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A moody modern-day teen is magically sent to the realm of her favorite adventure books. |
| [Introduction]
Major Characters: Jenna Andrews,16--Blonde,green eyes,usually dressed in jeans and a polo shirt.Convinced that her father doesn't care about her,she runs away one afternoon and finds herself teleported into the realm of her favorite books,the "Little Deer" adventure series about a young woman from a mythical Native American tribe. Little Deer,17--Dark braids,brown eyes,wears buckskin dresses adorned with beads.Title character of the Little Deer series.She is the first to befriend the sad,confused golden-haired stranger newly arrived in her village and later helps her find the courage to make the hardest decision of her life. Hawk on the Wing,early '50s--Little Deer's father.A skilled hunter and warrior,he takes Jenna under his wing,enabling her to heal the emotional wounds she's suffered since her parents split up. Chris Schumacher,36--Author of the Little Deer series.He's baffled about the sudden changes to the text of his latest book in the series...that is,until he learns about Jenna's disappearance. Jenna "J.J." Whitmore,39--Chris Schumacher's agent.She's handled tough situations involving her client before,but never anything quite like this. Scott Hayward,15--Redhead,blue eyes,usually wears athletic-type clothes.Jenna's on-again,off-again boyfriend,he's panicked when he finds out that she's missing and embarks on a frantic search to find her...and winds up joining her in Little Deer's world. Greybow,16--A young man with whom Little Deer has formed a budding romance;at first unsure what to make of the newcomers to his land,he gradually comes to realize the important part they play in helping his people vanquish their worst enemy. Snake Blood,age unknown--Leader of the enemies of Little Deer's people.Has the kind of face that would give Freddy nightmares.When he tries to destroy Little Deer's village,Jenna puts her life at risk to protect her new friends. Moira Fisk,late 20s--Owner of a New Age bookstore in Jenna's hometown.Equipped with strong psychic talents,she offers her services to help Jenna's parents bring her home. Alan Tasker,53--Police commissioner of Jenna's hometown.A former LAPD homicide detective,he thought he'd heard it all...until Chris Schumacher told him the real reason behind Jenna Andrews' disappearance. Dancing Crane,late 40s--Little Deer's mother.With her gentle wisdom,she becomes a second mother to Jenna. Rules: 1.No R-rated language 2.When adding a new installment,be sure you read the previous installment first so that the flow of the story remains as consistent as possible 3.No sexually explicit material 4.Any feedback or suggestions you may have will be welcomed and appreciated |
Chapter 1:Can This Day Get Any Worse? "Where do you think you're going,young lady?!" Brad Andrews demanded of his daughter as she grabbed her blue scrunchie and hurriedly yanked her hair into a ponytail. "As far away from you as I can get!" Jenna Andrews slammed the front door of her house with the strength of an Olympic weightlifter; for what seemed like the two thousandth time since her parents' divorce she'd had a blowout argument with her father over something that in any other house would have seemed trivial. Ignoring her father's shouts for her to get back inside, she climbed onto her bike and made up her mind that she was never having anything to do with her father ever again, custody arrangements notwithstanding. She'd had it with her father-- The only time the stupid jerk even looks at me anymore is when he can't find anybody else to yell at, she thought bitterly as she raced past Moira Fisk's Second Sight bookstore and a sign that read Stillwell Fields-- City of Possibilities/Sign sponsored by Stillwell Fields Chamber of Commerce. No wonder her mother had moved to Hartford after the divorce became final. She kept pedaling until, exhausted and hungry, she was finally forced to stop in the woods five miles from her dad's home. She took her backpack off and looked inside, hoping that by some miracle she'd actually had the presence of mind to pack something to eat... No such luck. All her search yielded was a half-empty juice bottle left over from her visit to Scott Hayward's house the night before." Better than nothing." she shrugged,and started looking for a place to sit and rest. Noticing a large rock about six feet to her left, she began to approach it.... ***** ...at which point her day officially became a total disaster. Getting her foot caught in a fallen branch, she lost her balance and fell face-first into a mud puddle,landing with a distinct SPLAT!Great, she thought in despair. The perfect ending to a crummy afternoon. Wiping the mud stains from her face,she felt her eyes moisten and briskly commanded herself: "Don't you do it,Andrews.Don't you even think about crying." She prided herself on her ability to keep her emotions in check, an ability she'd started developing the moment her parents had announced their separation. This time,though,that ability failed her.She was tired, starving, a million miles from either of her parents, and what was supposed to be an opportunity to reconnect with her father during his two-week summer vacation from work had degenerated into one endless string of fights; to top it all off, that morning Scott had turned her down when she invited him to come to a concert the group On Fyre was holding that weekend at the Civic Center. It was all too much for her to handle,and in a flash she was on her knees sobbing. The only time she could remember crying harder was at her grandmother's funeral three years earlier... Needing something to calm her down,she opened her backpack again and pulled out a well-worn paperback book with the words Little Deer #5:Sacred Ground embossed on the front cover. She sat on the rock and began reading. Sacred Ground was the most recent installment of the Little Deer series. Jenna had started following the series back in eighth grade, and like millions of other readers she'd instantly gotten hooked on it; the rich culture of the series' fictional Massaquona tribe greatly appealed to Jenna's interest in real Native American peoples, and she thrilled at the way Little Deer used her wits to help her tribe deal with its most dangerous enemies. What touched Jenna most, however, was the devotion Little Deer's parents felt for their daughter--and each other.If only my family was still that close, Jenna thought with a sigh. She was about halfway through Chapter 6 of Sacred Ground when she noticed two things.First,she'd been in the woods so long it was almost dark;second,one of the trees nearby was giving off the strangest glow.Putting her book away and closing up her backpack,she approached the tree, gingerly touched it.... ***** ...and was instantly overwhelmed by a barrage of sounds and images. Some comforted her, others frightened her, a few made her feel guilty, and all of them had the distinct quality of being too fantastic to be real yet too real to be a dream. She was out cold before she knew what hit her. ***** "Note to self: Stay away from glowing trees in the future." Jenna groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. She wasn't sure if it was because of hunger or because of that weird light she'd seen, but she felt highly disoriented.She just hoped her bike was still where she'd left it, because she desperately needed to get to her mother's house before it got too dark-- Feeling something furlike under her,Jenna quickly realized she wasn't in the woods anymore. At least, not the woods she was familiar with.She got to her feet and took a quick look at her surroundings;alien and yet strangely familiar,they closely resembled the birchbark lodge illustrations from one of her social studies books about early American history. As she slowly adjusted to her new environment, she noticed that the jeans and polo shirt she'd been wearing earlier had been replaced by a buckskin dress and moccasins. "Wow,whoever lives here is really generous, I'll say that much." she mused. "It's not everyone who'd give a total stranger a change of clothes." With her mind focused on figuring out where she was,she didn't notice the slender figure entering the lodge and slowly walking up behind her... Chapter 2:Shelter Little Deer's braids gracefully swayed in keeping with her footsteps as she approached the yellow-haired stranger; her father had said that when he found the girl the night before, he'd seen a look of great sorrow on her face,almost as if she'd been crying. Perhaps Snake Blood makes war against her people as he does against ours, the Massaquona girl thought.She reached out a comforting hand to the stranger.... ***** ...at which point a startled Jenna jumped a foot and a half. "Oh my God!" she blurted, eyes as wide as saucers as she finally realized she wasn't alone. Spinning around,she looked to see who was behind her and her eyes widened again, this time in recognition. No way, Jenna thought. It can't be her... She stared at the familiar face as if she were in a hypnotic trance. That trance was finally broken by a gentle reassurance from Little Deer: "Don't be afraid, Sun Child. My family will look after you until you can return to your own people..." Jenna was surprised to find that, even though she'd never heard the Massaquona language before, she could understand it as if she'd known it her whole life. "How...how did I get here?" the blonde girl asked, astonished to hear the melodious tongue now flowing from her own lips. **** "--from her own lips? Wait a sec, that can't be right." Chris Schumacher stared in disbelief at his personal copy of Sacred Ground; though he remembered editing the manuscript for it at least a thousand times, he was positive none of the revisions had ever included those words. For that matter,he'd never included any character named Jenna Andrews in it-- or any of his other books. Something very weird was going on... Glancing out the window of the office den of his Staten Island home, he punched up his agent's number on his cell phone. Moment's later, he heard a cheerful voice from somewhere in lower Manhattan greet him with:"Shoe! How's my favorite author?" "Seriously confused and beginning to question his sanity,J.J., that's how." Chris told her. "I was looking over my copy of Sacred Ground to kick-start my creative juices, and pages 17 through 41 seem to have been altered to include references to somebody named Jenna Andrews. I don't know where they came from, but I'm at least ninety-five percent sure I didn't put them there..." "You might be questioning my sanity in another minute, Shoe." J.J. said. "I'm watching Fox News right now, and they just broke in with a report about a missing teenage girl in Connecticut. The police found a copy of Sacred Ground in the woods where she disappeared...Guess what her name is?" Something in Chris' brain clicked at those words. "Well," he finally replied after what felt like an endless pause, "I've heard readers talk about getting lost in my books before, but this is the first time it's actually happened. Got any ideas?" "Meet me down at Mamie Bricker's Coffee Shop in Queens around quarter past two--we've got some major brainstorming to do, and we can do it better once we've had a couple of Mamie's famous crullers." "Let's hope you're right." Chris said just before he hung up his cell. Tucking his copy of Sacred Ground into the glove compartment of his Trans Am, he pulled out of his driveway and tried to wrap his brain around what Whitmore had just told him. It all felt like something out of The Twilight Zone... ***** "Did your father notice anything... unusual when he found me?" Jenna asked Little Deer. The two girls were sitting in the center of the lodge waiting for Little Deer's father,the great hunter Hawk on the Wing, to return from his morning hunt. Little Deer nodded and said, "He was leading one of our scouting parties near the Sacred Woods.... He noticed a fading light in the east, and when he looked to see where it came from he saw you. Such a thing has only happened once before,when his adopted sister first came to our village..." I knew it! Jenna thought triumphantly. Somehow, by means she had yet to understand, she'd been transported into the world of the Little Deer books; that strange glowing tree she'd seen the night before must have been some kind of doorway, she mused.She'd have to ask about that later, but in the meantime, there was something else she wanted to know. "I know this might sound like a silly question," she giggled, "but...why did you call me Sun Child when you first saw me?" |
Chapter 3:One Of These Things Is Definitely NOT Like The Others Little Deer smiled and explained to her new friend, "Your hair looks like the morning sun, so I suggested to Father that we call you Sun Child at least until we knew your true name." After a brief pause,she then asked: "Does everyone in your tribe have hair like this?" "Not everyone." Jenna told her. "Some have hair like yours, some have hair that's in between..." Noticing a blue bead in the center of Little Deer's necklace, her face lit up in a mischievous grin. "And believe it or not, some people where I come from even have hair the color of this pendant." Little Deer burst out laughing at the idea. "You're joking!" she insisted. "No, I'm not, they really do."Jenna assured her. Her anxiety about being in a strange place began to ease just a little; she now let herself start to enjoy the excitement of meeting one of her favorite characters face-to-face at last.... ***** Mamie Bricker's Coffee Shop had been J.J. Whitmore's favorite hangout as long as she could remember. A lot of her peers considered it odd that an agent who could afford to lunch at some of New York's priciest cafes would choose this hole-in-the-wall as her main eating spot, but it suited her perfectly-- the service was terrific and she didn't have to fuss with getting reservations. "We'll have a hard time explaining all this to her parents, Shoe." she told Chris Schumacher, who was polishing off the last remnants of a chocolate donut. "Actually,J.J., that'll be the easy part." Chris answered. "The real trick's going to be getting them to talk to each other without getting into a screaming match... The Post had a short piece about her family on Page 13 today, and it turns out her parents divorced two years ago." He signalled the waitress for a refill of his coffee mug. "Not a pretty picture." "Poor kid." J.J. sighed sympathetically. "Besides her parents, there's also the problem of trying to explain this to the police." Chris said as his coffee refill arrived."How can we explain to them what's happened without sounding like complete lunatics?" J.J. looked at the copy of Sacred Ground Chris was holding and got an idea. "Let's go to Stillwell Fields and check out one of their copies of your book from the town library. Then we can take that and your personal copy to the chief of police...." Chris immediately saw where she was going with this. "If they see how the book's changed, they'll realize we're telling the truth and we can finally start cooking up a way to get the kid home." By the time Whitmore and her client had left Mamie Bricker's, she'd booked two-first class seats on a mid-afternoon flight to Hartford; from there they could catch a train or commuter flight to Stillwell Fields..... ***** ....where at that same moment the town's police headquarters was crammed with reporters from just about every media outlet Alan Tasker had ever heard of, and one or two he hadn't. It had been nearly twelve hours since the Andrews girl's father had reported her missing, and to Tasker's dismay his officers were no closer to finding an answer to her disappearance than they'd been when they started their search the previous night. "Commissioner,is there a reward for Jenna Andrews' return?" asked a reporter from Hartford's NBC affiliate. "That hasn't been decided yet." Tasker admitted. The next question came from the NBC station's Fox competitor: "Commissioner, a story out of our sister station in Boston indicates that the FBI may be called in shortly to take over the investigation into Jenna's disappearance. Care to comment on that?" Tasker rolled his eyes in disbelief....his department hadn't even contacted the county sheriff's office yet, and already these press yahoos were talking about getting the Feds involved. "I'm afraid your sources are misinformed." he said,his graying mustache twitching as he fought back a cough. "We don't want to call in outside agencies before we absolutely need to..." "Sheridan Chandler, Stillwell Fields Observer." said a voice at the front of the media pack. Great, Tasker thought dryly. My least favorite journalist in the entire world. If there was any cliched "how do you feel?" question to be posed when a story broke, you could always count on her to ask it. Sure enough, the next thing Tasker heard from her was: "Does it bother you that Jenna Andrews seems to have essentially vanished into thin air?" Suppressing the urge to fire off a sarcastic quip at her, the commissioner answered: "I think it bothers just about anyone with a soul or a family... That could just as easily be your kid or mine out there..." Chapter 4:Regrets But it's my kid, Brad Andrews thought as he watched the press conference unfold on his kitchen TV. For the thousandth time since Jenna left home, he wished hadn't had that argument with her. Now she might be God knows where, and it was his fault. Beside him his ex-wife Lisa, who'd driven down from Hartford as soon as she'd heard about Jenna's disappearance, gazed at Brad with a sympathy she hadn't felt for him since their divorce. Though their marriage might have ended on less than cordial terms, she wouldn't have wished what he was going through on her worst enemy. "Have you heard from her friend Scott?" she asked him when the press conference ended and the station cut to a commercial for that evening's 5:30 PM news. "Only about a hundred times." Brad joked wryly. "It seems like every third phone I've gotten in the last 24 hours has been from him...he's really shook up about what happened to her." Picking up a copy of that day's Hartford Courant, Lisa said: "I know how he feels." The headline in the top left corner of the front page spoke not just for her and Brad's feelings, but for those of just about anyone in Stillwell Fields who cared the slightest bit about Jenna's well-being: Town Shaken By Andrews Disappearance... ***** Engrossed in her conversation with Little Deer, Jenna didn't notice the bear-like figure stepping into the lodge; Little Deer, on the other hand, spotted him immediately and leaped up to embrace him. "Father!" she cried out joyfully. Jenna looked up at the huge man and practically had to bite her lip to keep from gasping out in recognition. It was Hawk on the Wing-- and judging by the dozen or so rabbit carcasses