Ishi, Deshi and Hank: Discovering Bigfoot

By Patricia Pettit Hill

Ishi, Deshi, and Hank first meet at a campground in Michigan. Ishi is the fifteen-year-old son and only child of a husband and wife from Boston. Deshi is the ten-year-old adopted son of two men from New York City. Hank (Henrietta) is the fourteen-year-old biracial daughter of a single mother from Chicago.

Being the only children at the campground, they soon find themselves in the pursuit of a mysterious bigfoot creature as they experience strange sightings, time loops, and dimensional shifts. They get lost in a cave that becomes a passage to France, where they meet two new friends. The three finally discover the bigfoot and eventually learn everything about the shape-shifting creature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984571243

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Copyright © 2019 by Patricia Pettit Hill.

ISBN:                Softcover                    978-1-9845-7125-0

                          eBook                          978-1-9845-7124-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 12/10/2018

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Contents

Chapter 1 What’s in a name?

Chapter 2 Bigfoot, who?

Chapter 3 When did you change shoes?

Chapter 4 Now you see it, now you don’t!

Chapter 5 What do we know; and who do we tell?

Chapter 6 Ghost stories around the campfire

Chapter 7 Daylight deliberation and determination

Chapter 8 Paperwork and shooting stars

Chapter 9 The Bigfoot in the room

Chapter 10 The girl at the cave

Chapter 11 How do you say hello in French?

Chapter 12 How do we get back to Michigan?

Chapter 13 Another cave but this one has pictures!

Chapter 14 Reluctant Spelunkers

Chapter 15 The cave dwellers…

Chapter 16 Back to the cave in Colorado…

Chapter 17 Looking for Alice…

Chapter 18 Bigfoot again!

Chapter 19 How do you deal with a four year difference?

Chapter 20 Shape-shifters!

Chapter 21 Friend or Foe?

Chapter 22 Answers (Part 1)

Chapter 23 Answers (Part 2)

Chapter 24 Answers (Part 3)

Chapter 25 Poison Ivy?

Chapter 26 Remembrance and Remedies…

Chapter 27 Jack talks…

Chapter 28 Now that we know, who do we tell?

Chapter 29 The Bigfoot organization…

Chapter 30 Alice, we hardly knew you!

Chapter 31 Bury the past and live the present… The future can take care of itself!

Chapter 32 Looking for Bigfoot…

Chapter 33 The cookout surprise story…It’s all about Bigfoot

Chapter 34 Leaving Michigan!

Well, now that we have seen each other,

said the Unicorn, "if you’ll believe in me,

I’ll believe in you. Is that a bargain?"

Lewis Carroll,

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 1

What’s in a name?

I prefer to be called Hank. Fourteen year old Henrietta Wills stated as she sat on the wooden bench and watched the sun setting over Lake Michigan. I allow my Mom to call me by my real name, which is Henrietta, don’t laugh! If my Dad was still alive, I’d let him call me that, too but all my friends call me Hank. Then she frowned as she looked at the other two kids who were unknown to her and added, Just saying!

What about your teachers? Deshi Smythe-Mori asked as he stood a few feet away making small circles in the sand with his toe.

Oh, teachers…well, I’m either Miss Wills or Henrietta to them, but they don’t really count. My friends do count!

I consider some of my teachers to be friends, Deshi’s blue eyes flashed defiantly as he turned his head to look at her, Especially, Miss Everett, my home room teacher. His voice rose slightly at the end of his little speech and he clamped his mouth shut and looked at the ground.

Sounds like you might have a… Hank glared back at him.

Speaking of names, the other boy interrupted quickly where he sat in a folding chair, how about your name, Deshi…is that right, and how do you spell it? I…I mean it sounds interesting, you know like my name is unusual and well I just thought…you know…I just don’t want trouble, like an argument…or anything.

No argument from me. Hank stood, picked up her sandals and dusted off the sand before she dropped them and slid her feet into the flip-flops. I think I hear my mom calling me.

