Heritage Mountain

“Have you ever heard of the stargazers?” Marco asked as they walked along the riverbank.

“As in people who gaze at stars?”

He chuckled. “No. Stargazers are a mythical clan of little people who live in the mountains.”

“Why are they called stargazers?”

“Their eyes are shaped like five-pointed stars.”

“Tell me about them.”

“My grandparents used to tell me stories about an ancient tribe of people who inhabited the mountains thousands of years ago. According to legend, they stood two to two-and-a-half feet tall, had snow-white skin, and deep-set, multi-colored eyes that glowed in the dark. Although not covered with fur, they had thick hair covering most of their body, including their arms, legs, and chest, but no facial hair.”

“That’s a detailed description. Are there pictures?”

“Only in my mind, and those pictures are from the vivid descriptions I heard from my grandparents. My grandfather claims to have glimpsed them a few times in the area where we’ve set up camp. I know it’s strange. But Gramps was never one to exaggerate, so I don’t doubt he believed he’d seen them.”

“How can you be sure there isn’t a family of stargazers? They could have survived the destruction of their culture by staying hidden and keeping one step ahead of the demolition of their habitat.”

He winked. “Grandpa would have loved you.”

“And I would have loved him.” Anita raised her eyes toward the sky, scanned their surroundings, and opened her arms. “There are a billion things we know nothing about. Stargazers could certainly be one of them. Think about all the mysteries in the Amazon and the stories people tell about unexplained things happening there. You’ve surely been exposed to dozens of them.”

“I’ve been told by more than one person they’d had an encounter with dogmen or elves,” he said. “And the natives swear by the rainforest’s magic potions for everything from an upset stomach to a snake bite. I’ve had glimpses of unusual creatures, but I’m not convinced they’re elves.”

Marco didn’t hear the musical laughter that came from the nearby trees and made Anita smile.

“I think there’s magic all around us. Sometimes it comes as a miracle,” she said. “You just need to look for it.”

“I never thought of it like that,” he said. “But if I ever came across a stargazer, I don’t think I’d tell a soul.” He hesitated, “Except Maria and Chase. They’d believe me.”

“I’d believe you,” she said.

“Then I’d tell you, too.” He leaned toward her, and she lifted her face to meet his.

He brushed his lips across hers and tangled his fingers in her hair. As she gazed into his eyes, her heart fluttered. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and when his mouth covered hers, she wanted the moment to last forever.

“I’m glad you came to New York,” he murmured.

Trembling, she whispered, “So am I.”

He reached for her hand and held it as they walked a little farther.

“You three have been friends for a long time, haven’t you?”

“Yeah. Chase and I met during our first year at Cornell, and he introduced me to Maria. The three of us worked together on several projects and realized we enjoyed each other’s company, whether we were working or not.” He chuckled. “I became the third musketeer.”

“You told me you grew up on Long Island. Were the Adirondacks part of your old stomping grounds?”

“Not really. I hiked the mountains occasionally, but my passion was the Amazon. Still is. Now, I divide my time between my apartment in New York and the one in Santarem.”

“Do you have family here?” she asked.

“My parents moved to Florida a few years ago, and I see them once or twice a year. My uncle still lives in Santarem. We spend time together when I’m in Brazil. But Chase and Maria are my family, too. How about you? I know you lost your parents. Is there anyone else?”

Marco had been her guide in the Amazon jungle when she’d gotten the call about her parents’ failing health. She returned home without delay and days later, they both passed away.

“Carolyn is my family now. My biological mother died a few days after she gave me life.” She touched the emerald pendant she’d worn for as long as she could remember. “This necklace is my only connection to her.”

Anita had been born to a homeless woman. When she was less than two hours old, her mother wrapped her in a grease covered flannel shirt and left her at the door of the local hospital. Her mother had tucked a letter inside the pocket of the shirt. It was wrapped around the pendant. The note said the necklace had belonged to Anita’s grandmother and asked that it be given to the child.

Three days later, the authorities found the body of an unidentified woman floating in the river. She had recently given birth. Although they determined the woman had been Anita’s mother, her identity had never been discovered. Anita had been fortunate to be adopted by an older couple who adored her.

What Anita didn’t tell Marco was that as she grew up, her parents had spoiled her in every way. They’d given her everything she’d ever asked for, except for their belief that she had danced with fairies in the moonlight.

When Anita went camping with the girl scouts and came home and told her parents she’d seen elves riding on the backs of turtles, they called a psychiatrist.

After spending nearly a year in therapeutic counseling, Anita learned to ignore the little people, as well as their voices. The doctor convinced her that she had an overactive imagination. As a result, if she saw little people, she turned away. When they spoke to her, she masked their words by singing.

“How did you meet Carolyn?” he asked.

“By accident. After my parents died, I sold everything, invested the money and headed for a cross-country hike. Since high school, I’ve spent more time in the wilderness than in the city and have never had a problem finding my way. I’m a whiz at map reading, and my sense of direction has always been top-notch. But somehow, I got lost.”

He laughed. “If you’ve never gotten lost, you haven’t hiked far enough into the wild.”

“Well, I’ve certainly hiked far enough.” She chuckled. “After I’d wandered for a few days, I ran out of food and fell and banged up my knee. Feeling sorry for myself, I was a mess when I wandered into Dancing Valley and knocked on Carolyn’s door.

“To this day, I can’t tell you the path I took to get there. But I can tell you, finding her has been a blessing. We hit it off immediately and realized how much we had in common.”

Anita didn’t tell Marco she hadn’t recognized the magic surrounding her, or that until she’d arrived at Carolyn’s door, she hadn’t understood the mumbled voices she heard were telepathic communication. She didn’t mention she had inherited her grandmother’s mystical abilities or that she and Carolyn were connected by the pendants they wore.