Circumvention

By Ron Mueller

Taelo looked across the valley at the misty cloud sparkling in the sunlight. His twin sons were playing in the compound with Lasher.

He and Golden Hawk spent many a night sitting in the warmth of their bathing area discussing what their next adventure would be. They had waited until the children were old enough to ride a mount an

• Language: English
• Publisher: Around the World Publishing LLC
• Release date: Nov 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781682232590

Ron Mueller

About the Author Ronald E. Mueller [e-mail] Ron grew up in what is now Flint River State Park in Southeast Iowa. The 170-year-old house Ron lived in is built into a hillside. It faces a 125-foot-high cliff towering over the little Flint River. The house and the land talked to him about; the passing of time, the struggle to conquer the land, the struggles people faced and the wonder of nature. He climbed the cliffs, crawled into the caves, dove from the swimming rock, collected clams from the bottom of the pond, gigged and skinned frogs for their legs. He trapped muskrats for fur, hunted raccoon in the dead of night, and with only a stick hunted rabbits in the dead of winter. His young life was outdoors, and nature tested him. He walked to a one room stone schoolhouse uphill both ways. A stern but warm-hearted teacher, Mrs. Henry was instrumental in shaping his character as she shepherded him from the fourth to the eighth grade. A Montessori before its time. It was a great way to grow up. His experiences inter-twined with snippets of fantasy lend themselves to the adventures he leads the reader through.

Book preview

1

A team of Veterans

The journey south to the Condor Clan was now a distant memory. The return had been blessed with both Quiet Rabbit and Busy Bee finding out that they were with child. They both gave birth on the same day. His mother reminded Taelo that he and Golden Hawk had both been born on the same day. The difference was that Quiet Rabbit had twin boys and Busy Bee had a daughter.

Taelo and Golden Hawk were both amazed at the change in their daily lives. Sleeping all night became a luxury. But they were both overjoyed.

Quiet Rabbit and Busy Bee recovered quickly and were both radiant and cuddling their children.

Taelo and Golden Hawk decided that when the children were old enough to ride a mount and travel on a long journey they would consider their next travel adventure.

They chose instead to leverage their privilege as Golden Feather warriors and the fact they were members of all the Elk sub clans. They set up residence in each of the subclan camps and stayed at them for about a moon cycle each. This satisfied their wander lust and they contributed evenly to the wellbeing of the entire Elk Clan. They taught their hunting techniques, the use of weapons and how to develop people. Their help was readily accepted and sought by all the sub-clans.

Both Quiet Rabbit and Busy Bee commented that they too enjoyed the change from sub-clan to sub-clan because it gave them a chance to contribute their skills and to develop the young women to be hunters.

Taelo created a pouch that would carry the twins. The pouch fit over the front shoulders of the mount with a pocket on each side. This provided a safe and convenient way to carry the twins.

Busy Bee used the second pouch to put food that could be use as they rode along on the mount.

Burley Bear gave his hearty laugh and commented that Taelo had solved a problem in a unique and very practical manner.

Taelo and Golden Hawk were thinking ahead to a much longer journey. They had specifically selected the mounts that would be the ones that each of the three children would ride. The mounts were young and were gentle. Once the three children could ride and control their mounts the planned journey could begin.

Burley Bear, Saber Scar and Sharp Blade followed suit and selected mounts for their young as well.

After the seasonal gathering of all the clans, Taelo and Golden Hawk followed Feather-in-the-Wind and Running Stag who had their daughter in one of the pouches that she had received as a gift.

The demonstrated ease and comfort of how the young children were carried impressed every member of the Paradise Clan.

They stayed in at the Paradise Clan site for a full moon. During this time Taelo shared the journey that he planned to undertake. Feather-in-the-Wind immediately said that she wanted to be with the team on that journey.

Quiet Rabbit agreed that when their children were seasoned mount riders they would all travel together.

The cycle of a moon stay at each sub-clan ended at the Northern Elk Clan as the cold weather closed in. The youngsters were now five seasons of age. They had bonded with their mounts. Riding seemed to come naturally to them.

Taelo declared that their new journey would begin in late winter.

He was immediately inundated with volunteers wanting to be a part of the journey.

He, Quiet Rabbit, Golden Hawk and Busy Bee decided they needed a set of criteria to use to determine who would be part of the team that would be on the journey.

