Melodis Tune

by Melodi's Tune (NCP) (lit)

  "I don't know what they said to each other. Joe agreed when his grandfather said he needed to come with me. There is a symmetry that I can't quite grasp between Grandfather Larkfeather and this moment in time. He knew that I was needed here for more than bringing you home. He talked about fate and cycles and something that I had to undo before the fabric of time would be restored.

  "It all sounded like so much mystical mumbo jumbo that I'm afraid I tuned him out. I was helpless, watching you get colder and seeming to shrink before my eyes, while all I could do was listen to this old man."

  Darien sighed and shook his head at his own ignorance. Somehow, Little Buck and his fate were mixed up in all this. He could feel it. But now what was he supposed to do? He didn’t know his next move. From his communion with the eagle it seemed that the answer lay back at the lake -- where he and Melodi had first met, first been swept away by the magic of a tune. That’s where the rest of this string in time would be either mended or rent into tatters forever. He shivered at the responsibility, but he couldn’t turn his back on it.

  Another thought crossed his mind, in heading back to the lake they would lead the enemy away from the summer camp. Tall Cedar's warning about Young Buck and his Iroquois band would arrive in plenty of time.

  Now that his mind was at rest between what he wanted to do, and what he had to do, he relaxed for the first time in days. Melodi stirred against him. He brushed a stray lock of hair from her face. Like this, as she slept, so much was revealed to him in the innocence of her face. Clear now of hurtful accusations, confusion, and fear he saw every woman she ever was, and all she would be. Her love for him awed him. He vowed never to cause her pain.

  Sleep slipped over Darien as the shadow of the eagle circled, a silent sentinel in the slumbering afternoon.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  The high pitched buzzing that woke her formed the tail end of an unsettling dream. Melodi struggled out of sleep and slapped at the offending mosquito. For a moment she forgot where she was and with whom. The dream had frightened her; she was glad to wake.

  A tiny snoring reached her; she smiled as she remembered. Darien clasped her to him. She relaxed against his warm, hard chest. The steady thump-thump of his heartbeat steadied her own.

  Twilight had settled over the small hideaway, though from the golden glow above, it was evident the sun had a way to travel before it sank beneath the horizon. Loath to wake Darien, she snuggled closer and examined the cause of her trembling awake.

  An active dream life had always been both blessing and curse. As a child her dreams had been so vivid that she remembered trying to find them again when she went back to sleep. More times than she could remember, she'd woken terrified from something more real than imagined lights or sounds coming from under the bed or from the dark closet.

  One such time the magic of the dream had so delighted her with its visions of welcoming light and surrounding love that she had fought against waking. Not until a kind voice in her dream had compelled her to do so, had she allowed herself to hear her mother's worried voice or respond to her father's shaking of her shoulder.

  Not this time, she wished sleep had left sooner. Instead, it had gripped her subconscious mind until she had to watch every part of the image unfold. Even now she shook at the hodge-podge of conflicting sights and sounds that invaded her mind. Deciphering the deeper meaning of her dreams was ingrained. No matter how distasteful, Melodi scanned the vestiges of the dream to conquer it. Only then would the fear leave and she could get on with being awake.

  Terror and confusion had stalked her throughout this dream. In it, a dark cloud hovered over a land gilded in golden light. It was her destiny to decide the fate of those living within that blessed place. Something she did, or did not do, would cause the darkness to settle and damp out the light.

  Next, screaming had filled her ears. The sounds of many anguished souls cried out to her. The ground trembled beneath her feet. Hands had grasped both arms and pulled in opposite directions. The pain was an agony that she knew would only cease when she gave in to one side or the other. Before she decided, a rushing, whirling creation of water and wind swept her away. The last sounds she remembered, before she awoke, were the cries for help from those she had failed.

  Her tears splashed onto Darien's chest, waking him. Melodi shook with the force of her fear. This was more than a dream, it was a warning. She didn't know what to do.

