Dark Spirits of the Forest

by Michael Weinberger

  “Aurora honey,” Benjamin began, “is there anything special you’d like to do with Grandpa while…?”

  The two-year-old held up a pink ribbon to Benjamin, “Princess!”

  “Yes!” Benjamin said enthusiastically, “You are my…” Aurora moved behind Benjamin and grabbed onto a small fistful of his long brown hair, winding it through one of the pink ribbons from the box.

  Benjamin, realizing what the child was doing, shifted uncomfortably, “Wait, wait! Honey, I’m not…” which only resulted in Aurora scolding him with a wagging finger and a high pitched two-year-old voice, “No move!”

  Benjamin stared wide eyed at the tiny figure scolding him, and Aurora unflinching scowled back at him without ever dropping her gaze, until Benjamin finally dropped his eyes from hers. Ursula put a hand over her mouth before having to turn away from the spectacle, as her daughter rolled a strand hair into a little braid and then secured it with a pink ribbon, on what was likely the most dangerous head of any being on the planet. Aurora giggled as she worked and Jett cocked his head as he inspected the results, “Well, I for one think you make a very pretty princess, Ben.”

  Benjamin showed Jett his teeth, as if daring him to say anything more before replying, “Damn straight I do.”

  Chapter 6

  Hours later Jett was still in the process of collecting the various items and artifacts he would need for the trip while Ursula helped Benjamin remove the dozens of ribbons Aurora had secured within his hair before she had fallen asleep.

  Ursula stood behind Benjamin and worked her fingers deftly to unknot one particularly complicated ribbon when Benjamin asked, “The Fairy Lake Ogre struck him that hard, yet he resurfaced from the water unscathed?”

  Ursula answered seriously, but there was an underlying excitement she was obviously suppressing, “The blow should have killed him, WOULD have killed him six months ago. At the very least we should be standing around a hospital bed in the Intensive Care ward.”

  Benjamin nodded his understanding, “So, it would seem the power has been slowly growing in him since we defeated Kaylanna. I suppose we were foolish to think it would suddenly happen all at once as opposed to allowing his body to gradually accommodate to it as needed.”

  Ursula worked the ribbon free and started on the next, “Is his transformation complete, do you think?”

  Benjamin shook his head, “No way of knowing. The process isn’t something that has ever been able to be gauged, given the fact it has only ever happened once before.”

  Ursula fingers stopped winding through Benjamin’s hair, “You’re talking about Mom?”

  Hearing the pain in Ursula’s voice, Benjamin simply nodded his response, sitting silently until he felt Ursula’s fingers start working again.

  Benjamin raised one hand, and gently closed it on one of Ursula’s wrists as he said softly, “You have to let your guilt go, child.”

  He felt Ursula tense as the defiance rose within her, so he prepared himself for the corrosive comment that he thought was about to come.

  But instead, Ursula’s voice softened and the tension in her arm disappeared, “Have you forgiven me?”

  Benjamin frowned and turned to her from within his chair. He released her wrist, cupping both sides of her face with hands so large that it made Ursula’s head seem little more than a toddlers by comparison.

  “I forgave you eight hundred years ago.” Benjamin spoke quietly and his voice was a rich and comforting baritone that enveloped Ursula like a warm hug. “The problem was, although I’m an Ancient, I’m a simple creature who never had to deal with grief since time began. By the time I recovered, I had driven a wedge between us that I didn’t know how to fix.”

  Ursula began to shake, as her emotions started to get the better of her, “I wasn’t any help, either.”

  “You were young, even by human standards at the time and I had seen entire civilizations rise and fall. I should have…”

  Now it was Benjamin’s turn to drop his head with emotion and Ursula wrapped her arms around that head and pulled him in close to her chest. They held each other for a moment before Benjamin began chuckling.

  “Now all you have to do is forgive yourself.”

  Ursula laughed an ironic laugh, “Sounds so easy when said aloud.”

  “Easy to say. Very hard to do.”

