Shadows of Caesar's Creek (4 page)

“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” Tiana muttered. She felt a little embarrassed.

Rashawn grinned at her. “Don't worry about it. I'll take one of your cupcakes for a chocolate cookie, though,” he said, offering it to her.

Rico and Ziggy giggled. They knew that Rashawn didn't give up his chocolate cookies for just anybody. Tiana smiled as she nibbled at the cookie.

Ziggy's lunch was a sight to behold. Each of the pockets of the purplecoat held something different. First he pulled out his peanut-butter-and-pickle sandwich and set it in front of him. From another pocket he pulled a grapefruit. From a pocket with a zippercame a bottle of juice—prune juice. In a large, buttoned pocket, wrapped in foil, he had hidden four large pancakes. Two were covered with jelly; two were covered with ketchup. Finally, he pulled what looked like the largest piece of fried chicken ever seen out of the final pocket.

“What is
that
?” hooted Liza. “Fried chicken for a giant?”

“No, mon,” replied Ziggy with fake dignity as he bit into it. “It's fried turkey. Doesn't everybody eat at Kentucky Fried Turkey?”

Ziggy kept them all laughing as they finished their lunches and watched him gobble his amazing meal. Rico, Rashawn, and Jerome were used to Ziggy's unusual eating habits, but the girls couldn't believe it as Ziggy bit into the grapefruit, skin and all.

After the quick lunch cleanup, the girls wandered down to the lake. Liza took off her shoes and socks and squealed as the chilly water touched her feet. Brandy sat on the rocky beach, snacking on jelly beans and writing in her notebook. Mimi tossed stones into the water, trying to count the ripples and circles as they wobbled on the water. Tiana glanced over at the four boys to see what Rashawn was doing, but he was busy wrestling with Ziggy in the
tall grass. She noticed a small canoe hidden under some bushes near the water's edge.

Tiana wandered over and helped Noni tidy up the campsite, and the two of them sat down and watched the rest of the kids.

“You've got a cool job, Noni,” Tiana said as she looked for four-leaf clovers in the grass.

“I love my job,” Noni replied with enthusiasm. “Every weekend I get to take small groups of children to the woods and let them explore and discover the beauty of nature. I get to take young people like you away from the other side of the park, where it's so crowded with motor homes and portable televisions. This is the real deal.”

They chuckled at the four boys, who were pretending to be Indian braves on a hunt. They shot imaginary arrows from invisible bows, running through the tall grasses of the meadow, darting into the shadows of the trees to hide.

“I got that moose, mon” shouted Ziggy.

“Moose?” asked Jerome. “Why not a squirrel or a rabbit?”

“When Ziggy hunts, he hunts moose, mon”

Rico was on his knees, digging in the soft soil of the meadow. “Look at this funny rock, Rashawn. It's pointed, and it's such an odd color.”

Rashawn looked up from where he had been sitting under a tall pine tree, pretending not to watch Tiana, who had joined the other girls by the water. “Let me see it.” The rock was dirty, but was very light in color. “Let's take it down to the water and rinse it off.”

“I'll race you” yelled Rico as he sprinted across the meadow. Rashawn's long legs soon caught and passed Rico. Jerome and Ziggy raced also, but Jerome won easily because Ziggy's purple coat got wrapped around his legs and slowed him down.

Rico took the rock down to the water's edge and carefully washed it off. He rubbed the dirt with his fingers and with a soft stick he'd found. His heart began to beat faster. “I think I've found something really cool,” he whispered.

No one heard him, because Rashawn had dumped a handful of cold lake water down Tiana's back, and
she screamed and ran down the small, rocky beach. Mimi and Brandy had grabbed Jerome and were trying to pull him into the water. He was strong enough to shake them off, but when Liza headed over to join them, he broke free of the girls and ran laughing in the other direction.

Rico called to Ziggy, who was running toward the girls. “Look, Ziggy—what do you think this is?”

Ziggy took the small, clean stone from Rico's hand. But it wasn't a rock. It was clear like a crystal—he could see the palm of his hand beneath it. It was shaped like a small pine tree, sharply pointed, with sharp edges on each side.

“Hey, mon,” whispered Ziggy with respect. “I think you have found a real live Indian arrowhead”

“LET'S GO SEE IF WE CAN FIND SOME MORE ARROW-
heads” Rico shouted. He and Ziggy ran over to the spot where Rico had been digging. They dug furiously with their fingers and hands in the soft, black dirt, but all they found were dirty old rocks and worms.

“Who do you think it belonged to?” Rico asked as he wiped the dirt off his hands and looked down at the clear, shining arrowhead.

“I think it's pretty special, mon,” Ziggy replied. “Most arrowheads are made of stone or some sort of rock. This one almost looks like a crystal.”

“Should we show Noni?” Rico asked.

“Let's wait, mon,” Ziggy suggested. “Let's just wait a bit.”

Rico agreed and put the arrowhead carefully into his pocket. They walked back down to the beach where Noni was showing the girls how to put a worm on a hook to fish.

“EEEK” screamed Mimi. “It jumped out of my hand Now I don't have to do this.”

