In the Forest of Light and Dark

by Kasniak, Mark

  We then sat around discussing frivolous things and a little while later before leaving the hospital, I had told my parents that I’d give them some time alone and would be back in a few minutes. I had used the time to vacate the hospital and to visit a fast-food joint across the street where I bought my step daddy a bacon cheeseburger and a side-of-fries which I cleverly planned on sneaking back into his room for him. I had no doubt that the way Step Daddy Cade eats, he was most likely starved by this point, and hospital food just wasn’t going to cut it.

  By the time I’d made it back, I had walked into the room to find my mama and him holding hands while gazing idiotically into each other’s eyes. My mama's long brown hair draped over her shoulder so that it rested on the edge of my step daddy's bed. At that moment the two of them seemed happy just to be with each other, and I thought I saw my mama laughing at something he’d said. It had been the first time in weeks that I had seen her smile.

  When they noticed me come into the room, my mama said, “There you are. You about ready to get going?” and I told her, “Sure.” Then, my mama leaned-in to give my step daddy a goodbye kiss before telling him that she would be back later. He then told her that she didn't have to do that. That she didn't have to spend every single waking moment by his side. That he would be just fine for the rest of the evening by himself watching television. But I could tell that my mama wasn't listening, and I knew that probably as soon as she’d dropped me back off at home and had made sure that I would be alright, she’d be right back on her way to Saint Christopher’s.

  Then, I also leaned over my step daddy's bed to give him a hug before leaving and was careful not to put any pressure on him, especially his broken arm. As I kissed him on his cheek, I slipped the bag that contained the cheeseburger and fries—Which I had tucked away in my jacket so I could get past the myriad of doctors and nurses. But only one nurse had looked at me as I slipped past her down the hall, and Dear Lord, she was older than dirt, so I didn't suspect that she had suspected anything—into his good hand. And, as quick as a drug deal, my step daddy didn't miss a beat when he slipped the bag quickly under the bed covers so my mama—a.k.a. The warden—didn’t see it. It was as if he had already anticipated me doing such a thing.

  After lunch, my mama dropped me back off at home, and after checking the mail she said she would be picking up a few things from the store for dinner for me because she’d probably be back at the hospital later. I told her not to worry about me, saying that there were already lots of things in the house that I could make myself, and that I would be going out with Katelyn later anyhow. She then smiled at me warmly and I wasn't sure if it were because she was glad to see that I had made a friend—fearing that I wouldn't have made any at all—or if she thought I was just saying that because I was actually worried about her and didn't want to be a burden on her.

  After my mama had left I had given Katelyn a call, and she said that she would be right over. I then used the time while I waited for her to check in on Casper, spending a few minutes playing with him and making sure he had plenty of food and water for the day.

  When Katelyn finally came around, the first thing she did was to ask me how my Step Daddy Cade was doing and I told her about how much he’d improved since yesterday, and how the doctors had said that he might actually be released from the hospital sometime next week.

  We then soon left my house and headed for the village and as we strolled through the neighborhood, we’d received a few sardonic looks from motorist as they passed us by. Which was nothing new of course, you learn to ignore it after a while.

  We had been on our way to meet a friend of Katelyn’s that she’d mentioned to me about earlier, and at the time I had said to her, “I thought your only other friend in the village other than me was Billy Lambert down at the Kwikfill.” Which caused her to give me a sly look that suggest she’d thought I was calling her a loser. Which had caused me to find it difficult not to laugh at her, but I’d managed not to with only a tight-lipped smile.

  As we walked we had passed the village square and the park along with most of the other business on Fairings Boulevard before we finally arrived at a white two-story building with black shutters. The place had a verandah that stretched out from its front entrance that continued around the corners of the building, and on the lawn stood a white sign with black lettering that matched the building’s facade which read, MOUNT HARRISON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

  “The historical society?” I asked Katelyn having felt somewhat perplexed.

  “Hey, you wanted to know more about your family's history in this village, so what better place?”

  We headed inside the old Victorian style building which looked like it had stood there since Abellona Abbott's time. And once inside I looked around at the place’s main hall, which held artifacts from years gone by along with corresponding pictures that hung on the walls or been seated next to them. Underneath each photo was a caption that read about the artifact and I had read a few briefly before I started looking around trying to take in the place. But, before I could get a really good look at any one object Katelyn said, “Come on.” and began pulling me by the arm down a nearby hallway.

  We had entered into a second room off to our left. It was bigger than foyer had been and carried with it a lot more antiques.

  “I don't see her.” Katelyn said, and I then asked, “Who?” Feeling confounded, but she didn't answer me so I just began looking around again as Katelyn went off in search by herself.

  As I waited for Katelyn to return I examined some of the old antique farm equipment and the corresponding pictures that went along with them that showed the pieces being used out in some farmer’s field. I had also taken the time to look at a few pieces of military uniforms and weaponry, like a sword that had belonged to a man named, William Augustus Mills, who (according to the card underneath the sword) was a Major General in the U.S. Army during the war of 1812. A second card right below the rest of his belongings, said that he was also in charge of the defense of Fort Niagara against a British invasion during the war.

