Subject: The Talisman 7/7

From: [email-masked] (Monture & Wicks)
Date: 05 Dec 1994 01:33:11 GMT

This is my first posting in this forum ... I hope everyone likes my story.  It
contains shamanism, shape-shifting, pseudo-science, and a lot of speculation.
 I  started writing it after Scully disappeared, and this represents the way
I would have like to  have seen the plot develop, but alas ... and because I
like Mulder, he is the central focus of this story.

Also please note that the Mohawk words used are phonetic representations,
rendered as much as possible in an English format.  I have included a
phonetic key at the end of the story.   There are also aspects of this story
that are not (and I repeat not) in keeping with traditional Native American
practices, so don't for one minute think that it represents any of those
sacred ceremonies and rites.  I have ultimately created my own intepretation
of what may or may not happen, but among my people, there are still those who
practice the craft of the "wadayoneras".  I hope I have treated the idea of
their art with the respect and reverence that it deserves. 

This story is based on the characters and situations created by Chris Carter,
Ten Thirteen Productions and the Fox Broadcasting Company.  No infringement
of copyright is intended.

			The Talisman ... An X-Files Tale (7 of 7 parts)

Epilogue

New York State, 50 miles west of Albany
September 18, 1996
2:15 p.m.

	He had been quiet the entire drive, and Scully hadn't remarked upon it, but
kept glancing at him from time to time, a thoughtful expression on her face. 
She felt something was wrong judging from the preoccupied look in his eyes. 
He had even made her drive.  He was faraway today, close-mouthed and stiff,
cradling the file on the missing boy in his hands like it was some precious
object.  Every time she had questioned him about this case he remained
secretive, saying only that he was working on it as a favour to a friend.
	He came to life as they approached a driveway.  "Turn here," he ordered. 
She glared at him.  They were the first words he had spoken in about half an
hour.
	"Yes, sir," she sneered.  Mulder ignored her in that closed way that he knew
drove her crazy.   The driveway kept rising until it seemed they were on a
45-degree incline.  It levelled out gradually and the car came to a stop in a
yard that was still glorious in the late September sun, a ramshackle
two-storey house sitting in the middle of the yard like a happy old woman.  
	Three yapping dogs came bounding up to the car, barking furiously, but when
Mulder got out, they stopped as if by magic.  The biggest one, a grizzled
black and brown male, sniffed cautiously at him and then backed away, wagging
his tail and grinning a definite doggy grin.  Scully got out of the car and
the dogs ignored her completely, running away to disappear around the side of
the house.
	A man had opened the door of the house and was striding down over the porch,
his dark face suspicious as he stared at him.  He was a big man, standing
taller than Mulder, his shoulders wide and his legs long.  He wore a denim
shirt over jeans and had long black braids that nearly touched his waist.
	"I'm looking for Daisy Van Leeuwan," Mulder said, flipping his ID at the
man.  "I'm Agent Fox Mulder, this is my partner Agent Scully.  Is Daisy at
home?"
	Scully glanced sharply at Mulder.  There was an encyclopedia of feeling
behind those casual words, something that she had never heard from Mulder
before, not since Phoebe Green.  She was instantly interested.  Mulder was
always so closed about his personal life.  She wondered what this woman meant
to him.
	"Maybe, maybe not," said the man, standing firmly between them and the
porch, his arms crossed forebodingly over his chest.  
	The door swung open again and a little girl of perhaps two came outside,
carrying a dilapidated Barney dinosaur by the tail.  She had light brown hair
and inquisitive eyes that gazed at them with open curiousity.  She was
wearing purple track pants and a sweatshirt that had a little green man in a
flying saucer printed on it with the legend "Space Friends" emblazoned across
the chest. 
	Scully couldn't stop staring at her.  There was something maddenly familiar
about her, even though she had never seen this child before.  And then she
remembered -- the boy in the file that Mulder carried.  She had the same
shaped face, and her expression was very similiar, but those eyes -- she
could see that the little girl had green eyes, alien in her darkly native
face.
	"Whose dat, Daddy?" she asked of the man, her little voice high pitched and
sweet.  The door swung open behind her and Scully looked up to see a tall,
dark haired woman step outside, her dark eyes viewing them with intelligence
and mocking humour.  She wore a lot of silver and her skin was the colour of
cinnamon.  
	She came off the porch and pushed aside the man, standing before Mulder. 
"Tasitsho," she said, and the weird word sending a sickening wave of deja vu
crashing through Scully's brain.   As though in a fog, she heard Mulder say,
"Hi, Daisy.  How are you?"
	"I'm fine, Mr FBI.  You know that."  She bent to pick up the child who had