  Darien scooped her onto his lap until her shuddering stopped. His gentle care almost undid her again because she knew that one of the arms pulling her in the dream had been his. The other was a force too powerful for her to fight alone, yet if she asked for Darien's help it would destroy him as well.

  When her tears subsided, she wondered what to tell him. She couldn't lie, but she didn't know the full meaning of the truth either.

  "I'm all right now. I had a horrible dream, that's all." "I'm glad you woke me, I was having a bad dream too. I wonder if we're hungry, or maybe the vibes are bad in this place." His words made light of the situation, though the tone of them were filled with unease. She shook off the feeling.

  "Food." She rummaged through the containers beside them. "Not much left. When do you think it will be safe to leave?"

  "Not until full dark. There will be a moon tonight to make our travel easier, though not enough to give us away if we're being pursued."

  "Do you think they will look for us?" Even as she asked, Melodi knew they would meet Young Buck again. That, too, was part of her fate. It waited ahead, though, not in some ambush on the way.

  "They might, for a little while. I bet they spent the day trying to pick up our trail. We were lucky that Tall Cedar knew of this place." Darien frowned.

  "Now it is my turn to ask 'what's wrong?'" Melodi said, hoping to cast aside her own doubts.

  Instead of answering, Darien roamed their small enclosure, a wolf in a cage. He studied the walls, the rocks, and the few plants. Finally he studied her. Unnerved by his silence, Melodi returned his glance with as much composure as she could muster. When he spoke, his words echoed a tiny measure of her thoughts.

  "How would you feel about remaining in this time?"

  Her soft laughter echoed around them, bouncing from one granite wall to another. When the sound cascaded to a whispered finished, Darien stood before her, his face set in lines of solemn patience.

  He's serious. Incredible. She voiced her amazement. "What happened to Darien Stewart? You remember him? The man with a place to make for himself, writing instead of singing? The man who fought against failure and had started to find a new life? The man who risked everything to find me?"

  "Don't you see, Melodi? I have made a new life for myself. Here, in this time, is everything I never knew was missing from my life. A man can make a difference here just with the strength of his hands."

  A shadow flew over them. As it passed Darien's head, he snapped his face up. For the first time, Melodi saw him visually fight his communion with the eagle. What had changed him in the space of the afternoon? He was ready to turn his back on a life he had built for himself and embrace one already made.

  Darien's eyes reflected an infinite sadness when he returned his gaze to Melodi. The eagle, instead of flying away, found a perch in a cedar whose branches overhung the walled canyon. It tilted its head in a listening pose.

  Melodi shook Darien's shoulders. Jerking her head toward the eagle she said, "What about Grandfather? His fate is tied to yours even more deeply than mine."

  "I would not hurt him, just ask him to return without me." Darien's voice was dull and lifeless, the fight gone.

  "Would you stay here without me?" She hoped she wasn't forcing a decision that would tear them apart, but she had to voice her fears

  "Don't give me that line of bull." Anger colored Darien's words. He shrugged out of her grip. "You were so enamored of this time in history that you buried yourself in the study of it. I'll bet you know more about this culture than the one we left."


  The accusation hit deep, the truth of it undeniable. Melodi had learned what had drawn her to this time and place, a search for belonging and the love that she'd been unable to find in her own time. Remaining here wasn't the answer. She'd found a love that would last through all time; she would always belong with Darien. She had to convince him that they couldn't stay once their task was through. The frantic tugging of the arms in her dream returned to haunt her. Fate and love, did she have to choose between them?

  "You are right. I've often been accused of romanticizing the historical record of pre-Columbian North Americans. Ask Joe. Ask your sister, for heaven's sake. It's the truth. The fast pace of life and the emptiness except for my family, who live far away, and a small handful of friends gnawed at me. At least immersion in studying this period of time welcomed me. Now I know why." Her smile came from the glow she nurtured within, she put all the love she had into it and hoped it would be enough. "All that time I was searching for you. I couldn't find a kindred spirit in my own time. I was compelled to search for one in the dusty tomes and echoing halls of museums. They were the only sources I had to find you."

