Wild Woman, continued
Muxqueam Snowy Owl turned around to retrace his path back to the anterior of the cave when a wave of panic swelled in his spirit. What if he takes the wrong turn and becomes lost?
But, no. He was careful to remember the rock formations and the changes in elevations and saw where his steps had disturbed the sand. Slowly he made his way back, crawling or walking when he could stand, his burning lamp faithfully guiding each step.
He arrived at the cave entrance in time for the light from the setting sun to shine inside, like his first visit -- except this time the color was white like an old man's beard instead of yellow. He stepped outside to admire the fading day and to escape from the darkness and confined space. The cold ocean breeze refreshed him.
Suddenly from the dark brush below the ledge he made out blood red eyes starring at him. Two tall hairy figures stood up and climbed the final rock toward his camp. The secquec have come!
He jumped back to the cave to get his weapons. He set his bow and placed an arrow and set Tillicum's spear down near the inside entrance. Then he heard the voices of women singing outside.
"Owl of Snow, white bird of winter, fly our way tonight. Perch near by." The voices were soothing and captivating and put him at ease. The women sounded like his mother singing a lullaby. But, it must be a trick of the sesquec. So he kept silent, knowing that he could strike down anybody that tried to crawl into the cave. When he realized that a giant sesquec could not squeeze through the door and he felt saver.
"Owl of snow, don't be afraid. We have come to collect our carving or to claim our down payment back. It has been past the time we agreed. Why did you delay? Come out and we can talk about your lateness." Finally Muxqueam called out in reply, "How did you find me up here?"
"Our father visited your camp at the beach and found your trail in the snow up the side of the mountain here. He figured that you came to our cave to keep warm. He sent us to fetch you because our trouble with bears around our lodge has grown worse."
"Why did your father not come himself?" said Snowy Owl.
"He had to go hunting for food and our chores for the winter are finished. Come out and we can talk. Our mother sent you some tasty food," replied the voices.
Clutching his bow and arrows, Muxqueam bend down and looked out of the entrance. There he saw two beautiful women standing near the ledge with the water and horizon behind them. They wore light colored deerskin skirts and had long brown hair and fine facial features. They also had snowshoes and covered their heads with otter furs to keep warm. He was as captivated as much by their looks as by the sound of their singing, which they continued in a tease. The thought entered his mind that if he found favor with their father, these girls could be his wives.
"Owl of Snow come and taste our mother's treats. Our father says that you might make a good husband someday. There are few young men in these islands." They giggled together and began to sing a song about lovers meeting secretly. Mesmerized, Muxqueam dropped his bow and arrows at his feet and walked to the girls smiling.
"Island girls, you can tell your father that my carving tool broke and I came to this cave to find blade to replace it. That is why I am late in carving the effigy. Why did you wait so late in the day to arrive?" The fact that the girls came alone and at sunset didn't seem right, but maybe what is proper here is different than back home.
"Welcome us into the cave and we will share with you food that we packed especially for you, then tomorrow we will return together and let our father know that you will keep your promise," said the older girl. "Then maybe he will permit you to take us as wives," said the younger. The girls laughed and sang the love song again, dancing around Snowy Owl then past the fire pit and into the cave. He heard their voices echoing from inside the cave. He laughed at their playfulness and followed.
But, when he bent down to enter the cave he felt a blow to his head and he collapsed face first into the sand. His first thought was anger at being so easily fooled. He pushed himself up from the ground and through dizzy eyes saw standing before him in the dim light a tall sesquec breathing with heavy breaths and baring teeth like an attacking dog.
Suddenly he was hit from behind and felt a shape pain on the side of his head as the other sesquec struck him, grabbing his shoulders and bit deeply into his right ear. He felt the wetness of blood on his neck and tried to struggle free from the firm jaws that fiercely shook his head back and forth until he found himself knocked against the side of the cave.
His blood splattered the bear painting. He quickly touched the right side of his wet head to confirm that the monster had bitten his ear off. His owl feather tied to his hair also was missing. Covered in blood and seared with pain he grew faint. He put his hands on his knees and took three great breaths. Blood dripped on his hands and legs.
