Hannah

© 2011 by Schiffchenfeld Funada. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 09/14/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4567-8954-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-8955-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-8956-5 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

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Contents

CHARACTERS in HANNAH

PROLOGUE

On The Ledge of Mt. Ouija

CHAPTER TWO

The Stranger

CHAPTER THREE

Falii, My Son

CHAPTER FOUR

Push War

CHAPTER FIVE

Chief Jeroi and Yasiroi

CHAPTER SIX

Brave Dog Amati

CHAPTER SEVEN

Secret Skills

CHAPTER EIGHT

Parting

CHAPTER NINE

Kingdom Kamui

CHAPTER TEN

Reinforcements

CHARACTERS in HANNAH

PROLOGUE

On The Ledge of Mt. Ouija

In the pre-dawn light, a wagon appears on the horizon like a ghost ship adrift on the sea. A disheveled figure, tangles of hair hanging about his shoulders, sits on the seat. Sunken cheeks, a pale face, and vacant eyes betray the fact that both he and his horse have not eaten for days. In the dim morning light, his eyes catch sight of farmland. There they are, he mutters weakly, the fields at the foot of Mt. Ouija. I’ll soon be there.

Mount Ouija shoots straight up into the sky. Sheer cliffs rise from the farmland below and halfway up, a ledge juts out powerfully to the east. He can barely focus his eyes, but it seems that only a little snow is left on the peak. He sees some movement on the ledge. What is it? But when he tries to focus, the vision melts away.

It must be an illusion. I’m deathly tired. I’m… . see… ing… thin… gs. He slumps over in the wagon, unconscious. The horse plods methodically toward the fields now glistening with dew. It follows its instincts, sensing that food and water are near.

The movement on the ledge is no illusion. It isn’t a deer or a phantom, but rather three children—a girl and two boys—who are delighting in the beautiful sunrise.

It’s really beautiful, isn’t it? says the girl. Her hair glistens in the morning sunshine and her braids, decorated with red flowers, hang down over her delicate shoulders. Her arms and legs are skinny like an antelope’s. She is around ten years old.

The boys are slightly older, with longer legs and larger arms. Hannah, look at the rising sun. It’s such a beautiful crimson. It’s coloured the entire sky and all of the clouds. I’ve never noticed that the colour of the rising sun is crimson. Muuri exclaims.

I know! It’s the first time I’ve seen the rising sun so close. It’s so big, so near!

The spectacle continues until the entire eastern sky is bathed in a rich crimson.

Hannah, try to catch it! It’s so close to you now! The tall boy urges.

You try it, Muuri. Don’t be afraid. C’mon. Try!

Shush! Don’t spoil the moment! We wanted to see it and now our dream has come true. I thought the sun was pure red, but it’s not. It’s a mix of purple and crimson, actually. Look! It’s growing bigger and bigger, says the other boy.

The sun continues its journey through the sky until all of creation feels its warmth. The three children realize that all living things regain their vitality at this moment. They stand silent for a moment, taking it all in.

I think we should get back. We haven’t much time before the morning meeting in Kulan. Muuri’s voice shakes them from their reverie. Konti, you take the rear. Hannah, you follow me. Let’s go. Muuri picks up his rope and bag and Hannah and Konti follow, gazing wistfully at the sun, as if pleading for it to grant a wish before they leave.

Shh! Be quiet! Do you hear that? Hannah stops. I hear something, something behind us. Listen! Do you hear it? It sounds like the chirping of a bird or something. They follow the sound to a crack in the rocks. Look, something’s squirming around in there. It’s a chick! Oh, you poor thing. How did you get in there?"

Hannah, can you reach it? I think your arm can fit in that crack. Try to get it.

Hannah tries to reach the little chick, but the crack is too narrow and deep. I need something to get it out. Give me some string or something. Muuri, give me your shoestring. Hurry! Peering back down the hole, she says, There, there little one. I’ll get you out of there. Don’t worry. Hold still. Hold still. She lowers the little rope into the crack and, after several attempts, ever-so-gently loops it around the chick’s leg. I’ve got it!" she screams.

Careful. Slowly, slowly, Konti guides her, as she brings the chick up from within the narrow crack. At last, Hannah is holding the little chick in her hands. Its eyes are closed against the bright morning sun. It has soft, downy brown feathers and Hannah falls in love with it at once.

I’m gonna take it back to the village

But how? counters Konti.

I’ll carry it in my hands if I have to. I can’t just leave it here all alone, the poor thing.

The boys don’t think this is such a good idea but they know that once Hannah’s mind is made up, there’s no way to change it. Then Hannah, make a pouch and hang it around your neck. You’ll need to keep your hands free. It was a hard climb up here, but the climb down is even harder. Muuri, you help her if she needs it, OK? Konti’s words make Hannah happy. Beaming brighter than the sun, she puts the chick in her neckerchief and carefully ties it around her neck.

