poemtry and prose

Daniel and Serena stood at the edge of the veil for another five minutes just to make certain that nothing had gone wrong. Of course, there was no real knowing if in fact something had gone wrong even if they were. Only the spirits could guide and watch over Kaylee now. And it was up to the strength of her magicks and the guides she met while in the veil that would determine how long she would be inside the home of their ancestors.

Daniel turned to Serena and offered his arm for her to rest on. She smiled sadly and lightly placed her arm on top of his. They slowly started to walk back down the winding path they just came up. Serena took one final look back behind her shoulder, as if almost expecting to see Kaylee there. But she was not there, instead, it was just the darkness and the swirling ebb and flow of the mist that divided their world and the beyond.

They continued their descent in total and complete silence. Serena held a heavy weight on her shoulders and did a silent prayer to the ancestors and the spirits that they would watch over her granddaughter as she made her way from the edge of Vellum Hollow and into the heart of the lands that she spent so much time protecting. She smiled and gazed upon Daniel as he carefully guided them both safely back to her cottage.

On the other hand, a wide smirk grew across Daniel's face. A small slimmer of hope that the young woman would screw up and once again fall flat on her misguided actions and abrupt behavior to do something so extremely brash just to please her dying grandmother was strong. He figured that she would not return to the cottage. That she would be rejected by the spirits and just run back out from the lands and head back to the city where she felt she so strongly belonged now. He despised her for having come back and tread in on his territory. The fact that he himself heard the spirits tell of their plans made him very uncomfortable and unhappy. He did not spend the last fifteen years of his life next to the old woman for nothing. No, indeed, he felt as if he were the one rightful guardian of all the secrets and all the knowledge that the Ser'lapham tribe could offer the rest of the world. And he wanted to be the only one who knew about it. After all, he had big plans in store for his tribe. Plans that would put the knowledge to the test and bring in a lot of monies to get his people and his home put on the map.

He closed his eyes and thought once again about what he wanted to do. His plans were to cater to the New Age crowd spawned by the Aquarian generation and show them the power of what his people were taught by the spirits all those years ago. He knew that he had the power to perform healings and to guide and figured that using it to take back some of the monies that the white man stole from them would appease the pain harbored by many of the spirits and his ancestors. His show, well, that is what he thought of it as, would draw in millions upon millions of people to his lands. They would throw monies at him just for the chance to know what was on the other side of the veil and talk to those who were long gone. There were those that wanted to know who their guides were and he wanted to prey on those people and their pocketbooks to tell them exactly what they wanted them to do and how.

It was such a simple plan and one that he tried to tell to miaosa once before, but she forebade him and told him that it was no way to treat the respect and love they earned from the spirits and their ancestors. She always felt that there was a different way to earn the monies their tribe needed to survive for schooling and roads and medicine. Selling out their beliefs and secret knowlege was not the way.

Daniel escorted her back into the house and let her sit down at the table. He poured her a bowl of left over stew from the other night and they ate in silence. Then he moved her back into her room and put her to bed before cleaning off the table. When he glanced into her bowl he noticed that she had hardly eaten anything from it. He smiled, all was going to his plan. She had taken the ritual very seriously and counted on the city dweller to do exactly what she wanted her to do and find her guardians and have them help her unlock all the knowledge that took him years of hard work and practice to attain. Miaosa never ate when she was stressed or worried and he interpreted this as a good sign.

He walked into the kitchen and scraped the remains of both bowls out into the compost bin. He mentally walked through what he was planning on doing that evening while washing the earthen handmade bowls in the sink. Warm water poured over his hands as suds washed disease and grime from the bowls. First, he would partake of the herb and root to clear and cleanse his mind and soul. Then he would burn some tobacco and offer it to his ancestors. That was a tradition that his father and grandfather, the clan heads of the Bitterwood branch taught him. It reaffirmed his tight connection to his ancestors and was a potent activator when requesting their help for serious matters.

And to Daniel Bitterwood, there was nothing more serious than his own future and making sure that the tribe knew that he was doing all he could to keep their lands safe and improved by using the white man's money.

