Shadows of Caesar's Creek Read Free Page B

rest of the kids.
    â€œHe’s usually worse” Rico replied as he grinned at Ziggy.
    Noni got Ziggy up, brushed the leaves off his clothes, and washed his hands off with an alcohol wipe. “You might get a rash, Ziggy, but there’s a chance you won’t have any reaction at all.”
    â€œHow do we know if it’s poison ivy?” asked Jerome. “All this stuff looks the same to me.”
    â€œPoison ivy has clusters of three leaves. Try to remember this little rhyme: ‘Leaves of three, watch out for me.’”
    Ziggy was much quieter now. He stayed on the path right behind Noni. He kept looking at his hands.
    â€œWhatcha doin’?” asked Rico.
    â€œI’m checking to see if my hands are gonna fall off, mon”
    Noni gave Ziggy a hug. “You’ll be fine. ‘Not to worry’ Isn’t that what you said?”
    Ziggy grinned and relaxed a little. But he still checked his hands when Noni wasn’t looking.
    â€œWhat’s that plant, Noni?” Mimi asked, pointing to a large, leafy plant growing close to the ground. “There sure is a lot of it.”
    â€œThat’s called a mayapple, Mimi. See this fruit growing underneath the leaves? It can be eaten, but the leaves are poisonous.”
    â€œPoisonous?” Tiana repeated.
    â€œIf you touch the leaves, like poison ivy?” asked Rico.
    â€œNo, you have to chew the leaves. I’m told they are very bitter. You’d never eat them by accident.”
    â€œWho would want to do that?” Brandy asked. She had started on her second bag of jelly beans.
    â€œThe stories say that the Indians around here would chew the leaves of the mayapple if they got captured by the settlers,” Noni explained.
    â€œI would
hate
to be captured” Rashawn ex-claimed. “To be tied up or locked up would be awful”
    â€œKinda like Ziggy’s frog, huh?” Tiana replied.
    â€œRight.”
    â€œCan you imagine what it was like a long time ago when the Indians lived here?” Tiana spoke softly, looking at the quiet beauty around her. “It’s so pretty”
    â€œAnd a little scary, too” Mimi added.
    â€œI can almost feel the shadows of the Indians who walked here a long time ago,” Brandy said dramatically.
    â€œI would love to have been an Indian boy” Rico said strongly. “Just hunting and fishing and playing in the woods all day”
    â€œI wonder if Indian boys ever got poison ivy, mon,” Ziggy said quietly. He had started to scratch his left arm.

THEY WALKED THROUGH THE WOODS SLOWLY, LOOKING at birds and flowers that Noni pointed out, laughing and shouting at one another.
    â€œYou’d never make it as young Indians,” Noni told them with a laugh. “You’re much too noisy A young Shawnee boy could walk through the deepest part of these woods and never even snap a twig”
    â€œWell, Shawnee boys didn’t wear hiking boots like Jerome,” Mimi answered.
    â€œOr bright green tennis shoes like Ziggy” added Brandy.
    â€œI’mgonna pretend I’m an Indian brave,” declared Jerome.
    â€œWell, you better go catch that squirrel for dinner, mon” teased Ziggy.
    â€œI’m getting hungry, Noni,” complained Rico. “When can we eat? Are we almost there?”
    â€œLook” Noni pointed with pride.
    The path had widened, and the trees disappeared behind them. The children stopped suddenly, amazed and silenced by what they saw. They stood at the edge of a huge meadow. The bright sun, after the dim shadows of the woods, made the meadow shine with a golden glow. A path had been broken through the tall grasses. At the end of the path on the other side of the meadow lay a large blue lake.
    â€œWow” exclaimed Rashawn. “Cool”
    â€œIt’s beautiful,” Tiana remarked with a smile.
    Brandy stopped eating her jelly beans long enough to pull out her notebook. She