The Gathering

by Sharon Sala

  “Are you saying I am less than I was?”

  Adam shrugged.

  “Different is not less,” Evan snapped. “What is wrong with you? Why are you talking to me like this?”

  Adam’s chest felt like it was swelling. There was a pain in his heart that was growing with every breath he took and his eyes were beginning to burn. He’d never felt this way before and had no understanding of what was happening. All he knew was to lash out. They did everything together and he wanted Evan to hurt, as well.

  Adam doubled up his fists. His voice was shaking. He had never wanted anything in his life beyond the bond he and Evan had shared—from speaking their own secret language as children to surviving the monster who created them, to being the only two people who were not Native American to survive Firewalker. He had never wanted anything else but being Evan’s twin until today—until the vision.

  “I saw her first,” he said, his voice shaking.

  Evan was shocked. That sounded like jealousy. Jealousy was an emotion and Adam did not experience emotions. But then neither had he until he nearly died.

  “So you saw her, too? I wasn’t sure. She just appeared out of nowhere. What do you think it means?”

  Adam was taken aback by Evan’s calmness. When he looked into her eyes, had he not felt like he was dying?

  “You saw me. You know I saw her because you were behind me.”

  Evan slowly shook his head.

  “Brother, I do not understand your anger. What I had was a vision. I had no way of knowing we were having the same one.”

  “Well, we were,” Adam snapped.

  “So why are you angry with me? I can no more control a vision than you can. They just come. Right?”

  “I saw the way she looked at you,” Adam said. “She liked you better.”

  Evan felt like he’d just been punched.

  “Liked me better? Have you lost your mind? We look the same. We had a ten second look at a total stranger and you are angry with me? I’ll tell you what’s happening to you. You have just had your first experience with an emotion. It’s called jealousy, which makes you a fool. Brothers do not fight over the same girl, especially one they do not even know.”

  Adam took a deep breath, and then closed his eyes. He could still see her face and he wanted to die. They were going to meet her, and she was going to choose Evan. He shuddered, then lifted his head and looked away.

  “You are right. I’m sorry, brother. I don’t know why I said all of that.”

  Evan was so happy that this was over that he threw his arms around Adam’s shoulders and gave him a hug.

  “It’s okay. Emotion is hard. Feeling it is worse. You’ll figure it out as it happens more. I did.”

  Adam nodded as he pulled away.

  “I am sure you are right. I over-reacted and I am sorry.”

  Evan was so relieved they were not fighting that he missed the less than sincere manner in which that was delivered.

  “It’s okay. Let’s go get some food. I’m starving.”

  Adam let himself be led away, but the knot in his stomach was still there. This was far from over.

  And he was right.

  That night as they lay sleeping, the girl from the vision walked in their dreams.

  ***

  Adam was dreaming of Naaki Chava when he saw her coming through the tall grass. He wanted to wake up and go to her, but his body wouldn’t respond. Instead, he became an onlooker to her approach.

  The prairie grass moved aside for her passage as if she was nothing more than wind, parting just enough to let the sylph move past. His heart started to pound and his body responded. His manhood grew hard, throbbing with every beat of his heart. He knew what he wanted. He wanted her. See me, he shouted, but she was on her own walk and did not hear him.

  Back in Naaki Chava he and Evan spirit walked at will, but on this night his spirit was as trapped in his body as he was in this dream, and when he saw his brother’s spirit suddenly standing beside her, he groaned. As she reached toward Evan they were enveloped by a white, bright light. When the light exploded, Adam couldn’t control his ensuing climax, and when it was over, it left him sad and shaking. The vision slid away as he rolled over onto his side, but there were tears on his cheeks as he fell into a deeper dreamless sleep.

  ***

  Evan was also dreaming of Naaki Chava. He was dreaming of Singing Bird and Cayetano and how they let him and Adam feed the monkeys in the trees outside the palace when they were little. He could hear Singing Bird’s laugh as one of the monkeys stole the fruit right out of his hand and turned around to say something to her when the girl walked into his dream.

  He was confused. She didn’t belong here. She was not part of his past, and then he heard Singing Bird whispering in his ear… but she is part of your future.

  He looked at her more fully as she came closer, noting the gentleness in her gaze and the slight tilt of a small smile at the corner of her lips. She was beautiful and when she touched him his body betrayed him. He grew hard beneath his clothing and his heart began to beat faster. All of a sudden he was no longer in Naaki Chava. He was standing in the tall grass beside her and when she touched him again, she leaned forward. He put his arms around her, but in the dream she was weightless. Then she moved forward and her spirit flowed through him like water while everything inside him exploded in a bright white light.

  ***

  Suwanee woke within her tipi with her heart pounding and her breath coming in short, uneven gasps. The throb between her legs was ebbing and there was a part of her that believed she’d just died and was once again reborn.

  She’d felt her spirit leave her body and didn’t understand why she was suddenly out on the prairie alone beneath the stars. All she knew was that she was being drawn in that direction by a power greater than anything she’d ever known.

