The Gathering

by Sharon Sala

  She could see the lodges and beaten paths throughout the forest, all leading down to the shore. Beyond, the endless ocean was in constant movement, abounding with creatures such as she had never seen. This would be her daughter’s world—the world in which the people must change so that the purity of what she saw would not be destroyed.

  She saw a shadow on the land below and looked up at the underside of a bird so large that it did not seem real. The wingspan was massive and it was flying so close to her that at first she felt fear, then she heard the calm in Evan’s voice.

  It is called a Condor. It will not hurt you. It knows you are a daughter of the wind. It flies to protect you.

  Then she heard a high, piercing shriek as another bird suddenly appeared in the sky with the wingspan of four men and the white crown of the eagle she knew so well.

  It flew over the condor with a shriek of disapproval and then slipped beneath her, spread out its great wings, and soared.

  Yuma stood beside Wolf Moon with a mixture of pride and a little panic that two such massive birds were matching her every move. When she dipped, they flew in tandem, and when she circled, they were there beside her.

  The people of the Paint Clan knew magic. They knew how to conjure spirits and speak to the Old Ones, but they had never seen magic such as this.

  They stared in mute wonder as the Windwalker’s daughter sailed through the sky and in that moment understood the true power within her.

  Tyhen was ecstatic feeling the release of earthly burdens that did not exist up in the sky. She was light and pain free and for the moment unburdened by the sadness yet to come.

  Do you see this, my child? It is our world. It as much our domain as the ground on which we walk.

  She heard a giggle and then a squeal and then silence until Evan spoke once more.

  She sleeps, rocked in her mother’s arms in a heavenly embrace.

  It was time to return.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Adam stood alone from the clan, watching Tyhen fly among the aerial giants with an ache in his throat. She would thrive here, and so would the baby. The sight above him was so beautiful he had to turn away before he shamed himself with tears. Warriors didn’t cry. But then he wasn’t a warrior. He was barely a man.

  He scanned the crowd for sight of his brother—never thinking as he searched the faces that he didn’t think about looking for Evan. He was always looking for himself.

  And then he saw him, a head above most of the men around him, laughing and pointing as their little sister sealed her fate forever in the Cherokee hearts.

  Off to the right and standing among the women, he saw Suwanee. She was looking up in open-mouth amazement and he couldn’t blame her. People weren’t meant to fly—unless you were a Windwalker’s daughter. Sunlight bathed her face with a warm glow. She was proudly wearing the jaguar coat that Singing Bird had made for Evan and beaming as the women around her seemed to be exclaiming over the hides with which it had been made. They had never seen an animal with a coat such as this, and they had never seen men such as the twins. There was already gossip about how they would fit into a clan known for spells and potions and conjuring up spirits.

  Suddenly Adam felt as if he was being watched and when he looked, Evan was staring straight at him. Adam sighed. Fine. So now he knew he’d been staring at his woman. It didn’t hurt to look and he’d purposefully kept his distance.

  His heart was cold as he turned away without acknowledging his brother and began searching the crowd for Yuma. He was the other brother—the little one who, as a child, had let them into his tribe of one with generosity and open arms. Adam didn’t quite know how to talk to him now. Yuma stood with one foot in the land of reality and the other in the spirit world with Tyhen. He had died and been resurrected by the Old Ones and there were times when Adam saw Yuma that he fancied the man had a glow, like an aura made of gold. He didn’t know what that meant, but Yuma had changed, too.

  Everyone was changing and growing except him. He didn’t want to go down into the village of the Paint Clan and live his life on the perimeter of happiness, always seeing it in others but never in himself. He was broken in so many ways. So broken.

  And then he saw Tyhen coming down from the sky with a smile on her face. She was too thin but the walk was ending. She would soon be healthy again.

  He took a shaky breath as he gazed upon the crowd, seeing the joy on their faces and feeling the delight within their hearts. They had something to be happy about. They were home.

  He watched Evan separate himself from the men and go to his woman, saw the tender way in which he greeted her and then they picked up their packs. Instead of going with them, he stayed where he was and watched as they began winding their way through the trees to the village below.

  When they were finally out of sight, he set their tent on the ground beneath a tree, pulled out the letter he’d written to them all on a piece of deer skin, laid it on his rolled up tent then put a rock on it so it would not blow away.

  He then moved to the small promontory of table rock with the backpack in his hand, pulled out the spinning cube and began trying to balance it on the rock. It took four tries before the cube began to spin, and the faster it turned, the brighter the light became around it. Adam’s heart was pounding so hard that he felt it would surely burst. Faster and faster it turned, becoming brighter and brighter until finally the portal opened. In one hand he held a pocket knife that had come from the future. It was the key he needed to get from here to there. Without a backward glance, he grabbed the cube in one hand, the knife in the other, and leaped into the light.

  ***

  Yuma held Tyhen’s hand all the way down the mountain, talking with excitement in his voice as he spoke of the future.

  Chief Wolf Moon had seemed more than interested about the log home Yuma wanted to build, so Yuma’s first project upon arrival was to begin cutting down trees suitable for a cabin. In the meantime, they still had permission to stay with Willow until their own home was built.

