Chapter 17: Homecoming
"Yellow Claw reports to Talking Owl that they are almost here!" shouted Frank Gray Wolf to the gathered crowd. Except for a few warriors on guard duty, the entire Northern Tribe consisting of more than a thousand humans and a few clan owls was waiting at the topside Deck to greet Mark Dawn Owl and celebrate his triumphant return. Those Tribe members that had old-time Mohawk attire were decked out in feathers, colorful shirts and robes made from hand woven materials and furs, and adorned with patches, necklaces, and bracelets. It was late afternoon, but in expectation of the coming feast many of the Tribe had skipped lunch altogether. Mary and her crew of oldsters attended great pots of soup and steamed vegetables which the crowd smelled with growing anticipation.
"Good!" said Running Bear. "Much longer and we'd have to feed this crowd before their arrival, and our young hero would have nothing but leftovers to eat."
"I don't think there will be any leftovers, Mohican," said one of the hungry waiting tribesmen.
"Not a bite," agreed a second tribesman, amid laughter.
"And we expect to be entertained as well as fed," added a third. "I hope that in addition to white man science you have instructed your son on how to tell a good tale, Gray Wolf."
"Even if told poorly and full of science, the tale will doubtlessly be a good one," said Running Bear. "I for one want to know about the flies. They disappeared to Green Mountain that first day, and the same thing happened on four additional occasions since then, including yesterday. That's five huge waves of the things handled. It had to be Mark's doing."
"And what about the mysterious intruder with the broken leg," added a warrior. "Who are they, how did they get here, and what do they want?"
"And what will we do with them?" asked another. It was a question for which their anxious Chief Ed the Raccoon had no answer.
"And how did any of them manage to get across the ice," added another, "especially with a heavy Stone-Coat along?"
"Here they come!" came a shout from the edge of the Deck.
Ed, Mary, and Mark's family made their way through the crowd to the Deck edge where they could see Mark and the others arriving where the ice sheet and mountainside met. It was one of the strangest sights that any of them had ever seen. In the lead at the end of what looked like a long leash was a big gray wolf; Runner was his name, many of the Tribe knew. Following ten yards behind the wolf at the other end of the leash was Walking Stone. The parka-wearing Stone-Coat was harnessed to a sizable wood-frame sled by a thirty-food length of heavy Stone-Coat manufactured rope with which he pulled the sled effortlessly.
Atop the sled among camping gear reclined a stunningly attractive blonde woman with a full cast covering her left leg. She held a camera of some sort that she pointed at the greenhouses, the Deck, the Tribe, and everything else in sight that was supposed to be a Tribal secret. Behind her Mark Dawn Owl stood tall on the rear rails of the sled, leaning this way and that to help stabilize and steer the contrivance, which closely resembled an old-time dogsled. Despite the fact that he was almost home the boy looked worried.
When they reached the edge of the ice the arriving humans were surrounded by dozens of excited jabbering Tribe people that half guided-half carried Mark and Ann up a steep ten-foot grade to Deck level, where Mark's parents and grandparents smothered Mark in hugs and kisses, leaving Ed to greet the intruder and the huge wolf that stood by her side.
"You are Ann Richards the missing reporter!" said Ed in astonishment, as he reached out to shake her hand. She was stunningly beautiful, he couldn't help noticing. But he was shocked to find that the mysterious intruder was the missing reporter that was the subject of recent local TV broadcasts. Back in the good-old-days most Reservation intruders were members of the 47ers Club, a group with members that strove to climb all 47 New York mountain peaks over four thousand feet. There were numerous hunters also. Reporters were very rare.
"She:kon, Runner," Ed said to the huge wolf, in a respectful greeting of equals. The big wolf stood with its shoulder pressed against the leg cast of the reporter, a little nervous due to the huge throng of humans, but obviously very protective of the human that he stood with.
"Call me Ann, please," the reporter replied. "And you must be Chief Ed, the white-man Mohawk Chief and telepath. I've heard a lot about you."
"I suppose you have," Ed replied. "Simply call me Ed, please." Good grief, the kid was stuck for two weeks with a nosy reporter! Could the situation be any worse? Well at least it was a beautiful reporter. "How is your leg?"
"Quite well, thank you," she replied, "as your jant friends have probably told you."
"They are giving me a full report on you and the wolves right now," Ed admitted. "We'll soon be able to remove your cast."
"Do you know what you're going to do with me beyond removing my cast?" she asked. Her left hand was absent mindedly scratching behind the ears of Runner.
She came straight to the point. Ed liked that in people. "I haven't a clue yet. But first things first: there is a traditional spirit quest protocol to follow now."