He knew that Setkco had sent these spirit slaves to steal the clamshell with the sacred fire starter and trap him in the depths of the earth to keep him from completing his quest. The curse of Namquaw had come upon him.
His bow and arrow were outside. Tillicum's spear was his only weapon, other than the knives stored in his pack. His training as a warrior and combat experience came to him immediately and he quickly rolled on his side across the floor toward the place where he left the spear laying on the ground near the cave entrance. But instead of reaching the spear, he found himself at the hairy feet of the other sesquec.
The body reached to the ceiling and he could see blood dripping from her angry face. The beast grabbed him by the arm and tossed him hard against the rock wall again, cutting his side and ripping off his tunic. He felt massive hands clasp his feet and begin to drag him away from the cave opening toward the deeper reaches of the underworld. Just in time his hands frantically reached out and felt the shaft of the spear, which he grasped with all of his might, curled around and stabbed the monster in the thigh.
The scream was like the roar of a mountain lion and echoed as she, recoiling in pain, let go -- permitting him to rise and point the spear in defense. The sister also screamed an angry scream. "This spear will silence your rage!" his war cry echoed back at the monsters.
The bloody sister nearest to him now turned to spy his pack with his provisions, knives and sacred clamshell on the matt and quickly bent down to snatch it up and tossed it across the cave to the other sesquec who turned and scurried into the darkness toward a bottomless hole in the far reaches of the cavern.
He faced the remaining monster that slowly drew nearer to him, grunting and hissing, anticipating his moves and trying to overpower him.
It was then that Snowy Owl felt another presence in the cave with him. For the first time since his vision he began to see glory light shining in the cave. If one of us were in the cave, we would see only blackness, but Snowy Owl's eyes saw other world light shining all around. He knew that Tillicum was coming to rescue him.
Sensing the power of the Great Spirit giving him strength, he reached out to take hold the spear in front of his own hand. Just as the sesquec leaped upon him for a final assult, trying to break his neck with her powerful, clawed hands, Snowy Owl yelled a war cry and thrust the shaft of the spear into the lower torso of the beast, then up into it's heart. When the tip of the blade reached his arm length into the sesquec's chest, the weight of the monster fell down on the spear, driving it deeper. Still standing the monster took a breath, grabbing the spear with blood soaked hairy hands.
Then a flash of light like lightening lit up the cavern and a loud crack shook the floor. Instantly the sesquec body glowed red, then white -- as his body did in the sacred fire. He pulled out the spear and suddenly the monster shrank -- transformed into a tiny creature at his feet. The furry creature looked like a mouse, but with a hairy tale and white and brown stripes down its back. It lay still for a few breaths, then stood up on its back feet and looked at Snowy Owl. Then the stripped creature ran as fast as an arrow out the door of the cave.
The other sesquec clutched the sacred clamshell and must be stopped, he thought. Along with the spear, he quickly picked up the still burning seal lamp and ventured back to the far reaches of the cave. He hoped that the cave narrowed enough to slow the monster's movement in time for him to catch it before the clamshell was lost in one of the underworld holes.
When he reached the narrow passage, he heard the monster struggling to push through. He moved as quickly as possible to keep the lamp burning as he crawled through the passage, pushing the lamp ahead and dragging the spear with in his right hand. The side of his head burned from the wound on his ear, but he pressed on to reach the first bottomless hole as soon as possible.
He stopped to listen and heard nothing. Then he saw the lamp torn from his hands and the light extinguished. In the total blackness, the sesquec embodied spirit reached out and grasped him by the hair and pulled him through the narrow passage and out into an open space then tossed his body on top of one of the deep holes in the floor. He again felt the cool air rising from below, but held to the sides with his feet and left arm to prevent falling. He put the spear flat across the hole to push up and away. Still in total darkness he rose to a squatting position and stabbed before him hoping to hit the she-devil.
Then he heard the voice of the first daughter as before. "Owl of Snow welcome to your grave. Do you think that we would let you return to the mainland and reveal the secrets of the lost islands to the human filth? We could never permit your kind to come and defile our pure world. The others will never see the light of sacred fire. I have it right now and am about to drop it into the depths and extinguish it forever from the sight of people and then my powers will extinguish your spirit as well," said the girl's voice.
