5 A Safe Haven

CHAPTER 5 A Safe Haven? Hidden in the side of the rocks was an entrance to a series of caves. Hawkeye motioned for everyone to walk inside. Once they were all within the safety of the rocky walls, Hawkeye and Uncas went back outside to stand guard. "Do you think we are safe now, Duncan?" Alice asked. Before Duncan could answer, Hawkeye said "The fire grows too bright, Uncas. Drop the

blanket to the cave." "Are we quite safe?" Duncan shouted "Is there no danger of surprise?" A figure moved at the back of the cave. The girls shouted in fright, but it was only Chingachgook, showing them the other entrance to the cavern. "See," Hawkeye said as he came toward the back. "There is another way out. You'll be quite safe here." Duncan looked around. "Are we on some sort of island?" he asked. "We're between two waterfalls," Hawkeye answered. "The river is both above and below." While the group made a rough dinner of deer meat, Uncas did his best to make sure that Cora and Alice were comfortable. Chingachgook sat apart from the group and watched everything carefully. "Now," Hawkeye said to the musician. "I do not know who you are."

"My name is David Gamut," the musician answered. "Tell me, what do you do?" "I teach singing," David replied. "That's a strange kind of job. Why don't you sing a little now? It will make the girls feel better." David started to sing quietly, and Cora and Alice joined in. Suddenly a strange cry stopped the singing. Everyone fell silent. "What was that?" Alice whispered. No one replied. Hawkeye spoke to the two Mohicans, and then Uncas quietly left the cave. "We don't know what made that noise," Hawkeye said. "It's like nothing we have ever heard before in this forest." "Is it not a sound that warriors make before battle?" Cora asked. "If you had ever heard a warrior cry," Hawkeye said, "you would never mistake it for

that sound." Uncas came back inside. "Can you see the fire from outside?" Hawkeye asked him. Uncas shook his head. "We're safe, then," Hawkeye told the girls. He gestured to the second cave and said, "Cora, Alice, please go and get some sleep. We'll need to travel most of tomorrow. You need your rest." Cora stood up and did as she was told. Alice also stood, but before she made her way farther into the cave, she asked Duncan to come with them. "Please don't leave us alone," she said. "That terrible cry has scared me to death." "Let us first look around the cave and make sure it's safe." Duncan took a torch from the fire and shone it in every direction, looking around carefully. "Good men are guarding the front. There is no way anyone can get through the back without us hearing them. I assure you, girls, you are quite safe." "I imagine Father is very worried about us,"

Alice cried softly. "Alice," Cora said, "you need to be brave. I am the older sister. Follow my example." "And he is a soldier, your father," Duncan added. "He knows I am with you, and will keep you safe. That is my duty." "But he is still our father," Alice said. "And I am sure he's worried." Before either could say another word, the same loud, piercing cry filled the air. Hawkeye lifted up the blanket to the entrance and looked at the three of them. The girls shivered. Even Duncan's brave face seemed to falter. There was some kind of danger afoot and even a man of the woods like Hawkeye wasn't entirely sure what might happen.