A Cherokee Wish

By C.C. Wills

The saga continues as this third and final addition to the trilogy will show. Dean once again is in pursuit of treasure but what he finds will surprise you. Along the way he will meet yet another family member in spirit form. Who is this distant relative who becomes a part of Dean's life? What happens to the gold Dean was after? Will he survive yet another ordeal at the hands of his distant cousin, J.R.?

• Language: English
• Publisher: C.C. Wills
• Release date: Oct 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311483478

C.C. Wills

I am a retired factory worker. I worked for Kraft Foods for 35 years and retired at 55 in 2009. My wife and I live on 23 acres in Central Illinos in the the home town of Dick and Jerry Van Dyke, Gene Hackman, Donald O'Conner, Bobby Short, Astronaut Tanner, and several other celebs including several well known writers and Congressman Uncle Jo Cannon. I now have three books published through FriesenPress and four books published through my own publishing company -Grape Creek Publishing. If you go to my web page I have several links to retailers for my books. You can also purchase an autographed copy from me directly. My Fourth book - "Memories" is published through my own publishing company as well as my fifth and sixth books - "A Collection of Short Stories by C.C. Wills" and "Solitude: Portraits of the Lonely". My seventh book is another collection of short stories known as "Grandpa Tell Us A Story". I now have 22 short stories and I'm working on a Western Book known as The McAllister Saga.

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A Cherokee Wish

BY C.C. WILLS

Copyright © 2013 by C.C. Wills First Edition —July 2013

ISBN

978-1-4602-2448-9 (Hardcover)

978-1-4602-2449-6 (Paperback)

978-1-3114-8347-8 (Smashwords edition)

Ebook distributed by Smashwords

All rights reserved.

Photo used for the cover was taken by Cathy Leoppke; Professional Consultant / Coach — friend / photographer.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Exceptions would be the following towns and places: Champaign, IL; Harrisburg, IL; Equality, IL; Shawneetown, IL; and the Garden of the Gods.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information browsing, storage, or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Produced by: FriesenPress

Suite 300 - 852 Fort Street Victoria, BC, Canada V8W1H8

.www.friesenpress.com

Distributed to the trade by The Ingram Book Company

C.C. Wills is a member of the Illinois Authors Wiki

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Winter, 1817-1818

Chapter 2 – The Homestead

Chapter 3 – A New Beginning

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Bibliography

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my Mother —Juanita Jeanne Wilson. She had a love for reading and always encouraged us to read while we were growing up. God Bless you Mom! RIP!

March 13, 1927 to August 25, 2012

~Notes from the Author~

Before I start this story I would like to share with you something I have read that I find to be a very good guide for each and every one of us to follow. I have done some extensive checking on this and can find no copyright for it nor does anyone know who wrote it. It is referred to as both a Cherokee Legend and a Cherokee Proverb. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Thanks!

TWO WOLVES

A Cherokee Legend

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. A fight is going on inside me, he said to the boy.

"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil — he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego" He continued, The other is good — he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you — and inside every other person, too

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, Which wolf will win?

The old Cherokee simply replied, The one you feed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is basically the same story, but this one is referred to as "Grandfather Tells and also as The Wolves Within" — both fit!

GRANDFATHER TELLS ~

THE WOLVES WITHIN

An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came in with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice, Let me tell you a story, I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.

Then he said, But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times He continued, It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.

He paused and then went on, But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing. Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather’s eyes and asked, Which one wins, Grandfather?

The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, The one I feed.

~Author Unknown~

I personally believe this is a great truism that probably fits each and every one of us at different levels. Nevertheless, we would do good to take heed to these words, look into our own lives and examine — ask your inner self this question, Which wolf do you feed?

Chapter 1

Winter, 1817-1818

The smoke was rising from the fieldstone chimney on top of the small Logsdon cabin. It had been snowing for days now and didn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. This was one of the worst storms southern Illinois had seen in years. The snow was approaching close to two feet with drifts from the blowing snow reaching much higher. Good thing for John and Susanne that they had plenty of food on hand to last them for a while. John always tries to have enough to get him through the harsher months of winter. Now that he has another mouth to feed though he is not sure if he can stretch what he has. Likewise, his woodpile was well stocked since they use it not only for heat but also for cooking.

Approaching late February and Susanne has been with John for almost three months. It seems like another lifetime since Susanne lost her brother Thomas in their wagon accident. John has been very grateful that he was able to find Susanne and help her. He knew from very early in their relationship that he loved her. Susanne also felt those same bonds and as their closeness grew they decided that they were meant to be together. They went into town late in January and found a preacher who married them. It was a simple wedding...for them it wasn’t the ceremony but their inner most feelings that made that bond.