  "Pretty words from a woman who didn't even like me."

  Darien turned his back to her, but she heard a hint of softening in his voice.

  "Of course I didn't like you. You kept your true self from me, hidden behind a wall of hurt. I had no intention of scaling my own wall to see outside myself. You were the last thing I was looking for the night you drove up in that gravel-spitting devil of a car."

  The glow from the setting sun reflected rosy light onto the rock walls and onto Darien's face as he turned back to her. Was she getting through?

  "I bought that car with my first royalty check," Darien mused. "It's more than just a mode of transportation, it represents success."

  "And now that you can't have that same kind of success, you fling off the hint of change and run away? Walks With The Wind would not run away from such a challenge. I can't believe Darien Stewart is more of a coward that him."

  Darien flinched. "I am not running away." His words echoed around them, lingering in the air until the small area was filled with whispered "running away, running away, away…"

  "If you say so." She'd done what she planned, made Darien face up to his fears. The next step was his. She started pulling their few belongings together. "By the time we get through the tunnel it will be dark enough to travel, don't you think?"

  "Yeah, sure."

  Stars began their nightly dance in the heavens. Moonrise was several hours away. The eagle's white head glowed ghostly in the faint light. Its eyes reflected red as he followed the movements of the people below. Melodi saw it take silent wing and drift away into the night sky as they entered the blackness of the tunnel.

  Thunder rolled across the sky and clouds insinuated themselves over the stars when they emerged onto the slippery shelf above the waterfall. Darien took Melodi's hand and guided her along the rocky path that took them to the streambed where it fell over into the cascade. Stones rolled under foot, icy water chilled their feet, but they crossed the stream and began their trek through the woods as lightning danced in the distance.

  The wind, sloughing through the surrounding branches, whispered to Darien. He kept hearing Melodi's words over and over again.

  Coward.

  How could she use that word when he had rescued her from Young Buck at risk of his own life? The incongruity struck him as the first drops of rain filtered through the dense ceiling of leaves. Walks With The Wind had been in pursuit of Little Raccoon; Darien had sat back for the ride. Or had he? No, he shared every thought and feeling with his Walks With The Wind persona.

  It rankled. Not that she had come right out and called him a coward, but she had implied it with that running away stuff.

  Unease filled him. Maybe she was right.

  Electricity continued to flash above them as the thunder moved north. With it went the rain and wind. Silent darkness surrounded them, echoing Darien's thoughts.

  His feet found a narrow game trail that took them in the right direction, back towards the lake. On foot they would make slower time than if they were traveling by water. It might take a week for them to travel the same distance the tribe had gone in two days on the river.

  As Darien worked on the problems of food and shelter for himself and Melodi, his mind continued to chew on her words. He found a grain of truth in them. She'd admitted her own attraction to this time. Why wouldn't she agree to stay?

  A rustle in the bushes off to his right distracted him. A deer, his nose told him. The sharpness of his senses continued to amaze him. Even in the darkness his eyesight was keen enough to pick up the trail they walked on. His ears filtered through the sounds of the rustling branches and Melodi's breathing to distinguish the sound of a hoof fall from fur brushing a tree limb. Not only could he smell the deer, he could discriminate the scents of every growing thing around him, including the uniquely female scent of the woman who trusted him with her life.

  It all came down to that, he realized with a start. Trust. Grandfather trusted him to follow through with his fate here. Melodi trusted him to do the right thing.

  Did he have the self-confidence, the courage to trust himself? Maybe that was the real question.

  Except for the past several months, life had been easy for him. As his voice lost its power, his identity had slipped away with it. Here, he had more of himself than he ever had before. Again, it had been given to him through no real effort of his own.

  Easy, too easy.