  Benjamin felt a tremor shiver through Ursula as she asked, “How can I ever do that?”

  “All that has happened has been prophesized. The only question is the manner in which it manifests. You, Jett, even Aurora are all part of something greater than you can imagine.”

  “And that helps me come to terms with my guilt, how?” she wondered.

  Benjamin grew very quiet, “Your mother loved you with every fiber of her being and every spark of her soul. Perhaps her death was less a tragedy, and more a sacrifice?”

  “Sacrifice? For what?”

  “For you.”

  “What?” Ursula tried to pull away, “Why?!”

  Ben didn’t force it, but he held his grip on his daughter just enough that she could overpower him and get away if she really wanted to, “You were the only one of your kind. Maybe, and I grant you this idea may simply be my romancing a fairy tale idea so I can cope with her loss, but maybe she sacrificed herself so you wouldn’t be forever alone?”

  Ursula blinked in surprise, “You’re saying…”

  “It’s just a thought, but it makes me smile on nights when I’m feeling lonely and find myself staring at the ceiling instead of the stars.”

  The words made Ursula monetarily forget her own pain, and she looked sorrowfully at Benjamin saying, “I should have come home sooner.”

  Again Benjamin shrugged, “I figured it would take a major life event, like Aurora, to bring you around.”

  Ursula laughed, “I’ll bet you didn’t expect the way you’d meet your granddaughter.”

  Benjamin laughed as well, “Definitely not.”

  “I still should have come back sooner.”

  Benjamin sighed, “Sometimes I envy the shorter lifespan of the humans. The fact that time is fleeting for them gives their species the sense to mend bridges and forge bonds before time runs out. Certainly the process is no less difficult, but holding grudges seems so stupid when their lives are just a flash of time.”

  Ursula smiled, “Still, as long lived as we are, we managed.”

  Benjamin returned the smile, “Indeed we did.”

  They released each other and Ursula went back to removing the ribbons, “So, what do I need to know about what is happening to Jett?”

  A certain measure of relief was in Benjamin’s voice as he answered, “Just that he is vulnerable. The power is within him, but like his Shamanistic abilities, it isn’t something he can necessarily feel or sense. It’s going to be confusing for him, especially when he tries to distinguish between the two.”

  “I don’t know, he has the physical nature of his Shamanistic abilities pretty well under control. I mean, you should have seen him at the lake. It was incredible! He controlled the wind with as if it were an extension of his arms.”

  “But you said in order to do so he had to concentrate to the point that he never even reacted to the Ogre’s attack.”

  Ursula’s expression dropped from elation to slightly crestfallen, “True.”

  “So, he is vulnerable and will be even more so if the powers inside him collide.”

  Ursula sighed, “What do I do?”

  Benjamin smiled and patted her on one thigh, “Just watch over him. It’s all you can do.”

  Ursula looked into her father’s face, “That’s why you wanted to come along, isn’t it?”

  Benjamin shrugged, “Guilty.”

  “We’ll be fine.”

  “Of course,” Benjamin said convincingly, “now please get the rest of these things out of my hair before I start craving tiaras, tea and finger sandwiches.”

  Chapter 7

  The flight to Green Bay was long
, tedious and ultimately a totally uneventful experience. Jett and Ursula had boarded their plane in Canada at Vancouver International, and they made a connection that dropped them in Chicago, before making their final flight to Green Bay. Security and TSA in Vancouver and Chicago were only a mild hassle, as they had checked most of their unusual trinkets, herbs, potions and artifacts in the suitcases and kept their carry-on filled with only the most benign of travel items. Customs in Green Bay was a little more difficult, as they inspected suitcases as well as the carry-ons, apparently very interested in the herbs and Native items but, in the end, since it wasn’t contraband, it was allowed. Jett was actually relieved when his bags appeared in Green Bay, as he worried far more about a lost bag than having any of his things confiscated. Still, he had made a point of not bringing anything so rare that he wouldn’t be able to replace it once back on their home ground.

