When They Call: The First in the Tribes Series

By J.L Calhoun

In Nancy’s youth she and her husband Hank had run away from their small town in Kentucky. It was an attempt to forget their small town roots and Nancy’s native american heritage. The two went to college to earn their degrees; Nancy studied research biology and Hank engineering. Both were very successful in their careers but eventually they both decided that being surrounded by family and the small-town lifestyle would be the perfect place to continue raising their children.
While Hank’s job as an engineer is in high demand, Nancy had to give up her career so they could make the move back home. They thought they would be in a country paradise, but were soon faced with strange events that began plaguing their homestead. It began with finding rocks on the roof of their home, strange formations in their yard and not being able to plant any vegetation around their yard are the beginning peculiar and odd signs of a unknown presence that Nancy began using her expertise to try and explain. The more Nancy concentrates on the evidence the more she realizes that this is something that will reconnect her to her Native American roots. She soon finds that this presence is dangerous to her children, family and maybe even her small town. She soon finds herself in a struggle to understand whats going on and a fight to survive against this unknown force.
The deeper she studies into this the more she realizes that she needs the help of a local tribesman named Hopi to help her discover this strange world. She discovers that what she once thought were old wise tales told by her grandmother were in fact warnings that Nancy had brushed off, but now they turn from myth to reality to her and her family. Creatures who would learn the names of their victims, and mimic those they love to cal them into unsuspecting traps.
Nancy’s family learns how to live their lives around the both strange and unpredictable nature of this presence, until they suffer a great loss. Hank and Nancy’s friends and family rally around them, but can’t allow them to be honest of what they are experiencing Hank finds himself with only one loyal friend named Tyler who knows what Hank and Nancy are experiencing, but at a more personal cost; He lost a child to similar events.
After suffering a unforgivable loss, Hank and Tyler ready themselves to launch a attack on this malicious entity only to see how dark and sinister the nature of these natives. The pair suffer a loss that sends them to the emergency room of the small town, due to the nature of the loss they are forced to make up a story just to get their wounds mended, Hank returns home to find that there is actually more than one force at work. A show down takes place at the core of the strange occurrences, Nancy and hanks home. It becomes evident that what they are dealing with are in fact two very different tribes; one seeking blood and dominance and the other seeking to be left in hidden solitude. What will come in the strange new world of languages intrigue and culture that has been laid at Nancy’s doorstep?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781796072419

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by J.L Calhoun.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2019919361

ISBN:                Hardcover              978-1-7960-7492-5

                          Softcover                978-1-7960-7242-6

                          eBook                     978-1-7960-7241-9

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. 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.

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: 12/06/2019

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

CHAPTER 1

N ANCY STOOD AND reflected on her past. In her mind, she went back to the days of sitting at her grandmother’s feet, listening to stories of their tribe. She hung on every single word; her grandmother had been part of an Indian tribe in the area and spoke with such charge and passion about the things that were important to her tribe that it was always hard for Nancy to not give her full attention. Her stories were about life in the tribe, and she also spoke about spirits. In her stories, she barked warnings about creatures of the spirit world. She told Nancy that they would mimic the sounds of loved ones and the sounds of other animals, and they preyed on children. There was one thing she cautioned Nancy to never do, which was answer them when they called.

Nancy giggled to herself thinking about those times long ago as she placed items on shelves in her family’s new home. When Nancy and her husband, Hank, graduated from college, they moved to the Pacific coast of Washington State. Hank started his career in engineering, and Nancy continued her study of biology. She was accepted into a program at Washington State University and went on to get a PhD in the study of large primates. After obtaining the PhD, she soon found herself at the Seattle zoo working with the primates there. She gained access to an apprenticeship program for veterinary studies when she found out she was pregnant with her first child, Anna. She initially dropped out of the program only to pick it back up later when Anna was older.

Nancy was close to finishing when she found out she was pregnant with her second child, Heath. She finished up the program and went on to become a practicing veterinarian. Her colleagues at the zoo had nicknamed her Dr. Goodall because of the affectionate side she had shown the large silverbacks and orangutans she took care of at the zoo. Through all of Nancy’s successes in the field, one of the things she never attributed to that success was her Native American background though she looked the part with her complexion and the few trinkets scattered around her office that gave insight into her heritage. It was something that she never mentioned; she never talked about it and honestly didn’t seem to have an interest in it at all.

But as time passed, things became increasingly hard on Nancy and Hank’s small family. Living with no support system on the West Coast proved to be very hard as they were now raising children. They longed to be around family and wanted their children to know their grandparents. So the decision was made for them to move back to southeastern Kentucky, where their family lived.

The home they moved into was one with large cedar siding, and it had a walkout basement. All of the bedrooms and the living room were located on the main floor except for a spare bedroom in the basement. There was a kitchen, living room, dining room, and a large sunroom that overlooked Harper Lake. The basement of the home was finished with another large room for the family to relax in as well as a two-car garage. It was a short walk from the yard down to the lake’s shoreline. On the other side of the house sat nothing but forests and hilly woodland. The sunroom was Nancy’s favorite part of the house because it was on the side that looked straight into the woods. They had already bought beautiful wicker furniture to set out in the room, so Nancy could sit and admire the view for hours at a time.

