Atlantis Chronicles: Prince of The Olympics

May 24

Michael was late! But it was important that he finish typing up his notes. He now had those notes on the jump drive on his key ring. The originals were still in the notebook in his backpack. His mom said

that a couple of people were coming by after school to talk with him. He walked the final four blocks from the bus stop. He looked up, and admired the Olympic foothills ahead of him. Today was one of those days that you could see practically every needle on every tree. His thoughts turned to the upcoming summer.

“ . . . there he is! Michael?” Mom was calling from the living room as Michael opened the door, “Could we see you for a few minutes? There are a couple of people here that I’d like you to meet.”

“I’ll be right there!” Michael slipped his backpack off, ran his fingers through his hair, and stepped into the living room. Mom was standing next to a guy with dark hair and a Van Dyke beard.

“Michael, this is Anthony Sartonni.” The man stepped forward seized Michael’s arm and started yanking. Michael had never met anyone with a more powerful grip. His arm was being shaken from his body. Tony was Michael’s size, but powerful.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Call me Tony.”

“Thanks! You too, Tony” Michael grimaced in response. He recognized the name. He was a smaller, but stouter, version of his brother Gene, the forest ranger. And, Tony was his stepfather’s boss, making this all a bit awkward.

“And,” continued Mom, “this is Rick Delby.” She gestured toward a practically bald old gentleman, who was typing on a laptop. When he heard his name, Rick stood, nearly upsetting the computer. After

readjusting it onto the table, and facing it toward his mom, Rick extended his hand for a shake. Michael smiled at the first impressions given by the strangers.

“Yep! That’s him all right!” said Mom. “Michael! Take a look at this!” It was the sketch of Guy on the blog that Gene had told him about.

“Yeah. I’ve seen it.”

“Did you see Guy’s face?” she asked.

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, is that all you have to say?” she was obviously amazed by Michael’s reaction. Michael shrugged his shoulders. Marie thought for a moment before sitting on the sofa next to Rick, shaking her head.

“So, you’ve seen that before?” Tony asked.

“Yeah. I came across it two or three weeks ago.”

“Well now!” laughed Rick in an airy, old man voice, “the boy does his homework.”

Mom, in the meantime, seemed deep in thought. Rick, too, resumed his seat. Only Tony and himself remained standing.

“Which means,” Rick continued, “you may all ready know why we are here.”

Michael nodded. “Mom’s just confirmed that Guy is the same person as Manning, or whatever his name was, so all you need now, Rick, is my story of his ‘magic.’ I’m not too sure why Tony is here though.”

As he said it, Michael watched Tony’s eyes narrow, and his jaw clinch. Rick, however, let out a tremendous laugh for such a feeble looking man.

“You sure had me pegged Michael! All I have so far is what Tony told me. He got that from Bill and Jason. We’d like the firsthand version though.”

“What did happen up there, Michael?” Mom whispered. This was tricky Michael thought. He sure didn’t want to tell too much, and he’d told Mom and Bill this story before, so he didn’t want

to tell so little that they grew suspicious. This Rick was obviously the first in line when it comes to information on Guy. If Michael was ever going to scoop him and write that book, he needed to tell Rick as little as possible.

“It’d been raining for a couple or three hours when Don Chessman and I were driving back down forest service road 2880. We hit a deer. Actually, it hit us on the driver’s side of the cab. Don knocked his head on the steering wheel. There was blood all down the left side of his face. Thankfully, the pick up slid to a stop. The truck was a real mess! Both Bill and Mom saw it.”

Mom began elaborating on the damage to the truck, allowing time for Michael to think. He had decided that he needed to lie. Rick was taking this all in on his laptop. Tony in the meantime, was keeping a very close eye on him.

“Michael?” Mom called him back to the conversation, “is the truck at Evergreen Auto?”

“Uh . . . yah. I think so. It was there last weekend.”

She continued, “It was totaled, so I’m sure that insurance photos exist. I’d contact Don first, and get permission.”

Michael was impressed. As soon as the conversation stopped, Rick stopped typing. He’d need to increase his own typing speed a lot more to be as good a reporter as Rick was. Rick’s brown eyes rolled to him from the computer at the stop of conversation.

