The Arrow That Would Not Miss

by Matt Musson

  “I supposed you might be the Lynx,” George explained. ”The Lynx is the Keeper of Mystical Secrets.”

  George paused for a bit and then resumed speaking.

  “This is your gift from me, Jeep: the revelation of your animal guide. Look to the Lynx for grace and for skill and as your example in life. You have a mystical side to your nature. But, you are also endowed with great insight and awareness. You don't have to be the leader, and you can travel your path alone. However, each one of your Ranger friends has their own strengths and skills. In unity there is great power.”

  “Always remember,” he commanded. “Remember how important friendship is. It is a treasure greater than any gemstone or artifact you will ever locate.”

  Then I watched as George shape shifted into a huge majestic eagle. The Eagle dove off the cliff spread his wings and caught an updraft.

  “Remember,” George screeched as he soared off into the star filled heavens.

  For several moments I stood alone at the top of the boulder staring out into the night. Then, I yowled loudly at the full moon and the forest below.

  Finally, I lay down on my belly, stretched out and closed my eyes.

  Everything went black.

  ************

  Chapter Nine – Tree House Revelations

  The next afternoon after school we met up at our primary clubhouse which is in a giant oak tree growing behind Freddie's grandparents' home.

  One by one we assembled, acting nonchalant. We were partly afraid of ridicule and partly in denial. We tried to act like nothing had happened. We pretended like we hadn't all experienced a mystic dream / vision the night before.

  We kept up the pretense, for as long as we could. But, it was probably only twenty minutes before our charade crumbled.

  Freddie had just finished changing the water for our insane African Gray parrot, Rottweiler. And Rott was perched on Freddie's arm eating sunflower seeds one at a time.

  “Rott,” said Freddie in a sing songy voice. ”My spirit animal is the Otter. Can you say Otter?”

  “Of course I can,” replied Rottweiler indignantly. ”Do you think I'm an idiot?”

  Freddie did not answer. He did not have a chance to. The dam broke and the whole club started talking at once. Some of the guys even began shouting out their animal spirit guides.

  It took a while to calm down and sort things out. But, here is the scoop on each Ranger:

  Freddie's guide is the otter. The otter is a playful creature. But, he is known as a logical thinker and a truth seeker.

  Thor's guide is the horse. The horse is wise and strong. He is also trustworthy and determined.

  Shad's guide is the bear. The bear is known for his gentle strength. But he is also introspective and likes to dream.

  Toby's guide is the hawk. The hawk is a messenger of insight, known for his adaptability and openness.

  Charlie's guide is the mountain lion. The mountain lion represents leadership and wisdom in balance.

  Finally, Bogdon's guide is the Raccoon. The raccoon is prized for his curiosity and inquisitiveness.

  Then, it was my turn to speak.

  “I am the Lynx,” I said triumphantly.

  That's when Rottweiler decided he had gone far too long without being the center of attention.

  “So?” Rott squawked, raising his feathered crown. ”Paul is the Walrus.”

  Rottweiler laughed at his own joke. “Hah Hah! Paul is the Walrus. Paul is the Walrus.”

  Rott whistled sharply. Then, he flew out the tree house window dodging the branches outside.

  We just looked at each other and shook our heads. Toby spoke for us all when he said, “Sometimes, I worry about that bird.”

  Following our collective revelation, things returned to normal pretty quickly. We were continent knowing we left The Arrow in good hands. A few days later, the Granite Falls Gazette, published a photograph of George Guest and Walter Yellow Horse holding the ancient treasure. There was a short article that Dad read to us at the breakfast table about how it was discovered by kids hiking through the area.

  “Boy! How would like to find something that?” asked Dad.

  I smiled and agreed it would be pretty neat. But, I did not bother to enlighten him on the facts that were left out of the story. After all, you just never know how parents will react to the details. If Dad was happy with what he read in the paper, I figured it was best not to stir the waters.

  And once more, I thought our adventure of The Arrow That Would Not Miss was over. And it was.

  At least, for now.

