by Power, Max
“Hang on a minute!” Daisy stopped to consider their plight.
“What? Do you see it?”
Benjamin was desperate and he thought for a moment that Daisy had spotted the stream. She had not.
“It’s here somewhere.”
She moved slowly in an arc along the narrow trail that they had been following. The sound came from their left as though it ran parallel to it and it had to be just feet from the trail.
“Don’t move or make a sound for a second.”
Her order was clear and it made sense. Surely if they concentrated, they would be able to spot the flow of water. So they froze and watched and waited, but nothing inspired them to discover the source of the sound, nothing. There was no clue other than the sound. Benjamin was becoming weary again. In his weakened state, the frustration of being thwarted in this way was almost too much. But Daisy was not about to give up.
“Over here!”
Daisy took off. She scurried across to a peculiar looking tree at the edge of the trail. It was a tree like no other she had seen before and would have looked out of place in the Wood that is if Daisy hadn’t been too busy focusing on the sound to notice. It rose majestically skyward, emerging from a wild, thick wall of undergrowth that bordered the path. Taking charge, of the situation, she issued her orders.
“Give me a bunt.” She was not asking.
In other circumstances, Benjamin would have insisted on doing the climbing. But he was far too weak and so he didn’t argue. Benjamin quite simply didn’t think he had the strength to support Daisy, but he duly obliged. They were so thirsty and the stream would almost certainly lead them out of the Wood. He cupped his hands and she used them like a spring board, to lift herself high enough up to reach the lowest branch of the tree. It was easier than she had imagined and thankfully Benjamin didn’t have to support her weight, for more than a second or two.
He watched her as she scuttled up the tree and as she crawled out along the big thick branch that disappeared overhead in the direction of the stream.
“I still can’t see it!” she declared and a worried Benjamin answered,
“Don’t fall.” His voice was filled with genuine concern.
He watched her until she disappeared into the thick foliage towards the end of the branch and he could hear her complaining all the time as she went.
“Stupid bloody branches…Ouch…arrgh... I hate this stupid place...” and on she continued in that manner.
It was somewhat amusing and in spite of their situation, Benjamin managed a wry smile. It was impossible not to admire her. But then disaster struck.
There was an enormous cracking splintering sound, followed by a collection of smaller breaking and crunching noises, as the branch that Daisy was crawling along gave way. The noise of the falling branches was accompanied by a fairly high pitched squeal from Daisy and rounded off with a low thud sound as she hit the ground. Then there was nothing.
Poor Benjamin didn’t know what to do. He actually jumped with the fright and then stood stock still in the peculiar pose that his jump had left him with. His legs were spread and his arms outstretched as if to brace himself for the fall, as if he were the one falling. It was a sympathetic stance. For a few seconds there was absolute silence in the forest. There was not a word from Daisy.
“Daisy May!”
He called her name anxiously, afraid of what might have happened to her.
“Daisy May” he called her name again, “are you alright?” but still there was no reply.
He was terrified that she had been badly hurt or worse, so he scrambled over to the wall of foliage at the edge of the track and tried to pull back some of the branches to see through to the other side. Daisy couldn’t be more than a few feet away but he could see nothing. He pulled and tore, but the more he tried, the harder it was. Benjamin was met with spinney thorns and sharp branches, nettles and dense thick tree trunks wrapped in ivy. The Wood as always was blocking his path.
“Daisy...” he started to call again but this time and much to his relief, she answered and she sounded annoyed.
“I’m fine...I’m fine!” she shouted back through the tangle of brush.
Benjamin shifted left and right trying to peer through the thick and impenetrable mass of forest that separated them. It was stupid, they were so close and although he could hear Daisy May, neither one could see the other.
“Where are you?” It felt like a completely stupid question to ask, but he asked it anyway.
“I’ve found the stream.”
Benjamin was relieved and immediately started to look about to find a way to get across to where she was. Daisy continued,
“It’s not very big, but there’s another track running alongside it.”
Benjamin was thrilled. They had found a way out. He tried to scramble his way up to the lower branch of the tree Daisy May had used, but he couldn’t. He tried jumping, but he barely had the energy to stand. His breathing had become laboured again and he felt nauseous.
On the other side of the divide, Daisy brushed herself down. The fall had been scary but she hadn’t fallen far and the ground was soft. She was scratched and bruised but nothing worse. As Benjamin considered his options, Daisy knelt by the stream and cupped her hands under the flow. The water was cold and she sipped greedily. It was so good and felt very cold going down. She gulped and gulped as though she had never drunk before. Her body demanded it, needed it. Daisy was just acting instinctively and didn’t see or hear anything else in the few moments that she satisfied her thirst.
While Daisy drank, Benjamin was despairing. There was no way through, up or around the great wall of forest. Not without help. He gave up and plonked himself down at the base of the strange tree. It seemed to creak and moan a little as he leaned against it. It was unfair. Benjamin was so exhausted.
“You OK?” Daisy called through the trees.
“There’s no way through” was the despairing answer that came back at her.
“There must be!”
