The Red Horizon

Chapter 1

Near Albany, New York, 1757

Alice Munro was nothing like her sister.

Cora, a dark-haired beauty, was the antithesis of Alice's pale, refined features and golden hair. She was also the opposite in terms of temperament. Where Alice was cheerful, her disposition one of sweetness and contentment, (and often times referred to as naive by her beloved sister) Cora was serious, outspoken and unflappable, traits that Alice secretly admired when she wasn't finding them equally intimidating.

She knew she was considered to be the weaker of the two, delicate and fragile, virtues she sometimes resented being labelled as even though she couldn't deny that they weren't completely without merit. Always chaperoned as a young debutante ought to be, her life was pampered and mostly idle, though she was proud to admit, if only to herself, that her knowledge of the world outside of England wasn't as sheltered and rudimentary as most of her acquaintance would assume. While she had no practical experience to speak of, she was very well read and took pride in the fact that her interests were vast and varied.

Naturally shy, she didn't often engage in unnecessary discourse, unintentionally creating the impression that she was aloof rather than merely reticent. As such, she had a small circle of close friends, with no more than two or three of them actually knowing or understanding her completely.

Despite the fact that no one would ever believe it, she quietly longed for adventure, for something to break the occasional monotony of London society. When her father had sent for them, asking the sisters to join him in the Americas, her heart had leapt with excitement, though tempered slightly by a small measure of fear. Here, finally, was the chance to explore, the chance to see, from a safe and proper distance of course, those intriguing red skinned men she'd read so much about. Alice wasn't brave by nature, not like Cora, although she secretly wanted to be. She was cautious and circumspect in all things, having been raised to behave in a manner befitting a woman born into the upper echelon.

However, in those books she'd kept hidden from her formidable governess and even from her sister, she'd seen scandalous drawings of them; wild savages dressed so indecently she'd felt her cheeks grow warm, some with shaved heads and war paint streaked across their hardened faces, others wearing ornate jewellery and large headdresses made of beads and feathers. Initially, the idea of ever coming face to face with one of them had been frightening, but over time she'd convinced herself that her father would not have asked them to travel all that way if he'd been concerned for their safety. Thus, having established that danger would not be imminent, the idea of seeing the Indians had secretly become a little thrilling too.

She could hardly wait to return to Portman Square; she had so much to tell her friends.

That anticipatory thought kept playing over and over in her head, providing some comfort as she absently swatted another fly away. It was a beautiful late summer's day, the weather clear and bright. Over the din of horses and the soldiers on foot, she could hear the harmonious chirping of birds and the steady gush of running water from somewhere up ahead.

Despite those pleasantries, the heat on the road from Albany to Fort William Henry was suffocating. They'd only been travelling for a few hours but already her hair was limp, hanging lifelessly against the sides of her face, her corset tight and restrictive, making it hard to breath. Even with the stiff straw hat shielding her face from the harsh rays of the sun, she could still feel an unladylike sheen of sweat coating her brow. A little drowsy too, a result of the constant and repetitive beat of the drums as the troops marched around them as well as the gentle sway of her horse as she trotted along the well-defined forest path, she felt her eyes begin to droop.

"Alice?" Cora asked concerned, reaching a hand towards her.

Her sister's voice shook her out of her stupor. "Can we rest?"