JOURNEY TO THE MIDNIGHT SUN
James Sheldon
LOVE CONQUERS ALL
Book 1 of 3
Chapter 25
Before departing their summer home, the family took pebbles and glued them to a parchment of leather along with some paint; a simple diagram which they left on the long table. The diagram served as a note to their kin, to let them know that they had been there and had continued north, their destination being the Lake of the Swans located one hundred miles beyond their traditional hunting grounds.
Together in a column with each at their familiar station for ice travel, the family stood ready as John and Cody made a minor adjustment to Ellie’s sled ties. Having left their summer home, their second day of travel was set to get underway. They had made good progress on their first day before camping in a stand of jack pines at the southern tip of old Lake Montreal in central Saskatchewan. Measuring approx eight miles wide, the frozen lake extended due north for fifty miles and would serve as a winter highway. And same as when on the river, they would have the option of a forest trail, this time along the west shore. And while not as good as the river trail, an animal trail at least.
While the family waited on John and Cody, Jessie gazed ahead. She had been there before. The frozen lake, a seemingly endless expanse of snow stretching for as far as the eye could see marked the beginning of a change in the land. They were entering a realm of lakes and rivers. It would be gradual until the Lake of the Swans, beyond which the terrain changed so dramatically as to become a world neither of land or water but something in between.
“Did you get it fixed?” Laureal asked, watching as John dawned his mitts.
“Yep,” smiling. And turning to Jessie, he gave a nod.
“Are we ready?” asked Jessie, loudly from the front.
“We are ready!” answered Laureal. And away they went through snow rarely more than several inches deep due to the sweeping effect of wind that came across the lake most afternoons. There were occasional snowdrifts but going around them presented no problem. Only a cloud or two hung in the sky and no breeze stirred to disrupt the serenity of early morning.
Among the many mysteries of nature, a very unique carpet of snow had been laid down overnight. Not deep but thin. Not wet but dry, as in flash frozen. Not small flakes but large and very light, laid down so delicately as to remain loose and airy. Almost as if yet suspended in air, each flake lie juxtaposed to the other in countless angles to make an extraordinarily fluffy layer of crystals akin to hoarfrost. Its beauty did not go unnoticed.
Along the shore just a stone’s toss away, jack pines rose like snowy white towers set against a sky so deep and blue that a nature loving soul could very nearly fall into it. A large flock of northern cardinals, having come together for the winter, congregated there in the thickets that lined the shore. And of the 30 or more birds, a brave handful sang songs as crisp as the icy air, perhaps in joyful celebration of the sun that would soon rise over the wood.
Laureal turned to walk backwards so that she may check on John and, as she had hoped, there also was Waya following in the family’s snow trail an eighth mile behind.
Guessing what Laureal was about, John turned to see the wolf, although as soon as he turned she stopped only to begin again as soon as he turned back to the way ahead.
Scarcely another mile had passed when Sophie suddenly extended her mitten to the frozen expanse, “Mommy! Looky!”
The sun was just then rising over the trees, illuminating the surface of the lake. The unique layer of fresh fallen snow, so loosely knit, allowed the sunlight to penetrate deep, momentarily trapping it, reflecting it from one crystal to the next before releasing it, the effect being that the lake sparkled so intensely, it appeared to be filled with stars.
“It’s a sign!” Noah cried.
“It surely is,” Mia affirmed loudly, that her children might hear even as she kept to her station, a coil of rope on her shoulder some fifteen paces behind Jessie.
“The Great Spirit is with us!” Jessie joyously shouted from the front.
The spectacle lasted but a few precious minutes. Then it was gone, done in by the very thing that had given it beauty. The delicate crystals melted and collapsed in the warmth of the sun even as the snow remained cold, dry and powdery to the human eye.
The morning sun made a considerable difference for the humans, their animals, and wildlife also. By midday the temperature had increased to 10 degrees. And as was often the case, layers of clothing had to be removed to keep from overheating. Then, as expected, the arrival of the wind forced the family into the forest where the trail, being only an animal path, presented more difficulty than expected.
