Dragon Frontier Page 16

  ‘I came back to find out about my family,’ said Jake, ‘and to prove that I had seen a dragon.’

  ‘A dragon?’ asked Yellow Cloud. ‘I did not know you had a word for the Thunderbird in your language. Perhaps our two peoples are not very different.’

  ‘We are very different,’ said Jake. ‘My people don’t expect dragons to be real.’

  After the meal, more of the Natives entered the tent. There was no longer room to sit, except for Chief Half Moon and his guests, but they too stood when the chanting began.

  Chief Half Moon turned to face Jake, and, as he spoke, Yellow Cloud translated.

  ‘You have come to us, our brother. Your Thunderbird spirit protects you. Your vision quest is completed. Your spirit has bestowed your powers upon you.’

  Chief Half Moon reached for Jake’s left hand and frowned when he found it bound in dirty bandages. He spoke quietly to Tall Elk.

  Jake looked at Yellow Cloud, but the Native gave nothing away. Then he tried to catch Eliza’s eye, but her head was bowed, almost as if she was at prayer.

  Tall Elk moved between Chief Half Moon and Jake. He took Jake’s left hand in both of his and began to unwrap the bandages. Jake wasn’t sure the wounds had healed, and Mrs Garret had told him not to touch his bandages. He looked into Tall Elk’s eyes, but the Native seemed calm, so Jake allowed him to continue to remove the bandages. When the last of the rags fell away, Jake looked at Tall Elk and saw the colour drain out of the Native’s face.

  Tall Elk looked from Jake’s hand to his face and then at Chief Half Moon. The Chief half-raised one eyebrow. Then he looked into Jake’s face, and Jake thought he saw a tear in the Chief’s eye. He decided it was an odd thought and he must be mistaken.

  Chief Half Moon took Jake’s left hand in his left hand and raised it so high above the boy’s head, so suddenly, that Jake was on his tiptoes, at full stretch.

  There was an audible gasp as the Natives saw his hand, and Jake wanted to know what it looked like too. He had not watched while Tall Elk unwrapped the bandages, and now his hand was above his head, and everyone else could see it. The collective gasp of so many Natives made him anxious, and he felt his face reddening.

  Chief Half Moon began speaking again, and Jake listened carefully to Yellow Cloud’s translation.

  ‘The boy sees through the eye of the Thunderbird. He is marked for greatness. He will bring the power of Thunderbird medicine among us.’

  Then Chief Half Moon gently lowered Jake’s hand and let go of it, after squeezing it in a way that Jake felt was almost affectionate.

  Jake watched as the Chief removed a beautiful beaded bracelet from his nut-brown wrist. The large bright red gem at its centre gleamed brilliantly. It flashed reflected pink light against the skin walls of the Lodge as the Chief held it up for all to see.

  Tall Elk took Jake’s left hand, palm down, and held it before the Chief so that he could fasten the bracelet securely around Jake’s wrist.

  ‘We welcome you, our brother,’ Yellow Cloud translated. ‘We welcome you to the summer land of Smoke Mountain, and we welcome you to the winter land, the Land of the Red Moon.’

  As the first of the ululating calls of joy from the oldest of the Native women began to ring out, Jake was finally able to look at his hand. He was mesmerized by the bracelet and by the beautiful red gem, which reminded him of another. Then he turned his hand over and looked at his palm.

  Almost the entire flat of Jake’s hand was covered in an intricate pattern. Pink puckered skin was interlaced with yellow scars, all curling around a central circle marked in a darker curving red ridge of skin. The marks wove around in a spiral, the flame shapes getting smaller towards the centre, overlapping.

  The marks reminded Jake of something, but he couldn’t think what. He stared at his palm for so long that his eyes began to smart. As he finally blinked, he saw an image in his mind’s eye. He looked at the scars on his hand again, and then squeezed his eyes deep into his face so that the image in his mind was burned there forever.

  Jake saw a beautiful, circular jewel. He saw overlapping green enamel scales. He saw a deep, glowing red gemstone. Jake opened his eyes and turned to Eliza.

