by B. T. Lord
She patted her revolver. “Good thing I’m armed then.”
“Right. I’m sure mosquitoes will shit themselves when they find out you’re packing.”
They skirted along the field, carefully making their way over upturned mounds of earth and rocks. When they arrived at the end of the roped off area, Cammie once again shone her light around her, into the deep pockets of the dense forest that stood all around them. In the distance they heard the sounds of an owl, as well as the endless song of the night peepers.
“I’m going to check out that direction,” she said as she stepped forward.
“I’m going to follow you in case you piss off one of those pudwudgies.”
“Why do you think I’m going to be the one to piss them off?”
She couldn’t see Jace’s facial expression, but she knew he was making a face. “Because, my love, you have a gift of pissing off everyone and everything. It’s part of your DNA.”
She sniffed. “Only because they deserve to be ticked off.”
Making sure not to trip over any exposed roots from the surrounding trees, the two carefully made their way deeper into the almost impenetrable woods.
Cammie moved her flashlight back and forth in front of her as the sounds of their footsteps crunching on dead leaves sounded absurdly loud. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was feeling a little spooked. If it weren’t for Jace accompanying her, she probably would have turned around by now and headed back to her Explorer. However, despite her fear, she was intrigued by the different stories surrounding this area. Legends usually had some basis in truth and although she wasn’t sure she believed in the existence of pudwudgies, ax wielding loggers or soul sucking Indian maidens, there was something eerie about these woods. No matter how hard she tried to discount it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched. And not by an owl or a forest creature. There was a presence in this forest, a sense of something human or – and here Cammie gulped – human-like that knew she and Jace were there. Watching, waiting. Assessing.
She heard a rustling in the leaves and stopped short, causing Jace to smash into her back.
“Did you hear that?” she asked, shining her flashlight in the direction she’d heard the noise.
“Yeah. It was probably a deer,” he responded, though he didn’t sound too convinced.
“You’re right. It probably was,” she said, not sounding too convinced herself.
She started to turn to her left when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. It startled her and when she swung around, whatever she saw, or thought she’d seen was gone.
“Look over there,” she said, pointing her flashlight in that direction. “What do you see?”
“Besides your flashlight?” She pointed it away. “Now all I see is black. Why? What did you see?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s walk over there.”
“You know, that’s what the girl always says in horror movies before she’s suddenly attacked.”
“Like I really needed to hear you say that.”
Holding hands, they slowly moved towards the area where Cammie had seen whatever it was she’d seen. The forest was so dense here, the bright moonlight didn’t penetrate the thick canopy of leaf filled branches overhead.
Reaching the area, she canvassed the area with her flashlight, but there was nothing. Whatever she’d seen was gone. She opened her mouth to voice her disappointment when once again something darted past the corner of her eye. “Damn, there it is again. Did you see that?”
“I saw something.”
She swung her flashlight, and was startled to find what looked like a path leading deeper into the woods.
“It’s probably an old logging trail,” Jace said when she showed it to him. “This place is full of them.”
“Let’s follow it for a bit.”
“I don’t think we should go much further or we’re going to end up lost. As much as I’m trying to be the brave one here, I’m not keen on spending the night in this forest.” He looked around. “I can’t shake the feeling that there’s someone or something watching us.”
“I know. I’ve had the same feeling for a while now.”
“So we’ll just walk a bit further, then I vote we get the hell out of here.”
She agreed. They walked through the trees, their flashlights illuminating the way.
Growing up in Clarke County, Cammie had spent considerable time hiking throughout its woods and forests, camping out under the vast canopy of stars. However, she’d never experienced what she was experiencing now. The feeling of being watched was growing stronger and more uncomfortable. Her unease was bolstered by the fear that she was starting to hallucinate. “Maybe I’m crazy, but I keep seeing something shimmering through the trees up ahead of us. Please tell me you see it too.”
Jace exhaled. “I thought it was just me.”
“Okay, so we’re both crazy. What the heck would be shimmering out here?”
“Did anybody say anything about the maiden, logger or pukwudgies shimmering?”
The two unconsciously moved closer together.
Practically wrapped around each other now, they continued down the path. Suddenly, they both came to a complete halt. There, in front of them, as if appearing out of nowhere, was a low hill. In the moonlight, which seemed to shine brighter in this area of the forest, they saw the hill covered with a blanket of yellow, white and lavender flowers. Their lovely perfume wafted down on the back of a breeze that blew gently into their faces.
Wending its way through the profusion of color was a thin path. Raising her eyes, Cammie caught her breath. At the very top of the hill was an old gnarled tree perfectly silhouetted against a huge full moon. From where they stood, they felt the power of this tree, its crooked limbs beckoning them to come closer. To partake of its wisdom. To feel its majesty. Her fear evaporated as she stood, awestruck, by the view.
