Shannon rides ahead on her horse as they parade down the mountain trail in joyful dance. As the path breaks to the open beach, a surprise awaits them. Murray and Sweeney have returned. With their celebratory festivities, they hadn't even seen them coming.
The bigger surprise awaits Moriah. Mom is eager to give her a big hug. But she is not the only one eager to see her. Lorvin's two sisters and his brother join the happy hugging party.
As they all hug and begin to tell their stories, Shannon focuses on that which comes more natural to her ---that which carries burdens and sorrow. She approaches Sweeney, "How is the old Chief doing?"
Shannon had witnessed how God had worked salvation to this island people ---through the passing on of the chieftain status. But Shannon is not primarily concerned with the status. Her concern is more for the person ---and her prayer is that he has not passed on.
Sweeney doesn't know what is going on, but he can at least sense that something more is going on with Shannon, "The old Chief was not doing well when I left him. The mission hospital is a good hospital, but they can not do miracles ...they can only pray for one. Old Chief has the island sickness, as some call it. They are not sure what brings it on, but only one in a hundred make it through."
The next morning, plans are being made for the missionary group to depart. Shannon is grooming her horse when one of the islanders, Uata, approaches with a crudely built wooden box. Malu steps between Uata and Shannon. From the tone of each of their voices and the expressions on their faces, you can tell this is serious talk.
Malu had been told that Uata was the oldest of their tribe. He also was the most resistant to change. Not all the islanders readily accepted the salvation message. There is a small group, led by Uata, who had heard the message, but were hesitant to accept it. Uata likes the old traditions. He is an old warrior. And he is known to fight for what he believes in.
There is quite an intense exchange of words, then Malu steps aside. Uata steps forward and hands Shannon the wooden box.
Malu explains, "Uata say that this Old Chief's box. Box supposed to pass on to you, new Chief, but Uata say he know you not believe in sacred box. Uata say you ought to give box to Old Chief ---maybe it help him feel better. Maybe box help heal him and he can become Chief again."
Shannon needs encouragement at this time, not this. She not only feels she isn't a part of the joy that most of the islanders are feeling, now she is associated with this recently revealed division of thought. They are looking for answers, but she can't just jump right in and provide what they were looking for.
She has too many questions herself. She can't rise to this occasion either. It definitely is not her moment!
Shannon turns to Hola, who is standing nearby, "Why are some of the people still burdened? What did we fail to teach them?"
Hola puts a comforting hand on Shannon's shoulder as he stands beside her, "Uata is the keeper of sacred things. The box he has just given you contains some things, Malu has told me, that are very much the foundation of what they believe. They want to believe all we have taught them, but they are not ready to walk away from all the things they have believed in. Abandoning all their old beliefs, to some of them, would be equivalent to denying their own sanity."
Shannon is confused, "What do you mean, denying their own sanity?"
Hola points to Uata, kneeling on the ground, facing away from them. It appears to Shannon that Uata is praying. Hola steps in front of Shannon, "I've been wanting to look inside this box."
Shannon steps back, "Now that would be insane! If they believe so strongly that this is a sacred box, why would I chance letting you open it?"
Shannon has many questions, "I still don't understand how abandoning their old beliefs would be challenging their sanity. What we've taught them should lighten their burden …while keeping the old beliefs must be a daily struggle. You heard their confessions. They knew they were doing wrong. If I tried to live in denial ---that would challenge my sanity."
Hola steps back, assuring Shannon that he won't touch the box, "Now, answer me this ---would a sane person believe there is a 'Man in the mountain'?"
Shannon attempts to choose her words carefully, "I get what you are saying. There are many beliefs that people have that they don't know are wrong. Like the 'Man in the mountain'. Sometimes it takes a while to replace the old beliefs with the new. But I like the way you handled the teaching. Once you began teaching the truth about God, the 'Man in the mountain' never made an appearance. I would say that made a rather convincing statement in itself."
