Thunderstone

by Barbara Pietron

  “Only time will tell, but it’s a warning for sure. Be careful.” Nik studied his apprentice. “Anything else?”

  Ice shook his head and started to get up, then sat back down. “Nik, she scraped her ankle in the river. If the manitou escapes, will it go after Jeni? Is she in danger?”

  “At first, he’ll take whoever is the easiest prey. Anyone within his reach will be in danger.” Nik’s brows drew together to form deep creases in his forehead. “Her blood in combination with the statue likely linked her with the creature. He’ll be able to sense her power over him and will know it can be used in reverse.”

  “Does that mean she can help us?”

  Nik shrugged. “An outsider won’t understand our ways. She wouldn’t believe you. Better to get the statue. We can wield it ourselves.”

  Ice sighed and moved to the doorway. Get the statue. Easier said than done. Yet the sooner it was out of Jeni’s possession, the more likely she’d be safe. As Ice lifted the hide, the medicine man spoke again.

  “Ice?”

  Ice looked over his shoulder.

  “Don’t go swimming.”

  We are what we imagine.

  Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves…

  The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined.

  —N. Scott Momaday, Kiowa-Cherokee

  Chapter 4

  Jeni loitered in the kitchen drying the dinner dishes. Though she’d been told they could air-dry, this was an excuse to stand at the kitchen window looking in the direction of the resort office. Since she hadn’t seen Ice yet today, she hoped he’d show up this evening, and it would be better if he didn’t knock on the door—no one needed to know he was here, especially Tyler.

  When she spotted Ice crossing the lawn, she threw the towel over the remaining dishes, stuffed her feet into shoes, and grabbed her jacket on the way out the door.

  His face lit up when he saw her emerge from the cottage. She smiled nervously, ignoring the warm feeling in her chest. Gosh darn Carolyn! Her friend’s comments about Ice this morning had her feeling self-conscious now.

  “How was work?” Jeni asked.

  “Enlightening.”

  Jeni frowned a little at Ice’s response, wondering if it was supposed to be funny. She headed away from the cottage, toward the resort drive, and Ice fell into step beside her. She glanced at him, waiting for an explanation of the odd answer, but he merely shrugged and shook his head slightly.

  “Let’s walk over this way.” Jeni pointed to the right. “I haven’t seen any part of the resort past our place.”

  She hoped Ice didn’t take her suggestion the wrong way. She wanted to stay away from the cottage and be alone with him—but not for the reason he might think. Her objective was to avoid further harassment from her cousin.

  Ice was quiet and appeared contemplative—not open and talkative like last night. Jeni felt she didn’t know him well enough to ask him if anything was wrong, so she decided to just get him talking. “So, you’re in high school? Or are you finished?”

  “Almost finished. I’m homeschooled.”

  “By your mom?”

  “Yeah, she works days and goes over lessons with me at night when I need it. A lot of the stuff I can figure out on my own. Actually, I’m working on a Calc class now. Then I’ll be completely finished with high school.” He paused, as if deciding whether or not to say more, then continued. “I went to a public elementary school until it was deter…I found out that, well…I was asked to apprentice our tribe’s medicine man.”

  Jeni glanced at him, eyes wide. “You’re like a medicine-man-in-training?”

  Ice chuckled. “Sure. You could say that. Anyway, that’s why I’m homeschooled. Beside all the regular stuff, I’m learning rites, rituals…and of course, legends. I actually ended up ahead of other kids in school. I’ll be seventeen when I start college in the fall.”

  Glad that Ice perked up, Jeni thought his mention was the perfect opening to get right to the point of his visit. But when she opened her mouth, what came out was, “Is your dad the medicine man?”

  Ice snorted contemptuously. “Far from it. I’ve never met my father.”

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. Nik—the medicine man—is a great role model. I’m lucky to spend so much time with him.”

  “What do you…do…in medicine man training?”

