The Secret of the Stones by Ernest Dempsey (reading fiction .TXT) 📕

“So, the claws on the rock represent locations of where the warriors dwelled in the ancient times?”

“It sure looks that way. I would imagine if we take a closer look, the other symbols will also have some kind of significant representation of the ancient Cherokee cultures.”

The two men quickly moved back over to the computer station with Allyson in tow. Joe took control of the mouse and began moving some of the pictures around. He moved the pointer arrow over one of the claws in one image. “Okay, we have a claw that looks a lot like the one in the picture.”

He continued as he positioned the arrow around another picture. “Here we have a bear paw. That would probably indicate a scout or tracker group. And here,” his hand moved the mouse again, “we have a bird with its feathers spread out, probably the religious order of the area.”

Symbol by symbol, the two analyzed each figure until most of them had been appointed to a Native caste. When finished, they gave each other a look of satisfaction.

“Not bad, Mac. Not too bad.” Sean slapped his friend on the back.

Smiling, Joe responded, “Yeah, but that’s only half of the puzzle. None of it makes sense unless we know where all of these people lived. We identified who dwelled there, but this settlement could, literally, be anywhere.”

The mood that had, for a moment, been upbeat turned sour again.

Again, silence took over the group as they stared at the screen, understanding part of what they were looking at, but not enough to know where to go next.

Allyson broke the hush after a few minutes of thought. Her arm extended out as she pointed at something on the screen. “What does that symbol mean?”

Sean and Joe looked as her finger indicated a drawing that looked like a circle within a circle on one of the rocks.

“The two circles?” she clarified. “What did they use that for?”

The two men looked at each other, uncertain. It was one of the few things left on the screen that they could not decipher.

“Because,” she went on, “to me it looks like something you would see on a map, like a city marker, or maybe even a state capital. Did the Indians use anything like that back then?”

Both guys stared at the screen in disbelief. “Unbelievable,” they said in tandem.

“Of course,” Joe said exuberantly. “All this time it was right here in front of us. I can’t believe we missed that.”

Sean’s face also lit up. He grabbed the mouse and started moving some of the photos around.

Allyson was lost again. “Hello? Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Pretty sure you figured out the solution,” Joe answered with a grin.

“I did?”

“Yeah,” Sean added, moving the picture of the double circle to the middle of the screen. “The answer was so simple all along. I don’t know how so many people could have missed it for such a long time.”

“Missed what?” She was becoming irritated.

“The capital of the Cherokee Nation,” Joe finally gave her an answer.

“The Cherokee Nation?”

“Mmm hmm,” Sean hummed, as he arranged some of the pictures around the centerpiece. “The Cherokee Nation’s capital was located in a place called Red Clay. It was considered a sacred land and was the site where their government council met to decide important issues.”

Allyson raised an eyebrow. “Government council? You mean, like a democracy? I thought their chiefs made the decisions.”

“Of course, they did. But they acted more like our president when it came to the manner in which their government operated.” Sean stopped moving around the pictures. Waving a finger at the screen, he went on. “The capital was the center of their society. Around it were located the homes and workplaces of the citizens. Their organizational methods were simple but very effective. I’m not certain about the order or the exact places where their castes were located, but usually, the religious and political leaders of the tribe were located closest to the center. Then, it appears that they spiraled out, working through the community of medicine men, warriors, farmers, hunters, etc.”

“So this is the place that we are going next?”

Looking at each other, the two men responded with a nod.

“It would seem so,” Sean replied.

“And what are we looking for when we get there?”

A look of concern crept back onto the thirtysomething-year-old face. “I have no idea. We’ll try to figure that out when we get there.”

She looked at Joe, but he responded with a questioning shrug, arms flung out to his sides.

“So we’re going to drive to this place and hope that the next clue will just jump out at us?”

“We don’t really have a choice,” Sean affirmed. Then he added, “But it seems to be working so far.” His boyish smile was contagious. “Of course, you don’t have to go with us…”

She gave them both a chastising look, “Are you freakin’ kidding me? Sorry, boys, but, like I said at Joe’s place, you’re stuck with me.”

“No use in trying to get rid of her at this point, Sean.” Joe shrugged again.

He knew his friend was right. And, after all, she had actually been helpful a couple of times so far. Inside, though, old feelings crept into his mind. Over the past few days, he had found himself glancing at her when she wasn’t looking. There was certainly an attraction there, but he kept reminding himself not to allow such thoughts. Those kinds of things were what got his heart ripped out so many years before. For a moment, he forgot he was standing in the library of a small mountain town in Georgia, and he was suddenly back in college, lying on the grass