hard look at it.”
After we finished our camping chores, and sat in the dark by our cooking fire, Moyock became jumpy. He listened awhile and then darted his eyes toward the wall.
“What is it, Moyock? What’s bothering you?”
“I have creepy feeling. I think we watched.”
Now I felt uneasy. With the fire in my eyes I couldn’t see into the dark. I jumped up and stood with my back to the blaze. I couldn’t see anyone, or anything. Moyock smothered the fire. “What do you think you heard?”
“Someone or something, moving slow and quiet…maybe on wall or on mound.”
“Did you see anything move?
“No. I think I smell animal. Strange smell. I not know it.”
“We’re at a disadvantage here. A fire again might discourage an animal, but make us easy targets for humans. We’ll decamp and cross the river to spend the night…come back here when we can see what’s going on.”
We spent the night on a high sandbar near the south shore. We took turns sleeping and staying on guard. In the morning I studied the fort with my spyglass. I couldn’t see anything amiss, so Moyock looked through the scope. “I see nothing moving,” he said. “You think maybe ghosts in that place?”
“Those Naturals up the river thought so. I’ve never seen a ghost. Have you?”
“Not see one. Don’t want see one.”
“Until I see one myself…I’m not going to worry about them.”
“What you do…if you see?”
I had to laugh, not at Moyock. At myself. I had to wonder what I would do. “I don’t know. Just hope I wouldn’t disgrace myself.”
With that I began loading my canoe. “Come on. Let’s go flush whatever was looking at us. Maybe something good to eat.”
“Not smell good to eat.”
“All right. Maybe we’ll spot something else edible when we get there”
Back on the other side we pulled our canoes well up on the shore but didn’t unload them. If we had to leave in a hurry, I didn’t want to leave anything behind. I said to Moyock, “If you want to guard the canoes while I search, you can.”
“No, no. I come with you. If we see ghost, I want to see you disgrace self.”
So he thought I was a comedy act. “Ha, if we see a ghost, do you think you’ll be standing around laughing?”
We reconnoitered the wall as far as we could. Without a good reason, I didn’t want to waste energy hacking our way through the brush on the north side. The mound appeared to be man-made. We walked around it, which in most places filled in the lower reaches of the wall interior. I wondered if the mound wasn’t more significant than the wall.
It wasn’t an easygoing climb to the top of the mound. At the north end the mound was as impassible as the ground around the wall. I estimated the mound to be about 30 to 40 feet high at the southern end. A tremendous amount of labor had gone into its construction. And to what purpose? If not a fort of the Welsh, was it some kind of burial site? Were all those murdered White Men under here? Not likely the Naturals had gone to the trouble to erect this.
Resting on the ground at the top of the mound, Moyock said, “Something watches us.”
“What? Where?”
“A strange animal. Slowly turn head, look down hill…at bottom of large oak tree.”
I did as he said. “Where?”
“It blends with shadows. Two yellow eyes look out of bush by oak.”
I wasn’t sure I was looking at it. “What kind of animal is it?”
“I not know, not very big.”
“Well, what the heck.” I picked up a broken branch and hurled it at the bottom of the oak. A brownish gray animal, about the size of a large dog, walked into the open. With its tongue lolling, it sat down on its haunches and took us in. Its left ear appeared to be notched.
“I’ll be darned. He looks like he’s laughing at us!”
I chucked another branch at it, not even coming close. The animal got up, turned around, and sauntered into the underbrush wagging a bushy tail at us.
“You don’t know
After we finished our camping chores, and sat in the dark by our cooking fire, Moyock became jumpy. He listened awhile and then darted his eyes toward the wall.
“What is it, Moyock? What’s bothering you?”
“I have creepy feeling. I think we watched.”
Now I felt uneasy. With the fire in my eyes I couldn’t see into the dark. I jumped up and stood with my back to the blaze. I couldn’t see anyone, or anything. Moyock smothered the fire. “What do you think you heard?”
“Someone or something, moving slow and quiet…maybe on wall or on mound.”
“Did you see anything move?
“No. I think I smell animal. Strange smell. I not know it.”
“We’re at a disadvantage here. A fire again might discourage an animal, but make us easy targets for humans. We’ll decamp and cross the river to spend the night…come back here when we can see what’s going on.”
We spent the night on a high sandbar near the south shore. We took turns sleeping and staying on guard. In the morning I studied the fort with my spyglass. I couldn’t see anything amiss, so Moyock looked through the scope. “I see nothing moving,” he said. “You think maybe ghosts in that place?”
“Those Naturals up the river thought so. I’ve never seen a ghost. Have you?”
“Not see one. Don’t want see one.”
“Until I see one myself…I’m not going to worry about them.”
“What you do…if you see?”
I had to laugh, not at Moyock. At myself. I had to wonder what I would do. “I don’t know. Just hope I wouldn’t disgrace myself.”
With that I began loading my canoe. “Come on. Let’s go flush whatever was looking at us. Maybe something good to eat.”
“Not smell good to eat.”
“All right. Maybe we’ll spot something else edible when we get there”
Back on the other side we pulled our canoes well up on the shore but didn’t unload them. If we had to leave in a hurry, I didn’t want to leave anything behind. I said to Moyock, “If you want to guard the canoes while I search, you can.”
“No, no. I come with you. If we see ghost, I want to see you disgrace self.”
So he thought I was a comedy act. “Ha, if we see a ghost, do you think you’ll be standing around laughing?”
We reconnoitered the wall as far as we could. Without a good reason, I didn’t want to waste energy hacking our way through the brush on the north side. The mound appeared to be man-made. We walked around it, which in most places filled in the lower reaches of the wall interior. I wondered if the mound wasn’t more significant than the wall.
It wasn’t an easygoing climb to the top of the mound. At the north end the mound was as impassible as the ground around the wall. I estimated the mound to be about 30 to 40 feet high at the southern end. A tremendous amount of labor had gone into its construction. And to what purpose? If not a fort of the Welsh, was it some kind of burial site? Were all those murdered White Men under here? Not likely the Naturals had gone to the trouble to erect this.
Resting on the ground at the top of the mound, Moyock said, “Something watches us.”
“What? Where?”
“A strange animal. Slowly turn head, look down hill…at bottom of large oak tree.”
I did as he said. “Where?”
“It blends with shadows. Two yellow eyes look out of bush by oak.”
I wasn’t sure I was looking at it. “What kind of animal is it?”
“I not know, not very big.”
“Well, what the heck.” I picked up a broken branch and hurled it at the bottom of the oak. A brownish gray animal, about the size of a large dog, walked into the open. With its tongue lolling, it sat down on its haunches and took us in. Its left ear appeared to be notched.
“I’ll be darned. He looks like he’s laughing at us!”
I chucked another branch at it, not even coming close. The animal got up, turned around, and sauntered into the underbrush wagging a bushy tail at us.
“You don’t know
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