Caterina’s Reviews > The Fiery Cross > Status Update
Caterina
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"What on earth is that?" Brianna whispered..looking upward like everyone else. "The descent of the Holy Ghost?" ..
I had no idea, but it was getting louder--much louder. The air was beginning to vibrate, and the noise was like a long, continuous roll of thunder..The sky was dark, and a strange, dim light flickered over everything...a peculiar smell filled my nose.
"Birds, my god, it's birds!"
(continued below)
— Aug 19, 2026 05:18AM
I had no idea, but it was getting louder--much louder. The air was beginning to vibrate, and the noise was like a long, continuous roll of thunder..The sky was dark, and a strange, dim light flickered over everything...a peculiar smell filled my nose.
"Birds, my god, it's birds!"
(continued below)
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It was unnerving. I had never seen anything like it--nor had most of the Cherokee, judging from their reaction. It felt as though the ground was shaking, vibrating to the clap of wings like a drum being slapped by frantic hands. I could feel the pulse of it on my skin, and the cloth of my kerchief tugged, wanting to rise on the wind.
The paralysis of the crowd didn't last long. There were shouts here and there, and all of a sudden, people were rushing up and down the street, charging into their houses and racing out again, with bows. Within seconds, a perfect hail of arrows was zipping up into the cloud of birds, and feathered bodies plopped out of the sky...
****************
It must have lasted for nearly half an hour. We crouched under the eaves, half-deafened by the noise, hypnotized by the unceasing rush overhead...
It was impossible to make our individual birds in that violent cascade; it was no more than a river of feathers that filled the sky from one side to the other. Above the thunder of the wings, I could hear the birds calling to each other, a constant susurrus of sound, like a wind storm rushing through the forest.
At last--at long last--the great flock passed, stray birds trailing from the ragged fringe of it as it crossed the mountain and disappeared.
The village sighed as one...In the midst of the crowd, Jackson Jolly stood beaming, liberally plastered with down feathers and bird droppings. He spread out his arms and said something, the people nearby murmuring in response.
"We are blessed," Tsatsa'wi's sister translated for me, looking deeply impressed.
I nodded, still feeling slightly stunned. Beside me, Brianna stooped and picked up a dead bird, holding it by the slender arrow that pierced it through. It was a plump thing, and very pretty, with a delicate, smoky-blue head and buff-colored breast feathers, the wing plumage a soft, reddish-brown. The head lolled limp, the eyes covered by fragile, wrinkled gray-blue lids.
"It is, isn't it?" she said, softly.
"I think it must be," I answered, just as softly. As signs and portents went, I was unsure whether this one was a good omen, or not. ... I was quite sure that the bird I touched was a passenger pigeon.