CHAPTER 1: THE LAKE THAT WASN’T!

“Come in, AJ!” Joey called, looking over his latest issue of Ranger Bob. There was a pause. “AJ, are you going to sit out in the hall, or do you want to come in my room to talk?”

“How did you know I was here?” AJ asked, as he slowly pushed his wheelchair into the room

“I could hear you in the hall.” Joey replied, laying his magazine on the bed and turning his wheelchair around to face his friend.

       Joey Adam Red Wolf was a tall, thin, Cheyenne boy with long black hair tied in a neat braid. Around his neck he carried a medicine pouch. Only eight years old, he was a bit unusual for most Cheyenne children. For starters, he had his own ways of being traditional. He had on a pair of blue Jeans shorts, and an orange tank-top. Never one for shoes, he always went barefoot outside of school. Joey has cerebral palsy that left him with seizures and unable to use his legs at all and difficulties with controlling the rest of his body. To an observer, he appeared to be shivering, although it was almost 80 degrees in his room. He sat hunched over in his wheelchair, with his feet turned in.

“Hey Joey, I was wandering if you wanted to go with me out to the pond?”

“Sure, but mom will want me back before dark. You know afternoon is a little late for a day out!”

“Sorry, I had a doctor’s appointment today.” AJ replied. “Come on, we better get going if we want any time out. You know how my mom is!”

Joey hit the joystick on his wheelchair, and started off toward the door. Without hesitating AJ followed.

      His name was Anthony David Big Bear Junior, but everyone knew him as AJ. AJ was a short, thin 8-year-old with long black hair in two braids. He spoke slowly with a very sight slur in his words. Like Joey, he has cerebral palsy. Unlike his friend, however, AJ was a main stream person, who followed more of the conventional ways of doing things. He usually wore shorts, a T-shirt and sneakers. AJ also had glasses, with silver-colored frames. The two boys have been best friends since they were about three, and were unusually close. More often than not, they spent their free time together.

“Hey, did you ever find that tennis ball we lost yesterday?”

“No Joey, why do you ask?”

“Well, we were playing with it in your backyard.”

“So, we searched everywhere for it! Where could it be?”

“It is behind the woodpile.”

      AJ shook his head. This was one of the wildest ideas Joey had ever come up with. For starters, they had not been playing anywhere near the woodpile when they lost the ball. Second, the woodpile was in Joey’s yard, not AJ’s. No one really understood how Joey figured things out. The only person who didn’t seem startled by it was his Grandfather, Ben Red Wolf, who was a medicine man and a very powerful psychic.

“Come on, you were the last one to throw it, and both of us know you can’t throw very far!”

“Would it hurt to look?” Joey asked, Heading for the wood pile. AJ quickly followed him to the wood pile. For the next few minutes, the two of them searched around the wood pile for AJ’s tennis ball. After a few minutes, AJ pushed one of the logs over and a green tennis ball rolled out from the pile.

“How did you know it was here?” AJ asked, looking at the ball.

“My mom let Midnight and Rex outside for a little while after I came in for the night. Midnight likes to hide toys in the house, so if he found your ball, the first thing he would do is, look for a good place to hide it.”

“But, how did you know to look by the wood pile?”

Joey shrugged. “I don’t know how, I just did. How about if we go on a nature hike and then head over to the clubhouse?”

“Sounds good to me!”

    Together the two boys headed for the old trail leading into the woods. The Lame Deer Reservation was covered in woods. There was never a shortage of trails to explore, or things to see out in the natural world. Joey especially loved nature and the outdoors. The elders often said the free spirit of the ancient ones seemed to call to Joey. Even though they were in the 21^st century, Joey was a lot like the children of times long ago. School and modern life seemed to confine him as he struggled to get away from the artificial world around him. About the only computerized thing Joey seemed to like, was his power driven wheelchair, which gave him the freedom to come and go as he wished. Joey was also very idealistic, often thinking of things as how they should be.

         The old trail seemed to be a world apart from the town-like feel of Gray Horse. As they wandered down the snake like path, the light became dappled as the trees and brush around them got thicker. Few ever ventured here and the trail soon faded into the forest. Even for Joey, who was at home in the wilderness, this place had a strange feel.

“Where are we, Joey?” AJ asked, stopping in the middle of the trail.