  ************

  Chapter Ten – Changing Seasons, Changing Times

  Weeks passed and The Arrow was less and less on our minds. We relaxed, knowing it was in the secure hands of George Guest and Walter Yellow Horse. Besides, we had other fish to fry.

  Even though School had not started yet, Chief Scientist Bogdon Peabody was already getting anxious about his entry for this year’s Caldwell County Science Fair. He recruited us to help prototype several projects he was considering. The most promising experiment was a contraption Bogdon designed to bounce a laser beam off the moon base reflectors left by the Apollo astronauts.

  The apparatus went together quickly and when finished it looked for all the world like a three tiered wedding cake. The large bottom consisted of ten laser pointers we bought at Staples, evenly spaced and fastened to a circular frame. They were arranged to fire their beams straight up into the second layer, where mirrors bent the light beams toward the center of the third layer. At the top of device we mounted a high power amateur telescope we bought at a second hand shop in Hickory. But, this short, squat star gazer was installed upside down. The larger front concave mirror was on the bottom and the smaller eyepiece was at the peak.

  When we turned on the bottom tier lasers, they reflected off the middle tier and into the telescope’s 4 inch front lens. That lens combined and concentrated the multiple rays of light into one single coherent beam that shot out of the telescope’s eyepiece.

  For several nights in a row we fired our laser contraption toward the moon base hoping for lucky hit on the reflectors and Bogdon spent the last week of the summer adjusting the device’s aim. When he pressed the master switch, coherent light flowed out of the top lens of our ‘laser cake’ all the way to the Sea of Tranquility.

  We had almost given up hope but on the fifth night, about three seconds after we engaged it, the reflected beam flashed all the way back from the moon. The photon receptor set up beside the tree house began to click and clack like a Geiger counter.

  Extra-terrestrial light! We had done it.

  We celebrated, shaking hands and slapping each other on the back. And, I thought shooting light to the moon and back was a big deal. But, Bogdon was not satisfied.

  “It’s too easy,” he complained. “Anybody could build this. If I enter it in the Science fair, Stuart Sonoma will crush me like a bug!”

  (Stuart Sonoma attended Lenoir Middle School and was Bogdon’s scientific arch rival. Together, Bogdon and Stuart competed for the designation of Catawba Valley’s premier science student. And, the winner always brought home the coveted symbol of science fair supremacy: the Old Oaken Slide Rule.)

  “Yep,” Bogdon surmised. “It will take more than this to hold off Stuart Sonoma. Plus, if I turn in a project this elementary, people are going to say that I am just phoning it in this year.”

  On the bright side, the project was not a total loss. We did submit our findings to Scientific American and were featured in the magazine’s American Scientist column. It was not the Caldwell County Science Fair, but it was something.

  Gradually the hot, hazy days of Summer gave way to the turning leaves and crisp icy blue skies of Autumn. Summer vacation was behind us and Middle School started in earnest. This year we were returning as battle tested seventh graders, feeling so much older and wiser than the awkward six graders naively stumbl
ing through our halls.

  It seemed like we were on track for a great school experience and we had the world by the tail. Who would have imagined that our seventh grade trip down easy street would hit a unexpected detour, and our first genuine calamity of the new year would explode on the trivial occasion known as ‘Career Day.’ And who in their wildest dreams would believe Bogdon Peabody, the smartest kid in the Catawba Valley, would receive his first failing grade ever!

  ************

  Chapter Eleven – Seventh Grade Begins with a Bang!

  The trouble all started in our fourth period Language Arts Class. Bogdon allowed our teacher, Mrs. Knavely, to get his goat. He got angry, and he spoke without thinking. So, he stretched the truth a tiny bit, hoping it would be okay just this once. But, as often happens with a little white lie, this one did not stay little for long. In fact, it grew and mushroomed into a giant bone crushing falsehood. And, as the untruth spiraled out of control, it brought hysteria and confusion to Granite Falls and much of the Catawba Valley.

  And, you know what the strangest consequence of Bogdon’s tiny fib was?