  When she saw one of the brothers with the same face suddenly appear before her and open his arms, she knew this was her sign—this was the one destiny had chosen for her.

  She touched him and then watched in disbelief as he began to glow. When she touched him again, he wrapped his arms around her and in that moment she felt her body begin to vibrate. Seconds later she fell into the light as a great heat was within her. Just when she thought she would burn up, the light exploded. Now she was awake, the warrior was gone, and she would never be the same.

  ***

  When the sun rose the next day, Adam’s mood was dark and Evan’s mood was thoughtful. The twins had not shared their dreams with each other and so the secret only added to the growing distance between them.

  As for the others, the mood for the New Ones was hopeful. They were near the end of their journey and ready to begin the next phase of their lives. The urgency of educating the tribes to the dangers of the strangers who would come to their land was immediate.

  When Tyhen took to the high ridge and Yuma struck the trail East, everyone followed with renewed vigor.

  Tyhen had the hood pulled up on her coat and walked at a brisk pace to stay warm. The sky was without clouds. The sun was weak and very far away which exacerbated the cold wind on the ridge.

  Every now and then she would pause to look in all directions to make sure there was no imminent danger, and when she did the cold sliced across her face.

  She glanced down at the New Ones, wondering where Dakotah was and if he was strong enough to walk all day. She made a mental note to check on him later and then looked for Yuma. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him—a head taller than most of the people around him and walking with that long, rhythmic stride. The simple act of looking at him made her ache. She smiled to herself, thinking of how he made her feel when they made love, and as she did, the wind swirled around her so strong it almost lifted her off her feet. She laughed aloud and then made herself focus to the task at hand. When she was
confident there was no danger, she listened again for the drumbeat and followed the sound.

  Down below, Adam and Evan walked without speaking. They were not communicating with each other in any way.

  Adam could not disguise his new-found emotion any more than he could control it. He was scared to the core that he was losing his brother and didn’t know how to stop it.

  Evan continued to ponder the message from Singing Bird while trying to reconcile the fact that he was becoming entirely too involved with a woman who might not even be real, and if she was, following his heart would destroy what was between him and his brother. It was a reality he didn’t want to face.

  ***

  Captain DeVille and most of his men were devoid of clothing and standing in the river up to their balls, scrubbing weeks of trail dust from their skin and leaving stark white bodies to bare the evidence of thick ropey scars and missing fingers from the violence of their lives. All of them needed a shave and a haircut and were far too thin.

  Estevez was humped up like a toad on a rock, shaking from head to toe.

  “¡Dios mío! The water she is cold!” he shrieked.

  Diego glared at the little man.

  “Because the weather is cold,” he muttered.

  Diego continued to whine.

  “Then why are we in the river?”

  “Because we all smell dreadful. Because we are human beings, not savages like those that came out of their hovels.”

  Estevez muttered beneath his breath.

  “What? What did you say?” Diego shouted.

  Estevez wanted to shout, but he was just afraid enough of the captain to test him, and so he answered in soft, hesitant voice.

  “I said that savage was good enough to scratch your itch when you wanted her.”

  Diego glared a moment and then started to laugh.

  “You are right, Lieutenant! You are right! And, because I am a much more satisfied man than I was before that happened, I will not cut your head from your neck for subordination. Now wash your body and hurry up. We are losing time. I heard drums last night. I believe we are close to finding more savages. Maybe they will know where the rest of our men are.”

  The men didn’t have to be told twice. They were washed and dressed in no time, and were still shivering as they saddled their horses.

  Just as Diego was about to order them to mount up, one of the soldiers who’d been tending the horses came running.

  “Captain DeVille! Ortega is dead and Castillo is missing.”

  DeVille’s stomach rolled.

  These were the two men who’d been throwing up for days. This made six men he’d lost to this ailment. There was no mistaking it was spreading, but without knowing what was wrong, he didn’t know what to do about them.

  “Lieutenant Estevez, pick five men and go find Castillo.” Then he waved at the nearest six soldiers. “You six, dig two graves. Wherever Castillo is, he’s most likely dead, too. The rest of you pack up their gear on their horses and ready them to take them with us.”

  The men were somber as they went about their assigned tasks. A while later, Estevez and his men came back with a body dangling over a horse.

  “Where did you find him?” DeVille asked.

  Estevez pointed to the west.

  “Lying in the middle of the prairie. Probably out of his head with that fever when he wandered off.”

  DeVille nodded.

  Estevez didn’t move.

  “Captain… that makes six men we’ve lost. What’s wrong with them? Are we all going to get sick?”

  DeVille frowned. “I am no doctor. I don’t know was wrong and I don’t know if we will get it, understand?”

  Estevez’s shoulders slumped.

  “Yes, I understand.”

  DeVille wouldn’t even look at the body.

  “Now take him away. They are digging his grave.”

  Estevez walked away, leading the horse.

  Diego DeVille looked out across the prairie and then back at the way they’d come. It wouldn’t take much for him to turn his men around and go back. But he had his orders, and until he knew for certain what happened to the men, he couldn’t go anywhere but forward.

