The Keeper of Names

By Anne McCourtie

In the village of Taotonga, the name given to a child holds the secret of its destiny. When a young girl called Little One is told her parents never received the vision of her true name, she sets out to find the mysterious Keeper of Names. However, Little One faces unexpected challenges on the mountain where the Keeper is said to reside. She must overcome them to learn her real name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anne McCourtie
• Release date: Feb 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465818881

Anne McCourtie

I was born in Louisiana, raised in Texas, camped out in Oklahoma for a few years then finally migrated to Kansas where I gave up the gypsy life to marry John Huerter. My husband and I live in a rural area near Topeka. Our menagerie includes one dog, a pride of cats, a herd of horses, and assorted wildlife. They are an endless source of entertainment and inspiration. Besides writing, my passions include cats, crosswords and cryptograms. I also love all things mysterious. Over the years I have written everything from cookbooks to novels as well as short stories, poetry, children's books, and puppet plays. (Yes, I was a puppeteer back in my gypsy life.) An incurable optimist, I look for the good in everything and usually find it. I expect to be writing and publishing for years to come. Stay tuned.

Book preview

The Keeper of Names

Anne McCourtie

Published by Anne McCourtie

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Anne McCourtie

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Chapter One

Long ago in a faraway land, there existed a small village called Taotonga which was nestled between a snowcapped mountain and the sea. In this village lived a man named Phillip and his wife, Kelotho, who was soon to have their first child.

Now, in this village, the naming of a newborn babe was a sacred honor bestowed upon the parents. Shortly before the baby was to be born, a ceremony was held by the elders of the village to invoke the Great Spirit of the Keeper of Names to send the parents a vision in a dream. The vision would reveal their child’s name to them. When the parents received the vision, the next morning the husband would tell the wife the name which had come to him and his wife would confirm she had received the same name in her vision.

The name was considered a gift to the child because it held the secret of the unique creative talent which would help the child to know its calling in life. These parents had been given their names in the same manner. Thus it was that Phillip, whose name meant lover of horses, became famous throughout the land for the special way he had with even the wildest of horses, while his wife, Kelotho, whose name meant worker of cloth was a weaver who made the most elegant patterns to be found in the village.

This particular child was to be born at the change of seasons, when autumn turned to winter. So it was that one cold, clear night, when the moon shone full and spilled silver light down the side of the mountain, the elders gathered at the home of Phillip and Kelotho. A fire was built in a small pit near the front of the house. While the couple sat together near the fire, the elders made a circle around them, then lifted their hands up to the sky and to the beat of a single drum, chanted this song three times.

Oh Great Spirit of the Keeper of Names,

Send thy sacred vision in a dream.

Make known to this mother her child’s destiny.

Reveal what the blessed name shall be.

Oh, Great Spirit of the Keeper of Names,

Send thy sacred vision in a dream.

Give this father the wisdom thou possess.

Show him the name that thou dost bless.

Oh, Great Spirit of the Keeper of Names,

Send thy sacred vision in a dream.

When the song was ended the elders silently left the home and the couple went inside to sleep, expecting to dream of their child’s name. The next morning at breakfast, Kelotho waited for her husband to speak of the name he was given, but he only sat quietly at the table. At last she asked him of his dream.

I have no name to tell you, he confessed. What vision came to you?

Kelotho hung her head sadly, Husband, I had no dream last night.

Her husband shook his head slowly. I don’t understand, he said.

Nor do I, she answered. Maybe we will dream tonight, she suggested hopefully.

But the next morning it was the same; neither one had dreamed of the name for their child. What are we to do? asked Phillip. Our child must have a name.

I think we should go to see the elders. Maybe they need to perform the ceremony again, Kelotho replied.

So Phillip and Kelotho went to see the elders who told them there was nothing more to be done. Be patient. The Keeper of Names cannot be rushed. Your child will have a name when the time is right, said the head elder, not unkindly. All they could do was to wait for the arrival of their child.

The baby was born on a cold, cloudy day in late fall, but one look at her and it was as if the sun had broken through the clouds. Her hair shone like a new copper coin in the sunlight and her dark green eyes with their tiny gold specks seemed full of wisdom. As Kelotho gazed upon the babe, she wondered what they should call her, until her true name was given to them. With a sigh, she told her husband, "Until we are given her name, we shall call her ‘Little One’ because she is so tiny.

And so, Little One came into the world without a name. As they waited for the dream that would bring them the child’s name, days turned into months and months into years. In hopes they would