Mystic Shadows

By Dan G. White

A mysterious tribe, a forbidden romance, and a surrendered child who struggles to survive in modern day society

The Shadow People have had no contact with the outside world for hundreds of years and they wish to keep it that way.

If one leaves the tribe he or she is not allowed to return. Blue Flower,

• Language: English
• Publisher: May Fly Press
• Release date: Jun 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986377513

Dan G. White

Dan White lives in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with his wife, Marilyn, and their dog, Curly. A lifelong Idaho resident, Dan enjoys a variety of outdoor activities including golf, fly fishing and cruising in his 1965 Century Resorter wooden boat. Dan earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Idaho and recently completed course work with Yale, Stanford and Michigan State Universities. Mr. White concluded his career in Transportation Management in 2020 which has afforded him the time to write.

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Mystic Shadows

Copyright © 2022 by Dan G. White

Cover Image © 2022 by Wynn White

All rights reserved. No part of this book may

be reproduced by any means without permission.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. And while certain historical events are mentioned, some facts have been changed and the characters involved are wholly imaginary.

Paperback ISBN-13 979-8-9863775-0-6

Ebook ISBN-13: 979-8-9863775-1-3

First May Fly Press Edition • June 2022

May Fly Press

Coeur d’ Alene, ID

This work is dedicated to my mother,

Mary Ellen White,

who inspired me to write.

Table of Contents

2020 Prologue

PART ONE

Chapter 1

SHADOW PEOPLE, the MAH-HIM-E-NA

Chapter 2

THE CHIEF’S DAUGHTER, 2001

Chapter 3

A DIFFERENT WORLD

Chapter 4

DECISIONS

Chapter 5

THE BIRTH OF BEN TALLCHIEF (Red Wolf)

Chapter 6

BLUE FLOWER’S RETURN

Chapter 7

A HOMECOMING PARTY

Chapter 8

THE TEST

Chapter 9

BEN TALLCHIEF, EARLY YEARS

Chapter 10

THE EDUCATION OF BEN TALLCHIEF

Chapter 11

A CYCLE OF BAD LUCK

Chapter 12

IMPROVEMENT

Chapter 13

ROAD TRIP

Chapter 14

CONNER QUINN

Chapter 15

San Diego

Chapter 16

BEN AND FLORA

Chapter 17

RETRIBUTION

Chapter 18

SHADOW REVENGE

Chapter 19

2019

PART TWO

Chapter 20

THE STONES, 2021

Chapter 21

The VISIT, 2020

Chapter 22

UNWELCOME VISITOR

Chapter 23

THE MEETING OF DELIVERANCE, 2020

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

About the Author

2020 Prologue

Call it buyer’s remorse. May Stone, her first time alone in their new home, felt ill at ease. She sensed a presence around her but couldn’t see or hear anyone; she had that uncomfortable feeling that someone or something was there with her. She shuddered as a chill ran through her body. May gripped the edge of the kitchen counter. She heard a high-pitched whine but couldn’t pinpoint the source and thought to herself, What’s happening here? I can’t be imagining this. Maybe the great buy we got on this property, wasn’t as good as we thought.

Then, to add to her anxiety, she heard shuffling noises coming from one of the guest rooms. As she approached the room, the door slammed shut. Was her husband, Glen, trying to be funny? Tiptoeing to the door, she gently turned the handle while asking loudly, Glen, are you in here?

No reply.

May steeled herself and swung the door open. A horrible odor emanated from the vacant room – the same awful odor they had smelled earlier around the pool. May moved to the window and opened it to air out the room. While she was turned away from the door, she felt something ice cold and wet touch her shoulder. Her blood froze. She was out of the room and out the front door in an instant and didn’t look back. Glen was due home any minute. She would wait outside for him. With a tremble in her voice and daubing a bloody nose, May reported her hair-raising experience as soon as Glen pulled in.

What happened to your nose, Honey?

I’m not sure, but it has something to do with whatever was in the house with me.

