Addie clapped her hands. “Oh, yes. I want to see your secret way.”
“Hold on, Addie.” Braden looked at the door. “We have to meet your mother pretty soon. Maybe we should just listen to Davy’s story and go on.”
“Yeah, if I’m late for supper my mom will be real mad,” Dylan said.
“Well, I want to see the secret way. Will it take very long?”
Davy shook his head. “No. It won’t take long. In fact, where we are going I will be able to show you my life story. You can watch what is happening, but no one will be able to see or hear you.”
“What fun,” Addie cried. “That will be so much better that reading a book we have read before. We can see what really happened, and then our story will win the surprise.”
Braden looked around. “How do we get there? People will see us if we go outside.”
Davy chuckled. “We won’t go outside. My way is not only secret. It is magic. Nobody will see us. We can come back whenever you want. But I think you will have a good time.”
“How do we get there?” Addie asked.
Davy held out his hand. “Take my hand. You two grab on too. We all hold hands and then we walk toward that wall.”
Dylan reached for Addie’s hand. “We are going to walk into the wall?”
Braden grabbed Dylan’s hand. “I don’t think it’s real smart to walk into the wall.”
Davy smiled. “Just come with me. Are you ready?” He looked at the three faces staring up at him. They all nodded. “Well then, hold on tight and let’s go.”
The three children squeezed their hands tightly and walked beside Davy toward the wall. As they approached the wall, a circle of light appeared, and they could see green fields and trees on the other side.
“Wow,” Braden said. “Look at that. Where are we going?”
Chapter Three
Davy led the three friends down a tunnel of light. Shortly they emerged into a green hillside. Addie turned around, but the tunnel of light was gone. She turned back and looked down the valley that stretched below them. A river wound its way through the valley. Trees grew thickly on the hillside and in the valley.
“Man, this is really pretty.” Braden shaded his eyes as he looked around.
“It sure is a lot different from Eden Prairie.” Dylan took a deep breath. “Air smells good too.”
“Where’s Davy?” Addie looked around her, but Davy was gone.
The boys looked around too. “I don’t know,” Dylan said. “He was right here with us.”
“What are we going to do?” Braden asked.
“Let’s walk down to the valley. I bet somebody lives down there. Maybe they know where Davy lives.” Addie started to walk away.
“Wait a minute,” Dylan called out. “Davy said nobody could see or hear us.”
Addie shrugged her shoulders. “Oh well. We’ll just have to listen and learn where we need to go. Davy brought us here. I think he had a reason.” She started walking down the hill. Dylan and Braden followed her, and soon they were kneeling on the riverbank, drinking the cool, clear water.
Addie stood up and wiped her mouth. “Look over there.” She pointed above the trees. “There’s some smoke. Let’s go see what it is.”
Dylan shook his head. “What if it’s Indians?”
Addie smiled. “They can’t see us. Remember? Come on. If we’re going to get a story, we need to find Davy.” She walked away and the boys followed her.
Soon they came to a clearing in the forest. A log cabin sat in the middle of the clearing. The children stayed behind the trees and watched the cabin. Soon the door opened and Davy walked out. He had his cap on and carried his rifle. A pretty dark-haired woman walked by his side.
“When will you be back, Davy?” she asked.
“Soon as I get us some meat for supper, Polly. I don’t think it will take too long. There’s a lot of game in this forest. Do you have something special you want?”
“Some deer would be nice. I could make a stew. Or maybe a turkey. I’m baking some bread to go with whatever you bring back.”
Davy leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Have the kids help you today. Don’t let them just play all day.”
“Don’t worry, Davy. They help me a lot. Hurry back.”
“I’ll be home before dark.” Davy walked away, turned and waved, then disappeared into the forest. Polly watched him walk into the forest, then went back inside the cabin.
The friends were watching Davy and Polly so closely that they did not hear the footsteps coming up behind them.
“Want to go hunting?” Davy asked.
The unexpected sound of his voice made all the children jump. They lay on the grass breathing heavily and looking up at Davy. At last Addie found her voice.
“How did you get here? We saw you just walk into the woods over there.”
