by: Marty Chrisman
One by one the various search parties checked in. The reports were always the same. No sign of Luke and no sign of the Carsons. After all the other locations in the country had been checked without success, the search party gathered at the swamp, the last place they had to look. Because it was too dangerous to separate and search, they decided to stay together. They would form one long line and search that way. Everyone in the search party was an expert tracker. They knew what to look for to follow a trail, no matter how small or insignificant it might appear to someone else.
Bo and Jesse were in the middle of the line with friends and neighbors on either side of them. The line of searchers stretched out for a good mile or more. It was decided that Daisy would stay with the vehicles so she could CB for additional help if they needed it. Cooter had a walkie talkie so he could get hold of Daisy and let her know if they found Luke. Slowly, the searchers began to move into the swamp.
They had only gone a short distance when one of the searchers yelled out that he had found what appeared to be a trail leading deep into the swamp. The other searchers quickly joined around and agreed that there did seem to be evidence of a trail and a fairly recent one too. And it looked like it had been made by at least 3 men on foot, maybe more. The searchers tightened up their line to concentrate on following the trail they’d found. It seemed to be leading into the deepest most dangerous part of the swamp.
After following the trail for almost an hour, Cooter found a scrap of material clinging to a branch. “Look at this!” he exclaimed pulling the scrap of cloth off of the branch.
“That’s from Luke’s shirt!” Bo said in an excited voice recognizing the scrap of blue plaid material.
“Looks like somebody’s trying to tell us that we’re on the right track.” Cooter said in a satisfied voice
“But who?” Bo asked in a puzzled voice “It couldn’t be Luke and it sure wouldn’t be any of the Carsons.”
“Maybe it’s the swamp witch.” L.B. said with a chuckle, amused at the idea.
“The swamp witch?” Bo said with a frown “Uncle Jesse, isn’t that the story you told us when we was kids? To keep us from going into the swamp by ourselves?” He glanced at Uncle Jesse but Jesse seemed to be preoccupied and didn’t seem to hear him “How’s that story go again?”
“Legend has it that the Swamp Witch is the spirit of a Cherokee Squaw that used to live in this swamp with her family.” Cooter told him, remembering the story he’d heard as a child “They were forced out with the rest of the Cherokees in the 1800’s and forced to go on the march to Oklahoma.”
“The trail of tears…” Bo said, starting to remember the story. “She died along the way and her spirit came back here to the swamp.”
Cooter nodded “And ever since then she’s helped people who get lost in here to find their way out or she helps people who get hurt by caring for them until someone finds them. And she always leaves a Cherokee rose behind to let people know she’s been there.” Cooter grinned “But I doubt if it’s the swamp witch who’s telling us where to find Luke. That’s just a local legend.”
“All legends have some truth in them…” Jesse said somberly, a far away look in his eyes. “Let’s find my boy.”
They moved farther along and found another scrap of Luke’s shirt, and then another. Jesse took the precious pieces of cloth and stuffed them into his pocket. He just hoped they would find Luke before it was too late. Suddenly without much warning, they came into a small clearing. They saw the campfire and the body lying on the ground beside it. With a whoop, Bo took off running and dropped to his knees beside his older cousin. He called out Luke’s name as he gently cradled his cousin in his arms. Luke’s eyes were closed but he was still breathing. He was still alive.
Doc Pedicord hurried over to Luke and quickly began checking his vital signs. His pulse and respirations were weak but steady. He needed to get to a hospital as soon as possible but first they would need to make some kind of stretcher to get him out of here. An ambulance would never be able to get to their location. Doc’s face blanched when he saw the poultice on the stab wound in Luke’s stomach. He had heard of the poultice before but had never seen one used until now. He felt a chill go down his spine as he noticed other things too, the suave that had been used on the wounds and welts on Luke’s back and the old fashioned way that the fire ring had been built with a higher wall in back to keep the main heat from the fire focused in Luke’s direction. There were faint signs that someone else had been here caring for Luke but they were gone now. He caught Jesse’s eye and realized that Jesse noticed the same things too.
Doc stood up and walked over to Jesse, keeping his voice low so that he wouldn’t be heard by any of the others, “Luke’s in pretty good shape considering everything that’s been done to him. He’s unconscious but I don’t think that’s anything to worry about. I think someone gave him something so he’d sleep until we found him.” Doc paused then continuted “Jesse, somebody’s been here and they’ve been taking care of him. And they’ve been using the old Indian ways.”
“Of course they have.” Jesse said in a strangely calm voice as if it were the most natural thing in the world to find Luke and find him like this “Or Luke wouldn’t be alive right now.” Jesse ignored Doc and turned his attention on his two nephews. He watched as some of the other men quickly fashioned a make shift stretcher so Luke could be moved using some of their shirts and long thick tree branches.
While the rest of the search team was busying getting ready to transport Luke out of the swamp, Jesse slipped away and walked over to the tree where Luke had been tied. He looked around and finally found what he was looking for. A single Cherokee rose lying on the ground at the back of the tree. With a thin smile, he took a crumbled five dollar bill out of his pocket and laid it on the ground underneath the rose as his way of thanking the swamp witch for saving Luke’s life.