Stay out here while I search the house, he told her. Ten minutes later, he found May slumped in a lawn chair and still trembling.

Keeping his voice low and reaching for her hand to calm her, he said, I only found one weird thing – wet spots on the floor in the living room and the bedroom. No odor, no strange noises. Nothing else. Someone or something made those puddles and that’s weird enough to scare the hell out of anyone, but we’ll get this figured out.

As Glen went to his car to grab his briefcase, they heard a loud splash in the pool area. Was someone swimming in their pool? Cautiously he worked his way toward the back of the house and peeked over the fence. He slowly opened the gate, moved to the pool apron, and peered over the edge. The water’s surface was disturbed but there was nothing in the pool. Then, from the corner of his eye, he thought he caught sight of something lying in the deep end. When he slowly turned his head, whatever he saw was gone. If it was really there, he thought.

May crept up behind him and asked, What’s in the water, Glen?

Nothing, he answered, shoulders and palms up.

May didn’t buy it. If he didn’t see anything, why is he white as a ghost? she thought. Someone or something was living with the Stones in their new home and it would like to see them leave. May thought back to when they decided to move to Idaho – that happy day when Glen bounced into their kitchen in California with the great news about his new job. They hadn’t anticipated this kind of welcome in their new home or ever expected to have a guest so soon, especially some kind of uninvited and unwelcome spirit.

*

PART ONE

Chapter 1

SHADOW PEOPLE, the MAH-HIM-E-NA

Hiking the mountains of North Idaho is an opportunity to reflect with no outside voices to steer your thoughts. If you need alone time, this is the place to find it. In May of 1999, a young hiker in the Laverne Saddle area of Coeur d’Alene National Forest saw what he thought to be a Native American man wearing traditional native clothing – seemingly dressed for some sort of ceremony or re-creation. The man wore a knee length leather tunic. It looked like he had a purple emblem, maybe stitched in beads, on the front of the tunic. He also wore a horned headdress. The image blended so well with the surroundings that it was difficult to see him clearly and, in a matter of seconds, the image faded and disappeared. Because it was so unusual, the hiker reported the incident to the Coeur d’Alene River District Ranger Office in Fernan, Idaho. His report landed on the desk of Ellen Lori.

Dr. Ellen Lori, District Ranger, was reading reports and correspondence in her pea green government office crammed with plain black metal frame furniture and file cabinets to match her drab surroundings. She’d stapled a couple of Forest Service issue posters to the walls (a wild flower identification chart and another of Smokey the Bear wearing a bright yellow hard hat) to bring some color into the room. On the credenza behind her desk, she displayed her gold framed doctorate diploma in forest management from North Carolina State University. She was the most attractive thing in her office – only 24 years old with an athletic figure and pretty freckled face.

She wore jeans and White brand steel-toed logging boots. Her Forest Service shirt was starched and pressed. She once joked with her team mates, Working with the Forest Service is my dream job. My dad thinks forest service green compliments my auburn hair, and I agree. The staff at the station liked and respected her because she allowed employees the flexibility to do their job and assume some personal responsibility to make decisions. They felt that she had their backs. But the crew also learned quickly not to try to bullshit her. She was bright and had good common sense. Several employees tested her to determine what they could get away with. Not much, they found out.

She’d been assigned to the district just five months earlier and most likely would be promoted out of her position in Coeur d’Alene, back to Washington D.C. after getting some field experience under her belt. Field Management is one of the longer training periods because there is so much to learn. Dr. Lori was on the fast track to a top spot in the U.S. Forest Service.

Ellen grabbed the next report in her in-box, scanned through it, then called Brian Patrick, the District Forester. Hey Brian, can you come in here for a minute? We have another sighting report and I think you might be interested. Sounds like another Shadow encounter.

Brian didn’t hide his interest. He’d been begging to get the green light to investigate the sightings for months. Let me check it out, Boss.

A week ago, Lori hadn’t planned to let him. But now … somehow it seemed like they couldn’t ignore things any longer. All right, she agreed finally. "But no contact. If you see something, you report it. You don’t investigate anything or anyone on your own."