he was carrying in his hand,his hunt had been a highly successful one. "Hello, Sun Child." Hawk said to her. "I trust you are well?" "Please, just call me Jenna." the blonde girl answered in a humble voice. "Thank you for rescuing me..." She started to brush a lock of hair back from her face and noticed it had a faint scent of wildflowers; somebody must have bathed her when they brought her back to Little Deer's village. "And for getting all that mud off me...I must have been a real mess." she said with an embarrassed giggle. "It was no trouble." the towering warrior answered affectionately. "Your family would doubtless do the same for my daughter if things were the other way around...." Jenna's giggle faded into an awkward silence. How could she explain to her hosts that her parents weren't together anymore? She had a hard enough time understanding it herself... It would take me a week just to describe to them the concept of divorce court, she thought ruefully. Just then Little Deer's mother, Dancing Crane, entered the lodge and greeted her husband. "I was beginning to think you might never come back." she teased him affectionately. "As if I would abandon one so lovely." The huge warrior flashed a mischievous smile at her before presenting her with the rabbits he had caught. With slow, patient steps, she went to the cooking fire outside the lodge and strung the rabbits over it. She came back into the lodge, reached into the small rawhide satchel hanging at her waist, and handed Jenna a familiar-looking blue band. "I thought you might want this back when you awakened." "Thanks." Overjoyed at seeing her scrunchie again, Jenna spontaneously embraced Dancing Crane before sitting down to braid her hair; using the scrunchie to hold one end of the braid in place, she turned to let Little Deer tie a small leather band around the other end. "Forgive me for prying, Jenna," Hawk spoke up, "but where is your young man?" The question briefly caught Jenna off-guard, but she recovered quickly and said, "He... he was helping his father when I was taken away. He doesn't know yet that I'm here." But I sure hope he finds out soon, she thought. "You miss him, don't you?" With a nod, Jenna told him: "More than you can imagine." ***** "Can I help you?" "Yeah, I'd like to check out all of your available copies of Sacred Ground." The middle-aged woman behind the circulation desk at the Stillwell Fields public library stared in curiosity at the two visitors standing on the other side. The young woman she didn't recognize, but she could swear she'd seen the man somewhere before.... "Do you have a Bristol or Stillwell Fields Public Library system card?" she finally asked him. "Not quite, but if you need ID I've got my New York State driver's license and a patron's card from the NYPL system." he said as he handed both cards to her. The librarian did a double-take when she noticed the photo on the driver's license. Could this be who she thought it was? She looked at the signature in the license's lower right corner--and her hunch was confirmed. "Mr.Schumacher!"she gushed. "You can't begin to imagine what a thrill it is for me to finally meet you face-to-face.... wait right here and I'll get them, and then I'll register you for your own borrower's card at this library." With that, she darted off to the library's young adults section. "Wow, last time I saw somebody take off that fast indoors was when my sister was competing in the 800-meter dash at the Millrose Games." J.J. said to Chris. "Let's hope she's just as fast coming back." Chris answered. |
Chapter 5:An Uneasy Feeling "I'm sorry, young man, we're not allowed to give out personal information without our clients' prior consent. Mr. Schumacher's home phone and e-mail listings are considered highly confidential...." "I don't care if they're classified top secret by the Pentagon!" Normally the picture of adolescent jock cool, Scott Hayward was at this particular moment in the midst of a full-blown panic attack; something weird had happened to his best friend Jenna, and this Schumacher guy might be the only one who could help him get her back. Why couldn't this dimwit secretary understand that? "I need to get a hold of him, and fast!" "Even if I could give that information to you, I'm not sure you'd be able to get in touch with him." the secretary's voice warned. "He left town a few hours ago...in fact I think he said it had something to do with your friend's disappearance..." Scott blinked in astonishment as he ran a hand through his reddish-brown hair."You're kidding." "No, sir, I booked the flight reservations myself. He was going to Hartfor--"That was as far as the secretary got before Scott hurriedly hung up his dad's cell phone and hopped on his bike to see if he could meet the famous author's plane at the town airport.... ***** ...but at that point Chris and J.J. were down at Captain Eddie's Farmers Market, said to be the locals to be a good source of both fresh fruit and information on where to find things in Stillwell Fields. "What can I get you folks today?"the propietor asked when he saw them coming through the door. "You happen to know how to get to 56 Armstrong Drive?" asked J.J., referring to the address of Stillwell Fields Police Headquarters. ***** Jenna couldn't tell whether it was from the lodge fire, the rabbit stew she was eating, or the people she was eating with, but she felt a warmth inside her that she found very comforting. She almost felt as if she'd found a second family with Little Deer and her parents; she promised herself that when she got back to her own world, she'd somehow find a way to repay their kindness. "I don't think I can eat another mouthful." Jenna giggled when she had swallowed the last of her stew. "I'm so stuffed it's a wonder I haven't blown up..." "I don't believe that." Greybow, the young man Little Deer was in love with, had joined her family for the meal after coming back from a scouting party and was looking at the blonde stranger with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "With your appetite, I think you could eat a bear whole and not be full...." The young warrior winced as he felt Little Deer's elbow poke him in the side. "Greybow, you're being rude." she scolded him in an indignant whisper. "She is our guest...you should not be making fun of her." She looked at Jenna and sighed, "Boys can be so foolish sometimes." "It's okay." Jenna assured her. "Actually, I kind of like his sense of humor...I can see why you're attracted to him. It kind of reminds me--" Jenna's thought was abruptly halted in mid-sentence as a tall, arrogant-looking man entered the lodge and looked at Hawk on the Wing. Nice manners you've got there, pal, she thought sarcastically as the visitor shoved his way past her. Even Julie Brinker in 6th period algebra isn't that nasty to me-- and she hates me. "You are intruding, Waya." Hawk on the Wing said to the stranger; something in Hawk's tone made Jenna shudder. She couldn't be sure how she knew, but it was clear these two didn't get along all that well. Chapter 6:Waya "I do not mean to." Waya answered with an ingratiating leer that uncomfortably reminded Jenna of the soap opera villains she'd seen on TV when she was a kid helping her mom with the dishes. "But there is an urgent matter you must attend to...another of our village girls has been slain--this time it was Falcon Wind. If we hurry, we can still find and catch those who killed her." Jenna took the opportunity to surreptiously study Waya; he had a powerful, athletic body and hair neatly trimmed into a scalp lock that hung to the back of his neck. If he hadn't been at least twice her age, and she didn't have the gnawing suspicion that something about him was less than kosher, she might have found him attractive. "Very well. Get a party together at once and come with me." There was considerable anger in Hawk's tone; Falcon Wind was the daughter of his oldest friend, and he promised himself that he would cover the earth with the blood of those who murdered her. He also vowed to keep a watchful eye on Waya.... As the two men left, Jenna found herself inadvertantly catching Waya's eye; fear, curiosity, and repulsion battled within her as he flashed her a leer that suggested he was more than a little curious about the pale-skinned newcomer to Hawk's village. Repulsion won, and as soon as Waya was safely out of earshot she said to Greybow, "Is it just me or does that guy seriously squick you out too?" Though the young warrior had never heard the word "squick" till now, he seemed to grasp its meaning pretty quickly; at any rate he could tell by the way she said it that it meant something less than pleasant. "Yes, Sun Chi--Jenna. Some of the young men in our village don't trust him...they think he is a Waiashu spy." Jenna quivered at the thought. The Waiashus were the Massaquonas' sworn enemies; if this Waya goon had anything to do with them, Hawk and his people were in major trouble-- and so was she for that matter. You'd better get a clue about what he's really up to, Andrews, and fast, she told herself. ***** "Tell me you've got good news about the Andrews case." Commissioner Tasker pleaded to Captain, Wellinghis lead investigator on the Jenna Andrews disappearance. Capt. Welling had been his partner for years when he was an officer with the LAPD; when he was first hired to serve as commissioner with the Stillwell Fields police, he'd brought her with him to run the department's missing persons squad. "Sorry to disappoint you, Alan," Capt. Welling replied, "but we're no closer to a lead now than we were last night. It's like she literally vanished into thin air..." Tasker smoothed the ends of his mustache and was about to make another comment when he heard an excited buzzing from the other side of his office door. "Please tell me Sheridan Chandler didn't somehow manage to barge her way into the squad room."he sighed. Propping the office door open with her foot, Capt. Welling said: "Well, there's a civilian out there but it's definitely not Chandler, that's for sure...there's something familiar about the guy who's with her,though." She took a closer look at the second visitor and something in her brain immediately clicked. "Commissioner," she said in astonishment, "you won't believe who just walked into the station." ***** "What in the world are you doing here?" Commissioner Tasker wondered when he came face-to-face with Chris Schumacher. "Let's just say I have a personal stake in helping you solve the Jenna Andrews case." Chris told him, holding up the copies of Sacred Ground he'd checked out from the Stillwell Fields Public Library. Motioning in the direction of the interrogation room, J.J. said, "Commissioner, we have a theory which may explain what happened to her. It may sound pretty wild, but if you're willing to listen--" "Miss," Commissioner Tasker interrupted at this point, "I'll listen to elevator music at this point if it gets this department one step closer to finding her." With that, J.J., Chris, Tasker, and Capt. Welling all filed into the interrogation room... |
Chapter 7: Curiouser and Curiouser Lisa Andrews gazed wistfully at one of the back pages of her ex-husband's photo album of Jenna's childhood; the picture, taken when Jenna was twelve, showed the family at one of their last outings together before the divorce, a Patriots game. "God, what were we thinking when we separated?" she sighed. "That's the problem--we weren't thinking. At least I wasn't." Brad admitted ruefully. "And I sure wasn't thinking last night when I reamed Jen out about supper....You should have heard us last night, Lisa. I was fighting with her like cats and dogs over this stupid little--" The ringtone from Brad's cell interrupted him in midsentence. "Hello?" "Brad, it's Kyle Hayward." Scott's father sounded more nervous than usual to Brad. "Is Scott over there by any chance?" Brad shook his head in response."Not as far as I know...Why?" "He took off about two hours ago...his note mentioned something about going to the airport, but he didn't say anything about where he was going after that, so I thought he might be over at your house." Lisa mouthed the inquiry "Who is it?", to which Brad whispered in reply, "Scott Hayward’s dad." Turning his attention back to Scott's father, he said: "Last time I saw him was this morning around ten. He came in to ask me if the cops had found out anything about Jen, then he turned around and went home." "Well, if you happen to see him again, could you let him know I'm looking for him? The last thing we need right now is another missing kid..." ****** "If I wasn't seeing this with my own eyes, Mr. Schumacher, I wouldn't believe it." Commissioner Tasker, gesturing at the copy of Sacred Ground which lay open on his desk, shook his head in amazement. "Now you know how I felt." Chris said. Finishing off a bottle of Aquafina, Capt. Welling said: "Well, like my old watch commander at Lincoln Heights used to say, if you toss out the impossible, whatever's left, no matter how crazy it sounds, has to be true. Now we just have to figure out how to get Jenna Andrews back home." "That's the $64,000 question." J.J. sighed, toying with her cellphone. "The $100,000 question is how she wound up in the book in the first place. Nothing in my contract law courses at Columbia ever prepared me for something like this..." At that moment Chris realized he hadn't done anything about finding a place to stay overnight. Picking up a stray copy of the local phone directory, he started to flick through it looking for motel listings when an ad in the 'Bookstores' section caught his eye: SECOND SIGHT BOOKS For Those Ready To Venture Into Uncharted Spiritual Waters Books*Merchandise*Jewelry*New Age Workshops*Tarot Readings*Channeling*Psychic Investigations LOCATED ON THE CORNER OF DUCHOVNY & ANDERSON Moira Fisk, Proprietor "Psychic investigations?" he said to himself. Tasker overheard him and said,"Yeah...she's helped us with quite a few missing persons cases. Moved out here from Seattle about six years ago and started the bookstore about two months after she came to town." "Have you contacted her yet?" J.J. inquired of the Stillwell Fields police commissioner. "We usually wait for her to call us." Tasker said. "When the Andrews case broke Moira was out of town, but it shouldn't be much longer before we hear from her..." ***** By this time Scott Hayward was praying to just about every deity he could think of that he could get hold of Chris Schumacher before dark-- either that or Jenna would turn up safe and sound. Having failed to locate the famous author at the airport, Scott had somehow taken a wrong turn on the way home and wound up in the same woods where Jenna had disappeared the previous night, and as he stood beside his bike trying to figure out what to do next, he got the strange sensation of being watched. "Hello?" he called. No answer. "Hello?" he repeated, a bit louder this time. Still no answer. That can only mean one of two things, he thought. Either I'm hallucinating or whoever's watching me is deaf as a post. He could only think of two times he'd been more nervous in his life-- the first being when his Little League Juniors team was playing in the Connecticut state championship against New Haven and he'd had to face a pitcher with a devastating curveball, the second coming when his cousin's Army infantry unit had been ambushed in Iraq the week of Jenna's 15th birthday. He decided to make one last try to contact whoever was spying on him. "Hey!" he shouted. "I'm not trying to start any trouble...I just want to find my friend!" Scott finally got an answer, but not exactly in the form he'd been expecting. One of the trees in the woods began to give off an eerie glimmer.... "Oookay," he said to himself, "I'm officially creeped out..." Two seconds later, a burst of luminous energy streaked forth from the tree and wrapped itself around Scott like a boa constrictor coiling around its prey. He lost all sense of time and space as the strange light enveloped his face. Chapter 8: Looking for Answers Hawk and Waya returned to the Massaquona village late in the afternoon; to Hawk's dismay, Falcon Wind's killer had eluded his search party. Outwardly Waya looked upset too, but it was hard to tell whether this was real or just a mask to lull suspicion about where his true loyalties lay... Warily keeping an eye on Waya as the big man exited his lodge, Hawk almost didn't notice Jenna gently tapping on his shoulder trying to get his attention. When he finally noticed her standing behind him, he turned around a bit quicker than he'd meant to. "Oops." Jenna blushed, embarrassed at herself for having needlessly startled the great warrior. "Guess this isn't a good time to talk...." Hawk smiled thinly and answered: "Forgive me, Jenna. Falcon Wind's death weighs a great deal on my mind..." Jenna knew how he felt; for weeks after her grandmother passed away, she'd practically been a zombie. It had taken a lot of counseling at school before she finally felt human again...and even then, there had been plenty of nights when she'd cried her eyes out. "I know I haven't been here that long," she said to Hawk, "but if it's all right, I'd like to see Falcon Wind's family so I can pay my respects to them...." The huge warrior nodded; the fact that the Sun Child would wish to console another's grief in the midst of her own distress spoke well of her character. "I'll take you to them soon." he said. "You would have liked Falcon Wind very much, I think....I see in you much of the same fearless spirit that she had." ****** Elsewhere in the Massaquona homeland, Greybow cautiously watched the flame-haired stranger who had suddenly emerged from the forest. Knife at the ready, he hid behind a large boulder, prepared to defend himself should the newcomer prove to be an enemy. But to the young brave's surprise, the newcomer only took a few short steps before standing and looking off to his right. "Jenna!" the stranger shouted, clearly looking and sounding distressed. Greybow's eyes widened....could this be Jenna's young man? If it were, he must get the flame-haired boy back to the village quickly lest Waiashu scouts found him first. He rose from his hiding place and started to approach the stranger... ****** In spite of his bewilderment over where he was and how he'd gotten there, Scott couldn't help but admire the sheer beauty of the woods around him. Too bad I didn't bring a camcorder with me, he thought as he tried to adjust to his surroundings. This place makes Yosemite look like a playground! He started to walk past a giant rock, hoping he could find somebody who could tell him how he'd gotten here and what had happened to Jenna. He'd only taken three steps when he felt a hand seize his arm and pull him to the ground... ****** "Commissioner Tasker, Moira Fisk is on line two." "Thanks, Melinda." Tasker said, picking up the phone extension in his office. "Hello?" "Hi, I just got back from Boston and I heard your message when I was checking my answering machine." Moira Fisk's voice answered from the other end. "Are Jenna's parents with you?" "No, but I've got somebody else here who has an interest in the case." Tasker said, passing the phone to Chris Schumacher. "I don't know if you remember me, Ms. Fisk," Chris said, "but we met last summer in the Air Canada terminal at LAX. I was heading to Asia to do some meet-and-greets in Japan and Korea and you were just coming back from a psychic healing seminar in Vancouver..." "Actually, I do remember you." Moira told him cheerfully. "You read me some pieces from your short story collection while I was waiting for my connecting flight back to Hartford, and your agent was nice enough to lend me her cell phone when I couldn't recharge mine...What's your connection to the Jenna Andrews case?" Taking a deep breath, the world-reknowned author replied: "You may find this hard to believe, Ms. Fisk, but I've got reason to think that Jenna has literally disappeared into one of my books..." But Moira really didn't find it hard to believe at all; in her mind, the notion of people being transported into fictional universes was no more far-fetched than the idea of people flying across the Atlantic. "What really surprises me is that I don't hear about things like this more often." she told Chris. "If you'll remember your Shakespeare--" and at that point Chris could swear he heard her grin --"'there are more things on heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy'." "Any chance you could meet me at Commissioner Tasker's office in, say, 20 minutes?" After a brief pause, Moira said: "Okay. Do you have a copy of the book with you?" "Actually, I've got five of them." Chris said.... |