He could locate where the she-devil was standing from her voice and he stepped silently in the total darkness toward her direction. He took a breath and then shouted into the blackness: "She-devil of Setko, know the wrath of Thunderbird."
He jumped forward and pinned the sesquec against the wall and before she could change back into a monster pushed the blade of the spear into the skin of her side. Instantly, just as before, a blinding flash of lightening rocked the inside of the cave, turning the opposing figure red, then white and she shrank into a tiny striped creature exactly like her sister. The whole cave glowed white like the moon and the scene was clearly visible for many breaths.
The crystals in the rock walls glittered like sun on the ocean. The illumination faded quickly, but shown long enough for him to see the lamp and pack with the sacred fire start inside near by, so he reached down and picked up the dazed tiny creature by the tail and put it into the pack. He then took out the fire start and re-lit the lamp, permitting him to make his way back to the outside world.
The journey back from the far reaches of the underworld was long -- slowed by thirst and the pain of his wounds. Exhausted he paused to rest and almost fell asleep several times. He continued to feel the presence of Tillicum and that kept him persevering even after many stumbles.
When he finally reached the anterior, he drank water that he had stored in a pitch-coated basket. Before departing the cave, he looked around for the lost owl feathers, finding them bloodied but intact in the sand. Once outside, he took a deep breath of the pure wind and realized that it was early dawn. His ordeal lasted the whole night.
He took some whale gut twine from the pack and re-tied the feather to his hair, now caked in dried blood. The sesquec had eaten his ear off, but that is what he deserves for listening to the beguiling spirit, he told himself. Opening the pouch, he released the tiny striped creature to the ground. It ran up the side of the rock hill to join her sister chattering on the limb of a pine tree.
"That will teach you who is the master of this world. You two will eat nothing but grass seeds and pine nuts for the rest of your days," he said as he made up a song mocking the transformed sesquec. We still sing that song on these nights, dancing the dance of the trickster sesquec sisters who were made into chipmunks.
Next chapter
But, no. He was careful to remember the rock formations and the changes in elevations and saw where his steps had disturbed the sand. Slowly he made his way back, crawling or walking when he could stand, his burning lamp faithfully guiding each step.
He arrived at the cave entrance in time for the light from the setting sun to shine inside, like his first visit -- except this time the color was white like an old man's beard instead of yellow. He stepped outside to admire the fading day and to escape from the darkness and confined space. The cold ocean breeze refreshed him.
Suddenly from the dark brush below the ledge he made out blood red eyes starring at him. Two tall hairy figures stood up and climbed the final rock toward his camp. The secquec have come!
He jumped back to the cave to get his weapons. He set his bow and placed an arrow and set Tillicum's spear down near the inside entrance. Then he heard the voices of women singing outside.
"Owl of Snow, white bird of winter, fly our way tonight. Perch near by." The voices were soothing and captivating and put him at ease. The women sounded like his mother singing a lullaby. But, it must be a trick of the sesquec. So he kept silent, knowing that he could strike down anybody that tried to crawl into the cave. When he realized that a giant sesquec could not squeeze through the door and he felt saver.
"Owl of snow, don't be afraid. We have come to collect our carving or to claim our down payment back. It has been past the time we agreed. Why did you delay? Come out and we can talk about your lateness." Finally Muxqueam called out in reply, "How did you find me up here?"
"Our father visited your camp at the beach and found your trail in the snow up the side of the mountain here. He figured that you came to our cave to keep warm. He sent us to fetch you because our trouble with bears around our lodge has grown worse."
"Why did your father not come himself?" said Snowy Owl.
"He had to go hunting for food and our chores for the winter are finished. Come out and we can talk. Our mother sent you some tasty food," replied the voices.
Clutching his bow and arrows, Muxqueam bend down and looked out of the entrance. There he saw two beautiful women standing near the ledge with the water and horizon behind them. They wore light colored deerskin skirts and had long brown hair and fine facial features. They also had snowshoes and covered their heads with otter furs to keep warm. He was as captivated as much by their looks as by the sound of their singing, which they continued in a tease. The thought entered his mind that if he found favor with their father, these girls could be his wives.
