“I have come from the west,” the shadowy shape said. “I bring you a message. Your granddaughter has done nothing wrong. She has told you the truth. Her son is good. He was sent by the Creator to bring peace. There is too much blood being shed among the people of the earth. When he has grown to manhood, he will travel among the different nations and bring them the message of peace. He will be known as Skennerahowi, the Peacemaker. Now you must stop trying to harm your great-grandson.”

Then that shadowy figure walked away and disappeared into the darkness.

The next day, when the grandmother looked outside she saw in the new snow the tracks of a giant hare leading away from the door of their lodge toward the direction of the sunset. She knew then that she had been visited by a messenger from the Creator. From that day on she showed nothing but love toward her blessed great-grandson.

chapter ten

THE COHOES FALLS

When Carries was done with his tale, everyone was silent for a while.

Then Burnt Hair spoke. “That is an interesting story,” he said.

A wonderful story! Okwaho thought. It was a story that made him feel something deep inside himself, something other than anger. What was it? Hope. That was it. That was what he felt, for the first time in a long time, hope like a small bird just beginning to flutter its wings.

“It is a good story,” Carries agreed.

“But you did not see it,” Holds the Door Open said in a neutral voice.

“No,” Carries replied. “But I saw him. I heard his voice. It is true that I can only tell you the story as he told it to us. But it is also true that I felt the power of his message as I listened to those words. I felt the truth of it. I can tell you that I felt as if the man who told that story was not trying to deceive us. He truly was Skennerahowi, the one who would bring peace to all of us.”

“I see,” Burnt Hair said.

Burnt Hair was not an easy man to impress. But Okwaho could hear a note of awe in his voice. He had felt moved beyond words when Carries spoke the Peacemaker’s story. He looked around at the gathered people and saw they were feeling what he was feeling.

“His words changed you,” Holds the Door Open said to Carries.

Carries nodded. “I had another name then, but I threw it away on the day I heard his words of peace. I became one who would help carry that message. I became Carries.”

He placed his hand on the bird tattooed on his chest. “I had this cut into my skin, as a sign that I would be a message carrier for the rest of my days.”