BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) Page 32

  Isa had other ideas and implored his brother, “River; find your animal spirit. It will disguise and protect you. Quickly! I will become the coyote.” He then began slipping into an alpha trance state. River soon realised that Isa’s spirit was no longer there. He knew that in his mind, Isa was now a coyote wandering the lowlands up above to the west of New Denver. River adopted a similar mind set and soon began slipping into his own trance state as he imagined himself a river otter. The otter was an animal that he strongly related to and it felt natural to assume its identity. The feeling of his mind being remotely scanned slowly faded away. It was replaced by an instinctive desire to explore his locality. In his remote imaginative state, he swam along the floor of the cave pool searching for an exit which he found in a narrow submerged channel which he swam down. It was long and narrow but he had amazing lungs to last the distance. Then he swam up and found himself in a small underground cavern. There were underground streams and waterways running in different directions but his super sense of smell knew which one would lead to an exit above ground. He scampered across the bedrock floor but felt at home in the water and swam rapidly for many miles and with easy agility through a set of shallow underground streams, then climbed rocky slopes until he found more waterways leading him always in the direction of the early evening fresh air.

  River opened his eyes, and shook Isa once to bring him back to a full state of consciousness. The mind link was broken, they had evaded capture and now he knew the way out. This time he told Isa to follow him, and he took some very deep breaths to oxygenate his lungs and swam to the bottom of the shallow pool and found and swam into the submerged channel. He looked back to confirm that Isa was following him.

  Chapter Forty Four

  On the anniversary of the day that he entered the tunnels and left behind the metropolis of New Denver, River visited Lizard Ridge on his own. He had brought a horse along this time as long distance running had lost its appeal for him since his days inside the citadel. He had also come here without Isa knowing, because there was the possibility that Nathan would join him. He wondered if Nathan had remembered his pledge to meet him here, a year from the day that they last parted. He hoped he would come; he missed his old friend and looked forward to the possibility of spending some quality time with him. Strangely as the time passed, he realised that he missed many of the people and friends that he had come to know in the citadel; but much of his affection for life in the metropolis had disappeared. Isa was right; He was not meant to live there. He would have become someone different; a twisted contorted version of his true self. He also knew that he would never have left New Denver as long as his son and her mother lived there. However if he could have returned, he would have. The problem was that the only feasible way back in was through the ‘twisted’ underground complex that he and his brother had narrowly escaped from. Of course he knew how Isa had managed to trick the Rangers into opening a Tunnel escape hatch. But in truth he knew that he could not similarly succeed at obtaining entry into the tunnels undetected. He just didn’t have Isa’s stealth, and nor could he ask Isa to help him gain entry because Isa would only refuse. No one at Avana was willing to countenance him going back into the Blue Horse City. He had to accept his loss and realise that he was probably repeating the karmic odyssey of his own birth father Eli whom also had to leave his young family behind.

  River sat in a ponderous mood stirring a pot of stew he was cooking on the heat of a fire which he had built in the same large cave where Ishtur had cooked before for Nathan, himself and the others. He had rummaged around in the dark recesses at the rear of the cave and he had found the litters which Isa had made which had served as beds too. Not only that but the suede and furs had also been left behind. He was carrying a full load to set up near the wide mouth of the cave when he first heard the unmistakable sound of a catalytic repel drive powering down. He almost stumbled and dropped his bulky load in excitement; Nathan had come. He stumbled forward looking for a clean spot to drop the hides and bedding; however wherever they landed when he discarded them, mattered not one iota to him. The only thing which mattered was the silhouette of Audrina holding his six month old son appearing against the bright backdrop of the cave’s entrance. He never imagined that he would get to see them again, but he had wished for it so badly, and events are born out of a well of desire. As he ran to hold them both, he caught a glimpse of both Nathan and Anton waiting patiently outside. They saw River too, but held back awhile wanting to allow them some private time together.

  “How long are you staying?” was the first question to which River needed an answer.

  “A lifetime” she replied.

