Skullduggery at Quanah (eBook)

Dennis Call (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
307 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-8062-5 (ISBN)

Is young Jonathan Parker prepared to succeed in the quest assigned him as the Fifth-Son? The Fifth-Son prophecy was decreed by Comanche Chief Peta Nocona more than one hundred-fifty years previous. The Great Spirit directed Chief Peta to bury an artifact atop Medicine Mound, that holy and sacred place where healings, revelations, and miracles frequently took place among the Comanche in North Texas. There, the Chief proclaimed the Fifth-Son prophecy. Intrigue and adventure are in store for this young man who is now entering his years of adulthood. He must determine whom he can trust, and why are his parents, Ma and Sir, always relocating to a new home about every six months? What is the To-sah-wi Alliance and his connection to it? Is Sir an honorable man? If so, why is he so troubled? And why does Ma show such distaste for the area around Quanah, Texas? Twists and turns await the reader as Jonathan takes on the role of the Fifth-Son.

Jonathan has been in training all eighteen years of his life. Exactly what this intense training is for, he does not know, although the tutoring events in The Big Trees has led him into a "e;feel good"e; world of integrity and honor. But to Jonathan, it was all simply a part of growing up in an atmosphere of doing the right thing. What he cannot understand are reasons for the nefarious obstacles placed before him; but he knows that he must move forward in his uncertain quest. What about his parents? Are they part of the problem? Or are they a part of the solution? Jonathan is shaken as he begins to question his own parental background. Actually, his quest revolves around the big question: "e;In whom can I trust?"e;This tale of scheming has its roots over a century before Jonathan is even born. Comanche Chief Peta Nocona, his son Quanah Parker, and the captivating area around Quanah, Texas, are the setting for this fascinating story. Chief Peta Nocona's Fifth-Son Vision and Prophecy, while atop Medicine Mound, leads to adventure, intrigue and danger for young Jonathan Parker. Will he succeed? And if he doesn't, who will take his place as the Fifth-Son?

The present is inextricably

Shaped by the past

Chapter 1 – JONATHAN

His name is Jonathan, and he has now reached full manhood. Jonathan will be celebrating his eighteenth birthday in three days and that is about all he knows for certain about himself. The word celebrates as applied to his birthday is a gross misnomer but that’s how everyone he has ever known refers to their birthday; so Jonathan applies it to himself every year.

In a sense, he knows birthdays are important because every year, his father has said to him, “Today is your birthday. You are now … (whatever his age happened to be that year).” No other recognition of the eventful day has ever occurred … except for his twelfth.

Now, his eighteenth birthday is on the horizon, the thirteenth day of September. He wonders what is in store for him. Jonathan is not a worrisome fellow, but he considers his actions with very careful thought.

In truth, as he reflects on the past years, he has learned quite a lot, but he hasn’t been certain how much of it applies to him. What he really is certain about is that he must be at a certain spot near the Texas panhandle early on his eighteenth birthday. He feels that he is prepared for whatever will occur.

Sitting there by himself just outside of Krum, Texas in his private spot, his mind wanders. He begins to think and contemplate all that he can recall about his life, his parents, and the mysteries that have seemed to surround everything he has ever known. His has been a thoughtful, introspective and reflective life.

********************

Jonathan’s musings this day begin early. It is Sunday morning, and he is at the Super 8 Hotel in Denton, having spent the night there. It is located only a few minutes east of Krum, and it is quite adequate for him.

He is trying to hurry to the free breakfast buffet before it is all picked over, but the reflections just keep rolling through his mind. This slows him down a bit. Actually, today’s thoughts really began as he drifted off to sleep last evening and it seems that the thought process continued without changing throughout the night.

Even in my very early years, I probably knew more about life in general than about myself. One of my very earliest memories is of the regular relocations of our small family of three.

I think I was about four years old at the time of my first recollection. My father, whom I have always called “Sir” walked into the kitchen of our home and simply said, “It is time to move.” My mother, Ma, gave a cursory nod of her head and said, “Ok, I will have my things ready by noon.” We packed up our belongings and were on the road within hours.

Jonathan’s dreams last night covered a lot of territory, timewise speaking. He had retraced the early years of his life, confirming the family’s somewhat odd lifestyle.

The young man’s reminiscing continues as he moves through his morning transformations. He goes from his sleepy state of mind to being fully alert, and ready for the day while trying to be the first in the hotel breakfast line.

We had moved with some degree of regularity, from Texas to Colorado, to Missouri and back to Texas. It was always in that circular or triangular rotation.

Whenever Sir announced, “It is time to move,” we were soon loading the van and driving away from our home. We seldom stayed in one location more than six months or so. But each new place that we called “home” was in the same general area where we had lived sometime before; and it frequently presented a bit of a new challenge for me.

Reaching the hotel elevator, he anxiously pushes the button, and the doors open immediately. Wow, a really good sign! He smiles inwardly at the thought.

Actually, the challenge was two-pronged. First was my apparently inborn desire for my own personal space. I really wanted to find a physical spot where I could be by myself and just think. Ma called it my place to dream; Sir called it a fantasy world and disapproved of any time being spent in such idleness.

I sure did not know how to define it, but I knew that I felt something rather special while in this secret place. Second, I was a relatively small kid in the beginning but as I grew older, I also grew taller … and heavier; I am now six feet-two inches tall and weigh about one-hundred-eighty pounds. Seclusion seemed more difficult with each relocation.