Davy laughed. “Sometimes I move fast. Come on. We’ve got food to find.”
The children followed Davy down a forest path. The tall trees blocked out most of the sunlight and it was cool in the woods, even though the sun was shining. Davy did not talk as he led them deeper into the woods. He moved quietly and turned his head from side to side watching for any sign of game. None of the children talked as they followed Davy. They watched him and were surprised how quietly he moved down the trail.
Suddenly Davy stopped and looked up into a tree. The children looked up and saw a raccoon clinging to a branch and staring down at the group. Davy raised his rifle and pointed it at the raccoon. The children put their hands over their ears in expectation of the rifle’s blast.
Davy slowly lowered his rifle. He gazed at the raccoon and began to grin at the animal. Addie, Dylan, and Braden lowered their hands from their ears and watched as Davy continued to grin at the raccoon. The raccoon seemed surprised as he stared back at Davy. For several minutes the raccoon looked down at the frontiersman who grinned up at him. Finally he climbed to another branch, found his way to another tree and disappeared. Davy watched him go, then shook his head in disappointment.
“What’s wrong, Davy?” Braden asked.
“Oh, I got this idea that I can grin an animal down. I’ve tried it on squirrels, rabbits, and now this raccoon. It doesn’t seem to work. Well, let’s get to hunting. There’s going to be some hungry folks at home tonight.”
Later Davy led the friends back down the trail toward his cabin. A deer was slung over his shoulder, and some rabbits were tied at his belt. When they came to the clearing, they saw that there were some men standing outside Davy’s cabin talking to Polly. She didn’t look very happy.
“Should we stay here, Davy?” Dylan asked.
“No. Come on. They can’t see you. Let’s find out what’s going on.”
Davy walked across the clearing toward the men. Addie and the two boys followed him. “Hello, boys,” he called out. “What’s going on?”
One of the men walked toward him. “Glad you’re back, Davy. We need you to come with us.”
Davy set the deer down on the ground. “Where are we going, Amos?”
Amos looked over at Polly, then back at Davy. “The Red Sticks have gone on the warpath. All the men are meeting in town to go fight them. We need you to join us.”
Davy looked down at the children, who were staring wide-eyed at him.
“Well, friends. Looks like you’re going to have a good story to write for your school.”
Chapter Four
The three friends walked beside Davy as he marched with the column of soldiers heading deeper and deeper into the forest. Some of the men sang or whistled or talked to each other as they walked along, but Davy was silent. Braden turned to Addie.
“What’s wrong with Davy? He hasn’t said a word since we left.”
Addie looked at Davy’s face. He had a little smile on his lips, and his eyes were half closed. “I think he’s thinking about home,” she said. “About his wife and children. He sure hated to leave them this morning.”
Dylan tripped over a tree root. He got up and brushed himself off. “Well, why did he leave? This walking all day is no fun. This forest has too many trees. I’m ready to get back to Eden Prairie.”
Davy looked down at the three children. “You’re right. I miss my family. I wish I was home with them right now. But sometimes a man has to do things to make a better place for his family to live. I want my family to be safe, so I have to leave them for a while to get rid of dangers to them.”
“Do you like to fight?” Braden asked.
Davy shook his head. “No. I don’t like to fight. I wish everybody could get along with each other. But, because I love my family, I am willing to fight for them.” Davy smiled. “And then when I come home, I’ll get some big hugs and we’ll have us a party.”
“What will you do at your party?” Addie asked.
“Why, we’ll cook a big dinner. Then afterward, we’ll sing some songs, maybe dance a little, and I’ll play my fiddle.”
“You can play the fiddle?” Dylan asked. “I wish I could. I am going to take violin lessons this summer. Would you play for us sometime?”
“Sure I will. Tonight when we camp, I’ll play you some real loud tunes. Why, we’ll have those Indians dancing to the music, and they’ll be so happy they won’t want to fight anymore.”
The column moved on, and finally the captain gave the order to stop for the night. Addie, Dylan, and Braden watched as the men set up the camp. Soon fires were blazing and the smell of roasting meat filled the air. The sun was setting as the men finished eating. Most of them lay back on the ground around the fires and talked. Finally one of the men called to Davy. “Hey, Davy. How about giving us a tune on your fiddle?”
