 The
night was bitterly cold. Andrew Daly, the great Apache warrior kept a constant
vigil and the fire full of fresh wood for maximum warmth. The crackling
of the fire and the beautiful smell of the burning timber always made the
great warrior remember his youth and times spent by fires with his Father
and Grandfather. From time to time he would softly recite a chant that his
Grandfather had taught him as a child. The chant was said to have been handed
down from one generation to the next, having been created by of the greatest
Apache Medicine Men of long ago. It was a chant that thanked the Great Creator
for all of his wonderful gifts and asked him in times of danger to give
extra strength to particular individuals or creatures so that they would
have a better chance to overcome and survive difficult circumstances. The
chant always made Andrew the Apache feel as though he and the Great Creator
were personally in touch with each other and he was always satisfied that
the Great Creator would listen carefully to his requests during these times.
Back at the homeground, Virginia
O'Malley and Penny Pilgrim couldn't sleep. They each found their way to
a special spot that gave them a clear view of the sky yet kept them hidden
from any lurking predators. As Penny made her way to the spot she unexpectantly
met up with Virginia O'Malley; they smiled in acknowledgement at each
other. There were no words exchanged because they each knew why the other
was there. Both little mice had tears of emotion in their eyes. They turned
their loving eyes towards the heavens and the beauty of the sky amazed
them that particular evening. It was the time of the snow moon and it
shined brilliantly in the sky above. It lit the Great Smoky Mountains
up with an eerie brilliance. The snow on the ground served to make the
moonlight even brighter with its quality of natural reflection. There
was a gentle breeze blowing out of the east and occasionally a gust of
wind would blow through causing some of the frozen snow to make a sound
like little feet running across the top crust of the snow. The gusts would
also cause the surrounding tree branches to sway back and forth and make
eerie creaking sounds.
 Time
passed as they both looked towards the evening sky and still not a word
was spoken. They were fearful as a result of Fiona's visions but were
afraid to speak because they knew they might end up crying out loud worried
that they might awaken others. Virginia O'Malley thought back to her childhood
and of the stories from their ancestors from Ireland and how difficult
the long journey had been to their new home in the beautiful Smoky Mountains.
She remembered how her mama had taught her Irish tunes handed down from
generation to generation and that were meant for different situations.
She remembered one tune in particular that was designed to sooth their
minds in stressful situations. It was said to have been from a time so
long ago, even before St. Patrick had chased all of the snakes from Ireland
and the mice lived in constant fear of the dreadful critters. She wondered
if Penny might know the tune as it may help to softly sing it together.
She decided to begin singing it and see if her dear friend Penny would
join in. As she began the song Penny was startled to hear it. It took
her back to her childhood as well. She remembered the words clearly even
though she hadn't heard it in such a very, very long time. She smiled
as she softly joined Virginia O'Malley in the familiar tune she had learned
so long ago. After a few minutes of softly singing the song, they looked
at each other and smiled. They spontaneously hugged each other and felt
much better. They each took one more long look at the beautiful full snow
moon and without a word went back to bed. The old folklore had lifted
their spirits.
At first light, Andrew the Apache
knew that the morning air was going to be crisp as it always is at that
time of day. He added extra fuel to the fire and the flames rose higher
and higher. It gave off tremendous heat and the crackling sound was even
more intense.
Now, Andrew the Apache raised his
arms high and as he looked toward morning sunrise he chanted a prayer
to the Great Creator in a loud voice that was filled with urgency. Then
he faced the south, then west, then north and finally back to the east
again. As he slowly lowered his arms after chanting he went over to see
how the two little mice were doing.
 Paden
was sitting there staring blankly at his dear friend Paddy. Paddy still
wasn't moving and it was difficult to know if he was really breathing
or not. As Paddy lay there by the fire his tongue was now hanging out
of the side of his mouth, he appeared to be dead. His eyes were open with
a blank stare without blinking. It was a frightening sight. Paden slowly
lifted his eyes up and looked at Andrew the Apache. Very softly he said,
"Is he dead?" Andrew the Apache slowly moved his head from side
to side to indicate "no". Then Paden said, "Is he going
to die?" Andrew the Apache did not answer for a very long time.
Paden just stared blankly at Andrew
the Apache while waiting for an answer. Finally, Andrew the Apache spoke
saying, "Paden, there is no way that any of us can know the will
of the Great Creator. He allows Mother Nature to make many decisions that
affect life and death for all creatures of our great Mother Earth. Paddy
is very sick. He is not conscious. The only thing that we can do is go
on with our lives, pray and keep a positive attitude while we are around
him. His spirit will detect that we care about him and our positive energy
will do more good than negative energy. Even if he is taken from us into
the Spirit World, we would want him to leave with good energy and not
bad. That is important." Paden looked at Andrew the Apache and then
back at his good friend Paddy. He had no more words at that time.
 Andrew
the Apache left and went to search for more firewood. The dogs were up
and two of them went with their master to watch over him as he searched
for firewood. Paden's favorite dog, Thunder licked his face as he turned
to see if he was still lying next to him. Paden said, "Yuk!"