"My camera is ready," she replied with a big smile.
"Swell!" said Ed. "Welcome to Giants' Rest, Ann."
As Mark's parents and grandparents made their way to Ann Richards to introduce themselves, Ed made his way to Mark, who tensed when he saw the Chief approach him.
"Congratulations young man," he told the boy as he heartily shook his hand. "TELL ME ABOUT HER," he asked telepathically.
"I HAD TO BREAK PROTOCOL TO HELP SAVE HER," Mark admitted. "SHE IS VERY PERSISTENT. I'M AFRAID SHE HAS LEARNED MUCH ABOUT THE TRIBE AND STONE-COATS THAT OUTSIDERS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW."
"YES, YES, THAT WAS UNAVOIDABLE," said Ed. "YOU DID VERY WELL."
Relief spread across the young man's face.
"I WANT TO KNOW FROM YOU NOW ONLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, IF YOU KNOW IT," said Ed. "WHAT KIND OF PERSON IS SHE? IS SHE A GOOD PERSON?"
"YES," pathed Mark immediately, "SHE IS VERY MUCH A GOOD PERSON. EVEN WITH A BROKEN LEG SHE DID WHATEVER SHE COULD TO UNSELFISHLY HELP. THE WOLVES LIKE HER; INCLUDING EVEN LONG FANG AND ESPECIALLY RUNNER. SHE HAS A GOOD AND STRONG CHARACTER AND HELPED GREATLY WITH THE SUCCESS OF THE QUEST. WE OWE EACH OTHER OUR LIVES."
"EXCELLENT!" pathed Ed. "THAT IS BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR US TO KNOW. GOOD JOB!"
Behind Mark stood Talking Owl, dressed her most colorful robes. "HEN (yes)," she stated, as she nodded her head in affirmation. "I TRUST THE JUDGEMENT OF MY GRANDSON AND THE WOLVES IN THIS. THIS INTRUDER MUST BE DEALT WITH FIRMLY, BUT WITH RESPECT AND COMPASSION."
Ed climbed up upon a picnic table and motioned for the crowd to hush, which they quickly did. "As Your Chief I declare the spirit quest to be successfully concluded, and Mark Dawn Owl to be a full adult member of the Tribe, and Walking Stone to also be our Tribe brother," he shouted.
There were several minutes of cheering, after which the crowd again quieted enough to allow Ed to continue. "Now we will eat together in celebration of the return of our Tribe brothers Mark and Walking Stone. Then they will tell us of their quest and answer all of our questions. Then we will conclude the formal part of our celebration and move on to serious partying."
At a center Deck picnic table Ann sat next to Ed, along with Mary and Mark and his family. Walking Stone retreated to a nearby cooling station and Runner settled to the floor behind Ann.
Food was immediate and plentiful. It consisted of everything available from the greenhouses, cooked in every manner discovered over the centuries by the Tribe. There were traditional beans, greens, squash, and corn, in multiple varieties baked, broiled, and boiled using various herbs and spices. There were big bowls of ripe red strawberries everywhere. In lesser quantities there were peppers, tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, and grains. There was also acorn mush, made from acorns sent the previous fall from the Southern Tribe. It was a favorite of Ed's when smothered with maple syrup and an instant hit with Ann. Fresh strawberry juice and strawberry flavored
peppermint tea completed the menu.
"Your greenhouses are fabulous," Ann told Chief Ed, when eating had slowed and while the rest of the table was engaged in other conversation. "I saw them from a distance without realizing how huge they are. Mark wouldn't tell me how they were made but of course the Stone-Coats had to be involved, right?"
"I suppose that you learned a lot from Mark and Walking Stone about Stone-Coats already," said Ed. "Enough for quite an interesting news story."
"I don't like partial stories," said Ann. "And I like to know as much as possible about anything I do a story on."
"I don't like partial stories either," said Ed. "And I don't like negativity, especially about folks that are doing their damnedest to survive and do the right thing for everybody, including billions of people that never even heard of them."
"Is that the Tribe?" Ann asked.
"You camped with a fresh new Tribe member for two weeks, what do you think?"
"The kid's a platinum quality super hero. Is the whole Tribe like him?"
"Don't I wish!" said Ed with a smile. "I suspect that in many ways he is probably one of the best of us."
"I wouldn't be surprised," said Ann. "My story would certainly include my positive impressions of Mark, the Tribe, and the Stone-Coats. So are you going to let me do my story?"
"I'm thinking about it," said Ed. "Mostly because Mark and the wolves like you. But it would have to be the full story: everything."