"Owl of Snow come and taste our mother's treats. Our father says that you might make a good husband someday. There are few young men in these islands." They giggled together and began to sing a song about lovers meeting secretly. Mesmerized, Muxqueam dropped his bow and arrows at his feet and walked to the girls smiling.
"Island girls, you can tell your father that my carving tool broke and I came to this cave to find blade to replace it. That is why I am late in carving the effigy. Why did you wait so late in the day to arrive?" The fact that the girls came alone and at sunset didn't seem right, but maybe what is proper here is different than back home.
"Welcome us into the cave and we will share with you food that we packed especially for you, then tomorrow we will return together and let our father know that you will keep your promise," said the older girl. "Then maybe he will permit you to take us as wives," said the younger. The girls laughed and sang the love song again, dancing around Snowy Owl then past the fire pit and into the cave. He heard their voices echoing from inside the cave. He laughed at their playfulness and followed.
But, when he bent down to enter the cave he felt a blow to his head and he collapsed face first into the sand. His first thought was anger at being so easily fooled. He pushed himself up from the ground and through dizzy eyes saw standing before him in the dim light a tall sesquec breathing with heavy breaths and baring teeth like an attacking dog.
Suddenly he was hit from behind and felt a shape pain on the side of his head as the other sesquec struck him, grabbing his shoulders and bit deeply into his right ear. He felt the wetness of blood on his neck and tried to struggle free from the firm jaws that fiercely shook his head back and forth until he found himself knocked against the side of the cave.
His blood splattered the bear painting. He quickly touched the right side of his wet head to confirm that the monster had bitten his ear off. His owl feather tied to his hair also was missing. Covered in blood and seared with pain he grew faint. He put his hands on his knees and took three great breaths. Blood dripped on his hands and legs.
He knew that Setkco had sent these spirit slaves to steal the clamshell with the sacred fire starter and trap him in the depths of the earth to keep him from completing his quest. The curse of Namquaw had come upon him.
His bow and arrow were outside. Tillicum's spear was his only weapon, other than the knives stored in his pack. His training as a warrior and combat experience came to him immediately and he quickly rolled on his side across the floor toward the place where he left the spear laying on the ground near the cave entrance. But instead of reaching the spear, he found himself at the hairy feet of the other sesquec.
The body reached to the ceiling and he could see blood dripping from her angry face. The beast grabbed him by the arm and tossed him hard against the rock wall again, cutting his side and ripping off his tunic. He felt massive hands clasp his feet and begin to drag him away from the cave opening toward the deeper reaches of the underworld. Just in time his hands frantically reached out and felt the shaft of the spear, which he grasped with all of his might, curled around and stabbed the monster in the thigh.
The scream was like the roar of a mountain lion and echoed as she, recoiling in pain, let go -- permitting him to rise and point the spear in defense. The sister also screamed an angry scream. "This spear will silence your rage!" his war cry echoed back at the monsters.
The bloody sister nearest to him now turned to spy his pack with his provisions, knives and sacred clamshell on the matt and quickly bent down to snatch it up and tossed it across the cave to the other sesquec who turned and scurried into the darkness toward a bottomless hole in the far reaches of the cavern.
He faced the remaining monster that slowly drew nearer to him, grunting and hissing, anticipating his moves and trying to overpower him.
It was then that Snowy Owl felt another presence in the cave with him. For the first time since his vision he began to see glory light shining in the cave. If one of us were in the cave, we would see only blackness, but Snowy Owl's eyes saw other world light shining all around. He knew that Tillicum was coming to rescue him.
Sensing the power of the Great Spirit giving him strength, he reached out to take hold the spear in front of his own hand. Just as the sesquec leaped upon him for a final assult, trying to break his neck with her powerful, clawed hands, Snowy Owl yelled a war cry and thrust the shaft of the spear into the lower torso of the beast, then up into it's heart. When the tip of the blade reached his arm length into the sesquec's chest, the weight of the monster fell down on the spear, driving it deeper. Still standing the monster took a breath, grabbing the spear with blood soaked hairy hands.
