Spirited Read Free Page B

and rose in a column, a waterfall of smoke rising up into the air. Wusamequin danced, passing his tomahawk through the scented mists, through the veils that were parting between this world and the other.
    The smoke undulated as it found form, and Wusamequin fell to his knees in exhaustion. He rose up, kneeling with his arms crossed over his chest.
    The column roared and Wusamequin whispered,
“Aquai” Hello.
    It rushed and billowed, and then his spirit guide stepped into the world.
    His guide’s name was Great Bear, and he loomed at least six hands higher than his human nephew, Wusamequin. He was covered in brownish black fur, a giant of the forest. Great Bear had come to Wusamequin six winters earlier, during the youth’s initiation into the world of men, first appearing when Wusamequin had left the tribe to walk his vision quest. Miantonomi had been pleased by his son’s adoption by Great Bear, who was a powerful totem.
    “We have need of such an ally in these hard times,” Miantonomi had told the proud, happy youth. “This speaks well of your favor with the ancestors, my son.”
    Now Great Bear held out his powerful, sharp paws in greeting, each as wide as Wusamequin’s chest, and bellowed at the man who, in his despair, had summoned him. Great Bear’s head was as big as the campfire, and each of his eyes was larger than Wusamequin’s fist. His teeth were sharp and very white, and he smelled of the other place where he dwelled—of sweet grass and clear waters, and air that had never been breathed by men.
    Of the Land Beyond, the paradise where the People lived after they left the world, in preparation for the journey on the Road of Stars.
    Wusamequin, my nephew
, Great Bear said.
You are suffering. I am glad you have called me.
    Wusamequin decided to dance his conversation with Great Bear. He had voiced his rage, and so he would remain silent out of respect for the Great One. Though he had shouted his demands to the spirits, it had been his dance that had called Great Bear from the invisible world to him.
    Wusamequin rose and spread forth his arms.
The spirits say my time will come. I am tired of waiting for justice, my uncle.
    I understand, my nephew. Turn around.
    His heart filling with hope, Wusamequin obeyed, exposing his back to the enormous bear.
    Great Bear extended his paw and traced the scar that ran the length of Wusamequin’s spine, beginning at the base of his skull and trailing to the smallof his back. The wound had cut very deep.
    The British soldiers had assumed that it had killed him. Knowing that the braves had left to hunt, they attacked without warning, without provocation. He had been in the sweat lodge when he heard his wife screaming. He had burst out of the lodge and run to the wigwam, run as hard as he could….
    Clear your mind, my nephew
, Great Bear urged him.
Your fury blinds you. It fragments you.
    As he turned back around, Wusamequin stared unsmiling at his beloved spirit guide. Both his father and his guide had taught Wusamequin that this life was both a journey and a test. As a man and a warrior, Wusamequin must prove his valor and his courage; he must die with a clean conscience that he had done his best at all times. He must provide results in order to be able to face seven generations of his ancestors. He must have triumphs to share when it came time for him to count coup—to speak of his victories over the challenges laid before him. He must prove to them that he was worthy to sit with them at the council fires, or he would be banished from their company and wander in shame and degradation for all time.
    The blood trickled from Wusamequin’s palm into the fire, each droplet hissing as it hit the flames. It must not be his blood only that nourished the fires of this world.
    His enemies must burn for what they had done.
    You are my guide, Great Bear
, he reminded the huge creature.
It is your duty to accompany me on my path, and to assist me so that I may count coup.
    Great