I was about half way through the first draft of my novel, working on a character’s heritage, and reading about the Native American’s in South Carolina.  I stumbled across information about a Native American Queen, “The Lady Cofitachequi.”  As often is the case when I am researching, I go down rabbit holes, finding something interesting or unusual and off I go, learning yet more history and often, gaining more information for my writing.  As was often the case, here was yet another oddity in the writing of my novel.

The Lady Cofitachequi was a ruler of many chiefdoms in the South Carolina Piedmont region, the areas around present day Camden, along the Wateree River.  It is common practice for the Native Americans of the southeast to base their family blood lines on the mothers, or maternal side.   There were other women rulers, one in particular in the Salisbury area of North Carolina who controlled no less than 39 lesser chiefs.  It was believed that "The Lady" controlled chiefdoms that ranged from the Piedmont area and into the mountains and even as far east as the coast. Her great wealth had reached the attention of De Soto and was the reason for his exploration into what is now, South Carolina.

De Soto was on a campaign, seeking fortune and fame and in many cases, leaving death and destruction in his path. "The Lady" pasified him with animal skins, food and other riches, and after a period of time, realizing that the Spaniards were not going to leave as long as she was feeding the 600 man army, she quietly disappeared into the interior of her kingdom, leaving De Soto to feed himself. 

Wanting to find her and all her riches, De Soto took slaves from the smaller villages of a neighboring chiefdom that had been at war with Cofitachequi and tried to force them to take him to The Lady. Now, this is where my research turned odd. As chronicled by Luys Hernandez de Biedma the chronicler for De Soto, the slaves refused to show De Soto the way to Cofitachequi, saying, “there was no road by which to go…because they were at war.  Sometimes when they came to make war on one another, they passed through hidden and secret places where they would not be detected…”
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That sure sounds like a Spirit Path to me.
 
GC

I will often be a rabbit for our K9 team.  A rabbit is someone that goes out into the forest, pasture, or neighborhood and will just sit, so the K9s can come find them.  It is important for the K9 to be successful.  They work for their reward which they only receive when they find the rabbit. Ensuring their success reinforces their training and it gives them pleasure. 
  
On one such occasion we had training in a wooded area which is common here in the southeast United States, where we search.  At this point, I had not yet really started writing “Path of Spirits,” although I had been putting some thought into the plot.  I felt pretty strongly that it would include spirits (not the type one finds at a cocktail party; rather the type found in a graveyard) and some type of portal to another world.  Mainly just big thoughts now.  I knew of several ways to illustrate this portal, from movies, or books I had read. But I wanted something...different.

As I was sitting on the forest floor, watching for the K9 Team to approach, I was straining my hearing, listening for the bells on the K9s harness, so I could spot them, before the K9 spotted me.  The K9 shouldn’t find the rabbit using its’ eyes.  It needs to use its’ nose.  I look all around, trying to either catch a glimpse of the handler, as they usually wear bright clothing, or hear or see the K9.  I do not see or hear them, but I continue to look. I cannot see very far, since I am surrounded by trees, but I fully expect to hear the bells before I get a visual.

Then, just to my right, I realize that I can see deeper into the forest at this one particular bearing.  I notice a pathway of sorts.  It isn’t a critter trail, as there really isn’t a trail. No hard packed pine needles or leaves.  No sign of critters having traveled through this area. It is absent of twists or turns, underbrush, trees or dead fall.  At this point in the forest at this precise location, in this one specific orientation, all the trees align, forming a natural colonnade. 
There was my portal.
I snapped a picture, which is the basis for the front cover of my novel and is also displayed on the home page of my website.  Makes one wonder, doesn’t it?
 
 GC

Drake Storm - The Path of Spirits is my first novel.  After retiring and unsure what I wanted to do I found myself with time and availability to dedicate more time to my Search and Rescue team, and availability to respond to activations. I was inspired to write Path of Spirits when I learned of legislation to help fight Human Trafficking among our indegionous population. Living in the Cherokee and Catawba area, I have always had an interest in Native Americans.  As I began researching, I discovered the many different tribes that were in South Carolina.There is much history in the novel, although it is a work of fiction.