  Katelyn then came back into the room and said, “I don't see her, but she must be around here somewhere though. Come on.” and she nodded for me to follow her deeper into the building.

  At the top of a staircase that led to the second and then the third floors were a series of doors that stretched down both sides of another narrow hallway. The first door on the left side of the hallway said, RECORDS DEPARTMENT on its hazed out window. Katelyn opened that door and had stuck her head inside where I heard her call out, “Hello!” before opening the door even further so we could enter.

  The room appeared filled with shelf after shelf of books much like a library would have, and it smelled musty from ancient paper and uncirculated air.

  Katelyn again said, “Hello.” a little louder this time, and that’s when we both heard a voice from somewhere near the back of the archives say, “Yes, back here.”

  Sitting at a desk next to a window that was allowing a generous amount of light to pour through it was a woman. She was as thin as a string bean and wore a button-up sweater that I’d pictured somebody’s grandmother would have worn.

  “Come in… Come in, Katelyn.” the woman then said when she saw us, and as we approached her I watched her demeanor begin to change as she gasped while putting her hand up over her mouth.

  “Oh, my…” she began and then stood up in a pause, frozen like a statue as she continued to stare at me.

  “H-Hello,” I said to her somewhat warily, but got no immediate response back from her.

  “Terra, this is my friend, Cera.” Katelyn then said with that coy little smile she liked to give whenever she knew something you didn’t. “Cera, this is Terra Reich.”

  “Nice to meet you, Terra,” I said while extending out my hand, which she then took, but before I knew it she had pulled me in giving me a hug which caught me a little off guard.

  “Oh, my… Oh, my, my, my…” Terra then said as she s
tared at me again like some long-lost relative. “Cera, you look just like her. Except, for your blond hair of course though, where did you ever get that?”

  “From my daddy, I suppose.” I mumbled, but then followed that up by saying, “Like whom do I look like?”

  “Your grandmother, of course,” Terra then said with a mirthful smile brimming from ear-to-ear. “You look just like your mama too when she was your age.”

  “You knew my mama and my grandmother?” I asked eagerly to hear about them.

  “Yes, of course.” she then said while continuing to stare at me as if still completely astonished. “You even have your grandmother’s aura. You’re going to be very powerful.”

  I looked at Katelyn briefly to see what she was making of the way Terra was acting. She remained impassive, though, so I asked Terra, “What do you mean, powerful?”

  “What I mean is that you’re going to be a very powerful witch, my dear.”

  “Excuse me.” I have said being caught off guard yet again.

  “You have it, just like your mother and your grandmother did—I can see it flowing all around you.”

  As she told me this I just stood there not knowing what to say.

  “Don’t you feel it, Cera?”

  “Feel what exactly?”

  “The power… The magic. Haven’t you noticed any of it?”

  “It’s true. She has it.” Katelyn then said to Terra having finally broken her selective mutism. “She can make it rain, and she puts all the cats in heat causing them to follow her around—protecting her.”

  “Shut up.” I whined gruffly at Katelyn thinking that she was making me out to look nuts, but she ignored me and went on saying, “She can also shoot lightning out her hands, and tease boy’s in homeroom with her wonderfully perky tits.”

  “Katelyn, shut up.” I said again now feeling embarrassed and wishing I had never told her what I’d done to Cory Slater in homeroom. “I cannot do any of those things.” I then said earnestly to Terra. “Katelyn’s just being a smart ass.”

  “No, she’s not.” Terra then said to me, her voice turning low. “I know a witch when I see one. Besides, it takes one to know one.”

  “So you’re a witch too, huh.”

  “That I am, my child. Just like your mama and your grandmother and Katelyn here.”

  “Okay, I’ll play along.” I said deciding to have fun with it.

  “Cera here was hoping you could give her some insight into her family’s history.” Katelyn then said to Terra.

  “Oh, of course I can.” Terra told her and me enthusiastically, her voice suddenly picking up an octave. “I am the Mount Harrison village historian after all. What would you like to know, my child?”

  “Everything,” I said.

  “Terra,” Katelyn said, once again chiming in, her voice sounding suddenly sullen. “Cera and her family have had some real weird experiences since arriving in Mount Harrison, and some of the people around here haven’t exactly rolled out the welcome mat for them so far.”

  “I see.” Terra responded as she slowly walked over to a glass cabinet nestled up against a wall and unlocking it with a key she’d pulled from her sweater pocket. From behind I watched as she pulled a very large, old, leather-bound book from one of its shelves and then she made her way back over to us setting the book down on the desk she’d been previously working at.

  “How much of your family’s history have you been told about from your mother, Cera?”

  “Not very much I’m afraid.” I said taking my eyes off the book and looking at Terra. “And what she did tell me I’m not sure was very truthful.”

  “You’ve heard of Abellona Abbott haven’t you, my dear?” Terra then asked while intensely locking her gaze on mine, and I could see that her eyes were deeply colorful like opals.

  “Yeah, actually, she’s one of the few things about my family’s past that frankly, I’ve heard too much about already.” I answered.

