Portal to the Forgotten

by John Gschwend

  The dog began yipping. Luke knew what it meant, reminded him of an old beagle he once had. A rabbit leaped out of the cane and darted in front of Kreecuk. He threw the spear and missed the rabbit clean. The rabbit zigged and zagged like a drunken roadrunner and made a quick turn back into the cane. Kreecuk turned, shrugged his shoulders, and smiled. He motioned for Luke to take the lead and get the next shot.

  Luke nocked an arrow and took up the position. They eased along the edge of the brush, the men in the bushes shaking and thrashing the cane, the dog barking and whining. A rabbit squirted from the cane about fifteen yards ahead. Luke drew the bow on the way up and let the arrow fly before the bow stopped rising. The arrow caught the rabbit in the neck, and it was instantly over for the rabbit as it spun circles on the arrow and died. Luke pulled the arrow from the rabbit and held the rabbit for the beaters to see. They all whooped with delight, and the dog jumped up for the animal as Luke held him high until Kreecuk slapped the dog and sent him back to the cane.

  They hunted until late morning and had fourteen rabbits; Luke had killed nine of them and had become their good hunting buddy. They marveled at his shooting and tried the bow for themselves, but they gave it up for their familiar spears. Luke was glad of it; he remembered Orion not wanting them to have the technology.

  They built a fire by a creek and roasted five of the rabbits. This life was perfect. It was the life Luke had always dreamed of, living off the land. There were no electronics here, no metal weapons, no gunpowder, no gas stove. It was just a few hunting buddies out on a hunt. But this was different from back home. Here you hunted to eat, hunted to live. This was perfect.

  The men lounged around the fire and nursed the cooking rabbits. The natives laughed and made motions simulating hunting, no doubt reliving the day’s hunt or past hunts. Luke wished he could understand, wished he could join in the camaraderie. He was picking up a few words, but he just wasn’t sure of them yet. But he would learn. He would join right in there with them.

  The men grew quiet and all stared at Luke. Luke shrugged his shoulders. “What?”

  One of the men spewed out a fast sentence, and, of course, Luke had no idea what he was saying, except he heard “Sha-She.”

  Another man, rubbing the dog behind the ears, stood and made an obscene motion with his hips. “Sha-She?”

  Luke grew red and poked into the fire.

  The three men laughed and pointed at him, but Kreecuk scolded them and motioned toward the rabbits cooking. “Reedu.” With that, the other two men each pulled a rabbit from its stick and began eating. Kreecuk gave Luke one of them. “Reedu.”

  Luke took the rabbit. “Thank you.”

  Kreecuk nodded and fetched the last rabbit for himself. He sat down and pulled his rabbit from the stick. He nudged Luke’s shoulder. When Luke looked, he made a nasty motion with his rabbit’s hindquarters. “Sha-She.” All four of the natives exploded with laughter.

  Luke felt his face burn fire-red. But he couldn’t help himself. He laughed too, but managed, “No Sha-She.”

  The rest of the men began manipulating their rabbits into vulgar positions. But they appeared ridiculous since the men had eaten most of the hind quarters. Luke pointed at their ridiculous puppetry and laughed the loudest. Yes, it was just like hunting buddies back home.

  When Luke arrived back to the village, he was in high spirit. He had enjoyed himself on the hunt. It was what he was made for. It was who he was. After dressing the rest of the rabbits and replaying the hunt with his friends for the tenth time, he looked for Moon.

  The king stopped him in front of his big lodge. He held up his hand and in it was what appeared to be a large diamond the size of a golf ball. “Sha-She.” He threw the diamond to the ground and began a tirade of words that were filled with venom.

  Luke felt as out of place and vulnerable as a black spider on a white wall. He couldn’t communicate, but he well understood that the king was pissed at his own daughter, and it had something to do with that diamond or whatever that shiny rock was. All his guards kept their heads lowered and slowly shook them from side to side. And it was odd, but they were crying. The king ranted and ranted, and it could have been Greek or French or Ancient Hebrew, but it damn sure wasn’t English. But there was one word the king kept saying all through the rant: “Nephilim.”

