“Well, we can’t all be dwarves,” laughed Beau. Then he turned to Danny and extended his hand, and in return found a firm grip. He observed the boy from head to foot. “Damn, you’re all grown-up.”
Danny was a few inches taller than his brother Beau. “I always thought you were bigger,” he said, looking down on the shorter man.
“I thought you were smaller,” quipped Beau. “Y’all been staying out of trouble?” His brothers were better known for the trouble they found, than the trouble they avoided.
“Of course,” Brook said as he drained the last drop from the can, then crushed it in his hand. “Hey, Ruben, where’s the cerveza?”
“Over here,” echoed the familiar Bostonian accent from the shadows.
“Hey BJ, I didn’t know you were here,” said Brook, shading his eyes from the light of the fire.
“I tend to blend into the background when it gets dark,” BJ said, bringing a chuckle from some. Brook and Jack made their way to the beer BJ offered. After introductions, everyone settled down to hear Ruben’s story of Moon Shadow.
“Now you guys mind your manners and let me tell the story,” said Ruben, aiming his comments directly at Jack and Brook.
“No problem,” quipped Jack. “You know us.”
Ruben’s shoulders sagged. “That’s what worries me.” He squinted his eyes at the wild trio. “Okay here goes again.
“A long time ago, on this very island,” Ruben began.
The splashing surf, crackling fire and the full moon overhead only added to the mystique of the story.
“Yes, right on this very spot roamed one of the wildest bands of Indians ever — real Texas Indians. The Karankawas.”
Ruben continued the story passed from generation to generation — a tale passed down to him from Grandy, his beloved grandfather. “South Texas was where the Karankawa Indians were found. They lived around Kingsville. Inland as far as Victoria and north to Matagorda, Padre Island was theirs.
“After a battle, legend has it that the Karankawa Indians would wrap and preserve their dead warriors. They would take the enemy they captured and feed them, keeping them alive until the full moon.”
“Whyyy?” asked Justin.
Ruben held his hands in the air. “Patience. I’m getting to that. When the Moon was full.” Then Ruben peered into the bright nighttime sky and pointed to the full moon. “Just like it is tonight. The Karankawas would wrap their dead, set them on litters and have their captured enemy pull the stretchers while they marched to this island.”
“Why didn’t they ride horses?” asked Justin. Krysti held her finger to her mouth. “Well?” asked Justin again.
“Good question,” said Ruben nodding his head. “The Karankawa had no horses. There weren’t any horses until the Spanish brought them over.
“Anyway, they marched to this island.” Ruben looked straight at Justin and pointed to where he sat. “Maybe even the very spot where you’re sitting.” Justin’s eyes opened wide; Krysti chuckled and squeezed Beau’s arm, and Sunday giggled. Beau was hoping the story would last longer. Marix ignored the tale and pressed closer to Krysti. Kipp and Fitz found themselves engrossed in the legend. Although BJ, Sully, and Natasha had heard it before, they never grew tired of listening to Ruben tell the story of Moon Shadow.
Ruben continued. “The Karankawas would raise their dead warriors to overhead platforms constructed from old driftwood and tied with vines.” From around his neck, Ruben took a small leather pouch and poured the contents into his hand. Inside was an even smaller leather pouch filled with sand, three hawk feathers, six pieces of flint, and a small aluminum piece of molten metal that resembled a face.
He took a step toward Justin to show him the contents. “The Karankawas would sprinkle a little sand over the dead body,” he said showing the boy the sand in the small pouch, “and lay a feather and two pieces of flint on the body, so the spirit could travel with earth, wind, and fire.” As Ruben spoke, he touched the sand, the feather, and the flint. He held the molten piece of metal up and kissed it. “They would kiss this, which they say was a piece of the Moon, to send the spirit on its way.
“With the Moon full, they set the wooden structures ablaze. All the time, they chanted and danced around the separate fires of each of their fallen comrades. The ritual was the legend of Moon Shadow. The Karankawa Indians believed a warrior’s shadow had to be seen during the full moon, then disappear with the fire in order to set his spirit free. As the fires blazed, they would chant the words to the Legend of Moon Shadow:
“If the ritual was not performed, and the fallen Indian’s shadow remained after the first full moon, his haunted spirit would roam the island forever never finding peace.”
Ruben cocked his head and held his ear to the wind. His eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped. “What you hear is not the wind—” Ruben turned to Jack and Brook. Just behind them crept Sully, nodding to Ruben as he readied to scare the pair. “Those howling sounds are lost spirits that weren’t sacrificed!”
As Ruben yelled, Sully grabbed the brothers. They let out a terrified scream and jumped straight in the air. Everyone laughed, except Fitz and Pick who were at first as startled as the two brothers, but they soon began to chuckle. Marix laughed, finding it funny since it did not happen to him.
Warren prodded Fitzhenry. “Ask him what happened to the ones they captured.” Fitz failed to see the grin on BJ’s face, spreading from ear to ear.
Fitzhenry waved his hand like a school kid. “What happened to the captured Indians? You never said anything about them.”
Ruben held his right elbow with his left hand while he rubbed his chin. Then he threw his hands in the air. “The Karankawas ate them. You see, the Karankawas were cannibals.”
Fitz’s jaw hung open and the others chuckled.
“Ooohhh! They ate them?” Justin asked. Ruben nodded. “Is that really a piece of the Moon?”
Ruben shrugged his shoulders. “That’s what the Karankawas believed. They say they saw a piece of the Moon break away and fall on the earth. That’s what Grandy told me.” He smiled.
Sunday frowned at her husband. “Justin, that piece of metal is probably from a meteor.”
Justin kept staring at the molten piece of metal while Ruben held it out. “I like Ruben’s story.”
“We all do,” said Beau.
Brook stood abruptly. “Hey Ruben, ya got your banjo?” Ruben nodded. “Get it.” Then Brook trudged through the sand to one of the buggies while Ruben retrieved his instrument.
They both arrived at the fire simultaneously. “Here’s your old guitar,” said Brook, handing it to Beau. “I saved it for you.”
Affectionately, Beau fondled his old guitar and struck a few strings. He turned to Ruben. “Did Grandy get his wish for Moon Shadow?”
Ruben smiled again when he thought of his grandfather. “Well it wasn’t easy. You know what would happen if you tried to burn a body on this island. I had him cremated, and the first night of the full moon I came to the Island and did as he wished.” Ruben squeezed the small pouch around his neck. “Earth, wind, and fire. I took one of the hawk feathers, two pieces of flint, and sprinkled a little sand on the fire. Then I took that piece of meteor and kissed it for the spirit.”