  The real live giant Thunderbird of folklore and legend actually paid our little town a visit.

  ***********

  As I recall, Bogdon’s career day lecture seemed to start out just fine. He was speaking about his plans to become a Crypto Zoologist. It was an interesting talk and Bog had gone to a lot of trouble. He even prepared a nice PowerPoint presentation explaining what a Crypto Zoologist is and what he does.

  I remember sitting on the third row, sweating out my own report which was coming up next. I chose to report on being an author and a novelist.

  Of course, I really could not have cared less about being a writer. But, I figured Mrs. Knavely, who is our English teacher, would have to give me a good grade on my choice. After all, writers write books. And, without books we wouldn’t need English teachers.

  Anyway, Bogdon was summing up.

  “In conclusion, a Crypto Zoologist is like any other zoologist except he specializes in animals that may or may not exist. He applies the principles of scientific investigation to creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, hoping someday that his work will lead to definitive knowledge proving the existence or mythology of the creatures in question.”

  His last slide popped up showing a cartoon of the abominable snowman holding up a sign that said ‘The End’.

  I thought Bogdon had done a great job and that his humorous use of graphics was bound to get him an A.

  Boy was I wrong! It turned out Mrs. Knavely was not in an A giving mood.

  “Mr. Peabody,” our teacher shrilled, “that has got to be the most pathetic career choice that I seen presented in my 35 years of teaching. Do I understand you correctly? Do you actually propose to go gallivanting around the world chasing fairytales?”

  “But Mrs. Knavely,” Bogdon replied defensively, “I thought I explained that many of these ‘fairy tales’ as you call them, have been proved by scientists to exist. The Panda, the Gorilla and the Giant Squid were all once thought to be mythological. Who can say that the Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster and the Giant Thunderbird don’t each have a basis in reality?”

  Mrs. Knavely, who never passed up an opportunity to trample on a student’s dreams, continued.

  “If those creatures were more than whimsy young man, they would have been discovered by now. This is a good opportunity for you to learn there is nothing new under the sun. Wasting your time and the time of the entire class has earned you a failing grade on this assignment.”

  With a self-important swish of her red marker, Mrs. Knavely left no doubt about it when she emblazoned a large F on Bogdon’s paper and held it up to the class.

  I winced.

  I was not sure how Bogdon was going react. I know that he has never received a failing grade before. I would be surprised if he had ever gotten a C. But, there was Mrs. Knavely holding up Bogdon’s paper showing that great big F to the entire class. I was afraid that Bog was going to cry.

  Suddenly, Bogdon’s voice range out defiantly clear.

  “Mrs. Knavely! I will have you know that this is a scientific endeavor of the highest order. And, while the short sighted, the narrow minded, and the luddites might want to bury their heads in the sand, I for one choose to explore strange new worlds and boldly go where no man has gone before!”

  Oh my Lord, I thought. Please make Bogdon stop talking! But, he just continued on and it was like watching a bad car wreck. I could not turn my eyes away.

  “In point of fact,” Bogdon stated. “These are not fairytales! I myself have seen, with my own eyes, the Giant Thunderbird, gliding across the thermal updrafts on the mountainous ridges of this very county.”

  Bogdon asserted emphatically, “the creature does exist! And, it is certainly worthy of scientific investigation!”

  Bog took a deep breath and concluded, “And now, Madam, I await your apology.”

  In 35 years of teaching in the Granite Falls Independent School District, Mrs. Knavely had never apologized to a single student. She did not end her streak on that day either.

  ************

  Neither Mrs. Knavely, nor the School Councilor, nor the Vice Principal, nor the Principal, nor Bogdon’s parents actually believed that Bog had seen a giant thunderbird traversing the Granite Falls county side. However, Bogdon was a good student, who had never been ‘sent to the Principal’s Office’ before, so a meeting of minds was held the next morning and a compromise was agreed upon.

