Jesse was horrified by what he had just been told. “I never knew that my mom's ancestors killed so many of my dad's ancestors.”
Uncle Matthew shook his head sadly. “You can't blame your mother for history that happened long ago.”
“What happened to the Wendat after the sickness?”
“The Europeans used the deadly outbreaks to convince us that our ways of living were wrong. They said that the diseases were the result of our way of life and our native customs. They said that in order for us to live, we must allow them to teach us their ways and believe in their religion.”
“That's so cruel!” exclaimed Jesse. “I hope the Wendat people didn't listen.”
“You have to understand, Jesse. They were scared. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and cousins were dying all around them. When they saw that the Europeans were not dying of these same diseases, they were willing to believe that the Europeans were right in what they had said. They thought that the diseases must be some kind of punishment. I can't really blame them. Can you?”
“No,” muttered Jesse, “I guess not.”
Jesse rolled his head back onto his pillow and yawned. No matter how hard he tried, Jesse could not keep his eyes open any longer. A gentle breeze brushed through his hair as his body went limp in his sleeping bag. His many questions dissolved into black as he was swept away by sleep. His uncle smiled at his nephew, and he pulled the edge of the bag up to Jesse's chin.
Jason threw another log onto the fire. “You never told him how our people ended up in Quebec, Dad.”
Uncle Matthew took the coffee pot off the fire. “Sometimes questions are answered all by themselves.”
Jason eyed his dad. “And what's that supposed to mean?”
“You and Jesse are both here for the same reason, to have your many questions answered. Be patient and look inside.” He tapped his chest. “The answers to many of life's questions already lie within your heart.”
Three
Quick! Get up!”
“Huh?” Jesse blinked in the dark twilight. The vague figure looking down at him was terrified. His ears twitched. He could hear a loud crackling sound approaching from behind. An icy tingle ran up and down his spine. Dread rushed into his mind. The noise sounded like a burning campfire, but as he blinked his eyes in the darkness, he could not see light anywhere in the forest.
“We have to go! Now!”
Jesse jumped to his feet and leapt away from the sound. He had never run so quickly in his life! The shadowy trees were blurred by his incredible speed. Some sense within his head helped him dodge upcoming obstacles as easily as if he were weaving between park benches on his skateboard. The feeling was exhilarating.
His cousin stopped so suddenly, Jesse ended up stumbling head first into the dirt to avoid a collision. He shook the pine needles from his hair and vainly tried to snort out the dirt from his nose.
“Shhh!” Jason whispered. “I can't hear.”
Jesse stumbled back up onto his feet and glared at him. Jesse's mouth dropped open. He had never been so shocked in all of his life. The voice he had thought was his cousin's was instead coming from a majestic animal. A female deer, wide-eyed and frightened, glanced at him, then back into the woods. The crackling seemed even closer now than it had before.
“It's still coming closer. We have to get out of here!”
“Who are you?”
“Did you hit your head when you fell? I'm Tayna, your mate. But we will both be dead if we stay here. Come on!”
Jesse shook his head again. “I must be dreaming.”
Tayna burst away into another sprint. Instinctively, Jesse chose to follow. He didn't know why, but the sound creeping through the woods terrified him as well. He darted around several huge maples before joining Tayna in an arching, fifteen foot leap over a stream and gully. For a moment, he felt as if he were actually soaring so high that he might not ever come down. He was the wind. Lightning fast. Invincible. As he galloped, the thought of the sound nagged at him. Something was wrong.
“Tayna, stop!”
Tayna dug her hooves into the mossy ground.
“What is it?”
The sky was only just starting to lighten. If fire had been making the crackling sound, he should have at least seen a glow in the darkened undergrowth. The woods were still eerily black, yet the terrifying crackling sound was everywhere. Tayna began to prance back and forth.
“We can't stay. We'll be killed!”
“How do you know?” demanded Jesse.
“I just do. Can't you feel it?”
Jesse didn't argue. The sickening sense of death could not be denied. Just then, he saw the outline of a creature run between two distant trees. He recognized the shape. It ran on two legs. It was human. Hunters!
“You're right, Tayna!” yelled Jesse. “Run!”
Together they flew through the forest. Jesse allowed Tayna to lead, not having a clue as to where they were but still seeming to have the ability to leap through the forest without effort. It was as if he had been a deer his entire life.
Something caught his eye in the blur of the trees as they continued to sprint for their lives. There were tall poles intermingled with the tree trunks. Leaves covered them but he noticed nasty, unnatural points at the top of the poles that curved inwards towards them. The same kind of poles suddenly appeared on his other side. Something was not right. It reminded him of cages he had seen at the Metro Toronto Zoo.
“Tayna!”
She stopped again, panting. “What is it?”
“Look around you. These poles are forcing us forward. We can't turn left or right. I think it's a trap.”
Just then, a low mournful howl tore through the trees behind them. A second, and then another howl joined in.
“Wolves!” screamed Tayna.
“No, I don't think so,” said Jesse, but it was too late. Tayna, panicked by the hated noise of a pack of wolves on the hunt, ran further into the enclosure.
“Come back!”
Jesse bolted forward hoping to catch up to her before it was too late. Around the next tree, the two walls of poles met at a right-angled corner with the only escape being a small, twometre high wooden gap within the fence itself. Tayna froze at the suspicious doorway. Suddenly, from behind bushes on the opposite side of the poles, dozens of whooping, spear-waving hunters ran to the fence. Dressed in leather loincloths, their camouflage-painted faces and chests gave the frenzied men a ghostly appearance as they charged towards them. They pounded the wooden structure with sticks while continuing their ear-splitting screams. Tayna screamed too and, with no other choice, she darted through the doorway and disappeared. Other hunters quickly climbed up ladders on either side of the enclosure behind the doorway, one lifted his bow and fired.
“Jesse!”
How Tayna knew his name was the last thing on his mind. Her painful cry tore through him. Uncontrollable fury filled his heart. He pawed the ground with his front hoof and charged. The hunters were surprised by the large buck suddenly appearing from behind a tree. His charge took their attention away from Tayna. The hunters had never seen a deer attack with such ferocity before.
Jesse bore straight at the gap in the fence. His antlers were down, like the enraged bulls he had seen on TV. The hunters, suddenly realizing the approaching danger, swung