Carey had gassed up the truck and stowed all the food in the camper shell the night before, so he was ready for the onslaught of the two whirling dervishes, otherwise known as his nephews, Davie and Carl Tallon. It wasn't that he didn't want to go camping, but he had just returned from his sophomore year at the university and he had not yet had the time to unwind from his examinations. He was a Botany major, with a minor in Education and really wanted to be a research botanist, but felt he needed a "backup" in case he needed a second job. He was in the Honors Program at the "U", although he was far from being a "geek". He had taken first place in the statewide distance running competition and his name had been mentioned as an Olympic contender for the next year. At 6 foot, 4 inches, he had the legs to outrun all his other competitors.
His sister, Stephanie, had begged him to take the boys, she was at her wit's end. She was barely coping with John's death three months earlier and her sons were not coping at all. They had been completely devoted to their father, and, when they had been notified of his death, their entire world had come crashing down. That he loved those boys was a given, but only his own father suspected that he had envied John being their dad.
As he put the last minute items in the truck before leaving to pick up the boys, Carey's father, Thomas came out of the house. He hugged his son and said, "Care, I know how you feel about Davie and Carl, but remember, they are also Steph's sons and you will only get hurt when you must leave them to go back to school next fall."
Tears began to leak from Carey's eyes, "Dad, I know, but they are hurting so terrible, I would do anything to see happy smiles on their faces again."
Thomas, in terrible pain himself, said, "I know, Care, just be careful." He kissed his son, turning away so Carey would not see the pain on his face and the tears running down his own cheeks.
Carey had steeled himself as he drove slowly over to his sister's house to pick up the boys. Davie and Carl were waiting for him on their driveway, their sleeping bags and camping equipment piled on the sidewalk, ready to load in the truck. Their mother, Stephanie, was on the porch, watching her sons. There was no life, nor happiness on their faces, she prayed that her beloved brother, Carey, could bring them back to life.
The boys' eyes lit up, momentarily, as Carey jumped from the truck, then sadness took over again, their eyes dulled and faces quivered in effort not to cry. Carey hugged his nephews, "I love you guys." They clung to Carey, like those drowning at sea and then began tossing their equipment into the camper shell. Carey went up to his sister, "I will take good care of them, Steph, don't you worry. Try to get some sleep and take a breather from all this. OK?" He plastered a smile on his face and hollered to his nephews to get in the truck, it was "EAGLE ROCK TIME"!
They rode out of town in silence and headed into the foothills. It would be a six hour trip to get there, the last 20 miles was a 4-wheel, low range drive, bouncing over boulders and dodging trees. They would spend the next four weeks at elevations over 6,000 feet and almost 50 miles from the nearest civilization.
They stopped in the last "outpost" of Foresthill for lunch. Nellie's Diner had been a family tradition for many years and the thought of food cheered them all up a bit. Nellie Carson had run the place for as long as any of them could remember and she greeted them like family as they walked in her door, "OK boys, three Nellie Burger plates coming up!" She hugged all three of them and scolded, "Now, you boys put on your happy faces, ain't gonna do no good to trip over your lips, what's done is done and y'all gotta go on with life." She dished up her special burgers and put them in front of the boys. Her antics got a tentative smile out of them. She said to Carey, "Y'all goin' up to Eagle Rock?" Carey told her that they were and she replied, "Been some strange things goin' on up there lately. Odd trees and screwy animals been seen up there. The Indians be sayin' that the rocks is protestin'."
Carey smiled, "Well, we aren't gonna hurt them none, so I guess they won't mind us staying for a few weeks." After they finished off Nellie's monster burgers, Carey filled the truck with gas and fondly bade the old woman goodbye.
As they left the small town, Carey thought he felt the truck shake and shimmy, so he stopped and got out, thinking that perhaps he had a flat tire. As he walked around the truck, the land gave another shake and there was a "wavey" look to the sky. He blinked his eyes and looked again, but whatever it was had disappeared. He got back in the truck and put the transmission in 4-wheel drive and they headed into the dense forest. As they climbed higher, the road became steeper and more narrow, he was forced to shift to low-range to scramble up the grades.
