Read Online White Ghost and the Poison Arrow by Kellie Steele - Free Book Online
Authors: Kellie Steele
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I'm not crazy!”
“I beg to
differ.”
“I SAID
ENOUGH!” Mato bellows. An awkward silence follows but the bickering
stops. Arella can't help but laugh softly to herself. This is all
because she was silly enough to let Nashoba see her in the tree.
It's nice seeing people fight like this. However strange that
sounds. Its friendly fighting, like brothers arguing. It's nice to
see such closeness. With that the training continues again.
Sparring with each other. Arella watches closely. She watches the
way the men move, and how the others counter it. Doahte changes
subject to something a little more serious and the faces of all of
the young men change, become darker and more worried.
“So how long is
this trial we are going on then?” Doahte asked.
“As long as it
takes I guess. Most men are away for years. You know that.” Mato
answers. “My brother only just got back a couple of weeks ago
remember, and he was gone for a little over two years.” He pauses.
“At least all four of us are going at the same time, rather than
separately. It could have been worse... You could have been going
on your own Doahte.”
“So we walk all
the way to the snowy mountains, through the black wood on the other
side, visit the elders and they test whether we are ready to become
men or not, then we come home? Is that right?” Nashoba asks.
“Well I'll be
coming back... But I don't know about you ghost boy.” Nootau
quips.
“I swear to the
gods Nootau. One more time. Go on I dare you!”
“Oooohhhhhh.
You dare me do you?” With this Nashoba moves to strike Nootau
again. Mato catches his fist in mid-air and squeezes it till
Nashoba falls to his knees.
“I think
training is over for now boys. Back home before these two knuckle
heads kill each other.” Mato lets go of Nashoba's hand. “Come on
lets go.” As the men walk away, Arella can still hear their
conversation.
“It doesn’t
sound too hard Mato. Are you sure your brother wasn’t exaggerating
when he said it was hard?” Nootau asks.
“And when was
the last time my brother exaggerated about anything?”
“When was the
last time he didn’t exaggerate?”
“Name one
time?” Mato is getting agitated now, but the sound is moving away
and getting harder to hear.
“He is always
exaggerating about how many girls follow him around and the size of
his…” Arella can’t hear anymore, but she can guess what they were
saying. She laughs to herself. A slight sadness reaches Arella,
knowing the young men will be leaving soon, but she will see them
again before they go. She will make sure of this.
So the men will be leaving soon to go on a quest to become
men. All the men in her village had to do was start to grow hair on
their faces, and they were considered men. Arella must remember
that she is no longer a member of her old village, she is now
technically a lone wolf, living and hunting on her own. She has
learnt a lot from the men in the village, and she will continue to
learn as she practices things herself. The men leave and Arella
climbs down from the tree once again. “ Soon
I'll have been in so many trees that I actually become one of
them.” Arella thinks.
Arella then
continues what she set out to do and collects the larger branches
and loads them into her deer skin bag. On her way back to her home,
with a deer skin bag getting heavier and heavier, Arella starts
thinking about the trail the young men in the tribe have to do, and
what kind of things it must entail. Obviously the walk through the
snowy mountains is to test endurance, the ability to climb and
withstand the cold temperatures. This must also mean things like
making a fire, shelter and hunting. Can’t be too hard. These are
skills the men are taught from birth. The endurance might be a
little harder however. Even Arella knows how far away the snowy
mountains are, and they cover a vase expanse themselves. She also
knows of the animals that live in those mountains. Big black bears
bigger than
“I beg to
differ.”
“I SAID
ENOUGH!” Mato bellows. An awkward silence follows but the bickering
stops. Arella can't help but laugh softly to herself. This is all
because she was silly enough to let Nashoba see her in the tree.
It's nice seeing people fight like this. However strange that
sounds. Its friendly fighting, like brothers arguing. It's nice to
see such closeness. With that the training continues again.
Sparring with each other. Arella watches closely. She watches the
way the men move, and how the others counter it. Doahte changes
subject to something a little more serious and the faces of all of
the young men change, become darker and more worried.
“So how long is
this trial we are going on then?” Doahte asked.
“As long as it
takes I guess. Most men are away for years. You know that.” Mato
answers. “My brother only just got back a couple of weeks ago
remember, and he was gone for a little over two years.” He pauses.
“At least all four of us are going at the same time, rather than
separately. It could have been worse... You could have been going
on your own Doahte.”
“So we walk all
the way to the snowy mountains, through the black wood on the other
side, visit the elders and they test whether we are ready to become
men or not, then we come home? Is that right?” Nashoba asks.
“Well I'll be
coming back... But I don't know about you ghost boy.” Nootau
quips.
“I swear to the
gods Nootau. One more time. Go on I dare you!”
“Oooohhhhhh.
You dare me do you?” With this Nashoba moves to strike Nootau
again. Mato catches his fist in mid-air and squeezes it till
Nashoba falls to his knees.
“I think
training is over for now boys. Back home before these two knuckle
heads kill each other.” Mato lets go of Nashoba's hand. “Come on
lets go.” As the men walk away, Arella can still hear their
conversation.
“It doesn’t
sound too hard Mato. Are you sure your brother wasn’t exaggerating
when he said it was hard?” Nootau asks.
“And when was
the last time my brother exaggerated about anything?”
“When was the
last time he didn’t exaggerate?”
“Name one
time?” Mato is getting agitated now, but the sound is moving away
and getting harder to hear.
“He is always
exaggerating about how many girls follow him around and the size of
his…” Arella can’t hear anymore, but she can guess what they were
saying. She laughs to herself. A slight sadness reaches Arella,
knowing the young men will be leaving soon, but she will see them
again before they go. She will make sure of this.
So the men will be leaving soon to go on a quest to become
men. All the men in her village had to do was start to grow hair on
their faces, and they were considered men. Arella must remember
that she is no longer a member of her old village, she is now
technically a lone wolf, living and hunting on her own. She has
learnt a lot from the men in the village, and she will continue to
learn as she practices things herself. The men leave and Arella
climbs down from the tree once again. “ Soon
I'll have been in so many trees that I actually become one of
them.” Arella thinks.
Arella then
continues what she set out to do and collects the larger branches
and loads them into her deer skin bag. On her way back to her home,
with a deer skin bag getting heavier and heavier, Arella starts
thinking about the trail the young men in the tribe have to do, and
what kind of things it must entail. Obviously the walk through the
snowy mountains is to test endurance, the ability to climb and
withstand the cold temperatures. This must also mean things like
making a fire, shelter and hunting. Can’t be too hard. These are
skills the men are taught from birth. The endurance might be a
little harder however. Even Arella knows how far away the snowy
mountains are, and they cover a vase expanse themselves. She also
knows of the animals that live in those mountains. Big black bears
bigger than
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