The Dove (Prophecy Series)

by Sharon Sala

  They’d walked a very long way since the fire and when possible, they stayed close to the coastline. At times, it made finding food for everyone easier. All they had to do was go fishing.

  As for Cayetano, he had already seen two of the landmarks from the map he had put to memory and believed they were near their final destination.

  When he reached a small rise in the landscape, he walked up on it and turned around for a better view of the people behind him.

  His warriors were in place, moving with the marchers, but along the perimeters as guards.

  The people who’d been injured during the run from the fire in the sky were nearly healed, while the others had adapted a slower pace to accommodate their elders. They’d lost far too many people to be careless with the ones they had left.

  The twins stayed close to Singing Bird at all times, which gave Cayetano the freedom to do what he had to do, and they had surprised him. Their skin had turned darker from the constant exposure to the sun, and they were far leaner and more muscled than they’d ever been in their lives. They had become hardened veterans of this march and unless someone looked close, they could not tell them from the others.

  But it was Evan who had changed the most, and not just in physical appearance. He’d begun carrying a weapon and moved with a loose, easy stride like the warriors, always watching the tree line along the coast to make sure there was no danger.

  Cayetano searched the moving crowd behind him until he saw the twins with Singing Bird between them and was satisfied.

  He was about to jump down when he noticed Adam react in a sudden and very anxious manner, and as he did, Evan took a fighting grip on his spear.

  He turned and looked all around but saw nothing out of the ordinary, then told himself he had been concerned for no reason when Adam suddenly grabbed Singing Bird by the arm and pushed her behind him, as Evan started running toward the front of the line.

  Cayetano could tell by the expression on Evan’s face that something was terribly wrong. He leaped down from the rock and ran to meet him, his own weapon gripped tightly in his hand.

  The moment Evan saw him coming, he increased his speed.

  “What is wrong?” Cayetano asked as Evan slid to a stop.

  “Warriors are coming. We think a whole tribe. They are wearing face paint and carrying weapons. The chief who leads them is called Teya. He has many scars on his face and belly from the claws of a jaguar.”

  Cayetano groaned. He had warriors. He could fight. But he was in a quandary as to what to do with all the others.

  “Will we fight? Are they coming for women?”

  “Adam doesn’t think so, and I am not so sure. We think they are here because they have heard about the Dove.”

  “But she is not with us,” Cayetano said.

  “No, but her mother is,” Evan said. “Adam thinks it will be enough.”

  “Where are they?” Cayetano asked.

  Evan took a deep breath and then pointed over Cayetano’s shoulder.

  “Behind you.”

  Cayetano spun around, then grunted like he’d been belly-punched. He’d fought in many battles, but he’d never been this outnumbered. There had to be hundreds. His numbers were larger, but he did not have nearly this many warriors. If these people wanted, they could kill everyone here and he would never be able to stop them. It was his worst nightmare come to life.

  They were coming up the beach at a trot, the black feathers in their headdresses bobbing as they ran and the vivid colors of paint on their bodies gave them a frightening appearance.

  He took a deep breath and started toward them, and when he did, Evan was right at his side, the spear clutched tightly in his hand.

  “Your people have stopped. Your warriors come,” Evan said.

  Cayetano heard, but he kept moving forward. He wasn’t waiting for them to catch up. When they were within a dozen yards from each other, Chief Teya suddenly stopped moving and held up his hand, signaling for his warriors to stop, too.

  Cayetano held up his hand and his warriors froze.

  One long look passed between the two chiefs and then Teya suddenly dropped his spear and went down on his knees, threw his arms up and his upper body forward and prostrated himself before them. Behind him, his warriors immediately did the same.

  Cayetano gasped. “What is happening?”

  Evan tapped him on the arm. “Singing Bird comes.”

  ****

  Singing Bird was in a panic. The moment the twins told her there was an army of warriors intending to intercept them, she knew this would be the day they died.

  “Are you certain?” Singing Bird asked as Evan headed toward Cayetano to give him the news.

  Adam nodded. “Yes, Singing Bird. I can see them in my head. The leader is called Teya.”

  She groaned and glanced around at the people behind her, then looked up ahead and saw nothing.

  “Are there many?”

  “Hundreds.”

  Her chin came up. “Then today we die.”

  “No, no, I do not think so. I think they come because of the Dove.”

  “But she is not here!” Singing Bird said. “What will happen when they find out she is not with us?”

  Adam hesitated. “I think they already know this. But they have been given the story. They know the prophecy and they know you are a part of it. You are Singing Bird, the woman who gave birth to the Dove. You will be just as honored as the child you bore.”

  “You think they mean us no harm?”

  “I know they don’t,” he said.

  “Then what should I do?”

  He smiled. “Remember the day you first went to greet the people of Naaki Chava after you had healed? Remember how you walked from the palace down into the city without the guards ahead of you?”

  Her eyes widened. “Show no fear.”

  “Yes.”

  And at that moment, the tribe of warriors ran into view. There were far too many for them to fight and they had a frightening countenance. All she could do was pray Adam was right.