Daisy stood up, abandoning the stream for the moment, feeling selfish for momentarily forgetting about Benjamin. She couldn’t accept what Benjamin had said. She looked high and low. There was no way back for her either. Why hadn’t she considered this possibility? It was a frightening thought and just as the notion that they had been separated struck her, the soft breeze that had cooled her brow, dropped in a heartbeat. The air thickened and she immediately began to get hot. Above them, the short lived brightening sky, darkened even more and Daisy shivered.
“There must be some way through,” she shouted a hint of tension in her voice. “There must be!” Daisy repeated softly to herself.
She scurried up and down along the bank, looking for a gap in the ridiculously thick bush, but there was none. Daisy looked up at the trees to see if an overhanging branch might provide her with some hope. It seemed as though the Wood was conspiring against them. The very tips of the tree branches looked as though they had curled up and away, just out of her reach. Her desperation grew and a panic gripped her. All the good had been taken from her discovery of the water. In its place, the recollection of the darkness of the Wood came back and the notion that she might have to face the journey alone, seemed unthinkable.
Benjamin had already given up. He simply had nothing left with which to fight. The young man was so weak and he was far sicker than even he had thought. There was no point in trying. Benjamin knew it and he sat against the tree, head in his hands, listening to the fear in Daisy May’s voice grow. There was nothing physically that he could do, but there was something else that came to mind.
“Daisy May… Daisy May!”
He called her with a sharp tone, in order to get her attention. She picked up on the tone and for a moment thought there was something wrong.
“Are you alright?”
Her voice was filled with apprehension and she stood looking at the thick wall of forest between them, talking to the unseen Benjamin just out of sight, o
n the other side. She stood still waiting for reassurance in his response. Benjamin felt it. He raised his head and answered her.
“Of course I’m alright; I just want you to listen to me.”
He paused slightly and Daisy instantly knew what he was going to say. She didn’t want to hear it. Daisy pre-empted the suggestion.
“I’m not going on alone. No way! I’m not leaving you here!”
She was adamant, yet still she didn’t have a solution that might suggest there was an alternative. Benjamin was of course right. She would have to go on alone. There was no choice in the matter
“You have to” he simply told her. His voice was soft, not demanding and she knew he was right. Nonetheless, Daisy continued to protest.
“But I can’t. You’re too weak; I couldn’t possibly leave you here on your own.”
Daisy understood the futility of her argument but something made her try anyway. It was partly fear for her safety, partly concern for Benjamin. But they both knew that it was pointless to argue.
It was no use of course. No matter what she said, Daisy just knew that Benjamin would insist on her going on and it couldn’t change the fact that there was no other option. But it just felt wrong. Benjamin reassured her, in his now faltering voice.
“Just follow the stream Daisy May. I told you it leads out of this place. It can’t be far and you can bring back help.”
There was sense in what he said.
Daisy was about to argue again. She was going to suggest that she could look for another way through to him down stream, but then he said something that stopped her in her tracks.
“I can’t go on anyway Daisy May. I’m too weak. It’s up to you now. You have to go and get help.”
Benjamin had a way of saying just the thing that was needed, of getting to the nub of any matter and Daisy chose to accept now that she had no alternative. Sooner or later she knew that she would have to go on alone anyway. They were just wasting valuable time.
“OK Benjamin, I will go for help. But you have to promise me to stay awake and wait for me. OK?”
Daisy felt as though she sounded insincere. She felt cowardly. There was only a short pause before he answered, in as strong a voice as he could muster.
“Go, Go, I will be fine. Just hurry and bring some food back with you, I’m starving!”
He was trying to make light of the situation by being funny, but Daisy didn’t laugh. There was no merriment in their predicament. She looked back along the narrow path that ran beside the stream and shouted back.
“I won’t be long!” It was her final word on the matter. They both knew it. With her mind made up there was no more to say.
Then she took off. At first, Daisy fairly scampered along the water’s edge, but she hadn’t gone more than twenty yards when the undergrowth closed in even more around the banks of the stream by the path that she was following. Then it disappeared completely. She was undeterred. Daisy had to get out of Darkly Wood. She needed to get help for Benjamin. Without a second thought, she stepped into the middle of the stream to follow its path.
It was only just above ankle deep but very cold, uneven and rocky underfoot, so she had to go very slowly. Up ahead, the stream took a sharp turn to the right and she couldn’t see what lay beyond the bend. But she was determined as ever and Daisy pushed on.
Benjamin meanwhile, was feeling most peculiar. He hadn’t been right since their journey into the Wood began, but now it felt more serious. There was a dreadful sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and his head hurt like he had never experienced before. He could barely open his eyes they hurt so much, but a noise above in the trees startled him and he whipped his head upwards to look.
Although he couldn’t see anything just yet, above him in the trees, Woody was watching him. Having set everything in place to be ready for Daisy May’s arrival, Woody had some time to spare. His impatience led him back to hurry things along, but seeing Benjamin’s predicament, he decided to have some fun. His cruel smile at its broadest; Woody had even rubbed his dirty fingered hands together in anticipation. It was time to get things started and he sprang from his perch high above Benjamin.
