Dead Moon Awakens: A tale of Cherokee myth and Celtic magic (Mystic Gates) (10 page)

April 24

We had another meeting last night. What’s neat
is Lance and Kelile keep saying how lucky we are that no one has caught us.
Well, each time we meet, Morri and I take care of that before they get there! I
craft a repelling spell, and she conjures her fire ant spell. Her ant spell is
not very nice. If anyone comes too close, it will make them feel like they’re being
bitten all over by fire ants. How does she get away with spells like that? But,
I guess I’m glad to have backup in case my spell doesn’t work. I’m so glad
Lance and Kelile haven’t realized what we’re doing, though.

Lance isn’t scared about leaving. I am. I think
Kelile is too. I know Morri is. And he is so stubborn about the route we’re
taking. But he’s so calm and brave, and he seems sure about what he’s doing. I
like him so much! He held my hand last night and seemed to stare at me. Even
after Morri had pulled his hand away, he looked at me again. I had better stop
thinking about him, though. Sometimes I think she can read my mind, and she’s
up writing in her diary this morning too.

I also wonder sometimes if she’s been reading my
diary. Is it possible? I don’t know how, but she seems to know things I’ve
written in it. She said yesterday that she knew I was hiding my amulet. I
decided to wear it at least when I go to bed since she suspects I have it
anyway. And you know what?
No
nightmares last night.

April 27

I can’t believe my amulet is gone. I’ve looked
everywhere for it. It just disappeared. I don’t want to leave without it. Where
could it be? Could Morri have it? No, she kept getting sick that night when she
got near it. Could Ma summon it to her?

Since I didn’t have it on last night, I had
another nightmare. I dreamed I was walking in a forest and came upon a flock of
ravens. They were eating something. I don’t know why, but I kept walking closer
and closer to where they were, and then I saw it. Goddess it scared me! The
ravens were eating Lance and Kelile. I tried screaming, but the same thing
happened in that dream that happens in the others—no sound comes out. I ran
over and tried to get the ravens to fly away. Some of them did. But when I hit
one, it looked at me, and its face turned into Morri’s face. She had a horrible
grin. Ugh! I’ve got to start remembering what Ma taught me about controlling my
dreams.

9:13 p.m.

I found it! It was under my bed. I know I looked
there this morning and didn’t see it, but when I got back from supper tonight,
I saw the silver chain sticking out. I tried enfolding it around my neck, but I
couldn’t tell if it had worked. So, I enfolded it back inside my old diary and
wrapped my diary in a pillowcase. Then I packed the pillowcase in the bottom of
my backpack and enfolded it inside. That should keep it safe!

I can’t believe we leave tomorrow night. Morri
and I had to figure out a way to get to the canoe first so we could remove the
spells and move it away from the bushes. We didn’t want Lance and Kelile to
question how it had been kept hidden all this time. We decided to tell them
that we‘d sneak out first and meet them by the swings with the canoe. Morri’s
going to say that that way they can make sure all is clear before they come. I
think it will work.

Oh, Ma, I’ll be there soon. I can’t wait to see
you!!!!!!!!

Sunday, April 28

“Man, listen to me! It’s not gonna work tonight!”
Kelile said. “I know it’s a full moon. I know we’re running out of time. But
can’t you see?” He pointed at the thundercloud visible even in the dark. “It’s
gonna storm any minute.”

“We have to go now!” Lance removed two large trash
bags and a pocketknife from his backpack. “I’m going whether any of you come
with me or not.”

He wrapped his backpack with one of the trash
bags, and then he cut a hole in the bottom and on both sides of the other one.
He slipped it over his head like a poncho. “Well, is anyone else coming?”

“I’m going with you, Lance,” Aishling said,
latching onto his knife. She mimicked him, wrapping her backpack and making a
poncho.

“I’m going too.” Morrigan followed with the same
routine.

“Are you coming, Kelile?”

“Yes.” Huffing, he made his own poncho and covered
his backpack. He handed Lance back the knife. “But it’s still a bad idea, man.”

Streaks of bright light flashed in the near
distance, followed by thunder echoing off the surrounding mountains.

Aishling smelled the rain moving closer. She
shivered.

“We’ll store our gear in the bow”—Lance pointed to
the front of the canoe—“and the stern.” He pointed to the back. “You’ll sit on
the bow seat, Kelile, and I’ll sit on the stern seat. Do you have any more
questions about how to paddle?”

“No.” Kelile placed his backpack in the bow.

“Aishling, you and Morrigan are going to sit in
the middle of the canoe and distribute your weight toward the center.”

After securing all the gear and floating the boat,
Lance steadied the stern and held the canoe in place while Kelile stepped in
and grabbed both sides of it. He squatted and worked his way to the bow seat.

“Okay, Morrigan, remember to step into the center
of the canoe.”

She balked and moaned before hopping in, almost
tipping it over.

“Morrigan!”

“I’m sorry, Lance.”

When Aishling stepped in, her heart fluttered and
it took her breath away. She had very little room to maneuver before squeezing
down into the middle next to Morrigan.

