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At last, the Two Bears stretcher party reached the heart of the Holy Forest. The Great Tree towered before them, impossibly huge and ancient. Not far beyond the Great Tree lay their destination, a fallen giant fir smaller than the Great Tree but by any other standards enormous. They carried the stretcher to a thick section of the prone trunk, opened double wooden doors to a cave-like hollow and walked in.
Lanterns were lit, revealing a natural cavity that had been enlarged to form a narrow room with several empty wooden cots. This was the Tribe hospital, the place were seriously ailing members stayed to benefit from the healing powers of Goth Mountain.
Two Bears was laid on the stoutest wood-framed cot, and Johnny lay next to him on a second cot.
Mary White Dove knelt next to Two Bears and again accelerated the healing process, alternating her focus between heart and spinal cord. The body of Two Bears ‘remembered’ the way it was supposed to be, and was trying to rebuild itself, but the injury was so massive that her help was needed. Her primary role was to serve as a catalyst for the process.
She was doing her best, but she was not a shaman or a Goth. She sensed Johnny’s strong presence in Two Bears, and may have been able to tap or help him redirect some of his strength for healing, but feared to do so. Johnny was busy keeping the shaman alive. After an hour, she paused to rest, and watched the young man she had known as a child in wonder, calmly lying with his eyes closed, as if asleep. He was anything but asleep, she knew, as he relentlessly pulsed blood through Two Bears. No longer a boy, he was a young man now, and was surprisingly strong with powers despite his long absence from Goth Mountain. But how much longer could even a Goth continue pumping blood through Two Bears, she wondered?
Johnny’s eyes opened and he smiled at her. “Don’t worry, Mary. I can do this for many more hours.”
“Yes, White Wolf, but can you do it for several days? Healing may take that long.”
“I will do what is needed.”
She sighed and closed her eyes, as she reached out to touch Two Bears and resume her healing. “Yes. As will we all, Wolf Cub. If Ned were here he might summon help from the People. It is said that it is he that found you and brought you here. Do you know where Ned is now?”
“He went home with Dooley last night. He is too far away for me to sense him. When he gets here we’ll certainly ask him to summon help.”
Not wanting to further worry Mary, Johnny again smiled as he closed his own eyes. How long could he continue? He didn’t really know. But despite the terrible circumstances, he felt very good about being here. Goth Mountain and the Tribe were his home and his destiny, he realized. A short time ago, all of this had seemed to be a distant childhood dream. Now the box company and Angela seemed to be distant and unreal, while what was happening here on Goth Mountain was all too real.
Secrets of Goth Mountain Page 23