  From the corner of her eye, Jeni saw Ice wore an amused expression, but he answered her question. “In the beginning it was mostly about being in tune with the world around me. Paying attention to the environment; observation. Then I learned various ceremonies—some I now know well enough to perform—although as long as Nik is medicine man, I only assist. Most recently I’ve been learning about medicine man tools.”

  They’d passed two cottages and now reached the woods that marked the edge of the resort’s property. Turning toward the lake, they skirted the trees. The aroma of damp earth filled Jeni’s nose—a smell she always associated with rainy days and worms.

  “Tools? What kind of tools?”

  Ice glanced over at her. “Uh…it would all sound crazy to you. Tell me something about you. What’s it like in Detroit?”

  “Wait a minute.” Jeni stopped, hands on her hips. “I consider myself pretty open-minded; tell me at least one tool.”

  Ice surveyed her face for a moment and gave a small shrug. “Okay…we use medicine stones.” He continued to stroll toward the beach.

  “Like, actual stones?”

  “Yeah, small rocks that help us find things or see things, like visions, dreams, premonitions.” He held up his hand. “Don’t ask how they work—I couldn’t tell you—but they do work, I’ve seen it. All I know for sure is it has a lot to do with faith.”

  “I think it sounds pretty cool.” They’d reached the sand and slowed. Jeni kicked at the ground to expose partially-hidden rocks, realizing she was looking for Petoskey stones: a product of spending a lot of time in northern Michigan. “To answer your question, I actually live north of Detroit—suburbia—where we love cars and rock-and-roll,” she giggled. “And I go to regular public school. No special talents or claim to fame.”

  “What do you like to do?” Ice grinned. “You know, when you’re not driving or listening to music.”

  Jeni shrugged. “I’m in Drama Club. I read a lot. I love to bake.” Wow. That sounded pretty lame.

  “And learn about Mythology?”

  She looked at Ice to see if he was making fun of her, but he appeared sincere. “Yeah, I can’t help it. It fascinates me—things people have believed for centuries; stories told to teach or warn other generations. Have you seen the ‘ology’ books? I think Dragonology came first. Then Wizardology, Mythology, Monsterology, Vampirology…you get the idea. I have most of them.” Jeni laughed. “I know: geek.”

  Ice smiled but didn’t say anything.

  Awesome. Nothing like sounding like a babbling idiot. Maybe it was time to get to the subject. “So…tell me about my statue. The underwater lynx—or what else did you say? Man…”

  “Manitou. It means spirit—not in the sense of like, a ghost—he’s regarded as sort of an other-than-human person.”

  “Like a person that takes the shape of a big cat? A shape-shifter?”

  “No. He always looks like your statue—cat form, with the copper horns and scales. A lot of the myths call him a serpent. I think because in the water, with the long tail trailing behind the body, he probably does look like a giant snake.”

  The sun had dropped behind the trees on the horizon. There was still plenty of light out on the water, but dusk had settled around the buildings. As they passed by the cottage, Jeni noticed a few of her family members stacking wood in the firepit.

  “In Indian legend, Mishebeshu is the baddest of the bad; sneaky, manipulative, and unpredictable.
Even grown-ups have a profound fear of him.”

  They’d walked the length of the resort, stopping near a picnic table, and Ice leaned against it. Jeni perched on the edge of the bench next to where Ice reclined with his arms loosely folded over his chest. He stretched out his long legs, and crossed his ankles. Jeni watched him as he talked. The blue highlights in his thick black hair shone in the waning light. Prominent cheekbones put part of his face in shadow. Her heartbeat quickened, and she dropped her gaze, concentrating on what he said.

  “…they used to put tobacco in the water whenever they went swimming or wanted to cross a lake, hoping to be spared. But if Mishebeshu’s mind was made up, no gift or sign of respect would change it. He might ignore you or drown you, or even steal your children.”

  “Dang.” Jeni shivered slightly, burrowing her hands deep into her jacket pockets. Dusk had quickly turned into night. She studied the darkness surrounding them, then focused on the flickering fire three cottages away. “Want to go over by the fire?”

  As they approached, she was relieved to note that Tyler wasn’t part of the group. She’d thought about sitting on the deck rather than joining the small crowd, then noticed all the deck chairs encircled the fire.