Davy thought for a minute. “I reckon we are far enough away that the Indians won’t hear us,” he said.
Davy stood up and walked over to his bag. He reached in and pulled out a fiddle. He tuned it up and then began to play a song. Soon all the men were clapping their hands in time with the music. A few men stood up and began to stomp around. The music got faster, and the dancers kept up with it. Soon it was so fast that the dancing men were twirling like tops. Finally Davy stopped playing and the men fell to the ground, gasping for air while the rest of the camp roared with laughter.
“Wow,” Braden said. “That was some tune. Do you know any more?”
Davy nodded. “I sure do. I know lots of tunes.” He looked at the dancers lying on the ground, gasping for air. “But I don’t know if they could stand another one right now.”
Addie looked up through the trees. She could see the moon shining and the stars twinkling in the night sky.
“This is sure pretty here, Davy. I see why you love this place so much.”
“Yes. This is as pretty a place as God ever made. But there are lots of pretty places. Why, I hear that west of here, there are lands that go on forever. Herds of deer and buffalo. Land just there for the taking. Someday I plan to go and explore that land. I want to know if it is as nice as everybody says it is.”
Dylan yawned, and Davy noticed that the men were getting their bedrolls ready to go to sleep.
“Guess we better get some sleep. I think we’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.”
Addie and the others lay on the soft ground. They listened to the sounds of the night. A dove cooed and another answered. Some unseen animal crashed its way through the thick brush that grew near the campsite. Addie watched as a cloud drifted across the face of the moon, cloaking everything in darkness. Then it just as quickly moved away, and the moonlight bathed the sleeping camp in its shimmering light. She wondered what the next day would hold for them. Soon she began to feel very sleepy. Before long she was sound asleep, along with Braden and Dylan.
In the whole camp only one figure was awake. Davy sat staring into the embers of the fire. He was thinking about his home and family and about how badly he wished he were with them.
Chapter Five
The three children woke up to the sounds of the camp getting ready to move out. They rubbed the sleep from their eyes and stood up. Davy walked over to them and handed each one a piece of bacon and a piece of hard bread.
“Good morning,” he said cheerily. “Are you ready to be moving out?”
Braden looked around at the men falling into line. “Where are we going?” he asked.
Davy pointed down the trail. “About five miles that way, there’s an Indian village. It is the one whose warriors attacked the settlers the other day. We are going to march to that village.”
Dylan started to say something, but an order to fall in was shouted. Davy motioned for the children to follow him and found his place in the line of soldiers. The sun was shining, and soon Addie and her friends were sweating as they walked alongside of Davy.
It felt like they had marched for hours when the command to halt was given. They looked down the trail but were unable to see anything. Some officers came walking down the trail, taking men with them and disappearing into the woods. At last an officer approached Davy and motioned him to follow. They walked into the forest and followed the officer as he led them to an opening in the trees. In a clearing was an Indian village. The soldiers stayed out of sight in the trees as they waited for word to attack.
Addie, Dylan and Braden watched the activity in the camp. Women cooked over open fires while children played around the huts. Dogs sat near the cooking fires in hopes of getting scraps of food. Several men lay around the camp talking and smoking their pipes. Addie thought the scene was like any other family scene. She felt sad when she thought about the coming battle.
A shot was fired on the other side of the camp. Soon all the soldiers were shooting and yelling as they ran toward the Indian camp. The Indians were caught completely by surprise. Women ran screaming through the camp looking for their children. Warriors rushed into their tents to find weapons to meet the attack. Dogs barked, and children looked for somewhere to hide. Smoke from the rifles became so thick that it was hard to see. The children’s nostrils burned from the smell of gunpowder. They stayed back in the woods and watched the fight.
Soon the fighting stopped. The smoke cleared away and the friends saw a group of Indians surrounded by soldiers. Addie, Braden, and Dylan walked down to the camp and stood beside Davy. He leaned on his rifle as he watched the Indians. One of the officers walked up to Davy and said something to him. Davy nodded, then walked over and stood in front of the frightened Indians.