Blogtober 2020 Day 31 Entry
Phin and Murphy arrived as expected at mid-morning the next day. They saw their rescue party, along with Meadow, standing on the shallow shore of the big bend in the river that marked the boundary of their territory.
They leaped off the raft and splashed through the knee-deep water to the riverbank. Meadow threw herself in Murphy’s arms while Phin greeted the men who had come to save them.
“You brought our horses back,” Phin said.
“You’ll need your own horses for hunting,” Storm said. “You both still have many things to learn.”
They rode back to the village, where they discovered the chief was waiting for their return. The boys had seen him from a distance, but to this date, he had never spoken to them.
“Should we bow or something?” Phin asked Murphy.
“I don’t know,” Murphy said. “Just listen. They’ll tell us what we need to do.”
Storm translated for the chief as he spoke to the boys. “The people are happy for your return. Good men were willing to risk their lives to save yours. It is right that they did so. I declare that your bond to the past, to your lives in the white man’s world, is broken. Today, you are Wazhazhe.”
The chief handed two hawk feathers to Storm, who presented them one at a time to Murphy first, then Phin, echoing the chief’s words to them: “You are Wazhazhe.”
“We did it,” Murphy said, holding Meadow’s hand.
“Yep,” Phin said. “We’re home.”
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