  She shoved her fingers through her hair in a gesture of defiance and led with her chin as she took her first step toward Cayetano. There was a knot in her belly but purpose in her stride. The warriors looked fierce. She wanted to turn and run, but instead kept walking toward them with Adam at her heels.

  When she was only a few yards away from Cayetano, she locked gazes with their leader, and the moment he saw her, he dropped to his knees and threw himself facedown in the sand. When the others followed, the knot in her belly relaxed. Adam was right. It was going to be okay.

  She saw the shock on Cayetano’s face when he turned around, then she smiled and the panic receded from his eyes.

  “My Chief,” she said softly as she slid her hand along his arm.

  “They honor you,” he said. “Accept it.”

  She stepped forward, still holding his hand.

  “Teya, we are honored you have come to greet us.”

  The chief rocked back on his heels and when Singing Bird smiled, he stood. His warriors shifted into the same mode and stood behind him.

  “Are you Singing Bird? Are you the mother of the Dove?”

  “Yes, I am Singing Bird and this man is Cayetano. He is my husband and our chief.”

  Teya thrust his hand into the air and let out a single cry that his warriors echoed.

  Singing Bird’s heart leapt. She could only hope that Tyhen’s first reception would be as welcomed.

  Teya took a step forward, acknowledging Cayetano and then waved his arm toward all the people Cayetano was leading. “Our city is many sleeps from here, but we would ask to be allowed to walk with you as we return. My warriors are great hunters. When you make camp, we will feed your people as ourselves.”

  Cayetano eyed the other chief closely. He didn’t want to be taken in by false friendship and put his people in danger.

  “We will build our new city near the water just a few sleeps from here,” Cayetano said
, making sure the man knew they were not just passing through.

  Singing Bird gave Cayetano a startled look. She hadn’t known they were so close. Yet, she reminded herself, she hadn’t been aware of much of anything but her own sadness.

  Teya frowned. “My people used to live near the water,” and gestured toward the ocean beside them. “But strangers came. They took our silver and our gold, left their babies in our women’s bellies and did not come back. We moved farther away from the water to hide from them.”

  Singing Bird’s eyes flashed in anger and Teya saw it.

  “We know of this, and I tell you they will come back, each time taking more and caring less about what you think, and they will still find you and take your belongings and your women, and no matter how many times you run away, their numbers will increase and the day will come when there will be no place left to hide. That is why we will live near the water—to stop their thievery before it can begin.”

  Teya stared, his lips parted in shock. “This is what our shaman predicted.”

  “And he was right.”

  “How do we fight such people?” he asked.

  Singing Bird thumped her chest with a fist. “We will conquer them with wisdom and power. Walk with us and I will tell you how.”

  And so they walked with Teya’s warriors leading the way while others were sent ahead to hunt and set up camp.

  It was only a short time before sunset when they arrived, led by the scent of wood-smoke and cooking meat. Cayetano’s people began to set up their camps and wash their bodies in the surf, while others began refilling water bags and bottles from a nearby spring.

  Teya’s men had deer, wild pig, and many birds cooking on the fires, and banana leaves spread out on the ground covered with coconuts and fruit.

  He had walked every step beside Singing Bird, riveted by the story of Firewalker and what their people had endured to make the change. As they finally sat down at their fire to eat, Teya’s focus shifted from Singing Bird to her man.

  “Cayetano, I would ask, as one chief to another, how will you battle these people who will come? How can we stop them?”

  “Singing Bird says they cannot be stopped.”

  Teya frowned. “Then there is nothing to be done?”

  “We do not kill them to stop them,” Cayetano offered. “But as a people, if we stand as one, keeping our tribes as we wish, but united as a people, then when the strangers come again, they will be greeted, but with caution. There will be many among them who will wish to live here for their own personal gain, and that is when our power as a united nation matters most. We can grant them the right to make their home here if we wish, but they have to understand from the start, that the land is already claimed. That it is not free for the taking, and that we will not be moved from the places that are our homes.”

  Teya’s eyes widened as understanding grew. “The strangers can live within it, but they cannot claim our world because it is already taken.”

  Singing Bird sighed. She’d been saying the same thing a dozen ways as they had walked, but Teya had not grasped the full scope of how it would work until now. Sometimes a man-to-man talk made everything better.

  “Yes,” Cayetano said. “Now we eat. I am hungry and my ears are tired of hearing words.”

  Teya grunted in assent.

  Singing Bird blinked. Now they were saying she talked too much? She glanced over and Adam and Evan, who were grinning. She frowned at them, struggling not to laugh as she reached for some food. She hadn’t been hungry in days, but now everything felt different. She’d had her first taste of success and it was good.

  ****

  Three days later:

  Teya and his warriors parted company the day before, but their trip together had cemented what would become a life-long bond between the two chiefs. By the time he and his warriors returned to their city, the story would be told and retold a thousand times, and it would set Singing Bird’s place into their history.