Chapter 9: Friends Reunited Scott feared he was being kidnapped or mugged; determined not to let either of those things happen, he started to throw a punch at his mystery assailant...then froze when he finally saw who had grabbed him. Holy cow! he thought, staring at the buckskin-garbed figure looming above him. He looks just like Little Deer's friend from Jen's favorite books! "Sorry about that." he said as the stranger helped him to his feet. "It's just that worrying about Jen's got me all spastic..." Greybow nodded. "She worries about you too. When she awoke after Hawk on the Wing found her, she told us how much" Looking around, he added: "We must hurry back to my village...the Waiashus would not think twice about slitting our throats if they captured us." "That wouldn't be good." Scott said, unconsciously rubbing his throat as he turned to start following Greybow back to the Massaquona village. Extending a hand to the young warrior, he added: "Before I forget...name's Scott Hayward." "Greybow." his new friend replied, returning Scott's greeting. "I'm honored to know the Sun Child's friend...." Scott blinked quizzically. "Sun Child?" "That is what we called Jenna when she first came to us. It is a perfect name for her..." Greybow smiled. "Her hair flows like a waterfall, and her laugh warms you like a summer morning." "I know." Scott nodded. He hadn't realized until then just how much he missed her, and as Greybow led him down a riverbank he thanked his lucky stars the young warrior didn't notice the moistness in his eyes... ****** Falcon Wind's parents watched as the yellow-haired newcomer to their village gently laid a single wildflower on their daughter's burial robe. "God," the stranger murmured, "I know I've kind of been on the outs with you lately, but..., but if you could just be sure that Falcon Wind makes it safely to Heaven I’d really appreciate it…” After a short pause she added, “And help Hawk and his people find the creeps who killed her. They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with what they did.” And they won’t be, she promised herself, if I’ve got anything to say about it. “What happens to me isn’t as important as making sure the girls of this village are kept safe.” She stepped back to let the warriors carry Falcon Wind’s body to the tribal burial grounds; as they disappeared into the woods, the yellow-haired girl was taken into the gentle embrace of Falcon Wind’s mother. “Yours is a good heart, child.” the older woman murmured. “I only wish you could have met my daughter while she lived.” Jenna nodded. “Me too.” The moment reminded her of the day she’d first met Scott Hayward, and how she’d told him that she regretted not being able to introduce him to her grandmother, one of the most wonderful people she’d ever met-- A sudden persistent tugging on the sleeve of her dress broke her train of thought. She turned and saw a boy of about nine pointing towards the edge of the village. "Hurry, Jenna!" he urged her. "Greybow found one of your people in the woods and he's bringing them here now!" Following the boy to the palisades that marked the edge of the village, Jenna looked up and saw a flash of reddish-brown hair just a few feet away. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute, wondering what strange new turn her adventure among the Massaquonas was about to take... "Jen?"called a familiar voice from the center of the crowd that had gathered around Greybow. Jenna’s pulse raced like a greyhound; gently slipping free from the boy’s grasp, she rushed into the crowd and saw Greybow standing side-by-side with Scott Hayward. “Scott, you incredibly stubborn blockhead!” she gasped, tears of joy glistening in her eyes as she threw her arms around her boyfriend. “Am I glad to see you!” Behind her, Little Deer and Greybow exchanged contented smiles, happy to see that Sun Child and her young man had found each other at last. ”I was just about to say the same thing, Jen-- minus the ‘stubborn blockhead’ part, that is.” Scott couldn’t remember when he’d seen Jenna looking more beautiful; he was tempted to bow to her like she was a queen. Maybe it was the setting sun or just his relief at seeing her alive and well, but she seemed to be positively glowing at that moment...There were a million things he wanted to say her, but he couldn’t quite make up his mind where to start. Jenna quickly rescued him from his dilemma; wiping her eyes, she said to him. “Scott, I’d like you to meet Little Deer…her family’s been looking after me since I first got here. Little Deer, this is my boyfriend from back home, Scott Hayward.” ”Welcome, Scott."Little Deer’s gracious manner and amiable expression quickly soothed away whatever remaining fears the redhead might have had about being caught far from home. “Jenna has told me much about you…” ”Speaking of Jen,” Scott said, “I wanted to thank you and your parents for keeping an eye on her. I’ve been worried sick about her since she left…” Noticing the two somber figures standing a few feet to Little Deer’s right, he asked: “What’s going on? They look the same way Jen did the first time she told me about her parents getting divorced.” Shaking her head in sorrow, Little Deer told him: “They are my father’s oldest friends. Their daughter, Falcon Wind, was kidnapped and murdered before you came here. Father tried to find the fiend who killed her, but whoever it was got away from him and is waiting for the chance to come into our village and kill again.” A mournful sigh escaped her as she motioned Scott to follow her back to her family’s lodge. ”And that’s not the only problem.” Jenna added in a confidential tone. “There’s a guy here named Waya who might be spying for the Massaquonas’ enemies….I wouldn’t put it past him to be involved with the murder somehow. I can’t say too much because I’m afraid he might be eavesdropping, but I suggest we both watch our backs around him; he looks like the kind of person who wouldn’t think twice about sticking a knife in them if he had the chance.” Scott shuddered at those words; the only way Jenna’s description of Waya could have spooked him more was if she had told him he had fangs like Dracula or ate people like Hannibal Lecter. ****** At first Brad and Lisa Andrews had thought the phone call was some kind of warped practical joke. Brad, in fact, had been on the verge of threatening to call the police until he recognized the voice on the other end of the line. ”Moira Fisk?” he asked, startled to find himself talking to a local celebrity. ”Yes, Mr. Andrews.” Besides her job running the bookstore and her consulting gigs with the local police, Moira was actively involved with the Stillwell Fields Historical Society and hosted a live weekly call-in show for the town’s most popular AM radio station. She’d even been briefly drafted to run for a seat on the city council, and though she’d lost her primary by a 5-1 margin the contacts she’d made during that time had been highly rewarding-- especially when it came time to seek permits for expanding Second Sight Books. “I know that what I’m telling you may sound far-fetched at first, but it’s the best-- heck, the only explanation for the disappearance of your daughter and her friend. The author of the book is here with me at the police station right now...” ”Let me talk to him.” ****** Over the next ten minutes, Chris Schumacher recounted for Brad how he and J.J. had first deduced the truth about Jenna’s sudden vanishing; by the time he finally hung up the phone, he’d made arrangements to come to the Andrews house later that evening to meet with Jenna’s and Scott’s parents. Captain Welling and Moira Fisk would be going with him, hoping that somehow they could all find a way to bring the kids home. |
Chapter 10: Consolation, Prized From personal experience, Chris Schumacher knew what it was like to have a family member missing and not be able to find them; his junior year of college, his older brother had vanished from a psychiatric hospital in Delaware for six weeks. He and his parents had been frantic with worry the whole time his brother was gone-- and this was in a situation where those searching for the missing person could explore familiar territory. For the Andrews and Hayward families, and the Stillwell Fields police, that worry had to be multiplied times ten given that they were dealing with what were essentially uncharted waters. Commissioner Tasker pulled up in his squad car to the Andrews house with Chris riding shotgun, while behind them J.J. Whitmore drove up in a rental car with Moira Fisk and Captain Welling. Brad Andrews was waiting for them on the front porch, gripping his cell phone like it was a life raft-- and for him, it very well might be. “Jenna’s mom and Scott’s parents are waiting for us in the den.” he told Tasker, opening the door to let the police commissioner in. ”Can I help you with those?” Lisa Andrews asked Moira, noticing the bags the Second Sight Books owner was carrying in her right hand. ”Thanks, Mrs. Andrews, but I can manage.” Moira replied amiably. “But if there’s any herbal tea around, I’d appreciate it if you could get me a cup.” Behind them, Chris Schumacher was introducing himself to the Haywards while Captain Welling followed J.J. into the den. Ten minutes later, herbal tea in hand, Moira joined the rest of the group in the den. ****** Moira arranged the handful of crystals she’d brought with her on the coffee table with the intense concentration of a NASA engineer monitoring space probe telemetry or a surgeon monitoring a patient’s vital signs. “What’s she doing?” Scott’s mother, Jeanine Hayward, asked Captain Welling. Overhearing the question, Moira turned to Jeanine and said: “I’m trying to home in on Jenna and Scott’s psychic wavelengths. You might not know this, Mrs. Hayward, but every human being is born with a unique psychic signature, a kind of mental and spiritual fingerprint which distinguishes him or her from everyone else on this planet.” “You mean like brain waves?” Jeanine guessed as Chris Schumacher handed Moira one of his copies of Sacred Ground. “Kind of.” Moira nodded. “Only this signature doesn’t just involve the brain…it encompasses a person’s whole inner being-- their mind, their heart, their soul.” Opening the book to the page where Chris had first noticed Jenna having been transported into the story, she continued: “These crystals I’ve brought with me act as a psychic GPS. If Jenna and Scott are still alive-- and I think they are --the largest crystal will start lighting up within a few minutes.” ”God, I hope you’re right, Ms. Fisk.” Brad Andrews sighed. Sure enough, within seconds the crystals started glowing like a neon sign… ****** Jenna couldn’t sleep; her guilt over her last words to her father before she’d been transported to the Massaquona homeland was tormenting her without pause. In her nightmares, she found herself replaying the argument that had sent her storming out of the Andrews house, right down to the very second when her dad had demanded to know where she was going and she’d snapped “As far away from you as I can get!” before climbing on her bike and riding away. Soon it got to be too much for her, and she awoke with a frantic scream. “I’m sorry, Dad, I didn’t mean it!” (more editing to come) |
| Chapter 5:Panic Mode "I'm sorry,young man,we're not permitted to give out that information."said the switchboard operator at Jenna Whitmore's literary talent agency."Our clients' phone numbers are private and confidential...." "I DON'T CARE IF THEY'RE CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET BY THE PENTAGON!"Scott Hayward exploded into the mouthpiece of his father's cell phone."My girlfriend's missing and this Schumacher guy might be the only one who can help me find her!" "Even if I were allowed to give out Mr.Schumacher's personal phone number,I'm not sure you'd get him--he left New York late this afternoon due to an undisclosed personal emergency..." Scott was about to ask for Schumacher's e-mail address when the cell's battery abruptly died out."I don't believe it!"he snapped,needing all the self-control he could muster to stop himself from throwing the phone against a wall.Normally the textbook picture of adolescent jock cool,at this moment he was seething with pent-up frustration and guilt about Jenna Andrews.If you hadn't blown her off when she wanted you to go with her to that On Fyre concert,none of this would have happened,he'd chided himself a thousand times since her disappearance. Grabbing the flashlight his father used for household repairs,he took off for the woods where Jenna's bike had been recovered.It was almost 7:00 PM;most of the volunteer searchers had already gone home for the night and the cops were standing down as well.If anyone was going to find her,he decided,it would have to be him. ***** "What can I get you folks tonight?"the gregarious owner of Captain O'Toole's Fruit Market said to Chris Schumacher and Jenna Whitmore as they entered his shop. "We need directions to the Stillwell Fields Public Library."Chris said. "You want the main branch on McDermott Road or the reserve building on Spader Drive?"Captain O'Toole asked. "The main building."Whitmore told him. Pausing to unload a crate of fresh oranges,Captain O'Toole said:"Just follow the road here until you hit the corner of McDermott and Boyle--library's the second building on your right." With a nod of thanks to the older man,Chris and Whitmore jumped back in their rented Grand Am,praying that they could reach the library before it closed. **** Scott could only remember two times in his life he'd been more nervous than he was at the moment he stepped into the darkened woods.The first time,he'd been batting for his Little League under-12 team against New Haven in the Connecticut state championships and the opposing pitcher had been a lefthander with a wicked fastball;the second time,a week after his 13th birthday,he'd been waiting for news about his older brother,a US Army Reserve sergeant reported missing in Iraq. "Jenna!"he shouted,hoping against hope that she'd shout back. Nothing. "JENNA!"he yelled again,getting nothing in response but an eerie quiet.He was about to call her a third time when he noticed a faint silhouette off to his right.He cautiously approached the figure,not noticing or caring about the odd glow that had suddenly start to envelop him.... **** "Child of the Sun,will you walk with me?"Hawk on the Wing said to Jenna as he came back in the lodge. "Sure."Jenna answered,glad for the invitation;she had a lot on her mind,and this would be the perfect opportunity to discuss it.She followed him to a pond that was a popular fishing spot with the Massaquonas;as he baited his hook,Jenna remember the times she'd enjoyed going fishing with her grandpa as a kid. Helping her bait her own hook,Hawk observed perceptively,"You seemed...uneasy when Waya came into the lodge." "No offense,but he does kind of creep me out."Jenna admitted,bracing herself for a rebuke.But Hawk simply nodded."I share your concern."he told her."He has too much pride for his own good..." |
| Chapter 6:Chasing Jenna “Why do you think he showed so much interest in me?”Jenna questioned Hawk on the Wing. The older man sighed,and stared ahead, the baited hook still in his right hand. “He shows interest in all the young ladies of the village,and you are more fair than most.Of course he is going to be attracted to you.” This admission did nothing to quiet the knot in her stomach.“He seems so different, like he doesn’t belong in your village.How did he come to live here?” she asked,feeling slightly nauseous. “Waya came to our village a short time ago as Snake Blood’s followers ransacked one of our lodges.He rode a white horse,with a mane as black as the night sky.The man came out of nowhere,as if the spirits sent him as a… gift.” “Gift?”inquired Jenna,thinking ‘gift’ was an unusual word to describe that man. “Let me finish,eager child!”Hawk on the Wing gently scolded. “Sorry.”stammered Jenna,embarrassed for interrupting him.This stalwart man had a gentle persuasive power that commanded respect. “Child of the Sun, I use the word gift, because his arrival did seem very timely for us.Waya of the Moon chased Snake Blood’s men away and managed to stop the fire they had started from spreading to the other lodges.” He paused,and flung his hook into the water, watching the line lengthen as it carried in the current.“Waya then became a hero, in the young women’s eyes especially.The men of the village did not feel the same.You see,Waya seemed perfectly skillful in anything he did;fishing, hunting,even predicting weather and healing. Anything they could do,he could do better.” Jenna looked in his eyes, and somehow knew it was her turn to speak.“I can see how the young men of your village wouldn't like that.” “Waya set up lodge near the edge of the Sacred Woods.No one sees him,except at gatherings where skill is to be tested.He calls himself a friend,but somehow,I do not trust him.” “I don’t think I would be able to trust him either,Hawk on the Wing.”Jenna replied. “Please, call me Hawk.”the older man smiled as his fishing line went taut and the bark float was dragged underwater.He jerked the line several times to make sure the fish had a firm grip on the hook,then began gathering the line around a spindle that had been attached to the pole.Eventually,a very large river salmon emerged from the crystal clear water,fighting valiantly against its captor. “Holy cow!”Jenna screamed,unable to contain her excitement.“That's the biggest fish I've ever seen!” The salmon Hawk had pulled out of the water was over two feet long,and very fat. “Oh,dear child,then you must not have seen many fish!This is a small one compared to the one I reeled in last week!” The distinct,resonant baritone of Waya spoke from behind,startling them. ****** Scott Hayward noticed the large male figure was sitting slumped over,as if he was sleeping. The closer Scott became,the more the glow enveloped him. Without knowing exactly why,Scott touched the figure's shoulder,shaking him slightly. The young boy,dressed in a buckskin loincloth,rose out of his sleep with a yelp of surprise.He was about Scott'sage,but slightly taller.The boy had long black hair and a leather string of bright clay beads around his neck;in his panic,he grabbed the collar of Scott's Patriots jersey and pulled him into the inky darkness. |