They came to a clearing at the top of a hill and decided to stretch their legs. The boys were looking around and Davie called out, "Hey, Care, what kind of tree is this?" He was pointing to a low tree with odd shaped leaves on it.
Carey looked closely, "I think it is a ginkgo tree," he replied. Then, he thought, "What is a tropical ginkgo tree doing here in a pine forest?" He shook his head, "This tree shouldn't be here, something very strange is going on." They were only about 10 miles from Eagle Rock, so he decided to say nothing and continue on to their campsite.
They finally arrived at Eagle Rock, a weird volcanic formation sticking up above the trees. In pioneer times, it had been a landmark for wagon trains, there were scratchings on the rocks going so far back in time that none knew what language they had originally been written. The campground was empty and everything was quiet, even the birds were silent. They set up the tent and gathered wood for a campfire later that evening.
As they were setting out their sleeping bags, the ground shook again and the rock spires above them made a groaning sound. They had to hang onto each other, just to remain standing. Carey looked up at the rocks above them, he didn't think they posed any danger of falling on them, but he decided that they would move their camp a little further away the next morning. The shadows began to lengthen and Carey started working on supper, he sent Carl to the spring back behind the rocks for some water and had Davie start the fire.
They heard Carl scream and both he and Davie went running to see what the matter was. They rounded the rock and found Carl shaking like a leaf. He was pointing at an object lying on the ground near the spring, a flint knife about 8 inches long with a bone handle attached to it with hide lashings. Carey looked at it and thought, "This isn't modern Indian work, but it looks new!"
Carl said, "It was a boy! A wild boy!"
Carey looked around and spotted a moccasin sticking out from under a bush. Thinking that he might identify the tribe from the beadwork on the moccasin, he pulled it out from under the bush. The moccasin was occupied by a young Indian boy. He looked to be about 12 or 13 years old. Carey held him to keep him from running, and tried to speak to him, but the boy did not understand anything Carey said. Finally, Carey pointed to himself and said, "Carey".
The boy understood immediately and pointed to himself, saying, "Moaki".
They offered the boy an apple, which he gobbled down, obviously he was starving! After much pantomime, they understood that Moaki had become separated from his people and could not find his way back to them. They offered the boy a place to sleep that night, after he had shared their supper with them. Moaki seemed very intelligent, he picked up words easily and, by the time they were snuggling into the sleeping bags, they had worked out a crude patois with which they could communicate.
Carey lay there, staring up at the stars, sleep eluding him. He heard Moaki crying softly, so he got up and went to comfort the young boy. He held Moaki, rubbing his back in an attempt to sooth his panic.
The boy said softly, "Moaki parents dead be. Moaki alone this place." At that, he began to sob out his fears onto Carey's shoulder. He looked up at Carey and said through his tears, "Carey papa be Moaki?"
Carey smiled at the terrified child, "Yes, Moaki, I will be your Papa until we can find your family."
Moaki hugged Carey, "Parents Moaki not this place be."
Carey looked up and discovered Davie and Carl kneeling beside the distraught boy, "We will be your brothers, Moaki, we will care for you."
Just then, Carl looked up and screamed, pointing at the sky. There were two moons to be seen, rising above the horizon! Carey tried to be very calm and mature, doing all he could do not to terrify his nephews, though he was thoroughly frightened himself. Carey got all three boys back into their sleeping bags and he lay down himself. As earlier, sleep did not come to him, he could think of no possible explanation for there being two moons and why was there a ginkgo tree among the pines?
As he lay there, he heard a scream of a large animal, he was sure it was a lion! There had been no mountain lions in this area since before his father had been born. He was determined to fortify their camp as soon as daylight came, he didn't think mountain lions would normally attack humans, but a little safety was probably in order.
