Norton, Andre - Anthology (34 page)

 
          
 
"You'll have to forgive my son,
sir," Jim said. "He still believes that tourist stuff that all
Alaskans live in igloos!"

 
          
 
"Sorry, son. I've lived here all my life,
and I've only seen an igloo in a moving picture." His big booming laugh
filled the cafe and set them all at ease.

 
          
 
"Pull up a chair and join us in some of
this good food," Jim said.

 
          
 
"I appreciate the offer, but I have
already eaten. I will join you in a cup of coffee, though."

 
          
 
Racky who had been sitting quietly in
Alice
's lap, hopped down and stretched his
33-pound
Maine
coon cat body to its full length.

 
          
 
"Well! What do we have here?"
Longwolf asked. "I have seen a few tame cats in my life, but never one
quite like this one!"

 
          
 
"His name is Racky, sir," Sue
volunteered. "He's a cat from the state of
Maine
."

 
          
 
"And he's 'family', too!" Tommy
added.

 
          
 
"Very interesting. Now, about your trip,
just what do you have in mind?"

 
          
 
"
Alice
, you fill him in on the background. I want
to finish these eggs before they get any colder," Jim said.

 
          
 
"Several months ago, Sue was going
through a trunk that belonged to my grandmother five generations removed .
.."

 
          
 
Sue could wait no longer. Her eyes shining,
she cut into the story. "And Racky was with me, and he jumped in the trunk
and he began, clawing at the liner and we found this very old letter, and—oh,
Mother, why not let him read it?"

 
          
 
They all laughed at Sue's breathless story, so
Alice
shrugged and said, "Why not? Mr.
Longwolf can see if we are as silly as we seem."

 
          
 
With that she brought a parcel from her purse
that contained some yellowed papers she had pressed between sheets of clear
plastic.

 
          
 
"A museum man said it looked like papers
from an old-time captain's log book," said Tommy proudly."

 
          
 
Longwolf took some reading glasses from his
shirt pocket and perched them on his nose. This is what he read:

 
          
 
“Finder please forward this to Elizabeth
Morgan,
New
Bedford
,
Mass.
,
USA
.

 
          
 
Beloved Wife:, after a successful voyage we
were returning from the whaling area north of
Japan
with a hold full of sperm oil. We picked up
a Malay on a piece of a raft who was a raging maniac. He seemed to be fearing
some idol's curse. He died shortly of a fever. Our ship's cat found an
interesting item on his body and brought it to my cabin. Then we were hit by
the worst storm in my life and driven near the
shore
of
Southern Alaska
. I was able to get an approximate fix
before the Seadawn sank. It was Long. 136° Lat. 58°. By this time I had the
same fever that had killed the Malay. The mate and crew placed me and the
ship's cat in one longboat and they left in the other. Do not blame them, they
are superstitious men. In a_few days a seagoing canoe manned by Haida Indians
picked us up. They took us to their village and nursed us back to as much
health as I will ever have again. I am sending this by an Indian friend in the
desperate hope it may some day get back to you. They have taken to the cat and
carved its likeness on the village lodge pole. I will no doubt leave this world
soon. Be certain that I loved you to my last breath. Captain Uriah Morgan,
master of the Seadawn.

 
          
 
Will paused respectfully. 'That is a very
moving letter," he said. "So now you are seeking a village with a cat
totem pole in it! Such a difficult task. Your ancestor must truly have had a
very valuable treasure with him to go to all this trouble/'

 
          
 
"I doubt if anything remains, it has been
so long," said Jim. "But if the rest of his logbook had been kept by
his Haida friends, it would have great historical value. Really, since finding
that letter, we just have this compulsion laid on us to try find out more of
this brave man."

 
          
 
"Yes," added
Alice
. "Our family legend has it
Elizabeth
died of grief before news of her husband
ever reached her."

 
          
 
Now it was Tommy's chance to change the
subject.

 
          
 
"Mr. Longwolf, why would anyone be silly
enough to put a cat on a pole and worship it?"

 
          
 
"Son, you never criticize another
person's religion. Now you apologize to Mr. Longwolf," said Jim in his
sternest voice.

 
          
 
"No, no, Mr. Connors, the mistake is
quite common. You see Tommy, totem poles are NOT religious. They are ways of
using symbols to pass on legends or history of tribes. Some of those strange
carvings go back beyond the Greek or Egyptian times."