  Ursula had set about renting a car for their drive to the Bad River Reservation. She also took the first shift as driver so Jett could plug a WiFi adapter into his laptop in order to do a little research along the way. Checking the local news for the area Jett was surprised to find that the Bad River Ojibwe tribe had been featured on a number of occasions recently by the local news reporters, along with being the subject of multiple headlines. The most prominent topics were regarding the re-opening of the Bad River Reservation’s Casino and Lodge. The article was practically a commercial for the event, outlining of an entire weekend of planned festivities, including a concert starring some of the biggest names in country music, as well as an MMA fight card that had two championships on the line.

  Another article was far more maudlin, referring to the ongoing dispute between the tribe, and the predominantly wealthy non-native locals, regarding their land-lease of an area called Amnicon Bay. The article rehashed the history regarding the land, including that it had been given and guaranteed to the tribe in the LaPointe treaty of 1854. At the time, like most reservation lands, the area was remote, had a reputation for terrible fishing, and made the geography generally unwanted by the non-Native populace. Later that changed as human encroachment pushed farther and farther into the wilderness, leaving the protected reservation one of the last untouched, pristine waterfront properties in the area, if not the entire Northwest region.

  This was when wealthy “white” people began to covet the land, solely on the scenic views it afforded, and the Amnicon Bay began to garner a reputation for its stunning beauty, leading it to its current nickname “the Caribbean of the North.” Several attempts to purchase the land from the Ojibwe were made, but the tribe felt the land, which had been utilized in burial and religious rituals since it was bequeathed in 1864, was now sacred and refused to sell. Unfortunately, in 1967 the tribe became so impoverished that, as a matter of severe economic need, it begrudgingly leased the land to a group of wealthy non-Natives. Jumping at the opportunity, the non-Natives could build their dream summer homes on the bay, thereby taking in those undeveloped and pristine geographical views. However, the contract effectively blocked the Native Americans owners of that land from ever setting foot on it until the lease’s end.

  Now, the end of the lease was coming and the tribe had publicly stated that they did not intend to renew the land lease. For the tribe, it was a matter of redemption and pride to reacquire the lands they had never wanted to lease. Unfortunately, their announcement led to a larger than usual degree of animosity between the tribe and the wealthy white population, who were now in danger of losing the expensive summer homes that they had built, purchased or inherited, once the land was reclaimed. Tempers began running hot because, although the tribe had never promised or made any statements about renewing the land lease, the current home owners insisted the real estate agents had promised them the tribe would re-lease the land.

  “Oh, that’s just perfect,” Jett moaned.

  “What?” Ursula inquired.

  “They’ve got some big promotion going on at the Rez while they are simultaneously fighting with the locals over land rights.”

  “Seriously?” she responded.

  “Yep. The tribe decided to reclaim land, which happens to rightly be theirs by the way, at the same time as the Casino is reopening. ”

  Ursula shook her head, “So they basically either disillusioned, or downright pissed off, some of the very people they hope to attract to the opening of the Casino?”

  “Sounds like it.”

  “Somebody clearly wasn’t thinking about timing on that one. So, am I right in assuming we’ll be walking into something of a storm?”

  “Chaos is more like it,” Jett answered.

  “Think the tribe will stonewall us?”

  Jett sighed, “I don’t know. The people I talked to before we left seemed nice enough. Maybe the fact that I’m a Native and a Shaman will get us in the metaphorical door, but we’re still outsiders. So, at a time like this, we’re going to be seen as more of a nuisance than anything else.”

  Jett knew firsthand how deep the lack of trust, or even downright animosity, between some of the tribes ran. Old prejudices from a time not so long ago still infiltrated the minds of the tribes in this modern era. The only cooperation that occurred between many of the tribes happened when they were taking on the Federal Government. This land lease issue was sure to be a complete meltdown in relations, as it was not only an “Indian versus white people” conflict, but versus highly invested and wealthy white people. Non-Natives with influence might use their advantages in business to stifle the Casino, or even force it to close by using economic tactics or other influential impediments. The Casino was on the reservation and under “Indian” law, but a Casino still needs to have vendors, suppliers, utilities and a host of other things in order to operate, all of which would have to come from outside the reservation.