  Luke didn’t know if he was supposed to bow or run away, but he had to know if the word meant what he thought it meant. He raised his hand high like you do when you want to indicate something is tall. “Nephilim?” he said.

  A few of the guards noticed—no one else was there with the king but guards—and looked shocked that someone would address the king when he was flying off the handle like he was.

  The king suddenly stopped his tirade and stared at Luke for a long spell. Tears slowly tracked down his face, and he raised his hand half-high. “Nephilim.”

  Luke felt a weight. He whispered, “Giant. It was as Orion had said.”

  The king slowly turned and headed back toward his lodge.

  One of the guards grabbed up a spear and shield and pointed toward the south. He rattled off something about “Sha-She” and “Nephilim.”

  The king turned, shook his head no, and pulled the shield from the man’s hand, throwing it to the ground. He looked back at Luke, turned, and went back to his Lodge. The guards took up their posts around the lodge as if nothing had happened.

  Luke looked for Moon, but she was not in the village. He went back to the area where he had slept the night before and piled down on the ground. What had just happened? What did the diamond mean? Why was the king so angry? Why was he crying? Why did the guard grab a spear and shield? Luke wished he could speak the language—he would try harder to learn it.

  What did he know? He knew Moon was gone. He knew Moon had been after the diamonds. He knew the king was upset about the diamonds. And he knew the king had said, “Nephilim.” Luke knew that in the Bible, Nephilim were giants. This all added up to something bad. Was this why Moon came back here? Did the diamonds and the giants have something to do with it?

  Luke shook his head and said, “Nephilim.”

  A shadow fell over him, and he covered his eyes and looked up. It was Adam.

  “Where did you go?” Luke said as he got to his feet. “I needed you here to translate some of this crap they have been saying. Moon has disappeared and the king is upset about—”

  “Sha-She is trouble.”

  Luke had to agree with that statement.

  “Is Luke trouble like Sha-She? You came back with her.”

  It was fair. Adam didn’t know him from—well—Adam.

  Luke put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Adam, I am lost. I am from another place as Orion is. I don’t really know Sha-She. I am here searching for Grace.”

  Adam, stone faced, said nothing.

  “I need your help, Adam. I know nothing of this world.”

  Adam reached down and picked up Luke’s bow. “We go help Sha-She.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Adam turned and started toward the river.

  Luke caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder. “What do you mean, and why bother if she is such trouble?”

  Adam looked toward the king’s lodge. “She is Kayeeya.” He turned and looked at Luke. “She will be our queen.”

  “I see.”

  “You help me find Sha-She; I help you find your Grace.”

  Luke perked up. “You think she is still alive?”

  “We find her either way.” Adam turned and went to the canoe.

  That took the wind from Luke’s sails. But he had no other plans, no other choices. He followed Adam to the canoe. “What do you know about the Nephilim?”

  Adam stopped, slowly turned. “I know.”

  Luke’s heart raced and he mysteriously felt a strange nervousness. “Are they really giants?”

  Adam turned and shoved the canoe from the bank. “Get in.”

  “Are they giants, Adam?”
>
  “Get in, Luke.”

  Luke climbed into the front of the canoe, and Adam pushed it into the current. He settled into the back and was soon digging in with the paddle.

  Luke turned and faced Adam. “I have to know. Are they real giants?”

  “Never good when Nephilim around. Orion say stay away. Now, you me help paddle.”

  “You’re a grown man. Can’t you make your own decisions?”

  Adam smiled. “Orion’s a smart man. It’s why I am a grown man.”

  From the first time he met Adam, Luke considered himself the most intelligent of the two. Now he had just been served a lesson in reality. He was humbled and a little embarrassed for being so arrogant, which he normally wasn’t. He turned back in his seat and began paddling. He would learn from this lesson—he would spend time with Orion.

  Chapter 10

  When they arrived at the cave, it was empty except for a big, black crow on the table eating pecans from a bowl. The crow flew off with a ruckus. Adam went first to the fireplace, knelt down, and started a fire from a tiny ember that had survived in the recesses of the cold logs. Orion was not there. Luke wondered where the elderly man had gone alone. He had to be too old to hunt.