In one smooth movement, Lance shoved the canoe
away and sat. “Okay, Kelile, paddle on the left side with my count. One. Two.
Three… .”

An explosion of sound and light struck close by. Kelile
stopped paddling and tried standing up, rocking the canoe.

“Sit down!”

A chill spread in Aishling’s fingers and nose
first, then through her whole body as a ferocious wind bit at her face.

Another explosion of thunder brought a downpour of
rain. Had Kelile been right? Tomorrow night might have been better.

“Lance!” Kelile shouted.

“Keep paddling! We have to keep moving.”

Aishling had an idea. “Morri,” she said over the
howling wind and rain. “Help me push the storm to the north.”

Morrigan shrugged, and then nodded.

Following the same process as when she worked
enchantments, Aishling set her intentions first. As she breathed deeply, she
visualized what she wanted to happen and focused all her energy, her will, on
moving the storm. Maybe Lance knew about canoeing. Maybe he had walked some of
the A.T., but she’d been taught how to use her powers. Powers that had been
sleeping all these past months at Herald Home. Powers now arousing and quickening
within her.

After a couple of minutes, the rain stopped. Lightning
still flashed, but in the distance to the north. Thunder merely sounded like a
muted roar. Overhead, the full moon promptly revealed itself as the clouds
raced to the north as well. Aishling looked at Morrigan and smiled. They had
moved the storm!

Once the storm had passed, Aishling fell into a
trancelike state. Having lost her sense of time, she now had no idea how long
they’d been gliding in the canoe. No one had said anything, either, just Lance
counting aloud occasionally so Kelile would keep in rhythm with him. Were the
guys tired of paddling? How far had they gone already? Had anyone from Herald
Home discovered they were missing yet?

The bottom of the canoe scraped against something,
breaking her reverie.

“Now what?” Kelile asked.

Lance scanned around the canoe. “We must be in a
low rocky area. We’ve got to get out and walk.”

“All of us?” Morrigan shrieked.

“Yes. Kelile, I’ll get out first on the right side
and steady the canoe. Then you follow and get out on the left side and help me
steady it for them.”

Morrigan muttered, “I don’t want to, Lance. Do I
have to? I don’t know what’s swimming around in there.”

Lance got out and held the stern of the canoe. “Okay,
Kelile.” After Kelile had stepped out, Lance said, “Now, you two, one at a
time. Careful.”

“Lance?” Morrigan cried.

“Come on, prissy queen. I’ll help you.” Kelile gripped
her hand and guided her out of the canoe.

“Thank you.” She froze in place.

Aishling, surprised Morrigan had let Kelile help
her, said, “It’s okay, Morri, we’re making so much noise we’ll scare everything
away.” Yet, would they? Soon, however, Lance’s steady cadence of instructions
began to calm her nerves.

They guided the canoe around rocks and over the
muddy riverbed, each of them occasionally slipping. At times, her sneakers sank
into the sludge, making a loud, sucking sound when she lifted a foot.

After a few minutes, the water was deep enough to
paddle again. Why didn’t Lance tell them to get back in the canoe? Aishling
realized the answer when she spotted the large tree limb hanging low across the
river. He must be guiding them around it first.

Then it happened.

It happened quickly.

They were at the tip of the limb—Kelile and
Morrigan closest to it—when Lance said, “Hurry, move the canoe around and get
past that limb.”

Aishling glimpsed a blurred movement as she turned
to look at Kelile. He yelped and flailed his arms. Alarm exploded within her
when she saw the outline of a black garden hose—no, snake!

“Get off. Get off!” Kelile squealed.

Morrigan screamed.

“Ow! Oh God, I’m gonna die!” Kelile.

Aishling formed her mouth to scream, but no sound
came out. Was she in one of her nightmares?

Kelile threw the snake in the air. It splashed
behind Morrigan. “It bit me! I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die!”

Morrigan shoved the canoe into Aishling,
screeching, “Go! Go! Let’s get out of here!”

“Stop, Morrigan!” Lance shoved the canoe back.
“All of you stop screaming!”

Aishling had no recollection how, but they had
moved the canoe to a small section of the riverbank, clear of debris.

Kelile constantly moaned.

Morrigan whimpered and kept trying to crawl into
the canoe.

“Morrigan, stop! All of you listen to me,” Lance said.
“We’re going to rest here. Morrigan, I’ll hold the canoe so you can climb in on
the back seat.” He guided her in. “That’s good. Aishling, you get in up front.”
He offered his hand to help her. “Good.” He waded around to Kelile, who was now
quiet and still. He put an arm around his shoulder. “Kelile, climb in the middle.
I’ll help you.”

“I’m gonna die. The queen was right all along. I’m
gonna die, and you all are gonna get caught. She knew it would happen,” he said
as Lance helped him into the canoe.

“Everyone calm down,” Lance said, still standing in
the water. “Where did it bite you?”

In a strained motion, Kelile lifted his right
hand.

