Chapter 5: Monumental Discovery
How did the rose ever open its heart and give to this world all of its beauty? It felt the encouragement of Light against its being; otherwise we all remain too frightened. - Hafiz
Nearly 30 minutes later, the three rendezvous at the intersection of Cave Creek and School House Road – not far from Tate’s family homestead north of Black Mountain. They found Schuyler’s compact pickup truck beat up a bit more than normal, but still drivable. Ayana had taken the keys without discussion, and they were off. Now 9:30 in the morning, the searing sun is beginning to fully peak over the looming mountain just in front of them. Black Mountain sits like a monument, marking the far corner of the Valley, and the beginning of the Desert Foothills. It effectively splits the historic mining town of Cave Creek from the more modern planned community of Carefree. It is a visual oddity with enormous boulders shaped like dead elephants scattered around on the Carefree side.
“This looks like quite the workout,” Schuyler remarks taking a drink of water. “Good thing there’s no football practice again today.”
“Cheer up meat,” Tate responds. “Now you’ll see what real conditioning is all about. I usually run up and down this mountain before soccer two-a-days. Oh yeah, and best go easy on that water. You don’t want to drink it all before we get started.”
“Now, now boys,” Ayana interrupts. “Let’s focus on why we’re here. Schuy thinks he saw the old Mormon Girl mine during his … er…episode,” she says maintaining eye contact with Schuyler. “Let’s head that way.”
“Episode is it now?” Schuyler whispers to Ayana as they begin to follow Tate. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all.”
“Schuy, relax,” Ayana assures him. “Look, maybe that wasn’t the right word. I get a little testy when I’m out of my comfort zone. I don’t think any of us has a handle yet on what really happened – even you. The thing I do know: we will need to trust each other if we’re going to find out whatever it is we’re looking for.”
Tate turns back after overhearing this. “Look we can start this whole trust thing by letting me know more about what he saw.”
“Schuy can fill you in more as we hike the trail,” Ayana replies. “The main thing is that all of this remains only between us at this point. No friends or family members. We have to have a ring of trust among the three of us. Pinky shake on it.”
“Before we pinky shake on this, which I personally believe to be an indelible bond… I mentioned something to my mom about it last night. Not a lot of details, just what I saw, and… maybe something on what Schuy thinks he saw.”
“Seriously?” Schuyler groans. “I mean who does that? Who actually tells their parents anything real?”
“Tate does,” Ayana replies. “LaurAx is cool. She’s been through a lot, and she works with kids with hard luck stories in the hospital. It’s going to be alright. I mean, who’s she going to tell?”
“My mom,” Schuyler responds. “She’ll totally freak out. And then I’ll be in further trouble for not telling her.”
“I don’t think she would bro, as she was focused on what I saw. I’ll make sure to tell her it’s on the Q.T. when I get home.”
Schuyler sighs. “Ok, pinky shake. Nobody breaks the ring.” After this, they quickly head up the rocky, dusty foot path that circumnavigates Black Mountain. Schuyler fills in more details for Tate, all the while keeping a watchful eye out for rattlesnakes.
“Little nervous about snakes?” Tate notices.
“Yeah, we didn’t have rattlers in Western Oregon.”
“Don’t worry, I can recognize where they tend to nest out. Besides, I flush them out by tossing rocks ahead. Get’s their rattles going before we step on them. They are kind enough to answer back.”
“What should we be looking for, Schuy?” Ayana asks.
“Beats me. The message was more of a feeling... Like, I’ll recognize when I see it. Not much to go on… I guess.”
Black Mountain rises approximately 1,500 feet above Cave Creek, although the abandoned mine area is only halfway up the mountain on the western slope. Fifteen minutes later, they reach a point near one of the old abandoned mines, still a good distance from the Mormon Girl mine.
Even in a good year, the desert foothills are dry and dusty, but severe drought this summer has led to increased sightings of coyotes, bobcats, and javelinas. Normally these wild animals avoid human contact and stay in the mountainous areas to the north, but because of the drought, they’ve had to wander in search of water. Residential swimming pools seem to serve this function well, to the shock of homeowners in outlying areas.
Streams of sweat trickle down their faces, as they pause briefly for a water break. Schuyler pulls off his baseball cap and wipes his face with the front of his T-shirt. He scans the hillside for anything that looks familiar or inviting. “There has to be a clue here somewhere.”
“See these stacks of rock scattered around here?” Tate remarks. “Grandfather told me that miners spent years marking off their land claims. Some even found gold, but many didn’t. Lots of work for very little return.”
