How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story

As Father and Luke walk away from where they found Isaac’s body, they see the tracks in the snow of the wolf and the panther, which is how they discover that Joseph can turn into a panther. Joseph and Isaac decide that since Isaac is now a ghost, it will be best if he is the one to visit Naomi. Isaac gathers courage, and he makes his way into the soldiers’ camp and watches as they eat and go to bed. Mister Jonah explains the practicalities of being a ghost to Isaac, such as what he can and cannot do and instances in which people can and cannot see or hear him. When the soldiers put Naomi in the wagon for the night, Isaac goes to her, and she appears to have been waiting for him.

Naomi tells Isaac she has been dreaming about him for a week. Isaac tells Naomi that Nita has died, and the ghost of Nita comes to join Isaac and Naomi. When the soldiers hear Naomi talking, the leader of the soldiers ask her to whom she is speaking. She tries to tell him she was just talking in her sleep, but he does not believe her. He unties her and throws her to the ground outside before throwing a rope up in a tree. He gets the other soldiers to help him hang Naomi by her hands, and they leave her hanging in pain for the night. Isaac and Nita go to Joseph and tell him what has happened. Joseph tells them that they must rescue Naomi immediately.

Nita goes to the councilmen to warn them that Isaac and Joseph are about to rescue Naomi so they can help slow the soldiers down when they come looking for them. Isaac and Joseph prepare to rescue Naomi when Jumper appears. Isaac leads Jumper to the river, and when Jumper jumps in, the guards are startled by the noise and start shooting toward the river. While the soldiers are distracted, Joseph turns into a panther and chews through the rope holding Naomi to the tree. Isaac leads Naomi away, and Joseph, as a panther, jumps down on a soldier and breaks up the campfire, setting the whole camp ablaze. He then escapes. Isaac takes Naomi to the councilmen wagon and then the camp where her family is. Luke then takes her to a wagon where she can stay, hidden by the bonepickers.

When Naomi gets in the wagon, the bonepickers explain that they have a trunk with a hidden compartment in the bottom where Naomi can hide from the soldiers. They welcome Naomi, but she is hesitant and frightened of them. When Naomi gets in, she hears the bones of the dead rattling over the top of her and is eager to be able to get out of the trunk. The bonepickers tell her they will try to get her out as soon as they can, and then they tell Luke that they need the panther to bring them a small animal from the woods that is as bloody as possible. 

Isaac sneaks into the trunk to comfort Naomi. Joseph brings the bonepickers a bloodied animal, and they ring the blood out on the bones in the trunk to make sure the soldiers will not find Naomi since they are afraid of bloody bones. The bonepickers also begin weaving a long hairpiece for Naomi, since the soldiers will recognize her by her short hair.

The ghost of Old Man visits Isaac, Joseph, and Luke. He tells them that the Choctaw ghosts are proud of what they did in rescuing Naomi. Snow starts to fall overnight, covering the boys’ footprints and forming ice that will slow down the soldiers’ pursuit.

When Joseph falls asleep, Isaac gets bored and decides to take advantage of his ghost powers by visiting the camps of his family and the soldiers. At his family’s camp, Jumper tells Isaac that everyone says trouble is coming the next morning, and Isaac agrees. At the soldier’s camp in the morning, Isaac watches as the soldiers make their plan for finding Naomi. He notices that the leader of the soldiers is already taking his anger out on the other soldiers, which does not bode well for the Choctaw. Isaac also watches as the leader of the soldiers promises that someone will die today. 

Isaac watches as the soldiers harass the councilmen’s camp and burn the blankets of those at other camps. He goes to his family’s camp to warn them and encourages them to comply with the soldiers and remember that the most important thing is that everyone makes it through the day safely. He prepares Nita’s family for the likely situation that the soldiers will want to see Nita’s body and perhaps even take it from them. Nita also appears to tell her parents not to worry about what the soldiers do to her body. Old Man appears and agrees with Isaac that the important thing is that everyone makes it through the day safely.

The soldiers arrive at Isaac’s family’s camp and find Naomi’s family. They demand to take Nita, as they threatened to do when they took Naomi. Ruth shows them Nita’s body, and the soldiers are shaken by the sight. Still, the leader of the soldier orders another soldier to take the body. When the soldier approaches, he sees a rattlesnake by Nita, and the soldiers decide not to take the body. Instead, they vow to kill Naomi. When they leave, Ruth goes to Nita’s body and makes the rattlesnake disappear. Isaac explains that someone cast a spell to make the rattlesnake appear.

The soldiers go to the bonepickers’ camp and order the women out of the wagon. When the leader of the soldiers shoves one of the bonepickers to the ground, Isaac sees female Nahullo ghosts surround the soldiers. The soldiers cannot see the ghosts, but they think of their female family members and feel sympathy for the bonepickers. Still, they see the bloody bones everywhere inside the wagon and decide to set it on fire. Joseph sees this from a distance and rushes down to help Naomi escape. The soldiers see him coming and wrestle him to the ground. He gets away, and they let him go into the burning wagon, assuming he will die. He frees Naomi from the trunk, and they escape through the cloth of the side of the wagon. By the time the soldiers see them, they are far away. The leader of the soldiers tries to catch them, but his horse slips, and he falls off, hitting his head on the ground. Naomi suddenly stops running, and when Joseph tells her to keep going, she points to a cavern below them. Isaac is horrified by what he sees.