They easily agreed to having Floating Cloud, her mate Whistling Arrow, Lily and her mate, Slow Walker, designated as cooks and camp managers. These four ensured that the team would have great meals and camp security if the team needed to be out hunting.

Deer Chaser a young warrior that had been part of the rescued White Bear Clan was accepted as a hunter. His longtime friend White Bear reluctantly declined the position of hunter and explained that his mate was pregnant.

Long Leaper, now mated to Bashful Lark who was the person that had saved Taelo on their last journey, was overjoyed to be selected as the second hunter.

Taelo knew that Broken Spear the seer of the Others would request the participation of some of the Others. He decided that he would accept all of Broken Spear’s suggested members. He hoped that the ancients had not sent Broken Spear a message of any major conflict. On his last journey he had wanted Taelo to include a small army of Others.

When the word spread out among the various sub-clans about Taelo’s upcoming journey, another round of volunteers surfaced.

Taelo was pleased to see that Talking Wren and Little Otter did not ask but let him know that they were going to journey with him, and they would supply enough meat to take the team to the Eastern Sea.

Talking Wren joked that she would let him kill a giant shark to feed them for the next part of the journey. She reminded him of the long leap he had made from the cliff to save Golden Hawk from a shark that was more than three spears in length.

Taelo made the visit to confer with Broken Spear by himself. He wanted to spend as much time with his mentor to discuss the theory that the world was like the rough round granite stone that had become the object that he used to explain how he envisioned the journey.

He was certain enough about his supposition that he was going to take his children with him. This worried him but he felt certain he was correct and that the only danger was that of the environment and the land they would travel through.

As always his greeting by the Others was overwhelming and there was a dinner and an evening session of storytelling that he and Burley Bear led. Burley Bear was an excellent storyteller and always had everyone slapping the ground in appreciation.

Taelo knew he was outclassed by Burley Bear’s storytelling talent so he told stories that would engage the audience in a very different way.

For that evening’s storytelling, he chose to explain the next journey that he was going to take. When he held up his stone and pointed to a black spot that he called the Cave of the Others and then ran his fingers around the stone and returned to the black spot he heard the hooting and ground slapping that far exceeded what Burley Bear had received for his story telling.

He smiled and took his bow and sat down next to Burley Bear.

Burley Bear looked at him and in the smile that always made Taelo think of an attacking bear he complimented him on telling a story that would never have entered his own mind.

The next morning as Taelo sat with Broken Spear and explained his upcoming journey, Burley Bear looked at him again and in a serious tone apologized for having made fun of the story previous evening. He had thought it had been a story.

Taelo smile and put his hand on Burley Bear’s shoulder and pointed to Broken Spear and commented that if Broken Spear laughed at the journey then that would be all it would be.

Broken Spear looked at Taelo and said that he had selected the people that would go on the journey with him. The ancients have said that you should travel toward the rising sun until you return to where you started.

Broken Spear said that it was hard for him to accept such a thing since the world seemed flat to him.

He commented that Taelo seemed to sense that there was a bend represented by the horizon that made this world like the round stone he held.

Broken Spear then gave a signal and his choice walked to where he sat.

Taelo stood and greeted Saber Scar and Marigold, Sharp Blade and Single Leaf.

He looked at Burley Bear and knew that his best friend, now the leader of the Others would not be going.

He was surprised when Broken Spear called out Burley Bear’s and Meadow Flower’s names and said that the ancients had identified them as members of the trip.

Taelo was stunned.

The look on Burley Bear’s face reflected the same look as Taelo. Meadow Flower’s smile and laughter was a pleasure to see and hear.

The team had grown in size and added three more children to the journey.

Burley Bear gained his composure and stood and pointed to the other side of the cave area. He said that the travois and sled combinations had been refurbished and were as good as new. The lodge hide was new and not as heavy as the last one. He said that each sled was lighter and not as heavy in build so they could be pulled by six wolves each instead of eight.

Taelo thanked Burley Bear and set a date for the Others to come to the Northern Elk Clan village to prepare for the journey.

He met again with Broken Spear and learned that the wolves would go until the snow gave way near the mighty river and the mounts would go to the sea, but would they were not to make the journey across the sea.

Taelo was to build large, long rafts that would have a cross pole that had dry wood attached at each end so the rafts would remain stable in the waves.

