Beneath the Willows

The Wright family was sharecropping in Alcott, New York. After years of plowing fields and hanging tobacco, they had an opportunity to own a small farm in southern Ontario. Beth, their only daughter, has just turned twelve. The neighbors warn the family not to go into the woods behind their property. They warned anyone who entered the sacred land has never returned, not even animals. After a harsh winter, Beth believes she can set the rabbit traps on her own and steps into the forest. Lost among the endless maples, she follows a small flickering light to a cabin where she meets a kind and gentle man named Isaac. He leads her safely out of the forest. That fond memory of meeting Isaac would always be tucked away in her mind. Ten years have pass and Beth has married, but with the death of her parents and with her divorce finalized, she returns to the homestead along with her two young sons. When a young child has gone missing, Beth steps back into the forest. But things have now changed; she begins to see dark figures moving behind the trees. She escapes and meets a mystical woman in white buckskin. In an instant, Beth is standing at the front door of Isaac's cabin. As she steps inside, she sees the Spirits of two elderly women weeping and a medicine man tending Isaac's wounds. Isaac believes the dog attack was from a man he had seen only minutes before.

Marie Hess is a Mohawk writer and a residential school survivor who was born, raised and still resides on the Six Nations Reserve. As a child, she was placed in Mohawk Institute residential school for Indigenous children along with her brothers and sisters. She is a devoted mother, a caring aunt and a proud grandmother. She owned and operated a small rental business for 15 years. Marie is passionate about sharing her life stories with the younger generation of readers.