Wait! Fifteen year old Ishi Hunter jumped to his feet so fast the aluminum folding chair fell backwards. We’re the only kids at this campground so can’t we sort of you know…can’t we like…be friends while we stay here.

I can’t decide who my friends are in just five minutes. Hank placed her hands on her hips and frowned. Who cares about making friends here anyway?

I care. Deshi spoke softly without looking up.

How old are you anyway? Hank leaned toward him. You…I think you’re just a baby!

Hey, Ishi pleaded, can’t we be nice here!

I’m eleven…almost. Actually, ten and a half. I’m just small for my age. Deshi stood then and looked up at Hank and Ishi who both towered above him. He swallowed nervously and continued bravely, I’d like to be friends and to answer your question, Ishi, my name is spelled ‘D E S H I’ and means ‘pupil, apprentice or disciple’ in the Japanese Kanji language. One of my Dads is Japanese. My other Dad is British. Tell us about your name, Ishi.

My Mom and Dad named me Ishi, spelled ‘I S H I’ and it comes from the Native American Yana Language meaning ‘man’ as in Ishi, the last of his tribe, who was starving and came out of hiding in the California hills in 1911. Ishi looked questionably from Deshi to Hank, Have you heard the story?

Wow, I’d sure like to hear more! Deshi finally managed to say.

Oh, I probably read about it somewhere… Hank shrugged noncommittally, feigning indifference, squinting as she stared at the lake.

Is your Mom really calling you? Ishi turned to Hank not wanting to show his disappointment by her nonchalance.

No, I made that up.

You lied, Deshi corrected.

I lied, Hank agreed as she shrugged and looked away.

Well then, Ishi spoke authoritatively after clearing his throat, How about we sit back down for a while? Look, the sun is going down. He leaned down and righted the lawn chair so he could sit in it.

The girl sat back down on the wooden bench and Deshi sat down cross-legged in the sand and all three stared westward toward Lake Michigan without speaking again for a couple of minutes. They are staying at a small privately owned campground near Muskegon, Michigan and only just met that afternoon. It is early August and like Michigan’s schools, their own schools will resume the day after Labor Day. Though none of these three new friends-to-be spoke of it, the end of summer and start of school was on their minds as they watched the sunset colors brighten over the lake.

This summer, Hank Wills is in Michigan with Anna, her single mother who is an attorney at a large legal firm in Chicago. The African heritage is very prominent in Hank’s dark hair and caramel complexion but her blue-grey eyes undoubtedly come from her European heritage. At fourteen, Hank already stands five feet ten and even though still playing on the second string basketball team at school last year she is showing promises of being a star player. Although Hank loves reading and playing tennis, her most favorite fantasy in the world is being a ballet dancer. A few years ago she realized it was an impossible dream because she had never had dance lessons of any kind and everyone knows ballet lessons should be started no later than five or six years old. Hank tends to show a public side of being confident and smart but the secret she keeps from everyone is her feeling of low self-esteem. She had tried to talk to the school counselor about it but was unable to express her feelings so she approached each day’s activities as if she were an actor on a stage. When her mother suggested going on a camping trip, Hank immediately rejected it and they quarreled half the night. Then after a sleepless night of anger and tears for both of them, they finally compromised and made travel arrangements. Hank had always seen Lake Michigan from the Chicago side so although she hated to admit it, this trip to Michigan was starting to look more interesting than she ever thought it could be. So she finally turned to look at Ishi and Deshi.

You know, I grew up in Chicago looking eastward at the sunrise over Lake Michigan. This is so cool to be able to look westward and see a sunset over the very same lake!

This is just so great! Deshi exclaimed enthusiastically.

