Bucklee
Two Trails
by
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The elk was the first to hear it. Standing in the open meadows surrounded by blue mountains, the elk with ears pointed toward the clouds could hear it quite clearly. It was a sound alien to the elk. A sound menacing yet melodic. The dull sound of sharp axes butchering ancient oaks reverberated through the mountains and the valleys, sounding an alarm from the gray granite of the Cumberlands to the red clay of Northern Georgia. - Excerpt from Prologue, Bucklee
Now Banyugu understood his dreams. The white lions were the white men devouring Taysee and Banyugu and little Barroo. Leaving no trace of bone or blood. Banyugu screamed a mournful scream and lay down to die. While the other Africans struggled to live, Banyugu struggled to die. But his love and his hate kept him alive. He vowed to find Taysee and to save Barroo. He vowed vengeance on the jackal and the lions. - Excerpt from Chapter 3, Bucklee
When Lockhart had told the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead, one curious old Cherokee asked, "Where is this Lazarus now?" When told that the body of Lazarus had died a second time, the Cherokee said, "It is better to die only once. The spirit would not know which way to go." The story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ caused much discussion among the Cherokees. They seemed to find some kinship with the pain on the cross, the sacrifice, and the rebirth. In Cherokee legend, a slain animal could be reincarnated if its blood was spilled upon the hunting ground. So when the spear of the Roman soldier pierced the body of Christ, the blood was spilled onto the holy ground and Christ was reincarnated to live again -- in flesh and blood and spirit. - Excerpt from Chapter 10, Bucklee
"You will always have Bucklee. Bucklee. Bucklee," the voice trailed off and the apparition faded into the blackness of the night. Gideon tried to stand, but his legs wobbled and he fell back onto the ground in a deep sleep. And in that sleep, Gideon heard the sound of guns coming fom far away. At the rising of the sun, he awoke to the sound of guns. Gideon looked at the graves, undisturbed and silent. - Excerpt from Chapter 13, Bucklee
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About the Book
In 1738, a great plague killed nearly half the Cherokee people and drove the survivors higher into the Smoky Mountains. Years later another kind of plague – the invasion of the white men – would ultimately lead to the forced exodus of the Cherokees in 1838 on the Trail of Tears. During this hundred-year span, murder and massacre prey on all people in the Enchanted Land, including the Africans who were brought to this land not by choice, but by slavery.
Born into this world is Bucklee Brown, a boy destined to live in a mystical land where Cherokee spiritualism and Christian beliefs collide and blend.
Unto this land come the soldiers following brutally clear orders to remove the Cherokees by any means necessary. Blood law and blood lust lead to battle in the blue smoke of the great mountains.
This is a time of good and evil, of redemption and revenge. In the midst of tragedy and death, this is a time of spiritual strength found through faith in an amazing grace.
About the Author
Dan Marsee is a practicing attorney living in northern Florida. He is originally from the Smoky Mountain region of the United States. His grandmother was a Cherokee, and his grandfather was a descendant of French settlers.