Ancient Tracks …Part 4 …Navigating Darkness

We spent a gloomy night missing our pup, Mollie.

Gwen and I were both disconsolate and exasperated and were blaming ourselves for the result.

Still, who could have foreseen such an outcome?

I think we both regretted being so cavalier in chasing the ghost that we put ourselves and Mollie at risk literally pursuing something we knew nothing about.

Hell, we weren't ghost hunters and had no knowledge of parapsychology.

I personally felt helpless and discouraged because I sensed there was something eerie about the woods but didn't bother to consult with some of my colleagues at the university, a few of whom had even cautioned me about what they called liminal places—whatever the hell those are.

"They're mysterious zones, Martin," Beth Lindsay informed me one day over lunch at Hart House, "natural borders in an ancient landscape and you often see standing stones erected there to mark boundaries between the sacred and profane."

Her words lit up a dark network of thoughts inside me—musings I had repressed or ignored that now seemed significant.

"Actually I did notice a curious circle of stones just beyond the footpath leading to the trackway," I told her.

"You may think I'm being superstitious," Beth continued, "but these natural junctions divide the magical from the mundane and crossing from the civilized to the wild can often initiate you into a kind of different dimension.”

To be honest, her explanation did seem a bit too mystical for my liking.

"It does seem a bit far-fetched to me," I laughed. "I can't quite get that far in my thinking."

She smiled ruefully. "Skepticism can only take you so far, Martin. You need to be open to the wisdom of our ancient ancestors. It's like the experience of walking a maze—memory, distance, proximity, belonging, and especially separation can all be invoked by walking a path—that's something I just read today in an archeological journal. Don't be too hasty to dismiss the spiritual dimension."

I was sitting before the fireplace gazing into its flames and Beth's words came back to haunt me—separation can be invoked by walking a path. Is that what happened here—is that why Mollie disappeared from our view?

What if Mollie's still out there frantically running through the woods trying to find her way back to us?

I began to tremble and feel panicky.

The thought of Mollie being lost broke my heart and it took all my strength not to act impulsively and run back to the woods and stumble around in the dark looking for her.

It was hard to sit there, staring out the window at the night and not rush out and search in the darkness.

But common sense prevailed. I resolved however to do just that the following morning—to scour the woods thoroughly and not give up until I found her… no matter how long it took.