  Adam pointed to a stack of firewood. “Bring more wood for the fire.”

  He grabbed up a few sticks and placed them by Adam, who soon had a pretty fire dancing. Adam reached into the cupboard, retrieved big roots, different type nuts, and other vegetable-looking things, and dropped them in the big stone pot. He poured water in from a big gourd—he was making a soup. He worked at it for a time, adding some type of ground up seasoning, and lastly, a few pieces of dried meat.

  “What are you brewing up there?” Luke said as he examined it.

  Adam slid it close to the fire. “Orion calls it dump soup.”

  Luke laughed. “Because you dump everything into it?”

  Adam smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

  Luke placed his quiver on the table and pulled out his arrows. He inspected each one and arranged them on the table in accordance with the work they needed. A couple needed the stone points sharpened. Another needed a new feather, and so on. He chipped at the points and had them razor-sharp in short order. He pulled a piece of sinew string from his pack and placed in into his mouth. He chewed on it to moisten and soften it, and then he wrapped it around the feathers, to which he had added a new one to replace a ragged one. He busied himself with this chore for a time until he had his kit back in top order.

  He turned toward Adam. “Do you have a…”

  The cave was empty. No Adam. The fire blazed at a good level for cooking and coals and been shored around the bottom of the pot. But Adam was gone. Luke went to the opening and looked out at the area below. There was nothing but one lone crow circling, obviously wanting Luke to leave so he could get back to the pecans. The joke was on him because Adam had put them in the soup.

  Luke stood there bewildered. Why did Adam leave him? He began to feel trapped. After all, he really didn’t know Adam or Orion before a few days ago. Yet, it was ridiculous to think that way—they were the only things that linked him to home. However, he sure didn’t want to be surprised again. Luke didn’t even know when Adam left or how long he had been gone.

  Well, they would be back some time, and there was nothing to do but wait. Luke went to one of the beds and reclined on it, his fingers clasped behind his head, and he stared at the cave ceiling. The ceiling was black from years of smoke. There was a trail where it rolled out to the opening and into the sky, as it was doing now.

  Luke’s imagination ran like water through a brook. He could see Orion as a younger man first coming upon this cave. He probably would have still been afraid of being lost in this land. He would have had no one to talk to. He would have missed his family, his wife and daughter. He had nothing with him when he disappeared, no weapons, no tools, nothing. He would have had to start from scratch. He would have been banged up inside and out from fighting with the Scrain. He had not starved; he had not died from the elements. He was resourceful. He met another woman here and fell in love. He must have still missed his family back home. Luke found it hard to keep his eyes open as he thought about Orion. Orion had raised a son here. He had…

  Luke stirred from his sleep when he heard liquid pouring into a container. He eased his eyes open, just slits, to find Orion ladling soup from the soapstone pot with a gourd-half and pouring it into a bowl. Luke did not move, but watched the old man arrange things on the table. Orion had his hair tied into a long queue, which hung down his back like a long, white snake. When everything was arranged to suit him, he turned to Luke. Luke snapped his eyes closed.

  “You can get up now, Possum.” Orion said.

  Luke smiled and sat up on the bed. “How did you know I was awake?

  Orion laughed. “You must not be a father. I reckon kids playing possum is as old as time.”

  They sat at the table, and Luke said, “No, Sir, not a father, yet.”

  Orion smiled. “Let’s thank The Almighty for our blessings.” He prayed as pretty a prayer as Luke had ever heard. But of late, Luke had been tardy when it came to church and prayer.

  Luke smelled the soup and realized that he was extremely hungry. The last thing he had eaten was some hard jerky Adam had given him. He blew on his spoon and then shoveled it in. It was the absolute best thing he had ever eaten. If he had the recipe, he could make a killing with it at an exotic restaurant. “Mmm!” He couldn’t get the spoon to his mouth fast enough on the return. Oh, yes; people would pay top dollar for this concoction. “Adam said you call this dump soup?” Luke said between spoonfuls.

  “Correct.”

