According to Legend (15 page)

The area widened, revealing several mounds of rock similar to huge piles of stones cast aside at a construction site. The catcher seemed to vibrate with excitement as we drew closer, and I wondered what was so magical and special about piles of stones. Then, as I drew closer, I noticed colorful lights gleaming from within the rocks, bright green, brilliant reds and blues glistened, drawing me closer until I realized that these were raw gems. Here, deep within the cave, were mountains of amethyst, aquamarine, emeralds, garnets, and topaz, as well as a king’s ransom of gold and silver nuggets.

As a child, I learned that such riches were buried deep in the bedrock beneath our feet, but I had never seen actual proof. Or was this a magic trick of the cave? But as I touched the cold, rough surfaces and held a silver nugget to the light, I knew the treasure was as solid and real as Moheeladeck standing before me.

“How did these gems get here?” I asked Moheeladeck as I stared at the uncut and raw jewels is total disbelief.

“They were placed here by my grandfather. Legend is that one day they will be scattered over Mother Earth like the many people to come. It is our duty to guard the treasure of our fathers until the time when the mighty hand of the Great Spirit takes them away.”

In the distance, beyond the glitter of gold and gems, a spring bubbled up out of the rocks. The trickling sound of it was magical and drew me toward it. The spring overflowed and ran down a little ravine that fed into the lake. Where the spring emerged up from the earth, there rested a few small drinking cups carved from wood as well as some clay pots. I wondered what magic was in this water.

As if he sensed my thoughts, Moheeladeck said, “Come, let us drink together from the waters of eternal life.”

I followed him to the spring.

He laid the fur down for us as a blanket upon which to rest, and then moved closer to the spring.

Kneeling beside it, he took one of the cups, filled it with water, and came to my side. He first took a sip and then held the cup to my lips. I drank from it. The water was ice cold and totally refreshing. My eyes widened when the unexpected chill hit my lips.

“The melting snow far north flows into this spring,” he said. “This is our sanctuary and our sustenance. The Aloscotay People may one day survive only because of the existence of this place.”

“Is there another way out?” I asked as my eyes roamed the interior of the grand cavern.

“Yes, but it also requires the stones.”

“How can the People gain entry without the stones?”

“They cannot, that is one of the reasons you are so important to our tribe.”

Why didn’t I know this?
I had begun to share the memories of Takshawee, but things were slow in coming back to me. Earlier, I thought that all her memory had returned, but now it felt as if I had amnesia and memories were revealing themselves slowly, in bits and pieces. This existence, this old world, was very mysterious and yet I was drawn to it and to the man who stood beside me. A shiver ran through me as I began to realize my destiny, and he gathered me into his arms.

“You are cold, my love?”

“A little.”

“Let us make a small fire and share some food. We will talk of the future here in this sacred place. The Great Spirit will hear us and the words we speak here will surely come to pass.”

I watched in silence as he made the fire and soon we were sitting close, sharing nuts, berries, and dried meat. He moved as if he were performing some ancient ritual. I pushed through the fog at the boundaries of my memory, but still I had no recollection of the ceremony he was performing. I didn’t care. I trusted him and didn’t want to be anywhere else but here in this place with this man, alone and away from the world.

I told him of the things that were plaguing me and he told me I was correct in thinking that the circle of our enemies was closing in. He assured me that we were ready to meet and defeat them. I told him of my fears and that I could not trust anyone in my world. He told me that I was wise to follow my instincts and reassured me again. I clung to his reassurances.

“I have a gift for you,” he said as he produced a small pouch from his belt. Opening it, he reached inside and drew out a leather strap with an amulet attached to it. The amulet was a flat stone with the likeness of a wolf and a deer carved into it.

“This is the symbol of your Manitous, your spirit guide, the doe, together with mine and the symbol of our tribe, the wolf,” he said as he fastened it around my neck. “It’s magic will give you spiritual guidance in time of trouble and remind you that I am always with you.”

“Thank you, Moheeladeck. It’s beautiful. I love it and will treasure it always.” My heart skipped a beat as this small gift touched me in a way I could not explain. I smiled, knowing that this man would give me the world if he were able.

Then he produced yet another smaller pouch and emptied the contents into his hand. A dark purple powder filled his palm. He poured half of it into my hand. The powder felt warm and a pulsing sensation rippled over my fingers. Then he spoke some words I didn’t understand; words in a forgotten tongue from an ancient ritual.