Along with the peaceful admiration Nancy had gained of their new homestead, there also came plenty of room for the two kids. Her son and daughter were exact opposites. Anna was drawing away from the family as is usual for teenagers at that age. She resembled her dad, with sandy blonde hair and greenish blue eyes. She was upset about the move at first but seemed to be acclimating through some summer programs. She played soccer and even joined a nature club that the local community college offered for young teens. Meanwhile, Heath was only four years old, with amber skin and brown hair and eyes to match. He had clearly taken to Nancy’s side of the family, and if his adorable looks did not draw you in, his wild imagination would. He’d have you captivated for hours. The move had been hard on him, but he was excited about the new house. After all, within the few weeks they had been back to Kentucky, Nancy’s parents quickly made it easy on him through all of their doting.

The house was set in a secluded part of the forest, surrounded by hills on one side while the lake acted as a barrier on the other. There was no one around; the closest neighbor was two miles away. If Nancy needed to go to a grocery store, she would have at least a twenty-minute drive into town on her hands. But on the bright side, their children would be raised in a secluded environment where Hank and Nancy could get in touch with nature.

The first order of business in their new home was tending to the chimney that needed to be inspected. Nancy called a local chimney inspector and had to convince him to come out the same day so the family could enjoy their first night in their new home by curling up by a roaring fire.

Hank was currently at work as Nancy remained at home. Nancy didn’t go peacefully from her career; she loved working with animals. When they first moved back, Hank even made the suggestion to Nancy that she should spend some time helping the local animal shelter, or maybe the town’s veterinarian, who was one of Nancy’s friends from high school, might be looking for a partner. Nancy wouldn’t have any of that though. She felt it would take away precious time that she wanted to spend with her children, so she decided she would be a housewife, and she was getting used to it.

She was currently unpacking and putting things away. She decided to stop long enough to take Heath outside to play in the new yard. As she sat on the porch admiring the sunshine of the end of summer haze, she noticed something about the landscaping of the house. There wasn’t any greenery—no bushes, flowers, or trees in the yard other than those leading up to the forest line. The small clearing that made up their little piece of heaven was only marked by the home itself and a small building that sat close to the shoreline where Hank stored a boat and some fishing equipment. Nancy grew excited, thinking of roses and other possible vegetation she could plant to beautify their homestead. They would be the envy of anyone on the lake passing by.

As she sat pondering the realm of possibilities, she saw the chimney inspector break through the tree line and make his way up the long gravel driveway to the house. As he got out of his truck, he walked up to the porch to meet Nancy.

Did you call for an inspection, ma’am? he asked, holding a long pole in one hand and his phone in the other. It dangled a cord leading up to earbuds that he promptly yanked out to hear her response.

Yes, I did, Nancy replied.

She explained that he would probably need to access the roof from the sunroom porch because it was the easiest place to set a ladder against the house, and it would give him access to the chimney. The young man loped back to his truck to get the ladder, and within a few minutes, he was making his way up the side of the roof.

You’re part of the Anderson family, right? the young man said, trying to grow a connection with Nancy since it was such a small town.

Yes, I am. My grandmother died a few years back. She was one of the last members of her tribe. Nancy sighed.

It was easy to see from her dark complexion and slender build which race she likely belonged to. She often dressed in colorful Indian dresses and other tribal attire because that was what her grandmother had instilled in her.

The young man made his way up onto the roof of the sunroom of Nancy’s home, stepping off the ladder and walking around with a perplexed look on his face. Nancy was busy explaining her Indian heritage when she noticed his change in demeanor.

Um … What’s wrong? she asked.

The boy looked down. Oh, nothing really. There’s just a lot of rocks up here.

Nancy paused. You mean, like, from the driveway?

The boy scratched his head and answered back, I’m not really sure. They’re all shapes and sizes.

The boy was standing still among the mess and shrugged his shoulders. He proceeded to make his way to the chimney, using the pole for inspection.

Nancy looked around, gazing at the woods in the background. Then her eyes focused on Heath: he was making his way to the lake at breakneck speed. Nancy took off in a sprint toward him, calling his name. He was laughing, and he slowed his pace so Nancy could catch him. Nancy grabbed him and scolded him.

After the chimney sweep had left and Nancy had had a long talk with Heath about lake safety, she decided to run to the town grocery store to pick up things for dinner in their new home. She loaded Heath up in the family’s Suburban, and after a short argument with Anna, the decision was made that she could stay home to relax there while Nancy did some quick grocery shopping.

Nancy entered the slow automatic doors of the small local grocery store with Heath restrained in the grocery cart. They wondered aimlessly around the market carefully looking for things that would make for the perfect family dinner.

As she trolled up and down the aisles, she suddenly was startled when a voice called her name. She stopped and heard it again and turned around to see her friend Kelly, the town veterinarian. Nancy at first felt somewhat bewildered and embarrassed. The last time she had seen Kelly was at the last high school reunion. Nancy was able to outweigh Kelly’s accomplishments with her own research on some of the most bizarre animals on the face of the earth. Kelly could not trump those experiences even though she had found extreme success by being the only vet in the area. But Nancy was now humbled since she was just a housewife now and Kelly seemed to have the upper hand on bragging rights.

