Mountain Moonlight - By Jane Toombs Page 0,48

small end of a large rock. Determined not to be thwarted, she gave a hard yank. Instead of the rock pulling free, the entire pile shifted and she jumped back to avoid the tumbling rocks. The noise brought Davis and Bram from the other side of the formation.

"I saw this rock I wanted to look at--" she began to explain before Davis cut her off.

"Look!" he cried, pointing. "There's a hole."

Vala eyed the long gap the falling rocks had revealed. Just a crevice--or something more?

It took the three of them almost an hour to shift enough of the rocks so Bram could shine his flashlight into the opening. Vala watched impatient Davis fidget when Bram continued to look inside, not moving or speaking.

"What's in there?" Davis finally demanded.

Bram pulled back and handed Davis the flashlight. "See for yourself."

Davis inched closer and shone the light inside the cavity. After a moment or two, he pulled his head out, his mouth drooping in disappointment. "Just some old pictures somebody drew on the rock in there."

Vala took the flashlight from him to discover what he was talking about. She was gazing in fascination at the strange drawings inside when she heard Bram say.

"Okay, Davis, I want you to use that smart brain of yours. What do those drawing remind you of?"

"Uh--nothing much. Sort of like a little kid's drawing."

"You're not thinking. Where have you seen drawings like that lately?"

Vala pulled her head out in time to see her son's face light up. "On the map!" he cried. "On Mokesh's map."

She nodded. They were very like.

"So what does that mean?" Bram persisted.

Looking at him, Vala realized there was something different about Bram, a sort of brightness in his face she hadn't noticed before.

"Mokesh said the map was made before his time," Davis said slowly. "So whoever made it lived way long ago. His Ndee ancestors, maybe." He reached up and tugged at his ear. "So those drawings in there have to be real old, too, don't they?"

Bram nodded. "They're called pictographs. Native Americans drew them in many places in this country. But no one is sure how old the drawings are. Sometimes these same symbols are found carved in rocks."

"Petroglyphs," Vala said, remembering a display she'd seen in a New York museum. She realized now that they'd found something of incredible value in these rock drawings. "Right," Bram said. "If Mokesh were alive, he'd tell us the Ndee found those pictographs when they settled around here a long time ago. He'd say people they call the Old Ones drew them."

"Who were the Old Ones?" Davis asked. "Mokesh told me they were here before the Ndee but he didn't explain except to say they were still here."

"He meant their spirits remain. No one knows who the Old Ones were. They left no trace of their presence in these parts except for the pictographs and petroglyphs."

"With the opening hidden by fallen rocks like it was," Vala put in, "we might be the first people to see those pictures since the Ndee found them."

"I'd say the Ndee covered the opening to keep the pictographs safe. That was no accidental rock fall." Bram spoke like he knew. "We'll all take one more look and then we're going to put the rocks back like we found them. This is a sacred place."

He spoke so solemnly he raised the hair on Vala's nape. Davis's expression was one of pure awe.

"Mokesh wanted me to see those pictures." Davis was almost whispering. "He gave me the map 'cause he wanted me to see the Old Ones' sacred place."

"I think you're right," Vala told her son.

No one complained about the hard work it took to replace the rocks so no vestige of the opening showed. As they finished, the sun came out for the first time since the rain of yesterday.

"See," Davis said. "The spirits are thanking us."

Vala decided not to correct him.

They rested and ate afterward in silence until Bram finally spoke. "Davis asked me once how I knew so much about the Ndee and I didn't answer. The truth is I'm Ndee and I've learned on this trip that there's no need to conceal what I am. There's never been any need, but I didn't understand until now."

"You're really Ndee? Honest and truly?" Davis could hardly contain his excitement.

"Half. But still Ndee. My father was a full-blood." The father he never mentioned when he was young, Vala thought. How wonderful Bram had opened his heart and embraced his heritage.

"I'm happy for