Oops, I forgot to push the down button and now the elevator is going up instead of down. Dangit!

Jonathan is getting irritated at his own lack of attention, but the reminiscing does not stop.

No one really knew what was going on in this private place, and I wasn’t so sure either … at the beginning. I just knew how good I felt inside myself whenever I spent time there.

I even had a special name for this place, but I just kept it to myself; I don’t know why, but I guess maybe it is part of my desire for privacy.

My first experience in one of these places occurred when I was about age five, and I found it in an area of tall trees with a lot of underbrush. There I fabricated a “room” where I could see out, but no one could see in.

Ma works a lot with reeds to make baskets and the such. She calls it weavin’ and I picked up the knack from her. So, when I discovered my place in the trees, it was easy for me to weave the tiny and small branches into a sort of see-through blind.

I named the spot The Big Trees; from then on, every secret place regardless of its makeup became The Big Trees to me.

In this really neat and private place, I have had a lot of happenings that are both exciting and mysterious; they are each spiritual and emotional in intensity. These experiences are actually the reasons I am here today.

Jonathan finally makes it to the eating room in the hotel. Loading his plate with his favorite breakfast food, sausage gravy and biscuits, he checks the scrambled egg warmer. His intent is to see if he might want to include some to his already filled plate; he adds a couple of large scoops of eggs to the top.

But, he thinks, I sure wish they would add some small dill pickle pieces to the eggs.

Bowing his head as Sir has always insisted, Jonathan offers a silent thanks and begins to eat. However, not even the hearty breakfast can take his mind off of the impressive happenings of his younger years; those years that have brought him here, to Krum, Texas on Sunday September 10, 2017, three days before his eighteenth birthday.

The first time it happened, I was really left in a stupor. I was only a kid … nearing my sixth birthday … but a very inquisitive kid. It was comforting and scary at the same time.

During my fifth or sixth time in The Big Trees, I was thinking about Ma and Sir; their kindness and how I liked being with them. My mind was roaming, and I drifted into sleep.

I didn’t see anyone … or did I? I have often wondered about that. I was certain that I heard a soft female voice coming from some sort of form inside of my secret room.

The voice whispered tenderly, “You are smart. You have a good memory.” The message was whispered to me several times, and when I awoke, I felt really good. There was a neat, warm feeling throughout my body. I liked the feeling, but I also felt as though I had been transported to another sphere. It was such a time of wonderment and joy; I guess a sort of awakening had begun.

I remember as a youngster, time at the special place became quite important to me. I returned to The Big Trees often, as often as Ma and Sir would allow, sometimes three or four times in a week; The voice was something I always hoped would attend. Frequently it did, and the message was the same … at first.

He recalls their next family relocation.

It was important that I find a new Big Trees place. Beginning with this move, the voice and form visited me less frequently, and the communication changed a bit; the messages became more tutorial as the years passed.

But I still always felt that comforting warmth inside. It was a feeling that I had become familiar with, and I knew that there would be a day sometime in the future when I would fully understand the purpose of these special visits.

Finishing his breakfast, he glances around at the other occupants in the room. They are mostly older folks who had helped themselves to food portions just a fraction of the size of his.

How do they seem so healthy and well-fed when they eat so little? he wonders.

Chuckling, he heads for the elevator which will take him to his second-floor room. Simultaneously, his thought process moves to another aspect of his life.

I have always wished for a little brother or sister; in fact, I brought it up to Sir once; the answer was a resolute, “One is enough!”

One day, I had told Ma that I wanted more kids in the family. She told me to ask Sir about it; that was the end of any conversation about adding to the family.

At times, when I was small, Ma would hold me on her lap and sing songs to me as we rocked in her old wooden rocking chair; the chair had once belonged to her father, “Gramps.” She spoke of Gramps...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	9.5.2021
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Historische Romane
ISBN-10	1-0983-8062-2 / 1098380622
ISBN-13	978-1-0983-8062-5 / 9781098380625

Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt?

EPUB (Ohne DRM)
Größe: 1,3 MB

Digital Rights Management: ohne DRM
Dieses eBook enthält kein DRM oder Kopierschutz. Eine Weitergabe an Dritte ist jedoch rechtlich nicht zulässig, weil Sie beim Kauf nur die Rechte an der persönlichen Nutzung erwerben.

Dateiformat: EPUB (Electronic Publication)
EPUB ist ein offener Standard für eBooks und eignet sich besonders zur Darstellung von Belletristik und Sachbüchern. Der Fließtext wird dynamisch an die Display- und Schriftgröße angepasst. Auch für mobile Lesegeräte ist EPUB daher gut geeignet.

Systemvoraussetzungen:
PC/Mac: Mit einem PC oder Mac können Sie dieses eBook lesen. Sie benötigen dafür die kostenlose Software Adobe Digital Editions.
eReader: Dieses eBook kann mit (fast) allen eBook-Readern gelesen werden. Mit dem amazon-Kindle ist es aber nicht kompatibel.
Smartphone/Tablet: Egal ob Apple oder Android, dieses eBook können Sie lesen. Sie benötigen dafür eine kostenlose App.
Geräteliste und zusätzliche Hinweise

Buying eBooks from abroad
For tax law reasons we can sell eBooks just within Germany and Switzerland. Regrettably we cannot fulfill eBook-orders from other countries.