Taelo listened carefully and began to imaging what such a raft would be. He would share this with Golden Hawk to see what they could come up with.

Taelo asked if the ancients had indicated how long the journey might take. Broken Spear replied that it would be short enough for Taelo to return before he, Broken Spear became an ancient.

Taelo smiled and said that meant that it would be a long journey since he was sure that Broken Spear had a long time to wait to become an ancient.

Taelo put his forehead on Broken Spear’s and told him that he would make sure to be present before his mentor became an ancient.

He thanked him for letting him know that his journey would be one of adventure and of success.

He talked with Burley Bear, and they agreed that in one moon cycle, Burley Bear and the rest would arrive at the Northern Elk Clan valley.

2

Journey’s Preparation

The mist from the waterfall descended from its tremendous height and was turned into fine snowflakes that sparkled in the early morning sunlight. It was the middle of the winter.

Taelo stood at the compound wall. He was thinking through his journey and the beauty of the distant waterfall, and the cloud of mist that seemed to augment his thoughts.

He felt a light touch on his arm and reflexively put his arm around Quiet Rabbit. They had agreed that the journey would begin in the next few sun cycles.

The planning was complete. The children were now excellent riders. Probably better than their parents.

The supplies had been accumulated and had been organized.

Burly Bear had delivered the sleds and helped to organize each sled.

The sleds and the wolves that pulled them would all be returned to at the Paradise Clan after the team had reached the mighty river. The journey from there would be on mounts and travois. The mounts would only go as far as the sea.

Feather-in-the-Wind had sent word that three of her clan would bring the sleds back to Paradise and three would accompany them to the sea and would return to paradise valley with the mounts.

White Swan wished them well and supplied them with all the salt that would be needed for at least three seasons.

Grey Fox Running had made them special spear heads from the giant shark teeth.

Golden Hawk and Busy Bee had spent the last moon cycle with their parents in the Valley of plenty and planned to accompany Little Otter and Talking Wren back to the Northern Elk Clan valley.

The Others would come up with them at the same time.

It was all coming together.

Taelo was focused on making sure that nothing was overlooked. The trip to the far sea had been made once before and he was clear on how that would be done.

He and Golden Hawk had talked through, and they had discussed how the rafts would be made.

He knew that the children would affect the pace of the journey and had discussed this with Quiet Rabbit, Busy Bee, and his mother.

His mother suggested that the team travel more slowly than in the past and spend time showing the children the wonders of the world around them.

Taelo asked her if the team could once again launch the journey from the ancient cave at the top of the falls. The drawings on the walls of each of the teams adventures had been drawn up by Quite Rabbit and Busy Bee. He wanted to have the team recall the highlights that stood out in their minds about those journeys.

He wanted them to remember that they had succeeded on each journey because they worked together as a team and had acted to ensure that all were safe.

White Swan gave him a hug and reminded him that he and Golden Hawk were the finders of the cave. They had linked the Northern Elk Clan members to a past that had become legend and that they had proved the stories of their grandparents had been the true history of the original Elk clan.

Taelo thanked her and asked that those stories be told again, and new ones would be added by his team members. It would put the team on common ground and inspire them.

Quiet Rabbit made the point that their children would be listening to their grandparents telling the stories for the first time. It would be a moment when the family bond would be reaffirmed.

Taelo agreed and commented that on their return perhaps the children could augment the drawings with what they had been a part of during the upcoming journey. They could participate in putting the next story on the wall.

Down the coast in the Valley of Plenty, Golden Hawk gave his mother, Quiet Pheasant a hug. She wished him a safe journey and to bring her granddaughter, Yellow Flower, safely back to her.

Red Oak presented him with the shark spear heads. He gave the same admonition to bring Yellow Flower back in full bloom.

Golden Hawk walked to his mount that like the other four mounts that would be leaving the Valley of Plenty would be pulling travois loaded with as much buffalo meat as could be pulled.

He watched as Little Otter and Talking Wren were going through the same departure process with their parents.

Little Otter was in the lead as they headed out of the valley. Talking Wren was second. Golden Flower was third and Busy Bee was behind her.

Golden Hawk was last. He held up his spear with the golden feather and waved it as they left.

He wondered how many moons would pass before he once again put his eyes on the Valley of Plenty.

The sea was trying to make the journey to the Cave of the Others as miserable as possible. The waves were crashing onto the beach