Oct 8, 2019 5 min read

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The story so far: After meeting Wesu, one of the Little People out of the ancient tales, Mac has discovered that his bow is a magical weapon, and has found himself being carried out of a third-story window by his own feet!

n Chapter FOUR Falling

The ground was rushing up at Mac. Yet, fast as he fell, it seemed as if it was taking too long for him to actually hit the ground. For a brief second, instead of getting closer, the earth seemed to be moving away from him. Even though the wind was whistling past his face, he heard something else. It sounded like someone singing in a voice that was high and clear, a voice that grew deeper and louder with every note of the song. Then a sharp, piercing cry filled his ears.

“KEEE-YIIII!”

Something big and brown dove past him, faster than he could fall. He glimpsed a huge head, a yellow beak, a single eye that shot a quick look back at him. Then, suddenly, all he could see were the two wide wings that flapped wide open beneath him. Strong hands grabbed his shoulders, settling him in place on a broad-feathered back.

“Hook your feet into the riding strap,” a voice said. “Press your heels under Keeyii’s feathers.”

Mac pressed his heels in and hooked his toes under the strap that was hidden under the thick feathers. He felt firmer in his seat now, less likely to fall off in midair. Midair!

Mac blinked and shook his head. He was sitting on the back of a giant bird. One hand still held the bow and arrows, the other a strap for balance. He could feel the soft pinfeathers and the hot skin of the giant bird against his knuckles. He could feel the great bird’s heartbeat, thumping against his feet as they flew. A great excitement filled him. He felt so alive he thought he was going to shout or cry.

But how could this happen? And who was holding on to him? He turned to look at the tall, broad-shouldered Indian man whose hands had grasped hold of him so firmly.

“Good catch, wasn’t it?” said a deep, laughing voice.

Mac looked closely at the man. He looked familiar. The long hair held back by a braided leather headband, the smoke-tanned leather shirt and pants patterned with floral designs made of porcupine quillwork, patterns matched by those on his moccasins-he’d seen all that before. He realized who it had to be.

“Wesu?” Mac said.

The man nodded as his smile grew even broader.

“Where did you find a bird this large?”

“Not just any bird, Eagle Boy. Keeyii here is a goshawk. Very loyal. Great warrior. Tough. You should see what he can do against one of those Black Ones. Believe me, they run from this one!”

Wesu thumped his palm twice on the broad feathered back beneath them. The great bird spread its wings like a parachute and settled down onto the ground with a thud that rattled Mac’s teeth.

Mac took a deep breath. “How did you get so big, Wesu?”

Wesu threw back his head and laughed a deep laugh. His voice was no longer high and chirpy, like that of a bird. He looked down at Mac with a great deal of amusement in his eyes.

“Good question,” Wesu said. “But things are a little different than you think. Look around.”

Mac looked. They had landed in a valley that was filled with big trees and huge boulders. “Where are we?”

“Open your eyes. Look close. It should be,” Wesu said, laughing, “much easier to look close now!”

Mac looked around, trying to see something that would give him a clue. Then he noticed a huge black metal column buried in the earth. He looked up. It was tall and thin. It seemed to reach up higher than the Washington Monument. Far above, though, it became a hook. From that hook something hung.

“Oh no!” Mac said as his mouth dropped open.

“Oh yes,” Wesu said, chuckling. “Things look different at first, don’t they?”

But Mac didn’t answer Wesu’s question. He just kept staring up at the little platform that hung from the hook as a chickadee the size of a sports car fluttered in and grabbed a sunflower seed bigger than a watermelon from the bird feeder.

Mac looked around, realizing that what he thought were trees weren’t trees at all. They were bushes and flowers. They just looked different when you were looking at them from below. And those giant boulders were the stones that he and his mother had put in place just last year around the rock garden.

Wesu hadn’t gotten bigger at all. Mac was the one who’d changed. Somehow he’d been shrunk down to the size of a baby rabbit!

NEXT: Knee-high to a woodchuck