He must have dozed off because it was suddenly light and a ray of sunlight was shining in his eyes. He rolled out of his sleeping bag and stood up, ready to attack the problems that had arisen during the night. As he turned around, he saw Moaki dart into the bushes.
Chapter 2 - MOAKI AND CHAI
Carey went after the boy, thinking he had become frightened and was running away. Carey followed as fast as he could run and, as he came around a large rock, he spotted Moaki holding someone in his arms. Moaki was in tears, "Papa, brotter me boy be." He was holding a small child who looked to be about 5 years old.
Carey asked him, "This is your brother?"
Moaki replied, "Chai be brother me, Papa!"
The little boy was nearly naked and was shivering in the cold of the morning, his face and arms were bloody from scratches and his feet and legs were coated with dried mud. Just then, Davie and Carl came running up. Carl went to take the boy from Moaki's arms and Davie was speaking to Moaki rapidly in their new found patois. Carl said to Carey, "Moaki says the boy is his baby brother, Chai, and something hurt their mom and dad."
They carried the hurt boy back to their camp and heated some water to clean him up. Davie had an old pair of shorts that kind of fit Chai and Carl contributed a long-sleeved tee shirt and a pair of flip-flop sandals. While the twins were helping Chai, Carey started some breakfast for them all, Moaki came over and was watching him intently. He reached into his belt pouch and shyly offered Carey some ground vegetable matter, "Papa, in food this put'." It looked to Carey like some kind of spice, so he mixed it in the eggs he was scrambling. He made up some milk from powder and started cooking bacon in the frying pan.
Moaki looked intently at the metal pan and sniffed the bacon as it was cooking. He tasted the milk by putting his finger in it and licking it off. From the look on his face, Carey was not sure if the boy liked it or not.
Davie and Carl brought a cleaned up Chai, the little boy had red hair and blue eyes, but what startled Carey was the look of happiness on his nephews' faces! Little Chai had each of their hands in a tight grip and was calling the twins, "BROTTER".
Moaki ran up to the child and Chai began to talk in a language only he and Moaki could understand. Moaki said, "Chai, new people spek yu." He continued, "Be this New Papa us," he was pointing to Carey, then he pointed to Davie and Carl, "be this brotters us, Dafi un Car. Moma un Papa us do, not this place be."
Chai looked at Davie and reached out to hug him, "Dafi brotter be yu?" He turned to Carl and said, "Car brotter be yu?"
The twins hugged the little boy and said, "Us brotter yu un Moaki." All four boys were in tears, but Carey saw huge smiles on the twins' faces, he hid his own tears as he dished out breakfast for the boys. Moaki and Chai picked up a piece of bacon and sniffed it, Chai stuck out his tongue to lick the strip of fried meat and, suddenly, in one huge gulp, he wolfed it down and looked at the platter, pleading in his eyes. Cary chuckled and placed two more bacon strips before the little boy, they both disappeared, almost like magic!
Carl had opened a small can of peaches and he put a peach half on each of their plates. Moaki touched it with his finger and then licked the juice off his hand. His eyes flew open, "Papa gud this be!" Chai needed no further encouragement, Carey was afraid the boy would try to eat the plate to get any juice that had escaped his tongue! Both boys, after several tastings, drank down their milk and held their glasses out in hopes there was more. The spices that Moaki had given Carey for the eggs gave them a whole new flavor, the twins actually did lick their plates to get it all!
After they had eaten their breakfast and cleaned up the dishes and cooking utensils, they moved their camp further away from the rocky spires of Eagle Rock. While Carey was cooking some soup for lunch, the four boys were jabbering in their patois, suddenly, Carl shouted, "Carey, there are more boys in their camp! Some are hurt, we must go get them!"
Carey nearly dropped the soup he was passing out to the boys and said, "We will look for them just as soon as you have eaten lunch."
Chapter 3 - HURT BOYS
They quickly rinsed off the soup bowls and spoons, Carey asked Moaki, "Do you know where their camp is?"
Moaki replied, "Papa, know me not, Chai know camp where."
