John prayed like he had never prayed before, and he rowed even harder, going backwards. It was as though the river was made of molasses as it seemed to fight against his backward movement. He had only reached about 3/4 of a mile when he heard the choppers coming. "Stay low, beloved, for they will soon be upon us!"
He heard something burrowing beneath his seat and figured that it was probably Meeko getting into the biscuits. Even in the midst of such peril that they were now in, Meeko's mischievousness made him smile. Seconds later, the choppers were over them, yelling down for them to surrender.
Even though Pocahontas wished fervently for some way to be able to help John row, she knew such was impossible. There was only one oar, and she did not dare risk allowing any of them to stick any of their body parts out of the canoe. The water was growing increasingly restless even as the flying machines began to bear down upon them, and Pocahontas barely had time to realize that a storm was brewing on the horizon in the same direction they were headed before the men's yellings grew angrier and louder.
Turning on her seat, Pocahontas picked Percy up and, with the gentle hands of a loving mother, slid him underneath her seat. He looked up at her, questions in his dark eyes, before beginning to edge his way out from under. She stopped him by placing one finger on his nose, and her voice was firm as she instructed him, "Stay there. You should be as safe as possible there."
"Meeko?" she then called, straightening a little upon satisfaction that Percy would obey her instructions. A sound of swift chattering and burrowing met her ears even as bullets began to rip through the water surrounding the canoe. Percy yelped and cowered beneath her seat, but Meeko did not pay any attention at all to the bullets that began to rain all around them as he began stuffing his mouth with biscuits.
Although her heart was pulsing rapidly in her ears, Pocahontas was careful to keep her fear from showing. Instead, she leaned forward, reached under John's seat, and gently tapped Meeko's nose. He looked guiltily up at her, both of his cheeks stuffed and sticking out to their absolute fullest with biscuits. She shook her head and stilled the trembling that threatened to begin in her hands as she picked him up and placed him underneath her seat with Percy. "Stay there," she told him, "and don't you dare go back to those biscuits. They're for all of us, young man, not just for you."
She then looked down at the hummingbird that sat loyally by her ankles. "Flit," she only had to speak his name once before he zipped underneath the seat to join their brethren. She hated having to command her friends instead of simply asking them to do certain things, but the situation left her with no choice. She simply had to keep them and John as safe as possible, regardless of the means by which she had to do so.
A bullet suddenly chipped the side of the canoe, and Pocahontas' head snapped up, her brown eyes wild. Her eyes met with John's, their message unspoken but clear. Disney's men were aiming closer. Perhaps Disney no longer cared if either of them returned alive or dead? "Where are those leaves?" she asked him, fighting to keep her voice calm so as to not spook the little ones trembling beneath her seat any further.
Roy Disney screamed through a megaphone, "STOP SHOOTING, YOU IDIOTS, UNLESS YOU CAN GET A CLEAN SHOT AT SMITH! THE NEXT ONE TO SHOOT ANSWERS TO ME PERSONALLY!" Immediately, silence was heard all around. The choppers zoomed in closer and closer, trying to get close enough to snatch Pocahontas.
The winds picked up, and John knew the storm was getting closer. He reached into his pocket, brought one of the leaves out, and laid it gently into her hand. "We only have one other leaf left, my dear heart, but we will make it together!" he said with a smile. "Do not fear! Trust in Grandmother Willow, and we will be saved!"
She wanted to ask him how she could possibly not fear after all that she had been forced through since they had been torn apart, but she dared not. Instead, she returned his reassuring smile as her eyes again met his. "We will all be together, beloved, when this is over, no matter what." She believed fully in the truth of her words, but she didn't know rather they would be alive or dead together. Regardless, though, they would be together, and their happiness as a little family, just the five of them, was all she still wanted.
The winds whipped her long, raven hair, causing it to stretch out beyond her in waves of ebony silk and flutter in the air. Securely but gently clutching the leaf, she looked up to the sky to check on the flying machines. She had been slightly relieved when the shooting had stopped, but then horror filled her eyes at the sight of one who had dipped lower than the rest. A man stood in the machine's doorway, and the silver of the gun he aimed straight at John glinted in the sunlight. Without hesitation, she aimed her throw and threw the leaf straight at that one particular machine.
The leaf spiraled through the air. Pocahontas stilled, her breathing and heartbeat both pausing, as she waited to see if the leaf would make it to its target in time. She leaned up on the edge of her seat, poised to leap at John and knock him to the safety of the canoe's bottom if the leaf did not manage to stop the bullet before it could sail her love's way. Huge shadows suddenly filled the sky, fully blocking out the sun, and Pocahontas' gaze slowly turned upwards as she sensed that it was not mere clouds that blocked the sunlight. Her eyes widened even more in shock at what she saw. Her mouth fell open in surprise as gigantic acorns began to rain all around them, pounding away at the flying machines and forcing them to crash underneath their massive weight.
Pocahontas shook her head slowly, her amazement growing at the scene. Her reassuring smile vanished only to be replaced by a truer smile that crept slowly over her lips. Shaking her head, she murmured softly, "Only Grandmother Willow . . . "
John grinned at the acorns falling out of the sky from nothing. His heart sang with thanks and gratitude to Grandmother Willow. He could hear Roy Disney on the megaphone again, giving his men further instructions as to how to pursue them. Looking at his beloved, John said, "Acorns as a weapon against flying machines! What will she think of next? We are over half-way there now, my darling! Do not lose courage!"
"They will pursue us in bigger and better boats now, thinking they will capture us with very little trouble, but they will find they can not follow us here. Out there," he motioned with his hand, "it's deeper, but here it is shallow and will allow only flat bottoms and our canoe for, though it looks like an ordinary canoe, it was specially made with a flat bottom!" He redoubled his rowing efforts, determined that they would not be caught easily. He knew that Roy was smart and rich, and it would not take him long to figure out what kind of boat to get and even less time to get one.
Although she appeared to settle down, Pocahontas remained on guard. Her brown eyes gazed adoringly at her beloved John Smith during what little time they were not scanning their surroundings. Meeko chirped softly as he stuck his head out from underneath the seat he had been placed under and looked questioningly up at the humans. Looking down at him, Pocahontas shook her head as she told him gently, "No, Meeko. Stay under there until one of us tells you otherwise, all three of you." She reached down to softly stroke the raccoon's head for a brief moment before he ducked back into hiding.
Her eyes then raised to the sky as she examined its darkening form. It would not be much longer now, she thought as she stilled herself, preparing herself as best she could for whatever danger would next befall them. Glancing again at John, she could not help but to marvel at how he had came to her rescue and said another silent prayer for their safe deliverance from this terrible situation into a better world where they would all be together and be safe, healthy, and most of all, happy. Her eyes met his, and she smiled at him.
To Be Continued . . .