  ‘It’s like my mother’s brooch,’ he said. ‘Why do the scars on my hand look like my mother’s brooch?’

  ‘You’re seeing what you want to see,’ said Eliza. ‘Your mother is dead, or gone at least. Everything is bound to remind you of her.’

  ‘She was wearing her brooch the day of the wagon-train fire,’ said Jake.

  ‘My point precisely,’ said Eliza.

  As Jake let his arm drop to his side, the red stone of the bracelet fell to the inside of his wrist, where his father used to take his pulse. Jake was suddenly aware of a gentle throb in his arm that echoed the pulsing light of the gem.

  ‘What’s happening to me?’ he asked himself, so quietly that he wondered if he’d only thought the question.

  ‘Nothing,’ said Eliza, standing beside him. She took his hand. ‘In the morning, we’ll go home, or Mama will never forgive me.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Jake. ‘What if my mother is still alive? What if they can help me find her?’

  Eliza dropped Jake’s hand. She didn’t want to argue with him, but she wanted to go home to her family, and she didn’t want to be blamed for her father losing another son. They had all suffered enough.

  ‘I’ll make them take you home,’ Jake said. ‘I promise you can leave first thing in the morning. I have to stay. I have to find out about my family. I have to know if a dragon killed them.’

  The celebration inside the Lodge lasted for about another hour, and then the Natives made their way in a ragged line out of the teepee to a large fire at the heart of the settlement. They sang and danced long into the night, while Yellow Cloud, Tall Elk and Chief Half Moon sat with Jake, discussing his role in the tribe. White Thunder led Eliza across the teepee, laid her down and covered her with a blanket. The girl was exhausted by her adventures and was convinced that her dreams would be less fantastical than real life.

  ‘If you wish,’ translated Yellow Cloud, ‘we will call you brother and train you in the ways of our people.’

  ‘What about the dragons?’ asked Jake.

  ‘You will be paired with a Thunderbird,’ said Yellow Cloud. ‘The ritual is simple and painless. The Thunderbird will choose you, respond to your call, to your command stone.’ He pointed at Jake’s wrist where the jewel continued to give off a warm red light.

  ‘Must I become a brother?’ asked Jake.

  Yellow Cloud looked surprised and didn’t translate the question for Chief Half Moon.

  ‘We will not compel you to become our brother,’ he said, ‘but no one has ever refused. It is a great privilege to join the brotherhood. You are very important to us as one who sees through the eye of the Thunderbird. There is only one such in a generation.’

  ‘I cannot become your brother,’ said Jake, his chin dropping to his chest.

  Chief Half Moon had not understood the conversation between Jake and Yellow Cloud. Nevertheless, he took the boy’s chin in his hand and lifted his face, locking his gaze on Jake’s eyes.

  Yellow Cloud translated. ‘You fear the Thunderbird,’ he said. ‘You fear the Thunderbird that destroyed your wagon train and killed your family. We fear it too. That is why you must join our brotherhood.’

  ‘Then I have every reason to go back to McKenzie’s Prospect,’ said Jake. He wanted to wipe his face on the sleeve of his shirt, but he wasn’t wearing a shirt. As he lifted his left arm to his face, he looked again at the tattoos. He blinked his tears away and sniffed hard.

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nbsp; Tall Elk sat down behind Jake and placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders. He spoke in calm tones, and Jake began to relax as the sounds of the words washed over him.

  ‘The Land of the Red Moon is home to the Thunderbird. They are many in their homelands and they do not all belong with our people. There are other forces that mean to do harm.’

  ‘What forces? What land?’ asked Jake.

  ‘We do not know all that there is to know,’ Yellow Cloud translated from Tall Elk’s words. ‘Thunderbirds have attacked before, raided many tribes and wagon trains.’

  ‘You didn’t say killed,’ said Jake, turning to Tall Elk, even though Yellow Cloud was translating. There was urgency and hope in Jake’s voice. ‘You didn’t say the dragons killed, you only said they raided. Do you know if my family’s dead? Their bodies weren’t found.’