They proceed further along, and arrive near the mouth of the Rackensack abandoned mine. “Freeze!” Tate exclaims. “Do you hear it? Over there!” He points to a bush nearly 20 feet way. “Horns, that’s a sidewinder! And now she’s coming toward us. Get back!”
Instantly, all three begin back pedaling down the trail. Ayana turns and runs. The three foot snake continues to scoot towards them, in a persistent side-winding pattern. Tate tries to make the snake change direction by shouting and gesturing without any luck. Schuyler searches around frantically for a stick, finding only Jumping Chollas, and other uninviting cacti. Finding nothing suitable, he glances to his left and notices a convenient pile of fist-sized rocks, ideal for hurling. He begins throwing them in the general direction of the snake trying to ward it off. The first few volleys miss the snake in various directions, and do little in altering the persistent snake’s course. Schuyler then lobs a larger rock aiming on the path in front of the snake, which unexpectedly lands on top of the outstretched snake trapping it at its midsection.
The snake furiously begins to panic, wriggling its head and body from side to side, attempting to free itself. Tate instinctively grabs another large rock and approaches within five feet of the snake. “Sorry momma, but you’re in no mood to negotiate, so neither are we.” The snake makes a lunge in the direction of his ankle, falling short a few feet, and then flops to the ground in vain. Tate squarely drops the stone on the snake’s skull. It reflexively straightens out, shakes out its final rattle, and then lays motionless.
“Nice shot man!” Schuyler yells jubilantly.
“Thanks,” he replies somewhat subdued. “You too. We did what we had to do. She was probably trying to protect her nest. Normally they don’t come out in the hot part of the day.”
With blood still pumping in his throat, Schuyler looks over at Tate as if to see him for the first time. Meanwhile, Tate moves in to prod the snake with a longer shaped rock to make sure it’s dead. Ayana angles in behind Tate to get a closer look, keeping a watchful eye on the dead snake.
“This would’ve made a fine ‘rattle snack’ for the folks down at the Jack-A-Lope Cafe,” jokes Tate. “But since we’ve got no bag to carry it in, I think we need to bury it here under some rocks. Grandpa says that a snake can still strike hours after it’s dead. Let’s gather some more of those rocks and cover its entire body, so nobody steps on it by mistake. Scorpions will be loving this.”
Quickly, they grab handfuls of rocks from the pile which just moments ago served as the ammo supply for their snake battle. An eerie wisp of wind blows up the dry mountainside, and they pause until the unnerving sound dies down. They remove a few more layers of rocks when Ayana cries out: “Hang on. There’s something under here.” The boys stop, and a brassy reflection catches their eyes, not sharp like a mirror, but a mor
e muted shimmer, like aged brass.
“What do you think it might be?” Schuyler asks.
“Probably something one of the miners left behind,” she says. “It looks old.” She begins to uncover it.
“Watch out for scorpions, Ayana!” Tate shouts out with only a hint of a smile. She recoils, then gives him the stink eye. “Hey,” he defends, “they like to make nests under rocks like this.”
“Ok, nature boy,” she answers. “You finish clearing off these rocks then. I’ll watch.”
Tate moves in and deftly uncovers the item, and pulls it out of the ground. Using the front of his t-shirt, he wipes off the top of what appears to be an old tin box. “It says here ‘Arizona Territories Tobacco Company’ ”.
“Cool,” says Ayana. It’s one of those old tobacco tins that miners used to mark their claims. I wonder if any documents are still inside.”
“Let’s have a look,” Tate responds. He attempts to open it and finds it won’t budge.
“Hey!” Schuyler reacts. “Let me try the Swiss Army.” Pulling out his pocket knife, Schuyler deftly pries open the lid, taking great pains not to destroy the old tin or its contents. Inside is a neatly rolled piece of parchment.
“What, no gold?” Tate posits.
Ignoring the question, Schuyler tests a corner of the scroll with the tip of his knife to see if it crumbles. While stiff and brittle, oddly it doesn’t disintegrate. He hands the tin to Ayana, unrolls the scroll and reads the title:
Order of Light
A Squire’s Guide for Finding and Rescuing the Light Within
Schuyler walks off a couple of feet away, and inexplicably, collapses to the ground, balls up by bringing his knees to his head, and begins to cry.
Chapter 6: Scroll Brother
We are the ones for whom we have been waiting. - Hopi Elders