Adventures from the Psyplex
Book 2: The Jaguar Pendant
by
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Tsa Sohone walked slowly, deliberately, dead leaves from the bare oak and hickory trees crunched beneath his feet as he made his way up the low, mostly scrub brush-covered hill to the mule standing alone at the top watching him as he approached, the same place he’d last seen Old Blue, in 1878 when his life energy departed from the body of the mule and journeyed back to the Psyplex for renewal.
This was now December 2011 and his life spirit had been in the husk of a human named Logan Gortner since 1949, or more precisely, since he entered Logan’s husk in the womb of Logan’s mother, Darlene Gortner, in 1948. Until this morning, Tsa Sohone lived within the husk, intertwined with the soul of Logan Gortner, Logan’s soul being the chief soul and driver of the body. However, this past night while in a deep sleep, the power of the Psyplex delivered a message about the next crucial mission for him. The spirit energy of the former Caddo xinesi was directed to take charge of the husk and ready it for merger with other life energies in preparation for his next critical assignment.
Logan Gortner had been a successful financial advisor who, at sixty-two, was very financially independent and had just retired from his business. Being blue-eyed and slightly under average height like most Gortners, but without the belly the men in the family so often had, he remained a relatively handsome man even now in his advancing years. He stayed lean and muscular by being an avid exerciser, staying physically fit by running and lifting weights. His residence is in the country on eighty acres southeast of town in a relatively new home on the peak of his property facing the mountains just north of the Ouachita National Forest of Arkansas.
At the break of day this morning he had driven through his small hometown and parked his pickup truck by a large pile of gravel left there for road repair by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department at a location east of town off of Arkansas Highway 10 and south of the old Gortner property that was homesteaded by Harrison Gortner in the mid 1800’s, but was now owned by his cousin Ron who lived in California.
Tsa Sohone approached the mule, Old Blue, who Harrison dubbed “Old Blue, the flesh-eating mule” because of the story about Blue ripping out and eating the heart of a wolf that was attacking Lisa one moonlight night. Nobody other than the souls within Old Blue knew the truth – Tsa Sohone had shape-shifted into the form of a grizzly to save Lisa from the wolves.
The memories of his past life in the husk of the mule flowed freely now as he looked deep into Blue’s eyes, and as he reminisced, their life energies merged once again, this time though, Old Blue’s energy entered that of Logan Gortner’s husk and joined Tsa Sohone’s soul. The last image he saw in Blue’s eyes was the image of little Jenny holding the gold jaguar pendant with its brilliant emerald green eye.
Tsa Sohone immediately enjoyed a new and fresh feeling, awash in new energy and purpose. He had waited for sixty-two long years here on earth to begin his next mission. He concentrated deeply and called on the powers from the Psyplex and willed himself to shape-shift into the mule form, and instantly, he transformed and trotted quickly down the slope toward his truck, but while still in the woods, he shifted back into the form of Logan Gortner and felt his trademark sly grin appear as he enjoyed the newfound vigor and strength.
A couple of hundred feet before reaching his truck, Logan noticed a man carrying a .22 caliber rifle approach from the direction of the road. The man was wearing tiger stripe camouflage pants and shirt, relics of the Vietnam War era, and from the looks of the bedraggled guy approaching, he too looked like a relic of the same era.
Logan stopped and watched, unseen as yet by the approaching man, a hunter as far as Logan could figure, though he was hunting on private property without permission to do so since Logan knew Ron was in California and not around to give his okay.
About twenty yards away, the man stopped and reached into his back pocket and pulled out a half-pint of Jack Daniels Black Label, unscrewed the lid and turned it up, only to then see Logan standing in front of him. He jerked the bottle down away from his lips in surprise and then grinned.
“Hey, Bud, would you like a swig of Old Jack?” he asked, his voice a bit shaky, his stance a little unsteady.
“Well, thank you,” Logan answered, “but I think it a little too early for me. Are you going squirrel hunting?”
“Yep, just over the hill on the north side. There’s lots of squirrels over there,” he answered, pointing to the north past Logan and extending the bottle again for Logan to take.
“Well, I need to get down to my truck. Good luck with your hunt,” Logan told the man as he stepped forward down the hill.
“You know, it ain’t good manners to turn down a friendly offer of drink. Who are you, anyway?” the man inquired, a hint of irritation in his voice as Logan stopped when spoken to.
“Logan Gortner, and I do appreciate your offer, but I have some driving to do and don’t think I’d better drink anything right now,” Logan answered politely, trying to ease away from the obviously drunk trespasser.
“Oh, I drink and drive all the time, only been caught once. One night in jail and a fine that took half my month’s disability from me. Nothing wrong with a little alcohol,” the man said as he staggered past Logan to lean on a tree, then bent over and laid his gun down, looking up at Logan as he slid down to a sitting position against the hickory. “Did I tell you I was going squirrel hunting?”
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About the Book
This is Tsa Sohone's second assignment from the Psyplex (central core of the collective consciousness) and this time, the former Caddo Xinesi's (Shaman's) life energy is sent to the body of Logan Gortner and is directed by the Psyplex to take control of the body of the retired financial advisor after sixty-two years of being a subordinate soul within. Joining Tsa Sohone and Logan are several other life energies from the Psyplex, some familiar ones like Old Blue the mule from his first adventure, and some new and interesting ones; ones that will play important roles as Tsa Sohone struggles to carry out his assigned task, again in Arkansas, but now in the year 2012. The mission assigned to him this time revolves around the jaguar pendant that was found in little Jenny's hand the day she was born in 1878 and was passed down in her family, all the way to its current owner and relative, Logan Gortner. The mysterious appearance of the pendant in the infant's hand was never solved, but now, Tsa Sohone has the chance to find out the origin of the necklace and the importance it will play during the second half of the Sun's life that starts the day after the end of the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012. Tsa Sohone must first determine the role the pendant plays and then unlock the secret the pendant holds to successfully complete the mission assigned him by the Psyplex. As in his first adventure from the Psyplex, he encounters many obstacles and endures several trials in his quest to solve the mystery of the jaguar pendant.
About the Author
David grew up in western Arkansas, the setting for his trilogy of books. A career in manufacturing plant management exposed him to many diverse characters and experiences that add to the flavor of his writing. An intense interest in Native American culture heightened by living in the Caddo Indians' ancient home territory led him to in-depth research of their culture. Also, always having had a keen interest in the fascinating history of tumultuous post- civil war Arkansas, he combined these two areas of interest with a third interest - that of the Mayan culture - to begin this adventure that will culminate at the end of the Mayans' calendar in December of 2012. After eight years of service in the U.S. Air Force and a tour of duty in Vietnam, David attended the university of Arkansas where he received a B.A. degree and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. His military service, business career and early childhood afforded him the opportunity to experience living in seven states and four foreign countries. Passion for writing started in high school where he wrote many poems and short stories for school literary publications. David continued that desire to write by publishing both factual and fictional articles in company newsletters over the years. From early childhood, David was always active in sports, particularly track competition. Blessed with natural speed, he still actively competes in senior and masters events where he has had great success at the state and national levels in sprint competitions. David lives in the beautiful Ouachita Mountains of west central Arkansas southeast of his hometown of Booneville.