| "Hey,get a grip!"Scott blurted to the dark-haired boy,blinking furiously as his eyes tried to adjust from the darkness of a moment earlier to the brilliant sunlight above him now."And I don't mean on my collar!I don't want to pick a fight with you,I'm just trying to find my friend Jenna...." A glimmer of recognition showed in Greybow's eyes at the mention of Child of the Sun.Though he hadn't met her yet,Little Deer had told him much about her,and from this he realized the red-haired stranger must be Child of the Sun's--what was the word again?--boyfriend. "Forgive me."the young warrior said to Scott,helping him brush off his jersey. "Don't sweat it.I've been a little jumpy myself lately."Scott told him,inwardly awestruck at the realization that he and Jenna had somehow found a way into the realm of Jenna's favorite book characters..."Ever since she disappeared,I've been going out of my mind wondering what happened to her." "Little Deer and her father found your friend in the Sacred Woods last night and have been caring for her since then."Greybow said,motioning Scott to follow him back to his village. Too bad I don't have a camcorder with me,Scott thought excitedly as he accompanied Greybow down the intricately winding woodland path.This place makes Yellowstone look like a playground! ****** "Now,Greybow I recognize."Jenna Whitmore said to Chris Schumacher as they sat in the reference room of the Stillwell Fields Public Library main branch comparing the library's copy of Sacred Ground with their own.Though it was nearly half an hour past the library's official closing time,the head librarian,a devoted Schumacher fan,had agreed to let them stay as long as they wanted in return for Schumacher's written promise to lock the doors behind him when he left. "Yeah,when I first sketched out the plotline for this book,I had a feeling he'd be the perfect focal point for the 'first love' subplot."Chris said."Now,if I could just figure out what the deal is with this Scott Hayward who turns up on page 146...." ****** "Look,Waya,whatever it is you have to say,just say it and leave us alone."Jenna snapped at Waya,both annoyed at him for interrupting her fishing time with Hawk and unnerved by Waya's obvious desire to be alone with her. "No need to be angry,dear child."Waya answered in an ingratiating tone that reminded her of every soap opera villain she'd ever seen on TV on summer afternoons while helping her mother do the dishes."I simply came to let you know that a stranger has been seen in the nearby woods who,by the way they describe him,may be your young man."With that,he slipped out of sight in a menacingly fluid motion that to Hawk suggested a rattlesnake returning to its den after it had struck. Once he was out of sight,Jenna sighed in relief."Whew.Glad we got rid of him."She didn't have time to say anything more before she felt a powerful pull on her fishing line;with skills she'd almost forgotten she still had,she reeled the line in and pulled out a river salmon almost as big as the one Hawk had caught. "Good catch,Child of the Sun."Hawk said,and Jenna blushed with pleasure at the compliment.It made her think of the time her grandpa had called her 'my favorite fishing buddy'. By the time they left the pond to return to the village,Hawk and Jenna had between them caught more than a dozen salmon and five trout.I just wish Dad were around to see me,she thought wistfully.She decided that if and when she made it back home,the first thing she'd do would be to apologize to her father for the harsh words she'd had with him the night she ran away. ***** "Sheridan Chandler,New Haven Journal.Commissioner Tasker,can you comment on rumors that your department is about to ask the FBI to take over the investigation into Jenna Andrews' disappearance?" "Yes,I can--they're not true."Stillwell Fields police commissioner Alan Tasker hated press conferences with a passion;as a homicide detective back when he worked for the LAPD,he'd had to field one too many insensitive,leading,or just plain dumb questions from reporters who fancied themselves the next Bob Woodward.In his mind,these events were at best a ridiculous nuisance and at worst the invention of the Devil. "But a source within your office has confirmed that you made a phone call late this afternoon to the FBI branch in Boston..." Gritting his teeth,Tasker made a mental note to himself to have his internal affairs unit begin an immediate probe to find the blabbermouth who'd leaked his call to the media."Ms.Chandler,that was strictly a courtesy call to inform them that our chief of detectives had finished debriefing their profiler regarding the Andrews case.We have time for one more question." The next question,though,came not from any of the print or broadcast journalists present but from one of his own officers sotto voce."Commissioner,can you come with me to the squad room?" |
| On the way home--Jenna couldn’t believe she thought of this place as home,especially since she had only been here a little more than a day--Jenna had a shocking realization.She'd been so busy dismissing Waya and concentrating on fishing,she had completely forgotten that Scott had somehow managed to fall into this wonderful storybook world. Jenna walked silently beside Hawk, having to take two steps to every one of his because he was such a big man. “Hawk, may I ask a question?” He looked at her with one eyebrow raised. The silent communication told her it was allowed. Jenna continued, “It’s silly, I know, but where will Scott be staying?” “Your boyfriend,” Hawk continued with an amused look,“will be staying with Greybow and his family. Now come join me in preparing this bountiful feast we have captured!” They had arrived back in the village without her noticing. There, by a large fire, surrounded by several dark-skinned Massaquona boys. Jenna approached the gathering, her heart pounding wildly.Scott was so engrossed in conversation, he didn’t notice Jenna’s approach. From the other side of the fire, she cleared her throat. Scott turned to look at her, his face showing a myriad of emotions. Greybow was the first to speak. “Well now, Child of Dancing Fire and the Sun Child have found each other!”Jenna wasn’t sure, but she caught a hint of mischievous humor in Greybow’s voice. Little Deer, who was standing close by helping with the day's catch, gave Greybow a wry glance. Scott rose to greet Jenna, but Greybow put a hand on his shoulder, making him sit back down. “Never you mind, Dancing Fire, it is a woman’s job to prepare the days catch!” Scott looked at Jenna, his face flushed from spending too much time in the sun. His freckles were more prominent than usual, and it made him cuter than she had remembered. He shrugged his shoulders slightly, and smiled that adorable crooked smile that made her knees weak. Jenna had learned the subtle art of silent communication well, and her beloved Dancing Fire was telling her; “Just go with the flow.” She knew this was the thing to do, but she couldn’t help but think Scott was enjoying this a little TOO much; relaxing and male bonding while his obedient woman prepared dinner. Things were certainly different in this society, and oddly enough, Jenna liked it! She joined Little Deer with a touch of trepidation. Some of the huge fish were still alive and struggling to free themselves from the basket that held them. Jenna watched with fascination as Little Deer lay an enormous salmon on a smooth log table, using a pointed rock to crush the skull, ending its struggle. Little deer used a sharpened knife to slit the fish from gills to tail, and lay it out flat. She used the same knife to remove the entrails in one fluid motion. Laying the fish flesh down on the table, she used another smaller knife with a half-moon curve to remove the scales. Little deer repeatedly scraped the knife against the grain of the scales, popping them off in a shower of glittery shingles. She splashed water on her scaled salmon to rinse it, then began slicing the flesh in thin strips. Another woman, Dancing Crane, was cutting her fish in larger portions, much like the fillets Jenna had seen in the sterile blue Styrofoam packaging in her local supermarket. “Why is Dancing Crane cutting her fish differently than you?” Little Deer replied, “Because we are going to use Dancing Crane’s fish for our feast tonight. I am cutting this fish so we can preserve it for the winter ahead.” “Oh, you mean like salmon jerky?” Jenna offered. Little Deer looked at her and blinked in confusion. “Jerky?” Jenna opened her mouth to explain, but thought the effort would be wasted. “Oh never mind, let’s cut some fish!” It took her a few minutes to get over the initial revulsion, but Jenna soon became an expert at killing, gutting, and slicing salmon. Even Little Deer commented on how good she was doing. |
| Chapter 7:Stop Me If You've Heard This One... "Captain Welling,"Commissioner Tasker said to his chief of detectives as they passed an empty holding cell en route to the squad room,"for the sake of my ulcer I sincerely hope the reason you called me is that Jenna Andrews has been found alive or that we at least have a solid lead on her whereabouts.Frankly,between the lack of progress in the Andrews case and the new missing persons report that just came in about her friend,I'm not sure my stomach can tolerate much more bad news." "We do have a lead,Commissioner."Captain Welling said."How solid it is you'll have to judge for yourself...." Tasker arched his eyebrows."Meaning?" "That writer Chris Schumacher and his agent,Jenna Whitmore,showed up here about fifteen minutes ago claiming they have a theory that explains what happened to Ms.Andrews."the captain told him."It sounds pretty far-fetched,but if you want to listen to it..." "Captain,at this point I'd listen to elevator music if it brought us one step closer to finding the Andrews girl and her friend.Tell Mr.Schumacher and Ms.Whitmore to meet me in my office in ten minutes." ***** Looking through the doorway of Hawk's lodge,Jenna and Scott marveled at the way the setting sun lit the treetops at the edge of the Massaquona village.By this time,the feast was in full swing and Jenna had learned much more about her hosts--discovering,among other things,that Dancing Crane was Little Deer's mother. "I've been meaning to thank you,"Jenna said to the older woman,"for washing my hair and giving me this beautiful dress." "It was no trouble."Dancing Crane assured her."I'm certain that your mother would do same for my daughter if she were cast into your land." A wistful look crept into Jenna's eyes at the mention of her mother.Since her parents' divorce,she'd found it difficult to remember the good things about them--her anger over their breakup had tended to obscure those things.But now,as she listened to Little Deer explain to Scott how her family had rescued Jenna and brought her to their lodge,the blonde girl found herself remembering the countless ways,both big and small,her parents had shown her their love.... Just when she felt she might once again have to try and hold back tears,she noticed Scott making subtle hand signals to her.Greybow's father,a prominent member of the village council who had been invited to join the feast,told her:"I think your young man wishes to speak with you alone." "Is it all right?"Jenna asked Hawk. "Of course."Hawk nodded."Just be certain you return before the moon rises..." Jenna smiled,then led Scott to the pond where she and Hawk had been fishing earlier that day.When the two teens reached the edge of the pond,Jenna let out a laugh of delighted surprise and hugged her boyfriend like a drowning man clutching a life raft."Scott Hayward,you incredibly stubborn blockhead!Am I ever glad to see you." "Back at you,Jen."Scott said,thanking his lucky stars that it was too dark for her to notice how quickly his eyes were moistening. ***** "If I wasn't seeing this with my own eyes,I'd never believe it."Commissioner Tasker wasn't normally given to flights of fancy,but as he studied the three copies of Sacred Ground spread open on his desk,he was becoming more and more convinced Chris and Whitmore were telling the truth."It's like something out of The Twilight Zone." "Now you know how I felt."Chris said."I don't blame you if you can't accept the idea right away...heck,I had a little trouble accepting it myself.But it's the only explanation that even comes close to making sense." Pausing to put an empty soda can in a nearby recycler bin,Tasker asked Whitmore,"Have you or Mr.Schumacher mentioned this...phenomenon to anyone else?" Whitmore shook her head."No,Commissioner.Except for Shoe here,you're the only person I've discussed it with." "OK,let me put you in touch with Lt.Keisha Fuller."Tasker said,starting to dial numbers on his desk phone."She's our lead detective on the Andrews case and an old friend of mine--came over to this department with me when I left LA.She's a pro when it comes to thinking outside the box..." ***** "Scott,I owe you a huge apology."Jenna said as the first firefly of the evening passed over the lake."I shouldn't be taking my problems with my mom and dad out on you...I'm sorry I chewed you out when you said you didn't want to go to the On Fyre concert." "Uh uh,Jen.I'm the one who needs to apologize."Scott corrected her."I made the mistake of listening to my idiot little brother who told me I was a geek if I went to that concert with you.I should have just told him to go jump in a lake and gone anyway." Thinking about everything she'd gone through lately,Jenna said:"I don't know what's wrong with me,Scott...It's like I've turned into this total monster since my parents broke up.I can't say two words to anybody without getting in a fight..." "Jen,trust me,you're not a monster."Scott insisted."Just incredibly hurt and mixed-up.When I first met your friend Little Deer,she told me she thought there was a lot of good in you but you'd forgotten about it,and maybe you just needed somebody to remind you." Jenna nodded in appreciation."That sounds like her all right." Remembering the other reason he'd wanted to talk to her,Scott quickly switched gears:"So what's the deal with this Snake Blood guy,anyhow?He's got half the village spooked from what I've heard..." "He's the ruler of the Massaquonas' enemies,the Waiashu."Jenna explained."They've been at war with the Massaquonas for years,and he's the meanest one of the whole crew--he makes Tony Soprano look like Eric Camden." Scott flinched."I wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley,then."After a short pause,he added,"Who do we talk to to find out how this war got started?" "The Massaquonas,"said Jenna,"have what they call Lorekeepers,people who pass down the tribe's history and legends through telling stories.Chances are one of them could tell us what we need to know....maybe we could ask them in the morning." "Race you back to the lodge?"Scott said,assuming his favorite runner's stance. "You're on!"Jenna answered with a grin.Neither one of them knew who actually won the footrace from the pond to Hawk's lodge,and neither of them even cared;they were just happy to be in each other's company again. When the feast was over,and it was time for Scott to go with Greybow's father,he embraced Jenna and told her:"See you in the morning,Jen." "You'd better."Jenna playfully warned him.With that,Scott left for Greybow's lodge;as she watched her boyfriend walk away,she said to Hawk,"Dancing Fire and I want to know more about why the Waiashu make war on your people...could we talk with one of your Lorekeepers in the morning?" "As you wish,Child of the Sun."Hawk answered. |
