Dwellers of Ahwahnee (The Beyond Collection)

by Sheryl Seal

  Dwellers of Ahwahnee Trilogy (The Beyond Collection)

  By Sheryl Seal

  Copyright 2014

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN: ISBN-13:

  978-1500302108

  ISBN-10:

  1500302104

  For my family

  Without your love and support, I would have never found the courage to write a book. You challenged me to write and now I challenge you all to read.

  This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  For my family

  Book One: Beyond Bridalveil Fall

  Prelude

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Book Two: Beyond Oria Falls

  Prelude

  Part 1

  Oria

  Part 2

  Book Three: Beyond The World Of Man

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  About the Author

  Book One: Beyond Bridalveil Fall

  Prelude

  I was flying over majestic snowcapped mountains that looked vaguely familiar. I was breathing flames of fire and a horrible black, cavernous mouth chased me through the blustery sky. Bright orbs of light enhanced my way against the growing darkness that was trying to take over the daylight. I had to shut my eyes against the luminous lightning bolts that flashed their silvery trail across the stormy sky. When I opened them again, all I could see was a pair of glittering silver eyes looking back at me.

  I woke up with a start and realized I was in my bed, but the impression the dream left on me feels totally natural.

  I can still feel the tingling sensation that often follow my dreams.

  It feels like I have been torn apart and put back together again. The images I have in my head seem so normal. I can’t shake the feeling that this is a forewarning. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had this dream, or even the first time I’ve had premonitions. Grandmother says I’m a very intuitive person.

  It runs in our clan.

  Chapter 1

  “Grandmother, is there a flu going around that would make someone have nightmares or hallucinate?”

  For just an instant, I caught an odd expression cross over her face. Then it changed into a smile and she said, “You know, I do believe it is flu season. Take your vitamins, eat your breakfast and pray to the Great Spirit that you’re not catching it. Put the rest of these things in the car so we can be on our way, please.”

  We were headed up to the mountains. We’re part of a tribe called the Ahwahneechees which means people of the Ahwahnee (Yosemite Valley). The Ahwahneechees occupied the Yosemite Valley hundreds of years before they were discovered by the white man. There was a sickness that destroyed a good share of the tribe. Most left the Valley then and joined the Mono Lake Paiutes in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

  In Yosemite National Park however, there was a small band of my ancestors that went beyond Bridalveil Fall. They have come and gone unnoticed for many moons.

  We started having family reunions so all of our relatives could come together and celebrate our heritage. We exchange stories of the past. It’s kind of fun but let’s face it, I’m a teenager and I really wanted to go the beach this summer with my friends. A few teenagers disappeared from the park area a year ago and haven’t been heard from since. Rumors were spread that they were shapeshifters now and Dwellers of Ahwahnee. I couldn’t say for sure whether I believed in the rumors about shapeshifters. It just seems a little too far-fetched for me. Grandmother is always telling me to open up my mind. All things are possible.

  My thoughts about the disappearances were the couple just ran off together somewhere. Probably so they could spend their summer at the beach like they wanted. It wouldn’t explain the other stories I had heard though.

  There was no talking my grandmother out of going to Yosemite this summer. We were going this year and my friends could get along without me. I was turning eighteen and that was a very big deal to my grandmother. It should be for me too. Exciting changes were in store for me and preparations were being made for the event. This was as much as I could get out of her for now. I didn’t understand why she was making such a big deal out of my turning eighteen.

  Grandmother would often say, “Oria, my little Golden Queen, you will have some great adventures in your life. You have to learn some of the old ways. You need to be prepared for what the future has in store for you. This year will be special indeed.”

  Clearly, this did not include sun bathing this summer on the beach with my friends. This is my last year before college starts. I would be going away soon so I needed to spend some time with grandmother. She is all that I have in this world. Let’s face it, she wasn’t getting any younger. She didn’t seem to be getting older either. It was like time stopped aging her. I noticed this very early in my life. Grandmother had long silver hair that always smelled of lilacs, but this was the only thing about her that looked old. She had looked this way since I could remember. She had these bright blue eyes that sparkled against her dark red skin and perfect teeth. Besides being a little round for her five foot height she looked younger than I knew she was. Grandmother didn’t have any wrinkles that I had ever noticed but it was her eyes that told you she was older then she looked. She called them the eyes of an old soul.