 
          
 
About that time Racky was giving Tommy his
personal glare.

 
          
 
I suppose your mighty Egyptians were
"silly" to respect cats and even have a cat-headed goddess named
Bast, Racky thought.

 
          
 
"For a people who had no written
language, they developed a fantastic way to preserve their history!" said
Alice
.

 
          
 
"Yes, it even appears in recent history.
One chief ridiculed the Russian prelates by having their images carved in a
totem pole. Another in a national park has
Lincoln
's image, for when he freed the slaves, that
included Indian slaves in
Alaska
! So it's not surprising they would record an event of finding a cat at
sea."

 
          
 
"Do you think it would be possible to
locate such a village with no more information than we have to go on?"
asked Jim.

 
          
 
"Only one person could answer that,"
replied Long-wolf. "The Old One might know of its existence. I'll see him
this afternoon, so why don't you and the family look around at our tourist
sights today while I provision my boat and look up the Shaman?"

 
          
 
"Sounds good, but what's the price tag if
it comes off?"

 
          
 
"Well, my boat, gasoline, food for
five," here the guide pointed to Racky, (but he was really thinking of the
way Jim put food away) then proceeded to name a price. To his surprise, Jim
accepted without haggling. He didn't know Jim's boss was paying the bill.

 
          
 
"Mr. Longwolf," here
Alice
turned on her natural charm. "Just
suppose, from the tone of the letter, Captain Morgan brought some terrible
sickness to the village, or some item carrying a curse. Would you still be
willing to go?"

 
          
 
"Why not? You aren't afraid to take your
children there. Besides," he winked, "if the captain brought any
germs, they have long since died out in our Alaskan winters .. . and if he
brought any demons, they have long since migrated to our local bars!"

 
          
 
With that the two men sealed the deal with a
handshake and the two parties went their separate ways.

 
          
 
The family was getting ready for bed and, as
was their custom, sharing the news of the day.

 
          
 
"While you kids were playing with the
children in the city park, Mom and I were looking for souvenirs to take home,"
Jim said.

 
          
 
"Yes, and I found some beautiful
hand-woven baskets!"
Alice
added. "How did you like playing with the Indian children?"

 
          
 
They both described the games that all
children enjoy playing, and Sue mentioned the most fun was playing
"Potlatch."

 
          
 
"How do you play that?"
Alice
asked.

 
          
 
"Well, it's a time to sing and exchange
stories," both agreed.

 
          
 
"What stories did you share?"

 
          
 
"Tommy told about David and Goliath, I
shared the cartoon version of the Three Little Pigs,' and they told us how Bear
got his claws!"

 
          
 
"I can't say I've ever heard that one.
How about sharing it with me?" Jim asked.

 
          
 
"Well, once Bear had smooth paws like
people. When he tried to catch salmon, most got away and he had to eat old dead
fish. Yuck!" Here both children screwed their faced up like they had seen
the other children do.

 
          
 
"One day, Bear lost so many fish that he
prayed for help. Eagle overheard him, tore off one of his talons and put it on
the bear's paw."

 
          
 
Tommy could bear it no longer, he just had to
finish the story.

 
          
 
"And, dad, guess what! That eagle claw
grew claws all over that bear's foot. And every bear since then has
claws!" And Tommy nodded happily.

 
          
 
"Well, thank you. Now it's bed time. Has
anyone seen Racky? He just dropped out of sight after supper." All he got
were shrugs in answer. "Well, I guess he'll spend the night hunting since
he spent most of the day sleeping."

 
          
 
Racky was hunting, waiting until the quarry
came to him. His long evening of stalking had brought him to the shack where
the Old One lived near the docks. Now he was content to sit in the rafters
above the Old One's bed and wait for the man who must come. Even though the
summer sun was keeping things fairly bright outside, the cat knew how to blend in
with the shadows. There came a gentle tap on the door and Longwolf entered the
Shaman's hut.

 
          
 
"Grandfather," Will Longwolf began,
"I am not at peace with this assignment, this taking of outsiders to 'No
Goes.' Suppose the curse is still active? Someone could get hurt bad!"

 
          
 
"You fear the white man's germs or long
dead ghosts, my son? How many Potlatches have you attended where the mystery of
the dying village and the strange animal from the sea have been sung? We will
never have a chance to answer the mystery of No Goes again! Somehow that cat
animal is the answer. I am so certain of that I can almost sense its presence
in this very room!"