New Yesterdays by Jim L Wright - HTML preview

Chapter 5

Adahy looked gravely at the boy after Dustu had introduced them. “I think you do not know what you have discovered” he said. He looked a few more seconds at the questioning face of the white boy standing before him and said “Come. Sit yourself; I will explain what you have found."

Jim took in the interior of the little house in a sweeping glance. It was dark, smoky, and filled with the aromas of cooking, burnt wood and tobacco. The only light was provided by the single door and a small fire in a raised pit in the center of the room. Strings of dried herbs and meats hung from the center pole. Deerskin cloaks for winter and headdresses made of feathers were hanging on the walls. Deer hides lay around the fire on the hard-packed earthen floor. In one corner was a bed stuffed with corn husks and covered with more deer skins that Adahy and his wife, Hiawasee shared. The opposite corner held a similar bed for Dustu. Jim sat as he had seen the Indians sit in the movies he enjoyed so much and Dustu sat beside him. The Medicine Man seemed to gather his thoughts. At last, he began to speak.

“The cave you came through to get here is a portal between two worlds that exist side by side but completely apart. There are places in the earth like your cave that allows people to move from one side to the other. We cannot go through to your side because your time has moved faster than ours. Many seasons ago three of our braves went to the cave to explore the other side. Two of the men went out side by side and instantly they became old men and died. The third man saw the danger and came back to our village to tell us what had happened. The Chief and Elders of the tribe decided to close the cave to prevent anyone else from suffering the same fate. For reasons we don’t know, people from your side can come through without any effect. I believe it is because you are traveling back, but we would be traveling forward.

“When my father was a young boy, a man came through from the other side. He liked it here and stayed as long as he lived. He was adopted into our tribe and became Cherokee. He hunted with us and fought beside us in our battles. He was a good man. Many times, I wondered why he left his own world to live with us, but no matter how many times I asked him he would never give me an answer. He took his secret with him to the spirit world.

“The portal only opens twice in the year. In the spring and again after the crops are harvested. It happens when the day and the night are the same length and it only stays open for a short time. It is possible that when you return to the portal you will not be able to get back to your world until the harvest time.”

Jim sat rooted to the ground in astonishment. Tony's idea had been exactly right; he might be trapped in the past! He had gone away from home a day or two before, but six months? His mother wouldn’t be demanding a hickory when he got back, she would beat him half to death with whatever came to hand! But then, on the other hand, maybe she wouldn’t. Perhaps she would be so happy to see him that all thoughts of punishment would vanish; like the boy in the bible story about the prodigal son. He seriously doubted that theory, but it was worth entertaining. Either way though, the prospects didn’t look good for him.

The old chief could see the fear in his face and assured him that he would be allowed to live in the village with them and when the portal opened again, he would be free to go back to his own time. He would have felt better if someone from this side could go with him to explain what had happened. There was just no way anyone would believe what had happened to him. He had plenty of time to think of a story that might keep him from being grounded for life, or worse, sent to the “nervous hospital” in Tuscaloosa… Meanwhile, Jim wondered about this man who came here and stayed. Who was he and why did he choose not to go back to his own time? Was it possible he might make the same decision when the portal reopened in the autumn?

In one swift movement that belied his obvious age, Adahy rose and looked down at Jim. "Now you will come with me. I will take you to our Chief. His name is Tooantuh and he will be very interested in meeting you."

Ordinarily, the prospect of meeting such a prominent man would terrify Jim, but he had become comfortable with Adahy and saw no reason to expect to be maltreated by anyone else he might meet. He and Dustu quickly scrambled to their feet and followed the Medicine Man who had already gone through the door.

The two boys followed Dustu's father as they walked through the village to the house of the Chief. They found him just finishing his midday meal. Jim thought he just might be the oldest man in the world. Although his very long hair was quite black, his brown face was etched with deep creases. There were no teeth in his mouth, giving it the appearance of a dark cave below the mountain of his large, wide nose. The most surprising feature of this old man was his ears. They were by far the largest ears Jim had ever seen. If the Chief was surprised to see them, his expression didn’t give it away.

“Tooantuh, this boy has come to us through the portal.”

The features of the ancient face still did not change. As he continued staring at the Chief, Jim was struck by the resemblance to his own grandfather and his great-grandmother. Tooantuh noticed his stare, turned his dark, deep-set eyes on him and smiled benignly.

“I think you have never seen an Indian before?” he asked. Jim felt his face flush blood red, embarrassed that he had been caught staring. He managed to stammer

“I-i-it’s not that, it’s just that you look so much like my grandfather and his mother; y’all could be kin!” The old man gave him a large, toothless grin

“Your people are Cherokee?” he asked. “Yes”, he answered, “My Mawmaw is Cherokee, but my Pawpaw’s mother says she is Black Dutch.”

At this revelation both the Chief and the Medicine Man exploded with laughter. Jim was completely baffled. Why was Black Dutch so funny? The family never laughed when they talked about it.

At last, the old man recovered enough from his laughter to explain.

“Your grandfather’s mother was probably married to a white man. The white settlers do not approve of their men marrying our women so they invented the lie of the Black Dutch to cover the true heritage of their women. You can be sure that she is Cherokee, making your grandfather at least half-Cherokee. Judging from your red hair she probably married an Irishman or a Scotsman. Now, sit yourselves and tell me about your world.”

For several hours Jim answered questions put to him by Adahy and Tooantuh. The two men were astonished to hear what the future world would be like. He seemed completely absorbed by private thoughts as they made their way back to Hiawassee’s house for the evening meal.

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