| Rain Dances Lightly stepped into the welcome green radiance and dancing shadows of the forest. She was home after long months away from the tribe and was eager to be with them again. She knew her people did not understand her need to seek solitude in the mountains, nor did she ever hint at the why of it. There were some things she had yet to understand herself. But, the mountains spoke to her. They did not use words, but deep restless stirrings that could only be satisfied when she was there. Upon the highest peak, her cheeks stinging from the bitter cold morning wind, was the only times Rain Dances Lightly felt truly at peace. She did not glance into the valleys spread out below. Her time upon the mountain was a time of prayer and meditation. She had learned many things this time out and had been permitted to walk among another people as if she belonged. They called her by another name. Rain Dances Lightly put the time spent there far away from her. There would be other visits, other times to explore the questions that were crowding her mind. Now, now she was just grateful to be home with one duty she never forsook. Removing her white buckskin skirt and top, she reached into one of her bags and brought out some sand from the low plains and rubbed it all over her body, especially her feet then brushed the grains thoroughly from the skin. From another pack, she pulled out fresh clothing in dark browns and made her way to the Sacred Woods. Bowing her head in honor of the memory of her ancestors, she called each face to mind, naming them by their deeds and giving thanks for the knowledge they had imparted to the tribe. They were part of her. “Not of us; not of our flesh.” “Not of the flesh,” Rain Dances Lightly replied, keeping the sacred silence between them. “Of the same spirit.” “Of the same spirit,” the ancestors agreed. With a lighter heart, Rain Dances lightly picked up her pace. She was going home. Her appearance became a ruckus of sound as children came rushing at her, some barely able to walk. "Rain Dances Lightly," they heralded her presence, eager little hands and some not so young plucking and feeling along the edges of her traveling bags trying to discern their secrets. Rain put a finger to her lips. At that, the children fell silent eyes shining in anticipation. With a slowness that had the younger children stamping with impatience she drew out a fuller pouch from within her shawl. Dipping a hand inside, she came out with a hand piled high with dried red, blue and green berries she had soaked in the mountain’s rock crystals to make them sweeter. The children shrieked with delight. “Come, Rain Dances Lightly. You must come,” insisted a young boy, his voice waver between high and deeper notes. “Do you now summon me as a chief?” Sparrow she asked of the youth gently shoving the younger ones out of the way. “But you must come and see them!” “Who,” Rain Dances Lightly asked, intrigued by the child’s insistence. Sparrow was not usually so bold. “The child of the sun and her boyfriend. The one whose hair burns like a fire.” Rain Dances Lightly gave Sparrow a stern look. “Surely, such children of sun and fire would blaze so brightly I would see them without their being announced so loudly” “It is even as I have said,” Sparrow hotly contested and removed himself from Rain Dances Lightly’s line of sight. Air could not seem to find its way into Rain Dances Lightly’s chest. At a moment’s glance, subtle memories, some her own, others not, came creeping forward. “When Sun and Fire camp in one place, beware the falling of darkness.” Rain Dances Lightly was balancing upon two different planes, her vision coming in halves. She came to when Sparrow took hold of her hands. “Are you all right? I did not mean to …” “I am all right,child, just a bit of a surprise. And you are right. She is of the Sun and he is of fire.” “My,” she added, seeing that the other children were still present. “I must go greet our visitors. Excuse me.” “I have waited a long time to meet you,” said a deep voice at her back. Rain Dances Lightly turned to find herself in the presence of a big man, one who, although standing directly in front of her, appeared to be woven of many shadows that made of his face and body. She took an instant dislike of him. Her eyes dropped to the ornaments of wolf skin and wolf teeth and a fire began to build in her heart. She despised this man. “I have heard much of you,” he began. Rain Dances Lightly cut him off abruptly. “And you are?” She made no attempt to disguise the coldness in her voice. “I am Waya,” the burly warrior replied. His eyes were cold and wary. She had done something to disturb his calm. “We will speak another time, Waya,” she said. “I have been away a long time and it appears we have more newcomers. I wish to welcome them.” With that she strode away giving him her back. “You are not of the people,” he called out as she walked away. “Neither are you,” Rain Dances Lightly tossed his challenge back at him. Retracing her steps to Waya, she added, “Neither am I afraid of you.” Turning and hurrying toward Hawk and the others crowded around the newcomers, she felt her heart burning; more than that, she was terribly afraid. Yet, she would not admit that fear to Waya. The man troubled her soul and stank of death. Her thoughts were interrupted as Hawk came up and wrapped her in a crushing hug. Rain Dances Lightly laughed and pushed him away. He had been as a brother since finding her and bringing her into the camp. Her eyes ran over the two strangers and again the words of warning rolled over her mind. “When Sun and Fire camp in one place, beware the falling of darkness.” “Something troubles my sister,: Hawk said. “It is nothing,” Rain Dances Lightly replied. “Merely the tiredness of a long trip.” She was determined not to speak a word until she knew more. “Children of sun and fire I am told, I am Rain Dances Lightly.” Jenna and Scott turned to look at the tall, slender woman who almost rivaled Hawk in height. Unlike the others in the tribe, Rain Dances Lightly wore but one braid in a sleek light brown tail that dangled at her wait. Her skin was lighter, though not as pale as theirs and there was a different sense about her. Jenna decided she liked the woman, although she didn’t have a clue who the woman was or her relationship to Hawk. There was just something about her that said, ‘here there is shelter'. Before she knew she was acting on impulse, Jenna found herself hugging the woman and was surprised to his Scott pushing her aside to give her the same greeting. Now that was strange. Scott rarely showed his true feelings to anyone but her. For a moment Jenna felt a stab of jealousy. She jabbed her elbow into Scott’s side and when he grunted gave him a look that spoke louder than a shout. To Jenna’s embarrassment, both Hawk and Rain Dances Lightly laughed aloud. “Do not fear, child,” the woman said, “all children love me.” Scott’s face turned scarlet. He wanted to box Jenna, but that woman was awfully tall and looked as strong as Hawk. Finally, Hawk and she were alone. Rain Dances Lightly gazed at him until he nodded. “We are alone,” he indicated. Rain Dances Lightly jumped into her concern. “There is something not quite right about, Waya.” She said his name as if she were spitting out bad food. “I know,” Hawk replied. “Then, why is he here?” Rain Dances Lightly fired back. “He is not as he seems.” “This I have felt as well,” Hawk answered, his dark eyes troubled. “Send him from the camp.” Rain Dances Lightly was astonished for having spoken to Hawk so rudely. These were his people. She had been adopted by them after coming through the pink glow, her memory not completely intact. And yet she had known their history as if it had been her own. “He is a danger to us all!” She was on her feet shuddering as emotions she could not name took control. Hawk leapt to his feet and caught her by the shoulders. She convulsed in his grip, eyes unfocused. “I need to remember,” she wailed, “for the children of the sun and fire are fire and the darkness will begin. We are in grave danger and so are those children.” “What do you know?”Hawk demanded. “I cannot say.”Rain Dances Lightly shook herself free of his grip.“I must seek for the meaning within the memories of our history. This will take time and I fear for us all.” |
| Chapter 8:Need To Know Remembering why she had wanted to talk to the Lorekeeper in the first place,Jenna said:"Your brother has told me that you know much about why the Waiashu make war against the Massaquonas.My friend and I want to understand how this war came to be..." "Sit beside me,Child of the Sun,and I will tell you and Dancing Fire all that you wish to know."Rain Dances Lightly nodded,a grave look in her eyes. **** Lisa Andrews couldn't help but note how oddly comforting it felt to be sitting next to her ex-husband looking at their family's old photo albums.Two years had passed since she and Barry had divorced,and though at the time it had seemed like the smart thing to do she had eventually come to regret her decision...especially when the news of her daughter's disappearance had gotten out.Even though she'd sworn never to get on an airliner again after 9/11,Lisa had made up her mind in a second to hop the first plane out of Kansas City so she could support Brad in what had to be one of the worst times of his life. "What on earth were we thinking when we split up?"she asked him rhetorically,gazing a photo of one of their last family outings,a trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl XXXVI. "That's just the problem,Leece--we weren't thinking.Or at least I wasn't."Brad admitted,a rueful tone in his voice."I let my petty personal grudges get the better of me,and now we may end up losing our kid because of it..." Lisa shook her head."I don't believe that for a second.One way or another,Jenna's going to make it home...she has to."Brad thought he heard a slight hint of desperation in the normally self-assured woman's voice. He was about to say something when the doorbell rang."I'll get it."he told her;he walked into the kitchen,opened the front door... ***** ....and was astonished to see Chris Schumacher and Jenna Whitmore standing on the steps along with Lt.Fuller."What are you doing here?"he asked,not entirely able to keep the surprise out of his voice. "Let's just say,"Chris answered,"that I have a personal stake in your daughter's safe return."With that,he,Whitmore,and Lt.Fuller followed Brad into the house,the three copies of Sacred Ground under his arm."What I'm about to say may sound completely out of left field,but bear with me...." ***** "Many summers ago,"Rain Dances Lightly said to Jenna,"Snake Blood was made chief of the Waiashu.He was envious of the bounty our people enjoyed from the land,and he sought to make it his own..." |
| “Snake Blood attempted to gain favor of the young Massaquona women, so he would be more welcome.His plan was to convince the tribal elders he was in love with a beautiful maiden named Rain Fox…” Rain Dances Lightly's eyes clouded over in emotion,then she continued,her voice barely a whisper:“The only reason he sought Rain Fox was her father held great influence among the tribe, and was considered very wealthy.I believe he thought that if he could marry Rain Fox,the tribes would be united and he would have the means to disrupt the Massaquona.” Jenna was silent,goose flesh rising on her arms.I am so not liking where this is going,she thought. “When one is so evil and deceptive,he rarely achieves his desires.”Rain Dances paused, her hands shaking,and took a sip of water from an earthen cup beside her.“Rain Fox did not love Snake Blood,nor did she wish to marry him even if it meant harmony amongst enemies.Snake Blood did not take kindly to her refusal and kidnapped her,taking her deep into the forest.”A tear silently slid down Rain Dances Lightly’s cheek. “Snake Blood tried to forcefully take what he thought was rightfully his.No man or woman belongs to anybody but themselves and Rain Fox fought Snake Blood with every bit of strength she possessed. She managed, thankfully, to grab a flaming branch from a nearby campfire and thrust it at Snake Blood,setting his hair and skin aflame.He screamed like a man possessed by demons and ran deeper into the forest.” “Was Rain Fox okay?”Scott asked. “Rain Fox did make it back to the village,and the tribal medicine man did all he could to heal her wounds.Her body healed,but her spirit never did,and she wasted away for two months,finally succumbing to the horrors of her mind.We buried her in the sacred woods, by a large boulder of veined rock.” The lodge was silent for a minute, then Jenna spoke.“And what about Snake Blood? What happened to him?” Rain Dances Lightly took another sip of water,willing herself not to break down with emotion. “From the day Rain Fox burned his face, it has been his wish to cause as much misery to our people as possible. As evil as he had been before,he became an inconsolable vessel of hatred and malice that day and vowed he would not rest until the Massaquona had all been killed.” “But that was years ago,right?” Jenna asked hopefully.“And Snake blood hasn’t gotten his way because your people still live in relative harmony.” Rain Dances Lightly put a reassuring hand on the Sun Child’s shoulder and replied, “Snake Blood vanished from our sight for a while,but it seems a disturbance in our sacred ground has caused him to return.Girls from our village are being taken each week,and the remaining children suffer horrible nightmares out of uncertainty.Even our elders have suffered night terrors...” Scott shivered, and put his arm around Jenna’s shoulders, pulling her close. |
| As the story of Rain Fox fell from her lips, Rain Dances Lightly felt that same shift within she had experienced upon meeting Jenna and Scott. She was telling the tale, but it was not her. It was as if the words trailed from the lips of another. A stretching began in her belly and surged upward. As she focused on Jenna’s face, she heard chants in many tongues. A grey face pushed forward dark, slanted eyes holding her gaze. In fluid transition, the face became that of an eagle, the mighty buffalo, a white hawk wings mantling, black eyes anchoring onto hers and, finally that of the grey wolf once more. And the chanting in her mind grew louder, war drums thundering in unison. Abruptly, it stopped. Jenna had taken hold of her hands, a frightened look on her face. Beside her, Scott sat as stone, a questioning, uncertain look in his eyes. “Where were you just now? She asked.” ”I have gone nowhere, Jenna. I have been right here.” ”You were here and you were not. When I touched you just now I felt …,” Jenna faltered to a stop. Irritated with stumbling over her words, she shook her head and looked at Scott for help. Scott avoided her eyes. He was leaving up to her to find out what was going on with the Lore Keeper. ”Look, I mean no disrespect, Rain Dances Lightly, but when I touched you just now I felt a flow of energy from you. Hawk has already told Scott and I that you are not of the Massaquonas. That you came through the pink glow just as we did.” ”Who are you truly, Rain Dances Lightly,” she asked gently. Behind her, Jenna heard Scot’s smothered gasp. ‘Men,’ she thought, ‘they always got stuck in logic. Ugh.’ Rain Dances Lightly sighed, a long breath that sounded more like the wind. Jenna shivered. She was not afraid of this woman. There was puzzle about Rain Dances Lightly, but she sensed a wholeness, a warmth that fed her confidence. ”In truth, I do not know. I see images, more strongly now than ever before, and I hear …” She broke off at the sound of footsteps. Jenna spun about and saw no one. She looked back at Rain Dances Lightly. Perhaps, something had just startled the Lore Keeper. With the next turn of her head, Hawk stood before her. Jenna jumped and almost fell. Hawk reached out and caught her easily. He looked deep into Rain Dances Lightly’s eyes. ”You have seen something.” It was a statement not a question. He folded his arms across his chest and waited. It was obvious to Jenna that Hawk was not leaving without an answer. She placed a hand on Scott’s shoulder holding him in place and settled herself next to him. Maybe if they kept still Rain Dances Light and Hawk would forget they were there. ”That is not likely, child,” Hawk said in response. He pointed to the path leading back to camp. Jenna bristled and began to form a protest. It took one look into Hawk’s placid face to break her resolve. Seething with embarrassment, she fled with Scott back to camp. Hawk turned his attention back to Rain Dances Lightly. He knelt at her side and took her face in his hands. Hazel eyes gazed back into his, trust radiating in them. “You are more like a child than Jenna,” he said and sat down beside her. “What have you seen.” Rain Dances Lightly, hesitated and looked across at her companion, taking note of Hawk’s strong profile; the broad, straight nose and wide forehead; the sun-darkened coloring of his skin and powerful build. The tension went out of her. He was her friend. If not for Hawk and his wife, Dancing Crane … She interrupted her own thoughts. “You have ever been my guide since finding myself here, Hawk on the Wing.” The formal use of his name brought Hawk to wary alertness. ”What have you seen?” Hawk phrased his question more gently this time. ”I have seen totems of great power.” Before Hawk could ask, Rain Dances Lightly went on. “I have seen the Grey Wolf.” Hawk fell back as if struck. “The Grey Wolf of legend?” ”The mighty buffalo, the eagle and the White Hawk,” Rain Dances Lightly finished, noting the awed look on Hawk’s face. ”Who are you?” he asked kneeling in her presence. ”In truth, I do not know. I feel powerless within this place that I am and the place that calls to me. I do know I have come for a purpose. I have come for Jenna and Scott and the Massaquonas.” ”We go to war, then,” Hawk said. ”Not yet, Hawk, not yet,” Rain Dances Lightly replied. She reached out and slipped her hand into his. “I must return to the mountains, Hawk. My answers lie there. And you, my brother, you must watch Waya. Watch him the way a Hawk watches a mouse from on high.” ”What you are saying?” Hawk demanded an answer. “Who is Waya?” ”I am not entirely certain as of yet,” Rain Dances Lightly told him. “But there are others gathered in a place I cannot quite explain who prepare for war. It was their totems I saw; their drums I heard.” ”Waya is,” Hawk prompted once more. ”Waya is the god of war. He wars on many planes, Hawk. If we do not stop him here, he will continue to grow in power.” ”And those voices you heard?” ”They have already fallen, Hawk, many, many hundreds of years ago. Only a few survive. They are the ones calling out the warning. But, I am wasting time. I must go. Now!” ”Let me help,” Hawk pulled her up. ”No. You must cover my absence for as long as you can. If Waya finds out he will lead Snake Blood and the Waiaschu into attacking while I am gone.” You must return to camp, Hawk. Protect your people and keep Jenna and Scott away from Waya. He will seek to corrupt them. Already he looks at Jenna.” Hawk did not need to be told what she meant. He had seen the look Waya had given the child of the sun upon first meeting her. Taking time only to catch Rain Dances Lightly up in a hug before departing, he trotted back to camp. He must somehow find a way to alert the other elders without any hint reaching Waya who still strode arrogantly through the camp as their guest. Hawk’s hand fell to the tomahawk hanging from his belt. He stroked it absentmindedly. ‘One day we will drink his blood,’ he promised it. ‘For now, we wait on Rain Dances Lightly.’ |