  ‘We do not know,’ said Tall Elk in his broken English, before returning to his own language.

  ‘We know that the Thunderbirds take as much as they destroy. We know that they take things to the Land of the Red Moon, but we do not know why.’

  ‘What is this place?’ asked Jake. ‘There is no red moon.’

  ‘Only the Cloud People can pass from this place to the Land of the Red Moon, and only the Thunderbirds can take us there.’

  ‘Then I can go,’ said Jake, excited by the idea that his parents might still be alive. ‘If my parents were stolen by these dragons and taken to this place, I can rescue them.’

  ‘It is unlikely they are alive,’ Yellow Cloud said, ‘but if you become our brother you will see the Land of the Red Moon one day.’

  ‘Why can’t I go now?’ asked Jake.

  ‘The Cloud People travel a great distance on foot to our winter training camps to work with the Thunderbirds. We have a settlement close to the Lakes of Fire. It is a short distance from our winter training grounds to the Land of the Red Moon. We return with the first snowfall.’

  ‘That could be weeks!’ exclaimed Jake. ‘I can’t wait weeks!’

  Yellow Cloud smiled. ‘You see with the eye of the Thunderbird. We will begin your training tomorrow, and when the first snow falls you should be able to ride your Thunderbird to the winter training grounds.’

  I see with the eye of the Thunderbird, thought Jake. I see with the eye of the dragon. He was suddenly aware of how important this could be in his quest to find his family, and of how important it could be in his life.

  ‘We will also give you a tribal name,’ said Yellow Cloud.

  ‘What will it be?’ asked Jake. ‘I see with the eye of the Thunderbird.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Yellow Cloud.

  ‘Dragon Sight,’ said Jake.

  ‘What?’ asked Yellow Cloud.

  ‘Dragon Sight,’ said Jake again.

  ‘I do not know how to translate for Tall Elk,’ said Yellow Cloud. ‘What does “dragon sight” mean?’

  ‘It means,’ said Jake, ‘that I see with the eye of the Thunderbird.’

  Jake wanted to celebrate with the Natives around the fire, especially after his long conversation with the elders. He had finally decided to join them, but it was late and he was tired, and Eliza was already asleep. He did not argue with Tall Elk when he walked Jake across the Lodge and made him lie down on the matting there, before covering him with a blanket.

  Jake was asleep almost before he laid down his head, but not before he had looked once more at the scars in his palm and closed his left hand around the glowing red gem hanging from his wrist.

  Yellow Cloud and Tall Elk sat talking about their new little brother and remembering their own initiations. They’d been boys once, sent on their vision quests to find out what kind of men they would become. At about Jake’s age, they’d walked into the mountains, alone, as all boys did. There they had encountered their personal fates and found their spirit guides. The lucky ones, Tall Elk and Yellow Cloud among them, became brothers of the Thunderbird. Their spirit protectors from the invisible world gave them their calling. Yellow Cloud was a great scout, who travelled far and wide, meeting people and building connections. He’d bonded with one Thunderbird, and it was his duty to care for his mount and to train other riders.

  Tall Elk also had the scars of the Thunderbird spirit, but he was their wise medicine man, blessed with the skills to perform the tattooing rituals and to heal the burns inflicted by the Thunderbirds. He was a rider and a teacher, and an advisor to Chief Half Moon.

  Neither Yellow Cloud nor Tall Elk had ever seen the eye of the Thunderbird marks before. Chief Half Moon had seen them once in his grandfather’s hand, but Eye of the Storm had been buried before Chief Half Moon had been sent out into the mountains on his vision quest. For most of the Cloud People, the eye of the Thunderbird marks were simply legend. When Chief Half Moon had raised the white boy’s hand, all of their questions had been answered. He was not only one of them, he might grow up to be the greatest of them.

  ‘You must lead us to my children,’ said Pius Garret.

  ‘Not without a couple of dozen strong men with guns,’ said Trapper Watkiss. ‘I can take you to the Natives, but, you mark my words, we need guns and lots of ’em.’