“Jessie, Laureal!” called Emma.
Hatchets in hand, mother and daughter came walking back from the front whereupon Emma continued, “We will make camp here today.”
Emma did not have to explain. Everyone understood the path was too difficult and they were wasting too much energy.
Laureal glanced at the frozen lake, just visible through the trees. A sea of spindrift bathed in sunlight, the afternoon wind forbid them travel there.
“The moon will be near full tonight,” said Emma, glancing skyward. “The wind will die out. It will be clear and cold, very cold, but also very calm, and we have good gear. We can return to the lake and make time. And tomorrow when the wind comes up, we will strike camp.”
“We couldn’t hope for a better place,” Cody acknowledged, looking into the wood where, as Emma had seen, a modest opening lay in near-full sunshine, well-sheltered from the north wind. And so it was that the family struck camp in the warmth of the midday sun. Ellie dug snow and grazed. Yike and Chewy, meanwhile, seemed to have made peace.
Working to put supper on, Emma turned to her granddaughter, “Laureal.”
“Yes, Grandmother.”
“Feed the dogs.”
Laureal gave a little nod only to remain in place, gazing at her grandmother with uncertainty, as if expecting something more.
“And the wolf,” added Emma, shaking her head as she returned to her work over the fire. Then, taking note of John who had momentarily spaced out, “Well, are you going to protect her or are you just going to stand there?”
Spear in hand, John followed Laureal down the animal trail in the direction from which they had come. Both dogs remained behind, distracted by their early supper, not to mention neither dared chew its tether in front of Emma.
Having gone approximately one-hundred yards, Laureal began to call, “Weya! Weya!”
“She may have gone hunting,” scanning the forest, John's eyes came to rest on the lake just visible through the trees. Previously a sea of serenity, the big lake appeared a windblown wasteland.
Just then, the wolf appeared on the trail only a stone’s toss ahead. Never had they been so close to it. And while impressive enough to see a 100-pound dog like Yike or Nemo, seeing the 200-pound wolf was something altogether wild.
“Set the food down, sweetheart, and we’ll back away.”
“I will, darling,” whispering over her shoulder, “but let’s get a bit closer first.” And taking several more steps, Laureal softly called to the beast, “Hey there, pretty girl. I brought you some supper.”
“That’s far enough,” John whispered.
“Just a few more steps,” yet advancing ever so slowly.
The wolf, scarcely ten paces ahead and visibly apprehensive, lifted its nose to sniff and savor the scent of the meat.
Attempting another step, Laureal was unexpectedly drawn back. John had ahold of her coat. She glanced back at him but, before she could protest, he whispered, “I’m only protecting you.” Gazing into his eyes, a fleeting smile graced her lips. Then, turning back to the wolf, she squatted and set the front shoulder of a mule deer on the trail.
Slowly, the Summerfields backed off a safe distance where they watched as the wolf cautiously came forward. It kept its eyes on them even as it lowered its head to its meal. Then, picking up the deer shoulder, it turned and vanished in the wood.
On watch for the coming of the calm, Jessie lifted her eyes as a great horned owl glided in to land on a perch just twelve feet above, “Hoo-hoo. Hoo-hoo,” turning its head to look at Jessie. “Hoo-hoo. Hooooo! Hooooo!” Its voice so singular, its look so unique, left no room for doubt in Jessie’s mind. The owl had been sent and the message was obvious: “Arise. Arise. A way has been prepared for you.”
“Mother,” said Jessie, “Mom.”
Slowly coming round, “Yes.”
“It’s time.”