  She always said I looked more like my mother. I wouldn’t know because my parents died when I was very young. I don’t remember either one of them. I always found it odd that I had never seen a picture of them anywhere. Grandmother said it wasn’t unusual. “That’s what happens when you have a house fire. Sometimes you lose it all. You are beautiful lik
e your mother and the rest is irrelevant.” She didn’t like to talk about my mother. I think it made her sad. Many of my questions went unanswered. I didn’t like to see my grandmother hurt so at some point I quit asking.

  Feeling a little depressed and pouting a bit. I started to load the car. Maybe this summer I will meet someone special.

  Not much in my life has ever been exceptional. I’m about five foot six inches tall with long auburn hair. It’s actually longer than it looks, but it’s so curly and unmanageable that it looks like it reaches to my waist. Mostly I spend hours straightening it. It doesn’t matter though; the slightest bit of weather will send it spiraling out of control again. My face is maybe a little round for what I would consider pretty. My eyes are probably my best feature. There is a dark ring around my light blue eyes. Sometimes depending on my mood they will have silver flecks in them. There isn’t anything really special about me though. No reason to believe that would change just because I was turning eighteen. If grandmother believed there was something extraordinary about to take place for me, then I would go along with her. I did love her very much. She also had an unusual way of knowing many things to come. Many strange things had happened in my life. I couldn’t disregard something she was so adamant about. I certainly didn’t want to miss out on anything that was going to change my life. I had been so distracted by my thoughts, that I hadn’t realized how gloomy it was getting. The skies had grown dark and it was starting to rain. It looked as if it were going to be a bad storm. I thought the weatherman said it was supposed to be a beautiful week. “Great, now I better get our raincoats and umbrellas.” I grumbled.

  By the time we were in the car it was a full blown storm. My red bug convertible V.W. probably had a leak in the top. It kept dripping on the right side of my shoulder.

  Grandmother says I should just try to relax and enjoy the day.

  I decided she was right and turned on the C.D. player and started to sing along to an Elvis tune that came on. Lawdy Miss Clawdy, I love Elvis and all of his songs.

  The trip takes us about four and a half hours from our home in Monterey and the weather has gotten beautiful. I guess it was one of those random thunder storms we’ve had lately. There are tall Pines everywhere. The water falls are all around us and the meadows are alive with hundreds of beautiful wild flowers. We’ve seen many deer, squirrels, coyotes, and a fox or two. Many different birds also. I had even thought I’d seen a grey wolf run behind some trees. Not likely, my eyes were just playing tricks on me.

  We get to the entrance of the park and show our yearly pass. It was forty dollars and we can come and go all year long.

  Many tourists come from all over to see this land. They come to hike and camp and hopefully see animals that are in their natural habitat.

  Tourists come to take photos and to try to capture its likeness on canvas, but nothing will ever do it justice. Many of the sights that are found here are named after our tribe.

  This is the Ahwahnee valley. It means the place of the gaping mouth.

  “Look grandmother there’s Half Dome!” I exclaim proudly. Grandmother states matter of fact. “I would know Tisayac when I see it Oria. We will be at the parking area soon. Please don’t miss the turn off. I am getting too old to travel any further today. Thank goodness the weather has gotten nicer.” She gave me one of those looks out of the corner of her eye and patted my leg gently. “Keep happy thoughts and the sun will shine brightly granddaughter.”

  Grandmother was looking at me strangely and lately I would catch her watching me often, like she was waiting for something to happen.

  “Are you feeling okay Grandmother?”

  “Fine, my little Golden Queen, I just want to be out of this contraption and into the fresh air once again. I cannot wait to be home again and see friends that I haven’t seen for a while.”

  “Grandmother, will you please stop calling me my little Golden Queen? I am not a little girl anymore, it’s weird.”

  I glanced at grandmother and I noticed a twitch of a smile and she reached over and tweaked my cheek. “You are my little Golden Queen and that is what your name means. I see no difference in the calling of it.”

  I always wondered why I had such an uncommon name. When I was among the rest of the tribe though, it didn’t feel half as unusual as some of their names. Even my grandmother’s name was strange Huyana, but that could have been given to her a hundred years ago for all I knew. It probably wasn’t that outlandish back then.

  She said it meant falling rain. She had told me the story of how, whenever she had cried as a child the sky would open up and start pouring, so everyone called her this name.

