Jesse looked at the large mound beside Uncle Matthew and the several other now suspicious humps and bumps in the surrounding area. If he wasn't actually looking for them, he would have simply walked right by, thinking they were part of the natural surroundings. Uncle Matthew bent down and brushed away some more dirt. Within minutes, he pulled from the ground an arrow head, a broken handle off a piece of pottery and several small beads. Jesse was fascinated by the objects and the detailed explanations of each supplied by Uncle Matthew. Before moving to the next object, Uncle Matthew reburied the artifacts exactly where he had found them. Finally, he stood up, stretched and grabbed his pack.
“Time to go.”
Jesse looked over his shoulder. Jason was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his eyes gazing out into the distance.
“Is Jason going to stay here?”
“That's why we made the hike. He wanted to meditate and fast in the village of his ancestors, just like your father and I did many years ago.” Uncle Matthew picked up his pack. “We'll move further down the creek and give him some privacy.”
Uncle Matthew led Jesse around a bend in the creek to a small stand of immature trees. Guarding the nursery from the creek was a rocky outcrop covered in small, leafy blueberry plants. Jesse's mouth began to water as he looked at the hundreds of juicy berries. Uncle Matthew grinned, lowered himself to one knee and pulled out a folded orange sheet from his pack.
“Go ahead. Eat yourself silly. Blueberries don't get any better than this. And after you're finished, string up this tarp between those two small trees.” His uncle looked up and soaked in the sudden calm echoing within the forest. “It'll help protect the kindling.”
While Jesse stuffed himself with the delicious snack, Uncle Matthew quietly took his rifle and disappeared into the woods. Only fifteen minutes had passed when a crack as loud as thunder made him jump. Frightened, Jesse looked around for his uncle. He suddenly felt very alone.
“Uncle Matthew?” Jesse yelled. There was no answer. Jesse turned and began to run back towards the ancient mounds and his cousin.
“It's all right, Jesse,” a distant voice called. “I'll be back in a few minutes.”
Jesse tried to relax. He didn't feel like eating blueberries any more. The gunshot had made him feel lonely and exposed. His fear of the woods stormed back into his thoughts. He decided to take his mind off his fears by stringing up the tarp. After tying the first two corners to the trees, he then angled the loose edge of the tarp down and staked it to the ground. Next, he gathered firewood as he had the night before.
It was beginning to get dark when his uncle finally returned. Uncle Matthew was surprised to see a pleasant fire burning in middle of the campsite, next to the secured tarp. The fire pit had been properly cleared of dead leaves, and a water-filled coffee pot stood nearby, in case of emergency. Jesse sat on one end of a big log that he had dragged to the upwind side of the fire. Pride tingled within him when his uncle gave an approving nod.
“I can see you are a fast learner,” he noted. “Well done.”
“Thanks,” replied Jesse. “What's on the menu for dinner tonight?”
“Oh, something I shot on the other side of the creek. Thought I'd prepare the meat over there. Saves me messing up the camp.”
Jesse could sense that his uncle was, in fact, protecting him. Uncle Matthew knew that he wouldn't be interested in watching him skin and clean an animal. Jesse didn't mind, however. It was an experience that, he was sure, he could live without. He preferred his meat being presented to him in round patties or cuts of steak. That's why he looked questioningly at the meat strips Uncle Matthew pulled out from a plastic bag.
“What is it?”
He shook his head. “I'm not going to tell you until you try it.”
Uncle Matthew placed a pan over the fire and rubbed grease into the metal. He then threw the slices of meat onto the sizzling surface. Jesse was put in charge of keeping an eye on the meat while Uncle Matthew again disappeared into the forest. Concentrating on flipping and shuffling his mystery meat as it cooked, Jesse barely noticed his uncle returning with a handful of plants.
“What's that?” asked Jesse, glancing from the meat to the greenery.
“Wild onion and cow parsnip. I've already washed them in the creek. Just give me a minute to chop them up, and we should end up with a pretty good stir-fry. Sound good?”
“Sounds great!” Jesse was so hungry, anything sounded good.
Jesse passed Uncle Matthew the pan, who tossed in the vegetables and finished cooking the meal. Each plate was filled with heaping amounts of food. It was delicious! Was it the fresh food, the clean air, or maybe just the adventure of being in the woods with his father's family that brought alive the flavours within his mouth? Then he remembered the meat. He tapped his plate with his fork.
“All right, Uncle Matthew, I have to admit, this is the best stir-fry I've ever tasted. So what is the meat?”
“Rabbit,” he mumbled, between chews.
“You're kidding,” stammered Jesse, looking down at the browned bits of meat on his plate.
Uncle Matthew tapped his knapsack. “If you don't believe me, I can show you the skin I saved.”
“No, thanks,” said Jesse, surprised that he still had his appetite. “What are you going to do with it?”
“I'll give it to your aunt. She'll make it into a pair of earmuffs or perhaps some fur-lined gloves.”
“Oh,” said Jesse. “I think I'll pass on rabbit mittens and stick to my ski gloves.”
Uncle Matthew shook his head. “Out here in the woods during winter, you'd want a pair of your aunt's gloves, believe me. Synthetics have nothing on well-made, animal hide winter clothing. You'd freeze to death in that high-tech stuff long before I would even start to shiver.”
After finishing off with a hot chocolate, they cleaned the dishes in the creek, then prepared for the night. Jesse thankfully crawled into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. This trip was turning into an incredible adventure. As he drifted off to sleep, he tried to imagine the look on his father's face as he stumbled upon his first artifact from the ancient village. Suddenly, he wished it were his father who was here today to show him the secret mounds. It wasn't hard to dream that it was his father, instead of Uncle Matthew, who was curled up beside him. His mind tried to reach out to the image of his father. He could almost touch him. A tear trickled down Jesse's cheek as the vision faded and darkness carried him away.
Four
The angry bantering of nearby squirrels brought Jesse back to the land of the living. He opened his weary eyes and blinked into the morning light. The slight movement of his body caused the squirrels on the branch above him to jump, then chatter at him in annoyance before scampering away. Groaning, he rolled onto his side. Jason, facing away, was lying next to him, his ribs gently rising up and down with each sleeping breath. He must have returned to camp in the middle of the night, thought Jesse. So…the vision quest was over. With their goal accomplished, Uncle Matthew would now lead them out of the woods, and Jesse would be back on a bus to Toronto by tomorrow.
For the first time all trip, Jesse wasn't eager to return home. Not only were his legs still tired from the hike in, but he really wanted to spend an extra day or two with his dad's family. Something was happening between the three of them. It was a sense of an extended family that had been missing in his life. Something his mother simply couldn't provide. It was a sense of male companionship and brotherly trust.
Jason stirred, so Jesse nudged him on the back. “Hey, Jason. How did it go last night?”
“Wha…?”
Suddenly, Jason threw his head around and faced him, his frightened eyes staring