“Takshawee, toss the powder into the flame.”

“What is it? What will happen?”

“It is magic. It controls the fire.”

Together we tossed the powder into the fire and sparks of many colors sprang up and danced like warriors in the flames. A fragrant purplish smoke rose up and I watched the strange colored smoke rise to the ceiling of the cave and drift away over the surface of the water. Watching it, I felt as if I were drifting along with it.

He took me into his arms and kissed me gently. He held me close to his heart and murmured words of love and tenderness into my ear as he made love to me. Our bodies united and so, too, did the power of the stones. The energy that surrounded us when we made love seemed magnified by the magic of this place that the tribe held as sacred. It brought its light and life to every corner of the cave.

After we made love, tears of joy trickled down my cheeks. My heart clenched with happiness and I was filled with an emotion I could not contain.

“You are crying, my Princess. Have I hurt you in some way?”

“No, you could never hurt me. I am simply filled with joy and it is overflowing in the form of tears.”

I thought he would reach up to wipe them away, but instead he leaned down and kissed the tears as they rolled down my cheeks.

As we walked hand-in-hand back toward the lake, we came to the mountains of gems. Moheeladeck pulled some empty pouches from his belt.

“Before we leave this place, we must fill these pouches with stones.”

“Why?”

“Emanudeck has advised that when you return to your time, you can use them to pay off the debt to free yourself and return here to this time, to this place, to our People, and to me.”

A smile spread across my lips. “That might actually work.”

I stared into his eyes and wondered if I would ever be able to survive without this man. The catcher gently hummed over my heart, a heart overflowing with love and filled with a new hope.

When I awoke the next morning, I was disappointed to find myself in my own bed. Half-Breed was snoring. I closed my eyes and remembered last night. I saw the cave, the beautiful water, the etchings in the wall, and Moheeladeck. What was that strange ceremony he performed in the cave? What was that all about?

Moheeladeck performed a ceremony in the cave?
Half-Breed asked through his yawn.

I was deep in thought and slow to answer him.

He questioned again with slight urgency.
Did Moheeladeck perform a ceremony in the cave with you?

Well, that’s what’s so weird, Half-Breed. Part of me feels like I should know this. He never actually said it was a ceremony but it felt like it was some ancient, unspoken ritual. Do you know anything about it?

That depends on what he did. Did he give you that amulet?

Yes
.

Did you share food together?

Yes
.

Did he utter words in an ancient tongue and toss dark powder into the fire with you?

Yes
, I uttered as the first inkling of butterflies danced in my stomach.

I hate to tread upon what would be personal ground but after all this was done, did you mate with him?

My tongue felt thick. I swallowed hard and replied in a mere whisper. “Yes.”

He chuckled.

“What? What is it?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

It is an ancient ceremony.

“Ancient ceremony? Why do I feel so uneasy about it?”

It is believed that this ancient ritual performed on sacred ground, followed by mating, will yield a child. Your husband has asked the Great Spirit to bless your union. He is trying for an heir,
he replied.

“WHAT? How could he do that without discussing it with me first?”

A man does not consult his wife about such things
.

“Here in my world they do! I’m not at all happy about this.”

Moheeladeck does not live in your world.

“What are the chances of this really being possible in the dream world?”

With the power of the stones united in a sacred place, all things are possible.

Our conversation was interrupted when my cell phone rang.

I picked it up and barked into the phone in a voice that was probably a lot angrier than I intended. “HELLO!”

“Good morning, is everything okay over there?” David asked.

“Oh, good morning David. Yes, everything is fine. I’m just a little angry about something that happened last night.”

“What’s going on? Anything I can do to help?”

“No, that’s okay, its work related,” I said. Half-Breed chuckled.

“I thought you were off this week.”

“Yes, I am, but my boss called me last night and asked me to review a proposal. She’s meeting with a big client of ours this morning and actually, it’s my client. I hope she doesn’t mess up too bad with them, I’ve been romancing this client for the past six months,” I said. I wondered how I could have ever thought of my work as the romance of my life. I never knew romance until I knew Moheeladeck.

“I hope that I can take your mind off things, at least for a while. I would really like to see you today Pam, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” he said. “It’s important.”

“What’s wrong David?”