A mere stone’s throw lie between camp and lake and yet the forest seemed to have gained a dimension beyond regular space and time. Moon shadows cast from trees fell vividly upon the snow while, strangely enough, the very same light that produced such sharp contrasts made for an altogether soft and satiny world. Upon hearing the sounds of Ellie’s hooves crushing the snow, and seeing the great clouds of steam emitting from her nostrils, an onlooker might be forgiven for mistaking the giant for a dragon in a ghost realm, accompanied by a cult of hooded necromancers.
No more had the family arrived to the lake’s edge when as if on cue, the last of the wind, having already faded to a breeze, died completely.
John made a final check of Ellie’s riggings and, having found a pair of knots that needed attention, worked to redo them.
Cody, who’d become the horseman’s apprentice, looked on while holding the giant’s lead rope, “Have you ever noticed how unless you’re looking for them, you might not see small animal trails in daylit meadows but in the moonlight they practically jump out at you?”
“You mean when there’s no snow on the ground?”
“Yeah, like in summertime.”
“Yeah,” said John, “I’ve noticed that.”
“Why do they jump out?” asked Noah, looking down from his little window.
“I don’t know,” John replied, rubbing his hands before proceeding. “This strap isn’t jumping out, or in, or anything.”
Sophie poked her head out, “You are getting them tight, aren’t you?”
“Yes, missy, I am.”
“I would hope so. I wouldn’t want to fall off!”
“Oh,” looking up at her and feigning surprise, “you mean the saddle straps. I’m checking the sled straps.”
“Have you not checked the saddle straps?”
“Sophie,” Laureal intervened, just then coming forward, “don’t let John tease you.”
“How does moonlight make animal trails jump out?” Noah asked, his little voice insistent, so baffled was he by the mystery.
“Small animal trails,” Cody clarified.
Thinking about it, John stipulated, “I suppose it’s because they blend in with the grass in the light of day, whereas under the moon, where shadows can be more obvious than real things…well, things just kind of get reversed, I guess, and then, they jump out.”
“What does ‘rezersed’ mean?” Noah asked.
“Reversed,” Cody corrected.
“Reversed,” John began, “it’s, well, like I said, shadows can make small things seem big, and big things seem small, out here, under the moon.”
“But I’m still small and you’re still big, and we’re under the moon.”
Cody stared up at Noah, “It only works on certain things.”
Fearing himself in over his head, John noticed how the pines cast their shadows along the shore. Then, turning his eyes to the child, “Noah, you can’t see them because you’re facing the lake but the trees along the shore…well, in the light of day they stand out against the sky, but right now, under the moon, they blend into the sky while their shadows jump from the snow.”
Listening to John, Laureal thought of how the moonlit lake had impressed her when first she spied it through the trees, “Snowy lakes jump out of the earth.”
“But snowy lakes don’t have shadows,” Cody stated, somewhat confusedly.
“They still jump out,” insistently.
“Snowy lakes have shadows,” Sophie chirped, pointing to John and Laureal’s shadows, so vivid against the luminous surface.
Hanging Ellie’s lead rope on her neck, Cody pulled his hands from his mitts. Then, holding them up in the moonlight, he cast shadows of animal figures on the snow; a fox chasing a rabbit to his thinking. The twins loved it. John and Laureal also began to laugh.
Emma may have cracked the whip on their antics had she not been lost in thought, like a thousand miles away. In reality she stood but a few steps behind the sled. Yike’s whines had alerted her and, following his gaze to the trees along the shore, she’d caught sight of the wolf. Weya’s eyes shone softly, reflecting the moonlit lake like mirrors. The Matriarch, standing transfixed, saw the riddle of the ruin, its final verse in her mind’s eye.
To those that seek the knowledge,
it has died here but lives on,
forever in the wolves.
Realizing the meaning of the passage, a smile came to Emma’s lips.
“Are we ready?” Jessie very nearly barked as she came walking back.
“We’re ready!” John announced, realizing how completely off track they’d gotten. And then they were off, traveling along the shore of that vast lake. The moon, suspended like a jewel in the star dome. The northern lights, shimmering like magic in the great unknown.