  ***

  Suwanee was scraping bits of flesh from one of the buffalo hides with the sharp side of a flat rock, cleaning it up to cure. It was stretched out on a rack beside the lodge where they were sleeping and was a mindless task to keep her busy.

  Today the sun was hiding its face, which made the air colder. It cut through her clothing as if she was naked, making her shiver as she worked. The cooking fire was nearby, giving off some heat but not nearly enough, so she kept her head bent to her task knowing the sooner the hide was cleaned and cured, the quicker she would have a new winter robe.

  Chata, her mother, was nearby doing the same to rabbit skins. They would become leggings, something they both needed desperately.

  Matto saw their discomfort and was sorry for it, but there was nothing he could do but provide the hides and the food. The rest was women’s work.

  When Suwanee looked up from the buffalo hide and caught his eye, he smiled, knowing she would smile back. And she did. It was enough for him to take with him as he walked away.

  Suwanee sighed. Her father was concerned about the tribe’s well-being. The other morning she’d looked to the far mountains and seen snow on the tops. It would not be long before snow would be here as well. She wanted to go home. And at the same time she thought about leaving, she thought of the two warriors with the same face. She didn’t know if they were real but the dream she’d had about one of them was locked in her heart. She wanted to feel that again. She wanted him.

  Her shoulders slumped as she returned to her task. She worked without thought, ignoring the chill of the wind until it brought the sound of a high-pitched shriek above her head. She glanced up, saw the eagle circling the sky above them and at the same time she saw a white dove in flight. When the eagle suddenly dived toward it, she thought the eagle would kill it, but then the eagle slipped in beneath the dove, like it was protecting it from danger below and as it did, the birds began to fade and she was looking into a waking vision.

  Suwanee saw a tall, dark-haired girl in a bearskin coat walking through the tall grass. The hood on the coat framed a sad face of great beauty. A very tall warrior, also dressed for the cold, was walking in front of her carrying weapons unlike any she had seen. All this time she’d thought the Dove would be an old woman, but the moment she’d seen her face she knew she was the Dove they waited for, and the warrior protecting her was the eagle she’d seen up in the sky.

  What surprised her even more were the two men walking behind the Dove. It was the two warriors from her vision—the ones with light skin and the same face. Now she knew for sure that they were real. They were coming with the Dove and they were near. Her heart began to pound as it had in her dream last night and she could almost feel his arms around her again. Then all of a sudden the vision was gone.

  She glanced down at the buffalo hide and began scraping harder. Time was shorter than she had supposed.

  ***

  Dakotah did not feel like his usual self, but his back did not hurt as much as it had the day before. Lola and Aaron kept him close by them as well and he did not mind. As long as he could see Tyhen he felt safe.

  He had dreamed of wolves all night—large, oversized animals strong enough to bite into his flesh and carry him off. In the dream he had called out first for his mother and then for his father but they did not come. He kept seeing the wolves’ yellow eyes in the darkness and feeling their hot breath against his flesh. He didn’t understand why his mother couldn’t hear him or why his father did not rescue him, and then he saw a great bird coming down from the sky, diving toward the wolves at breakneck speed.

  All of a sudden the wolves were yelping o
ut in pain as the bird flogged them and pecked at their faces until they could not see. When all the wolves were blind, the bird swept past him in the dark. He had only a brief glimpse of it but it made him think of Tyhen.

  In the dream, he turned and ran away.

  Now today was like all others. Walking, walking—always walking. He had almost forgotten about play. He would like to play again—maybe when their journey was done.

  He glanced up at the ridge.

  Tyhen was taking long steps. He looked down at his legs and feet and tried to match her stride but could not.

  “I will have to grow more,” he muttered.

  Lola heard his voice and turned around.

  “What did you say? Are you in pain?”

  “No. I said I need to grow.”

  Lola slowed down a step so that she could walk beside him and put a hand on the top of his head.

  “You are already growing every day. What is your hurry?”

  He pointed to the ridge.

  “I need to be tall like Tyhen.”

  Lola shook her head.

  “I’m not going to ask why,” she said. “Knowing you, I’m sure you have your reasons.”

  He shrugged. His reasons were still not for sharing.

  “Are you hungry? I have food.”

  He nodded, anticipating the cooked meat she took out of her pack.

  “Thank you,” he said, as she handed him a large piece from last night’s feast.

  Lola smiled again. “You are a good boy, Dakotah. Stay close today, okay?”

  He nodded as he chewed, thankful to fill the ache in his empty belly.

  ***

  Yuma knew something was wrong between the twins. They were not looking at each other and were walking with just enough distance between them so that their bodies never touched—not even so much as a shoulder bump. He had known them for most of his life and had never seen this. He feared they were hiding some terrible secret from him regarding Tyhen. Maybe it had to do with this test she would have to face. He wanted to ask them but there was no privacy in a crowd.

  He glanced up at Tyhen and when he did, caught her looking down at them.