"Everything?"
"Open kimono," said Ed. "But first things first. Here comes the main course."
The main course was fish. It was a special treat for the Tribe, but Mark and Ann stuck with the vegetables and fresh strawberries. For two weeks they had eaten almost nothing but fish and flies.
"You just missed our annual strawberry festival Ann," said Ed. "But thanks to our greenhouses and our handy ice sheets that support food preservation, we have yearlong access to many of our favorite foods."
"We have something special for those of you that don't want fish," announced Mary.
A large tray was brought to the head-table. Atop a bed of colorful vegetables a whole broiled fly lay on its back, still steaming. Even for Ed, who had endured three and a half decades of Tribe critter food, the sight was nauseating.
Ann was not disturbed by the sight. "Look!" she told Mark with a grin. "It's a yummy fly!"
"But it isn't butchered!" said Mark. "Ann is an expert at butchering flies! She's done hundreds of them!"
"Hundreds?" asked Talking Owl incredulously.
"Mostly for the wolves," said Mark. "I killed most of them, Ann butchered them, Walking Stone cooked them, and the wolves ate most of them. Ann says that they taste like chicken."
As Mark spoke, Ann cut at least half of the meat from fly, put it on her plate, and put the plate on the Deck behind her. Runner immediately dug into the juicy roast fly.
"I think the whole Tribe would like to hear that story," said Running Bear.
"Me too. Enough eating, questers," announced Ed. "Walking Stone, can you and your fellow Stone-Coat observers help broadcast your story?"
"Affirmative," said Walking Stone, as he emerged from the cooling station.
"Can Ann help us tell our story?" Mark asked Chief Ed. "She was a huge part of it."
"If that's what you all want to do," said Ed.
The trio accompanied by Runner was ushered to a small raised section of Deck that was the closest thing to a stage that the Tribe had. The four other Stone-Coats that lived as companions to Tribe children dispersed themselves evenly among the crowd in order to act as speakers, while Walking Stone provided the microphone.
"I planned my spirit quest for many months," Mark began, "always in my naive arrogance assuming that I would be doing it myself. But as most of you know, Chief Ed wisely decided that Walking Stone and I would do the quest together."
"It was the logical choice," added Walking Stone. His voice, like that of Mark, emerged loud and clear from all the Stone-Coat companions.
The pair told of their arduous trek across the ice to reach Green Mountain, including Walking Stone falling through the ice and his trampling by Ice Giants, and the attack of the murderous flies on Mark and the fate of poor Red Claw. The unselfish nature of the courageous acts performed by all of the companions was made very clear. Neither Mark nor Walking Stone could have completed the journey to Green Mountain alone.
Mark told of their arrival at Green Mountain and his mounting concern for the wolves when he initially couldn't locate them. Then he told of how shocked he was to discover an injured human intruder at his planned campsite.
Ann joined in the story at that point, providing her perspective. Mark blushed when she described how he took charge of the situation and applied tick and Stone-Coat technologies to her broken leg. The audience laughed when she told them of his fly-fishing episode and their happy discovery of how tasty the flies were.
They listened in stunned silence and nodded in silent approval when Mark described their grim discovery of the decimated wolf-pack and the application of the medical ticks. They oooed and ahhhed at their description of the apocalyptic fly attack and cheered when Mark completed his description of how the creatures were finally defeated by turning them against themselves. That part of the story was sure to become an enduring Tribe legend.
"OF COURSE!" Talking Owl remarked, when she heard how the flies were made to kill themselves. "THIS NEEDS TO BE PASSED ON TO THE SOUTHERN TRIBE IMMEDIATELY."
The story of the return trip to Giants' Rest was anti-climactic. Led by the attentive wolf, nobody fell through the ice even once and on this day there happened to be no new wave of flies.
The story of the spirit quest had been so completely and competently told that there were few questions from the Tribe. There was a lot of murmuring about declaring Mark to be an official Tribe hero sometime soon, which would provide a good excuse for another celebration. There was also a lot of praise for Walking Stone, Ann, and the wolves.
Ed was about to declare an end to the day's formal proceedings when Running Bear rose to voice a final question. "What is to become of Ann?" he asked.
"Excellent question!" said Ed. Running Bear always asked the toughest questions. "I have an idea but want to discuss it among our leaders and with Ann before announcing it officially no sooner than tomorrow. For now I declare this spirit quest event to be complete!"
Runner howled and drums, flutes, rattles and bells erupted at that point, along with cheering, singing, and dancing that would go on long into the night. A supply of strawberry brandy appeared that helped to even further cheer the already jubilant Tribe.
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