Moaki and Carl held Chai's hands as the little boy led them through the trees, Davie and Carey brought up the rear. After nearly an hour of scrambling over the rocks, they heard children crying. The boys rushed towards the sound, they found 10 boys huddled around a tiny fire. Two older boys, who looked to be about 14 or 15 years old were holding two small boys in their arms, the small children were obviously hurt and were crying in pain. The other boys were huddled together in fear, when they looked up and saw strangers approaching, they made to run away.
Moaki and Chai ran up to them to convince them they were safe, Moaki was pointing to Carey, "Papa me un Chai be." He pointed to Davie and Carl, "Dafi un Car us brotters be."
A small boy came up to Carey, "Yu papa me be?"
Carey reached down and picked the child up, cuddling him in his arms, "Yes, me papa yu be."
Suddenly, Carey was covered by crying boys, each trying to wrap himself around him. They were all crying and repeating, "yu papa me be."
The older teen, still carrying a hurt boy, came up to Carey, "yu papa me tu?" Carey told him that he would be his papa also. The boy sat down in the dirt, wailing, his tears soaking the injured child, "Taki me, no papa, no mama. Taki have papa, yu!"
Carey stood up and called all the boys to him, pointing to himself, he began, "Carey me, papa yu" He held out his arms to all the boys and they came running, wanting to be held and loved.
The other teen came up to Carey and bowed to him, "Loki me be. Loki be warrior yu be." Loki held up a short spear and placed it in Cary's hands along with his head, "Papa help me yu, care for boys me."
Davie and Carl joined Loki and knelt before their uncle, "Uncle Care, we also will help you protect these boys, they are our brothers!"
Carey had to sit down, suddenly he was a tribal leader of 14 boys as well as their new father. Inwardly, he was screaming, "I am only 19 years old, how can I protect them?"
Loki laid a boy in Carey's arms, "Noka hurt, get fud me."
Carey watched as the youth went loping off through the trees, he prayed that Loki would return, that he was not running off. Carey led the boys back to the campsite and heated some water so that he could clean up the two hurt boys. Carl and Davie heated some milk for the boys, it didn't take them long to understand it was food. He made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that were almost magically inhaled and so were the sliced apples Carl put out.
Carey was becoming worried about their food supplies, there was no way he could feed 14 boys with food meant for 4! He held a quick council with Davie and Carl, they decided to go back to Foresthill and get as much food and supplies as they could. Loki had returned with several squirrels, which he deftly skinned and cooked on a spit he fashioned of green twigs. Carey realized that feeding this many boys was going to be a full time job and a few squirrels were not going to be sufficient to fill youthful tummies.
Chapter 4 - GONE!
It took some persuading to get the boys to get in the truck, they were reluctant to even come near the strange box. Carl and Davie climbed into the camper shell with the boys, Loki and Taki sat in the cab with Carey holding the two hurt boys, Aka and Peku. The two little boys were asleep in Loki and Taki's arms as soon as the truck began to move. Carey drove very slowly so as to not throw the boys around in the camper shell, nor frighten them.
As they drove down the mountainside, Taki screamed, "Toopma, Toopma" and he pointed to the bushes. There, standing in the shadows, watching them hungrily, was a saber toothed cave lion! Carey shuddered and vowed to collect some rifles and ammunition in Foresthill. The rest of the trip down the mountain was uneventful, except for the strange yellow tinge of the sky and clouds.
They drove into the small town, not seeing a single person. He pulled the truck up at the diner, thinking to get some warm food into his boys. He told the boys to stay with the truck and he entered the building, calling for Nellie Carson.
As he walked towards the back of the diner, he heard someone whimpering in the kitchen. There, he found Nellie crouched under a preparation table, her eyes wide with fear and tears running down her face, "Gone, they are all gone." She kept repeating.
Carey crouched down and touched her arm, Nellie screamed, looking at him with a blank face. Carey soothed the frightened woman and held her tight until her sobs slowed. When recognition showed in her face, he asked, "Nellie, what happened, where is everyone?"