  “Do you think this is the core of what Pinga was having you investigate?”

  Jett shook his head, “Pinga is a Spirit of Nature and conflicts between human beings shouldn’t interest her, unless the conflict was destroying the forests or driving a number of animal species into extinction.”

  “What about building a Casino on her lands?”

  “Again, it would have to be more than simple land development and construction.”

  “Then, what?” she asked in exasperation.

  Jett thought about that and suggested, “Maybe poisoning a river with pollutants to the extent that all life was in danger of being wiped out and rendering the lands incapable of recovery afterward? But even then, it would also have to cover an enormous swath of terrain.”

  Ursula inclined her head at the computer, “See anything like that happening?”

  Jett searched the headlines to see there were a lot of old articles about clashes between the Native and non-Native populations in the area, but found nothing that would indicate any kind of natural or man-made disaster affecting the environment or wildlife.

  Then, almost by accident, Jett happened on an article where a Native outfitter had gone missing in the woods near the reservation town of Odanah. His non-Native hunting clients all made it back to town and were being questioned by both local authorities as well as the “Indian” police. The report stated the hunters had told the authorities the guide had died in what was simply described as a “hunting accident” and the survivors weren’t being charged at the moment. The lack of detail disclosed by the authorities led to some outcry amongst Ojibwe tribe, who were already distrustful of non-Native law enforcement.

  Jett explained the details to Ursula and suggested, “That certainly bodes looking into.”

  “Should we start at the police station, or the reservation?” she wondered.

  Jett considered each before deciding, “Etiquette would demand we make an appearance at the reservation and try to speak with the Tribal Council before anything else. They may or may not help, but at least we will be perceived as having been respectful to their position and territory.”

  Ursula nodded, “Just so we are clear
going in, what are you prepared for, if the tribe doesn’t give you permission to investigate Pinga’s claims about their land? I know your responsibility is beyond tribal politics, but they aren’t necessarily going to care.”

  Jett nodded, “True enough, but the problem is even more complicated than that.”

  Ursula frowned, “How so?”

  “The tribe has granted me an audience because I’m Native, but although I share that particular bond, right now their focus is on being Casino owners and operators. In a way they have traded a major part of themselves in order to assimilate into Western culture. Disdainful though it may be, it has given the tribe the financial means to reclaim what has been lost to them due to previous financial hardships. They’ve modernized. That’s where their minds are at right now, so we can’t automatically assume that they’re going to hold me in any kind of reverence as a Shaman, especially when I try to tell them I spoke to a Spirit who asked me to stop by and fix some kind of imbalance in their forest.”

  Ursula nodded, “So, one step at a time. We’ll just be as cordial as we can be, and pray that they will allow us do the work we need to perform.”

  “More or less.”

  “And if they don’t give you their permission or blessing or whatever,” a wicked smiled spread across Ursula’s lips, “then I step in and tell them to just stay the hell out of our way.”

  Jett rolled his eyes, “That’s your job, my little strong-arm specialist.”

  “Isn’t that why you say you bring me along on these adventures?” she laughed.

  Eventually Ursula found the turnoff from Hwy 2 onto, Maple Street and followed the road as it wound around for miles before bringing them face to face with a small shopping center named the Bad River Casino and Lodge. It reminded Jett of one of those large outdoor activity stores, like a Bass Pro Shop or a Cabela’s, and it had a warm and welcoming feel about it compared to the skyscraper style Casinos from Las Vegas, Atlantic City and so on. The smell of burning wood permeated the area, and instantly made Jett feel at home, until he noticed behind the Casino stood a huge, but clearly temporary, outdoor arena or stadium. The event stage looked awful and contrasted sharply with the surroundings compared to the way the casino had been built to blend in with the forest. Exposed steel, mounted speakers, lights, and heavy canvas skirting contrasted sharply with the wood siding and shingles of the Casino, but at least it looked temporary.