This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any real person is just amazing. All characters are eighteen years and older.
This is the tenth chapter in a series that has amazed me. This is a love story between a boy and a girl. It also is a story of love between people and their way of life. Sadly, it is also a lament to a people whose way of life has been lost. The Lakota lived in harmony with their world and understood nature in way that most of us do not. They lived in balance with their environment and instead of trying to change their environment, they adapted their way of living to their world.
*
The sudden flash of light was followed instantly by darkness. He saw a glimmer of light in the distance and began walking towards it. As he got closer to the light, he felt like he had been here before. It was the
Wanagi Tachanku.
Ryan didn't understand why he was here. He had been riding Bernie and then—he couldn't remember anything else.
Hihankara
looked at Ryan and smiled a toothless grin. "Come closer to me, I need to see if you have the sacred marks before I can let you pass."
Ryan stared at the old crone of a woman—he knew he had seen her before, he just couldn't remember the exact circumstances. As he began to step forward, he heard a loud growl behind him. He turned and faced a large bear standing on his hind legs.
"I don't think you want to go there."
Mato
pointed towards the
Wanagi Tachanku.
Ryan recognized
Mato
and instinctively trusted him. "Why am I here? I should be riding Bernie."
Mato
shook his big furry head. "I don't have the answer for why you are here. All that I know is that you called for me."
"I wish I could remember." Ryan struggled to recall what he had been thinking about.
"Come with me, let's get away from this place."
Mato
nudged Ryan to get him moving.
The darkness disappeared and the sun was shining brightly. Ryan looked up at the sun and figured it to be about midday. The land was flat with an undulating sea of grass as far as the eye could see in any direction.
Mato
swept the horizon with his large paw. "This is what is was like before the White Man came. After the Lakota acquired the horse, this was their home.
Tatanka
fed on the long sweet grass of the plains. The Lakota followed the herds throughout the year.
Tatanka
gave us meat for our bellies. He gave us hides for our lodges and clothing, and sinew for sewing and for our bows. We used his bones for tools. Nothing was wasted."
The bear motioned for Ryan to climb on his back. With Ryan atop his back, the large bear began to run across the flat terrain, gobbling up huge distances with each stride. Ryan watched in wonderment as they passed herds of grazing bison. The plains gave way to the foothills and then to the majestic peaks of the Rocky Mountains. It seemed now that
Mato
bounded from peak to peak with each stride.
When they came to a stop, Ryan climbed off of the bear's back and looked around. "This looks familiar." He loved these grey-blue mountains. The air was sweet with the scent of pine and sage.
Mato
nodded. "It should look familiar, you have been here before."
Ryan's mouth dropped and then he looked at
Mato
. "This is where the cabin was built, where my family first lived when they came to Montana." There was a small clearing with long, green grass where the cabin now stood. This was the place where he wanted to live. If there was a heaven on earth, Ryan thought it must be here.
The sound of running water surprised Ryan. He didn't remember a creek being near the cabin when Uncle Bill had brought him here. "What happened to the creek? It's not there now."
Mato
pointed up the side of the mountain. "A rock slide changed the course of the creek and now it feeds into the larger creek to the west." The bear pointed to the clear water of the creek. "Taste it."
Ryan knelt down and scooped up a handful of the cold water. It tasted fresh and almost sweet. "Tastes good." Ryan stood up and dried his hand on his shirt.
"Too many of our creeks and rivers have become poisoned. Too many of the animals are growing sick and die from the poisoned waters." Ryan could see a look of sadness in
Mato's
eyes as the bear spoke. "Too many have left this world never to come back."
The scene changed again and Ryan found himself standing on the top of Baxter's. It looked much like it had when Charlie had brought him up here. Burial platforms were scattered over the flat top of the mountain.
"This is as it was,"
Mato's
spoke softly. He pointed to a pair of red-tailed hawks soaring high over head.
The sky clouded over and everything went black for a moment. When the light came back, Ryan found that they were still standing on Baxter's, but everything had changed. The roar of heavy equipment filled the air and the stink of a gold processing plant fouled his nose. Heaps of slag dotted the landscape and the place where the burial platforms had stood had been bulldozed flat, trailers for work and living scattered about in a haphazard fashion.
"And this is what could be." There was anger in
Mato's
voice as he rose up on two legs to his full height. He pointed to the sides of the adjoining mountains. Great swaths of virgin timber had been clear cut from the slopes, leaving the earth susceptible to erosion from rain, spring melt, and wind.
Ryan shuddered at the site of the mine. "How could this possibly happen?"
"Greed. It what happens when men only think of riches for themselves. They have forgotten that these things were put here by