The terrified older woman replied, "There was screeching in the night and a funny yellow light all over the place. This morning, there was nobody here except me!"
Carey held her, she was trembling like a leaf. He said to her, "Miss Nellie, I don't know what is going on, but I got a bunch of boys to feed and care for, maybe we ought to go down into the valley?"
Nellie held his shoulders, "Don't go there, it's all gone, there is nothing down there except trees and terrible animals." He explained to her about the boys waiting out in the truck, Nellie jumped up, "Get those boys in here, let me feed them"
Nellie started the propane fire under her grill and began making hamburgers. The smell of grilling meat began to waft outside and the boys in the truck were sniffing the air hungrily. Carey went outside to lead the boys into the diner. The Indian boys were not anxious to enter the strange building, but the smell of cooking food to starving boys was a powerful attractant! Nellie pulled out all the stops, the electricity was off, so the food would soon spoil.
As she was cooking, Carey described to her what had happened up at Eagle Rock. She told him that she had driven her jeep down the mountain, but the road had disappeared and there was a jungle-like forest blocking her way. She turned on a portable radio and let him listen to the static, there were no stations broadcasting.
Carey told her about seeing the saber toothed cave lion and they both speculated that there were even worse horrors in the jungle at lower elevations. He asked, "Miss Nellie, will you come with us and help care for these boys?"
She looked at him incredulously, "An old woman like me?"
He replied, "Miss Nellie, I can't do it alone, besides, how many more boys are there out in the woods, waiting for us to find them?"
Nellie thought for a few moments, while she tended to cooking meat, "Ok, Carey, I will do it but...... we must bring everything edible from here and you must start calling me Nellie." She continued, "There be guns and ammo down at the General Store, as well as clothing, shoes, blankets and everything else we are gonna need. We will need to make several trips, you go out and break the lock on the gasoline tank so you can fill up yer truck. We sure cain't carry everything on our backs!"
Carey helped Nellie fix the food and then he carried it into the dining room. He held up his hand to get everyone's attention, "Us problem got, be bad animals down mountain. Other mins here not be, Mis Nellie fud got yu. After et, us get clothes, spers, nives un bangs for kil big tooths. Mis Nellie us help. Us luk for other grls un boys."
They loaded the truck, Carl and Davie volunteered to stay with Nellie and watch the smaller boys while he, Loki and Taki delivered the load to their camp. They made four trips to get everything they could carry off from the small town, Carey prayed it would be enough.
The four older boys, Carl, Davey Loki and Taki, constructed lean-to's and spread blankets under them for sleeping areas. They found a small cave in the rocks where they could store their food and pile rocks in the entrance to prevent animals from raiding it.
Loki and Taki fashioned new spears using knives they had found in the General Store down in Foresthill. They then told Carey that they were going hunting, "Papa, fud us get boys et." The two young hunters trotted off at an easy lope while Carey finished putting their camp together. They had their camp pretty much settled when the hunters returned, each carrying a young buck deer. One deer they placed on a spit over the fire and the second deer they flayed into strips of meat and placed them on a drying rack in the sun. Moaki used some of the spices from his belt pouch to rub each piece of meat. T
hey assigned two younger boys the duty of chasing away any animals looking for a free lunch! Loki led Carey away from the group, "Papa, boys un grls creek hide. 'Fraid be they un hurt."
Chapter 5 - HAVEN
Carey told the boys to take some of the younger boys with them and persuade the children to come to their camp for food and rest. Loki looked at Carey, "It gud be come they?"
Carey hugged the boy, "Loki, it gud be, childs safe need."
Loki made a shrieking bird sound and waved his hands. Four young teens stepped from behind the rocks, two girls and two boys. They were carrying two small children each and leading 8 more. The children all came and knelt before Carey, they began to speak. Loki translated for them, "Us alone be, fud not un hurt childs." They held out the children they had been carrying and, again Loki translated, "Papa yu be us?"