  Melodi was right. So was Grandfather, even though Darien had tried not to listen to the old man's spirit speaking to him. Strands of time ran through him, entangling all of them. Once they were straightened out, the time would come for him to make himself anew. Melodi would be beside him.

  You have taken the first step, Son. Follow your heart and hold onto your strength. They will both be needed in the days ahead. Grandfather's voice echoed in Darien's mind, washing away his doubts.

  By the time dawn gilded the sky, Melodi was dragging her feet. They found shelter under the branches of a spreading hemlock tree. Its low hanging limbs would hide them. Melodi fell asleep as soon as Darien arranged a bed of soft needles for her to lie on.

  Before he slept himself, he took a moment to hide a snare. They'd existed on the last of the cache from yesterday's hiding place, but it was gone now. Fresh meat would go a long way towards providing them with the energy they needed to keep up the pace on the trail ahead.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  "Melodi." Her place beside him was empty.

  The sun sat low in the western sky. Sure that she must have gone a short distance to stretch or refresh herself, Darien wasted no time leaving the scant shelter to look for her. A sense of dreadful loneliness, part of the dream that woke him, swirled through his brain.

  "Going somewhere without me?" Her soft voice laughed from a curtain of branches before he saw her. She was magnificently naked, and wet. Not even the silvery slide of fish she carried took away from the pure sensuality that chased his breath from his chest.

  "I thought… I mean, I woke up and you were gone." The words tripped over his tongue. God, she looked like the first woman Glooskap created in the Beginning Times. She stepped from the circling birch grove with the grace of a forest creature.

  "You look like you're still asleep," Melodi observed, then held her trophy high. "Look, I tickled this from a quiet pool after I bathed. I found some roots and leaves to bake with it. Let's build a fire pit so it can cook underground, that way no smoke will give us away."

  A fire pit? Darien shook his head to clear it. If this gorgeous creature wanted a fire pit, he'd dig it with his hands. He'd do anything she wanted.

  "Darien, you're ogling me as if you've never seen me naked." Her nipples hardened into peaks under his scrutiny. If she didn't put something on soon, he would take her where she stood. Which wasn't a bad idea.

  "You start a fire for t
he coals while I dig," he managed to say. "We'll build it over there, under that rocky overhang. It's close enough, but if anyone approaches to investigate, we'll see them before they see us."

  He had looked away while deciding where to cook. When he turned back to her, her dress was slipping over her head. The soft doeskin clung to her wet skin just enough to outline her body. Under his loincloth, his manhood twitched.

  If Melodi realized how she affected him, she made no comment of it. She built a small blaze and gutted the fish while Darien applied himself to digging. By the time he was done, dirt and sweat fought for room on him. Heat reflected from the rocks, a natural oven in the late afternoon. If the dirt held the heat as well as these rocks, their meal would be done in no time.

  "Where did you say that stream was?"

  She looked up from wrapping the fish in a bundle of leaves and laughed. "I didn't say. You look just like my brother did when he was about ten years old and just finished weeding Mom's garden."

  He grimaced.

  "Just through that grove of birches, you can't miss it."

  Darien was so wrapped up in thoughts of Melodi and how he must look to her that he didn't miss it. He tripped over a stick lying in his path and splashed into it.

  The slow moving stream covered him. It was just deep enough that he didn't hit his head on the rocky bottom. That would have just taken the cake, he thought as he rolled onto his back and floated. He was dirty, sweaty, reminded her of her brother, and fell into a stream. Very impressive.

  By the time the rocking motion had washed away his petulance, he'd cooled off. On the bank under a leafy branch that could only be seen from the water, he spied a piece of soapwood bark. Melodi must have used it to wash her body and clothes, then left it for him. Removing his soaked loincloth, Darien luxuriated in the invigorating scrub. The last of his strange mood flowed away with the sun dappled foam.

  No signs of habitation greeted him as he approached the branches of their shelter. Inside, Melodi sat up. She was naked again. Her hair fell in a smooth, midnight torrent down her back and across one shoulder.