****
"Maybe it would help if I understood this talking turtle business in the context of the bigger picture here," Ed suggested to his friends the next morning over breakfast. "Like for instance why the hells am I here on this Reservation and what could it have to do with talking with turtles?"
Jack and Doc exchanged nervous glances. "The Tribe Elders know secrets that they don't share with us or possibly even with most of the Tribe," said Doc.
"Doc and I think that we've figured a lot of it out but we aren't totally sure," said Jack.
"Some of it is pretty wild and without supporting proof we'd be laughing stocks in the outside world," added Doc.
"Worse, if we blab too much about what we think we know we could be kicked off the Reservation," said Jack. "It took years before they trusted us enough to help look for a telepath for them. It took four months for me to convince them to give you a try-out, Ed. The fact that you married my niece makes you part of my family, I argued, and that may have tipped the scales in your favor. These folks are very family oriented."
"Why do they need another telepath?" Mary asked. "They seem to have several telepaths in the Tribe already."
"They have dozens, but they say that they need a telepath with very special skills," said Doc. "Ed has raw untested talent that they hope will satisfy their needs. They were eager to recruit someone that could communicate with ants."
"I can't communicate with ants, only with jants," Ed noted.
"Whatever," said Doc. "It got you in here anyway."
"And what they apparently need is someone with the ability to talk with turtles?" Ed asked. "Does that make any sense? Turtles are a Tribe clan animal, right? Tell us more about clans. Keep it simple; pretend that Mary and I just got here only a couple of days ago and don't know much of anything about Mohawk tribes or their sacred Mountain."
"Here in the Tribe the three clans tend to have different duties," began Jack. "Most men in the Wolf and Bear Clans are warriors that guard the Reservation and go off to build sky-scrapers and big bridges and come home with TVs and practical manufactured goods such as tools, clothes, and plastic sheets for roofs."
"Some hold other jobs," said Doc. "Chief Mike married into the Bear Clan and eventually landed the Tribal Chief job."
"The Turtle Clan is the most mysterious one," admitted Jack. "The Elder Council of Mothers elects one Turtle Clan man in a generation to be the Tribe Religious Chief and take the name Turtle Man."
"Turtle Man leads their religious rites, whatever the hells those are," added Doc.
"Have we fallen in with a crazy cult of turtle worshipers?" Mary asked.
"I don't think so," said Doc. "Typical Mohawk tradition is that Tharuhyawa:ka, or Sky-Holder, is the high god. But there are other old legends involved here. The Tribe is very tight-lipped about it, but it definitely has to do with evil beings that they believe dwell in the Mountain."
"Mouse mentioned something about evil dwelling in the Mountain," said Ed.
"Evil beings created by Flint, evil twin to Sky-Holder," said Jack. "I heard the legends when I was investigating the other Iroquois tribes; that's what brought me here. They say that this particular Tribe not only keeps the eastern gate of the Iroquois Nations safe from other tribes and whites, it also keeps the Iroquois and everyone else in the world safe from the man-eating Atenenyarhu: the Stone-Coats."
"Stone-Coats?"
Jack and Doc exchanged nervous glances.
"Come on guys; if you already heard this off the Reservation it can't be much of a Tribe secret," reasoned Mary. "Tell us what you know."
"The Stone-Coats are giants with skin of stone," said Doc. "They are spear and knife proof, apparently, and I bet that they'll turn out to be bullet-proof as well, if they exist."
"They are also known here and across the world as Ice Giants, because they thrive in the cold," said Jack. "The Norse and many other peoples of the world also have legends about them. I've followed the legends around the world. I suspect that this is but one mountain of many that harbors sleeping Ice Giants."
"And I suspect that you guys are complete loons," said Ed. He had hoped that he had been brought here to this culture-forsaken wilderness for some practical purpose, but this business about sleeping giants was completely crazy. "Ice Giants? This is why you had me quit my job in Virginia and come to this God-forsaken back-woods place?"
"You are our ticket to learning all the Tribe secrets about the Ice Giants, Ed," said Doc. "Even if the Stone-Coat Ice Giants don't exist in reality, understanding Tribe mythology is key to understanding Tribe behavior."
"It's the chance of a lifetime," added Jack.
"Swell," said Ed.
****