Carey was horrified as he looked upon bloody and injured children. He reached for one child, a little girl of no more than 2 years. The child grabbed his hand and hung on for dear life. Carey looked up and, through his tears, said, "Me be papa yu." He was suddenly covered with crying children. Even the teens wanted him to hold them.
Nellie had grabbed the first aid kit from the sheriff's office and she brought it over to Carey, so that they could bandage the children's cuts and hurts. One little boy had a terrible cut on his side. Carey asked Loki, "This hurt do?" Loki turned to one of the teen boys and spoke to him.
The boy stood before Carey, "Papa, me Koke. Bad 'mal, big tooths toompa try us kil. Two boy ded, he me brotter fix yu?"
Carey held the trembling teen and replied, "Papa fix." He and Nellie worked on the boy, cleaning bites and claw cuts. The one on his side, Nellie sutured up. The little boy let out a whimper, but never moved or cried.
When they had finished, Koke held the tiny boy, "Nota, papa u fix. Nota gud huntmin be." Koke walked over to where the two teen girls were standing, he took the hand of one and brought her back to Carey. The two knelt before Carey and Koke said, "Papa, grl Geri be, us want womin - min be, yu bles." He continued, "Nota child be Koke un Geri."
Carey's eyes began to roll up and Nellie grabbed him, "Carey, you are the Father-Chieftain of these people, you must give permission for them to marry!"
Carey thought to himself, "MEEEEEE! I am only a 19 year old boy!" He looked down at the kneeling pair and raised them up. Remembering some of his Indian lore from Boy Scouts, he took Koke's hand and placed Geri's in it, "Koke, Geri, min-womin be yu. Yu many childs yu, much years you." He kissed them both on the forehead and turned to the assembled children, "Koke un Geri min-womin be. Papa speks."
The children all began to shout and the older teens clapped Koke on the back. Nota hobbled up and stood before Koke and Geri, "Nota child-brotter be Koke un Geri. Papa spek?" Koke and Geri picked up the injured child and faced the crowd, "Papa speks, Nota child Koke un Geri be!" Little Nota had a look of pure happiness on his face and he placed a kiss on the forehead of his new parents.
While the new family was still standing before Carey, another teen boy approached and knelt before him with a teen girl, hand in hand, "Papa, me Beli un Lahi min-womin want be. Yu bles?"
Before the afternoon was over, Carey had performed three marriages, Moaki brought Zeta and also stood before him asking his blessing!
As time passed, gardens were planted and a briar wall was erected around their small village. It was evident that there would be at least three new children born in the next few months and more permanent houses were needed. Carey also taught the older boys how to shoot the rifles they had gathered from Foresthill and Chai came home one day with some live birds that looked very much like scrawny chickens. They built cages for them on a rock ledge and soon, there were fresh eggs available!
As winter approached, they stored away dried meats, root vegetables and a few wild grains they had discovered growing near the stream. A great discovery was corn growing in a garden near Foresthill. Carey carefully saved all the kernels, hoping to plant a field of corn the next spring.
Just before the first winter snows, three couples came into their village. They were all teens and the girls were obviously pregnant. The oldest boy stood before Carey, "Me Pali womin Nara be. Papa spek?"
Carey smiled at the earnest young man and kissed them both on the forehead, "Pali un Nara min un womin be. Papa spek."
The next couple came before Carey and stood, "Me Nici womin Tina be. Papa spek?"
Carey performed the same ceremony and then the last couple came before him, "Me Bili woman Keli be. Papa spek?"
Before Carey could reply, a small girl came running up, "Me Rasi, no mama, no papa be." The little girl held Bili and Keli's hand, "Papa spek, me dottar be?"
Carey kissed the foreheads of each of them, "Bili un Keli min un womin be, Rasi dottar be, Papa spek"
TBC
The village of Haven will grow. New children will be born and the seeds of a new civilization will be planted. Watch as two peoples become one, using the best of each as humankind survives and flourishes.