Rico ran over and picked up the worm. “Here, Mimi,” he said with a grin. “I think you dropped your worm.” He smashed the worm into her hand. She screamed again and threw it at him. Rico chuckled and ducked.

Liza had baited her own hook and now stared at the water, waiting for a bite. “Shhh” she whispered fiercely. “You'll chase away my fish.”

Ziggy and Rico called to Rashawn and Jerome, and the four boys walked down the beach a little ways from where the girls were fishing. “We got something to show you, mon,” Ziggy told them.

Rico pulled the arrowhead out of his pocket and showed them.

“It's quartz,” stated Jerome. “That was a very special arrowhead—used for special occasions or special people.”

“How do you know so much?” asked Rashawn.

“Don't you remember? I did a report in school last year on Native Americans. I remember what I read about the arrowheads because I thought it would be really cool to find one,” Jerome explained. “What are you going to do with it?”

“I don't know yet,” Rico admitted. “I have a feeling there's something
very
special about this.” They all agreed.

“Let's ask Noni what she knows about the Native Americans who used to live here,” Jerome suggested.

“Yeah, mon, and she's got to tell us about the dude named Caesar, too,” added Ziggy.

“I think she knows a lot,” Rico said. “Doesn't she look a little like an Indian to you?”

“Just because she's got long black hair doesn't make her Indian. She looks Black to me,” commented Rashawn.

“I thought she was Chinese, mon” Ziggy
exclaimed. “What difference does it make? I'm hungry”

By the time everyone finished fishing, the shadows of the evening were beginning to darken the skies over the lake. Mimi had caught six fish—more than anybody—and she carried them proudly back to the camp with the others.

The neat pile of sticks over a circle of rocks was ready to become their campfire. Noni said, “Come and look closely. I'm going to show you a very special method of starting a fire.”

“You gonna rub two sticks together?” Rico asked.

“No, you gotta rub a stone and a flint,” said Jerome with authority.

“No, that's not it,” Noni said with a little mystery in her voice. “Are you ready? Here is it is”

Tiana gasped as Noni pulled out a book of matches. Everybody groaned and laughed. Noni started the fire and showed them how to keep it safe. It sparkled and crackled with bright orange fire.

“Let's fry this fish now,” she said as she pulled a pan out of her pack.

“We're gonna eat dead fish, mon?” asked Ziggy.

Mimi laughed. “No, Ziggy,” she teased. “We're gonna eat live fish instead”

“Well, that's better” Ziggy replied.

Noni just shook her head at Ziggy as she showed them how to prepare and cook the fish they had caught. The sizzling smell of frying fish made the campers realize how hungry they were. Noni added some sliced potatoes and onions, and dinner was ready in no time. Cold water from their canteens topped off the meal.

“Delicious” Ziggy burped as he finished the last of his dinner.

“I'd never eat this at home,” admitted Liza. “But it was really good.”

“Thanks,” Noni replied. “I'm glad you liked it. Now let's get this stuff cleaned up.”

Everyone pitched in. Rashawn collected the paper plates and cups and tossed them into a trash bag, while Tiana collected all of the rest of the trash. Liza and Brandy gathered more sticks and branches for the fire, and Ziggy and Rico ran down to the edge
of the lake to wash the pan. Jerome followed them with the plastic forks.

“Look, mon” cried Ziggy. “I wonder who owns that canoe.”

“I know how to paddle a canoe,” Rico boasted. “My dad taught me last summer when I went to visit him.”

“I wish we could try it out, mon,” Ziggy said wistfully. “It looks like it's been hidden here awhile. Do you think Noni knows it's here?”

“Probably not,” Jerome figured. “Look how old it is. It hasn't been used for a very long time.”

“Let's get back,” Rico suggested. “We'll check it out in the morning.”

Darkness was falling quickly. The fire at the campsite looked bright and inviting. The boys raced back to it as the shadows of the evening became the blackness of night.

“Gather around the fire,” Noni called. “Bring your sleeping bags to sit on. I've got a story to tell you”

Jerome, Ziggy, and Rico sat together on Rico's bag. Mimi sat next to Noni, while Liza and Brandy sat on the other side
of the circle. The only space left was next to Tiana, so Rashawn plopped down beside her. She smiled shyly. His look told the boys they'd better not dare tease him. Ziggy rolled on the sleeping bag, hands covering his mouth, trying not to burst out laughing.

The fire at the middle of their circle was warm and cheerful. Beyond it lay only darkness. Everyone stared at it for a few moments, watching it eat the sticks and branches with a bright red sizzle and pop.

“Tell us about Caesar,” Mimi whispered.

“A long time ago,” Noni began quietly, “no one lived in what we know as the Ohio Valley except for Native Americans. This was their land, and they roamed from the lakes to the forests and beyond, hunting only what they needed to eat, living in harmony with the land and the animals. The air was clean, the waters were blue, and nature was respected by the people who lived in it and loved it.

“About three hundred years ago, European settlers began to arrive here. Their way of life was very different. They destroyed the forests to build houses and towns. They built large farms on which they grew crops to buy and sell. And instead of trying to live
with
the Native Americans, they chased them out of their own land.”