He sat on the porch and smoked herb from a pipe given to him by a cousin. It was long and hawk and a single eagle feature dangled and danced on the end of it by a strand of black painted bobcat sinew. A slim piece of bobcat fur wrapped around the midsection of the pipe, hitting the sweet spot of just where his hand touched and gave the pipe balance. Small rings of smoke puffed out from the head of the pipe as Daniel brought it up to his mouth. He allowed the smoke to overtake him and draw him close into the meditative state that allowed him to pierce the veil on his own terms.

Just as if he were standing in the mists as Kaylee had walked into, he felt the air moisten and wrap warmth around him. He smiled at how easy it was to slip and slide into the lands of Vellum Hollow. "Something that the brat would never have learned to do even if she put her mind to it," he thought.

He took a step forward and felt the crunchy ground beneath him. He looked around to catch his bearings and then nodded as he spotted the long, stretched out brown speckled bobcat lounging around a nearby tree. It nodded as it yawned a lengthy hellow to the person and trotted over and purred in between the two legged.

Bobcat stretched out long again and arched hir back to be itched, "Merrrrroooow?"

"Ah yes, there you are my friend. How are you?" Daniel said as he bent down to sit on the cool ground and give the rather largish cat a scritch behind hir ears.

Bobcat purred loudly and flopped onto the ground next to him. "I be well my friend. I suppose that your call is not one of just happiness? I see, judging by the lines etched in your face that you have something for me to do."

"Ah yes, my friend," Daniel said now rolling a stick between two fingers in his left hand. "You do know me quite well. I DO have something that needs your attending to. A serious matter that may just very well threaten my continued ability to do good and help you out as well as my people. I know that what I am asking for breaks several rules and is not right but I feel that our elders decision is not the right one. I ask, no... beg of you to please help me in this matter?"

The cat walked up to Daniel and sniffed at him. He sighed, then scratched his left ear with one hind leg and nodded. "Yes, I can smell it on you. And you say that this tryst would benefit me as well, if ... I participated?"

"Yes my friend. I feel that it would strengthen our bond and bring about great change in how we can get the rest of the world to understand our connection. If only I can get the blessing of the council, then I can help others... all around the world understand the Ser'lapham and the world of Vellum Hollow and bend towards bringing a positive change to a living world that is quickly being stripped of all her glory."

"I see," Bobcat said. "And I presume you have a plan?"

"Yes, I do actually. She is already here. I want you to try and take advantage of the fact that she does not know your energy, or the energies of others. You are a shapeshifter are you not?"

Bobcat nodded, fully aware of where this discussion was going but wanted the two-legged to tell hir himself.

"Go to her as not yourself. Go and try and convince her that you are the one she should bond to. And when she does, tell her that you are displeased with her actions and that she is not strong enough to do what the council of elders and ancestors say. Tell her that she must leave and never come back, to go live the rest of her life out in the world of the white man and stay away from her heritage."

Bobcat stared at Daniel for what seemed like a very long time. The cat stretched its great and brown body once more while digging hir claws deep into the ground, leaving four long streak marks across the ground. He nodded and said, "For the good of all and the promise of advancement, consider your will done."

A swirl of smoke enveloped Bobcat and the two-legged and then Daniel found himself back on the back porch, alone with his pipe, now spent. He looked up to the sky, to the silver sliver of moon now rotating towards morning and gave thanks that his words had been heard. He did what he had to do and now it was up to the swiftness and cleaverness of his totem animal to do what he asked, and bring about his salvation to the tribe.

**************

Meanwhile, lost deep in the dark and ancient forests of Vellum Hollow, Kaylee wandered around calling out for her gran and Daniel. The sounds of the drum grew louder and stiller depending on which direction she was facing. Large redwoods adorned with long fronds of ivy and moss grew on the great trees. In between the long branches, Kaylee thought she could see dancing lights, as if someone was wandering towards her with a couple of flashlights to help save her from dying of hypothermia in the cold autumn air.

"Gran! Daniel! Are you there? Where are you?" she called not knowing what had happened or where her guardians were. "Come on you guys, this is so totally not funny. I am cold and scared and have NEVER been this deep in the woods."

"What if they deliberately abandoned you, just as you abandoned them when you were young without giving them any word. have you thought of that one missy?" her mind shouted back at her. Kaylee ran her fingers through the top of her hair, wanting to pull the braid loose and out of her hair. Her eyes swelled up with tears and she fought hard to keep them from falling. She was always the one to abandon others and now, the tables were turned and she did not like the feel of this one bit.