I’m ready. We’ve spent too much time here already and there’s not much time before the council meeting. Let’s hurry.

Konti leads the way, Hannah follows with the chick chirping inside the cloth around her neck, and Muuri brings up the rear. The descent is much harder than the climb up and takes more time, but finally they reach the foot of the mountain.

If we run, we should be back before breakfast, says Konti. Are you ready? Don’t drop your chick, Hannah. Go!

The three children run back to the village as fast as their legs can take them. They slip into Kulan and take their seats in the council hut.

Fortunately, no-one noticed their daring little escapade as a debate is raging about an uninvited guest in the village. He was found slumped over on the seat of a wagon at the village gate, his horse having guided his wagon this way. He was barely breathing when they found him and the villagers had taken him into a hut and given him food and water. He’d sipped a little water but was too weak to eat. The horse had eaten and drunk and begun to regain some energy.

The villagers were afraid the man might bring disease to them. They feared that he was possessed by the god of death. They could see nothing good coming from this situation and were hesitant to help him. After a heated debate about what to do with the stranger, they put the question to the leader of the village, Great Mother Tauwa.

With wisdom and authority, Great Mother Tauwa spoke. We shall accept him and take care of him. Even the hunter refrains from killing a bird which has flown into his bosom for refuge. Tauwa ordered her assistant, Yoonka, to take care of the traveler and his horse.

For the children, the biggest concern of the day was where to hide the chick and what to feed it. Hannah decided to hide the chick under her bed, but knew this couldn’t last long. At breakfast she didn’t eat much, even though she was hungry from the climb up Mt. Ouija. She was consumed by thoughts of her chick.

For the villagers, the stranger was the big concern. It had been years since a stranger had visited the village. For the members of the Porabi tribe, the words of the Great Mother were never questioned, but accepting a stranger who looked to be on death’s door was to invite bad omens into their lives. Great Mother Tauwa’s childhood friend and faithful confidant, Puelii, couldn’t help feeling that a wave of bad luck had washed over the village.

Hannah moved the little chick to a shed behind Kiva Shrine. It chirped loudly for its mother, its little legs and wings trembling. Peep, peep, peep!

It’s hungry, Hannah. Give it something to eat.

OK, you two look after it while I go and get some food. We have to be careful about coming and going. We have to keep this our little secret. This will be our secret base of operations. Hannah poked her nose out of the shed to make sure no one was around then quickly made her way to her hut. She returned a few minutes later with some soup. Here you go, little chick. I made some vegetable soup for you. She fed the chick a few drops. Look! It’s eating. It likes it.

Let me try, asked Konti.

No! I’ll feed it for a while. After it gets used to me, you can take over.

If he keeps eating like that, our little chick will make it. You know, if we hadn’t climbed up the ledge this morning; if we’d chosen another point on the mountain to watch the sunrise, we would never have found this chick and it probably would have died there, Muuri mused. We did the right thing this morning, but how are we going to take care of our little friend from this shed? We don’t know what to feed it. We don’t even know what kind of bird it is. And how long are we going to be able to keep this a secret? If it gets stronger and bigger, someone will find out. But I believe that this little bird is a gift from heaven. Heaven knew about our adventure from beginning to end and brought this chick to us. It’s not a coincidence that we chose that ledge and it’s not a coincidence that we found this bird. It’s our duty now to take care of him, so let’s promise that we will.

They took turns feeding the chick and soon found out what it liked to eat. They took their roles seriously and learned quickly, but they had no idea that the chick would soon grow into a giant bird.

* * *

Three months earlier, the three children had made the plan for their adventure. Mount Ouija is sacred to the Porabi people. It is most sacred when bathed in the morning sun. For that reason, the children decided to climb the mountain and watch the sunrise from the ledge. They knew that the climb to the peak was too difficult and dangerous for them, but they were sure that they could climb to the ledge. They started to make their plans.

The first few days, they walked until their first objective—the foot of the mountain. Early every morning and whenever they had free time from their chores, they practiced walking faster and faster. They ran through fields and crossed the grassland. They crossed rivers and canals, until at last they had mastered the route.

The second phase of their training was climbing from the foot of the mountain to the ledge. The jagged, vertical rock face soared straight up to the sky and made their climb treacherous, but they didn’t give up. Step by careful step, they found their footing and after two months of this training, they had mastered the second phase. On the last training run, they’d made the climb from the foot of the mountain to the ledge with astonishing speed.

We’ve learned the route from the village to the ledge. Now, we just have to wait for the right time to see the sunrise. We’ll have to get up really early in the morning and walk through the fields and the grassland in cover of darkness, but the moon will light our way and we’ll be able to reach the foot of the mountain. We should be at the ledge before sunrise. We’ll do it at the next full moon. What do you think? Konti? Muuri? Well?

Konti and Muuri nodded in agreement. "Then