  Evan was equally elated, so ready to get into his own home. Everything about this journey was coming to an end. It was time to rebuild their lives. He was high on happiness, his gaze fixed adoringly at the woman who carried his child, and never once gave a thought to his brother’s whereabouts.

  They entered the village to shouts of welcome from the old ones who had stayed behind. Within a short while, lodges were going up, cooking fires were built and hunters disappeared into the forest with their stone hatchets and their spears.

  Yuma helped Willow and Tyhen set up their tipi then left to hunt for fresh meat.

  Wolf Cries and Red Wing, who had offered their lodge to Evan and Suwanee, had separated earlier with the Long Hair Clan, which left Evan and Suwanee without shelter.

  As soon as Chief Wolf Moon resumed his duties as principal Chief, he found them shelter with an old man named Sees With One, named so because he had one dead eye and one that could still see.

  After making certain that Suwanee would be safe with him, Evan also took to the woods. Without the hunters in the village, even the old people who’d stayed behind were getting hungry and tired of eating fish, which was the only thing they could still catch.

  Because White Hawk had left the tribe with the Deer Clan, Lola and her family were also homeless. Wolf Moon sent them to the lodge of Fish Woman, a widow, and then went through the rest of the New Ones who needed shelter until he was done. Then he took three of his best warriors into the forest and sent three women to the shore with their fish baskets. There were no stores of food and everyone was verging on starvation.

  Unwilling to sit and do nothing, Tyhen went with the women to fish, leaving Willow gathering wood for a fire.

  ***

  Evan had taken his bow and arrow into the woods and after an hour had two large grouse in his hunting pouch. He was moving quietly throug
h the woods when he flushed another. He raised the bow with the arrow already notched, led the bird’s flight path just enough and let fly. It was a perfect shot. The bird dropped a short distance away and as he jogged over to pick it up, he thought about Adam, wondering where they’d put him. Assuming they would need food wherever he was, he sent him a quick message.

  Brother, I have grouse. Where are you now?

  The fact that Adam didn’t immediately answer wasn’t surprising. He was distant and touchy and Evan was doing all he could to not make matters worse, but when a few minutes passed without an answer, Evan frowned.

  Adam! Where are you? Whose lodge do you share so that I may bring food?

  Disgusted, Evan opened himself to the entire village. Knowing he could easily hone in on Adam’s whereabouts, instead he was hit with a sense of being empty. He couldn’t sense him. He couldn’t feel him. He couldn’t hear him because Adam wasn’t there.

  He frowned, trying to remember the last time he’d seen him and then knew it was up on the mountain. Surely he had not stayed up on there. Surely he would have come down with the others.

  And searched again, this time closing his eyes for more focus and scanned the area for a sign.

  It wasn’t until he swept the sight through a second time that he saw the tent leaning up against a tree. His heart started to pound. He was so scared he broke out in a cold sweat and sent a frantic message to Tyhen.

  ***

  Tyhen was standing motionless in the shallows with a woven fish net in her hands. The water was cold, but not cold like frozen, and the white fish with yellow stripes were swimming closer and closer. She was so hungry for something different to eat that she was determined to bring at least one of them home.

  The fading sun was at her back. The ebb and flow of the tide pulled at her feet, threatening her balance. She could see the other women from the corner of her eye but, like her, they were moving slowly or not at all, waiting for a chance to throw their nets.

  Tyhen held her breath, watching as the school of fish swam closer and closer, and when they were almost at her feet she threw the net and then yanked the cord, gathering it up into a snare. She was almost dancing as she hauled the net into shore with her catch still flopping and knelt down to see how many she’d caught.

  Four! She’d caught four! Delighted with her success she dumped them in her hunting pouch and was going back for more when she heard Evan’s frantic voice.

  I can’t find Adam.

  And just like that, the knot in Tyhen’s stomach was back.

  Do you mean he’s not answering you or—

  He didn’t answer me. I looked for him. He is not in the village. He is not on the mountain. I do not feel him anywhere.

  The last time I saw him was when you were flying. I am on my way up to where I saw him last.

  On the mountain? Why? Do you think he’s been hurt?

  Evan’s voice was shaking and she could tell he was near tears.

  In my vision I saw his tent beneath a tree but he is not there.

  I will fly there. I’m sure we will find him.

  She ran to the women and gave them back their net.

  “I have to help a friend,” she said, and flew up into the air and back to the village.

  Willow was outside when she landed, and she handed her the fish.

  “I’m sorry I can’t help clean them. A friend is in trouble,” she said, and opened her arms, let the wind lift her up and flew toward the mountain.

  She saw Evan running up the path and felt his panic, which made her anxious, too. She reached the ridge where Wolf Moon had stopped, then flew a circle over the area, going lower and lower with each lap to make sure he had not injured himself in a fall. By the time she was certain he wasn’t in any ravine, she circled back and landed just as Evan came running over the ridge.