Thunder the jet black dog looked like he was smiling. His tongue was hanging
out the side of his mouth and he was breathing heavily, blowing his breath
in the direction of Paden's face. Thunder lifted his eyes towards the
beautiful sunrise and then back at Paden. He licked him again. Paden said,
"Thunder…you're gross! You're breath stinks!" Thunder let
out a short bark and then laid his head back down on his paws. He was
a huge dog.
Paden put his arms around Paddy
to hold him tightly. Paddy felt cold as ice and this made Paden worry
even more. He gently shook Paddy and said, "Paddy…wake up. Please
Paddy…wake up. I miss playing with you. You're the best friend I
ever had. Please Paddy…PLEEEEEAAASE COME BACK TO ME." Then Paden
began to softly cry. He couldn't help it. He wanted to be positive but
he just couldn't be strong at that moment. He was scared.
When Andrew the Apache came back,
Paden looked up at him through his tear laden face and asked, "Can
we go home now?" Andrew the Apache responded, "Paddy, whether
Paden comes back to us or not is beyond our control. We should stay here
for a day or two and see if his condition improves. We will not make a
decision today." Paden said, "Okay."
Several days went by and with each
passing day, Paden kept hoping that he would awaken to find his friend
Paddy ready to play Thunder Jack or Cowrate. Paddy did not wake up. One
morning Andrew the Apache came to Paden and asked him what he wanted to
do as he needed to leave and he could either take the little mice back
to their homeground or they could continue their journey and hope that
Paddy would awaken along the way. Paden thought for a little while and
said, "Okay…let's leave this chicken coop!" Andrew the
Apache smiled broadly as he knew that Paden was using the words that Paddy
had used when he had first found out about them going with Andrew the
Apache on this great cross country adventure.
Andrew
the Apache broke camp and they moved off to the northeast. Paden was perched
in his saddle up on Thunder's back. He had little Paddy laid across Thunder's
back in front of him making sure he was comfortable so that he could keep
an eye on Paddy and stroke his face every once in awhile. Andrew the Apache
looked back at Paden and grinned.
As they moved forward in the bitterly
cold conditions they reached the frozen Tennessee River. It was much larger
than the Little River and they had to cross it in order to continue their
journey. Paden stood up in the saddle, hesitating while looking at the
large river. It frightened him. He remembered what had happened to Paddy
at the last frozen river.
Andrew the Apache looked at Paden
and saw how frightened he was. He said, "My little friend, we must
cross this river to continue our journey. It is safe here. The ice is
very thick. This part of the river has slower moving water. We will all
be fine." Paden was not convinced, as he was petrified. They began
crossing the river anyway. Thunder slipped and Paden intuitively screamed.
Thunder barked and looked back at Paden; they kept going. The ice was
making terrible creaking and cracking sounds and Paden was scared that
it would give way under them. His eyes bulged, as it seemed like it was
taking forever to get to the other side. He was tightly holding onto Paddy
to keep him safe. Suddenly about fifteen yards from the other bank Thunder
stopped and began barking and then growling very menacingly. The hair
on Thunder's back stood straight up and he let out a deep vicious growling
sound.
Andrew the Apache stopped and intently
surveyed the woods on the side of the river that they were approaching.
Then all of the dogs started growling and barking. The hair on all of
their backs stood up straight. Paden wondered what was going on, as he
became more terrified than he had ever been in his life.
 Andrew
the Apache called out to the second largest dog named Big Paws and made
a grunting command pointing toward the woods where the dogs were looking
and barking. Big Paws took off, slipping on the ice but regaining his
balance and running as fast as he could toward the woods. He was growling
and making scary short barking sounds as he went.
Paden was so scared. He saw the
intensity in Andrew the Apache's face and then he saw him aggressively
take out the big knife that was strapped to the bottom of his right leg.
He ordered Thunder to go back but Thunder didn't want to as he wanted
to stay and fight if there was a fight. Andrew the Apache reprimanded
Thunder again, this time becoming much more aggressive in ordering Thunder
to go back. Thunder growled in resentment, but did as he was told.
Paden was looking back to try to
see what was going on. Then he heard a loud yelping sound coming from
the woods where Big Paws had previously vanished from sight. Andrew the
Apache charged the woods with the other dogs and he too disappeared from
sight. Thunder was upset and rapidly walking back and forth on the other
bank trying hard to obey his masters orders.
Then there was silence. All of
the barking and growling on the other side stopped and there wasn't a
sound to be heard. Paden was so scared. What was happening? Then Thunder
let out a weird sounding howl, kind of like a wolf and then stared intently
to the last spot where they had seen the others disappear. Paden yelled
out loud, "What's going on?" But there was a deep and eerie
silence surrounding them.
The End - Part 4
© 2002 Geoff Hampton
Geoff Hampton is an internationally
known author, speaker, motivator and business consultant. He is also the
Marketing Director for Indian Voices newspaper and is a regular columnist
for the wellness business Website www.fitcommerce.com.
He can be reached by E-mail at GEOFFLHAMPTON@aol.com.
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