Nov 5, 2019 5 min read

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The story so far: Having agreed to do what Wesu tells him to do in order to help save the world, Mac has just found himself about to be stomped on by a huge hairy monster!

n Chapter EIGHT The Kiwahkwe

As Mac leaped out of the way, the earth shook behind him. Though he was afraid of what he would see, he turned to look back as he was running. The hairy foot that had stomped down where he and Wesu had been standing was connected to an equally hairy leg. The creature that towered over them would have looked big, at least ten feet tall, if Mac had been his normal size. But now that he had been made so small, it looked as enormous as the Statue of Liberty.

Huge red eyes glared down as a razor-taloned hand swept at them. This time Wesu didn’t shout. He just grabbed Mac by the arm and pulled him to the side. The sharp-clawed hand gouged a handful of earth and grass out of the lawn as it swished past them.

They ran as fast as they could across the lawn and into the field.

We have to lead it away from the house, Mac kept thinking. Away from Grandmother Kateri and Mom, who were both still asleep after working late the night before.

Mac looked over his shoulder again. What he saw made him sorry that he had. Not only was the gigantic hairy thing still following them with huge, deliberate steps, but he could see clearly what it was.

“Kiwahkwe!” Wesu shouted, echoing the thought in Mac’s mind. “Run harder!”

Mac ran harder. Even though they were small, it seemed that he and Wesu could run faster than Mac had ever run before. They were across the field now, at the base of the first hill.

Kiwahkwe, Mac kept thinking. A real Kiwahkwe! One of those giant hairy cannibal monsters out of his grandmother’s stories. He’d never dreamed that he would see one.

“Here!” Wesu yelled as they ran. He was putting something into Mac’s hand as he pulled him along. Mac looked down. It was a set of earplugs, like the ones used by swimmers. “Quick!” Wesu yelled. “In your ears!”

Something dropped to the ground in front of them. For a moment Mac thought they were trapped. Then he saw who it was. Keeyii, the goshawk.

“Good bird!” Wesu shouted. “Hurry.” He pulled Mac up to sit behind him on the great bird’s back. “The earplugs, now!”

Mac dug his heels in under the hawk’s feathers, once again finding the strap tied around its body. He squeezed his knees tight against the feathered back of the huge bird. At the same time, he used his right hand to press the plugs into both his ears. The sound of the Kiwahkwe’s harsh breathing and the thumping of its feet vanished. All that Mac could hear now was the pounding of his own heart. He grabbed onto Wesu’s belt with his right hand. Then, as Keeyii spread his wings and flapped them hard, they lurched up into flight.

Mac looked back over his shoulder. The monster was too close to them. They were not high enough in the air. The Kiwahkwe swung one long arm high above its head. But Keeyii flapped his wings again, even harder. The razor claws only grazed the goshawk’s tail. A single feather was torn free and floated down past the monster’s face. But they were beyond its reach.

The great bird flapped its wings. They were getting farther ahead now. They had already crossed the big field behind Mac’s house. The hill between his mom’s fifty acres and Grama Lampman’s Woods was just ahead of them. The Kiwahkwe was falling farther behind. If they could just get over the hill, they might be safe!

Mac turned his head to look ahead. Wesu was leaning forward so far that he was almost on the goshawk’s neck. His two hands were pressed on either side of the bird’s head.

He’s covering its ears too, Mac thought. Why would he do that? And why are we wearing earplugs? Then Mac remembered the story he’d been told about the Kiwahkwe. When its prey was out of reach, it would scream. That scream would not be like a human scream. It would be as sharp and focused as a beam of light directed at the one the Kiwahkwe was chasing. That scream was so terrible that it would kill whoever heard it.

Mac looked back at the Kiwahkwe. Its awful face was turned up toward them, its mouth open, its arms held out wide.

It’s about to scream, Mac thought. But maybe these earplugs will work and we won’t hear it.

Then, despite the earplugs, Mac felt the sound of the Kiwahkwe’s scream strike him. It was like the sound of a jet plane tearing through him. And everything went black.

NEXT: The Meeting Tree

Glossary and pronunciation of Abenaki words:

Kiwahkwe (key-wah-KWAY): Cannibal monster whose scream can kill