#01 – Motion

Alice never enjoyed the feel of riding, with its stiff riding habits and unpredictable horses – she would much rather walk.

#02 – Cool

The water refreshes her in a way that sleep could not; the crisp taste brings her a clarity of mind that she had lost in her fear.

#03 – Young

Cora thinks she is far too young to understand war, Alice knows, but there is no sense in keeping their father’s fate from her.

#04 – Last

Alice was used to falling behind and trying to keep up, which made it all the more touching when Uncas showed no impatience with her pace up the rocky terrain.

#05 – Wrong

Alice knows it is silly to fight over the price of flour, but the words stick in her throat when she goes to apologize to Uncas – she hates to admit she is wrong.

#06 – Gentle

His hands are always gentle, guiding her, rather than pulling; Alice admires his patience.

#07 – One

Nadie is their only child, but Alice thinks one is a perfect number when Cora makes five with the birth of her twins.

#08 – Thousand

There are thousands of steps from Albany to the fort, thousands of steps between chaos and safety; Alice thinks, at the edge of the cliffs, that she only needs to takeone.

#09 – King

Alice knows that when Cora and Nathaniel start to argue bitterly about the King, it is easier to leave than try to moderate.

#10 – Learn

Nadie learns to take her first steps while Uncas is away; Alice can hardly contain her excitement when she sees him returning with Chingachgook, laden with pelts.

#11 – Blur

She was so overwhelemed by the war and the violence of men that their hasty retreat from the fort is all a blur to Alice.

#12 – Wait

Following Magua away from the village, Alice agonized with every step – the wait for rescue was unbearable.

#13 – Change

Things were different here, in America; the people were more independent, free spirited, Alice noted.

#14 – Command

Nathaniel commanded her attention in a way that Duncan never could; it was a sign that Alice could not ignore in Cora’s countenance.

#15 – Hold

Behind the waterfall, hidden by darkness, Uncas’ arms around her made Alice feel almost as if she were safe.

#16 – Need

She needed to feel as if there were more to the world than violence and hate – it was a sin to lie with a man, but Alice had forgotten what it felt to love.

#17 – Vision

They are old when Uncas’ vision begins to fade, but he still speaks vividly of Alice’s once-golden hair.

#18 – Attention

She would be quite bashful had she known the amount of attention Uncas paid to a passing expression or pause for breath.

#19 – Soul

When Chingachgook passes, Alice prays hard over her worn bible – he does have a soul, believer or not.

#20 – Picture

Her room in London had lithographs on the walls, pictures of landscapes and kings; her first purchase with some extra pocket money is a vivid print of an English garden – it is small, but it is a start at making Albany home.

#21 – Fool

They were fools to follow him, to trust a savage; Alice was not sure why the second savages were any more trustworthy than the first.

#22 – Mad

Cora’s temper was a fearful thing to behold – if she were not so angry with Duncan herself, Alice would have pitied him for his lies.

#23 – Child

She was not a child, despite Cora’s attempts to treat her so; Alice knew she was not an invalid schoolgirl.

#24 – Now

They were buried under a long dead maple tree, the stone markers worn smooth by years of rain.

#25 – Shadow

Nadie was Uncas’ shadow when she began to walk, happy to totter along behind him for hours.

#26 – Goodbye

Alice hated to say goodbye – whenever Uncas left, she would worry that each goodbye was their last.

#27 – Hide

It took years for Alice to lose her urge to hide, to feel exposed even indoors.

#28 – Fortune

She’d had her fortune told once at a fair, by a gypsy – Alice had thought her foolish when she had been warned to distrust a messenger; now, she knows exactly what the gypsy meant.

#29 – Safe

They took shelter in an abandoned cabin built by trappers, needing time for Uncas to rest and heal his wounds; Even with Nathaniel and Chingachgook taking turns on watch, Alice did not feel safe enough to sleep.

#30 – Ghost

The night after Nadie is born, Alice awakens from sleep, swearing she heard her father’s voice singing the lullabye he used to sing her to sleep.

#31 – Book

Alice knew that Uncas could read, but it was still a surprise to find a worn copy of poems by John Donne in his pocket.

#32 – Eye

Alice has seen brown eyes before, but there is something captivating about Uncas’ eyes that make them seem different from all the others.

#33 – Never

Even though Magua is dead, Alice will never fully shake the feeling that he could reappear and tear her world apart.

#34 – Sing

Alice likes to sing, but only when no one else can hear – she still has not gotten over her cousin Mary’s comment that she was awfully flat that Christmas when she turned seven.

#35 – Sudden

Her feelings for Uncas seemed sudden, until she articulated the growing respect and ardor their flight had cultivated.

#36 – Stop

They sheltered not far from the cliffs, in desperate need of rest; No matter how long she sat, Alice could not stop the frantic beating of her heart or the tremors in her body.

#37 – Time

Time seemed to pass quickly, despite the adage that it only flew when you were having fun.

#38 – Wash

Alice hated the hot, heavy task of laundry – no matter how ill-behaved the twins were, she would rather it be her week to mind the children than do the laundry.

#39 – Torn

It was a hard task between what was right and what she wanted, and Alice found herself like a moth to flame when Uncas was near.

#40 – History

The British army had a history of victory, of conquest, and Alice knew, no matter how bleak the war appeared, the Redcoats would win once more.

#41 – Power

It scared her, how little power the colonists had over their fate, subject to warring parties of savages and waves of typhoid and cholera; for some reason, America had sounded much more civilized in Papa’s letters.

#42 – Bother

Alice knew she was underfoot and in the way; it did not take her long to find a nook to hide, where Cora could not snap at her for being a bother.

#43 – God

Alice still believes in God, although it is a test of faith, that day at the cliffs.

#44 – Wall

She has her back against the rough-hewn wall of the cabin, eyes on the door, when she drifts off to sleep – it is only a few minutes, however, until she jolts back to awareness, panicking at an unknown sound.

#45 – Naked

His body is covered in scars, a testament to courage; Alice cannot help but be awed by the sinews in his arms and the sleek plane of his torso – Uncas is a beautiful man.

#46 – Drive

He is driven to find her, to protect her; Uncas will follow her path to the ends of the earth.

#47 – Harm

He is bleeding and wounded, but Alice is unharmed – even if he dies, he has won.

#48 – Precious

She is so innocent and frail, Uncas wonders if she realizes how precious a rarity she is in the frontier.

#49 – Hunger

Alice is too nervous to realize her hunger until she awakens, two mornings after that day at the cliffs, ravenous.

#50 – Believe

Uncas believes that everything will happen for a reason – from their first meeting, he knows his future is entwined with Alice Munro.