Spirit of the Wolf - Yano's Adventures: Spirit of the Wolf, #2

Copyright © 2024 by Randy Hogue

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Cover Art by Randy Hogue

Cover design by Outlaws Publishing.

Published by Outlaws Publishing.

September 2024

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

"The Best and Most Beautiful

things in the world cannot

be seen or even touched

they must be felt with the heart"

______Helen Keller

Foreword:

The Adventures of Yano, the first-born son of the Adams’ family, brings excitement, joy and fear to a young boy, at the tender age of ten.

Skilled and adventurous, Yano believed he was ready for the journey to manhood, but could he survive the danger of the wilderness in the Appalachian Mountains, alone with Bobcats, Mountain Lions, and Bears nearby. The journey unfolds as treasure and trouble intermingle with the Spirit of the Wolf.

A grave danger was lurking near their home for his younger sister, Ayita that ultimately left the family with heart wrenching fear for her safety and return. Where is she, what is happening to her? An unthinkable tragedy for any family.

How far would you go to save a loved one?

CHAPTER I

On a cold October morning, Alan Adams stood at the train station in Shepherd Springs, Virginia waiting for the train to take him to Rockford, Virginia. Mr. Stockburn needed Alan desperately to oversee the operations of the new coal mine opening soon. It was a hard decision for Alan, he wanted to help Mr. Stockburn, but he also didn’t want to uproot his family from the home and mountains they loved so much. Mr. Stockburn knew what a hard decision this was for Alan, so he came up with a plan he thought just might work for them both.

The plan was for Alan to take the early morning train to Rockford each Monday, be at the mines for three days, and return home to Shepherd Springs. Since the mines in Shepherd Springs had not completely shut down, Alan and John Thomas would share the superintendent’s duties for both mines. Once the last mine in Shepherd Springs shut down, they would split shifts at the Rockford mines. After listening to the plan, Alan knew this would work out great for him and his family. He promised Mr. Stockburn to be with him at least two more years and maybe more. He felt this was a way to show his appreciation to Mr. Stockburn for hiring him twelve years earlier and for making it possible for him to take the position at the new mine without moving his family,

Some of the miners had already relocated to Rockford and helped build the shanties needed for living quarters. There were a few still in Shepherd Springs that stayed behind to work the last mine until it closed, and they too would soon move to Rockford. The setup at the new site was much like the one in Shepherd Springs. The town of Rockford was a little smaller, but was expected to boom when coal mining started.

Alan’s good friend and neighbor, Jacob Bolin and wife Sarah, had already moved into one of the shanties. Jacob excelled in the mining business and John promoted him to the new Safety Officer for the Rockford mines upon Alan’s recommendation.

Yano, Alan and Odina’s oldest son, was now eleven years old and very mature and responsible for a young man his age. When Alan left for Rockford, he knew Yano would help his mother with the household duties and handle anything that happened while he was away. All the children had chores, and Yano set a great example for them to follow. He was teaching the seven-year-old twins, Koda and Ayita, along with their five-year-old baby sister, Nokomis, survival skills.

At such a young age, Yano had become a very good hunter and fisherman. He hunted mainly with a bow and arrow his father made for him and helped supply food for the family by harvesting deer, squirrels, rabbits and grouse. Although he was taught how to use a gun, and the rules of gun safety, he preferred the bow. His love of exploring sometimes would take him over one mountain after another just to see what was on the other side. This curiosity would often make him extremely late getting home, causing his mother to be very concerned and worried for his safety, she knew the dangers of the mountains.

CHAPTER 2

When Yano was ten years old, he thought he was a man already. He told his father he knew how to survive in the wilderness by himself if he had to. Alan knew he had taught his son well and he always told him how proud he was of him, he was a good hunter and fisherman, he had no doubt he could survive, however, there was a test he must pass to prove he was ready to enter manhood. Yano was excited to take the test, so his father said, when he was sure he was ready, he would explain the rules. A very confident ten-year-old said he was ready without even knowing what the test would be, until later.

Alan talked with Odina and told her he was taking Yano up in the mountains tonight to give him the test of manhood. She knew what the test was and was overflowing with emotion knowing her first-born son was beginning the journey into manhood.

