“Richard, how did you become a vampire? What happened?”
He inhaled deeply, considering my question, as he looked into my eyes and smiled.
“It was August, 1577, when Nathanial and I met up with the well-known Pirate Drake. He was an Englishman who despised the Spanish. He made it his goal to take down, pillage and otherwise plunder any Spanish ship he came across, in the name of the Queen.” He laughed lightly.
“We met him at a local shipyard pub in San Julian. Nathanial and I were carrying local merchandise from Panama to Cuba. We had to cross the Caribbean Sea, which was known for huge storms. Drake‟s reputation as a pirate was well known among any pub and sailor alike. He was famous for being fair and his men loved him. “
“Drake offered Nathanial and me a fair share of his plunder if we joined him. I had nothing to lose but my brother. Nathanial of course was young and loved adventure. So we joined with his four vessels and went on our way. It was December 13 when we set sail on our first voyage with Drake. In September 1578, we reached the Strait of Magellan, when we hit a horrible hurricane. We managed to make it through to the eye of the storm. But the storm was not nearly as bad as what we found in the middle of it. “
“There was a black ship, called the Black Hawk. Rumor had it that the dead ran the ship. It was a ghost ship. Our ship was the first to approach it. The captain called no warnings gave no signals and they never fired upon our ship. The whole crew, all six of them were aboard our ship before we knew what happened but they did not board our ship to collect merchandise or gold. We soon found out the treasures they sought were us. I listened in horror as our crew screamed as the bloodthirsty creatures took them. In my own fear, I tried to hide Nathanial below in the small galley, but they caught us before we had the chance to flee. We were forced to watch as the ghostly crew was bleeding our men dry. “
“When they finally got to us, they were so gorged on blood they were not hungry anymore. Their plan was to take us aboard their ship and keep us for later. As our galleon passed through the eye, the storm began again. I could see Drake‟s ship, The Pelican in the distance. The high winds and rough waves tossed our ship back and forth.
The vampires knew they needed to get back to their ship. Before they left, the captain stayed behind on our ship to finish us off. But he did not have enough time when he was distracted as his crew called out to him. So he left Nathaniel and me for dead, floating at sea.”
“It mattered no more to me that my death had come. It was far better than the pain I endured over my loss of my wife and child. Somehow, Drake made it to our ship after the storm and took Nathaniel and me to a nearby Island; it was more or less a jungle. He would not kill us; he knew what was to become of Nathaniel and me. He had great compassion for us; he could not see killing us for something like this. If he had only known the half of what we endured, I believe he would have killed us and dropped our bodies at sea. Later, I heard he renamed his ship Golden Hind in memory of our small galleon.”
“Did you ever see him again?” I asked touched by his story.
“No, actually. I have never seen him since that dreadful time.” He spoke softly.
Deep feelings stirred inside of me. I realized Richard knew the feeling of loss and pain. As I listened to him, I could still hear his heart, beating ever so lightly.
I glanced at my watch, it was already twelve thirty. The time had flown by so fast.
However, there was still one thing I wanted to know.
“Richard, I really hate to ask this now, but what about my mother?”
Richard‟s eyes lifted to mine. “Julie, I think you have learned enough for one day.
Please, I may be a vampire who does not sleep but I do rest. And,” He paused “You may want to leave before I do something I will regret. My will is not as strong as I thought.”
“Richard, I need to know. It‟s bothering me. If my family has …”
“Your family may or may not know. I am not sure.” He walked over to a small desk and opened the drawer. His eyes lifted to me as he held up what appeared to be a photograph.
“What is this?” I asked as he handed the picture to me.
“It is a picture of your mother.”
My eyes widened in curiosity as I took the picture from him. Once in my hands I studied it closely. I have seen every one of my mother‟s pictures but this one, however, had eluded me. I never remembered seeing this one.
In the picture, my mother was standing in the middle of two other people. The woman on the right of her appeared to be her mother. Although the resemblance was uncanny, the woman appeared to be a Native American Indian. The man, older and graying stood on the left of my mother. By his warm dark red skin coloring, he was definitely a Native American Indian and probably the woman‟s father. They were standing beside a sign that said Qualla Reservation. Well, I guess that answered my first question. Now my second question needed to be answered. Was my mother a descendant of this Qualla Tribe?
“Where did you …” I began in a quandary.
“Never mind where I obtained the picture. But it is your mother. Julie, these are your people. It is hard for me to imagine they never mentioned her family to you.”
I shook my head. “My father never mentioned anything. I remembered when I was a child that he told me she was distant from her family. He never mentioned anything again. Nor did I for that matter. I guess Dad kept me busy with other things to keep my mind preoccupied. I think Daniel may have some explaining to do when I return home.”
I said now walking toward the door.
“I will contact you as soon as I return.” Richard stated following behind me.
“Richard?”
“Yes?”
“I‟m truly sorry for your loss.” My last words as I left through the front door.
When I arrived at the house, Daniel and Jason were already gone. Heather was waiting for me in the living room. The worried look on her face let me know Daniel had mentioned something to her about our morning‟s episode.
I was still not ready to confront Daniel with his actions this morning. My heart already was breaking into a thousand pieces. Before I confronted him, I wanted to make sure there was nothing else he was hiding. Especially, concerning my mother.
Heather was in shock for two reasons. One, I went to see Richard, and two, I showed her a picture of my mother and the family I never knew existed.
“Do you think your mother was a descendant from these people? Why would they disown her?” Heather‟s questions matched my own.
“I don‟t know. But there is only one way to find out.” I jumped up from the sofa.
“Let‟s find out where the Qualla Reservation is located. Maybe we can go there and find out more information.”
“I hope it‟s not something bad. But I am curious.” She was on my heels, following me to my computer.