| Chapter 9:Gathering Storms "DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"Staff Sergeant Michael Hayward glared down the barrel of his AR-15 at three dust-covered guerrillas who he'd cornered in a deserted house somewhere near Tikrit.Beside him,an Iraqi police officer in civilian clothes was repeating the order in Arabic,levelling a 9mm Beretta at the tallest of the three insurgents. Seeming to deflate like toy balloons,the guerrillas reluctantly laid down their AK-47s and lined up against the wall,hands clasped behind their necks;divesting them of their ammunition belts,Sgt. Hayward instructed the police officer:"Corporal Zuwarih,inform these men that I am now taking them into custody as prisoners of war under the articles of the Geneva Convention." As the policeman relayed Hayward's message,the rest of Hayward's squad moved to secure the POWs and prepare them for transport to the nearest detention center. Two hours later,as Sgt. Hayward was in his quarters typing up a report on the capture for his battalion commander and the local chief of police,Zuwarih said to him:"If you will forgive a blunt observation,Sergeant,your mind did not seem to be entirely on our patrol this morning." "I got an e-mail from my cousin's parents right before we went out on ops."Hayward said."He left home last night around 7:00 U.S. time and they haven't seen him since.They think he went into the woods to look for Jenna Andrews..." The mention of Jenna Andrews' name sparked a flicker of recognition on the Iraqi's face;on a liaison visit to Sgt. Hayward's battalion chief the previous day,he'd overheard two of the men in Hayward's squad talking about a Fox News story on her disappearance."You mean the young girl in Connecticut?" "Affirmative."Hayward nodded."She and my brother have known each other at least two and a half years....I put in a request for emergency leave last night so I could go home and offer her dad some support.Haven't heard anything yet,though...." Just then Hayward's platoon commander entered the room;the sergeant immediately sprang to his feet with a brisk salute."As you were,sergeant."the platoon commander instructed. "Aye,sir."Sgt. Hayward returned to his seat. The platoon commander handed him a paper with the words "Request Approved" stamped in the upper right corner."This just came from Division Command.Your emergency leave's been granted--soon as the sandstorm clears,you're on the next chopper to Baghdad and from there you can catch a C-130 to Kuwait.After that,you've a first-class seat waiting for you on a United 767 bound for San Francisco..." "Thank you,Lieutenant."Hayward said,feeling like at least some of the burden of worrying about Scott had been lifted off his shoulders."As the sergeant hurriedly typed out the last sentences of his report,Zuwarih said to him:"May Allah speed your cousin and his friend safely home." ***** "This has to be a joke."Lisa Andrews stared in open-mouthed disbelief at her ex-husband and Chris Schumacher."People don't just disappear into storybooks,Brad,you know that as well as I do." "I know it sounds far-fetched,Leece,but after going through those books I can't find any other explanation that fits the circumstances."Brad insisted."No one's found a body,so we know they haven't been killed,and there's no sign that anybody grabbed them.So we have to assume that Mr. Schumacher's on the level..." Lt. Fuller nodded in agreement."My first couple of years with the LAPD,I worked the night shift out of Lincoln Heights,and my watch commander back then always used to say that if you toss out the impossible,whatever's left,however bizarre it might sound at first,has to be the truth." "Assuming that this...."Lisa searched for the right word."...that this theory is correct,how do we get the kids back?" "That's the $64,000 question."Jenna Whitmore sighed,toying with her cell phone."The $100,000 question is how they got lost in the first place.We're dealing with something that literally has no precedent in history...even the Amelia Earhart case didn't have this many unknowns tied up in it." Scott Hayward's parents pulled into the driveway at that moment;despite the lateness of the hour,they'd agreed to come to the Andrews house to hear what Chris Schumacher had told Brad and Lisa earlier."This should be interesting."Lisa said to herself as her ex opened the door to let Mr. and Mrs. Hayward in. You can say that again,Whitmore thought. ***** "Now what do we do?"Scott said to Jenna back at Hawk's lodge. "What do you think,silly?"Jenna replied,looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping."We have to help the Massaquonas defeat Snake Blood and rescue those girls who've been captured."Her earlier embarrassment over being sent away had been replaced by a seething outrage over what Snake Blood and his minions had done to her friends. Scott shook his head."I don't know,Jen...I kind of got the impression that Hawk wants us to steer clear of the fight." "I can't do that."Jenna insisted,remembering with horror the story of what Snake Blood had done to Rain Fox."I've only known Hawk and his people two days,but I can't just sit by and do nothing while they risk their lives to stop this goon--" "You are not a warrior,Child of the Sun."Greybow's voice suddenly broke in on their conversation. Jenna's eyes widened.How long had he been listening to them?And how had he managed to get so close without them noticing? |
| Rats, and we were just about to kiss! she thought, blushing. Greybow continued, his voice taunting, “YOU are not a warrior, Child of the Sun, but your boyfriend could be.” An angry lump formed in Jenna’s throat. Scott? Did Greybow want Scott to join the ranks of young warriors in the Massaquona camp? She didn’t know what to think. She watched as Scott postured with pride, but she felt if any harm came to him, she wouldn’t want to live. “Scott? How can Scott be a warrior, he isn’t old enough!” Jenna screamed at Greybow, her voice trembling, “And besides, his hair is so unusual, he would be the main target for the opposing army!” Silence invaded the lodge for a brief time, then Greybow spoke. “Dancing fire would make a fine warrior. Among our people, boys become men at a much earlier age, when thirteen springs have passed. They are taught weapon handling, as well as endurance, and negotiation skills.” Greybow looked at the horrified expression on Jenna’s face. He spoke to her in a patronizing tone that made her want to punch him. “The color of Dancing Fire’s hair is an advantage to us. The Waiashu are a very superstitious people. They fear anything that is unusual. They would fear Dancing Fire, not target him.” “But when do the warriors train? I have seen no training since I’ve been here!” Scott spoke up, seeming much more interested than Jenna preferred. Greybow leaned closer to Scott, glancing at the deerskin door, and whispered, “Because of Waya, and our thoughts of him being one of Snake Blood’s people, we avoid training where he might see. The only time he isn’t bragging or throwing his superiority around, is when the moon turns perfectly round, and three days after. It is those days we train our hardest.” “Surely you train more than that!” Scott chided Greybow. We do, but we must do it in silence. There is a lodge in the valley that my people built for this purpose. The young men who are warriors go there when tribal Council meetings are held. Waya considers himself part of the Council, so he is always occupied by the meetings. Lately, there have been more meetings, so we have trained in silence whenever we can.” “Then why did you come to Hawk On The Wing’s lodge tonight, Greybow? Why aren’t you training?” Greybow stared at Scott with a look that said; Isn’t it obvious? If you had been observant, you would have known! Instead of voicing his thoughts, Greybow laughed heartily and told the redhead boy, “Because tonight the moon is round, tonight there are no clouds in the sky, we must train and we want you to join us!” Scott and Greybow are becoming friends… Scott will become a warrior… I will lose him… Jenna tortured herself in her mind. She started crying, and the boys didn’t notice this until she had sobbed out loud. Scott put a reassuring arm around Jenna. “Don’t worry, Jen, I'll be okay, I promise.” “HOW CAN YOU PROMISE SOMETHING LIKE THAT!” She screamed at him, tears falling freely from her eyes. She jerked out of Scott's grasp and ran out into the darkness. After Jenna left, Scott looked at Greybow, shrugged his shoulders, and silently communicated that he accepted the training invitation. Jenna ran into the night as fast as her legs would allow. She ran and ran until her breath hitched in her lungs and her legs screamed in protest. She didn’t stop until she ran into something solid. Startled and a little dazed from the impact, she looked up to see the thing with which she collided. A handsome brown face came into focus, towering above her. It was a face she hadn’t seen, and the face smiled kindly to her and spoke to her. She couldn’t understand what the person said, but she instantly trusted him. Jenna started sobbing again. Strong sinewy arms wrapped around her, pulling her close as she emptied her emotions and tear ducts against the strangers bare chest. |
| Chapter 10:Unexpected Allies "This has got to be a joke."Mr.Hayward insisted,unable to wrap his mind around the incredible story he'd just heard from Chris Schumacher. "24 hours ago,"said Lt.Fuller,"I would have agreed with you on that score.However,we've been going over those woods with the proverbial fine-tooth and haven't found one iota of evidence that could back up any alternative theories." As Jenna Whitmore turned to help Lisa make fresh coffees for the Haywards,Brad said to Mr. Hayward:"I know it sounds far-fetched,Gary,but like Detective Fuller was saying it's the only explanation that fits all the facts.What we need to do now is figure out how to get our kids out of there and bring them home..." "Easier said than done."admitted Mrs. Hayward. While all this was going on,Chris was perusing the Stillwell Fields town phone book looking for the number of the nearest Domino's.He'd just remembered a few minutes earlier that he hadn't eaten a thing since he and Whitmore had checked into their motel... He was a third of the way through the N section of the phone book when a particularly colorful ad in the "New Age" section caught his eye.It said:"Second Sight Books/For Those Who Dare To Explore Uncharted Spiritual Waters--Located At The Corner of Duchovny & Anderson". ****** Moira Fisk had lived in Stillwell Fields for more than six years,three of them spent as founder and chief proprietor of Second Sight Books.She lived in a restored Colonial farmhouse directly behind the bookstore;from its kitchen window she could see the street that led to Jenna Andrews' home three miles away.Moira's heart went to the younger girl's family;she knew too well from personal experience the agony of not knowing what had happened to a family member. She gazed intently at the crystals on her table much as a doctor might monitor a patient's vital signs or a NASA engineer might keep track of a space probe's telemetry.From the second the ABC affiliate in Hartford had aired the first bulletin about Jenna's disappearance,she'd known there had to be a supernatural connection to it somewhere.... Her concentration was abruptly jolted by a tingling sensation up and down her spine;it felt like a lightning bolt inside her body.She hardly had time to think about where the sensation might have come from before she heard,in her mind,the distant sound of a Native American woman's voice chanting a prayer.Acting more from instinct than conscious thought,Moira grabbed a pen and a green notebook labelled Dreams & Visions and started furiously jotting down her impressions of what was happening. ****** Almost simultaneously,in the passenger seat of a Blackhawk chopper making its final approach to Baghdad International Airport,Michael Hayward heard those same chants--albeit only for a few seconds."What the hey....?"he said to himself. "What was that,sir?"the chopper pilot shouted over the whirring of the blade. Sgt.Hayward shook his head."Nothing."God,I'd better not be cracking up on top of everything else,he thought as the Blackhawk touched down at the airport's main helipad.Between roadside bombs,sand fleas,and the lingering anxiety about what had happened to his cousin,the last thing he needed was to have to grapple with the prospect of a psychological breakdown. The chopper's landing gear had barely touched the tarmac before Sgt. Hayward was sprinting out its hatch and bolting down the airport's main runway towards the C-130 that would take him to Kuwait City to catch his flight back to the States. As the bulky transport plane leap-frogged from the runway and turned towards the Kuwaiti border,Sgt. Hayward made a mental note to himself to have a psychiatrist look him over as soon as possible.The stress of combat had to be getting to him,he decided... ****** "So,Child of the Sun,we finally meet."the tall stranger smiled at Jenna."I have heard much about you." Wiping the last traces of tears from her eyes,Jenna got her first close look at the newcomer.He was slim and well-built,and looked to be only slightly older than her.There was a haunted look in his eyes as if he bore the burden of some terrible disgrace;scars on his arms and chest told of struggles against enemies whose fearsomeness she could only imagine."Who are you?"she asked him. "I no longer have a name."the stranger replied,shaking his head in grief."My father has brought such dishonor upon us that I have been forced to renounce our kinship rather than have anything more to do with his evil..." Jenna almost fainted at those words;they were almost exactly the same way the Wanderer had introduced himself in Chris Schumacher's fifth Little Deer book,Warrior's Sorrow;the Wanderer,according to that book's main plotline,was secretly Snake Blood's son and had exiled himself from the Waiashu homeland in shame over his father's crimes.Among the Massaquonas only Little Deer knew his real heritage,and she had been sworn to silence lest a vengeful warrior try to take Wanderer's life. Needing a way to identify him if she ever saw him again,and hoping to confirm her initial hunch about who he was,Jenna said to him:"I too weep at Snake Blood's cruelty and want to help put an end to it...when that day comes I may need your guidance.Please tell me a way we may know each other when we meet again." "Very well then,Child of the Sun."the stranger nodded."Some call me the Wanderer..." Yes!Jenna's mind exulted."Wanderer,you may have heard of another stranger who has come to the Massaquonas' land--one called Waya.There are rumors your fa....I mean,Snake Blood has had dealings with him.What do you know of this?" "Very little,I must admit."the Wanderer sighed.With a nervous glance behind him,he added:"It is dangerous for you to be so close to Snake Blood's lands this time of day--his scouts may see you and try to take you prisoner.When it is safe,I will come for you and then we can talk more about what you wish to know." With a farewell nod to the Wanderer,Jenna turned and quickly made her way back to the Massaquona village;when she got there,she found Little Deer waiting for her. "Child of the Sun,are you all right?Greybow tells me you fled from the village in great sadness...." "Long story."Jenna told her."Listen,there's something I need to tell you..." |
| Chapter 11:Rain Dances Lightly Discovers Her True Self Rain Dances Lightly listened until she could no longer pick up the sounds of Hawk’s passage. Already she missed his presence; a keenness as sharp as the bite of the evening wind. She lifted her face to its touch, eyes closed as she took in the comforting scent of pine and fir trees, the rich brown smell of the earth soon to be laid to rest by Winter’s cold hand. ‘I wish,’ she thought and bit her sorrow in half. Her answer lay in the mountains,she had told Hawk. She knew this to be true and yet feared what she might find. What if she was not whom she was beginning to believer herself to be? At that, terror invaded her bowels. A terror so strong it shook her belly sending tremors down her thighs and rooting her in place. “We are of one spirit,” came a thousand voices to her rescue. “We fight as one.” With that the bands of fear holding her immobile shattered. Rain Dances Lightly quickly gathered up her pouch tucking it safely inside her tunic. Unwinding the shawl she always kept tied about her waist, she draped it over her shoulders, crossing the ends in front of her and then again behind her before tying the ends in front. That done, she made her way to the Sacred Woods. About to step onto sacred ground, she froze. Something was horribly wrong. A shadow crouched near the trees sifting through the remains of ancient graves. A cold rage touched Rain Dances Lightly. She knew that shadow as she knew the slither of a poisonous snake. Her hand itched for a weapon to strike the violator down. Instead, she kept silent and waited. In the next moment, the violator stood revealed, a contemptuous grin on his face. Waya! About to show herself, Rain Dances Lightly felt that peculiar stretching sensation that made of her world two separate spheres. In one, she was as she stood. In another, a maiden of power, fingers curled deeply into the pelt of the Grey Wolf of legend gazed in wrath upon the scene. Her eyes glowed as yellow as that of the wolf that stood attentively as her side. In the next blink of her eyes, Rain Dances Lightly found herself alone. The rage she had felt earlier was replaced by resolve. She knew why she must make her way to the mountains. There, in a place Waya did not want discovered, was a tablet that bore his true name. Other reasons came tumbling into her mind. She knew now why Waya had befriended the Massaquonas and the why of his coming. He did not fear Hawk’s people. They had no power over him. It was Jenna and Scott he feared above all else. Rain Dances Lightly bowed her head in prayer. “Father of my life, who brought me as one to keep your peace, shield me now. If I am discovered ...” A whisper of a chant sounded in her ears. The Grey Wolf of legend stood at her side. His fangs caught in her shawl pulling her forward. Startled, Rain Dances Lightly tried to pull away. Her foot came down hard on a thin branch. It snapped so loudly she thought the entire forest had heard. Surely, Waya had. His head did not turn in her direction. An impatient growl escaped the Grey Wolf. Rain Dances Lightly’s eyes darted toward Waya. Again, he gave no sign of hearing. She shoved a hand against her mouth to smother a giddy laugh of relief. In moments, she was in a flat out run, following the Grey Wolf, who took her safely out of the woods and onto the plains. As she ran, images of who she was became certainty. The knowledge gave her the power to ignore the burning in her lungs and the fire in her legs as they tried to knot. She could not stop. The safety of two universes depended on her. Unwittingly Waya had given her time to act. By choosing to adopt the role of one of Little Deer’s people, he had ensnared himself in a reality Jenna, in her unhappiness, had caused to take on true life. Rain Dances Lightly’s lips lifted in a smile that had she seen it, would have resembled the Grey Wolf’s. No, Little Deer and Hawk could not utter Waya’s true name. Waya knew that. But that limitation did not extend to Jenna and Scott who existed in both realities. They were not bound to pen and paper! Dawn found her staggering from exhaustion in the shadows cast by her beloved mountains. Rain Dances Lightly sank to the ground. The Grey Wolf shoved a cold muzzle into her hands. “Sleep,” the singers urged, drums enfolding her mind. “Sleep and be well.” Heaving a tired sigh, Rain Dances Lightly gave in to their urgings. She rose in white raiment through which starlight glittered. The Grey Wolf, enormous in size, leaned into her. Moon Maiden laughed and caught him close. Together, they gazed upon the world below; a world sparkling with moonlight. Raising her eyes to a place beyond starshine, she began to sing, her voice growing in power as she named warriors who had gone before; warriors who came in response to her call - tall upon horses made of mist and memory - the faces of many Indian nations. “Moon Maiden,” they called out in unison, spears lifted in readiness. “Too long have we been apart my friends,” she replied. “I thank you for sending Grey Wolf to lead me home. There is much to be done. With the sun’s rising, I must return to Rain Dances Lightly.” A thunderous sigh filled the heavens. “It is not easy living in two worlds,” Moon Maiden continued. “I stumble and lose my way at times. I ask your protection until the final hour for Waya arrives!” The soothing warmth of the sun opened Rain Dances Lightly’s eyes. She sat up in shock. She had reached the mountains. And was mystified. There was no pain in her legs, nor burning ache in her side. In fact, she wasn’t even hungry. Her mind stretched and she remembered who she was. And she remembered Waya! Face furrowed in renewed anger, she began to climb. She had to find the tablet that would break Waya’s power. |
