LAKE OF THE SWANS
Book 2 of 3
Chapter 45
At scarcely twenty-two years of age, John Summerfield was not allowed to remain in the council tent for the negotiations. Rutin, Carl, and Black-Spear saw John out the door where they gave him their word. They would go to the ends of the earth to help him find the monolith and bring back the treasure it held. And while no man is completely pure of heart, they agreed with John’s youthful idealism, being that the treasure should be shared with everyone. And so it was as John turned to the campgrounds, the dream he’d been raised to dream flooded his heart and mind to the point of childlike elation. Jumping for joy inside, he walked into what might appear to us as a county fair, lacking our 21st century technology but no less alive with excitement and merriment.
“Hello John!”
“Hello, Roger!”
“Hey…did you forfeit your wrestling match?”
“I guess so. I got called into the tent.”
“Dare I ask why?”
“It’s a long story.”
“By the looks of you, it turned out well.”
“That it did!” And looking about, “Have you seen Laureal?”
“Yeah, she’s over yonder,” pointing.
“Thanks!”
Although John felt a strong urge to do so, he refrained from coming up behind Laureal and suddenly picking her up, for by then she was five months with child. Instead, he whispered in her ear, “Hey there, pretty girl.”
“John,” turning with concern, only to see the happiness that radiated from his every pore. “How…did it go?” she asked in confusion.
“Better than anything I could have imagined.”
“Really?” surprised.
“Yes,” and taking her hand, “Come, walk with me.”
John and Laureal set out along the lakeshore, all the while exchanging glances. His happy eyes drew her in, causing her to smile with curiosity, which in turn made him smile all the more. Back and forth, their exchange continued, building without a word until at last Laureal broke out laughing, “My goodness! You really are happy!”
“I have great news,” stopping and turning to her.
“Well…are you going to tell me?”
John knew he could not tell Laureal everything. Perhaps he would be able to tell her as soon as tomorrow, depending on how things went in the big tent. Presently, however, he could tell what he knew mattered most to her—
“I will not be going into the north alone. The elders are going to send their sons and grandsons with me. We will be a dozen or more in number. All well outfitted, each man hand-selected based on his strength, skill, and endurance.”
“John,” in near disbelief, “is this for real?”
“Yes, it’s real. But you can’t breathe a word of this to anyone, not for a few days anyway. And there’s more, a lot more.”
“Tell me!”
“We have a guide. He knows the way into the realm beyond the forest and back.”
Laureal searched John’s eyes. His animation, the soul of a man on a mission, was the very thing that had drawn her to him, and the thing that most terrified her. Now it seemed too good to be true, and yet, there he stood before her, his chances of survival seemingly catapulted from uncertain to all but guaranteed in a single day.
“Are you okay?” John asked.
Laureal nodded, her face contorted, and she began to cry.
John drew her into his arms. Her cheek pressed to his chest, Laureal turned her eyes to the lake, that no one might see emotions long repressed, now pouring out. The Sword of Damocles, as they say, had been lifted away.
At last, John, still holding Laureal, looked down the way where a large number of warriors gathered. They were divided into teams at either end of a heavy rope. A crowd of spectators had also gathered, many of whom were young maidens. Among the men, a verbal tit-for-tat had started, a combination of boisterous claims and joking put-downs, with a few bold maidens joining in from the sidelines.
“You alright?” he softly asked.
“Yes,” wiping tears, “more than alright.”
“It’s a good day,” said John, smiling.
“Yes,” laughingly, “a very good day!”
“I have an idea,” grinning as if he had a special kind of fun up his sleeve.
“What are you up to?” squinting happily.
“Let’s go get Ellie, and I’ll show you.”
Like ducklings all in a row, Noah, Sophie, Andrew, and Jenny sat on Ellie’s back. More than a dozen other children waited for their turn. Mia managed the kids with help from two other mothers while Anders managed Ellie. Many of the children waited for their third and fourth turns to go up on the giant, such was the excitement created by the slow, careful walk in a loop only several times larger than a merry-go-round.
“Are we having fun yet?” asked John, coming along hand-in-hand with Laureal.
“Yes!” came a chorus of little voices.
John turned to Anders and Mia, “May we relieve you for a while?”
“That would be wonderful,” Anders replied.
“I can’t count how many times we’ve gone round and round,” said Mia. “Over and over again,” she added, even as she smiled happily.
Before making the exchange, John departed with a promise to return immediately. He came back lugging Ellie’s shoulder collar and harness. Anders and Mia then departed for the tug of war. Anders meant to join Harley, Kale, Levi, Julian, and others in a series of matches. Each match pitted two teams against each other. One on either end of the rope, each team consisting of as many as twelve strong men representing a clan, or several clans, often with long-standing ties.
Setting Ellie’s collar and harness aside, John turned to look up at Noah, “Do you see Cody and Rowena?” nodding to the crowd.
“Yes,” replied the boy, gazing from his high perch.
“I want you to go and get them for me,” said John, taking Noah down. He then reached for Sophie, but no more had he begun to take her down than the other children crowded in, “My turn! My turn!”