  He gave her a frantic glance and then ran for the trees. She was right behind him when they saw the tent. Evan was the first to reach it and the first to see the note Adam had left on top.

  The moment he touched it, he stumbled backward in shock. He didn’t have to read it to know what he’d done.

  “What?” Tyhen said.

  Evan was mute and shaking, his face expressionless.

  She grabbed the deer skin, saw the writing, then read the words.

  I do not belong in this world. I cannot reconcile myself with the utter lack of civilization and I am useless to everyone, including myself. I love you all, my brother most, and wish him a long and happy life. I am gone from this place and I will not be back. I have to know for myself if all this sacrifice was worth it.

  Tyhen’s heart was breaking. They both knew what he had done. He’d taken the spinning cube and gone to the future, so if in the years to come they happened to mess this up, he was already dead.

  Evan was in torment, blinded with tears and a need to make the world suffer as he suffered now. This wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair. Their lives had been a mad man’s experiment almost gone wrong. They had nothing but each other until the woman who came between them. He needed to blame. He needed to hurt. He needed to know everyone was suffering as he suffered.

  Tyhen started to go to him, trying to think of something consoling when Evan turned in a tear-filled rage and threw the tent over the cliff. Then he began walking in circles, muttering to himself as he repeatedly hammered both sides of his legs with his fists. Then suddenly he dropped to his knees, threw back his head and let out a most shattering shriek of despair.

  The sound echoed down into the village—sent the animals in the forest into hiding—startled the warriors on the hunt—frightened the women down at the shore—shattering Tyhen. The first person she thought of was the man who loved her most.

  Yuma! Adam is gone.

  There were a few seconds of silence when she knew he was trying to absorb what she’d said, and then the reply, eerily similar to the one she’d given Adam.

  What do you mean, he’s gone?

  He left a note. He took the spinning cube and leaped into the future. He won’t be back and Evan is going crazy.

  Where are you?

  On the ridge above the village where Wolf Moon stopped.

  I’m on my way.

  ***

  Suwanee was gathering firewood when she heard the sound. It was a shriek of pain and rage unlike anything she had ever heard, and yet the moment she heard it she knew that it was Evan. She’d seen him go up the mountain on the run and whatever had happened to him there, had suffered him a mortal blow. The moment that went through her mind she knew it had to do with Adam, which scared her. If anything happened to his brother, he would hate her forever.

  “No, oh no, oh no,” she cried, dropped the firewood and began to run.

  ***

  Chief Wolf Moon heard the scream, turned to the mountain and closed his eyes. He saw Evan’s face and then saw his face again.

  The brother! Something had happened to his brother.

  He took his spear and four warriors and headed up the mountain, thinking a wild animal had attacked him or maybe he had fallen down the mountain. Familiar with the trail, they moved quickly, and when they reached the overlook and saw the Dove holding onto her brother, using every ounce of strength she had to keep him from throwing himself off the ridge, they ran to help.

  But Yuma was ahead of them. He came flying out of the trees from above and saw Tyhen in a struggle with Evan and leaped for the both of them.

  “I have him,” he said. “Turn loose before he hurts you.”

  Tyhen let go, then rolled over and scrambled to her feet as Yuma took him down.

  Now Evan was belly down and screaming and Wolf Moon didn’t know what to do. It was not good luck that the new shamans were already causing trouble.

  His frown deepened as he strode over to Tyhen.

  “What is w
rong with him?” Wolf Moon asked.

  Tyhen was shaking, too sad to let go and cry for fear she’d never stop.

  “His brother is gone.”

  Wolf Moon’s frown deepened.

  “He did not want to stay with the Paint Clan? He did not want to stay with his brother?”

  Tyhen shoved shaky fingers through her hair, trying to figure out how to explain what happened.

  “It is not that. He felt he could not stay. He took his spinning cube and went into the future. He will not be back.”

  Wolf Moon’s eyes narrowed.

  “He went into the future? How does this happen? What is a spinning cube?”

  “It is a thing that lets people move from the past to the future and back again. He was sad. He felt he did not belong. He left. Evan is…” Tyhen sighed, and then pointed. “You see how he is. It matters not where Adam went. What matters is that for Evan, his brother just died.

  Wolf Moon had seen weeping many times in his life and witnessed much sadness, but he had never seen a brother try to take his own life to follow a family member on the path to the Great Spirit.

  He frowned. “He is weak without his brother?”

  Tyhen turned on him in anger.

  “It is not weakness. He has just lost half of himself. They were one in their mother’s belly and then they turned into two. They were the same in everything always and now Evan is no longer whole.”

  At that moment Suwanee came over the ridge, breathless and holding her side from the pain of running too far, too fast. Evan saw her and then looked right through her. That’s when she knew Adam was dead and he blamed her for the distance it had put between them.

  She ran to him, desperate to see the love in his eyes and saw nothing but despair.

  “Evan, my heart, what has happened?” she cried.

  Yuma let him up, thinking Suwanee’s appearance would calm him down, but Evan leaped to his feet in anger.

  “Adam is gone. He killed himself and it is my fault. He wanted you and I knew it and took you for myself.”