They came upon a huge black rock protruding from the center of the river, a monolith marking an important entryway. She knew this place. Straining to see downriver, she sensed a rapid in the distance. A sick feeling settled in her stomach.
We need to get off the water.
She glanced to the shoreline, trying to gauge the distance.
A small figure caused her to do a double-take. Her breath caught. Was someone on shore?
“Hey!” she yelled, then stopped, wiping at the water pouring down her face, not sure if she’d actually seen something. The figure moved and blurred again. Was it the boy? Loloma? What was he doing here?
Reason told her he couldn’t be here. What was happening?
She turned to the opposite side of the river. A tall, dark creature stood there—maybe a man, maybe the entity from the previous night.
A chill ran down her spine. As she watched the figure, she knew he wasn’t there to help.
Lightning flashed and she jumped. Thunder cracked immediately, rumbling loudly down the canyon corridor.
“Diamond! Do something!” she cried. Her gaze darted to him. He faced her now, slumping in the bottom of the dory, holding his head between his hands. His eyes were closed and he was chanting to himself. Or was he praying?
Emma moved to his seat, took hold of the oars, and oriented the boat downriver. She began rowing to put distance with whoever was on shore. The sound of rushing water filled her ears as if a train had suddenly come upon them. A glance over her shoulder confirmed her worst fear. A rapid loomed ahead with giant pillars of whitewater visible even in the haze of the storm.
“Oh my God.”
The rapid was bigger, meaner, and altogether of a different temperament than any she’d yet encountered, and there was no time to escape. A quick scan of the current told her to enter at the center. With loud grunts, she rowed hard, angling the boat toward the south shore.
As they slid into the first wave, Emma felt herself become weightless, falling backward. Terrified, she screamed as Diamond landed on her, the dory nearly vertical. When it reached the bottom of the wave, she slammed into the wooden seat with a hard thud. Diamond rolled off her and to the stern. She fell onto him this time as the boat went vertical again in the opposite direction.
A wall loomed over her left shoulder. She scrambled back to the oars and pulled hard to turn them about. Water gushed over the sides, drenching her. She squinted and hid her eyes then struggled to regain her vision as onslaught after onslaught continued. They rolled violently down and up, her legs burning from the effort to stay wedged in the boat, her hands raw from gripping the oars, the wood tearing into her skin. With each upheaval, the boat went nearly vertical again and again. Diamond screamed, and a shriek tore from deep inside her throat.
They missed the first rocky wall only to face another over her right shoulder. She threw all her energy into the oars, knowing if they hit the cliff the boat would be broken to bits. She grunted and rowed, grunted and rowed, unsure of their progress but knowing she had only moments to avert disaster.
Finally, they rolled out of the waves, miraculously upright. She guided the waterlogged vessel forward as they exited the churning whitewater. Rain still poured down on them. Diamond lay clinging to the side, wide-eyed and horrified, in a pool of chest-high water. A lightning flash struck close and thunder boomed again. They couldn’t stay out in the open like this. With a strength she never knew she had, she steered the boat to shore, wondering if there’d be anyone to greet them. Masau’u? Loloma?
At a side beach she crawled to the edge of the dory and flung a leg over then splashed into the water. She pulled hard on the boat until she could anchor it better on land.
“Get out!” She had little energy to help Diamond and even less desire to.
As he came out of the dory, Emma noticed how frail he’d become.
“Evil spirits, evil spirits,” he muttered repeatedly under his breath.
“Why didn’t your Masau’u help you now?” Anger welled up inside Emma as she stood over him. “What the hell do you think we just went through? You’re completely worthless. We could’ve died out there, and there’s no one here who would’ve helped us.”
She walked away from Diamond’s slumped figure. She really hoped that the great Hopi God Masau’u did show up. She was ready to punch him in the face.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Emma leaned against a rock and watched the river in the hazy glow of twilight. It had stopped raining but gray clouds lingered. Although no longer drenched, her clothes remained damp, her body trembling from the chill. Or maybe it was the after-effect of her fear. She didn’t know where Diamond was, likely drying out somewhere.
She could have died.
There had been no sign of Masau’u, or Loloma, or any other spiritual entity. Maybe they stayed away because of her foul mood. She took perverse satisfaction in the thought. She was tired of being pushed around. She was tired of being afraid. And Diamond could eat dirt and swim his way out of the canyon for all she cared. Tomorrow, she was leaving. If Sparrow was right, she’d find Nathan five days from now.
She stood and went to salvage what she could from the dory.
* * *
The dream was a nice one. Nathan was a boy, and his parents were close by. His sister wasn’t being too much of a nuisance. He ran outside to play with his friends in the late-day sunlight. He laughed and yelled and threw a ball that was lying on the ground. A shadow crossed over him. He stopped and glanced upward. Several hawks flew overhead, circling. They dipped and climbed.
When his gaze came back to ground level, a mountain lion sat before him.
Hello, the big cat said.
Nathan grinned. This was a fun dream. “Hello.”
I’ve been looking for you.
“You have?” Fear sliced through him. He wondered if the cat would eat him.
Yes.
“Who’re you?”
