A Nation of Mystics - Book II: The Tribe
Page 39
“This is about as far as I can go,” called the frustrated bus driver, gratefully nodding to the festival gates ahead. The drive had taken a good many more hours than planned. “There’s room to turn around.”
“We’re okay here,” Richard told him. “Thanks.”
Near the entrance of the festival grounds, the communal family unloaded the bus, picked up their backpacks and camping equipment and looked for a gate. Richard held the tickets ready. But instead of a manned ticket kiosk, the only entrance was a gaping hole in the wire fence originally meant to establish a queue. Now, a continuous stream of people ducked through the clipped metal.
Shrugging, Richard pointed to the hole, and on they hiked until they found flat ground for a campsite. Racing the setting sun, they put up two-man pup tents, Marcie, Richard, and John in one; Kathy and Christian in another; Danny—alone for the moment—in the third. The air of the forest was filled with the scent of pine pitch as they collected firewood and gathered stones to create a circle for the campfire. Venus appeared near the horizon—brilliant and solitary. Distant stars emerged, one by one, filling a sky shifting from pale pink through vibrant orange to deep violet.
As day faded into night, each family member took a place around the campfire, and passing the peace pipe, speculated on what the next day would bring, until, exhausted, they crawled into sleeping bags to await tomorrow’s music.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PAMELA JOHNSON was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and migrated to Berkeley, California, in 1966. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UC Berkeley in anthropology, she went on to earn master’s degrees in education at Mills College and in English at Holy Names University, both schools in Oakland. A former teacher and university professor, she is actively involved in social and environmental issues and views her writing as an extension of her politics. She is married and currently divides her time between a ranch in the Sierra foothills of California and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Look for her next book A Nation of Mystics, Book Three: Journeys, to be released through Stone Harbour Press.