Then a flash of light like lightening lit up the cavern and a loud crack shook the floor. Instantly the sesquec body glowed red, then white -- as his body did in the sacred fire. He pulled out the spear and suddenly the monster shrank -- transformed into a tiny creature at his feet. The furry creature looked like a mouse, but with a hairy tale and white and brown stripes down its back. It lay still for a few breaths, then stood up on its back feet and looked at Snowy Owl. Then the stripped creature ran as fast as an arrow out the door of the cave.
The other sesquec clutched the sacred clamshell and must be stopped, he thought. Along with the spear, he quickly picked up the still burning seal lamp and ventured back to the far reaches of the cave. He hoped that the cave narrowed enough to slow the monster's movement in time for him to catch it before the clamshell was lost in one of the underworld holes.
When he reached the narrow passage, he heard the monster struggling to push through. He moved as quickly as possible to keep the lamp burning as he crawled through the passage, pushing the lamp ahead and dragging the spear with in his right hand. The side of his head burned from the wound on his ear, but he pressed on to reach the first bottomless hole as soon as possible.
He stopped to listen and heard nothing. Then he saw the lamp torn from his hands and the light extinguished. In the total blackness, the sesquec embodied spirit reached out and grasped him by the hair and pulled him through the narrow passage and out into an open space then tossed his body on top of one of the deep holes in the floor. He again felt the cool air rising from below, but held to the sides with his feet and left arm to prevent falling. He put the spear flat across the hole to push up and away. Still in total darkness he rose to a squatting position and stabbed before him hoping to hit the she-devil.
Then he heard the voice of the first daughter as before. "Owl of Snow welcome to your grave. Do you think that we would let you return to the mainland and reveal the secrets of the lost islands to the human filth? We could never permit your kind to come and defile our pure world. The others will never see the light of sacred fire. I have it right now and am about to drop it into the depths and extinguish it forever from the sight of people and then my powers will extinguish your spirit as well," said the girl's voice.
He could locate where the she-devil was standing from her voice and he stepped silently in the total darkness toward her direction. He took a breath and then shouted into the blackness: "She-devil of Setko, know the wrath of Thunderbird."
He jumped forward and pinned the sesquec against the wall and before she could change back into a monster pushed the blade of the spear into the skin of her side. Instantly, just as before, a blinding flash of lightening rocked the inside of the cave, turning the opposing figure red, then white and she shrank into a tiny striped creature exactly like her sister. The whole cave glowed white like the moon and the scene was clearly visible for many breaths.
The crystals in the rock walls glittered like sun on the ocean. The illumination faded quickly, but shown long enough for him to see the lamp and pack with the sacred fire start inside near by, so he reached down and picked up the dazed tiny creature by the tail and put it into the pack. He then took out the fire start and re-lit the lamp, permitting him to make his way back to the outside world.
The journey back from the far reaches of the underworld was long -- slowed by thirst and the pain of his wounds. Exhausted he paused to rest and almost fell asleep several times. He continued to feel the presence of Tillicum and that kept him persevering even after many stumbles.
When he finally reached the anterior, he drank water that he had stored in a pitch-coated basket. Before departing the cave, he looked around for the lost owl feathers, finding them bloodied but intact in the sand. Once outside, he took a deep breath of the pure wind and realized that it was early dawn. His ordeal lasted the whole night.
He took some whale gut twine from the pack and re-tied the feather to his hair, now caked in dried blood. The sesquec had eaten his ear off, but that is what he deserves for listening to the beguiling spirit, he told himself. Opening the pouch, he released the tiny striped creature to the ground. It ran up the side of the rock hill to join her sister chattering on the limb of a pine tree.
"That will teach you who is the master of this world. You two will eat nothing but grass seeds and pine nuts for the rest of your days," he said as he made up a song mocking the transformed sesquec. We still sing that song on these nights, dancing the dance of the trickster sesquec sisters who were made into chipmunks.
Next chapter
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