     Joey looked around for a moment, hoping to spot a familiar landmark. “Hmm, I’m not sure! We must have taken the wrong trail.”

“No really, where are we?” AJ said with a chuckle. “This isn’t the time to for a joke, buddy.”

“AJ, I told you, I don’t know. This must be a new trail or something. I’ve never been here before.”

     Carefully, the two of them crept along the trail, hoping to see something familiar. Joey and AJ looked ahead, up the trail, a long, dark snake, slowly slithering its way deep into the woods. It seemed to have come out of nowhere and seemed to go into nothing. As they continued on their way, the light seemed to fade into ever darkening shadows, that crept up on them like a coyote stalking its prey. At the same time, the ground got rougher and steeper. This was like nothing either boy had ever seen before.

“Hmm, this place feels weird!” Joey said, stopping to rub his arms, which were now covered in goose bumps.

“Cold?”

“Yes, something is not right about this place. It shouldn’t feel cold in the middle of July!”

         After a few more minutes of traveling down the trail, Joey turned into a large clearing in the woods. Now they were in a large open field of tall grass, surrounded by huge trees with a pale grey bark and thick green bushes. The air around them was silent, and still. Above them, the sky was now a dull gray and filled with clouds, as if bad weather were coming in fast. The lake, mirror smooth and covered with green duck weed, lay under a light blanket of mist. The whole place felt like it was lost in another time, far away from the 21^st century. Tall flowing grasses lining it edges grew wild and uncut.

“We’re still on the Rez, right?” AJ asked, with a tremble in his voice.

“Yes, we didn’t go that far!” Joey answered in a weak quivering voice.

    Joey looked around at the fog-covered lake in the distance. As he watched, the fog seemed to be creeping in, along with odd shadows that seemed to be reaching from the trees behind them. With each passing minute, the lake and the woods around it seemed to slowly disappear, swallowed up in an ever thickening veil of fog. By now, even the trail they had come out of was nowhere to be seen.

“This place belongs to the spirits.” Joey whispered. “It’s not a place for two boys to play.”

“Let’s go!” AJ turned to head back, only to find that the trail was now lost in the fog.

“Where’s the trail?”

“How can a trail disappear?”

“I don’t know!”

“Oh, I wish my mom was here!” Joey said with a sigh.

     For what seemed like an hour, Joey and AJ carefully made their way around looking for something they recognized. The more they turned and searched, the more lost in the fog they became. Clearly even Joey, who always felt at home deep in the woods and away from other people, was lost and out of the world he felt comfortable with. With no land marks around, except the edge of the lake, all they could do was, stay close to the shore until the fog lifted. The ground was rough and slippery, making it hard for Joey and AJ to control their wheelchairs as they tried to avoid slipping into the water, or losing sight if the only landmark they had, the lake!

     For the next few minutes, they slowly wandered along the edge of the lake, looking for something to lead them home. If Joey could use his knowledge of nature to help him find his way, they would have a chance of getting out of here. Just then something unexpected emerged from the fog!

“Hey, what’s that?” AJ asked, pointing to a faint outline of something in the distance.

“A house! AJ, you found someone’s home!” Joey turned up the speed on his wheelchair and raced for the distant house.

“Hello!” AJ called out, racing to keep up with Joey.

     The house was small and grey, with an old rusty chimney and two little square windows in the front the were too dirty to see through. There were strange looking piles of junk littering the yard and even a few old wood carving. The old carving looked like the ceremonial designs that Joey had seen on his grandparents’ teepee, where everyone gathered for church. However, unlike the ceremonial grounds that Joey and AJ were used to, this place was over grown and run down as if noone ever come out here anymore.

“Weird, ceremonial stuff isn’t normally left like this!” Joey said, pointing to a symbol carved into one of the boards.

“What does it mean?” AJ asked.

“I haven’t learn to read these yet!”

Rrrrr! Came a deep, menacing growl from the woods behind them.

“Don’t Move!” AJ whispered urgently.

     Joey sat trembling, frozen with terror, as the bushes nearby began to rustle. Slowly the faint glow of two red eyes emerged between the bushes. AJ tried to move, but could get the strength to push himself. Now the wind seemed to pick up, making the air feel even colder. Slowly, the icy fingers of fear crept up on them, gripping them ever tighter, as the mysterious set of glowing eyes stalked ever nearer.