“There’s nothing wrong; I just really need to talk to you. Any chance we can get together for lunch?”

David confused me. Which man was the real David . . . the man who was plotting with Williamson in the park or the man who was frantic with worry at not being able to get in touch with me? My mind knew I shouldn’t trust him, but my gut wanted to. Still, I didn’t want to be alone with him without Half-Breed. “I promised Half-Breed I would take him to the park today for hotdogs.” The wolf’s ears perked up.

“Do you mind if I tag along? We can get a few dogs and have a picnic lunch. I’ll bring the Frisbee and toss a few with that crazy wolf.”

Goose bumps prickled my neck and my gaze flew to Half-Breed.
Half-Breed, what does Moheeladeck think?

Moheeladeck said he fears me must play along. Go and meet with David and see what is so important.

“
Pam, you still there?” David asked.

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry, David. I’m still thinking about that proposal. But yes, it would be okay. We can meet you at the park around noon.”

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

After we hung up, Half-Breed seemed excited but I knew he wasn’t pleased about seeing David.
Did you just say hotdogs?

I sure did. You think you are up for eating a few?

I can eat more than a few, Princess.

David needs to talk to me about something and he did say it’s important.

Nothing that dog has to say could be of importance.

Oh, Half-Breed. You know that I don’t totally trust him and you will be there in case he tries anything, so don’t worry.

Was I trying to convince him . . . or myself?

We met David at the park at noon. The hot dog vender was happy to see us. We cleaned him out. We bought fifty as Half-Breed’s appetite for hotdogs was ever increasing. True to his word, David brought a Frisbee and Half-Breed actually enjoyed running and jumping to catch it.

I sat on a bench in the sun and watched the two of them play. I was nervous about what it was David wanted to talk to me about, and was on edge wondering if Williamson would show up and turn this meeting into an ambush.

After we ate the hotdogs and David played with Half-Breed for a while, he came over and joined me on the bench in the sun. Half-Breed rested at my feet. The exercise and warm sunshine on his back soon had the wolf snoring.
Great guard dog
, I thought.

David broke the uncomfortable silence. “It’s been pretty nice weather for late October.”

“Yeah it has been, but it will turn cold soon enough.” Whatever he wanted to talk to me about had to be difficult for him because he was clearly nervous, fidgeting and trying to avoid approaching the subject.

“Pam, I want to talk to you about something but it’s a really long story so before I lose the courage to go on, would you please let me finish before you say anything?”

“Sure, David, go ahead.”

“Well, let me start by saying that I don’t expect anything from you Pam.” He looked into my eyes.

I nodded. “Okay, go on.”

“I told you before that I was raised by my mother and Aunt Agnes. Well, until recently I hadn’t given much thought to my past, but since I came over to your place for dinner the other night, well, things began to click and I started thinking.”

I must have had a confused look on my face because although I was trying, I couldn’t recall anything that had happened that night that would cause him to think about his past.

“Pictures, it’s the pictures,” he began. “You have pictures of your family and friends all over the place at your house. You know, my mother didn’t have one single picture of my dad anywhere. I can’t even tell you what the man looked like.”

Why is he telling me all this?

He continued. “I have a strange feeling there is something going on. Something no one wants me to know about. All my life I felt as if I had two mothers. My mom wouldn’t do anything or make any decisions, especially regarding me, without first checking with Aunt Agnes. I didn’t know that wasn’t normal. I was just a kid. As I got older, I thought it was weird that they didn’t encourage me to have any friends. They even
discouraged
me from having a steady girlfriend. Oh, they allowed me to date casually, but if I started to get interested in any one girl over another, they squelched it from the start.”

What a strange family
.
Where is he going with this, and why is he telling me his family story?

“Anyway, why I asked you to meet me and what I wanted to say was that I have never been in love, that is, not until now. What I guess I’m trying to tell you is, well, Pam, I’m in love with you.”

Even though I felt I had known David forever, in actuality I had only known him a few weeks. I suppose that people fall in love in a matter of days, but I never expected this. My body stiffened in response and the catcher vibrated over my thundering heart.

In my silence, he went on. “That’s not all. What I have to say might scare you. Then again, under the circumstances, it might not. Since I realized I have these feelings for you, well, strange things have started to happen.”

“Strange,” I said. “How so?” The hair on the back of my neck prickled.