  Post script

  It was a perfect day for a family outing and picnic. They hadn’t travelled very far, maybe less than five miles to a beautiful meadow next to a river. It was only a small tributary and quite easy to ford across. The source of the tributary was a nearby small lake which was really just a large plunge pool at the base of a waterfall. Audrina had travelled there on a pony & trap. Isa had built this for her as a present to honour the birth of her daughter who was now a few months old. They had sat in comfort as the pony trotted to this location. River, Isa and Hassun had run along side and enjoyed the exercise on this pleasant day. Their respective families were already setting up the picnic site at a designated spot near the plunge pool. River had taken Audrina here once before and it had amused her greatly. It was practically the same environment in which she caught out River cavorting with her topless avatar in Anton’s virtual simulator all those years ago. They had re-enacted the scene then, and she thought that he might even get to see her topless here again today, but it would more likely be due to her breastfeeding her little princess Sira. Her sweet boy Ethan was here already and was probably with one of his grandmothers. Her mother doted on him now that she had grown out of her contempt for River. As this was only her second visit to Avana, she was very possessive of her grandson’s company but perhaps that would change now that she had a granddaughter.

  Her father Nathan was here too and Audrina was excited at the prospect of seeing him. As usual, he chose not to visit or stay at Avana. He didn’t totally trust the stealth programmes that Anton had programmed to camouflage his visits. He was still a Major in the CPS, but he had since been removed from the organised crime department. He didn’t want to compromise his daughter or Avana, so he had camped here all of yesterday while Anton and his mother visited and stayed the night in Avana. Audrina knew that her father loved camping, and this was such an idyllic spot.

  Tonight he was going to have some company; a lot of it. Some of the tepees and tents were already going up. Everyone was staying here tonight, and the naming ceremony would be held here for his benefit. Little Ethan who was three years old was going to be given his Hopi name. This was years ahead of usual practice, but the boy was quite precocious anyway and recently had exhibited some extraordinary tendencies and abilities. She was his mother and so she naturally felt that he was special, but she felt that for the most part, the older indigenous Hopi and their fellow tribesmen were a bit superstitious and had made up their mind that he was different, and were now seeking to find examples of extraordinary feats. They had already picked out a Hopi name which they wanted to bestow. It was ‘Sikhchic’ which meant seed of hope. They could call him that if they wanted, but River felt the same way as she did and they were determined to continue using Ethan as his name.

  When Nathan saw his daughter arrive he ran over to meet her and almost lifted her and Sira up in his warmest embrace. Putting her back down on the ground he remarked how she looked like a queen swaddling her newborn whilst her warriors ran beside her chariot. The image appealed to Audrina, and she told River and Isa that they were going to be running beside the pony trap on the way back too.

  Everybody was in fine form. Yesterday had been a day for reunions, and today was a day for celebration and party. River didn’t forget that it was really Ethan’s day and he looked around for
him. He had a surprise for him. His search was not that difficult. He found him with Valerie who had him sitting on her lap whilst she talked with Ishtur.

  River didn’t want to take Ethan away from his grandmother’s firm grip, so he invited Valerie to take a walk with him. He suggested that they take a walk up to the hollow tree. It was just an old tree stump near the base of the waterfall. The tree had been cut down a long time ago, and so many years of water spray had rotted the inside of the tall stump away. Now it was completely hollow and ever since he was a child there had been a tradition of writing a wish on a piece of parchment or fabric and binding it to some feathers and dropping it down the hollow. They called it a wish arrow. For those children too young to write, they only had to draw a pattern or a picture; it was the wish that was important.

  River had come prepared with some parchment, a crayon and even some feathers. Whilst they waited for Ethan to draw something on the parchment which his father had set down on a hard flat surface, Valerie enquired about the name change and what was Ethan supposed to have done to warrant it.

