How I Became A Ghost by Tim Tingle

Author:Tim Tingle
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781937054540
Publisher: The RoadRunner Press
Published: 2013-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Seeking Naomi

I THOUGHT everyone was asleep. I’d heard old men snoring. But not every old man snores. I thought I had fooled them all, and anyway I had to talk to Joseph. I climbed from my blanket and walked to the creek.

“Joseph?” I whispered. “Are you here?”

“Yes,” he said, stepping from behind a big cypress tree. “Good job.”

“Isaac, who is your friend?” In the quiet woods of night, the voice of Nani Humma boomed like a shotgun. I jumped like I was the target.

Nani Humma stepped from the shadows. I hung my head and said nothing.

“I already know Isaac, but we have not met,” said Nani Humma, stepping to Joseph and offering his hand. Joseph and I stood still, ashamed and caught.

“I won’t wake up the council, not at this late hour,” said Nani Humma. “But you will tell me what is going on, and you will tell me now.”

Joseph and I told Nani Humma the whole story. For almost an hour we talked. We told him of the burning of our homes. Joseph told of his escape. We told him about Naomi and our mission to rescue her. We told him of the soldiers, and how Joseph’s life was in danger. I even told him about seeing the ghosts.

When I saw that he believed us, I told him my biggest secret.

“I will soon be a ghost,” I said in a whisper. I looked at Nani Humma, hoping he would believe me. He said nothing, but he nodded to let me know he understood.

When we finished talking, Nani Humma sat in silence for the longest time. Finally he stood up, brushed the leaves from his pants, and spoke.

“The hour is late and we need our sleep. Isaac, you can stay with us for now. Joseph, as long as you cause no trouble, you are welcome, too. I don’t think I have to tell you how important it is that you stay out of sight.”

“I understand,” Joseph said.

“Yakoke,” I replied.

The next morning Nani Humma told the Choctaw Council about our nighttime visit. I finished serving breakfast and sat down to listen. When Nani Humma came to the part about Naomi, and how she had been taken, the councilmen gave fire to their anger.

“They took a young girl from her family?”

“They use her like a slave!”

“Her family thought she was dead! How horrible.”

When everyone had had their say, Mister Tibbi stood to speak. He was the head of the council and a large man, thick as a tree trunk. Gray hair fell about his face and down his shoulders.

“If we approach these soldiers and accuse them of keeping this girl against her will, they will lie,” he said. “The girl will be afraid of what they will do to her and her family if she tells the truth. She might never see her family again, or worse, she might disappear.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Nani Humma asked.

“If Naomi is ever to return to her family, I think her best chance lies with these young men, our new helper, Isaac, and his friend Joseph.

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