  “What do you know of her?”

  “That she was some girl who the jackasses around here accused of being a witch so they drowned her in the river after burning her friend at the stake—some old woman named Alcina, who lived out in the forest.”

  “Yes, well… If, you and your family plan on remaining in Mount Harrison I feel that you’ll need to know the whole story, the real story. It would be best for your protection.”

  “For my protection?” I responded repeating Terra’s words while looking over at Katelyn for a crack in her exterior that would expose that this was all a joke the two of them were playing on me, but I’d received none.

  “Abellona Abbott’s real, Cera. And, I’m afraid that by you and your mother being in Mt. Harrison it’s going to bring out the worst in her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just listen to what I have to say, my child, and then I’ll answer any questions you may have.”

  I just nodded in agreement.

  Terra opened the book laying it out before us. Its pages were old, tattered, and yellowed with age. I also had noticed right away that it smelled just like the decaying leaves and pine needles on the forest floor after a rainfall. The words spewed across its pages seemed written in an ancient calligraphy that was difficult to read. Parts of the book’s text were also accompanied by pictures that’d been drawn into the book by hand.

  Terra began, “In 1734 the residents of this village had cast a woman named Alcina Wilcott out into the forest that covered the slopes of Mount Harrison much the same as the forest still does today.” Terra then pointed to a drawing in the book of an old woman who I had assumed must have been Alcina. “You see, back then without the protection and security that the village walls provided it pretty much would’ve been a death sentence for anybody who would have ventured out to live in the forest alone.

  “The villagers had done this to Alcina because a few of the more, shall we say gossipy members of the community, a woman named, Nancy Fergusson, and her friend, Ester Laycock, had convinced many of the other women of the village that Alcina had been out to steal their husbands. Alcina had lost her husband five years before her exile back in 1729 when he had died during a lumber jacking accident out in the forest and now these two ladies—Nancy and Ester—had their minds set on Alcina having her mind-set on taking one of theirs.

  “At the time that the accident had taken place the village was busy gathering the lumber needed to build a new church. Alcina’s husband, who’d been working a cross-cut saw with another man was gravely injured when the saw buckled in a tree, causing the blade to kick back and run along the inner portion of his leg, severing an artery. He had bled to death out in the forest in mere minutes; there was nothing any of the other men could do for him.

  “After the accident Alcina became, withdrawn, keeping to herself in her home most of the day.

  “At first, most of the other villagers took pity on her and would look in on her a few times each day. But after a while, these two women, Nancy Fergusson and Ester Laycock grew tired of their husbands showing favorable attention and sympathy to Alcina. They had concluded that Alcina was a threat to them and their families and therefore she needed to go. So, the two women rallied up some of the other ladies of the village convincing them all that, in time, Alcina was going to make their husbands betray them too. And, the only way to make sure that didn’t happen was to eliminate her from the village altogether.

  “From the start of all this, most of the men of the village protested against Nancy and Ester’s irrationality. Them along with the rest of the women in the village, they’d managed to convince of Alcina’s machination. But in the end, even the men had finally acceded into throwing Alcina out into the forest if that allowed peace to come back to the village and their families. So, they collectively sent Alcina away to live alone out in the woods, in an old, run-down hunting lodge no longer in use at the far end of the forest.

  “The following winter after having cast Alcina out into the forest was a very harsh one
for the villagers and thirteen people in their community ended up dying as a result. The following spring came forth yielding bad crops, as Root Borer beetles had infested and eaten away at the leaves of the plants. Hunting for food prospected no better returns for the villagers either, for the forest seemed suddenly devoid of animal life.

  “This lack of food, to which the villagers relied on to survive the next upcoming winter only added to their misery as they lost another eighteen people, mostly children, over the next several months due to starvation and diseases brought on by malnutrition.

  “All this hardship in the village had to be blamed on something—as it always does—so rumors sprang forth that it was Alcina who had done this to them. That she had become a witch living out among the evil spirits that dwelled within the mountain and was thriving successfully in the forest after having given herself to Satan. And together, she and the Devil had come up with ways of punishing the villagers for having cast her out of their community.

  “Up to that point, the villagers had had mixed feelings about Alcina living out in the forest all by herself. Mostly because they were a divided group between those that had believed that Alcina was just an old woman who they had cruelly and unjustly shed out into the forest to die. And those like Nancy Fergusson and Ester Laycock, who believed and encouraged others to believe that Alcina was the soul one responsible for their poor crop yields, or for the forests sudden loss of wildlife, and for the sickness that had swept through the village the past winter killing so many.”

  At this point Terra had looked up from the book at me as if to see if I was still following her. I then nodded for her to go on which she then did.

  “After Alcina had lived for some time out in the forest by herself. Nobody really knows how it happened, but she eventually meets back up with, Abellona Abbott, a local girl from the village. Along with some of Abellona’s friends, one of whom was, Emma Barrett, your ten times great-aunt, Cera. But, regardless of however it happened, they—the girls—had found their way out into the forest and had started visiting Alcina Wilcott out at her cabin regularly.