I followed through with my promise, even though I almost fell asleep washing the blanket. It had been a very long day, and I also didn't get any sleep the night before, so I was exhausted.
Uncle Bart returned to Ihaan soon after I finished scrubbing the Coke stain out of the blanket, and he offered him a plate of beef bourguignon, which was what we ate that night.
Ihaan had no idea what he was eating. The thing was, he didn't have that sort of food living alone in the wilderness.
Uncle Bart also offered him a cup of water, and don't worry, he didn't splash it in Ihaan's face. That was so rude for Mom to do.
Soon after Uncle Bart served Ihaan, we served ourselves. All members of Camp Juniper filled our plates with beef bourguignon and rice and sat around the fire.
Dad built it up before dinner, so it brewed gracefully while we ate. Also by this time, the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park had grown dark. Not entirely, but enough to make us realize that night was upon us and also the Ghost of Ontario.
For once, Ihaan actually joined us for dinner. Well, it was more we tied a rope around him so he couldn't get away. We wanted to help him socialize with other humans.
Uncle Bart and I also had a goal to help Mom change her perspective about him. He was totally out of it.
While Camp Juniper ate our dinner, Ihaan just stared at his, totally lost.
I knew he was hungry, so I glanced at him and said, "Ihaan."
"Huh?" he asked, and he looked up, peering into my face.
Everybody else except Mom glanced at him.
I added with, "You need to try to eat something."
"But I have no idea what this food is," Ihaan protested.
"It's called beef bourguignon," Dad explained, "and it's very good. How do you know you don't like it unless you try it?"
"Thank you," Ihaan elucidated, "but I am more thirsty than hungry, sir." He set his plate down next to his bandaged ankle and picked up his cup of water. Ihaan sipped it, and we watched him.
"Don't worry about Ro." Uncle Bart soon told him. "She'll be back. Now, Camp Juniper..." He clapped his hands together and exchanged glances with us. "It is nighttime, and we are all sitting by the fire, so do you know what this means?"
"It's story time!" Aunt Jessie shouted.
I leaped out of my skin. I almost choked on my food, but I managed to stop myself at the last second.
Uncle Bart smiled and glanced at Aunt Jessie, saying, "Correct, my dear."
"Yehaw!" Aunt Jessie cheered, and she stood up, starting to dance. During her dance, she took her cowgirl hat off and twirled both it and herself.
Mom cracked a small smile and met eyes with Uncle Harrison. "Harrison, would you mind getting the book, please?"
Fun fact, Uncle Harrison brought a book about canoeing with him along on the trip (big surprise), and he promised he would read a bit of it to us each night. He ended up not sharing the story that night, though – but he didn't mind – because Ihaan spoke up.
"Oh, I love stories," he admitted. "I tell stories to Ro and Dempsey all the time."
Hearing this, all members of Camp Juniper glanced at him and smiled, excluding Mom, and Uncle Clement yelled, "Yes! A hermit story! Hit us, Ihaan!"
We immediately crowded around Ihaan and waited for a story. Even Uncle Harrison was interested. Mom, of course, wasn't.
She stood up and glared at us.
Ihaan nervously patted his thighs. "Uh, sure. However, I can assure that I am no expert at storytelling."
We didn't care. We just wanted to hear his story. Surely it would be interesting, right? It was.
Before Ihaan started the story, he reached into the bottom of his pant leg and drew an eagle feather from it (probably one of Ro's). He slipped the feather into his hair, and it hung down behind his back. Next, he scooped up some sand and stood up, limping towards the fire.
Camp Juniper turned and watched him.
Mom simply sat away from us and plopped down. She crossed her arms.
Ihaan circled the fire a couple of times. Finally, he stood in front of it and cleared his throat.
This, my fellow audience, is Ihaan's story:
"Once upon a time," he started, "there lived a beautiful girl named Aluki." While he told his story, he gradually started to smile. I could tell he really loved telling stories. "Aluki lived in the North Pole with her parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. When the ice melted in the spring, she always loved to grab her canoe and canoe down the river to her heart's content. Aluki always wanted to prove to the tribe that females are capable of just as many irresistible things as males are. Her father and mother told her that if she wanted to reach this capability, then she must travel to Spiritual Mountain, which was a mountain deep in the Pole where all the spirits were said to sleep."
"Ooh," was all I spoke.
"Aluki left early one morning in spring." Ihaan continued. "She canoed the whole way to Spiritual Mountain. The closer she came, the more she knew that this would be the adventure of a lifetime. Finally, after four days, she made to the mountain. Aluki climbed to the top, and she called for the spirits to help prove herself to her tribe."
"But then the spirits knocked her off the mountain." Mom interrupted, "and Aluki was never seen again." She tried to pull Camp Juniper away from Ihaan.
He wasn't finished. "The summoning was a chant Aluki's parents taught her. It went like this."
The chant was one of my favorite parts of Ihaan's story. Who said he wasn't good at storytelling? He was amazing!
He circled the fire again and sprinkled a ring of sand around it. He held his hand up to the smoke, and it started to twirl and make figures. While he did this, he spoke the chant. "'Spirits right and spirits might! I summon thee to fly me to the light! To the heavens of the Pole and more so the unknown! Thy spirits come and away we whoosh, to a world where life is flight, and I, Aluki, am recognized as another spiritual kite!'" The smoke started to take on the forms of animals. One at a time, Ihaan chanted the species. "'Wolves, owls, foxes, eagles, come forth!'"
Mom cut his story off right at the best part. "That's enough, Kronin, Ihaan!!" She leaped to her feet. "You're putting these campers to sleep! It is way past their bedtime!"
Ihaan did not appreciate the fact that she cut him off. He glared at her and growled deep in his throat.