Both bitter and cold as February in Illinois can be there aren’t very many things that can be done when the snow is as deep as it was getting. John had no major reason for going outside other than to occasionally refill their wood supply or get fresh water. It didn’t take John’s desires long to kick in and he found his wife’s attributes calling to him.

Within a very short time John romanced his wife into wanting him as much as he did her. You would not think that of a man who lived alone so long back in the woods by himself. John however was quite the gentleman and knew the needs of a woman. A woman wants to be touched gently and kissed softly. She wants her man to desire her for whom she is, to love her and to show her that love. John did his best to make Susanne feel like that special woman.

Spring was approaching and the harshness of winter was starting to be replaced by the renewing of the approaching season. The melting snows filling the streams full of sparkling fresh life giving water. There was life in the hills once more and slowly the wood’s critters were making themselves known. The little chipmunks scurrying along the ground, leaving just the slightest of signs to their presence. Their larger cousins, the squirrels were chasing each other making enough noise to wake the dead. Occasionally even a deer or two would wander along looking for an opening in the melting snow hoping for some tender browse. There were definitely signs of spring fever not only alive in the Logsdon cabin but thriving throughout the woodlands as well.

As the warmth of the spring days began to over shadow the harsh winter cruelty, it was time for John to start thinking about picking back up on his routine before his beloved Susanne arrived. He would of course need to replenish their meat supplies as well as start getting the ground ready for his garden. The garden supplied the staples which rounded out the diet Logsdon survived on. He knew without any doubt in his mind that now with Suzanne by his side they would need more than his meager garden could provide. John also sensed that Susanne would someday soon want to start a family of her own. Children he thought would help her get over the grieving for her father and brother. Not that it would ever make her forget her lost family but he knew it would definitely ease the pain she felt. He most definitely was not opposed to having kids of his own...he had been alone too long.

Susanne watched her husband doing his chores and knew she needed to join him in tilling and planting. After all, she would join him in eating from the garden so she wanted to help him maintain it. She was used to doing that sort of work on their plantation in Georgia so she just felt this would be no different. John was beginning to wonder about some things, actually about the future and what it would hold in store for them. He was thinking that even though he loved his little place, it would not be enough to raise much of a family on. There was some land over by Equality he had his eyes on but up till now he really had no reason to check it out seriously. Now would be the time to think a bit harder on it but first he would need to have a talk with Susanne. This was going to take some getting used to...giving consideration to another’s feelings and wants. But John was a determined man so he would succeed.

They were sitting at the table eating supper when it came to John that it was time for him to talk to Susanne about the things he had been pondering over.

Susanne, he started, we need to do some talking, some planning for our future together and the family we want to have.

Okay John. What exactly do you want to discuss? You sound like you may already have some things on your mind.

I do Susanne, I truly do. I have been thinking about several things that we need to plan for such as space for our kids. We need a bigger place to raise our kids in and more land to plant our garden on. He paused momentarily and looked at her. Then he asked, You do want kids don’t you? I guess maybe we should have discussed that first.

Well of course I would like to have children. I just didn’t know it would be this soon. She took a moment to gather her thoughts then said, You know I never really gave a thought to when this would all happen.

Even though she agreed upon marrying John, Susanne felt things in her life were happening quickly. She lost her father and then immediately her and her brother set out for a new home. Two months later she loses her brother in an accident. Then a couple months after that, she ends up marrying the man that saved her life. Now just a couple months into their marriage he is wanting to discuss having a family. It’s not that she hadn’t ever thought about having her own family, it was the speed that everything was happening that spooked her.

John saw her apprehension and spoke up, Susanne, I did not intend to rush you into anything. Please believe me when I say that I never want to put pressure on you or ask you to do anything you don’t want to.

I do believe that John, you just caught me off guard with this. I do want a family and think I always have.

That is good because I do also. We won’t plan on having any kids until you are ready. However, I would like to discuss the possibility of getting a bigger place so we can manage to take care of them when they do become a part of our lives. I have had my eyes on some land over by Equality that we could farm. That would give us a steady income and put more food in our storage bins. It will be a lot of work of course. I would need to build us a house to move to. Then after we move I will take care of building the other things we will need such as a root cellar, a barn, etc.

Have you given thought to just how we are going to pay for all of this? I am sure it won’t be cheap. She had a good idea what the answer to her question would be.

Yes as a matter of fact I have been doing some pondering on this. I would like us to use a small portion of your gold to purchase the land and buy the materials to build our house. It would not take that much I am sure of that.

Susanne thought for a moment and then looked up at John and said, Do you mind if I think on this a while? Things are happening so quickly, I want to work through this in my head if that is okay.

"Okay? Well of course