  “Here, you guys can have the swing.” The wood swing from the yard had also been moved by the fire, and Jeni’s aunt vacated it, waving her arm for them to sit. Before Jeni could object, her mom asked Ice if he wanted a hot dog.

  “Yeah, that would be great. I haven’t had dinner.” He sat down on the swing and accepted the hot dog stick.

  It all happened so fast that Jeni was flustered. Her mom passed the hot dogs to Ice and handed Jeni the bag of buns. Jeni sat down on the swing and fiddled with the bag, regaining her composure. Wits restored, she introduced him to everyone—basically, all the women and the two small kids. Apparently the men were inside watching something on TV.

  Hanging out with a bunch of women didn’t seem to bother Ice at all. When the little ones became tired, yet protested loudly against bedtime, Ice asked if they wanted to hear a story.

  Of course they did.

  Jeni smiled at him when he finished and Ice grinned back at her. She watched him chat with her aunt—pretending she was part of their conversation—thinking about describing this to Carolyn. She could only imagine what her friend would say; that he sounded too good to be true.

  And they always were. Okay, she’d only hung out with two other guys. But the same thing happened both times. She was interested, at ease, having a good time, and then the guy made some kind of physical advance, ruining everything. She claimed she just wanted to be friends, but the truth was, she didn’t trust them.

  Eventually, her mom and aunts said they were chilly and collected up the food. “Not too much longer,” Jeni’s mom warned with a backward glance before she climbed the deck stairs.

  The comment made Jeni realize she and Ice were now alone, and her heart started to flutter. Not that they hadn’t been alone previously, she tried to tell herself. But here they sat in the glow of a campfire, side by side, gently swinging to and fro. She was acutely aware of the space between them. Whatever she was going to say next dried up in the back of her throat.

  What was her problem? Nothing was going to happen here; she was on vacation for cripe’s sake. Besides, she wasn’t interested in Ice—not that way.

  “It’s hard to believe we just met,” Ice said.

  “Yeah, I know,” Jeni managed to choke out. Her chest felt quivery and though she knew it had nothing to do with the chilly air, she jumped up. “I think we need another log on the fire.” She took her time choosing and placing a few pieces of wood, contemplating the vacant chairs. Sitting elsewhere though would look stupid—and rude. She sat back down on the swing, realizing that by stoking the fire she’d committed to staying outside for a while.

  Though the swing was barely moving now, some part of it still issued a rhythmic soft creak. The only other sounds were the hiss and pop of the fire.

  Jeni’s attempt to think of an excuse to go inside was futile; emotion overruled reason. Was it the romantic setting? Or did Ice have some kind of medicine man juju? Because every cell in her body felt drawn to him. She wanted to slide over and snug up next to him—as if he was a magnet and she was steel.

  She turned to look up into his face. He wore a weird puzzled expression. “I…uh…” he looked away and then swiveled his head back.

  In the flickering firelight she could swear he was looking at her mouth and her pulse picked up. He blew out a breath then met her eyes.

  Suddenly Jeni felt positive he was going to kiss her. She couldn’t breathe.

  “I have to ask you something.”

  “What?” she mumbled. If he asked if he could kiss her, she’d have to refuse—wouldn’t she? They’d only just met.

  Still, it was just a kiss.

  Never had Jeni felt so divided. Her usual cautious, practical self battled some kind of “alter-Jeni” who was willing to take the risk.

  “I…I need your statue.”

  Jeni stared at him dumbly for a moment. “You…what?”

  “I need your statue.”

  “The statue?” A warm flush of anger and disbelief heated her cheeks and spread throughout her body.

  “Not buy it—just borrow it. I’ll return it if I can.”

  “What do you mean if you can?” She was a world-class idiot. She actually thought he was interested in her—wanted to kiss her? “That’s why you’re here?”

  No answer. Which meant yes.

  “Why didn’t you just ask me yesterday, instead of pretending—” Jeni’s voice broke and she lurched off the swing.