Deshi Smythe-Mori lives in New York City. He has wavy brown hair and blue eyes. There are freckles across his nose and he wears glasses because he is slightly nearsighted with astigmatism. Deshi isn’t concerned about his looks but always manages to look clean and neat even after an entire day of activity. His parents are two men: Kenji (Ken) Mori, of Japanese descent from California, and Robert (Rob) Smythe (the ‘y’ is pronounced as ‘eye’), English born who became a United States citizen fifteen years ago. Ken and Rob adopted Deshi when he was two weeks old. Throughout the years Deshi never asked about his biological parents even after his two fathers told him about his adoption when he was five years old. They sat down with him the week before he started kindergarten and talked to him about everything including the reason he had two fathers instead of a father and a mother. The only confusion Deshi felt at the time was that he had never suspected their family life might be different from that of other kids. He wasn’t confused very long however because he sometimes gets teased at school. It is usually only the boys who call him names or say things about his so-called ‘strange’ family. His teachers are good to him and he likes them all, especially Miss Everett. The truth is he just plain loves to learn new things and school is the perfect place to learn. Deshi knows his grades are good and in fact much better than some other kids. He often gets called ‘teacher’s pet’ when the teacher isn’t around. It upsets him for a while but he has a way to put it out of his mind, usually by reading a book or doing research online. To this day he will be the first to admit his scholastic life isn’t easy but his family life is great. His parents are financially secure and have been able to provide a comfortable life for Deshi so he has every advantage a kid could ask for and he likes the apartment where they live. But sometimes he couldn’t care less if he didn’t have nice clothes or toys just as long as he had books and computers to keep his mind busy. Often at school the other kids try to convince him that his parents are ‘wealthy’ or ‘filthy rich’ with servants to do all the work and he wonders if it is true until he gets home and sees one Dad cooking and the other Dad doing the laundry. Two weeks ago they started planning for this camping trip. They wrote the names of twenty campgrounds from all around the United States and put the individual names in a basket and Ken held it over Deshi’s head so he had to stand on tip-toe and reach high enough to draw out the piece of paper, which read Muskegon, Michigan. Rob even asked him to make the airline reservations on the website. This evening, as he gazed across the water watching the western sky with the golden sun setting, he felt full of confidence and excitement.

I’m so glad we came to this campground! Deshi blurted out and then sighed with contentment as he gazed across the big lake, also gleaming golden from the setting sun.

Ishi just smiled as he sat beside Hank and Deshi. He probably felt as excited as Deshi but didn’t feel it was necessary to speak about it. He prides himself in being very serious and seldom blurts out words before thinking about it first. This campground was at the tail-end of a month-long vacation and he was tired but happy to have had his parents all to himself for a change. Ishi’s parents are Lise and Bill (William) Hunter, both employed as nurses at a hospital in Boston. He is very proud of his family and knows his parents work hard to provide a comfortable life for him and this vacation had been long overdue. Ishi doesn’t mind going to school but he is impatient with it all and just wants to be grown up. He knows his grades are mediocre but some of the classes are boring and he just wants to learn everything he can about technology so he can get a decent job in computer drafting or programming. Ishi has a secret feeling of pride when someone comments how much he resembles Bill Gates except his hair is darker and he doesn’t need to wear glasses. Sometimes he wishes he was taller, especially today because while they were standing a few moments before he realized he is about four inches shorter than Hank.

Yeah, I think we’ll have a good time here. Shall we get more acquainted? Ishi asked as they all stood up. He looked down at Deshi first and then with a little hesitation looked up at Hank as he continued, Deshi said he’s almost eleven. I’m fifteen. How old are you, Hank?

I just turned fourteen in June. What month is your birthday? Hank dropped her shoulders slightly as she glanced back at Ishi, wishing she didn’t seem to tower above him.

My birthday is the end of January. When’s your birthday, Deshi?

February Fourteenth! Deshi turned away hoping they wouldn’t tease him about being a Valentine Baby.

Hey, that’s Valentine’s…. Hank didn’t get the rest out because Ishi quickly interrupted.

Yeah, that’s cool. I wish I had a birthday on a special day like that. All I can say about mine, January 29th, is that it is the day Kansas became a state.