I’m your guardian. I’ve always been with you.
Nathan suppressed an urge to snicker. This didn’t make any sense. “Then why are you looking for me if you’ve always been with me?”
The cat dipped her head, then looked him in the eye. Hers were the color of honey. Pretty. How did he know she was a girl? But she was.
I’m with other parts of you. I’ve been looking for you, this younger self, this part of you that’s open to the possibilities of life. Your other self closed itself a long time ago. It believes more in the hardships and less in the hope. That’s why you need to come back, to be part of Nathan again.
Nathan frowned. He really didn’t understand any of what the cat was saying. “What’s your name?”
Una.
“Can we play?”
Yes, but first I must show you something important.
Nathan sighed. He just wanted to play, but he’d follow the cat anyway. She was such a lovely shade of tan-gray.
He accompanied her down the dirt street, around the corner then toward the river. They walked for a long time through the city of St. Louis until they came to the docks. The wide Mississippi beckoned in the twilight.
“I’m not supposed to be this close to the water,” Nathan said. “My pa said so.”
It’ll be all right this time. We’ll go on this boat right here.
Nathan saw the small rowboat bobbing up and down in the water. It didn’t seem like a good idea. His pa would be livid if he found out. Una jumped gingerly into the boat. It rocked back and forth, then stopped. Nathan looked around, but there was no one nearby.
Come now. Trust me.
Nathan nodded. As long as no one saw, he’d be alright. He climbed quickly into the boat. The two of them drifted into the current and moved along the calm water.
“Where are we going?”
This isn’t a river that you’re used to seeing. This is a river of time.
“Huh?”
You can see. All you have to do is look.
Worry overtook Nathan. He didn
’t understand this. He’d have to pretend with Una so she wouldn’t call him stupid.
There is no right or wrong. Simply open your heart.
Dumbfounded, Nathan stared at his feet. Slowly he lifted his head and gazed beyond the boat into the water. Images began to appear, as if made from fog, swirling close then dispersing. Nathan watched with apprehension. He really hoped they weren’t ghosts. The thought made him glance back at his shoes.
“What are they?” he whispered.
They’re you. This is your life.
“But I’m only eight years old, and those people are older.”
We’re not confined here by that. Time can curve and fold back. You can see your future.
Nathan didn’t feel comforted by the big cat talking to him in his head. He looked around, and wondered how to get off the boat. He might have to jump and swim. He was a strong swimmer, but doubt flooded him as to whether he could make it to shore. He glanced up, and his gaze was caught by the scene before him.
A man was the prisoner of Indians. He was hunched over with his hands tied behind him. With a flash of understanding, Nathan knew that it was him. He knew the captors were Comanche. Spellbound, the memory flooded into him, filling him with fear, filling him with resignation then with a keen desire to escape, a departure that took him months to execute. The planning brought him into a close relationship with a Comanche woman. He liked her, but she lied to him.
The image shifted to a younger man. He was seventeen. His father was dead.
“I don’t like this one! Stop it!”
The image ceased. Why was his pa dead?
“Is it true?” he asked Una.
Circumstances happen, sometimes sooner, sometimes later. Nathan, you are not a boy. You are seeing the past.
Frantic, Nathan tried to block the cat’s words. He squeezed his eyes shut. “Why is my life so hard? I don’t like it.”
You need to return to the older Nathan. You left him a long time ago. It’s time to stop living here.
“What do you mean? I like it here.”
I know. But you belong with Nathan, as he is today. He needs your optimism. He needs your playfulness. You’ve seen the difficulties in his life. Wouldn’t you like to help him?
He thought hard for a moment. Una made sense, although he didn’t know why.
Time to become whole.
“What if I don’t come with you?”
I cannot make you. You would stay here, forever a child, forever cut off from the richness of life. This place is safe, but it is a shadow world. Nothing here has substance.
Nathan took a deep breath. He could do this. He looked into Una’s yellow eyes. “I’ll come with you.”
Una nuzzled him with her wet nose. Let me get you home.
* * *
Nathan awoke with a start. Another damn dream.
Like the previous one about his pa, this one had been clear and precise—he could still feel the cat’s fur where it had rubbed against his cheek. He lay on his back, and stared at the starry sky. It was almost as if he could feel that childlike part of himself again that had been in the dream, as if it were inside him like it hadn’t been there before. And, oddly enough, he felt better about his situation, as if some thread of hope had suddenly been infused into him. He’d find Emma. Life would make sense again. His heart beat faster with anticipation.
A glance to the east told him it would be dawn soon. He rose to start a quick fire. He made coffee, roused Masito and Na’i, then urged them westward toward a certain intersection with Emma and Diamond.
* * *
As first light filled the sky, Emma moved to the rocks where she’d laid out her books and her journal to dry. She already cleaned out the boat and repacked everything, locating a knife. She hid it inside her boot, beneath her trousers, just in case she'd need it later.
