Changing Direction

The boys ran north in the darkness, pushing through prickly holly thickets and leaping twisted brooklets and rills. With every step, Sidmouth’s eyes lightened as hope and determination replaced his sorrow. They followed John Franklin as he led them north, toward his Cherokee homeland, until Sidmouth grabbed John’s shirt and said, “Stop, we have to go west. We have to go west, NOW!”

“Why?” John asked in a hurry to keep going north.

“The spirits point west,” is all Sidmouth would say.

“That’s crazy,” Wallace said.

Not knowing why, John said, “Yep,” and led them west straight into an ambush.