Uncle Macon noticed his angry face and mumbled, "Oh boy." Quickly, he stood and came between Mom and Ihaan (they were like fire and ice, at first). "Penelope, let him finish his story about Aluki."
"I'm begging you, ma'am," Ihaan upsettingly spoke. "My favorite part of the story is coming up. I bet you didn't know that Aluki became a loremaster next."
I gasped, "Really? How?!" I whirled around to face the hermit.
"No!" Mom snapped. She threw down her finger. "There is going to be no more storytelling tonight! Get ready for bed, Camp Juniper! That's an order! And you..." She pushed by Uncle Macon and approached Ihaan. "You're coming with me." Mom needed to chill out.
"I would like to finish my story," Ihaan calmly but sternly told Mom. "You see, ma'am, this story has always meant a lot to me. I feel like somebody told it to me a long time ago. Somebody important."
Mom tapped her chin and sarcastically asked, "And do I care? No. You're an orphan, Ihaan, so you're going to be treated like one."
"What if I'm not?" Ihaan asked, and he placed his hands on his hips. "What if I do have family somewhere across these lakes? Have you ever considered asking yourself that somebody may be searching for me?"
"Oh please." Mom scoffed. "You do not have a family, Ihaan. If it's been ten years and they're still not here, then I'm positive they gave up looking for you. So, therefore, you are an orphan, and you're going to stay that way for the rest of your life."
"Mom!" I shouted.
She ignored me. "And how is it that you have no memory of your past?"
"Well, I do have two clues," Ihaan admitted, "and those include the story of Aluki and 'Soaring on the Wind.'" Here, he pulled the feather out of his hair and held it in front of him. Ihaan started to poke at it.
"'Soaring on the Wind?'" asked Uncle Macon. "What's 'Soaring on the Wind,' son?"
"Dancing spirits." Ihaan answered. "A call from the heavens. 'Soaring on the Wind' is a song I feel somebody taught me once upon a time." He peered into the sky. "I sometimes feel that I am not totally alone in this world with just Ro and Dempsey to accompany me."
After he spoke that, Ihaan closed his eyes and reached his hand into his pocket. From it, he drew his leaf whistle.
Seeing it, Camp Juniper asked at the same time, "Huh?"
I cracked a small smile. Ihaan was going to play the leaf whistle again!
Unfortunately, he did it right in front of Mom. He brought the leaf to his lips and blew into it. The familiar, beautiful melody of "Soaring on the Wind" escaped into the atmosphere and washed over all of Lake Temagami.
"Whoa!" shockingly spoke Uncle Clement. "Unbelievable! It's a leaf whistle!" I know, Uncle Clement. It is pretty amazing. I wished I could play a leaf, but I couldn't, and I still can't to this very day. I tried it but gave up, which I probably shouldn't have, but I did.
Since "Soaring on the Wind" was so beautiful, all members of Camp Juniper, excluding Mom, began to sway back and forth. Oh, why did the song have to be so magical? Ghost of Ontario, you're not going to touch us with Ihaan around!
During his song, Dad mentioned, "I've never been able to hear a leaflute up close until this night."
Aunt Delia put her hands together. "It's so beautiful. Penelope, don't you agree with me?"
Mom scoffed and crossed her arms. She turned her back to us, even more jealous than she already was. The night only got better and better from there.
When Ihaan finished his song, we heard something from the sky that actually sounded a little familiar. It was the cry of an eagle. Ro! The cry washed over the brewing fire, and it only made sense that it belonged to Ro.
At the sound of her, Ihaan gasped, and so did the rest of Camp Juniper. All of us peered into the sky, even Mom.
Ro's cry came again, and Ihaan grinned. "Ro!" he shouted. He returned his leaflute to his pocket and stuck Ro's feather back behind his head. He reached down and ripped off the rope we tied around his ankle. Then, he hobbled forward – he was walking terribly – and looked into the black sky, again calling, "Ro!" He lifted his arms and reached for the stars.
Before we knew it, here came his friend!
Ro flapped into the light of the fire. At the sight of Ihaan, she cawed happily.
She soared down towards him, and young Ihaan called, "Here, Ro! I am right here, Ro!"
Ro tucked her claws under her belly and flew into his arms. She knocked Ihaan to the ground and uttered sounds that sounded like happy crying, like how a dog cries over the return of their owner. This story just keeps getting better and better.
Oh, Ihaan, I miss you. Why did you have to die so young?
He and Ro hugged, and then, they together closed the night and this part with something amazing!
After hugging, Ihaan and Ro performed a dance. I believe it was a dance Ihaan made up himself. It started off with him and Ro mimicking each other's moves. Yes, even the eagle knew how to dance! She and Ihaan reached into the sky and popped their arms/wings over each side of their heads. They bent down and popped them over their ankles next.
Ro tried to keep up with Ihaan, but she had a little trouble. Though she too knew how to dance, Ihaan still was a bit better. He moved very fast. He stomped his feet and twirled in a circle, moving his arms in the process. Next, he bent his knees and danced while low to the ground. During it, he brought the side of his hand to his forehead. It looked as if he was looking out for something.
When he stood up again, he and Ro shifted over to the fireplace and moved around it for the finale. Ihaan created enough air movement that brought the fire's smoke up higher into the sky.
After Ihaan and Ro finished their dance, Ro flew into Ihaan's arms for the second time, and they hugged again.
I couldn't help but to smile. They were so cute together. "Aren't they just the cutest?" I asked. "Right, Mom?"
Mom was red from her heels up. She was so jealous, it was hilarious. Huffing, she closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "There is something really fishy about this boy, and I don't like it."
"Huh?" I asked, and I glanced at her." What are you talking about, Mom?"