Wind Talker by Kim Murphy

Author:Kim Murphy [Murphy, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kim Murphy
Published: 2016-02-24T16:00:00+00:00

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17

Wind Talker

Wind kicked up, totally surrounding me. By now I recognized its meaning. I reached out my hand, but the mist captured Phoebe, once again separating us by time. Lowering my arm, I clenched my hand and worried that I’d be unable to unlock the secret of how we had traveled through time.

Charging Bear thumped me on the shoulder, and I turned. Sympathy registered in his eyes. Had Phoebe’s concern about Meg falling for her brother been a valid one? Before either of us could speak, Henry approached me. “She has bid me goodbye.”

Like I had Shae. “Thank you, Henry—for everything.”

He shook his head. “As I told Phoebe, ’tis naught.”

His modesty amazed me. If only I could be as humble. If nothing else, I was learning patience among Phoebe’s family and my own, a trait that had frequently escaped me during my time in law enforcement. After bidding each other goodnight, we retired for the evening.

In the morning, after saying goodbye to Elenor, Henry, and the rest of the family, I set out with Black Owl and my brothers. We stopped near my mother’s grave to pay our final respects. Afterward, Charging Bear separated from us to return to the Appamattuck and Strong Bow. I promised him that I would return in a few weeks, but I wanted to meet the rest of my family. Swift Deer and I were loaded with packs of supplies on our backs that Elenor had provided for us, and we began the journey to where the Sekakawon called home. In my head, I had difficulty picturing where the tribe lived, but from Black Owl’s description, I thought it must be somewhere in the Northern Neck region, making the trip over sixty miles on foot.

Although Charging Bear had always maintained a brisk pace when traveling in the woods, I had only accompanied him for short distances in comparison. These warriors kept a similarly steady rate, and I struggled to meet their strides. In an effort to keep up, I shifted my pack to Wildcat’s back. The switch only slowed him slightly, and my lungs burned in agony.

The first time we met another traveler, I didn’t realize that the proper etiquette was to stop and chat. Thankful for the rest break, I relished a few minutes to catch my breath. I quickly learned that a chat meant smoking a pipe, learning the latest news, and sharing any available foodstuff. Several hours passed before we resumed our journey. After two days and making our third encounter, I envisioned several weeks passing before we arrived at our destination.

By nightfall, when we rested for the evening, I fell into an exhausted sleep and had no energy to contact Phoebe through the dreaming. I worried she would think I had abandoned her yet again. On the third night, I struggled to stay awake to make contact but drifted off before I could enter the misty realm, only to wake in the early dawn to Wildcat standing over me with an ear-to-ear grin.

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