| She raced through the woods running as if the spirits themselves were pushing her. She searched tree branches battered against her face slapping it roughly. Unfeeling she continued relentless in her quest as the forests fought against her every step. Stopping in a small clearing she bent to a small pond and washed the blood away with a grimace. Sitting cross legged she closed her eyes and murmured soft chants letting the magic within her swell over. Satisfied with how she now felt she turned and walked towards the large ancestral graveyard looking upon the highest alter where there, lay the tablet of waya. A smile crossed her lips whispering, " I have come Waya, your end is near" |
| Chapter 12:Proving One's Worth If Little Deer felt any surprise at learning that Child of the Sun had encountered the Wanderer and learned of his true heritage,either she was hiding it very well or had recovered from it in the blink of an eye.Her only words to Jenna were:"Does anyone else know you saw him?" "Nobody."Jenna assured her."He said he'd come for me when it was safe and tell me what he could about how Waya is tied to Snake Blood..." "Let us hope no one but you and I sees him when he does come."Little Deer said."There are those among my people who would not hesitate to slit his throat if they knew that he is Snake Blood's kin.There will always be bitterness between the Massaquona and the Waiashu as long as Snake Blood is the Waiashus' chief." Constant fighting.....Jenna found her mind flashing back to that terrible afternoon,two weeks after her 14th birthday,when she'd learned her parents were separating.It had felt like her whole world was crumbling around her,and she had bitterly resented their decision to split up at exactly the time in her life when she most needed them to pull together to help her get through her remaining years of junior high and her first year of high school. "Little Deer,let me ask you something...has there ever been a day when you and your parents argued about something?"she inquired of the Massaquona girl."When you felt so hurt by something they said or did that you wished they'd just disappear off the face of the earth?" "There have been times when harsh words passed between us,yes."Little Deer admitted."But those have passed quickly,because in our hearts we know that our love for one another matters more than any disagreements we may have." Jenna took a deep breath."Well,the night you found me,I'd run away from home because I'd had a really big fight with my father.It was about something really stupid,and I shouldn't have let things get out of hand the way they did,but I was too mad to think straight..."She hesitated,not sure if she should continue. Little Deer reached out and took Jenna's hand in her own."It's all right,Child of the Sun."Her voice was soothing,encouraging the blonde girl to unburden herself."Tell me what happened,and I will listen." Grateful for the encouragement--and for the compassion her new friend was showing towards her--Jenna said,"I heard him make a mistake with the name of one of my friends,and I corrected him on it.He got annoyed because he thought I was being rude in the way I talked to him,and things only got worse after that..." |
| Jenna steeled herself, and took a deep breath before she began. “My father and I were sitting at the kitchen table, preparing to have dinner. He had fixed hamburger helper…” “Hamburger helper?” Asked Little Deer, her voice ripe with curiosity. “Hamburger helper is like ground meat, um… buffalo meat, except we have less hairy buffaloes where I come from, called cows. That is where we get most of our meat. It is combined with a long thin dried sort of bread that we call noodles.” Little deer looked on in fascination. Jenna continued. “When the meat is cooked, you add the noodles to it, add some powdered spice mixture, and some water, then cook it. It actually tastes quite good! But I am getting side tracked here.” “Well, Hamburger helper was one of the only things my father knew how to cook, and as much as I liked it, I didn’t want to have it that particular afternoon.” Jenna continued recounting the events. “I could tell my dad had had an awful day, because he wasn’t speaking much, but I decided to say something about the meal he fixed.” “Did you criticize your father when he was not feeling cheerful?” Little Deer asked, in a mildly accusatory tone. Jenna looked guilty. “Yes I did.” she whispered, barely audible. “ I said, ‘Hamburger helper AGAIN? This is ridiculous, why can’t you learn to cook like Mom does, why can’t you get a grip on this parenting thing!” Jenna started crying. “My father looked at me. He just looked at me with that horrified, hurt expression on his face. I was relentless though and moved in for the kill, so to speak.” “What did you say to him?” Little deer asked quietly, putting an arm around Jenna’s shoulder to quiet her crying. Jenna wiped her eyes. “I said, ‘I only get to see you two weeks out of the summer and this is all you have to offer? Your presence for one hour in the evening and freaky mushy noodle goo?’ My dad looked like he was going to cry, then I said something I never should have.” Little Deer did not say a word, she just pulled Jenna closer and patted her head reassuringly. “I said, ‘I think I want to live with Mom on a permanent basis, since you obviously don’t have a clue how to take care of a kid!’ I slammed my plate down on the table, and even though it was made to be unbreakable, the plate shattered into thousands of pieces. I got up from the table and screamed; ‘If I have to ride my bike to Mom’s, I will. I never want to see you again, LOSER!’ Without even looking at him, because I knew it would destroy my resolve, I left the house, slammed the door, hopped on my bike, and the rest is history.” “That is awful, Child of the Sun. How bad he must have felt, how bad you must feel…” “I didn’t feel bad at the time, Little Deer. And that makes me feel even worse!” “When family members come to disagreement,” Little deer began, “it is always hurtful. But there is always a way back to the family, because family is the one thing man can not change. What makes you strong is the belonging. Even families that are not connected by blood, know there is always a place to return.” “Little Deer, you are like part of my family.” Jenna told the young Massaquona maiden. The two girls embraced. Suddenly, Little Deer began laughing. Jenna looked mildly annoyed. “What’s so funny?” Between hysterical peals of laughter, Little Deer managed, “You had an argument over Hamburger Helper?” Jenna was a little upset that Little Deer was laughing, but the unbridled mirth made her laugh too. “Yeah, I guess it was a little ridiculous!” After the laughter had died down, Jenna took a more serious tone. “Yeah, it was ridiculous to get so mad over something so unimportant. My Dad does the best he can, and I just didn’t see that. I hope he forgives me… That is, if I ever see him again..” her voice trailed off, and she willed herself not to cry again. “He WILL forgive you, Child of the Sun. He is your Father, the one that gave you life. He is family, and family is everything.” Jenna drew in a shaky breath. “I sure hope you’re right, Little Deer.” |
Chapter 13 A Gift of Power for the Sun Child Rain Dances Lightly blinked and blinked again, alarmed and confused. In one blink she was covered with blood-crusted cuts and stood in a cave in which a tablet lie on an altar. In the next, she was where she remembered herself to be – just rising and facing the mountains. She did not know whether to sigh with relief or panic. She had only just become accustomed to the disturbing shifts where she was Rain Dances Lightly and another where she stood as Moon Maiden, the one who watched over the People from her dwelling in the realms beyond men. ”In your heart lies the truth. It will let you know what is false.” The whispered encouragement was so soft it might have been her own thought. Accepting the calm that settled over her, she closed her eyes and slowly eased them open. For a briefest of moment, the heart bounded in panic. Would she see torn, jagged skin? ”You must believe in yourself!” The warning was sharp, cutting through her uncertainty. This time Rain Dances Lightly saw the truth and expelled a grateful breath. She had not panicked and gone crashing through the mountain forests. To have done so would have alerted any scouts Waya may have set on her path. By now, he had to know she was not at the camp. Indeed, the woods were quite lovely, but dangerous grounds for the untrained. Sound traveled as loudly as a shout, while appearing to be grounded in one spot; a hard lesson she had learned as a nine-year-old running from a black bear. She shivered as the memory touched her spine with remembered terror. She must move. Shielding her eyes from the bright glare of early morning sun, she peered toward the mountain top and sighed once more. She had a long, perilous climb. Even at her usual leisurely pace, all it took for a bad fall was to be distracted. Stone was not kind to the unwary and the thought that she might fall and lie at the mercy of a hungry predator was not to her liking. Pulling her skirt up and tying it so that it fell to mid-thigh, she loped lightly through the forest, moccasins a bare whisper upon leaf and ground. She was a shadow cleaving past bush and branch; a hush of sound only the ears of the wildlife could detect. An hour later she was at the first rock climb. Wiping the sweat from her face and brow, she pulled a band from her bag and tied it about her forehead. It would keep any further sweat from hindering her vision. She rubbed her hands on her dark doeskin skirt, bit her lip to control her anxiety and began to climb. For the next two hours, the only wind she heard was her own breath. Her fingers ached terribly. She had never done such a fast climb. It was her custom to spend the day climbing to the summit looking forward to the moment when her eyes would peer over the peak’s edge and with a happy, weary sigh, she would roll over the lip and just lie there resting until the sun had dropped out of sight. Those were her happiest moments. This was not one of them. The sharp cry of a hawk brought her head up. Her fingers slipped from their purchase. The hawk cried out again – a warning and Rain Dances Lightly was falling. Her arms flailed wildly as she clawed at empty air, mouth rounded to shriek her terror and despair. “Trust your heart. It will tell you what is true,” the words struck through the false vision. Rain Dances Lightly’s vision clearer. She was clinging to the rock, convulsive shudders racking her body, her breath as keen as the cries of a child. Without wanting to, her face turned and looked down. Movement was beyond her. She was held immobile by her own fear. ”Child, you must go on. You cannot give up. Waya must not win.” ”I cannot,” Rain Dances Lightly wept into the rockface. “I am afraid.” ”You will not be held to account for your fear, but see what will happen to the People should you fail.” A vision of fallen Massaquona littered the ground – men, women and children crushed like leaves by a power not normal. ”Has Waya reached the top,” she feared to ask. The voice in the wind came back to her. “No. Yet he is drawing close and clouding your mind with false vision. Do not trust your eyes. Listen to the cries of the hawk. It will guide you safely to the summit.” ”Any scout can imitate the sound of a hawk. That is the first thing he learns in childhood.” When no answer was forthcoming, Rain Dances Lightly turned her heard timidly and found herself looking into eyes so dark she could see stars shine. She hung upon them as though they were a solid path. A smile lit them and she heard laughter that passed deep into her heart. ”To anyone listening it will merely be hawk song. In your ears, it will sound like your heart beat. That will be the path to follow. Now go!” Time ceased to have meaning as Rain Dances Lightly raced for the summit. Every time she heard the cry of the hawk as the pounding of her heart she redoubled her efforts, her nails tearing as she scrabbled upward. Finally, she was there, arms and legs trembling with exhaustion, long cuts on her thighs marking where she had scraped over sharp fragments of rock in taking dangerous shortcuts. ”Where?” she called out to the wind. Nothing. No hawk. No vision of the Moon Maid appeared. Remembering the earlier admonition to trust her heart, she took a deep, shaky breath and focused on her heart beat turning about as she did so. She took a step and then another. Her heart sped up. Grinning in delight, Rain Dances Lightly pursued her heart beat into a crevice that seemed so tiny, she would never get through. The moment her fingers slid into it, the stone swung away. She entered into a caver from which light slanted at the back. She raced toward it and stepped with wonder into a grove of trees she had never known existed upon the mountain. There was a sense of oldness that went beyond the memory of the People who had adopted her and the People she had once been a part of before becoming lost. Rain Dances Lightly knew she stood in a sacred groove almost as ancient as the first creation. Its peace reached out and enfolded her. ”Rest.” The feeling was so intense Rain Dances Lightly sank into its embrace. For how long she sat immersed in the sacred grove’s care, she did not know. When she came to, she was whole in mind and body. She knew her role and gladly accepted it. Getting to her feet, strode back the back she had come. A spear clanged beside her head as she emerged from the cavern. Rain Dances Lightly darted aside and turned to look upon Waya, a smirk lifting his beautiful lips into a feral snarl. ”Did you think you could defeat my purpose?” he crowed as he came within striking distance of her. He stank of sweat, a rancid odor that offended her. Rage glittered in his eyes. It was clear to her that he would have killed the moment he set eyes on her, but there was something he needed to know. Something she knew and he did not. Rain Dances Lightly smiled serenely at him. It drove Waya into a violent rage. Reaching out he grabbed her by the shoulder, nails cruelly digging into her sore arms. Rain Dances Lightly titled her head to look up at him. She saw him now as the Moon Maiden saw him- a powerful object in the flesh, but powerless to strip from her the means of his downfall. She smiled again, find it hard to hold down the laughter that was building. ”Do you think,” he snapped at her, shaking her as though she was a sapling caught in a tempest, “that your Moon Maiden can stop me? I am more than she!” he declared, his black eyes dark points of hatred trained on her. ”What I think does not matter, Waya. It is what you think that has brought all of this about.” Caught off guard, Waya pushed her away from her. He turned his head to the side and scanned the clearing they stood in. “Who else is here?” he asked gruffly. ”Nothing,” Rain Dances Lightly replied, hazel eyes focused on his profile. She shrugged. “At least nothing you can do anything about.” In a smooth, quick stride, Waya held her by the throat, fingers steadily cutting off her air. “Am I not the one who hold power over your life, woman?” he demanded of Rain Dances Lightly. A ghost of laughter met his efforts. ”You will tell me what you know,” he said releasing her. Rain Dances Lightly sank to the ground, fighting the terror that was threatening to take over. She had seen the vision of Hawk’s people if she failed and she knew the answer to what was Waya. Even with the pain of an almost crushed throat making it difficult to breathe, she laughed. As Waya grabbed her up again, Rain Dances Lightly plucked his blade from its sheathe and took it into her breast. She had moved so quickly and struck so truly, Waya found his finger slipping on blood that rippled around the entry point. Enraged beyond sanity, he kicked at her dying body, uttering bestial cries of frustration. ”There is no pain,” Rain Dances Lightly thought in wonderment. She smiled. Hawk’s people would be safe. Her part here was almost ended. ***** Hearing unearthly screams echo from the mountain top, the Wanderer quickened his pace. He was trembling with a fear that went beyond reason. He knew that maniac shriek. Only one other beside Snake Blood gave voice to such a cry. Waya! He stepped quickly behind a tree as the only other person he hated more than his father, came crashing pass. Minutes passed and Waya did not return. He crept from hiding and made his way into the clearing. When he saw what lie as a bloody sprawl upon the ground, his knees gave way. Tears fell freely from his eyes as he got to his feet and came to gather up the Massaquona lore keeper. A groan escaped her lips when he touched her. ”Hush,” he told her. “I will try to ease your pain and get you back to your people.” He knew his words were spoken to console himself. His trained eyes told him the lore keeper was close to death. To his shock, she reached up and caught the edge of his sleeve as he knelt at her side. She shook her head weakly. “I will not live to see Hawk and his people again. I know this. It is you I waited for. Lift me up,” she told him. Gathering her gently into his arms, the Wanderer lifted the lore keeper so that her head rested upon his chest. Rain Dances Lightly let her feeble fingers lie against his cheek. “I bear a message for you,” she said. ”Me?” he queried, startled by her words. Rain Dances Lightly nodded, the last of her strength almost gone. “The Moon Maiden accepts your tears and knows you to be an honorable man among the people. Be at peace.” Moving slowly with grief, the Wanderer lifted the lore keeper’s body into his arms. It pained him to look into her still face knowing he would never get to know this woman who gave her life so freely for the Massaquona. She had died a mystery he was sure to himself and to them. The sun was just rising as he entered the camp of his father’s enemies bearing Rain Dances Lightly’s body. ***** The day was a long blur of horror during which Jenna could not bear her thoughts to focus on the true – Rain Dances Lightly, tribal lore keeper and friend to Hawk was dead. She had only to life her eyes to the lodge were the body had been prepared for burial to know this was true. The tears came as another flood that Scott felt helpless to stop. After Jenna’s third rejection of his efforts to console her, he had stopped. He kept himself at a discreet distance just in case she should turn to him. ”Sun Child,” Jenna heard her tribal name being spoken. She looked up in misery into the sorrowing eyes of Hawk. Little Deer’s father held his arms out. Without thought, Jenna had her arms wrapped tight about him, sobbing freely on his chest. ”Why?” she asked him at last, wiping away the tears that continued to leak past her fingers. “I don’t understand.” ”Sun Child,” Hawk began motioning Scott closer. Rain Dances Lightly knew you to be important to the survival of our tribe.” When Jenna and Scott look puzzled, he continued. “We have a legend which she spoke to me of while she was still alive. “When Sun and Fire camp in one place, beware the falling of darkness.” ”That darkness has come,” Hawk went on. “And yet, though Rain Dances Lightly is gone from us, there is still hope.” ”How can you say that?” Jenna protested gesturing at the tent in which Rain Dances Lightly’s body lie. “She’s gone and Waya has destroyed the sacred ground. The history of your people is gone!” Hawk reached out caught Jenna’s hands in his. No attempt on her part to pull away, would release her. An indecisive Scott stood at her back. One glance at Hawk’s face told him to hold his ground and his tongue. With a sheepish darting glance at Jenna, he took the unspoken advice. ”No,” Hawk said firmly. “The history of a people is written by how they live it! We will continue to honor the old ways and in so doing, we keep every fallen warrior and Rain Dances Lightly alive.” ”It’s just that,” Jenna said at last, new tears coursing down her cheeks. She shrugged helplessly. ”To be of the People, you must never give up dreaming or believing,” Little Deer said, her face so like her mother, Dancing Crane; her strength so much like her father’s. “Come Sun Child, we make prepare to honor Rain Dances Lightly for the gift of her life.” Walking hardly seemed the effort, but Jenna followed Little Deer into the tent they shared and changed into the white doeskin skirt and tunic with beaded fringes her mother had made for her. She slipped her feet into soft white leather moccasins and followed Little Deer to the campfire. The entire tribe was there already, sitting cross-legged on the ground. Jenna look about. ‘What are they waiting for she thought?’ As though her thought had pulled Greybow from the shadows, he was suddenly there. He wore white buckskin paid with long fringes down the side; his chest was bare and he wore but a single eagle feather woven into the warrior braid hanging down his back. He stepped closer to the fire, the flickering shadow of flame dancing across his cheeks as though adding their own marks of mourning. He lifted his arms to the night sky and began a low chant that was soon taken up by the women and other warriors; the young children adding their own keening cries of their sorrow. Sliding one foot forward and lifting the opposite arm, Greybow began to dance, bowing low to the earth. His movements were hypnotic and Jenna found herself wanting to join him. At least he was letting out his sorrow. Jenna though she would crazy if she had to remain silent any longer. Little Deer’s fingers wound around her wrist in warning. With a final stamp of white moccasin into tramped down dirt, Greybow ended his dance. Jenna looked into his face as though that of a stranger. There was no laughter tugging at the corners of his mouth and a seriousness that had not been a part of his character now seemed to be etched in his eyes and manner. Greybow began to sing. It filled the night as though a part of the evening wind, climbing high and bowing low as it swirled past many hearts and sent tears as muted rainfall to the ground. Only the light tapping of a single drum kept rhythm, the drummer’s eyes closed in mourning. Who does not honor Our Lore Keeper here This night? Rain Dances Lightly You who spoke our History as though You were one of us By your deeds and love We name you of our People not knowing What path brought You to Us. You gave life to our Fallen and made them Alive by your Words Now you lie so still And our hearts cry Though we rejoice That you died with Honor Our sister in truth If not in flesh Let my voice carry To where you may be As many hearts that weep At your passing Many more will be told Weeping for not having Come to know you Even should the People Begin to fade We will carry your name With us! One by one the people filed past the tent in which Rain Dances Lightly’s body lie, the women sprinkling herbs inside, the children dropping flowers at the entrance. Jenna and Scott could not bring themselves to go near and not an eye glanced in their direction in disapproval. At the last, several warriors entered and took her body to the new sacred grounds. It was with bitterness that Greybow took note hers would be the first body to be placed there. ***** Hours had passed since all but the scouts guarding the perimeter had gone to their tents. Jenna could not sleep and knew that tonight of all nights she could not seek out Scott, if only to engage him in conversation. The tightness in her chest would not go away, nor did the shock of knowing Rain Dances Lightly was truly gone. She closed her eyes yet again to try and force sleep. ”Jenna,” she heard name spoken and also screamed when she spied a woman standing inside the tent. The face was unfamiliar to her and Jenna felt fear crawl up her spine. ”Be at peace, Sun Child,” she said, a warm smile in her eyes that would have reminded Jenna of Rain Dances Lightly had she not seen stars shining through. ”Are you a ghost?” she asked, feeling stupid after the question left her lips. ”No,” came the reply as the woman drew closer. “I am of two worlds and a guardian of my people. I appear as I choose to those who need me and you, Sun Child, have great need of me.” The words were out before Jenna could stop them. “So did Rain Dances Lightly, but a fat lot of help you were to her,” she accused bitterly. There was no reproach in the woman’s voice as she replied. “Rain Dances Lightly is own of my own.” ”What do you mean one of your own? She didn’t even belong in this place and now she’s dead. What good did it do her? I mean, I know she was here to help the tribe, but still. It just hurts so much inside.” ”Do you know who I am, Sun Child?” the woman asked in response to Jenna’s accusation.” Fear made Jenna weak. “No, and I think the camp should know an intruder is here. I don’t care you might say you are. You could be one of Waya’s jerks.” The moment she uttered the words, Jenna realized she should have given the alarm. A low growl of warning caught her attention. Pacing at the entrance to the tent was the most enormous wolf she had ever seen. Jenna pulled the blanket up to her chin, her eyes darting between the woman standing at ease before her and the beast at the woman’s back. She pointed without words at it. In fact, no words would come out of her mouth. She had heard the legends. The beast at the unknown woman’s back was the Grey Wolf of legend, which made the woman standing before her … Soft laughter like the sound of birds cooing filled the tent. “Moon Maiden,” the woman said. Jenna wanted to take her tongue out and nail it to the floor. Would she never learn to watch what flew out of it? Ugh! ”There is no harm done, but Rain Dances Lightly’s death was not for nothing. She gave her life freely to give you the power you would need to be rid of Waya.” ”You’re crazy,” she blurted out and cringed. ”Each of the People have two names. One is for the world to know; the other, only he and dearly loved ones know.” Jenna nodded her head. Little Deer had told her of this strange custom, explaining that among the Massaquona, to know a person’s true name was to have power over them. ”But how can she tell me now,” Jenna wailed in frustration. Rain Dances Lightly is dead. I will find no answer there.” ”No, you will not,” Moon Maiden agreed. “Rain Dances Lightly will never walk here again, and the time of my leaving is upon me.” ”What is that supposed to mean?” Jenna asked, her temper getting the best of her. “Look, lady, if you can’t help me so I can find a way to stop Waya, get out and take the wolf with you.” ”Be careful now you speak of him,” Moon Maiden warned sharply. “That wolf bears is guarding your life and the lives of Scott and the Massaquona. He is the spirit of the People. To dishonor him would have grave consequences.” ”Then how am I supposed to help them,” Jenna asked helplessly, shoving the blanket aside and sitting at the side of the bed. “Help me, please!” ”Here is your answer,” Moon Maiden responded. “With fire and blood is evil cleansed.” ”Huh,” Jenna asked bewilderedly. “What’s that supposed to mean. Moon Maiden gave her another question. “What happens when fire consumes all living things?” ”You have a lot of dead things around you,” Jenna said, sarcasm heavy in her voice. ”Yes,” Moon Maiden said and turned to leave. ”That’s it?” Jenna cried. “De….” and found her mouth held still. ”You are a danger to yourself, Sun Child. If Waya discovers you now know the essence of his true name, he will strike at you before you are ready.” ”But if I tell everyone, someone would be able to say it before he killed us all.” ”The others cannot say it. Only you can; in your language, because only you come from the place where Waya strength flows from.” ”What about Scott? He comes from the same place.” ”Only you, Sun Child. And the time is not now. When the time is near, listen to the cry of a hawk that sounds like your heartbeat. Then you must take Scott’s hand and utter it with all the force you can muster.” ”Why?” Jenna asked, her body shaking with fear. “It’s so awful having this secret. I feel sick. Why can’t I at least tell Scott.” ”Because you need him, dear child. And to tell another makes it harder to guard the secret. You must tell no one. My time here has passed as well.” ”Wait,” Jenna implored of the retreating Moon Maiden. ”Yes?” ”What will happen when I take Scott’s hands and say the word? ”The fire of purification will cleanse this land and lessen Waya’s grip in your own world.” A growl sounded at her back. “I must go.” Catching up Jenna in a warm hug, Moon Maiden stroked her golden hair. “You will succeed, Sun Child. The people have not chosen you for nothing.” The wind whistled through the gap Moon Maiden and the Grey Wolf of legend let drop leaving Jenna in a pool of moonlight that slowly shrunk in size. ***** |
| Chapter 14:Contemplations As the last specks of moonlight disappeared,Jenna started trying to come to terms with everything that had happened since she'd heard the story about the beginning of Snake Blood's war against the Massaquonas.She'd read Rain Dances Lightly's death scene in Sacred Ground so many times she could recite it practically by heart,but to actually see the Lorekeeper's body laid to rest had filled her with a pain she hadn't known since her grandmother passed away;that,on top of her lingering anxiety about the possibility of losing Scott and her anger at the harm Snake Blood and Waya were causing her friends,made her feel sick to her stomach. But at the same time,she could also feel a small spark of hope inside her.The Moon Maiden's last words--"You will succeed,Child of the Sun.The People have not chosen you for nothing"--still echoed in her mind,a comforting shield against her fears.She had been entrusted with the secret of ending Waya's evil,and that trust was gradually filling her with a strength she knew would stay with her no matter what happened next.True,her grief over Rain Dances Lightly's passing was still intense;however,she was finally beginning to understand that the Lorekeeper had chosen to sacrifice herself to buy time for those she held dear--including Jenna--to rally their power to defeat the enemy. Blinking,Jenna stood at the entrance of Hawk's lodge and gazed up towards the night sky."Thank you for your gift,Moon Maiden and Grey Wolf."she whispered as sleep at last began to claim her."I promise I'll reward the People's faith in me...." We never doubted you would,answered Grey Wolf's voice in her mind with paternal affection.Jenna's last thought before drifting into slumber was that she should go to Greybow's lodge first thing in the morning and see if he and Scott were all right... ***** "Got a minute?" Chris Schumacher,who'd been reading that day's ediiton of the Hartford Courant while he waited for Moira Fisk to return the call he'd made to Second Sight Books around 11:00 PM,looked up from the paper's sports section to see Brad Andrews standing at the entrance to the living room."Yeah.Nobody here but us best-selling authors...the Haywards went home to get some rest,Lt.Fuller's been called back to the station to question a suspect in another case,and my agent,"he said with a grin,"is getting the grand tour of your daughter's bedroom compliments of Lisa.What's up?" Taking a seat on the sofa beside Chris,Brad told him:"I seriously need a friendly ear right about now...Other than my ex,the only people I've talked to about the fight I had with Jenna the night she ran away are the cops.Think you can handle all the gory details?" "Brad,I live in New York,the tabloid capital of the universe."Chris said."And I've had a fan literally disappear into one of my books.It's not likely anything you can say is going to seriously shock me." "OK then...it started,"Brad explained,"when I mispronounced the names of one of Jenna's friends while I was making dinner.She corrected me on it,and I'm afraid I just went ballistic--I read her the riot act because I thought she was being rude.Of course,the fact that I'd just come off a long afternoon of arguing with my cable provider over the phone might have had something to do with my lousy mood at the time..." "Then what happened?"Chris asked."Fight over a boyfriend?" Brad chuckled."Believe it or not,Scott Hayward's one of the few topics we can agree on.No,the straw that broke the camel's back was when we got into a shouting match over--of all things--Hamburger Helper.I don't remember who said what first,but take my word for it,it was not one of my shining moments as a parent."His face slowly took on an air of melancholy as the memory of Jenna's departure came back to him again."We traded harsh words like they were baseball cards,and when it was over she called me a loser before bolting up to her room and grabbing her knapsack.When I asked her where she was going she told me,'As far away from you as I can get!'Not exactly the way I pictured starting my two weeks' summer vacation time with her...." The grandfather clock next to the sofa ticked to 11:45 as Brad took a quick breath before speaking again."Funny thing is,I first took the job with SynerTec because I wanted to give Jenna the best of everything.Unfortunately,when you spend ten hours a day arguing with software protocol engineers over lines of code it doesn't leave a lot of time for father-daughter bonding...I guess it was just a matter of time before I finally lost her for good." "Can I interject a purely personal observation at this point?"Chris said. "Shoot." "When she finally comes home--and trust me,she is coming home--she won't be thinking about Hamburger Helper,or the way you pronounce her friends' names,or anything except how incredibly glad she is to see you again."the author told Brad."I've read some of the messages she posts at the forum on my official home page,and take my word for it,deep down she loves you and Lisa more than life itself.No matter how mad she might have been at you when she left,I guarantee she'll move heaven and earth to find her way home." Brad sighed."For all our sakes,I hope to God that's true." ***** Moira Fisk was feeling annoyed as she deleted the first five messages on her bookstore's answering machine.Stupid telemarketers,she thought with a scowl.The next four were little better,consisting of drunken attempts at humor by some of the local would-be frat boys."I should never have let my mother talk me into buying this piece of junk."she grumbled to herself. But just as she was about give up on the machine in disgust,she found one message that sounded like it might be of interest to her;the timestamp indicated it had come in less than an hour ago.Hitting the rewind button,she listened as a voice said over the speaker:"Ms. Fisk,this is Chris Schumacher.I know it's late,but I'd like to see you as soon as possible.I saw your ad in the local phone book,and I think you might have the final piece of the puzzle in bringing Jenna Andrews back home..." The message ended with Chris' private cell phone number,which Moira was quick to write down before erasing the message from her machine. ***** As the first light of dawn began to glisten over the palisades that surrounded the Massaquona village,Hawk on the Wing saw Jenna kneeling near a secluded corner of one palisade,a silvery cross-shaped pendant clasped in her fingers.By her soft voice and reverently bowed head,he guessed that she must be in prayer. "God,"he heard the Sun Child murmur,"I know we've kind of been on the outs lately,but if you could help me stop Waya and Snake Blood and get back home to Dad it would mean so much to me.I miss my family like you wouldn't believe..." |
| Jenna moved towards the lodge her stomach in knots, she thought of so many things over the peaceful night. The forest and its swaying trees the wind rushing through the leaves. She missed her family and her friends, would she ever get back to be with them. What about all of this responsibility that has been laid on her shoulders, could she really deal with all of this. Jenna had never felt so alone before, even though she was surrounded by people she didnt know them, not really... they were strangers to her. She knew now how to defeat waya but would she know when the time was right, She stepped to the lodge door "Greybow, I need to speak with you" He let her in and they both sat cross legged on a mat across from a small flickering fire a young girl handed her a bowl of stew and they ate in silence. She looked up at him "Greybow, The moon maiden came to me last night, she told me how to defeat waya" His eyes widened briefly and he took a bite of his stew chewing in quiet contemplation "I see" he sighed swallowing "waya is a strong enemy young one, are you sure that you and scott can truely defeat him?" How did he know she thought "How did you know it involved Scott Greybow?" He smiled "the moon maiden did not only visit you" It was her duty, and Scotts to overcome waya, but when they did would the fight truely be over..... |
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