After supper, Alan told Yano to put a jacket on, take his knife and come with him. As they started walking into the mountains, they had to use the light of the moon to guide their way. Yano had a puzzled look on his face, not feeling as confident as he did earlier when Alan told him it was time to start the test. When they approached the waterfall, he told Yano this would be where the test began, just sit on the stump here and listen to me. He then took out a piece of cloth and blindfolded Yano, so he could not see. He must sit on the stump all night without removing the blindfold even if he heard noises, and he would be back in the morning. The rules were; he could only remove the blindfold when daylight came, and he could hear the birds chirping. This would prove he was ready to start the journey into manhood by showing this act of bravery. Yano, hearing his father walk away, now realized he was all alone in the mountains until his father came back after daylight. If only he could just fall asleep until morning, but sleep did not come. He heard animal sounds; leaves rustling and sounds he had never heard before. It felt like he had been sitting on the stump for two days. With every sound, he thought it could be a bear or mountain lion about to attack, but he didn’t remove the blindfold. The night dragged on forever, but then he heard the howling of a Wolf. He had never heard a Wolf howling, but he knew it was a Wolf from stories he had heard growing up. Too frightened to sleep, he sat without moving, until morning finally came, and he could see the morning light through the blindfold. He heard the birds chirping, the time had come to remove the blindfold. Yano was shivering from the cold mountain morning, but feeling enormously proud of himself as he removed the blindfold and tried to focus his eyes on his surroundings. After sitting on the stump all night, his legs were stiff as he stood up. He first looked to see what was behind him and to his amazement, he could see the man that left him in the mountains, sitting on the ground about twenty feet behind him with a smile on his face from ear to ear. His father, unbeknown to Yano, had sat there all night keeping a watchful eye on his brave young son. He wanted Yano to know how proud of him he was, but cautioned him that he could not tell his siblings or anyone about the experience. That was his first test, but there would be many more during the journey into manhood, some more difficult situations than others, and his skills, training and experiences would give him the necessary tools to handle those situations on his journey as they came along.

Yano told his father about hearing the howling of the Wolf during the night, he wasn’t frightened, instead he felt a sense of calm as the mountains became silent during the howling of the Wolf. Alan told him the elders always said that treasures could be found at the location of the howling Wolf, but treasure could mean many things. It was time to go home now and have breakfast. Yano was happy and ready; he was hungry and sleepy, but he knew he must complete his chores before taking a nap. As any father would be, Alan was pleased he understood his responsibilities in caring for the livestock before he gave in to his need for food and sleep, another sign he was well on his way to manhood.

While on the walk home, he asked his father what he thought the treasure was at the location of the howling of the Wolf. It could mean danger was close and the Wolf scared it away or it may mean your treasure was twenty feet behind you all night long providing protection. Yet, it could be possible the treasure was twenty feet in front of me, allowing me to witness the bravery of my young son. Now, Yano understood more about what a treasure could be and how each one could have a different meaning. Smiling he looked up, thankful to the man he called father that walked beside him.

Arriving back at the cabin, Odina had breakfast ready and waiting for them.

CHAPTER 3

It had been over a year since Alan had heard from his very first friend Sloppy. Months before he was to start making trips to Rockford, he told Odina he was concerned about not hearing from Sloppy for so long. He knew the man could take care of himself, but he could sense something wasn’t right. Alan told Odina he would take Yano, and the mule loaded with supplies and try to find him and his cabin. It would probably take two days to get there, but he felt sure he could find him from what Sloppy told him. He had taken two weeks off from work at the coal mines to catch up on chores at home, but finding Sloppy was more important, maybe he could get some of the chores caught up before he left.

Odina said, We will be fine while you’re gone, and if we need help, we can always count on the Bolins, just be careful and find him.

They had no idea of Sloppy’s age, but he would be ten years older from when they first met. He had been living the mountain man life for forty years.

The next morning, Alan and Yano headed out pulling their pack mule loaded down with supplies behind them in hopes of finding Sloppy. He had never been to Sloppy’s place, but he remembered the day Sloppy told him what signs to look for and how to find him. Alan was a good tracker and at eleven years old, so was Yano.

Travel was slow, the terrain was rough, but he had located the two stacks of rocks Sloppy described. He remembered Sloppy saying, If you find the two stacks of rocks, go between them and up the draw to the right. If you don’t go between them and wind up going up another draw, you will never find me. You are still a long way from my cabin when you reach the two stacks of rocks, but if you are as good a tracker, as I think you are, you’ll find me. They planned to go a little further before setting up camp for the night since Alan could see some signs of where Sloppy had traveled in the past, but there were no fresh signs. As dark approached, they set up camp.

At daybreak the next morning, they loaded up and continued their search. After a few hours of traveling slowly, Alan noticed a draw that went to the left that had some old signs showing where horses may had traveled probably some months before, he just knew it would lead to Sloppy’s cabin. Going up the draw between steep mountains was a narrow trail that ran beside a creek, he knew Sloppy would be close to water and was sure they were going the right way. The trail and creek made a sharp bend to the right, and he could tell the land seemed to flatten out some, then he spotted a cabin about a hundred yards ahead. Slowly approaching the cabin, Alan called out to Sloppy, but he received no response. As they got closer, he spotted Sloppy’s horse and mule in the coral looking poorly. Still calling out Sloppy’s name