The Equinox by MJ Preston

Author:MJ Preston [Preston, MJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781948239196
Publisher: WildBlue Press
Published: 2019-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

6

“Tonight, you will spend time with your loved ones,” Old Jake said to them as they stood in the talking circle on the outcropping overlooking the ancient village. In his hand he held an eagle’s feather, giving him dominion over the group. Not one of them was allowed to talk while he held the feather. The response was limited only to murmurs or nods of acknowledgment.

Distracted, Proudfoot stood silently, looking over the grounds of his people as he listened to Old Jake give his oration. He wondered if he would ever see this place again.

The others were also silent: Fortier, Michano, and Monias, all men twice his age who spoke little except to address the Chocktee law. Many times, they gathered in the council hut: a stone building built before the white man set out on his first Great War of the last century. There they would talk in the ancient language – not the one he or Daniel had learned, but an older dialect that would die with them.

“The Brave Hunter Blackbird has descended upon a village where the spirit of Jackanoob holds still. A struggle is imminent, my brothers, and after many years of walking alone it is time for us to take flight and assist our brother.”

Toomey stood motionless as the others waited for him to continue. The Northern Wind blew his grey hair like spider webs about his weathered face. He stood statuesque, bringing his gaze upon each of them dramatically.

He continued, “Our people have lived out here for centuries. Their bloodline and fate were changed on the day Jackanoob bargained away our future. For over two hundred years we were guarded and kept this ritual secret, but that time has passed. What we do in the coming days will alter the future of our people. Some of you may ask: why are we concerned with one evil figure when the world is awash in the blood of immorality? It is a good question, but only one a fool would ask.”

He paused and smiled.

Proudfoot laughed, as did the others.

“Go now: make peyak with your families, but tomorrow we are nîyânan.”

Toomey stepped away from the talking circle and walked off down the path without another word, feather still poised in his grasp.

There was a confused silence as they watched him go. Rick Monias laughed first, then Fortier said, “Old Jake sure knows how to exit a talking circle.”

The others joined in with the laughter. Then, laughter expelled, they scattered – all except Proudfoot, who stood at the outcropping a moment longer. He so loved this place, the tradition, and his people. His missed his talks with Aunt Janice, the soothing words of Grandfather, and now he missed Daniel.

They were truly blood brothers, Daniel and he. The large knife he carried was an exact copy of the one Blackbird had used to cut open and close the wound on his face.

They had performed the ritual of becoming blood brothers one day in the late eighties, at the height of summer.

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