Flipping through her well-worn copy of Paradise Lost, she thought about Adam and Eve’s struggle with the Devil, of their ejection from Eden, and of Satan’s own rebellion against God. Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. She glanced at Diamond, asleep near the shoreline. Pride all but dripped from him, but after the previous night he’d become inordinately afraid. His uncertainty spoke of the shaky foundation of his power. Humility was a difficult path, one Adam and Eve had been cast onto after their fall from grace, after their encounter with Sin—lest Sin surprise thee, and her black attendant Death.
She walked over to Diamond and nudged him with her foot. “Wake up. Wake up if you don’t want me to leave you here.”
Another nudge, and he sputtered awake. “Where am I?”
“I’m guessing we’ve been in hell.” Deep in the canyon as they were, within the bowels of the earth, it was the only explanation.
He rubbed his eyes, and looked genuinely afraid of her.
Emma grimaced. “I’m not going to kick you in the face, although I should.”
He stood, unsteady in the action. He glanced around, as if he expected evil henchmen to jump out of every bush. Emma understood his paranoia, but in the light of day her fears had abated. Masau’u didn’t scare her in the light, walking the dark pathways as he did. The thought made her pause.
That might be the key.
“I’m not staying here any longer,” she said. “So, get on the boat and let’s get out of here.”
She looked at the copy of John Wesley Powell’s book she carried. The account of his adventure in the Grand Canyon had sparked a flame inside her to come to this place, to see what he saw, to experience the grandeur that leapt from the pages but paled in comparison to the reality. But her reality had changed. There was no guidebook for where she was going.
She placed the book, along with Paradise Lost, into a rock strewn escarpment, a cradle to protect the tomes for another traveler to find. Perhaps they would prove useful to the next wandering soul to pass this way.
Diamond silently followed, climbing into the dory behind her. Emma stashed her journal then sat on the middle bench and grasped the oars. Diamond sat across from her in the back of the boat. With long strokes, she guided them into the river current and they moved swiftly along, fueled by her own determination.
She was on her own now.
* * *
All day they traveled on the watery pathway while black clouds released intermittent rain, three small riffles easily navigated. Emma didn’t speak to Diamond, and he didn’t seem much to care. In the late afternoon, she rowed the skiff onto the right shoreline at an open wash to make camp. By nightfall, she was exhausted and went to sleep beside the campfire she made for heating the coffeepot. Hoping that the rain would stay away, she reclined on the waterlogged ground and fell into a deep sleep with no dreams. Sometime during the night, she awoke. Immediately, she knew something was wrong.
Sitting upright, she glanced around for Diamond but saw no sign of him, although in the utter darkness it was difficult to see beyond a few feet. She remained still and listened.
Movement by the river made her heart beat faster.
Side to side slithering.
She stood and backed away from her sleeping spot, moving away from the shoreline.
She blinked and blinked, trying to clear her eyes. It couldn’t possibly be what she thought it was. A shadow moved towards her.
A snake!
A very large black one!
Emma turned and ran farther up the wash, splashing through water that flowed from the rain. A glance over her shoulder told her the snake followed.
Frantic with fear, she rushed to a pile of boulders and began climbing. She slipped, hitting her knee, and pain shot through her leg. She grimaced, pausing for a split second, but willed herself to keep going. She had to get higher. She had to get away. Finally, she reached a dead-end. With no other choice, she turned to face what chased her.
It moved closer. Her breath came in short gasps. She sucked in air so she could flatten herself against the rock behind her, so she could become as thin as possible. The snake’s face came nea
r hers, and she felt the tip of its tongue as it shot in and out of its mouth.
Her mind screamed that it was impossible for a snake to be this big.
“Get away from me,” she said in a low, guttural voice. “How dare you scare me like this.”
The body of the snake dissolved, like water released from a container. At the foot of the boulders lay Diamond. He looked up at her and released a crazy, wicked laugh. “Bet you can’t do that.”
Trembling from head to toe, Emma stared at him in shock.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The next morning Emma pushed the oars through the water as she guided the boat down river. Diamond sat slumped in the boat, facing her.
“How’d you do it?” she finally asked.
A half-smile curled his lips. “Impressive, huh?”
“Did you hypnotize me?”
A bigger smile creased his face, which only made him appear more unhinged. “Magic. Scared the hell out of you, didn’t it?”
“It was a trick,” she pressed. “A dream trick?”
“Maybe. The ability to shape-shift can be a handy tool. It’s not really a trick in the right locality.”
“So I was sleeping when it happened?” It hadn’t felt that way. She’d swear on a bible that she had been running last night.
“What do you think?”
But the question was rhetorical. Emma knew she hadn’t been sleeping. But how had he done it? She continued to row. “Why were you so afraid yesterday?” she asked.
“I wasn’t,” he said defensively. His bloated ego filled the space between them.
“Why did you cower in the boat then? Did you see Masau’u on the shoreline?”
A brief flash of surprise crossed his face, then was gone. “Did you?”
“Yes. And I saw Loloma. I’ve seen him before in this reality.”
Diamond became quiet, clearly disturbed by what she had said. “You must’ve seen an apparition,” he finally replied. “He can’t come through here.”
Emma knew he spoke of Masau’u. “What happened to your mother?” she asked.
Diamond’s eyes narrowed as he diverted his gaze. “She died when I was about twelve.”
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