Kelly didn’t seem to pull her success card though but instead made Nancy feel very much at home. Kelly and Nancy chatted back and forth, and then Kelly finally opened up to Nancy about getting ready to open a second shop in a neighboring town. She explained to Nancy that she was excited for her to be back and offered her to work at her vet business two days a week to cover the time she would be opening up her new clinic.

Nancy began to squirm and resist, but after some friendly coaxing, she agreed to help at the clinic two days a week. She concluded that it would be a great way to get out of the house.

Later that day, Nancy was starting to prepare dinner when Hank pulled in from work. This was the most exciting part of Heath’s day, seeing Daddy come home. As he ran to greet his dad at the truck, Hank swept him up, throwing him over his shoulders, and began their daily conversation.

What have you been doing all day?

Both Hank and Heath rattled on about things that had gone on in their lives in the past eight hours. One of the most pertinent questions that Heath had for Hank was a simple one. Dad, you said that we could go fishing on the first day in our new house, so can we go fish?

Hank barked out laughing. You sure don’t forget anything, do ya, buddy?

Hank, tired from work, went inside to change clothes. After he was done, he went to greet the rest of the family, walking through the house to greet Nancy at the kitchen counter where she was chopping salad for dinner. How was your day, beautiful?

Nancy blushed. It’s been uneventful other than the chimney inspector finding a bunch of rocks on the roof.

Hank’s facial expression twisted in confusion.

Nancy continued, I don’t have a clue where they came from, Hank. He threw a few of them down so I could see them. They don’t look like they came from the driveway, and some of them are not even rocks—they’re just wadded-up clumps of clay.

Hank shrugged his shoulders and responded, Maybe somebody thought the house was going to float away, and they had to figure out a way to hold it down. Oh well. I’m going to take that boy fishing for a little while, and then we can eat.

Nancy held up her knife, pointing it at him. Well, you better be on the catch-and-release program because I had to drive twenty minutes to get those steaks, and you said earlier when you called that this is what you wanted for dinner.

Hank held up his hands in defense. Hold on there, little lady. The boy is the one wanting to go fishing. I’ll take him down there a little bit, let him have some fun, and then we’ll eat and maybe watch a movie by the fire.

Nancy nodded and smiled.

Hank walked back through the house, searching from room to room trying to find Anna. Walking down the hallway, he reached her open bedroom door, and there she was, lying on her bed engulfed in her phone.

There you are! he shouted as he entered, sitting down on her bed.

Meanwhile, she lay there mesmerized by the glow of her device, surfing through Facebook and other social media venues.

Hank started pelting her with questions. I haven’t heard from you all day, so how’s life?

Anna put the phone down momentarily so her father could see her face. Life’s not bad.

You wanna go fishing with me and your brother?

Not really. I’m busy with the usual today. You know, constantly liking things that random people post and making endless Snapchats with bunny ears and so forth.

Hank rose from the bed to exit the room. As you wish. He saluted her as he went out the door, shaking his head.

Hank and Heath didn’t spend much time by the lake, only casting maybe three or four times before returning to the house where Hank played with his son when he wasn’t attending to the bigger business of putting the steaks on the grill. Medium rare—that’s how his family liked their steaks, so it didn’t take long to put them on and take them off the grill. Dinner was simple but excellent: salad, baked potatoes, and of course, the steaks. Nancy had fixed her signature death-by-chocolate casserole for dessert, but none of that combined could not trump the wonderful time they got to spend together as a family. Since they had moved to Washington, they had been living with Hank’s mom and dad, so this was their first chance to sit down with each other. They laughed as they simply enjoyed having each other there.

Even Anna seemed pleased to be with her family. She was following the rule of no phones at the table and actually seemed to take joy in the fact that she was able to cut up Heath’s meat for him. Nancy always thought Hank warranted that though. He was the type of person that everyone wanted to be around; he always made things feel just right.

Hank sat at the table, looking around the room. Hey, babe, did they come hook up the Internet and cable today?

Nancy couldn’t speak, having her mouth full of steak, but she nodded. Hank leaned toward Anna and Heath, who were sitting at opposite ends of the table, and he whispered, Well, you know what that means, don’t ya, kids?

The children looked at each other and smiled. I bet that means we’re having a family movie night, and there’s nothing we can do about it? Anna said as she smiled in excitement.

She was finally starting to connect more with Hank and Heath, and the summer camp she was doing at the community college was helping her connect with Nancy because of her love for nature and animals. Hank gave Anna a thumbs-up and laid out his plan for the rest of the evening.

Hank found some firewood on the side of the shed that was closer to the lake. He carried one at a time until he had moved the entire bundle to the porch. He commented to Nancy that it was strange that the previous owners would not just keep it up there by the house. Nonetheless, it was moved, and he was already building a great fire in the family room for their first night in.

Even though the summer heat of August days was hard to bear, the nights were cold, and the fire was an excellent addition to family movie night. Nancy had worked hard to make it feel like home. The movers