Flight of the Raven

By Jean Edwards

With the adventures of the tribal founder burning in his mind, Echo Raven
chooses to leave his home village in Nova Scotia to follow the map left by his great
grandfather, Eye of Crow. Although his dream to retrace his great grandfathers
travels seemed to be an easily attainable achievement, the unknown quickly caught
up with him. Without his great strength and intellect he would not have survived
the rigors of the sea, the weather and the unsavory characters plotting against him.
His abilities and fortitude are severely tested.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503574977

Jean Edwards

Jean Edwards was born and grew up in rural Maine. She married a career Navy man and during his tours of duty they raised four children. Their travels included six crossings of the United States by auto. She draws her stories from her experiences with the places and people she encountered. She enjoys writing poetry, novels and children’s fiction. She has published seven historical novels, several books of poetry and multiple children’s books.

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Copyright © 2015 by Jean Edwards.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 10/07/2015

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Contents

Foreword

PART I

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

CHAPER V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

PART II

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

PART III

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

PART IV

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

PART V

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Epilog

Glossary

DEDICATED TO

Alvin Edwards

The Wind Beneath My Wings

References

Indian Nations of North America… National Geographic

Atlas of Indian Nations…Anton Treuer

The World of the American Indian…National Geographic

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Americana

Twelve Thousand Years – American Indians in Maine…Bruce J. Bourque

Webster’s Third New International Dictionary

Photography

Rose Anne Utley

Jeanine Milinazzo

Mary Jo Edwards

Jean Edwards

Shawn Caron

Art work

Jean Edwards

Cover design

Jean Edwards

Technical Assistance

Rose Anne Utley

Jeanine Milinazzo

Alvin Edwards

Mary Jo Edwards

FOREWORD

T HE SETTLING OF Nova Scotia by various peoples created small villages of diverse ethnic populations. The settling began with some deserters from the explorations of Eric the Red in 982 and was followed by the French, British, Scots and Dutch. The French called it Arcadie and the Scots named it Nova Scotia, or New Scotland. Trading freely with the new settlers, many natives became proficient in the languages of the encroachers.

These settlers considered the land to be free for the taking, disregarding the practice of the natives who lived there without ownership, but roamed freely and established their own villages which had always been moved about as they willed. The idea of non-ownership which had been the American native’s cultural disposition was unsustainable with the influx of the outsiders. There was no open war, but prejudice was inevitable.

When Eye of Crow and his friend, Black Badger left New England and travelled north to escape the white man’s intrusion, they learned of unsettled land across the water east of Canada. They built canoes (also umiaks which Eye of Crow had learned from the Inuit) and moved their families to the land we know as Nova Scotia. Few white men were there but more came as the years passed. The descendants of Eye of Crow realized that the white man was there to stay and that all races must make every effort to accommodate the others in a changing world.

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ECHO RAVEN (ekeu raeven)

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WINONA (NONIE) MOONFLOWER

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KATYA PETERSEN

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ERIC OERSTED

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CAPTAIN DUVEY

BenDuvey.jpg

BEN DUVEY

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CROW WING

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ANGIE FISHBORNE

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PART I

CHAPTER I

T HE ONLY DISCERNIBLE sounds emanating from the area near the river bank were those of the water softly bubbling over stones that had been smoothed by years of water wear and the quiet rustling of leaves made crisp by cool autumn days, days when the maples blazed the hillsides with color announcing the last gasp of summer warmth, the signals that winter would soon be creeping over the countryside. With the first fluttering flakes due at any moment, a sense of urgency hung in the air.

Certainly there was urgency by the dancing stream where a young native girl struggled and writhed in an attempt to deliver her child. Her agony had been so prolonged that, breaking tradition, her mate had left the village and ventured to the birthing place by the stream.

As was the custom, Miatak had not uttered a sound throughout the labor, and now she lay, exhausted, unable to bring forth her child. Crow Wing swung down from his horse and went to her side, planning to find some way to assist with the birthing, but he was too late. Touching her forehead he felt the cooling of her body and placing his hand on her breast he felt no heartbeat.

Stroking her raven black hair, he held her close and laid a hand on the mound that he had hoped would be his son. To his surprise, he felt movement, a soft kick from within Miataks womb. Then he felt it again, harder, then harder still. With amazement, Crow Wing realized his child was still fighting for his life.

Slowly, Crow Wing withdrew his knife from the sheath at his side and carefully made an incision across the belly of his beloved until a foot appeared in the opening. Grasping the extended foot, he pulled, and a second foot kicked free, until at last he was able to grasp the child and remove him from his ashen mother. With kicking and flailing of fists the child finally drew breath and his angry cry echoed throughout the forest.

Quickly tying a thong about the umbilical cord, Crow Wing severed it from Miatak, releasing his son from the bondage of her womb.

