps towards the parlor, but her grin turned into a look of fear when she saw his face. She had never seen her father look so angry in her life. And he was advancing towards Haytham.

Haytham stood up, holding his hands up in surrender, "No need for violence Connor, you're daughter hasn't been harmed."

Her father didn't respond verbally. He punched Haytham in the jaw, sending him toppling over the chess table, scattering the glass pieces onto the ground, shattering most of them. Haytham jumped back up, "Connor, I didn't kidnap her, she jumped into my wagon."

She could barely see what happened next, there was a clash of steel, and several swift movements. She didn't know what happened, but whatever did happen, her father won.

Her father tackled Haytham, driving his fist into his face twice before starting to choke him. He pulled Haytham closer, glaring even harsher. "Do not ever touch my daughter again. I have put my plans of killing you away for sake of common interest." He stood up, dragging Haytham to his feet with him, "So much as speak to her again, and I will burn this entire country to the ground, if it means you burn with it."

He let go of Haytham, and Haytham nodded, "I see. Katherine, it was very nice meeting you."

Katherine was near tears, seeing her father act like this made her afraid of him. Surely, her father couldn't be this dangerous. Her father tickled her while wrestling with her in the meadow. Her father taught her how to breath under water with a reed. He had climbed all the way to the top of a tree, with her tucked under one arm, to show her baby birds. He went out of his way to help strangers, for no reason. He was the kindest man in the world.

He stepped back from Haytham, and reached for her. Her first instinct was to run away, but her fear kept her frozen. He took her into his arms, and carried her out of the house. His horse was waiting outside, and he set her onto the saddle before climbing up himself. He held her close as they rode, not speaking.

The ride to Boston had been very long, but the ride back seemed to be very short. As he dismounted, he finally spoke to her. "Why did you jump into a stranger's wagon?"

She sighed, deciding to speak in mohawk. She had had enough of English for the day. "The wagon was clearly up to no good, and I knew if you were here, you would look in it. But you weren't. Someone had to. Someone had to protect the homestead."

Connor frowned, grabbing her arm, "You did a very stupid thing. You are not an assassin, you are a child. You could have been killed."

"But I was trying to protect everyone!" She protested.

"Recklessly risking your life will not protect anyone!" He shouted, lifting her into the air, shaking her more than he should have. "What did you think you could have done? What if soldiers had been in that wagon? What if they had killed you?"

She was silent, fear filling her features as tears finally began to fall. "I… I'm sorry."

Her father froze, realizing what he was doing, and pulled her closer to him, hugging her as she buried her face in his neck and sobbed. "I didn't… didn't mean to. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Shh." He whispered as he carried her inside. "It's all over. I promise, he's not going to get you again."

He walked to her bedroom, sitting down and cradling her in his arms. Her crying had dimmed down to sniffling, and even those would be overcome soon. Connor laid her down on the quits that covered her bed, reaching up to undo the braids in her hair. Connor used to fall asleep with his braids in as a child, but Aveline insisted that they take hers out every night. Connor did his best to accept that there were some parts of his culture that Aveline would likely never let Kaneonuskatew experience.

It frustrated him to no end, however, that there were no parts of Aveline's culture that she wouldn't teach to Kaneonuskatew. She would go on a tirade if Connor even mentioned having Kaneonuskatew go on a vision quest to find the animal for her totem. But teaching her to dress up and manipulate men with a revealing dress, thick make up, and a flirty smile? Perfectly acceptable, there was no need to even discuss it.

He finally finished with her braids, having laid the feathers from them on the nightstand, and gently brushed his fingers through her hair.

As he usually did, he ended her night with a story. Normally she requested scary stories when her mother wasn't home. Aveline hated it when Kaneonuskatew heard a scary story, because she usually would spend the next week running out into the forest to try and find whatever spirit the story had been about. Connor didn't see a problem with it, as she never found any, and never came back with any injuries besides splinters.

But tonight, he told her the story of Sky Woman. The pregnant woman who fell from the skies, and landed on the back of a great turtle. Other animals had swam to the bottom of the ocean and brought mud back up, placing it on the turtles back, and created land. Sky Woman had planted seeds that she had brought down with her, and the first plants grew into a forest.

Kaneonuskatew was asleep before the story finished.

Connor left the room to sit calmly in a chair by the front windows, waiting for Aveline to join him. When Charles had told him that Haytham had Kaneonuskatew, Aveline was torn in two. She wanted to go with Connor to protect their daughter, but the mission they had gone to Boston to complete was to important to abandon. Many lives had hung in the balance, and one of them had to complete it.

Now, as he sat alone, his thoughts turned to his wife, and her safety.