Brian has worked at the Coeur d’Alene station his entire career and knows the district well. A native Idahoan who earned a master’s degree in Forestry from the University of Idaho, he is just where he wants to be career-wise and geographically. Brian, his wife Lauri and their two boys love the outdoor activities North Idaho offers. Three generations of the Patrick family have lived in the area. He had no interest in moving up in the service if it meant leaving the Coeur d’Alene office. He would shudder at the thought of being in an administrative role and chained to a report covered desk.

Several federal agencies have tried to make contact with the Shadow people through the years. The hiker’s report was the third reported Native sighting in the last 18 months. Brian volunteered to take a trip up to the sighting area to investigate and Dr. Lori reluctantly gave him the green light to go. He was always thrilled to get out of the office and away from paper shuffling routines.

Brian, I got word from the top to check this out, but I also have the environmental guys in D.C. doing a tap dance on my desk to finish up our visitor impact reports. Will you get the reports assigned to you back to me as soon as possible?

Would end of the week work? Brian asked.

That’s absolutely the latest I can get them, she answered.

Got it. I’ll head up to the mountain in the morning but I promise to have my part of the impact report on your desk before the deadline.

Brian called Al Sidow, one of the U.S.F.S. enforcement officers for the district, Hey Al, Ellen Lori is sending me out on a weird mission, wanna come along?

I’m in, Al replied, weird is good. Al loves hiking as much as Brian and knows the mountains better than anyone. An avid hunter and fisherman, he spends most of his time out of doors. Al was once an Army Ranger who saw plenty of action in the Middle East. He received degrees in Criminal Justice and Forest Management from Oregon State University using the GI Bill. He also holds a black belt in karate and boxed in the service. Al was the wrong guy to get sideways with. He was also one of the first to lend a hand to someone in need.

Brian and Al met for breakfast at 4:00 am at Shari’s Restaurant, made a plan for the day, and got an early start following the river up through the eastern valley. It was a beautiful morning; visibility would be clear in the mountains. Al drove his government issued F-250 4X4 Ford pickup. He had enough mountaineering equipment with him to climb Mount Everest. The investigation started at Bumble Bee Campground where they inspected the area near the recently reported sighting. They interviewed people staying in the campsites and found one camper who told a strange story. He’d heard that some food disappeared at one campsite and a bearskin hide was left behind. He didn’t know the people at the campsite, but thought the rangers could find them from records at the campground pay station. Brian said he would follow up with the visitors in question to get a statement as soon as he tracked them down. Al and Brian found nothing else of interest in that area.

Moving on, they searched the Fern Falls and Shadow Falls area. They drove to the trailhead and hiked half a mile on a rugged rock trail up to the falls. The enticing scent of sage and spruce filled the air. The trail was a little challenging but designed that way to keep the area pristine by preventing wheeled vehicle access.

Ironically, Shadow Falls is where Brian and Al got their first sighting. Al was looking along the ridgeline with his binoculars when he whispered, Something’s up there! Brian swung his Celestron spotting scope around and followed the ridgeline. There was definitely a person in Native American clothing on the ridge. He seemed to have a half grin on his face and an odd color to his eyes. His image began to fade in and out before finally disappearing. They climbed to the ridgeline and found no footprints or evidence that someone had been there. Al was silent until they got back to the trail, then said, Somebody’s screwing with us big time. If this is a local yokel trying to be funny, I’m going to bust his ass.

When they returned to the pickup, they found a pair of moccasins, obviously used but still in good condition, on the passenger seat. The moccasins were well made and hand sewn with sinew. They seemed too small to be worn by a man. Brian looked at Al and said excitedly, Don’t worry about locals, Al, we saw the real thing! Let’s get these moccasins to James Douglas at the University of Idaho. I’m certain he can validate which tribe made them. But why were they left?

Brian thought they should make another trip to the mountains in the next couple of days, right after he got his part of the impact study onto the boss’s desk, of course. He read the brave’s action as nothing less than a taunt, I’m here, but you can’t catch me.