  No, it would have to have a better name than that. Luke thought for a few minutes, never ceasing on the shoveling it to his mouth. Traveler’s Soup or Soup Of Another World or The Soup From Beyond. Yeah, one of those would be better than Dump Soup. He would call his restaurant Portal to the Forgotten Dimension. He didn’t know where he pulled that from, but it surely fit the bill. His waiters would wear animal skins. The entrance to his restaurant would have a long tunnel and—

  “Slow down there, Luke. We have plenty.”

  “Sorry.” Luke returned the spoon to the bowl at a reduced speed, but he still scooped it in. “I know this has a lot of stuff in it, but what is that unique and distinct taste, the delicious overtone.”

  “That’s what gives it the name, Dump Soup.”

  Luke’s spoon involuntarily began moving much slower. “I figured the name came about because you dumped everything in it; thus, Dump Soup.”

  The natives call it Shook Avure.”

  Luke put the spoon down. “And that means?”

  Orion sipped a big spoonful and placed his spoon back in the bowl. “To put it nicely, poop soup.”

  Luke felt the soup grow heavy in his stomach.

  “The natives collect the elephant droppings and dry it. Then they smash it up and store it. It is used as widely as we use salt to flavor back in America. But there is one thing, though; it has to have a certain fuzzy mold growing on it first or the flavor is too bland.”

  Luke knew his face was turning green—it had to be. He pulled a piece from the bread loaf and crammed it into his mouth. With a mouthful, he said, “Any manure in this bread?”

  “No, Luke. It is almost like you would get back home.” Orion pulled him a piece. “Almost.” He smiled.

  Luke had a sudden thought: there was no bread here when he fell asleep. There was no oven. He looked at it. It was bread, a little sweet, but it was yeast-bread. He held his piece up. “Where did this come from?”

  Orion smiled large. “I know I’m way out here alone, but I have my ways.”

  “Am I to believe it’s magic? You pull it out of mid air?”

  “Nomads.”

  Luke took another bite of the bread. “Uh?”

  “Yes. They travel all over the plains and forests, not unlike some of the Indians back home. They are called
Reeze.”

  No nomadic Indians anymore, Luke thought. What would Orion think of reservations?

  “They trade with me at intervals. They are great bread bakers.”

  “What? Do they carry ovens with them on their travels? Do they have wagons or something?”

  “They have them scattered, as they have watering holes, and supplies. You know—caches.”

  It came to Luke that these would be the people most likely to have seen Grace. If they were nomads and traveled a lot, it would make the most sense that they would see more.

  Orion scooted his chair from the table and dragged it to the cave opening. “Here, Luke, bring your chair beside me.” Luke did as instructed. “I’ve a little after-dinner refreshment.” Orion pulled a lopsided jug from the shelf. “I made this since I last saw you.” He grabbed two mugs from the shelf and handed them both to Luke, and Luke held them while Orion poured. As Orion sat down beside him, Luke took a sip. It was the sweet, muscadine wine. He smiled and nodded his approval.

  Luke heard the rumble and trumpet of the mammoths on the prairie. He looked out across the plain and saw them moving in his direction. The sight of the giant beasts moved him more than anything else in this strange dream he was living. Hollywood had tried to portray them, but they always got it wrong. They moved somewhat like elephants, yet they did not. They moved in a smoother motion, and these appeared to glide across the land, bathed in the warm light of the setting sun.

  “They’re coming in to roost,” Orion said. “Tonight you will be able to smell them when you sleep.”

  This was so unreal. It was better than winning the lottery.

  Orion patted Luke’s leg. “You know it is a great comfort with them down below my home, knowing almost everyone in this place is afraid of them.”

  Luke sniffed the air—yes, you could certainly smell them. Slowly it sunk in what Orion had said, “Almost everyone.” He started to ask about that, but Orion stood. “Look. There comes Adam.”

  Adam’s long, red hair whipped and trailed behind him like a horse’s tail. It was no doubt to Luke if Adam were in his world he would be a model or movie star. He did not detour; he walked with the giant beasts, paying them no mind as he marched across the plain and toward his father’s home. Where had he been? What makes Adam’s world turn?