Hola appears to summarize the thinking, "So, you do know why the 'Man in the mountain' appeared to take a leave of absence?"
Shannon also summarizes, "The old beliefs were replaced by the truth, and the truth is …there is no 'Man in the mountain'."
Hola looks over at Uata, who is still kneeling on the sand, "Perhaps some believe that the 'Man in the mountain' was sick. You know, the entire time I was teaching, we never fed him."
Shannon is confused, "Is that what they told you?"
Hola looks into Shannon's eyes, "Malu tells me that Uata has shown him."
Shannon is surprised with what Hola is saying. She thought Malu believed the same as they did. "Uata has shown Malu what?"
Hola is serious, "Malu has seen pictures of the 'Man in the mountain'. Uata told Malu that the 'Man in the mountain' had tried to escape, but the Old Chief caught him and had him sent back to the mountain."
Shannon suddenly realizes, "Oh, pictures ---you mean, things like rock carvings and drawings?"
Hola is very direct, "No, I mean ---photographs! Inside the sacred box. Malu said he saw photographs of the 'Man in the mountain'. Now I know there is no man-God living in the mountain, but I'm saying that it seems there is a man up there that they believe is a friend of God. He had apparently tried to escape, but the Old Chief returned him so God wouldn't get angry. They say that ever since they had returned God's friend, the mountain has not shook ---until just before we came to the island."
A horrible thought comes to mind. Shannon had heard of how certain tribes had treated missionaries who had tried to bring them the Gospel of Jesus. Some tribes had gone so far as sacrificing missionary persons in a volcano. She has a bad feeling about this. Perhaps a missionary person had come to the island. Perhaps he had referred to himself as a 'friend of God'.
Shannon doesn't want to consider this horrible thought any further, but the thought feeds itself. What if they sent the missionary to the mountain, waiting for the mountain to take him? The mountain had shown some recent instability. That was perhaps in Shannon's favor, choosing the mountain plateau as the location to teach, showing no fear. But fear grips her now. What if there is a fellow missionary up in that mountain? Could their teaching have been responsible for the man's death? He could have been injured and in need of care, but they had felt no need to concern themselves with false beliefs about a 'Man in the mountain'. They had stopped feeding him. And this was all under the direction of Shannon. After all, she was the new Chief.
Suddenly, Shannon wants to open the sacred box too. But Uata had asked her to give it to the Old Chief. She doesn't want to offend him.
She holds the sacred box in her hands. Uata is still kneeling on the sand, facing away from her. Slowly and cautiously, Shannon approaches Uata. She doesn't want to disturb him if he's praying.
Hola and Malu are at Shannon's side as she moves slowly around in front of Uata. Shannon is surprised to see that Uata is not praying. He has a deck of playing cards spread out on the sand in front of him.
Shannon doesn't say anything ---perhaps this is a strange sort of ritual and she doesn't want to disturb him. The old tattered playing cards could be further evidence that a missionary had come to the island. But even that would seem odd. Why would the missionary even have a deck of cards? You'd think they'd have plenty to do. You'd think they wouldn't be so bored that they'd resort to playing ---Solitaire? Uata is playing Solitaire!
Suddenly, the earth shakes! It startles Shannon. And she drops the sacred box on the ground, right in front of Uata.
She doesn't want to offend Uata's sacred traditions. But she has just dropped the sacred box. What should she do?
Shannon does the only thing she can think to do. She kneels down on the sand beside Uata, frantically picking up all the contents, returning them to that claimed sacred box.
It is her moment! As a firefighter springs into action without a second thought, Shannon leaps upon Breeze. Within seconds, they reach full stride ---heading for the mountain trail.
Hola stands there for a second or two, looking at the contents of the box, strewn across the sand. Several old decks of playing cards, an old tattered zip-lock bag ---with photographs and an old camera.
Hola grabs Malu by the arm, "I hope Shannon is not trying to be a hero ---like I wanted to be when I came to this island. We need to get the others and go after Shannon. She may be in a heap of danger."