The moccasins had been sent by courier to Jim Douglas for analysis. Dr. Douglas is a leading authority on Native people of the west. Brian was eager to know if Dr. Douglas had received the package. He decided to call him to see what he thought about the moccasins.

Hi Jim, this is Brian Patrick in Coeur d’Alene.

Hey Brian, I was going to give you a call. Package arrived and I’ve had a chance to do a little research. Your note said you’ve been getting some strange Native sighting reports lately. I’ve got a really, really strong hunch that these might be made by members of the Shadow Tribe. I searched some archaeology catalogs we have here. One of our teams doing a dig in the Coeur d’Alene basin discovered some pretty well-preserved clothing, among other things, at the dig site. I can’t say for sure but, I found some similarities. It’s pretty exciting to think the Shadow might still be around here. Very interesting.

What else do you know about the tribe?

I wish I knew a lot more, but if you have a minute, I can cover what I do know, Brian.

Sure, I’ve got time, Brian said with a guilty glance at his unfinished impact report.

Dr. Douglas went on, "Little is known or has been written about the Shadow people. Outsiders who got too close to them never returned. Other tribes say they are a fearless and fatal force to be reckoned with. They take no prisoners. Other Native trading partners warned the fur traders to avoid the Shadows, and that advice was taken to heart. Shadows didn’t trade with any outsiders. They were completely self-sufficient. Most of the lore gathered about the tribe is from brief sightings and stories passed down from generation to generation by other Native people inhabiting the area. The Shadow Tribe never laid claim to any geographic area. They seem content to stay nomadic and out of the way. As hunters and gatherers, they are known to roam as far north as Alberta and British Columbia and as far south as Central Idaho. They once traveled east to the Plains States but there is no reason for that now. The wild buffalo herds are gone.

When fur traders and missionaries arrived in Native American lands, they brought a myriad of diseases with them. Smallpox killed a large percentage of the indigenous population. The white people also brought, from Europe and indirectly from Asia, bubonic plague, chickenpox, cholera, the common cold, diphtheria, influenza, malaria, measles, scarlet fever, sexually transmitted diseases, typhoid, typhus, tuberculosis and pertussis."

Quite a gift, Brian said. It breaks my heart every time I hear what the white man has done, or is doing, to the natives.

Agreed. The Shadow people were wise and they stayed disease free because of their isolation. For that reason alone, they were forbidden to associate with people of other tribes.

"Their clothing was distinctive by modern standards. Shadow braves wore headdresses adorned with horns or antlers, according to those who have glimpsed them. To earn the right to wear horns, a brave must kill an animal using only a handheld blade, they say. Long ago the horns of a buffalo were a difficult prize to win. The challenge, of course, was extremely dangerous.

The tribe lived in wiki-ups like the Plains Indians did at buffalo camps in days of yore. The wiki-ups can be easily moved. Shadow people prized their transient life-style and the mobility of their housing. Kalispell tribe members in the mid 1900’s found the remains of a hunting camp vacated by Shadows and reported that the Shadow Tribe still lives, over all, much like the other tribes in the region lived two hundred years ago. Now they are the only ones living that way. And they are markedly different in other ways. The best descriptions of the Shadow people may be flawed, but are, for the most part, true. We think."

God Jim, that’s a lot of information. How did you get so much history?

A lot of research hours and having good graduate assistants to do the grunt work, Dr. Douglas said.

I need to come to Moscow and meet with you sometime, Jim. You’ve got some great information.

Any time. Just let me know when you’re coming.

Will do, Jim. Thanks for everything. I’ll be in touch. Brian was dizzy after his conversation with the professor. It would take a little time to digest everything that he said.

Following the federal government’s hard rule, both Al and Brian had to file incident reports. Six days later there were over a dozen inquiries from various individuals and agencies requesting additional information. Two agencies which took special interest were the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Treasury Department. Treasury asked to be copied in on all updates. I guess they figure this is one more opportunity to collect taxes, Brian cracked.

For a number of years, the