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MYSTERY AT MOUND KEYPrologueThe boy watched his sister placed the wooden tablet withsymbol

s he hadn’t yet learned to

read in the crude metal box.She motioned for him to help her dig. He heard the screaming ofthe victims of the rampage that was taking place just a hundredyards from where they stood.She brushed back her long black hair, and her brother sawthe tears streaming down her face as she placed the box into theground. He thought burying the box was a bad idea because itwould end up washing away as the tide came in and rolled backout, b

ut he didn’t say anything.

It had been two days since their father had gathered themclose to him, handing his sister the items she now rushed tohide from the invaders. He had warned them to run and hidetogethe

r if the ship’s men

approached their land.

“We are Calusa,” he said to his children,

“

proud warriors.Our ancestors fought the ancient gods of the sky and won their

power.”

He bent down, lit a small fire and blew the smoke upwardfrom his cupped hands, chanting quietly.

“These powers are

now passed to you.

” He looked at each of

his children - his daughter, beautiful with a quiet strength,and his son, still playful and inquisitive of everything aroundhim.

“

Do not be afraid to die for them

,” he

had whispered.But the boy was afraid to die. By nightfall, he and hissister had run as their father had instructed; but not beforethey watched their mother killed and their father brought to thecenter of a group of the soldiers.

There the men tore the old shaman’s beads from around his

neck and tied him to a wooden pole within a circle of rocks.

“

We take this land as our own

,”

one of the men said.

“

Mystical powers

won’t save you now old man.”

With that, several of the men lit the timber surroundingthe rocks.

The father’s

eyes quickly found the place where hischildren hid. He looked directly at them for a moment and thenclosed his eyes.

Watching the fire start to burn, the girl placed one arm

around her brother’s chest and

her other hand gently over hismouth to hold him quiet.When most of the men left the fire and started going fromhut to hut, looking for anyone they may have missed, thechildren ran off toward the trails. The same trails they hadspent many happy years chasing rabbits and other small game, butnow with a sense of urgency.They stopped at the other side of the island

–

the oppositeend from where the ship had landed. They survived there for twodays, and now they held hands after burying the box.

“

Are you sure we sho

uldn’t keep these?” the boy asked

She held him close and whispered, “These powers wi

ll not beours to use brother, but that does not mean their powers are nottrue. And I pray on the souls of our loving mother and wisefather that they will find their way to someone who has the

need.”

As the children turned to find a place to sleep for thenight, they came face to face with three soldiers carryingrifles.