“Well, Don and I both got out of the truck using my door. As Mom said, the driver’s side was damaged. We then noticed the deer. It was maybe 100 feet or so away, and trying to crawl off. A couple of her legs were broken, maybe her back. Don climbed back into the cab, and got his hunting knife. As we walked over to her, Don was getting really woozy. He passed out just as we got there. Here I was, lifting and dragging Don, a football player, all the way back to the truck. Guy walked up the road, and gave me a hand getting him into the cab. He said he’d been hiking, and heard the accident. He put a hand on Don’s head, then closed his eyes for a minute or two, and said he’d be just fine.”

“So Guy healed Don, too?” Rick asked. Michael nodded. He didn’t think Don would like all this attention coming his way, but it seemed like the only way.

“He and I then went back to the deer. When we got there, Guy kneeled next to her, it was a doe, and he proceeded to fix her legs. He did it by just closing his eyes and touching her.” Michael intentionally

left out the glow and the open wounds and the good hour that it took. “Anyway, when he was done, he stood, and then he became woozy. So, I helped him back to the cab. He passed out as we arrived. I

scooted Don over, put Guy in, and drove here.”

“The kids were a muddy mess when they came home!” Mom continued. “I didn’t want mud everywhere, so Michael and Bill took the both of them downstairs by the fire, got the muddy clothes off them, and I had a look. Don had a knot on his head, but the bleeding had stopped. His hand looked all bruised and swollen too. Guy was sleeping. I called Don’s folks, who came and got him. Don woke up just after we called his parents. He was still kind of woozy when they picked him up. Has he been to the doctor yet, Michael?”

“No, he was feeling just fine. His mom made an appointment, but you know Don, his idea of a good doctor is one that he can stay away from.”

Mom continued, “Hmm! Anyway, we put a camping cot in Michael’s room, and got Guy up there. He spent two days there. He and Michael went to Port Angeles on that Sunday. That’s the last we saw of him.”

“Where did he go?” asked Tony, turning to Michael.

“He wanted to go up to the Park visitor’s center. After that, he said he was going to go home, and left. So, I hopped the bus and came home too.”

“Do you have his phone number, or an address?” Tony pressed.

“No,” replied Michael.

“Why did you let him leave?” Tony ordered, “You should never have let him leave!”

“Tony!” interrupted Rick, “Manny is far from a criminal! He helps people!” After a few moments, Tony apologized.

“Thank you Gentlemen!” Rick continued, “I’ve got a few more questions for you, Michael. What did the two of you talk about for two days?”

“Huh. Talking. Guy didn’t do a lot of it, though. He used just single word answers mostly. But we did talk some about Olympic National Park. In fact I bought him a map of the park at the visitor’s center before he left. We discussed history too. We talked about what we like to read. We talked about the Greek gods. We, basically, had a lot of normal conversations. . . .Mountains . . . school. . . the Mariners. He’s not a football fan though. That’s about all I can remember.”

“Tell me more about history. What did he say?”

“Well, he mentioned the Druids of Europe. He talked about the Toltecs, or the Olmecs in Mexico, I can’t remember which. He also mentioned some other group. They lived in Africa, but I hadn’t heard

of ’em. I think Teresa was in on that conversation. She might recall.” Rick looked questioningly at Mom.

“Teresa is my daughter. She has finals this week at the University of Washington. She’s returning for the summer after next week. I’ll give you her number.”

He nodded. “Tell me exactly what you saw when he healed Don and the deer.”

“Well, it’s pretty much like I said, he touched Don’s head for a couple seconds, and the doe for a few minutes.”

“Was he touching or manipulating the actual broken bones?”

“No. He just placed his palm over the top and barely grazed it.”

“Hmm.” Rick went on, “And he became woozy after he did this?”

“Yep. I had to carry him back to the truck.”

“Did he become unconscious?”

“Yeah. When we finally got him home here, he barely stirred, even when we were taking off his wet clothes and putting on pajamas.” Bill nodded in agreement.

“Okay,” Rick deducted, “It sounds as if the healing drains his strength.”

“Nope!” Tony declared, “With Gene, after we arrived, he couldn’t get outta that canyon fast enough! He practically sprinted up the slopes.”

“Well I’m just stumped then!” exclaimed Rick.

“Michael,” asked Tony, “didn’t you ever talk with him about what you had seen?”

“Well, . . . yes, actually. I asked him a couple of times, but he kept saying, “I’ll tell you later. Say, he never did get around to answering that question!”

