She ran. The home wind brushed on her face and through her hair. The spirits hummed softly within her. She had to find the leaf. Her feet were swept away by the destiny at hand, and she ran easily. The forest was drawing near.

There was the sign, a leaf carved into a tree trunk. She stopped by the trunk and brushed her hands against the roughened wood. There was nothing unusual about the pine. Kaya then stopped dead in her tracks. She heard the slightest noise from around her. It was the noise of a snapping twig, and a crunching of leafs under it. Kaya immediately leaped for the branches. She was able to grab onto a lower branch, the hoist to a slightly higher and more hidden branch. Then she waited. No sound could come from her. She couldn’t move. All she could do was wait and watch. She knew the sound by heart by now, the noise was too big for the graceful dear or a fox however much too small for a bear or mountain lion. It was the sound of a human, one who was not too good at hiding his steps. It was no doubt a European , invading more land of her kind. She waited anxiously to see who might be walking in the woods. She then saw a heavily clothed man walking with a gun, and a dog following close behind. They were very loud and clumsy. She waited longer. The man was staring up at the sky, looking at tracks in the soft dirt, and staring far off into the distance. He started talking to his dog,

“I don’t know, do you think there are any animals in this part of the forest?” The dog barked loudly in response. Kaya tried not to laugh. Of course they couldn’t find any animals, they are scaring them all away she thought. She was preparing to get down from the tree, and make a slight rustle in the leaves. The man aimed his gun where he heard the rustling and blindly shot in hopes of shooting something. One bullet flew right by her ear. She started to shout in her language. “I’m sorry….. I’m sorry!” he kept saying, looking red in the face in embarrassment. Kaya jumped down from a lower branch and hit the ground gracefully right in front of him. She continued to talk in her language, and the man started backing away, hands up in the air. At last, his dog came up to sniff Kaya, and she started talking in English.

“There is no wonder you can’t find any animals around here. You make so much noise I’m surprised there are still animals anywhere near here.”

“I’m sorry,” the man repeated sheepishly however Kaya held up her hand to stop him. His face turned even redder than it was before, but his dog went over to Kaya and sniffed her while wagging his tail. A soft breeze blew again, and a leaf blew by. Kaya stopped her focus and stared at the leaf, remembering her task at hand. She walked away from the man, quickly returning to the tree with the leaf carving. She started feeling the bark again and staring at every part of the tree. The man hesitantly walked over to Kaya, leaning over to try to see what she was looking at.

“Is there something I’m missing at this tree?” he asked again, this time with more confidence than before. Kaya ignored him. The dog noticed a squirrel in another tree and ran towards it. This made the man run after him in a desperate attempt at something he didn’t know what he was even doing. Good, thought Kaya, they will be gone now. She examined the tree trunk and roots channeling like vines barely surfacing the dirt. She then examined the leaf shape in the wood. Small beads of sap collected within its deep cuts, and the smell of pine was very strong around it. The leaf was just cut, she still had hope. Kaya walked around the tree again. Then she heard the distant sound of barking getting louder. She moaned as she saw the man and dog return once more. This time the man had red cheeks and was winded. He breathed heavy while his dog came right back to Kaya with a dead squirrel in his mouth. Kaya pet the dog’s head.

“Your dog is smart I see, knows how to get the food.” She said.

“I’m sorry; I won’t come near here again. My feet shall not even step into these woods.” He said. Silence then came in as the two of them stared at each other and as the dog started drooling over the squirrel dangling from his mouth. Kaya at last went back over to the tree, not really wanting to talk with the man who just came by. She already knew those Europeans, thinking they owned everything they came across, that violence towards anyone will show them their position and place in the world. The idiotic Europeans were no longer in her interest, and she wished all of them went back onto their ships and left.

“Do you want some help?” the man asked, approaching Kaya again. She refocused on the leaf carving in the tree.

“What would you know about symbols?” she replied coldly.

“Well I work on secret missions you see, with lots of symbol because I am a…” at the end he swallowed hard as if a lump of coals were stuck in his throat. Without much thought, Kaya stood up and pointed to the carving.

“I have to find out what this means. There is supposed to be something here, an object I need. I can’t find it you see?” The man was now examining the leaf. He was nodding to himself, looking within the deep carvings and at last looked at Kaya.

“See how the leaf is leaning over to the left, that means that the object in over that way. Also if it was done by a European then the deep carvings mean that the object is low, deep to the ground.” He said, occasionally pointing to the leaf as he spoke. Kaya sighed and chuckled.

“I guess I have a little more searching to go. My people call me River-Child. Your people call me Kaya. Thank you.”

“I am Charles Burgess. And you’re welcome.” He said with a tone of relief to see her softer side.

“Please come back to my village. I need to show our chief your symbol skills.” Kaya said. Charles looked down at his shoes and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I’m not so sure. Most of your people don’t really like my type of people.”

“You will be fine.” She persisted. Charles looked at his dog which already ate the squirrel within his mouth. In a defeated way, Charles accepted. They started walking at a fast pace because day was at the point of chilling in the afternoon. Kaya’s heart started beating fast. Would the tribe accept this visit? Charles wasn’t like the rest of the Europeans they knew, and he had a skill of symbol reading that they needed. Kaya then felt the pit in her stomach expand a bit when she remembered that she was unsuccessful with finding the object. The vital object that would save them was still out of her reach in the land as familiar as a home and yet at the same time as confusing and hidden as an unknown trail. Kaya was now dreading all talk with the chief. It was too late now, they were already walking there, already committed. She couldn’t scare him off now, he already knew her name, where she went, and what she was doing.

The outline of huts and smoke plumes of fires became visible. Charles remained silent, his dog doing the same. It was as if even the dog knew that the upcoming events were not going to be good. Kaya walked straight into the village, walking aster so Charles would be left a little behind for his own good. He stopped walking, afraid to move another step. Kaya went up to a larger hut and in a commanding voice she said,

“Chief, I must see you outside.” Kaya then stepped away from the opening to allow the chief to exit. Within moments a giant shadow emerged from the tent. This was followed by a man who was even larger. He was very muscular and tall with feathers within his hair which flowed behind him. His facial features seemed squished as they laid on his rectangular shaped face. He looked down at Kaya.

“What is it River-Child?” he asked in their own language. Kaya got a little bit shy and small as she spoke,

“I have a great man chief who has helped me today. He is quite terrible at hunting and almost shot my ear with their weapon. His dog is quite nice though and smart. Would you care to talk to him?” The gruff chief stood with tight fists and puffed out chest.

“You brought a European to this tribe?” His voice was quiet but very strained and controlled. He was furious. Kaya nodded, refusing to break her stare with him.

“You brought a no good, idiotic scum to this tribe in hopes that I would talk to him? You want me to waste my time and talk to this man; as if I want to do anything else I want anything else to do in this world but waste more time.” The chief spoke through gritted teeth.

“He found out where ‘it’ is. He looked at the symbol and knew right away what I have been trying to find out for a day. He is trained in symbol reading, he told me himself. You are wasting your time by calling him scum without even glancing at him for more than a moment. Won’t you push aside your ways and just talk to the man?” Kaya knew that she was pushing it. She was already in trouble, yet she didn’t want to cause any harm to Charles. After all she was the one who convinced him to come with her to the tribe.

“Alright, I’ll talk to him. But if I am not impressed then you and this man will be sorry.” The chief growled. He pushed her out of the way and walked towards Charles. With open arms he said in English,

“Welcome visitor.” Kaya heart skipped a beat. What had she done?