  The majority of those present, (although not necessarily Mrs. Knavely), were able to accept that Bog had in fact seen a Turkey Vulture which due to some unknown weather phenomena appeared larger than normal. Bogdon was still required to apologize to Mrs. Knavely, spend a week tutoring remedial science students and submit a new career day assignment.

  The whole mess would probably have ended right then and there except our Ranger club president Charlie Sinclair had different plans.

  “If they want proof,” he said. “Let’s give them proof. Let’s build our own Giant Thunderbird.”

  And that is when the real trouble began.

  ************

  Chapter Twelve – First Flight

  To build a giant Thunderbird we started with a super large Radio Controlled Glider that we ordered at the Peabody Hobby Shop (Bogdon’s Family’s store – where you can get all kinds of great stuff). We shortened the body, extended the wings and added a small compressed air jet on the center of the fuselage. Then we attached a cut down 2 liter plastic bottle for a woodpecker-like head.

  When we spray painted the whole thing black, it took on a vaguely avian appearance. We hot glued feathers to the underside of the wings, painted the head a nice shade of tomato red and gave it a white tipped tail. Then, it really began to look convincing.

  It only took a couple of days to build the creature. And, by the time Bogdon completed his after school sentence, we were ready to head for the mountains to try the thing out. The wings and tail were removable for easy of transport, so we loaded up all the pieces in the club golf cart and headed off.

  The first couple of practice flights were short experimental ones. We had never flown a Thunderbird before so we wanted to take things easy at first. We did not want to crash it before we had our fun.

  After a couple of adjustments to the flaps, we added some small lead weights to the fuselage to lower the center of gravity. Soon, we were confidently flying our creation, taking advantage of the updrafts rising along the cliff faces.

  The jet worked out better than we had hoped. It ran out of air quickly – but it was very powerful and could not be heard at all if the giant bird was above 100 feet.

  Freddie, who has some artistic talent, painted lifelike eyes and a mouth on the creature. After that we decided that since it looked so real, it needed to have a name.

  “How about ‘His Royal High Nes
s’?” Shad suggested.

  “Naw,” said Thor. ”I like ‘Fowl Play’.”

  “What about ‘Bird Flew’?” I proposed.

  But we eventually took a suggestion from Toby and agreed to christen the aircraft ‘Gull-ible’. After all it flew like a giant seagull and we hoped that the more gullible residents of Granite Falls would be taken in by our little con.

  We were all set now. We just needed the right time and place for Gull-ible’s coming out party. And almost like we planned it, the perfect opportunity was soon upon us.

  For years, Miss Tilley Transoo (rhymes with blue) had been the President of the Granite Falls ‘Friends of Feathers’ Club. This was because Miss Tilley had identified more different kinds of birds in the Granite Falls area than anyone even knew existed here. She had not once, but three times, spotted birds that have never been previously reported in this hemisphere!

  Lucky for us, the very next Saturday, Miss Tilley was leading the ‘Friends’ on their annual bird outing to Memorial Point. This field trip would give the birders a front row seat when we launched Gull-ible from an abandoned Mica Mine up on Buckner’s Knob.

  On the day of the first flight, Freddie and Shad went along with the bird watchers. They told Miss Tilley that they brushing up on bird identification for their upcoming Boy Scout exams. Their secret task was to point Gull-ible out to the group in case no one else spotted him.

  The rest of us guys took the club golf cart and drove the disassembled bird up into the mountains. When the road ran out, we parked the cart and hiked. Luckily, the glider was strong but light.

  We were so anxious to get our bird into the air that we made the trek in record time. The hardest part of the trip was to sit by the mine opening and wait for the perfect launch window.

  The sun was just going down and the shadows were lengthening when we brought Gull-ible out of the tunnel for his big debut. Conditions were ideal for the flight. The wind was light. The sky was clear. And, the electronics were functioning perfectly.

  It took three of us to lift the big bird. Then on Bogdon’s signal, we held him above our heads and ran out of the mine along the old ore cart tracks toward the edge of the cliff. We stopped short about 10 feet from drop off, where the tracks began curving. But, Gull-ible kept sailing forward and across the sky.