Echoes of the Past by Susanne Matthews Page A

waters minutes

ahead of her pursuers. She slides into the marsh, its frigid water numbing her

feet, and squats down in the bulrushes, waiting for her enemies to pass her by

and continue to the edge of the lake where the village keeps its fishing

canoes. She begs the spirits to forgive her for violating their waters this way.
    The men have

almost reached the place where she veered away from the path. Will they see the

telltale signs of her passing? It’s dark, and the moonlight barely reaches the

forest floor. She hears them approach, but they don’t even slow as they

continue along the well-worn trail.
    She moves

slowly through the rushes toward the water’s edge where she’s hidden her canoe.

Last night, she’d risked her life to save him. They’d beaten him so badly, and

there were so many cuts on his beautiful body. His face was a mass of dark

purple bruises, but he refused to leave the island without her. She’d hurried

back to the village so no one would suspect that she’d been the one to release

their prisoner.
    All day, she

sat by the longhouse with the women grinding corn for the winter stores. She

knew they hadn’t found him—they’d looked in the waters of the great river as

she’d hoped. They launched canoes and scoured the riverbank thinking he tried

to return to his people, but they are wrong. He waits for her.
    She sits

shivering in the marsh, listening to their hurried footsteps as they continue

along the trail. They have no need for stealth. Where can she go? The path leads

to the lake and nowhere else.
    She trembles,

and her teeth chatter. As she moves toward the bank where she’s left the means

of her escape, she glimpses the main body of the lake. Unlike last night, the

harvest moon coats the surface of the water in silver, and she can see the

gentle current flowing toward the waterfall and the man she loves.
    Why had her

father decided to give her to Annosothka tonight of

all nights? He is a handsome brave, but he’s not the man she loves. She hadn’t

expected them to discover her missing so soon. Now, her uncle and husband

pursue her, and if they catch her, the punishment will be more than she can endure.

She’s supposed to be a maiden. What will Annosothka do if he discovers she isn’t?
    She moves

stealthily to the edge of the water and slips into her canoe. She paddles slowly

but silently along the shore. Thinking she is far enough away not to be

noticed, she begins the trek across the water, but the moonlight betrays her.

She hears her uncle’s cry when he spots her and the sound of their canoe being

launched is loud in her ears.
    They are

much stronger than she is. Two men paddling in a canoe eat up the distance

between her and themselves quickly. Sisters, help me, she prays to the spirits

of her people, but the men continued to gain on her. She knows he can see her

and those pursuing her, but he is unarmed, without a canoe of his own, and

powerless to help her.
    She is only

minutes from him when she feels their canoe nudge hers, and knowing she cannot

let him be taken again, she does the only thing she can do. She throws herself

into the frigid waters of the lake, feels the water tug at her, and sinks

beneath its surface.
    Kicking with

all her might, she forces herself to start swimming and surfaces a few feet

from the canoe.
    “ Tayouroughay !”
    She hears

them calling her name and prays they won’t realize there’s a third voice

calling. She strikes out toward the center of the lake where the spirit sisters

dwell as far away from his hiding place as she can get.
    As strong a

swimmer as she is, she can’t make any progress with the weight of her garments

pulling her down. She slips under the water, the icy liquid filling her nose

and her mouth. She kicks up to the surface again, coughs, and looks around her.

Their canoe is moving closer. She ducks back under the water, hoping they haven’t

seen her, and moves in the