Mine is June 12th, nothing important happened on that day. Hank tried to cover up an awkward moment realizing she almost said something hurtful. She wanted to kick herself for always blurting out stupid things.

Oh, I don’t know, Deshi looked relieved as he gratefully glanced up at Ishi, We could probably find something important happened that day if we researched it but maybe the most important thing to happen on that day is your birthday, Hank! he exclaimed, shyly looking at the ground and smiling.

There was silence for several moments as the three city kids stood nervously staring out across the big lake as night sounds of crickets and frogs rose around them and the forest shadows darkened. It was almost like they really wanted to be friends but were afraid to be too friendly. Perhaps they already stepped over the line and were friendlier than anyone really wanted to be at this time. After all they were strangers until just a few moments ago. No one knew what to expect as they waited at this small campground so far away from their homes.

Seemingly, the three of them have ended up at this exact place, in this exact moment of time for different reasons but for each there appeared to be a general feeling of special serendipity, a mysterious reason for them to be together. It should have seemed simple enough because they were the only kids at this remote privately-owned campground in Michigan. Why then were they standing there lost in their own thoughts yet feeling a strange camaraderie about each other? Were they perhaps feeling a sense of mystery or even a foreboding of the strange events to come? Could they possibly know what lay ahead? The next three days would prove to be the catalyst to change their lives forever and lock them into long term friendships.

Deshi was thinking about how rewarding it was to have two older kids treating him like an equal. Ishi was wishing Hank could overlook the fact that he was not taller and Hank was hoping this would not be the most boring way to spend the last few weeks of summer without other girls to talk to in this remote nature spot. As evening arrived with its shadows, campers were beginning to light campfires and a dog was barking at one of the campsites. Hank turned away from the other two and was trying to think of some intelligent way to break the silence but Deshi spoke first.

So, what do you think we should do tomorrow?

Well, I’m sure my Mom has plans, Hank said quickly not sure if she wanted to sound too eager do anything at all with these two boys the following day.

I think we should just wait and see. Ishi feared Hank was going to say something to hurt the younger boy’s feelings but Deshi appeared unaffected by Hank’s indifference.

I think we should look for Bigfoot! Deshi beamed as the other two looked startled.

I have the perfect book on my laptop and I’ll read up on it tonight. See ya! Deshi waved as he ran toward the large camper nearby.

OMG! Hank sputtered and looked at Ishi in despair, What are we going to do?

It’s okay. Ishi said hesitantly, I think we should give him a chance. He’s a smart kid and it might be fun.

I can’t believe this! Hank turned toward the tent she and her mother set up that morning and waved her hand over her head as Ishi called after her.

See you tomorrow, Hank.

Probably, was her parting reply as she gave a second backward wave while walking away.

Ishi strolled toward his family’s tent kicking small stones until he reached the grassy area. He sighed realizing how wonderful the evening air smelled and was thankful his parents gave him this opportunity to enjoy the outdoors this summer. He welcomed nightfall and all the night sounds around him. Ishi realized this might be the last chance for him to get a vacation like this because he would be sixteen next year and knew he would have to start working during the summer in order to afford to pay for college. Even though he enjoyed interacting with his parents, Ishi was especially glad to find kids near his age here and he looked forward to the next few days with anticipation. Just before he reached the picnic table and fire pit near their tent, Ishi heard the cry of a night owl and without realizing what he was doing, he hooted right back making his Mom look up in surprise. They laughed together as his Dad came from the other direction carrying firewood.

What’s so funny, you two? Bill asked smiling.

Ishi is making owl sounds, Lise answered, making me jump.

Why so jumpy, Mom?

Well, one never knows what might roam these woods at night!

Don’t worry, Dear, Bill laughed, I’ll build a big fire to scare the creatures away!

Chapter 2

Bigfoot, who?