  ‘I’ve had dealings with the Natives before,’ said Garret. ‘They’re not violent.’

  ‘They’ve got horses and weapons, and they kidnap children clean away,’ said Trapper. ‘Those great beasts they ride! They make fire! They’re pure evil!’

  Trapper Watkiss struggled to put his clothes back on under the blanket. His long underwear was dry and his breeches had not burned through, despite the sooty stains behind. He had to borrow a shirt and jacket from the men, and, with the addition of the wrappings around his head, he looked even more bedraggled than usual.

  Trapper slid his hand into his pocket, under the blankets, and felt around for the bracelet he’d stolen from the Native he’d stabbed. His fingers touched the cool stones, and he smiled. He had finally found the jewels and the settlement for Nathan McKenzie. If they could only get rid of the Natives, the mountain and all the riches hidden in it would be theirs. The children would be his excuse for invading the Native settlement, but first Trapper Watkiss had to get back to McKenzie’s Prospect.

  ‘If you want those children back safe in town,’ he said to the men, ‘we’ll need to get up a raiding party. Do you want to fight the Injuns when there’s a dozen of them to one of you? I won’t let you do it.’

  With that, Trapper Watkiss got to his feet, cast a glance at the rising sun and set off back along the riverbank, heading towards McKenzie’s Prospect. He was not surprised to hear the men gathering up their belongings and kicking over the fire, ready to join him on his walk home.

  As they approached McKenzie’s Prospect that afternoon, one by one the men peeled off to walk home. There was no need for them to return en masse to the mercantile. Trapper Watkiss would report back to Nathan McKenzie, and they would spread word of the rescue party among their friends and neighbours. Menfolk from all around the town would meet outside the saloon on Main Street at dawn the following morning to plan the rescue.

  Trapper Watkiss and Lem Sykes walked into the mercantile at dusk to find Nathan McKenzie sitting on his stool, filling his pipe. He didn’t get up to greet them, but he did stifle a laugh at the sight of Trapper Watkiss.

  Trapper frowned hard at Nathan McKenzie and stood next to him, looking at Lem.

  ‘Go home, Lem,’ said McKenzie. ‘Your mother’s got supper ready.’

  Lem stood in front of the old men for a moment, perhaps expecting them to say more, but when they said nothing he turned and left. McKenzie locked the door of the mercantile and then sat back on his stool.

 
‘Well?’ he asked.

  Trapper smiled at his boss, his eyes twinkling, and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the bracelet with its gleaming gems and held it up in front of McKenzie.

  McKenzie smiled back at Trapper and then took the bracelet and began to examine the gems on it.

  ‘Where do we get more like this?’ he asked Trapper.

  ‘That’s the beauty part,’ said Trapper, and he began to tell his story, finishing with the plan to take a rescue party back to Smoke Mountain. They could kill the Natives and drive the Thunderbirds away to rescue Garret’s kids, and look like heroes in the process.

  Nathan McKenzie slapped his old friend on the back. Then he broke into a hearty belly laugh, which Trapper Watkiss couldn’t help joining in with.

  Jake woke as dawn was breaking, to the sounds of the Natives hooting and hollering. He rose from his bed on the floor of the Lodge and went outside. Yellow Cloud, Tall Elk and Chief Half Moon greeted him, along with two other boys.

  Eliza followed him out of the Lodge, where White Thunder joined her and led her to a group of women at the edge of the circle of men.

  ‘This is Jake’s day,’ said White Thunder. ‘We will stay with the women and prepare our feast.’

  ‘We must go home,’ said Eliza urgently. ‘Papa and Mama will never forgive me, and they will never forgive you.’

  ‘There is nothing to forgive,’ said White Thunder simply. ‘Tonight we will feast, and tomorrow Yellow Cloud will return you to your people.’

  A hush fell over the settlement as the group of Thunderbird riders formed, each with his gem bracelet and his mount, and all of them brothers.

  Jake and the two Native boys, who were both taller than Jake and probably older, were soon surrounded by the men. They were introduced as Rolling Thunder and Grey Wolf, newly returned from their vision quests.