  Ice struggled to speak.

  “Don’t bother!” she yelled.

  She raced to the cottage door and rushed through, slamming it behind her.

  “Something chasing you?” her dad asked.

  “Maybe it was her boyfriend,” Tyler said sarcastically. “Did he turn into a werewolf when the moon came out? Ow, ow, owooooo,” he howled.

  Tyler’s taunts earned a hard stare from his dad. “Shut up Tyler.”

  Jeni glared at her cousin. “Yeah, shut up,” she muttered. She couldn’t deal with his behavior.

  Not when she couldn’t comprehend her own.

  ***

  Ice sat motionless, staring at his knees. How had he managed to make such a mess of things? He’d felt comfortable with Jeni and her family, too; he thought the evening had progressed smoothly.

  Then he looked down into Jeni’s upturned face and lost it. Despite the smoky bonfire, he could smell her; the fragrance of an apple orchard in the fall. Then his gaze fell to her glossy, ripe lips and the reasonable explanation he had in mind vanished. Instead he’d just blurted something out and completely blew it.

  He’d let down Nik, the tribe…his mom. His mom. Ice groaned. That was the worst—because she would be understanding.

  With a heavy sigh, Ice stood. His footsteps dragged as he headed between the cottages to the resort drive.

  “Ice.”

  Engulfed in despair, Ice didn’t register the whisper until it came the second time. He turned to see Jeni’s head poked out the side door. She edged outside when she saw him stop. She took a step toward the porch rail. “I’m sorry. I overreacted.” She hugged her arms around her torso. “I…I do that sometimes. I should’ve at least given you a chance to explain.”

  Ice moved closer. “Yeah…well, I didn’t mean to say…ask…not like that.” Jeni watched him, waiting. Ice took a deep breath. “Thing is, you’re not going to like the explanation anyway.”

  “Well,” she contemplated the toe of her shoe as she bounced it on the rail. “I can’t promise I’ll like it, but I’ll listen.” When she looked up she wore the ghost of a smile.

  Ice searched her face and thought for a long moment. No more lie
s; time to lay the cards on the table. He wasn’t hopeful for any particular outcome, only resigned to do what he felt was right. “I owe you a story about your statue don’t I?”

  She nodded slowly, wearing a puzzled expression.

  “Let’s start there then. Fire?” he asked. “It’s pretty chilly over here.”

  “Okay.”

  Ice took a chair, giving Jeni the option to sit as far away as she wanted. She hesitated a second and then took the seat next to him.

  He told her the story Nik had told him earlier that day, about Mishebeshu and the Illinois Waterway, except he finished it with the events of the past two days. “Then, about a hundred years later, a priestess…” he stopped to look at her, “…buys an artifact and falls into the water with it in her pocket. Her connection to the spirits combined with the power of the statue wakes Mishebeshu. So the local medicine man sends his apprentice to find the girl and get the statue back. If he fails, the monster will likely escape and people will start disappearing.”

  Jeni narrowed her eyes at him for a moment and then laughed. “I get it. Cute. You made it sound like I was part of the story.”

  Ice maintained a level stare. “You are part of the story.”

  “Right.” She chuckled.

  Ice watched as she searched his face, waiting for him to break into a smile or say he was kidding. “I told you wouldn’t like the explanation,” he said.

  “Wait.” Her face was serious now. “You’re telling me this is why you want my statue?”

  “That’s what I’m telling you.”

  “Ice. For starters, I am not a priestess.”

  “Are you sure of that?”

  “Pretty darn sure. I think after fifteen years I would know or at least had some kind of clue.”

  “You probably have had clues, but you wouldn’t have recognized them for what they were.” Ice leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “What you have…it’s an ability; a talent. You have to train in order to fulfill your potential.”

  Jeni didn’t say anything so Ice tried an example. “Let’s say you’ve never been snow skiing. The first time you try, you’re good at it—you discover a hidden talent for snow skiing. The more you ski, the better you get. You might have had other clues—like maybe you have great balance—you just never connected that to being a natural-born skier.