Crisscross Moon - 32. Chapter 32

32.

Of course, the boy didn't leave. Not right away. There was no way he could do that until he knew all the women and children were safe. The girl brought the warriors back to the cave much sooner than he expected. He thought he'd have to watch the village from a distance, but instead he watched the entrance to the new cave.

And soon he saw the older boys and girls in the forest, and then the women and children and babies. And no one was crying or mourning. There seemed only relief. When the boy saw this, he kept his promise and left. He had a long way to go, and he hoped his village would be back by the time he got there. He had no way of knowing that soon after everyone was out of the cave, the leader of the girl's village would gratefully name her after the water.

Just as the girl never knew that the boy had a surprisingly long and wise life. In time, he married and had children and became leader of his village. Just as Brown Bark became leader of his. And neither of them, nor the girl, had any way of knowing that long after all their lives, and their children's children's lives, other members of their families would slowly begin to change their story.

Some said the boy not only rescued the girl but also brought her back to his village to be his wife. Brown Bark and the girl's children simply disappeared. In other stories, the boy not only took the happy girl with him, but also left not just all the women and children trapped in the cave to die, but also all the warriors. In further stories, the girl was never scared, and she always knew the boy was never a spirit. In fact, she killed him as soon as he showed her the way out of the cave. She killed him right in the stream, and her warriors left his body there, to be eaten by bears.

(continued)