Unspoken Treasure

The rust from these chains are scraping off any intact skin I still have on my ankles as I run desperately away from the disheveled men chasing me. In the distance I hear voices angrily yell, “Get her! We cannot let her see what lies in those leather bound pages! All will be lost!” I gripped the small black book tighter in my grasp and tried to quickly look for a place to hide. My wounds are deep and the blood that releases from my hands is being absorbed by the bound pages that were created with animal skin.

The footsteps are growing louder behind me and the rustling of the leaves are becoming more violently entangled upon the rock textured ground. Just in front of me I can see a rushing river, and at this point, it’s the only option that may potentially save my life. I make my way down the algae covered rocks towards the river and jump into the ice cold water, sending immediate shivers down my spine. At least the freezing temperature has temporarily numbed my pain that encompasses my body. I hear them again, enraged, “At first sight, shoot! Give no second thought, she must die!” If I survive, I only have moments to find shelter, otherwise my short, agonizing breaths may be my last….. suddenly, I see a cave just off the side of the river with a decent sized air-pocket for me to breathe and will hopefully hide me enough from the ever increasing danger.

I had never seen this little black book in my life before, but if it’s of such importance to the men following me, enough to kill me for it, then it’s something I must keep safe and find its purpose. Embracing the chill inducing river, I quickly find a dry crevice in the cave to set the book in and submerge myself deeper and deeper into the water, until all that’s surfaced is my chapped lips and frost bit nose.

Suddenly, just feet away from the cave that I lie desperately still in, comes heavy, pounding footsteps that are drawing near. I’m trying my best to slow down my breathing and calm my heart. Just as they step into the water near the cave, I take one last breath and immerse my entire body under water. Everything is silent.

When I open my eyes, I feel the galloping movement of my horse, Midnight, heading towards the most beautiful sunset upon the horizon. The breeze is brushing against my tanned, smooth skin, without a scratch to be seen and familiar scents of the meadow surround me. I see my mother, dressed in her turquoise beaded deerskin dress, calling to me in the distance. I engage Midnight to start galloping towards her direction, but a fog is quickly beginning to set in. I can now only make up a silhouette in the far distance as the light in my eyes diminish. I pull on the crest of Midnight to slow him down, but suddenly my back slams against the ground.

Eyes wide open, I gasp for air! I had been knocked unconscious while submerged completely underwater for who knows how long…. I saw a glimpse of my past, right before my capture. More and more unexplained visions flash before me. I’m trying to recollect why those men are chasing me, what could possibly be so important about this little black book, and how did I end up alone in this cave.

As I quietly search the cave and my immediate surroundings, I realize that the men are nowhere to be seen and have hopefully gone from the river with no intent to return. I retreat back into the cave and reach towards the small crevice where I placed the leather bound book. It’s tied a hundred times over in twine and still covered in my blood.

I have to know. I have to understand why am I here, who those men are, and why they so desperately seek this book. As I unwind the last wrapped twine, I begin to see gold inked letters that are written in a language that is only known by my village, but in a dialect that has been lost for many generations. I am the only one in my village that was ever curious enough to learn this dialect and would spend most moon lit nights by the fire reading the ancient scrolls. As I’m trying to translate each page, I begin to understand why this book is to kill for, it unearths the unspoken treasure that were only told as myth in my village to children. The pages would unfold the ancient story of my people and the hidden truths that haven’t been revealed for many generations. Stories that weren’t myth, that spoke of the magic hidden in this world that could bring a man to power in just a matter of seconds.

All at once an overwhelming surge of emotion consumes me and the memories of my capture begin to take a vivid form. I’m the reason those men know of this book and the unspoken treasure that my ancestors hid for so many years. I remember myself in chains that choked my ankles and tore my skin apart and the ever tightening vines around my wrist as I walk towards a hidden passage with the men marching behind me. I see myself reach into a deep crevice and hand over the little black book. In return for my willing compliance they promised me gold, equivalent to their Continental $20,000 – whatever that meant…. but a life of luxury and power.

The pain of disgrace and shame fill my eyes with tears rushing down the side of my cheek and onto the pages I now read. How could I have been so selfish to give away the secrets of my people, the secrets that have kept my village safe for so long for the greedy desire of power and luxury? In the moment that I handed them the little black book and they dropped the gold in front of me, remorse consumed my whole being. I knew I couldn’t just let them walk away with the book that held every unspoken treasure of my people. Without hesitation, I grabbed a large rock and swiped it across the man’s head who was holding the book. He went unconscious as his head hit a sharp rock on the ground. I immediately grabbed the little black book and ran for my life. That’s where my memory fades… I must have lost consciousness from the amount of blood that spilled from my body due to the severed skin caused by those chains.

I now understand why I was being hunted, why I my body now shivers in this freezing water, and the great importance held within the pages of this book. Those men are still out there looking for me and this book. My chances of survival are nearly non-existent as my body succumbs to hypothermia, but I must save my village and keep this little black book hidden. Desperately grabbing the slippery stones alongside the cave, I see a great waterfall. With the last bit of energy that my body can endure, and the book safely in my arms, I take my final step over the edge and plunge into the fallen rocks that lay beneath the surface. The little black book with the unspoken treasure was never to be seen again.