The men frowned. Then Rick gave Michael his card, grabbed it back, circled his cell number, and handed it over again, and told him to call immediately if Michael were to remember anything more. They left after Michael agreed to call.

May 30

Mom had made popcorn. It was on the coffee table in front of them. She and Bill sat on the sofa, joking. Jason had a handful of popcorn in one hand and his glass of iced tea in the other. The Channel Eight News was wrapping up. “Network Magazine” was due any moment.

Michael sat on a throw pillow on the floor, his notebook in front of him. He wondered how closely the news story would follow Rick Delby’s website. When he called Teresa and filled her in on the latest

happenings the evening before, she seemed to think that he was being paranoid.

“Michael, nothing is going to happen! These things all blow over. I give it about three days, a week at the most!” she had predicted. He hoped she was right.

The last thing he wanted was to have Guy too scared to show up at their rendezvous. It was only eleven days away, his meeting with Guy. It would be the day after school got out. He had decided that he needed to lie to his mom about his week with Guy. He was sure that he could convince her to let him go with Guy, but both Bill and Jason had been hired by Tony, just last weekend, for a new house construction job east of town. He didn’t know about Bill, but Jason would talk in a heartbeat. Tony might have hired them just to stay close to Michael. So, he decided not to risk it and lied to Mom about the week at Guy’s. Michael had also started taking his notebook with him everywhere. He told her that he was going to a journalism conference for high schoolers at Seattle Pacific University. He had gotten information on the conference. Then, he’d start talking about maybe spending some time with Teresa while he was there. The actual conference would take place during his week at Guy’s. Except, of course, he’d really be up in the Olympic mountains.

Chase Ridgway, the host of Network Magazine, finally appeared on the screen. Michael recognized the view from the observation deck of the Space Needle. The Olympics were behind him. Bill turned up the volume with the remote.

“Today, we explore Olympic National Park. Join me! We’ll examine some of the richest history in Washington, and meet some of the amazing personalities that make the area so rich. All of that, right

here in our own back yard, next on Network Magazine!” The familiar theme song started, along with the familiar scene of Mt. Ranier.

“Man!” said Jason, “Aren’t they going to be talking about Guy?”

Mom replied, “He might be one of the amazing people of the park.”

Two minutes later, the handsome anchor returned to the screen.

“Hi. I’m Chase Ridgway. In 1897, President Grover Cleveland established the Olympic Forest Reserve, which put two thirds of the Olympic peninsula under government protection. The actual Olympic National Park was established in 1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and has been added to since. The rain forests and the alpine settings were most attractive to this park, though the presence of Roosevelt Elk and natural hot springs ensured the park status. The pristine shoreline was a bonus. Behind the park have been the dedication and hard work of many people over the years, many with preservation in mind, many with business in mind, a few were simply wanting to survive. Over the years, their work has become the stuff of legend.”

“I am standing on Hurricane Ridge now, looking south into the Olympic Range. There are many legends of these Olympics. It’s been said that this is where God dumped the stuff that was left over before he rested on the seventh day, which is why these hills are so rugged.”

”And according to a Quillalute legend, the Olympic peninsula was transformed into its broken self as a result of the Wren god’s desperate efforts while escaping from the Wolf god and his family. According to those legends, these mountains are also the home to the Thunderbirds, a race of giants that eat bears and whales and shoot lightning.”

“Another legend has logger Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe, responsible for these mountains. In that tale, Babe came down with the croup. Paul feared he would die, so he began to dig a grave in the

western plain of the Washington territory. He stacked the dirt neatly to the east, but chucked the rocks to the west. Someone suggested to him that whale’s milk might cure the beast, so Paul slipped down to the coast and made a whale trap, which turned out to be Coos Bay down in Oregon. Sure enough, Babe did recover, with a few million gallons of raw whale milk. To save time, instead of filling in the grave, Paul just connected it with the ocean. That became the Puget Sound. The dirt piles in the east became the Cascades, and these Olympics were what was left of the rocks and boulders.”

“In 1592, a Spanish sailor believed to have been named Juan de Fuca claimed to have found what could have been ‘the northwest passage.’ He wasn’t the last of these legends of exploration. Vitus Bering in 1741 sailing for Russia, visited these shores in search of sea otter pelts. James Cook in 1778, John Meares in 1788, and George Vancouver in 1792 all visited the peninsula in the name of the Queen of England. Robert Gray explored the coast for America that same year. But like the natives, they all traveled by water, leaving the forests and mountains virtually undisturbed. Even hunters of the native tribes that ventured into the deep forest were seldom respected for their bravery, but ridiculed for their foolishness.”