Prayer can serve as immediate help. They don't understand the purpose of why Shannon took off so quickly, but they pray that God will protect her.
Hola has a hunch, but no one knows for sure why Shannon took off so spontaneously and so irrationally. Her horse doesn't understand either, but nevertheless Breeze responds to her urgency. Breeze only understands that Shannon wants him to go quickly ---and that is enough for Breeze. Never before has Breeze gone more swiftly. Breeze doesn't even seem to be affected by the uphill climb. It is almost as if he were running on a race track.
Without hesitation, they ride swiftly over the bridge to the plateau. Shannon dismounts Breeze at the far end of the plateau. She cries out her own prayer. She doesn't know what to do at this point. But she knows she needs God's guidance.
Suddenly, Shannon hears a noise behind her. At first it startles her, but as she turns, she realizes it's Breeze.
Suddenly, Shannon hears a noise behind her. At first it startles her, but as she turns, she realizes it's Breeze.
Breeze is rearing up on his hind legs, beating his hoofs to the hard rock. Shannon expects that maybe there is a snake or other animal, hopefully not a Komodo dragon.
Shannon offers a calming hand. Breeze stops rearing and settles down. She doesn't see any snake ---or any reason why Breeze was acting that way. Maybe he could feel another earth tremor. Maybe it's best they both get out of here before the bridge slides into the canyon.
Breeze gently puts his nose forward. Then she sees it! There it is! At the end of Breeze's extended nose, at Shannon's eye level, is a small tunnel. The space appears just big enough for Shannon to crawl through on her hands and knees. And she can see light at the end of the tunnel.
She doesn't know what is on the other side of the tunnel. Maybe this tunnel hadn't even existed before. Maybe it had been created by the last succession of earthquakes. Passing through this tunnel may reveal an entirely different world …one filled with Komodos.
That reminds her. She reaches inside her saddle bag and pulls out Cody Komodo. She had put that miniature stuffed animal there for a purpose. That purpose was more than just a cute little companion or a keepsake collectible. It was a reminder to think of Leah and to pray for her. But now, Cody has a higher calling. She places Cody at the base of the tunnel. Her hope is that the others are following and that they'll find her horse, and then find Cody marking the passageway, in case she is entering danger. But partly she hopes they are not following her. It's too dangerous in this mountain with all these earth tremors.
Shannon lifts herself up to the passageway and begins crawling on hands and knees. It isn't that far. She has gone this far, she has to go on ---fear cannot have its victory. If her suspicions are correct, she has to take this chance.
Shannon's tunnel vision becomes a kaleidoscope of light as the bright rays of sunlight splash against the smooth rock face upon reaching the end of the tunnel. As she regains focus, her eyes cast upon what she had hoped to find. Yet, she is not prepared to see it. She gasps! And for a moment, she is as motionless as that which is now before her.
Her suspicions were that the islanders' superstitions were not wholly superstitions. She had so focused on the Holy truth of God that she'd wholly missed any truth in what the islanders were saying. She had discounted their insistence upon there being a mountain Being, the claimed 'Man in the mountain'.
But here he is ---and appearing to be in the same condition that the Old Chief had been in …near death.
Shannon hurries to his side ---scraggly old hair and matted beard, motionless on his stomach with his head to the side ---but still with a pulse, as she checks the carotid artery at his neck.
Too heavy to carry, and too unmanageable to get through that small passageway …she cries. She must desperately find a way.
It only takes a couple seconds before Shannon puts the next thought into action. She rolls him on his right side, then stretches out beside him on the ground with her back pressed against his chest. She lifts his left arm over her shoulder, then pulls it close to her. With all her effort, she then rolls onto her stomach, rolling him with her ---onto her back.
Shannon crawls on her belly with him on her back. Most of his weight is on the back of her legs, acting as a stretcher as she inches herself slowly forward on her elbows. It is not an easy task, but one she is more committed to than anything she has ever done before. Through much gasping and eating of dirt, she manages to crawl through the passageway with the precious life cargo, in spite of the dead weight resistance.