“Well, I sort of know things before they actually happen, and I’ve been having very strange dreams.”

“Dreams?” I mumbled, worried that David might guess the truth about me. I nudged Half-Breed with my foot in an attempt to wake him.

“Yeah. Dreams about being in an Indian tribe. Only I’m not me, I’m sort of someone else; someone they look up to like a Chief or something and they’re calling me Divakar. It’s so weird but, Pam, these dreams are so real. Nothing like this ever happened to me before, before I fell in love with you.”

“David, I really doubt I have anything to do with this.” My stomach fluttered and I swallowed hard.

“Pam, you have everything to do with it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know about the stones,” he said flatly. He reached out and grabbed my arm. His touch went through me like an electric shock and I jerked my arm out of his grasp.

I think my jaw hit the ground. I knew he was involved with Williamson, but I never dreamed he would admit it to me.

“I know about the powers they possess, about the cave and, Pam, I know who you really are.”

Panic rose like bile in my throat. I think the fear showed in my eyes. I started to look around to see if Williamson was close by. I was searching for somewhere to run. The fur on Half-Breed’s neck rose. I was ready to speak words of denial when David said, “I won’t hurt you, Pam. I swear. I’ll never hurt you. I’m in love with you. I feel as if I was raised to fulfill some purpose and that falling in love with you has somehow sidelined all that.” He looked down at his hands. “I’m ashamed to admit it, but I am involved with a group of people who want that stone you’re wearing around your neck, and they’ll kill you to get it if that’s what it takes.” He looked up and his eyes met mine. “But I’m not going to let that happen. I’m not going to let them hurt you. Not now. Not ever.”

“David, I don’t know what to say about any of this,” I was dumbfounded and realized it was useless to deny it. Half-Breed was sitting now and there was a low growl rumbling deep in his throat. My hands were shaking and I stuffed them into my jacket pockets so David wouldn’t notice.

“I told you I don’t expect anything from you, Pam. It would be wonderful if you could love me, too. But I’m not asking you for that. Right now I’m trying to sort out what’s going on inside me. For the first time in my life I don’t know who I am. I’m not sure of my purpose and it’s scaring me, but what I do know is that I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. I don’t care about the cave or the treasures. I only care about you, Pam.”

“David, won’t the people who are after the stone kill you if they find out you are betraying them?”

“Yes, probably, but they don’t know how I feel about you and I’m not going to tell them.”

Was it my imagination or did he have that same tone of finality in his voice that Moheeladeck had when a decision had been made?

“You are putting yourself in a lot of danger here, David. These people will stop at nothing. You just said so yourself.”

“I know who they are and you’re right. That’s why I’m not saying anything to them about my feelings for you. I’ll play their game as long as I can and try to buy us some time. In all honesty, I’m supposed to be following you to see if you would lead us to the location of the cave.”

The cave. My mind was racing, trying to absorb everything he had said and to make sense of it.

“I don’t know the location of the cave.”

“They’ll never believe that. They’ll stop at nothing, and they’re vicious.”

“Can you tell me who these people are?”

“I could, but I won’t because I don’t think it would benefit either of us right now and it won’t help me protect you. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

“Trust you? David, right now I don’t know who I can trust, if anyone.”

“I’m telling you the truth. I’m telling you things that could get me killed. Why would I do that? You have to trust me.”

“David—”

“Look, I know you’re scared. I’ve seen some of what you’ve been through and I’m not proud of my part in it, but I’m putting my heart on the line here and asking you to give me a chance to prove to you that you can trust me. I’m in love with you.”

I wish he would stop saying he is in love with me.

“What part did you play in this?” I asked. From what I already knew to be true, I wanted to see if he would tell me the truth now, but I never expected to hear what he said next.

“Please forgive me, Pam, but I was the one who tried to break into your house that night.”

“WHAT!” I knew he was involved with Williamson, but I really had no idea he was the one who tried to break in. I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I had to get away from him, away from this place. I jumped to my feet, but he placed his hand gently on my arm.

“Please, Pam, sit down.”

I was numb, but eased back down beside him on the bench. Half-Breed stood on guard beside me.

“I’m sorry I scared you so much that night. Please try to understand, I didn’t know you then. I was just instructed to get the stone and the dream catcher. Period. Then I met you and started to see the person you are, what you’re made of, your strength and courage, your kindness. I fell in love with you.”