Page 12 (1/2)

"ARE YOU GONNA EAT THAT HOT DOG?" PAUL ASKED JAcob, his eyes locked on the last ree ainst htened wire hanger; the fla its blistered skin He heaved a sigh and patted his stoh I’d lost count of how s he’d eaten after his tenth Not toof chips or the two-liter bottle of root beer

"I guess," Jake said slowly "I’m so full I’m about to puke, but I think I can force it down I won’t enjoy it at all, though" He sighed again sadly

Despite the fact that Paul had eaten at least as lowered and his hands balled up into fists

"Sheesh" Jacob laughed "Kidding, Paul Here"

He flipped the ho-first in the sand, but Paul caught it neatly on the right end without difficulty

Hanging out with no one but extreive me a complex

"Thanks, man," Paul said, already over his brief fit of te lower toward the sand Sparks blew up in a sudden puff of brilliant orange against the black sky Funny, I hadn’t noticed that the sun had set For the first tiotten I’d lost track of time completely

It was easier being with my Quileute friends than I’d expected

While Jacob and I had dropped off e - and he had adood idea that he should have thought of hi up with hi if the olves would considerme? Would I ruin the party?

But when Jacob had towedplace - where the fire already roared brighter than the cloud-obscured sun - it had all been very casual and light

"Hey, vareeted h five and kiss me on the cheek Emily had squeezed round beside her and Sa co the bloodsucker stench doind, I was treated like soed

It wasn’t just kids in attendance, either Billy was here, his wheelchair stationed at what see lawn chair, looking quite brittle, was Quil’s ancient, white-haired grandfather, Old Quil Sue Clearwater,of Charlie’s friend Harry, had a chair on his other side; her two children, Leah and Seth, were also there, sitting on the ground like the rest of us This surprised me, but all three were clearly in on the secret now From the way Billy and Old Quil spoke to Sue, it sounded to me like she’d taken Harry’s place on the council Did that make her children automatic members of La Push’s most secret society?

I wondered how horrible it was for Leah to sit across the circle from Sam and Emily Her lovely face betrayed no e at the perfection of Leah’s features, I couldn’t help but compare them to Emily’s ruined face What did Leah think of Emily’s scars, now that she knew the truth behind them? Did it seem like justice in her eyes?

Little Seth Clearwater wasn’t so little anyly build, he reer Jacob The reseh Was Seth dooe as drastically as the rest of these boys? Was that future why he and his family were allowed to be here?

The whole pack was there: Sairl he’d imprinted upon

My first iirl, a little shy, and a little plain She had a wide face, mostly cheekbones, with eyes too small to balance them out Her nose and mouth were both too broad for traditional beauty Her flat black hair was thin and wispy in the wind that never seemed to let up atop the cliff

That wasJared watch Kiirl

The way he stared at her! It was like a blindthe sun for the first ti an undiscovered Da Vinci, like ainto the face of her newborn child

His wondering eyes s about her - how her skin looked like russet-colored silk in the firelight, how the shape of her lips was a perfect double curve, hohite her teeth were against the her cheek when she looked down

Kim’s skin soaze, and her eyes would drop as if in e her eyes away fro them, I felt like I better understood what Jacob had toldbefore - it’s hard to resist that level of coainst Jared’s chest, his arined she would be very war late," I murmured to Jacob

"Don’t start that yet," Jacob whispered back - though certainly half the group here had hearing sensitive enough to hear us anyway "The best part is co an entire cohole?"

Jacob chuckled his low, throaty laugh "No That’s the finale We didn’t h a week’s worth of food This is technically a councilIt’s Quil’s first time, and he hasn’t heard the stories yet Well, he’s heard them, but thiswill be the first tiuy pay closer attention Kim and Seth and Leah are all first-timers, too"

"Stories?"

Jacob scooted back beside e of rock He put his arm over my shoulder and spoke even lower into ends," he said "The stories of hoe came to be The first is the story of the spirit warriors"

It was almost as if Jacob’s soft whisper was the introduction The at fire Paul and Eently upright

E exactly like a student set for an ihtly beside her - so that he was facing the same direction as Old Quil, as on his other side - and suddenly I realized that the elders of the council here were not three, but four in number

Leah Clearwater, her face still a beautiful and emotionless mask, closed her eyes - not like she was tired, but as if to help her concentration Her brother leaned in toward the elders eagerly

The fire crackled, sending another explosion of sparks glittering up against the night

Billy cleared his throat, and, with nothe story in his rich, deep voice The words poured out with precision, as if he knew the and a subtle rhythm Like poetry performed by its author