Placing the babe in the wrap Miatak had brought for her newborn, Crow Wing held his mate once more in his arms.

You have a son, Miatak. He is very large and healthy. You have given me a strong warrior to carry on the name of Crow, but he will not be called Crow. He is larger than any newborn I have ever seen. And he is loud. He shouts now with a voice that echoes through the forest. He will be called Echo Raven."

Knowing that he must find a nurse for his son as soon as possible, Crow Wing dug a grave near a tree by the river and after wrapping her in his blanket he laid his beloved to rest where his son had been birthed. Then, with his son in his arms he mounted his horse and headed for the village. There were many with newborns and he would find one willing to feed him. He dreaded the sad news he must deliver to secure care for Echo Raven. He had lost Miatak but he had a son.

Clutching Echo Raven to his chest, Crow Wing thought about all the nights he and Miatak had lain in each other’s arms. His vision of those nights was so clear he could feel the warmth of her body in his loins and the rapture of their love pounding in his head as he journeyed back to the village cradling his son. His son, HIS SON, Echo Raven, too large to be born normally, had entered the world by his father’s hand. The circumstance of his birth was a prediction that Echo Raven was destined to lead an exemplary life.

CHAPTER II

E CHO RAVEN’S CHILDHOOD was ordinary in his raising, but he was not ordinary in that he was always the tallest and strongest of all the village boys with whom he played. He was the fleetest of foot, the most proficient with the bow and arrow and the most formidable of all opponents at La Crosse. He was the dream son of every father and Crow Wing was justly proud. He saw Miatak in his son’s smile and raven black hair and he felt that all the good traits of his ancestors had come together in Echo Raven. He would never ask more of the Great Spirit for himself, only that his son live a happy life and perhaps someday have sons of his own.

When Echo Raven reached manhood and had proven himself a great hunter and a credit to the tribe, Crow Wing decided it was time to reveal to his son all that had gone before, – the origin of their tribe and how the village had been the result of the adventures of his great grandfather, Eye of Crow. The time had come to give his son the chest that had been handed down from Eye of Crow to Crow Feather, to Crow Wing and now to Echo Raven.

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With much ceremony, Crow Wing retrieved the chest from under his sleeping place in the lodge and placed it in his son’s hands.

Guard this well, my son. It is the treasure of your heritage. Someday you will pass it on to your own son, to keep and to cherish. Your great grandfather made many sacrifices in the establishment of this village. It is a proud heritage and I am sure you will carry on the family with great honor.

The chest was no longer than the length of a fox from nose to tail, but wider and deeper than a fox’s tail by itself. Crow Wing had presented the small chest with deep reverence. Taking it back, he slowly opened the lid that had been secured by a hasp-like fastener of leather that was secured to the top. A slit in the end of the leather band allowed the strap to be slipped over a round button made of bone.

Crow Wing first removed a large piece of folded leather. Opening the folds he laid it flat on the floor of the lodge where the two sat before the fire.

This is the map drawn by Eye of Crow. It shows the travels of your great grandfather. He was born far to the south, far, far away where the white man rules. It was not always so. Once, all the land to the south was the land of the Penobscots, the Mic Macs, and all the other Algonquian nations. The white man came across the big water and brought disease. Our people could not fight the pestilence they brought and more died than lived. Your great grandfather, Eye of Crow, brought his family here to preserve our way of life and even preserve life itself. He traveled to a far country across the great sea but returned to save his family. This map will tell you of his travels.

Reaching once again into the box, he extracted a small seal carved of whale bone, then a standing bear.

These were carved by Eye of Cow while he was on his travels. He carved many but they were sold to buy his passage home on a big ship.

Finally the last item was removed from the bottom of the wooden chest.

This is called compass, he said. It is magical."

Holding a round brass case in his hands, Crow Wing opened the cover, revealing the face of the compass. He pointed to the slender arm of a dial that trembled as it searched for True North. When the trembling and searching ceased and the arm quieted with the pointed end resting on the N, he said, See, the magic arm points. If you become lost you can follow the direction the arm points and you will not wander in circles. Your great grandfather would have been lost at sea during his travels and you would never have been born if this compass did not exist. It is one of the few things of value given by the white man, and it is the most valuable of all these treasures.

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THE COMPASS

Crow Wing carefully closed and fastened the compass lid and replaced the items in the small chest, buttoned the hasp and handed the chest to Echo Raven.

Here, he said, You are now the guardian of our family treasure, for I grow old. You must pass it on someday when you have a son.

Thank you, Father. I will guard these things with my life. I have been planning to go to the land of my ancestors and the compass will keep me from losing my way. I hope you will give your blessing to such a journey.

You must go where your heart tells you, my son, he said, as he