Daybreak and birdsong finds Deshi sitting on the bed in the over-the-cab part of the camper. His laptop is in front of him and the curtains are still drawn around him with just the one tiny light on above his head. Unable to access the internet, he searched alphabetically through his saved files and corresponding documents, quickly locating the one entitled Search for Bigfoot (also cross-indexed and filed under Sasquatch) which he had downloaded a few months ago. Grabbing a three-ring binder full of lined notebook paper he began to scribble down notes he could use later.

When he heard his Dad Ken banging pots and pans in the tiny kitchenette, Deshi flung back the curtain not realizing it might startle his father.

Good grief, Deshi, I nearly jumped out of my skin! I didn’t even know you were awake.

Sorry, Dad, but you were making quite a lot of noise first.

Touché! Ken bowed smiling up at his son. Do you want pancakes this morning?

Sounds great! I’m nearly finished here.

What are you doing so early?

Research… Deshi said hoping his Dad would take it to mean something mysterious and ask more questions but he was disappointed when there was no reply. So, after a few moments he turned back to his notes until he was satisfied he had enough information, reread what he had written, and closed the binder just when he heard his Dad Rob enter the camper.

The showers are nice, roomy and clean, water is hot, and I think we’ll enjoy this campground. Deshi’s other dad pulled the towel from his shoulder and flicked it playfully up at his son.

What’s the plan for the day? he asked as he sat down at the small table.

Well…I was sort of hoping to spend some time with a couple of new friends…you know, like go exploring or something. Deshi wanted to sound nonchalant and hoped he wasn’t expected to stay with the grownups.

That sounds all right but swimming is out today because there’s a ‘rip current’ warning posted at the clubhouse. Rob hesitated then turned back to the kitchen. I’d like to just relax on the beach, what have you planed, Ken?

Let’s just take it moment by moment and relax on the beach. But, first things first, now breakfast is served, and after we eat you can tell us about your new friends, Deshi.

Deshi climbed down from his bed and put the notebook on the table near the door then attacked the stack of pancakes like he hadn’t eaten for days. After the meal he helped with the cleanup, drying the dishes and stacking them on the counter so his dad could put them in the small overhead cupboard which Deshi couldn’t reach.

Will it be all right? I mean, going exploring with my friends.

Tell us about your friends first. Ken said seriously.

Well there is this kid, named Ishi…

Ishi? Rob looked surprised as he added, that’s a name sort of like yours.

"Yeah, he said it means man in one of the Native American languages. Then Deshi added, The other kid’s name is Hank."

Oh, well, that’s a good old fashioned boy’s name for sure. Rob laughed.

Uh, yeah, well…except…Hank is actually a girl. Deshi hesitated.

A girl! Both Dads spoke in unison.

That is quite interesting, Deshi, how old are these new friends? Ken spoke as he looked at Rob for reassurance, maybe we should meet these kids before we let you go wandering off, exploring.

Deshi supplied all the information he knew and although he felt like his parents were treating him like a baby, understood they had his best interests at heart. It didn’t seem like he was giving away too much about Ishi and Hank for his parents to be satisfied he wasn’t running around with outlaws.

At a few minutes before nine, the three of them left the camper and walked over to the campfire where Ishi sat drinking coffee and talking with his parents. It was obvious they hadn’t been up very long and were just finishing a breakfast of bacon and eggs. Ishi saw them approaching and stood up smiling.

Hi, Deshi, come meet my parents. Then Ishi continued, Mom, Dad, this is my friend Deshi and his parents.

Hello. I’m Rob, this is Ken, glad to meet you.

Ishi was just filling us in. It is nice to meet you and your parents, Deshi. I’m Bill Hunter and this is Lise, we’re from Boston. Bill smiled at Deshi then shook hands with the two men.

We live in New York City, Ken responded.

Would you like some coffee? Oh, and please sit down, Lise Hunter smiled, just pull up one of those logs there….

Thanks, Rob smiled back, noticing how much her son resembled