  “Nothing that can be substantiated Valerie; it is just native superstitions and folklore. Isuzu is convinced that Ethan is a horse whisperer. He says that horses act differently around him. Toby has been teaching him to paint, and he says that when he asked Ethan to explain a picture he had drawn of himself and his family under what looked like a rainbow, Ethan told him that it wasn’t a rainbow but it was an invisible protection which he was holding over us. Then my brother Isa is convinced that he can cloud bust. Recently he brought Ethan along with him fishing on a small lake. However the weather changed abruptly, and a strong wind picked up, and hailstones lashed down. Isa said he was scared for Ethan’s sake and was stressed out trying to paddle the boat to shore. He said then the storm abruptly ended and Isa became convinced that Ethan had broken up the storm cloud by staring at it.”

  “Maybe it is simply one tall story inspiring the next,” said Valerie astutely, and then looking towards her grandson, “What has he drawn down there?”

  “It looks like a Hopi symbol,” said River checking his son’s work, “I will ask Geren; he probably copied it from him anyway.”

  River wrapped the parchment around three long feathers and bound them with string, and then gave the completed wish arrow to his son. Telling Ethan to hold on to it tightly, he lifted him up so that he would have access to the tree hollow.

  “Now hold it right in the middle and make a wish Ethan, and then let the feathers go. When we see it drop below, we know the wish will come true.”

  Ethan let go of the wish arrow, and both father and son both watched it fall. To there disappointment, the loaded feathers coasted to the side and got stuck on a ridge on the inside of the tree hollow. Ethan immediately started to cry, and River kept reassuring him that he would get the feathers back and that they would do it again. As Valerie held on to Ethan, River stretched his arm down the hollow to its maximum extent, but the wish arrow remained out of reach. Ethan was crying uncontrollably now, and Valerie had to crouch down near the base of the tree and hug her grandson around his waist in a vain attempt to console him. Meanwhile River had left the tree, and was manically searching around for some more feathers to make a second wish arrow when he heard Valerie scream. Startled himself by her outcry, he asked her if she was alright, but she said nothing. Her pallor was pale and she was obviously in shock, so he ran over to her and bent down to put a comforting arm around his mother in law and his son. As he reached around to hug his son, he saw that Ethan was clutching the wish arrow. Ethan would not let go of it, and was not content until his father had held him up over the hollow and allowed him to drop it again. This time they watched it course downwards in a straight path.

  As they walked back to the campsite, Ethan was once again his happy self. River was profoundly shocked by what had just happened and he led them in a direct path to speak with his uncle.

  Geren listened to Valerie explain how she had seen Ethan pass his hand through the tree as if it was a hologram, and pull it back out clutching the wish arrow. Whilst those present tried to overcome disbelief, Geren had provided Ethan with a small stick and asked him to trace out the symbol he had drawn on the wish arrow again, but this time on the ground. As the young boy slowly marked out the symbol in the dusty topsoil, River confirmed it to be the same. Geren looked at it knowingly as he recognised its meaning.

  “It is a very old Hopi symbol which I haven’t seen for many years.”

  “What does it mean?” said River with fascination.

  “It has no modern translation. It refers to a time when the whole tribe was forced to travel; to leave and move on to new pastures. It is something more like a migration or an exodus.”

  Then Geren turned to Ethan and asked him what he had wished for. Ethan told his great uncle, that he had wished to visit his other grandfather who lived in the blue horse city. The adults were all stunned. They all assumed that he meant River’s father Eli, but Geren simply asked Ethan, “Why?”

  Ethan replied that his grandfather needed to leave the blue horse city with him, and to also bring along his friends.

  River looked at his son and wondered how he even knew, or why he cared about people that he had never known, the preacher Eli and his congregation. He realised that his son was prescient though, and he imagined that one day they would be travelling back to New Denver together to help make a wish come true.

  The End

  Before the Great Spirit hid himself again, he placed before the leaders of the four different racial groups four different colors and sizes of corn; each was to choose which would be their food in this world. The Hopi waited until last and picked the smallest ear of corn. At this, the Great Spirit said:

  “It is well done. You have obtained the real corn, for all the others are imitations in which are hidden seeds of different plants. You have shown me your intelligence; for this reason I will place in your hands these sacred stone tablets, Tiponi, symbol of power and authority over all land and life to guard, protect, and hold in trust for me until I shall return to you in a later day, for I am the First and I am the Last.”

  Hopi myth.