I sat down and began typing the word Qualla in the search engine. A second later, a couple links came up, one of which gave me the map and information on the Qualla Reservation. They were located in North Carolina, not more than an hour‟s drive. Well, according to my driving time.
“Well, I have a plan. When Daniel and Jason get back, we‟ll take my car and make a trip there tomorrow. Heather,” I turned to face her, “please don‟t say anything to Daniel about this. I hate keeping secrets from him. This time I just want to have my facts straight before I approach him. He won‟t let me go there alone.”
“Love, neither would I. I understand, and I won‟t say a word to either of them. Do you think you can keep your thoughts from him?”
“Yes, I think so. I‟ve had some pretty good practice lately. Although, it is getting a little harder. The closer we become, the harder it is. How about you?”
A smile crossed her face. “Well, let‟s just say I know how to keep Jason‟s thoughts preoccupied.”
I frowned slightly, and then realized what type of thoughts she might have had. My eyebrows rose in surprise.
“OH!” I blushed. “So that‟s how you do it.”
Heather laughed loudly and nodded. “See, there‟s always a way around it.
Whenever you think you can‟t control the thought, just push another one in its place.
He‟ll never know the difference.”
I nodded and laughed with her. This time I had a comrade willing to take on a secret adventure. Now, more than ever, I wondered how much more my father had hidden from me. First hiding the fact of what he was, and then finding out what I am.
Now, my mother. Charlotte‟s words burned against my thoughts. Remembering the time she said, “I know what her mother was.” Did she really? Daniel had told me she was human. No one mentioned she was of Cherokee descent. I was excited and frustrated at the same time. He had promised not to keep any secrets from me. If he knew about my mother, I was going to give him a mouth full as soon as I found out.
“I‟ll confront Daniel with this once I find out all the information. I want to visit this Reservation. Maybe we can talk to someone there, and find out if they knew my mother.
Hopefully, someone will recognize the people in the picture.” I glanced at the picture again.
“Do you want to go now?” Heather‟s voice was excited.
Well, it was a good idea. Why not? I hit the print button and took the paper up immediately. Glancing at my watch, it was still before noon. I estimated Daniel and Jason would probably be home before dinner. I grabbed my purse. Heather followed me out the door. She was as curious as I was. It may be nothing but an adventure. Then again, if the trip proved to be a valuable one, someone would answer for his or her secrecy.
Heather was no help at all with the directions. We ended up getting lost on the highway several times before I found the right turn off. After an hour and a half, we finally pulled in to the Qualla Reservation. The sign was the exact same sign as the one in the picture. It was hard to believe my mother stood here, no telling how many years ago.
The bottom of the sign had the word “Information” printed clearly and in large letters. Underneath an arrow pointed down another long dirt road. I made the turn as my heart raced a little faster.
Heather and I remained silent as I pulled up in front of an older house. The house was a log cabin and its wood exterior was still in good condition. The front porch was huge. It had several ceramic pottery items scattered about, and a few plants hung from the porch rafters. In the front yard, there were two teenage boys tossing a football back and forth.
Heather and I climbed out of the car. One of the young men held onto the football as both of their attentions were now on us.
“Can I help you?” the young man with the football asked.
I was a little surprise to see he actually had long hair. It was coal black and in a ponytail. He was very handsome, striking for a youth of his age. He had to be around eighteen or nineteen, I guessed. His muscular development and deep voice gave it away.
“Yes, I hope so.” I pulled out my picture. “I was hoping to find someone here who could tell me about this picture.”
Both boys walked toward us. The one with the football spoke first.
“My name is John, this is Kyle.” He extended his hand.
“My name is Julie and this is my friend Heather.” I shook his hand.
The two boys greeted Heather, and John‟s attention went back to the picture. He reached for it. I handed it to him happily hoping for an answer. He studied the picture for a moment. The expression on his face was more or less shock. I didn‟t know if it was because he recognized one or more of the people or because he didn‟t.
“Do you know who they are?” My patience was thinning.
“Hang on. May I borrow this a minute? I know someone who can help you. I‟ll be right back.” John said as he turned and ran into the log home.
A few minutes later an older gray haired man walked out. He was a true Cherokee if I had ever seen one. Tall, lean and quite built for his age. He was a very sturdy and proud man. His dark eyes narrowed as he looked from me to Heather. My breath froze; he was the same man in the picture. Pushing through the screen door, he took another step and I watched as his dark eyes widened. Still holding the picture in his hands, he glanced at it one more time.
“I‟m Willie Redbird. My grandson tells me you‟ve come to ask me about this picture?” He waved it in the air.
I nodded, almost afraid to speak. Heather moved a little closer to me, and we watched as the elder man stepped sideways down the two-step porch. He moved over to stand in front of me and studied me carefully.
“This,” he pointed to the man in the picture, “is me. This,” he pointed to the woman who stood on the right side of my mother, “is my daughter, the one in the middle is my granddaughter.” He studied my response carefully.
I opened my mouth. No words came out. I was in utter shock. The news I wanted to know stared me in the face. This was my great grandfather. There was so much I wanted to know. So many things I wanted to ask. My sudden elation was shot down prematurely. What if she had been thrown out of the tribe? What if she left for some strange reason? I had to hope for the best at this point.
“The woman standing in the middle….” I tried but the words caught in my throat.
“Is your mother? I see the resemblance. Our line has a way of keeping itself, especially the women.” He eyed me over again. “Well, even if your blood did get a little thinned with the white man‟s, you still carry our blood in you. Strong too.” He reared back on his heels. “I guess you could say I‟m your old grandfather. Well, great grandfather that is.” The lines crinkled around his eyes as his face broadened into a smile.