"Shutup," she said to herself. "I cannot believe this is happening. What the fuck did I get myself into. I am now lost and have no idea where I am or how to get back. I think I have already screwed up already. Now what? Ugh, I need to get a grip on myself. Come on Kaylee, think. Where did they go, which way did you come from? Try and backtrack damnit."

She inhailed deep and was trying desperately to get a grip on the situation and control it, rather than have it control her as it was doing so for some time. She stood and closed her eyes, working on trying to retrace her steps on where she lost her gran and Daniel. She recalled that he was drumming and that is when she heard the drumming beating off in the distance. It was them, it had to be them.

Kaylee kept her eyes closed and tried to zero in on the direction of the sound the steading beating was coming from. Slowly she turned her body around in a three hundred and sixty degree turm isolating the noise. And then, finally she got her bearings and made a straight line beeline towards the sound.

She threaded her way in and out of the trees, keeping a good grasp on the drum beat. Part of her felt as if it was moving her in a direction that felt unnatural, as if it were taking her away from where her Gran's home was... instead of towards it. She looked forward, abit farther in front of her and saw something dart behind a tree. It was small and appeared to be floating in the air. Instead of allowing to let her curiosity get the better of her, she kept trudging forward towards the goal, the sound of the drum.

The light in the tree tops grew darker and soon Kaylee found it impossible to move foward without needing some sort of light to guide her path.

"Damn, if only gran had included a flashlight in this bag," she said, staring down at the pouch that hung around her neck.

Two lights then appeared in front of her, in midair. Kaylee blinked and looked around. Nothing seemed to be holding onto them, and she did not see any strings attached to them either. She thought it was a joke and moved foward towards them to get a better look. As she took a step forward, the lights bounced back a few steps. She stopped and the lights remained, hovering dead in the air.

"What the he..." she mused, totally confused at their behavior and not knowing what to do next.

She took a side step to her left and the lights moved to her left. She took another step forward and then backward and the lights mimicked her movement, always returning to a immobile state when she stood still.

"Huh," she said outloud, "Okay. So you are here to guide me. Well, okay... lead on. Take me somewhere warm, where I can rest and then figure out what to do when daylight strikes."

The two glowing orbs remained stationary, hovering in their midair vigil. Kaylee was just about to say something more to them when they darted out and moved straight ahead, guiding her towards the sound of the drum. She followed them as best as they could for they hovered a bit faster than she was used to walking. The sound of the drum reverbrated off the trees, making it hard for her to determine whether or not she was getting closer or being pushed further away.

The orbs marched her deeper and deeper into the forest for a few more minutes and then the trees started thinning out again. The forest opened up and expanded into a wide open field. The drumming was definitely close now. Off in the distance, Kaylee saw where her two new friends were leading her. An oddly shaped, round cottage sat in the middle a clearing, surrounded only by tall grasses and trees. Green ivy grew up the sides of the circular hut and a small plume of smoke rose from a red bricked fireplance off to one side of the structure.

"Heh, I guess you guys did understand me. I think I can make my way to the building now. Thank you very much," she said to the orbs in partial disbelief, still amazed that there was something like that here and that it had even given her the benefit of the doubt to help her. She shivered a little bit as she made her way through the tall grasses. The ground here was unbelievably soft, as if it were carpeted with the softest grasses she had ever known. The air smelt sweet, scented by unseen flowers.

As Kaylee moved towards the building, more details and features started standing out. She could tell that the building had been well cared for. There were no cracks in the paint or the building. A spiral staircase led from the ground floor and spiraled around back to the top of the building. She thought that it was going to be a perfect spot to try star gazing, if she spent long enough there. While she was not convinced that she had reached Vellum Hollow, a small part of her hoped that this place was it and that she could start working on the quest that her gran had wanted to her do.

Three steps made from earth lead up to a strong and solid brown wood door. No window appeared in it, so she was not sure if someone was inside or not. She tapped gently on the door and called out. "Hello," she said, "anyone there? It is terribly cold outside and I would like to come in. May I stay the evening until morning comes? I promise I will not take up too much space?"

She held her breath, waiting for a response, listening for any movement inside the sphere. It was quiet out. And that is when she remembered the drum, it had stopped. Everything was all silent around her. No birds, no sounds of a car, nothing. And for the first time since having left the reservation, she felt completely and utterly, alone.