“When we return, we’ll learn about the men, and women that went into the woods and what they found.”

Michael jotted down in his notebook that the natives of the peninsula stayed out of the forests. That was pretty convenient for Guy and his community. After a few ads about an annual RV sale, Network Magazine returned.

“We’re here at the Hoh Rainforest Visitor’s Center in this Segment. I’m Chase Ridgway. The western side of the Olympic National Park is home to the Olympic Temperate Rain forest, which can get upwards of 250 inches of rain in a year. Adding to that, is the fact that the trees here, the Douglas fir, the Sitka Spruce, the Western Hemlock and the Western Red Cedar, are all trees that specialize in condensing fog into measurable rainfall. This area is home to many extraordinary trees, herds of Roosevelt Elk, and, at one time, The Iron Man of the Olympics, Jim Juelsdonk. Jim is said to have built this cabin by hand in the 1880’s for his bride to be. He and Dorie lived here, raising their four daughters. Until his death at the age of 86, Jim was a legendary cougar hunter, and an expert logger, but his biggest claim to fame was his amazing strength. Once he happened upon a group of forest officials with a metal stove strapped to his already loaded backpack. When asked about it, he confessed that he was hiking it up to one of his neighbors along the river. When asked how he was able to hike uphill with the heavy stove, he said that the weight of the stove wasn’t too bad, what was giving him problems was the fifty pound sack of flour that was inside that kept shifting around as he climbed.”

“Dorie and the Juelsdonk daughters were among a slew of rough and tumble women that called the Olympic peninsula home. Carrie Jones was another logger’s daughter at home in the Olympics. She’d hike all around the peninsula, and was the inspiration for Mt. Carrie, so named by her husband-to-be, Theodore Rixon, one of the first men sent by the federal government to see what all was here. In the next segment, we’ll introduce you to the latest mountain man of the Olympics.”

Michael hadn’t thought much about the wild animals of the forest. What about the predators? The bears and cougars? Wolves weren’t native to the Olympics. Michael would have to ask Guy when they talked next. Michael really liked some of the old still photos used in the last segment. He liked the old portraits mixed in with ‘beauty’ shots of the rainforest.

“We’re back again. I’m Chase Ridgway and this time, we are at the lodge at Hurricane Ridge. These mountains have always drawn a special sort. These mountains were founded by people of amazing character. And that practice is continuing into the twenty-first century. Gene Sartonni, a ranger at the park, discovered a log jam along Carrie Creek in 2001. Ill-advisedly, he attempted to break the jam, only to have a log fall on top of him in the process. X-Rays showed two cracked vertebrae, four broken ribs and a punctured lung.”

“Gene’s brother Tony, along with fellow park ranger Jordan Jackson, arrived five hours later. Jackson had taken these photos of the accident site a week after the accident. When Tony arrived at the scene, he found Gene unconscious, but in the hands of a young hiker that called himself ‘Mr. Manning’ who happened by. Jackson immediately called an airlift for the injured ranger, but Manning slipped away as the chopper approached.”

“Gene awoke at Olympic Medical Center. X-Rays showed the damage, but they also showed that the injuries were mostly healed. Doctors estimated that the injuries had been healing properly for at least eight months. There was no physiological damage at all along the spine. Gene even walked away from the hospital that evening.”

“Tony is convinced that the hiker, ‘Mr. Manning,’ may have had something to do with Gene’s amazing recovery. When we return, more on the ‘miracles’ in the Olympics.”

“Jeez! A broken back!” said Bill. “Tony told me about Gene before, but I don’t remember that.” Michael felt everyone watch him. Mom asked, “Michael? How bad was Don hurt?” Michael sat up.

“Don barely had a scratch. The doe . . . it was amazing to see.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Don had gone to put her out of her misery, her legs were broke, but he was too woozy from the crash. Then Guy showed up and fixed every single one of her broken legs, one at a time.”

“You saw this?” asked Mom. Michael nodded.

“That’s amazing,” Bill said, “Tony would love to hear that.”

“Yah. I don’t trust him though.” Michael admitted. “I don’t know what he wants out of all this.” Bill stared a few moments, frowned, then nodded.