Lance reached for his backpack. “Everyone sit
still. I’ll take care of you, Kelile.” He took out his flashlight.

Aishling winced when he pulled out his knife.

“Hey, man, just tell me, am I gonna die?”

“Let me see the bite.” Lance shined the flashlight
over Kelile’s hand and blew out a deep breath. “No, thank the Creator.”

“How do you know?” Aishling asked, relief surging
through her body.

Lance kept the flashlight focused on Kelile’s hand
and said, “Look at the bite. Do you see the horseshoe shape with little puncture
marks around it?” She leaned forward, examined the bite, and nodded.

“Let me look,” Kelile said. “Yeah, but what does it
mean?”

“That’s what a nonpoisonous snakebite looks like.
The poisonous bites will have only one or two large fang-like punctures where
the poison goes in. It was probably a brown water snake. I was afraid of that
when I saw that large branch hanging over the river. Sometimes they lie in
trees or branches over water and hunt for prey.”

“Can I see too?” Morrigan asked. Kelile moved his
hand toward her, and Lance shined the flashlight for her to see.

“Man, am I glad you know all this stuff,” Kelile
said. “But, what now? Do you have to cut it open?”

“No.” Lance searched through his backpack again.
“I used to have a first aid kit in here. Here it is.” He asked Morrigan to hold
the flashlight and Aishling to hold Kelile’s hand while he cleaned the bite. “Kelile,
you were right. We shouldn’t have left tonight. Do you want to go back? We can
have them look at your bite and make sure it’s okay.”

“After all this? Are you crazy? I’m not goin’ back
that way. That snake is still swimmin’ around back there. If you think I’ll be
okay, let’s keep moving. You’re sure, right?”

“Pretty.”

“Not encouraging, man.”

“Well, I’m sure the snake wasn’t poisonous, but I
don’t know what else I should do. The bite could still get infected.”

“We’re good,” Kelile said, pushing himself up.
“Let’s trade places, girl. I’ll try paddling.”

Aishling lost her sense of time again during the
hours of paddling—
her
paddling. Kelile had tried, but it hurt his hand
too much. At first, she and Morrigan had taken turns. But that hadn’t lasted
long. Now, her shoulders were sore. Her feet were still wet and cold. And for the
last hour, Kelile had been asleep, leaning against her back because Morri had
kept shoving him away. Her back ached from twisting and trying not to jiggle
him.

“Aishling, hold up a minute while I get my
bearings,” Lance said.

Kelile sat up. “What’s goin’ on?”

“How’s your hand?” Lance asked.

“Sore. But I don’t feel bad.”

“That’s because you’ve been asleep for hours and
not doing anything.”

“Hey, don’t you be rackin’ on my bones, prissy
queen. You ain’t the one with the snake bite.”

Aishling, too tired to say anything, too tired to
think, sat with her eyes closed, waiting for Lance to tell her what to do next.

“Okay,” Lance said. “The cemetery is off a side
creek ahead on the left, about a quarter mile from the highway.” He put his
paddle back in the water. “So, what do we do now?”

In unison, the three of them answered by reciting
the handwritten instructions he had given them days before leaving Herald Home—“Veer
left under 23 to cemetery. Stash canoe. Short walk to church. Take break.”

“Let’s go.”

When they reached the cemetery, they got out and pulled
the canoe up on the bank. Kelile said, “Where are we gonna stash it?”

“I don’t know,” Lance answered.

“What about those bushes over there,” Aishling
said, pointing about twenty feet up a gently sloping hill.

“It may not be enough cover,” Lance answered.

She had reached her limit and needed rest. She no
longer cared what anyone thought. “That’s enough cover. At Herald Home, we hid
it in bushes that gave even less cover. I’ll do an enfolding enchantment and
Morri can do her ant spell. No one will touch it.”

“Ant spell?” Kelile said.

“Aish!”

“What’s an enfolding enchantment?” Lance asked.

Though Aishling wanted to smooth over what she had
just revealed, her brain was somewhere back in the river. “Don’t worry about
it. I’ll explain later. It’s time you-uns trust me and Morri. No one found it
before, and they won’t find it now.”

Silence.

“Okay, but you’re going to tell me later what you
mean.” Lance huffed. “Let’s get our gear and stash the canoe.”

The others watched while Aishling implemented her
enfolding enchantment. Lance’s irritation bothered her until Kelile said,
“What? Where’d it go?”

Morrigan refused to do her spell until everyone
had left her alone. When she joined them, they lumbered up a dirt road to a
small, one room church. They tried the front door, and it was unlocked.

Aishling sighed in relief when they settled on the
floor in front of the first row pew.

“What time is it?” Morrigan asked.

“Just after three a.m.” Lance fished through the side
pocket of his backpack and pulled out four candy bars. “Hopefully, we can rest
here a bit before somebody comes. Be sure and take your shoes and socks off and
let them dry. You want to keep your feet as dry as possible when we start
hiking.” After handing each of them a candy bar, he shined the flashlight in
Aishling’s eyes and said, “Okay, explain.”