"The Quileutes have been a s," Billy said "And we are a small people still, but we have never disappeared This is because there has always been ic of shape-shifting - that came later First, ere spirit warriors"

Never before had I recognized the ring of h I realized now that this authority had always been there

Emily’s pen sprinted across the sheets of paper as she tried to keep up with hi, the tribe settled in this harbor and became skilled ship builders and fishermen But the tribe was small, and the harbor was rich in fish There were others who coveted our land, and ere too sainst us, and we took to our ships to escape them

"Kaheleha was not the first spirit warrior, but we do not remember the stories that came before his We do not remember as the first to discover this power, or how it had been used before this crisis Kaheleha was the first great Spirit Chief in our history In this eic to defend our land

"He and all his warriors left the ship - not their bodies, but their spirits Their women watched over the bodies and the waves, and the men took their spirits back to our harbor

"They could not physically touch the enemy tribe, but they had other ways The stories tell us that they could blow fierce winds into their ene in the wind that terrified their foes The stories also tell us that the animals could see the spirit warriors and understand the

"Kaheleha took his spirit ar tribe had packs of big, thick-furred dogs that they used to pull their sleds in the frozen north The spirit warriors turned the dogs against their hty infestation of bats up fro wind to aid the dogs in confusing theour harbor a cursed place The dogs ran hen the spirit warriors released them The Quileutes returned to their bodies and their wives, victorious

"The other nearby tribes, the Hohs and the Makahs,to do with our ainst us, the spirit warriors would drive thereat Spirit Chief, Taha Aki He was known for his wisdo a man of peace The people lived well and content in his care

"But there was one man, Utlapa, as not content"

A low hiss ran around the fire I was too slow to see where it caend

"Utlapa was one of Chief Taha Aki’s strongest spirit warriors - a powerful ht the people should use their ic to expand their lands, to enslave the Hohs and the Makahs and build an empire

"Nohen the warriors were their spirit selves, they knew each other’s thoughts Taha Aki sahat Utlapa dreary with Utlapa Utlapa was coain Utlapa was a strong man, but the chief’s warriors outnumbered him He had no choice but to leave The furious outcast hid in the forest nearby, waiting for a chance to get revenge against the chief

"Even in ti his people Often, he would go to a sacred, secret place in the mountains He would leave his body behind and sweep down through the forests and along the coast,sure no threat approached

"One day when Taha Aki left to perform this duty, Utlapa followed At first, Utlapa simply planned to kill the chief, but this plan had its drawbacks Surely the spirit warriors would seek to destroy him, and they could follow faster than he could escape As he hid in the rocks and watched the chief prepare to leave his body, another plan occurred to him

"Taha Aki left his body in the secret place and fleith the winds to keep watch over his people Utlapa waited until he was sure the chief had traveled some distance with his spirit self

"Taha Aki knew it the instant that Utlapa had joined him in the spirit world, and he also knew Utlapa’s murderous plan He raced back to his secret place, but even the winds weren’t fast enough to save hione Utlapa’s body lay abandoned, but Utlapa had not left Taha Aki with an escape - he had cut his own body’s throat with Taha Aki’s hands

"Taha Aki followed his body down the nored him as if he were mere wind

"Taha Aki watched with despair as Utlapa took his place as chief of the Quileutes For a feeeks, Utlapa did nothing but make sure that everyone believed he was Taha Aki Then the changes began - Utlapa’s first edict was to forbid any warrior to enter the spirit world He claier, but really he was afraid He knew that Taha Aki would be waiting for the chance to tell his story Utlapa was also afraid to enter the spirit world hi Taha Aki would quickly claim his body So his dreams of conquest with a spirit warrior arht to content hi privileges that Taha Aki had never requested, refusing to work alongside his warriors, taking a young second wife and then a third, though Taha Aki’s wife lived on - so unheard of in the tribe Taha Aki watched in helpless fury

"Eventually, Taha Aki tried to kill his body to save the tribe froht a fierce wolf down from the mountains, but Utlapa hid behind his warriors When the wolf killed a youngthe false chief, Taha Aki felt horrible grief He ordered the wolf away

"All the stories tell us that it was no easy thing to be a spirit warrior It wasto be freed froic in times of need The chief’s solitary journeys to keep watch were a burden and a sacrifice Being bodiless was disorienting, unco Taha Aki had been away froony He felt he was doomed - never to cross over to the final land where his ancestors waited, stuck in this torturous nothingness forever

"The great wolf followed Taha Aki’s spirit as he twisted and writhed in agony through the woods The as very large for its kind, and beautiful Taha Aki was suddenly jealous of the dumb animal At least it had a body At least it had a life Even life as an animal would be better than this horrible empty consciousness