“Careful!” Laureal cried, snatching a four-year-old, prevent-ing him from darting under the horse. She pulled him back, turned him around, and got down on her knees for a face-to-face, “Never run under a horse!” Then, softening her tone even as she kept her gravity, she lifted her eyes to meet those of the older children, “I need you to help me watch out for him, okay?”
Having gotten their attention, the young mother-to-be continued, “Mia and Anders may have told you this, but I’m going to tell you again because I don’t want any of you to get hurt. Ellie is so calm, it’s easy to forget how big she is, but you must remember and pay attention! Otherwise, she might accidentally step on you!”
“Yeah! And it will hurt!” John added as if there was nothing more painful in the world. “In fact, after you finally stop crying,” pausing for effect, his expression telling of resignation, “we’ll probably have to cut your foot off.”
“John!” Laural protested, glancing sideways at her husband before turning back to the children. “Just watch out, okay? Because if you let her step on you…it will be terrible!”
Gathering up Ellie’s collar and harness, John smiled at the kids, “Who wants to do something extra fun?”
In the silence that followed, none appeared to be buying it. Then the chorus began, “I want to go for a ride! Me too!” jumping up and down, “Please! Please!”
“They’ve all been at least twice,” stated the one young mother who remained, an infant in her arms.
Lowing Ellie’s tack to the ground at his feet, John placed his palms together as if to pray, “I will take each of you for a ride. But first, Ellie needs your help. You see, she’s going to be in the tug-of-war contest and, well…sadly,” feigning a sigh, shaking his head with a tragic air, “she doesn’t have anyone to cheer for her.”
The oldest girl was first to break the silence, “I’ll cheer for her.”
“I will too,” nodding earnestly.
“So will I.”
John glanced knowingly at Laureal. She squinted back at him, her lips pursed in a suspicious smile.
From the direction of the contest, the cheers and shouts of the first match trailed off as Cody and Rowe arrived to see what John wanted.
Agreeing on John’s plan, Laureal, Rowe, and the young mother with her infant child herded the kiddies like a brood of goslings to the sidelines where a second match in the tug-of-war was set to begin.
Two fresh teams of men then battled it out, grunting and pulling for all their worth as the crowd cheered them on. In the end, after much effort, the stronger team won. A break was then called to allow the winning team time to rest before squaring off against the victors of the first match. Before they could begin, however, John showed up and issued a challenge—
“I’ll pit my giant against as many men as can fit on the other half of the rope.”
Now there was much spur-of-the-moment deliberation mixed with laughs and jokes until, at last, a boisterous voice rang out, “Bring her on!”
The men, having haggled as to who was most fit to go against the beast, formed a team and got set while John secured Ellie’s pulling lines to his end of the tug rope.
At last, with everyone in position, the signal was given, and fourteen men pulled for all their worth. A loud cheer went up as the men dug in. Nearly drowned out was a chorus of children shouting, “Go, Ellie! Go, Ellie!”
Losing ground, the men skidded along on their heels, fell down, and, clinging to the rope, were dragged across the grass while howls of laughter went up from the sidelines.
Stopping, John left Ellie with Cody and went towards the men, laughing all the way. Many got up and laughed with him. A few scowled and grumbled.
“Let’s try it again,” John said to the men, “but this time I’ll help you.”
“I’m done,” said one, somewhat sorely.
“Oh come on,” said another, as if to say it was all in fun.
“I’ll take his place,” said yet another, stepping forward, eager to take part.
And so it was, the men got set for a second try, this time with John added to the team at the front. The signal was given, and the pull began. At once, the men were losing ground, skidding on their heels, until John yelled out, “Ellie, whoa!”
The giant stopped, and John yelled, “Pull men! Pull!”
Pulling for all their worth, they caused Ellie to lose a step, then another.
“Step up, girl! Step up!” Cody unexpectedly shouted. Ellie took a step forward, then another while the men did all they could to check her.
“Whoa!” John yelled.
“Step up, girl! Step up!”
“Back girl! Back!”
Poor Ellie, in a state of confusion, didn’t know which way to go. The men, pulling with everything they had, began to make headway, pulling her back one step, then another, and another.
The crowd cheered the men on. The children, meanwhile, cheered for Ellie, “Go, Ellie! Go!”
Overcome with an impulse to win, Cody suddenly brought the end of the lead rope down on the beast’s hindquarters like a whip! “HAW!”
At the front of the rope, John was yanked forward and to the ground with such force as to leave scrapes and grass stains up and down his arms and legs. The crowd erupted in laughter. A few men got up, cursing and swearing, which only made others laugh all the more. By and large, the participants took it as great fun, minor injuries and all, including John who had gotten the worst of it.
Cody came hurrying back, “I’m sorry, John! I didn’t think she could do that!”
“It’s okay, Cody,” brushing himself off. Meanwhile the crowd, altogether in revelry, closed ranks from both sides.
“Are you okay?” Laureal asked.
“Yes.”
“Let me see?” Checking his injuries and seeing they were only minor, Laural shook her head even as she laughed.
John had only put his arm around Laureal when the children swarmed them. Happy that Ellie had won and begging for the promised rides, they tugged at Laureal’s dress and got in so close around John’s legs, they nearly caused him to lose balance and fall over.
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