Benjamin heard a rustling noise in the trees above. It sounded like a bird or a squirrel perhaps. Woody stayed hidden by the leaf cover until the very last moment. Then he descended branch by branch, finally dropping directly down the last ten feet. He landed immediately in front of a startled and terrified Benjamin.
Instinctively, Benjamin scrambled up to his feet, somehow managing to find the strength to do so and he backed up against the nearest tree. He was afraid to take his eyes off the creature, but he had to find something with which to protect himself. So he glanced left and right, all around, scanning the forest floor, searching for some kind of weapon.
Woody immediately noticed his intention and began to snigger a low hissed snigger. He was crouched slightly, as though ready to pounce at any second and he wrung his filthy claw like hands greedily. ‘What a stupid boy’ he thought.
Benjamin could see that this creature was, or at least had been at some point, the boy they had followed into the Wood. There could be no doubting it. He had been unconscious for much of the previous night’s turmoil, so Benjamin had not seen this particular incarnation of Woody. It was truly terrifying. If anything, Woody had become more transfigured overnight and Benjamin could almost taste the malevolence in the air. He could certainly smell its foulness.
But there was nothing he could do. He was absolutely helpless. If the beast struck, Benjamin knew that he had no strength left to fight back. It was taking all of the energy he had remaining, just to keep himself upright. Then the thing, the creature, Woody or whatever it was, crouched low, almost on all fours and scuttled forward to within a couple of feet of Benjamin and there it stopped. Benjamin was startled by its speed and raised his arms to protect himself. It was instinctive and Benjamin was annoyed with himself, that he had shown his fear so easily. He was surprised that Woody had been able to stop so quickly given the speed at which he advanced. Behind his crossed arms, Benjamin had closed his eyes, waiting for the strike. When it didn’t come, he opened them again and lowered his arms slightly. Woody was just standing there looking at him.
He was smaller than Benjamin by a good six inches but that didn’t lessen the threat. As Benjamin looked back at Woody, the creature seemed to be studying him. It was standing in an almost crouched stance and leaning its upper body forward, sniffing the air, taking in Benjamin’s scent. From one moment to the next, it was hard to get a proper fix on just what the creature was. For the most part, it still looked like the boy, but then it had a beastly quality about it also. The eyes were completely fierce though oddly, at the same time they were somewhat childlike. They seemed to be studying Benjamin as if to decide whether or not it was the right time to pounce. His hair was thick, matted, dry and wild. Woody’s ears seemed larger than normal as well. They were the ears of a creature of the forest, large, pliable and maneuverable. With such ears one could hear a beetle move in the forest litter.
Worst of all was his mouth. Even with the cruel lips curled closed around his teeth, it was clear that what lay beneath were fangs so sharp and dangerous, they could tear meat from bone with ease. The only gave hints of how they really looked, but hadn’t quite fully displayed their potential for ferocity. Benjamin didn’t want to see those teeth. He was terrified and helpless, but he knew that he had to do something. The question was what?
“Who are you? What do you want?” Benjamin asked, not knowing if the creature could understand him.
In response to the sound of Benjamin’s voice, the creature hissed a sharp shrill screech and clawed his hands as though about to strike, drawing back its neck and Benjamin once more covered his face. But again the creature did not attack. It was cocking its head as if it was listening to something.
Benjamin watched him carefully now, unsure of what its intentions were but he seemed to be listening to his voice. Woody was waiti
ng for him to speak again. How odd, he thought?
“Who…” Benjamin tentatively offered, waiting for a response. The beast didn’t do anything, so he finished his sentence, still through his half raised arms, “...are you?” He lowered his arms a little.
This time Woody didn’t hiss. He was indeed listening. Benjamin was sure of it now. Unlike before from high above in the canopy, the sound of the boy’s voice now seemed more familiar to Woody. Before, their chitter-chatter had sounded like complete gibberish. To a large extent, it still sounded like gibberish, but now there was something familiar in the sounds the boy made. It reminded him of something and he wanted to hear the sounds again.
Slowly, he reached out with his filthy long-nailed bony hand. Benjamin was on the verge of collapse from a combination of physical weakness and fear, but he daren’t move. Woody poked him in the chest and grunted, tilting his head up, chin out. He wanted Benjamin to speak again but Benjamin didn’t understand so the creature poked him and grunted again.
“What!”
Benjamin almost shouted the word, wondering what the thing wanted. Woody immediately turned his head to the side again, listening to the sound of Benjamin’s voice. Finally, Benjamin twigged that he was urging to him speak. The realisation gave him something that he hadn’t had up to that point. Perhaps Woody could be reasoned with. Maybe, just maybe, there was hope.
But Benjamin was making a huge mistake. Curiosity was one thing, hope was entirely another. Woody had one thought and one thought only on his mind. He might have been curious about the boy because of a glimmer of a memory from the distant past, but he really didn’t care if the boy made the sounds again or not. There was something odd about the boy and to some extent that bothered Woody, but not enough to distract him from his goal. Ultimately all that Woody was interested in was blood.