  Cayetano guessed they would reach their destination today, and when he had seen the last landmark a short while ago, he began moving the people faster. He knew they were trail-weary and heartsick, but so was he, and in the end it would all be worth it.

  And it was.

  When he found himself walking out of the jungle onto the broad white sands bordering the water of the vast ocean before them, he knew they were home.

  He threw his hands up into the air and let out a cry of jubilation that was heard all the way back to the last people in line.

  They started laughing and crying as they ran forward, because they knew what it meant. This was where new roots would go down, and the next time a ship full of strangers came to their land, they would be waiting with a whole new set of rules.

  Singing Bird saw Cayetano’s joy and smiled. She felt nothing but relief. They had come home. Now all they had to do was build it.

  Mother, it’s me. I felt your joy.

  Singing Bird’s heartbeat kicked so hard against her chest that it caused her pain. She grabbed her chest as her vision blurred.

  “Tyhen! My daughter! I hear your voice. We have arrived at the place where we will build our new city.”

  I can see it through your eyes. Yuma sends you a message.

  Singing Bird began to laugh through tears. Hearing from both her children at once was a joy she thought was lost to her forever.

  “I listen. What does he wish to say?”

  He says Adam and Evan have a new map Cayetano needs to see. He says they have given a new name to what was once called North America and South America. Do you understand?

  Singing Bird was entranced that she could communicate so perfectly. It was like talking by telephone in the world before Firewalker.

  “Yes, I understand.”

  And he says to tell you one thing more. If you have not already named the new city, that you should call it Boomerang. He said you would know what that means.

  Singing Bird gasped as her throat tightened with even more unshed tears.

  “Yes, yes, I know what that means. It was an object that when thrown, no matter how far or how high it went, always found its way home. I love it. I will tell Cayetano that his first son has already named our new city, but I have a question, my daughter? Why have you not talked to me before?”

  We have had troubles, but they are mostly over now. I have felt your sadness, but your heart was so heavy you could not hear my voice. What happened that made you turn your heart away?

  Singing Bird hated to say the words aloud again because they hurt her tongue as deeply as they hurt her heart.

  “We lost Little Mouse. I think we left her behind.”

  What? No! Oh Mother, no! How did this happen?

  “We are not certain. Acat said she was in the jungle gathering roots for the trip the day the earth shook. We don’t know if she never came out of the jungle or if she had already come back into Naaki Chava and died in the fire, or if we just left her behind. It was an accident if we did. We waited and waited for people to gather before we finally left.”

  And that is why you cry.

  “Yes, that is why I cry.”

  I am sorry. My heart had been sad, too. Wesley Two Bears died the day the earth shook and Naaki Chava burned. I saw the vision.

  Singing Bird glanced back toward the ocean and the people dancing about on the broad stretch of white sand.

  “That is done. We cannot hold onto that which we could not control.”

  I know. I’m learning.

  “I love you, my sweet child. Come and see me in your dreams.”

  You have to be listening for the sound of my voice.

  “I will listen.”

  Go now and tell Cayetano he has a city named Boomerang to build. I love-

  And just like that, the voice was gone.

  Singing Bird sighed, then wiped the tears from her eyes and went to look for Cayetano to give him the news.

  ****

  Little Mouse was clean. She had foo
d in her belly, medicine on her wounds, and for the first time in many days, clothing on her body. There was nothing she could do about her hair. Either it would grow back or it would not.

  Meecha was ready to take her to her new home and had bluntly explained why it was vacant.

  Little Mouse thought about living in a house where people had died and then decided they would not mind since they had Yaluk in common. Just because she had survived Yaluk and they had not had nothing to do with her.

  Meecha led the way up out of her home and into the sunlight.

  Since Little Mouse was no longer facing death by dehydration and starvation, when the sun hit her face, she took the greeting as positive.

  “Are you strong enough to walk now?” Meecha asked. “It isn’t far.”

  “I can walk,” Little Mouse said.

  They started across the compound in silence, but soon Meecha began to talk.

  “Chiiwi has no woman,” she offered.

  Little Mouse frowned. The man carried her to the river when she was weak, not offered to lay with her. She did not like Meecha’s curiosity. Still, she was new and she thought it best to know all she could so she would do nothing wrong.

  “What is wrong with him?” she asked.

  Meecha frowned. “He just never chose a woman.”

  Little Mouse shrugged. “Maybe he does not want a woman. Maybe he would lay with men. It is the same only different.”

  Meecha sighed. “No, not that. We call them two people and he is not one of them.”

  “Then it is his business,” Little Mouse said. “Am I allowed to tend to the dead woman’s garden and call it mine?”

  “Yes, yes, Cualli said all that was hers is now yours.” Then she eyed Little Mouse closer. “But her clothes will not fit you. She was very fat.”

  “I can fix,” Little Mouse said.

  Meecha tried to think of something else to say, but they had arrived.

  “Here is your new home. If you have need of anything, you must just ask. We always share. When you are well, people will call on you for healing.”

  Suddenly, Little Mouse looked anxious. “I have no ointments or herbs to heal with, and what if the things I know do not grow in this place?”