As she reaches the end of the tunnel, she is happy to see Breeze still standing there. She crawls from beneath the dead weight, quickly checks the pulse again, then lowers herself out of the tunnel opening.
She gives Breeze a big hug, then quickly moves him closer to the slight overhang of the rock. She steps up in one of the stirrups and reaches across Breeze to grab the hand with the …ring on it.
A ring represents a circle of continuing love, eternal commitment, of hope ---a hope that can potentially manifest itself in a myriad of ways.
This hope drives a surge of energy through Shannon's veins, providing the power to do what she would otherwise conceive as impossible.
But nothing is impossible with God. Shannon pulls him out over the edge and across Breeze's back. He has an old leather belt, hopefully still strong, which she hooks over the saddle horn to secure him. Her many thoughts must now focus on one ...before the mounting problems become surmounting ---they have to get out of here!
Breeze seems to know his mission. Without need of Shannon's direction, Breeze lengthens his magnificent strides towards the other end of the plateau. For all the reasons why Shannon favors an Arabian stallion, this one moment alone defines it. This is the most awesome horse she has ever seen ---or read about.
Breeze's powerful hoofs pound the rocky plateau, commanding submission under foot. As they near the bridge, the earth submits to another tremendous quake, a relentless bid for destruction.
Breeze falters slightly as force challenges force, powerful hoofs striking timbers that vibrate those couple inches that will no longer serve definition of 'bridge'. But God's design for this magnificent creature provides the powerful shift from hind legs to front ---and as his front hoofs strike the solid ground on the other side, the bridge is no longer, timbers plunging into the deep canyon.
Breeze barely touches solid ground when it proves no longer such. His muscular frame strains every fiber to power into a second tremendous leap, having barely completed the first. The cliff edge and tree become part of the divided earth, falling into the canyon …but Breeze defies all, somehow miraculously soaring toward the new cliff's edge, landing safely once again.
Safety or not, he does not relent ---each stride bringing them further from the danger zone and down the mountain.
When Mom was young, she told of her dream of flying ---not on a plane or any man-made apparatus ---but actually flying. As a Christian girl, her dreams formed mostly through a Biblical perspective. Mom dreamt of angels, of whether they had wings, and how they could travel from place to place. She dreamt of chariots of fire ….and she dreamt of just being taken up into the air. As she got older, she admitted to giving up the dream of actually flying. She accepted what God had created her to be ---and tried to be quite happy and content with who she was.
Shannon, on the other hand, dreamt of horses. Her lifetime of fascination with horses never departed from her. Early on, she'd gallop around the house on all fours, playing horse. Those dreams carried into movies of White Mane, the Black Stallion, National Velvet, and Black Beauty. To ride a horse like that, it almost seemed like you were flying.
Shannon collected those pictures and others, taping them to her bedroom wall …wall-to-wall horse pictures. There were some really beautiful horses, but never did any come close to this one.
She could not even dream this spectacular …this is the closest she can imagine to flying.
A good three-quarter mile down the mountain, Breeze slows a bit. Tevita comes into view ---followed soon by Malu, Feleti, then Hola, and the others. They all begin jumping up and down in celebration.
As they continue down the mountain, Lorvin, Christian, Murray, and Sweeney come into view ---not accustom to mountain running.
They approach the celebration surrounding the horse. Shannon can be seen above the dancing, upon her horse.
As they continue down the mountain, Lorvin, Christian, Murray, and Sweeney come into view ---not accustom to mountain running.
They approach the celebration surrounding the horse. Shannon can be seen above the dancing, upon her horse.
Lorvin catches his breath, "Thank God, you're safe! Now tell me what this is all about."
Just then, they see the body stretched across the saddle. Shannon is not prepared to explain, quite yet. In part, it explains itself ….the 'Man in the mountain' is real. Tears streak her face. They do not understand the fullest extent of all this.