come to stand beside her.  "This is Dawendineh, my morning child.   Say hi to
Mr Mulder and his partner, sweetheart."
	"Hi," the child trilled shyly.
	"And this is my husband, Gasgaodah Johnson," she continued, indicating the
man who was still glowering at them -- or more precisely, was glowering at
Mulder. 
	Scully looked at her partner.  He was staring at the child in a daze, his
entire being focused on her.  Daisy went to him, touching him lightly on the
shoulder.  "No," was all she said.  "She's a child of the West Wind,
Tasitsho."  She smiled at him, and there was volumes in that smile.  "And
gifted, she is."	
	He relaxed, expelling his breath sharply.  Scully glanced between them,
unsure of the silent communication she was witnessed.  "Just as well," he
said, nearly whispering.  "She's into Barney."
	Dawendineh pouted.  "Barney good," she said.  She looked at Daisy.  "Down, 
Mummy Mum."
	Scully looked at Daisy, and then at the little girl, and back at Mulder, and
then the light went off in her head.
	Mulder produced his file.  "I think I've located Tehonig," he said quietly,
and handed it to Daisy.  "He's been placed with a foster home in Quantico, of
all places, and is attending a school for gifted children.   They've named
him Timothy MacEachern, and they're a little concerned with him -- " and at
her frightened look, he said, "No, he's fine, he's healthy and smart.  But
apparently he hears voices, talks to what he calls spirits, and
strangely-dressed people who vanish have been seen with him."
	Daisy looked like she was dreaming as she flipped through the file.  "Does
he remember Denene, or me?" she asked softly, as though she were afraid of
the answer.
	Scully responded, remembering the strange little boy they had interviewed
last month.  "He says he can only remember someone named Degasaheh."  She
tripped a little over the pronounciation.  "He doesn't know who his parents
are."
	Daisy looked at Scully then, who took an instinctive step backward.  Images
that were not hers crowded into her mind, and she felt the pain this woman
felt.   Hot tears sprang to her eyes and she fought off the feeling, shaking
her head to clear it.  She was being inundated with emotions that were not
hers.  She stared at the woman, who looked back at her, clear-eyed and
silent.  They looked at each other, and the vision of an otter suddenly
danced before Scully's eyes and was gone as swiftly as it had come.   She
felt like she was underwater, in a dream.  
	Daisy handed the file back to Mulder.  "Thank you, Tasitsho.  You have found
him for me, and we have made a fair trade, a good trade."  She smiled then,
and it was a beautiful smile, clear and strong, like a mountain stream. 
"Have you still your talisman?"
	Scully looked at Mulder.  He nodded slowly.  "I do.  It ... it helps me,
Daisy.  I guess we have made a good trade."
	She touched his hand, and it was, for a moment, like they were the only
people there.  And then the little girl was singing, "Tasitsho,  Ta-sit-sho,
Ta-sit-sho-ee ..."  Daisy stepped away from him and gathered the girl to him.
 "I'd ask you in for tea, but it's probably not a good idea."  She looked at
Mulder steadily, and slowly he nodded.   They looked at one another again,
that wordless communication passing between them, and then he smiled at
Daisy, and turned away from her.
	"Come on, Scully," he said.  "Let's go."
	She stared at him.  "That's it?"
	He nodded.  "Yep, we're all done here."
	She followed him back to the car, puzzled by the emotions that had swirled
around her.  The man had gone back into the house, and Daisy was standing
with the child in her arms, whispering into her ear.   Mulder got into the
driver's side this time and didn't even glance out the rear view mirror as
they drove back down the driveway.   Scully did up her seatbelt and sat
quietly for about three miles, and then said softly, "She lied to you,
Mulder."
	He glanced at her, his eyes warning her away from him, away from the topic. 
"I know," he said.  "But I can't do anything about it."
	And he was silent the rest of the way to the airport.

						THE END

Pronounciation Guide

Please note -- because Mohawk (one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois
Confederacy) is primarily an oral language (that is, it never had its own
written language), these are as close to the actual pronounciation as I can
phonetically make it.  Some purists would argue that my translations are off;
hey, it's been two generations since anyone in my family last spoke Mohawk,
so sue me.

Tehoniguratheh -- Tay-hon-ig-url-at-heh  "Bright Mind"
Akwatonteh -- Ahk-wa-ton-tay "My mother's sister (aunt)"
Degonawadonti -- Day-gone-ah-wah-don-tee "Place Where the Waters Meet"
sinneheh -- sin-knee-heh "Close your mouth (be quiet)"
Tasitsho -- Tah-sits-ho "Fox"
wadayoneras -- wah-da-yon-erl-as "(Feminine form of) Witch"
Sowahs -- So-wahs "Dog"
Iatseh -- Yaht-say "Sky Woman"
Degasaheh -- Day-ga-sah-hey (An Oneida War chief's name that I don't have a
translation for)
Gasgaodah -- Gus-ga-oh-dah "Two Guns"
Dawendineh -- Daw-wen-dee-neh -- "First Light of Morning (Dawn)"

It's been fun,
Terri Monture

"As long as it's not Spooky Fox"