A Plan Is Hatched...

(Source)

At first Sergent Louis Malheur had been somewhat irritated with Private Alain Gaudry. The boy was young and possessed of far more self-confidence than any man of that age should possess. Truth be told, he knew very little of the Gaudry brothers and their Abenaki companion.

By the second day of their trek north, Malheur was starting to have a grudging respect for the elder of the Gaudry brothers. They certainly knew their way around the wilderness. Though he had a rough idea of which direction to go to return to New France, he soon learned that just blundering north would have been a terrible idea. He remembered the afternoon of the first full day of the march.

"North is that way Private, why are you turning to the west?" He had inquired of the elder Gaudry.

"Little Wolf knows this area. Just ahead is a small creek which feeds into a rather large swamp. If we go straight north, we'll spend days in that swamp. By traveling a league to the west, we can avoid the swamp altogether. It saves us much time and is less dangerous." Alain had answered the Sergent.

"Less dangerous how?" Malheur had asked.

"There is a native village on the edge of the swamp, they are Abenaki but they hate les français. They have no love for les anglais as well, if we go near there, they might attack."

"Surely we have enough firepower to defeat them!" Malheur protested.

"They have traps in the swamp to snare the unwary, unlike many of the tribes, they will fight at night. Their numbers are small but they are vicious fighters. We might kill many, but we shall lose many."

Malheur thought for a moment, then nodded. "Carry on Private Gaudry, I defer to your knowledge of this area."

"It is Little Wolf's knowledge, not mine."

"Please tell your friend that I value his skill in these woods." Malheur said, smiling at the man in question as he walked over to join them.

"You are welcome Sergent, I speak your language fairly well, Jacques and Alain have taught me." Little Wolf spoke in French, oddly accented but very understandable.

Malheur blushed and said, "Forgive me for not telling you directly, but your skills are helping us a great deal."

Little Wolf nodded as if to indicate that he knew this already. After a short conversation in Abenaki, Little Wolf slipped back into the forest.

"Where is he going now?" Malheur asked Alain.

"There is a party of Mohican over the next ridge, he is keeping an eye on them. He suggests that we camp here tonight."

Malheur nodded and said, "Then let us do so. Pickets?"

"I think that wise, mon Sergent."

Guards Lieutenant Will Jefferson was staring at the ground in front of him. After a few long moments he realized that he just couldn't see what Standing Wolf was seeing. "I cannot see any difference my friend, the ground looks undisturbed to me."

Standing Wolf nodded, the Englishman still thought like a European, still saw things with a European's eye, not the eye of a Mohican warrior. "Do you trust me Blue Eyes?"

"With my life."

"Someone passed this way today, probably after the morning was well on. There isn't much wind today otherwise I wouldn't have noticed. Do you see here, where the soil is slightly compressed compared to the surrounding soil?"

Jefferson knelt down and looked closely, sure enough, now he saw it, someone had been this way, it was a partial print from a human foot wearing native footwear. It almost looked natural, but there was a line, a slight indent which was unnatural.

"A scout?"

"I think so, we are being watched."

"Alain."

Alain looked up to see his brother Jacques approaching. "What is it brother?"

"Little Wolf says they are coming. Twenty men, one of them a European, probably anglais."

Sergent Malheur had overheard the conversation, brief as it was. "The Mohicans?"

"Yes, mon Sergent. Little Wolf left a subtle clue for their trackers to find. It seems his ruse worked."

"Are you saying that he has led them here?" Malheur asked with some alarm.

"No, Sergent, the Mohicans are going to this place." Jacques sketched a rough map in the dirt. "The ridge ends here, it will take them another day to reach that spot. There is a narrow gap between there and the river, they will have to pass that way. We propose to attack them there. If you have at least fifteen men who are reliable and can shoot, we should be able to end the Mohican threat and continue on to Montréal."

Malheur looked at the rough map, "What is this here?" he said, pointing a a set of wavy lines Jacques had sketched in.

"That is the swamp we just went around. Do you see the possibilities?" Alain asked.

Malheur studied the map Jacques had drawn, he thought it might work. "Do you think Little Wolf can draw them here?" he asked, pointing at the notch in the ridge.

Alain smiled, "He already has mon Sergent. The Mohican will camp tonight to prepare themselves for battle. After all, we are merely French neophytes lost in the woods, yes?"

Malheur suddenly smiled at the thought of the men who had killed his officers and so many of his men being drawn into a trap.

"Let us head there now, the men have rested enough!"

By nightfall, Malheur and the Gaudry brothers had positioned the men. If Little Wolf did his part, the Mohicans stood no chance. They would hit the ambush position shortly after sunrise.

Little Wolf played his role superbly, the Mohicans were already boasting of their coming victory. The Abenaki warrior listened to those boasts from his position nearby. These enemies were overconfident. Soon, they would be food for the creatures of the forest.

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