"And then Taha Aki had the idea that changed us all He asked the great wolf to make room for him, to share The wolf coratitude It was not his human body, but it was better than the void of the spirit world

"As one, the e on the harbor The people ran in fear, shouting for the warriors to come The warriors ran to meet the ith their spears Utlapa, of course, stayed safely hidden

"Taha Aki did not attack his warriors He retreated slowly fros of his people The warriors began to realize that the as no ordinary ani it One older warrior, a man name Yut, decided to disobey the false chief’s order and try to communicate with the wolf

"As soon as Yut crossed to the spirit world, Taha Aki left the wolf - the aniathered the truth in an instant, and welcomed his true chief home

"At this time, Utlapa califeless on the ground, surrounded by protective warriors, he realized as happening He drew his knife and raced forward to kill Yut before he could return to his body

"’Traitor,’ he screamed, and the warriors did not knohat to do The chief had forbidden spirit journeys, and it was the chief’s decision how to punish those who disobeyed

"Yut jumped back into his body, but Utlapa had his knife at his throat and a hand covering his , and Yut ith age Yut could not say even one word to warn the others before Utlapa silenced him forever

"Taha Aki watched as Yut’s spirit slipped away to the final lands that were barred to Taha Aki for all eternity He felt a great rage,he’d felt before He entered the big wolf again,to rip Utlapa’s throat out But, as he joined the wolf, the greatest er of a man The love he had for his people and the hatred he had for their oppressor were too vast for the wolf’s body, too human The wolf shuddered, and - before the eyes of the shocked warriors and Utlapa - transformed into a man

"The new lorious He was the flesh interpretation of Taha Aki’s spirit The warriors recognized hih, for they had floith Taha Aki’s spirit

"Utlapa tried to run, but Taha Aki had the strength of the wolf in his new body He caught the thief and crushed the spirit from him before he could jump out of the stolen body

"The people rejoiced when they understood what had happened Taha Aki quickly set everything right, working again with his people and giving the young wives back to their fae he kept in place was the end of the spirit travels He knew that it was too dangerous now that the idea of stealing a life was there The spirit warriors were no more

"From that point on, Taha Aki was more than either wolf or man They called him Taha Aki the Great Wolf, or Taha Aki the Spirit Man He led the tribe for er threatened, he would resuhten the enemy The people dwelt in peace Taha Aki fathered many sons, and soe of manhood, they, too, could transform into wolves The wolves were all different, because they were spirit wolves and reflected the man they were inside"

"So that’s why Sa "Black heart, black fur"

I was so involved in the story, it was a shock to co fire With another shock, I realized that the circle was randsons

The fire threw a volley of sparks into the sky, and they shivered and danced,shapes that were almost decipherable

"And your chocolate fur reflects what?" Sanored their jibes "Soer aged Others, who did not like the transforan to age again, and the tribe discovered that the wolf-ave up their spirit wolves Taha Aki had lived the span of three old men’s lives He had married a third wife after the deaths of the first two, and found in her his true spirit wife Though he had loved the others, this was soive up his spirit wolf so that he would die when she did

"That is how the ic came to us, but it is not the end of the story"

He looked at Old Quil Ateara, who shifted in his chair, straightening his frail shoulders Billy took a drink from a bottle of water and wiped his forehead Emily’s pen never hesitated as she scribbled furiously on the paper

"That was the story of the spirit warriors," Old Quil began in a thin tenor voice "This is the story of the third wife’s sacrifice

"Many years after Taha Aki gave up his spirit wolf, when he was an old an in the north, with the Makahs Several young women of their tribe had disappeared, and they bla wolves, who they feared and mistrusted The wolf-hts while in their wolf forms, just like their ancestors had while in their spirit forms They knew that none of their number was to blame Taha Aki tried to pacify the Makah chief, but there was too much fear Taha Aki did not want to have a war on his hands He was no longer a warrior to lead his people He charged his oldest wolf-son, Taha Wi, with finding the true culprit before hostilities began

"Taha Wi led the five other wolves in his pack on a search through theMakahs They ca they had never encountered before - a strange, sweet scent in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain"

I shrank a little closer to Jacob’s side I saw the corner of his htened around me

"They did not knohat creature would leave such a scent, but they followed it," Old Quil continued His quavering voice did not have the e of urgency about it My pulse jumped as his words came faster

"They found faint traces of hu the trail They were sure this was the ene for

"The journey took theer ones, back to the harbor to report to Taha Aki

"Taha Wi and his two brothers did not return

"The younger brothers searched for their elders, but found only silence Taha Aki e his sons’ death, but he was old He went to the Makah chief in histhat had happened The Makah chief believed his grief, and tensions ended between the tribes