  “That’s silly grandmother, you couldn’t have been responsible for the weather.” She would tell me, “Oria, this is how our people would name our children. Depending on what signs were given to them, the children were named accordingly. Our family continues this. It is a tradition. Many of our people still live by this custom. Sometimes there is still good in the old ways.”

  We were here so I dropped the subject.

  Chapter 2

  We got out of the car at the parking lot and gathered our gear. We would hike up the trail leading to the foot of Bridalveil Fall. This is where we all meet and will camp for the summer. The hike takes about twenty minutes. I started day dreaming about one of the stories we were sure to hear tonight. It’s one of my favorites because I actually liked spooky tales. I found it funny that after all this time our people still thought the evil one would get them if they got too close. They wouldn’t even look at the water at the foot of Bridalveil Fall.

  Grandmother had often told the story to me as it was told to her.

  It’s a tale of an Ahwahneechee maiden who was out picking grass for weaving baskets one day on top of Po-Ho-No. This means spirit of the puffing wind or Bridalveil Fall. The maiden stepped on a mossy rock put there to entrap her by Po-Ho-No, the Evil Spirit who inhibits the mist. In a twinkling she was snatched into the falls never to return. This is where her spirit stayed until the day when she lured another victim to their doom. Then she moved on to the home of the Great Spirit in the West.

  The legend says many of our people have been lost there. So, when you feel the mist upon you, hurry past with face averted. Pray to the Great Spirit you are not the next victim.

  “Umm, maybe that’s what happened to Aponi and Red Thunder, right! Now my imagination was running wild.

  Time passes by quickly while I’m distracted with the old tale and before I know it we were there. Bridalveil Fall, this is early spring so it is thundering.

  We got everything unpacked and our tents set up and grandmother said she was going visiting. I decided I would get the campfire going because the nights up here are very cold, and grandmother really feels it in her bones.

  I gathered up some wood the tribe had brought for our use and started the fire. There’s really nothing to it. I learned a long time ago how to start a campfire and feed it until it was roaring.

  I’ve actually learned a lot about how the Ahwahnechees lived; how this was supposed to prepare me for my future I had no idea. I was told these stories and customs and many legends over and over again as I grew up. “You never know when these stories will help you in the future Oria. Remember all that you have been taught and all that you have heard. Most importantly remember that knowledge is power my dear.”

  Chapter 3

  The day quickly turned to evening and everyone started gathering around the big fire at the center of camp.

  It was very magical with the whole tribe all decked out. The girls and women wore tanned leather dresses and the men were in tanned leather breechcloths and leggings. We all wore our moccasins. There were a few teenagers who were being very rebellious. They were wearing their Levis, tee shirts, boots and caps.

  Some men had on head dresses with beads and feathers and looked very scary with their faces painted. They would have been great looking warriors.

  Many platters of food were
passed around along with berry juice; we didn’t really try to stick to the foods and drinks that were accustomed to the tribe in the 1800’s. Back then they ate roots, nuts, insects, and wild game with fish. There would have been waterfowl and many other easily obtained foods.

  Of course a lot of the elders had been preparing for many months for this occasion. So there were a lot of really good and different kinds of things to eat. There are too many yummy foods that are convenient to bring along all packaged up from the supermarkets. It’s just the natural progression of the world.

  Some people would not go without modern comforts and the proof was all around us. There definitely were no cell phones back then. Yet, I saw a few teens with theirs tonight. Mine stayed at home where I was told I could do without it for a few short weeks. I have learned over the years, it doesn’t do any good to argue over things in my life that have no real value.

  Grandmother came to the center fire and sat down on the ground. She looked wonderful in her brown colored leather dress that hung down past her knees. There was fringe around the bottom and on the sleeves that went to her elbows. She had beadwork all over it in diamond and half-moon shape patterns. Her moccasins were knee high with the same pattern design. We matched perfectly because grandmother had done all the work herself.

  The children ran and nestled up onto her lap. The rest of us made a circle around her.

  Then the group grew quiet and in a very hardy voice my Grandmother began the night with her story of long ago.

  “For many nights and many days the guardian spirit Tisayac watched over this beautiful land. She would drift invisibly among the people of the valley. It was among one of these visits that she noticed a tall, proud man named Tutokanula. He was a very handsome and strong leader. Brave and kind and very well loved by his people.

  Many times Tisayac would come from the clouds to watch him save crops and preserve game so that his people would have an easier winter. His wisdom and kindness touched her heart.