“Chase Ridgway here, we’re back. With me is Rick Delby, author of a website about the Olympic healer. Rick, when did you first learn about this Mr. Manning?”

“Back in 1958, I was part of the search for a lost teen by the name of Brandon Cross. He had been on his own in the eastern Olympics for nine days. With that amount of time, by yourself in rain and snow

storms, we expected to find him barely alive, if we were lucky. Here are some photos of when we found him. As you can see, every one on the recovery team was amazed. Our prayers were answered. Brandon was in tremendous condition. It was as if he had been sleeping at Holiday Hotel the whole time. He talked about having spent time with another teen named ‘Manny.’ When the doctors got a hold of Brandon, they found broken bones and a separated shoulder that were months along the road

to recovery, from injuries that Brandon had never suffered before being lost.”

“Hmm,” interrupted Chase. “That part about being all healed sounds familiar.”

“You’re right, Chase. Then in 1990, an ice storm hit the west end of the peninsula. A group of five hikers were caught in the storm along the Quinault Trail. They reported being joined in camp by a young man named ‘Manuel’ that was instrumental to their survival in the exposed subfreezing rain forest.”

“Hmm,” Chase interrupted again, “Manning? Manuel? Manny? It’s sounding familiar again!”

“Now, another interesting thing is that Tony’s description of Manning, when combined with Brandon’s description of Manny, and descriptions provided by the Quinault hikers all work out to this one composite drawing, despite the fact that the events were forty-three years apart.”

“How is that possible?” asked Chase.

“Well, I believe that a man that can heal others must have the ability to heal himself too. Such a man could live indefinitely.”

“In other words,” Chase said, “you think we might be looking at someone that might be able to live forever?”

Rick nodded. “I know. If sounds like science fiction. . . but it . . .”

The camera panned back onto Chase alone, who snapped the microphone back as well. “We’ll wrap up this up in just a moment.”

It was right there, the composite sketch of Guy from Rick’s website. It was on TV. Michael was numb. Everyone in Olympic National Park would be scouring the mountains looking for him. He could feel all his plans evaporating.

“They showed Guy. Why would they show him?” Mom asked.

“Why did they do that? I would think they could get into a lot of trouble by doing that!” Bill said.

“Tony told me they were gonna,” said Jason. “He wouldn’t let them use his name or any of his photos in the broadcast if they didn’t.”

“Why?” Mom asked again.

Jason answered. “Because, more than anything, Tony wants Guy. He wants to see the limits on his healing.”

“But, why?” she asked once more.

“I’m not sure.” he replied. He shrugged his shoulder with a quizzical glance that sure didn’t answer Mom’s question.

“Chase Ridgway here. The Cascades have their mysteries. Mysteries like Bigfoot or the UFO lights seen flying around Mt. Ranier. Now, the Olympics have a mystery of their own, the Olympic Healer. I guess the good thing is that he’ll be around for a while. For more information on tonight’s show, see Network Magazine dot com. Next week, we’ll be . . .”

Bill snapped the TV off with the remote.

“Ridiculous!” Mom shook her head as she said it. “I hope Guy sues the smile off that fellow’s face.”

“I would,” Bill said, “If I looked anything at all like him!”

Michael shook his head. If he were Guy, he’d crawl under the biggest rock in the park, and not come out for a while.

June 4

“So?” asked Michael, “Did you see Network Magazine?”

Teresa slowly swallowed a sip of her coffee before she replied.

“I did.”

“And?“ Michael prodded.

“I thought it was very poor journalism. There was no evidence presented at all. I tell you, if I knew anyone that even resembled Guy, I would be advising him to get in touch with a lawyer. Showing that description of him on the air should get them sued. My professor saw it. She even mentioned it in class.”

“Yeah,” Michael continued, “but my question is, will there be any impact on the number of people visiting the park?”

“Good question,” she replied. “Thinking that someone like Guy is up there may send a few desperate folks to begin searching. However, I think most people of normal intelligence will know what a reach it

would be, and not bother.” She took another sip. “Are you still planning to . . .”

“Oh, yeah! Now more than ever. He has to know.”

“So the plan is . . .?”

“What we talked about. You cover for me, with everyone thinking I’m in Seattle.”

“What if it takes you more than a week?”

“I don’t know. My thinking right now is that with all the traffic up there, he won’t show at all.”