“That’s incredible,” Jace whispered.
“This has to be the Grandfather Tree. Is this what we saw? Was this tree somehow shimmering?”
“It’s not shimmering now.”
Cammie turned her face towards Jace, her eyes alight with wonder. “What if something or someone was showing us the way to this tree?”
“You know how nutty that sounds, don’t you?”
“Tell me you don’t feel – I don’t know – something magical about this place.”
“We obviously aren’t feeling the same thing. You feel magic. I feel evil.”
“Evil? Oh come on. You can’t possibly--” She was interrupted when something shot past them and disappeared on the other side of the path.
“Holy crap!” Cammie cried out as she jumped back right into Jace. She almost dropped the flashlight when another ball of darkness darted past them.
“Come on, we’re getting the hell out of here!” Jace announced. Holding tightly to her hand, he pulled her along the path they’d just come down. They couldn’t run fast, it was too dark and the flashlights only reached so far, but they were spurred forward by the unmistakable sound of rustling behind them that sounded horrifically like tiny footfalls against the leaves. Zee’s description of the pukwudgies careened through Cammie’s head as the two made their way as quickly as they could back to the excavated field.
Her fear turned to terror when she heard what sounded like voices all around her. If they were people, she would have stopped and stood her ground. But they weren’t. They were guttural, punctuated with growls and snarls. Somehow she knew they weren’t coyotes, or any of a dozen predators that roamed these forests.
These sounded human-like.
This is insane! Her mind screamed. If she weren’t so crazed with panic, she would have tried to figure out what she and Jace were experiencing. But her mind had only one goal – to get to the safety of the Explorer and fast.
They reached the excavated meadow and were scrambling along the rocks and dirt that littered the area alongside the roped off crime scene. Suddenly,
Cammie felt herself falling forward as her boot caught on a branch sticking out of a mound of dirt. She fell flat on her stomach, the flashlight scuttling away from her grasp. Before she had time to react, or to see if she was hurt, Jace hauled her to her feet and half carried her to the Explorer where they threw themselves inside. Scrambling into the driver’s seat, Jace turned on the ignition and raced out of there, dirt pluming behind them as the tires fought to gain traction. It wasn’t until they were back on the main road that they both breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are you alright?” Jace asked.
“I’m caked in dirt, but I’m okay. Actually, I’m not okay. I feel like a complete idiot.” He threw her a perplexed look. “We were worse than two teenagers checking out Crow Mountain on Halloween night. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation to the sounds we heard.”
“I suppose so,” Jace replied. “But idiot or not, I’m not sure I’m up to returning to that place on a moonlit night, or any other night. There’s something out there that just isn’t right, and I’m perfectly happy not risking my life to figure out what it is.”
Cammie said nothing. Instead, she turned her attention out the window. Unlike Jace, she was curious. She wasn’t sure she’d chalk up what they heard to pukwudgies, but something had definitely wanted them out of that forest.
The question was what? And why?
By the next morning, she was still embarrassed over her reaction to whatever had occurred in the forest the night before. She was a police officer, for Pete’s sakes. She’d survived gang warfare and worse. A little unknown noise in the forest and she was running out of there like a frightened rabbit. There was only one thing to do to regain her dignity.
She had to go back.
Still unsettled over the as of yet unexplained feelings and sounds she and Jace had gone through, she thought it best to return during the day, convincing herself it was safer than trying to find her way around in the dark. Her decision was reinforced by the fact that her flashlight was still out there and she wanted to retrieve the fairly expensive piece of police equipment.
After telling Emmy and Rick she was going out on patrol, she climbed into her Explorer and headed back to the woods. As she sat in the vehicle, she took a moment to center herself. To her chagrin, she found her heart pounding in her chest, and her palms clammy with sweat.
“This is ridiculous,” she said aloud to herself. “It’s a beautiful day, the birds are singing. I have nothing to be frightened of.”
Unfortunately, her body was telling her differently. She took a deep breath and was embarrassed to find she couldn’t move.
“For pity sakes,” she grumbled as she forced herself out of the Explorer and walked towards the meadow. She looked past the police tape at the trees, and at the deep blue sky above her. Her fear started to ebb away as the beauty of the forest reached out and touched her heart.
She was calmed by the sounds of the birds chirping, and the lazy buzzing of the insects. In all the horror movies she and Jace liked to watch, whenever there was evil about, the forest was completely silent. But the noises of the woods reassured her that whatever had been about the night before was gone.
She easily found her flashlight and shoved it into her belt. Now that her fear had dissipated, her natural curiosity reaffirmed itself and she decided to check out the Grandfather Tree in the light of day.
Trying her best to remember the direction she and Jace had taken, she slowly made her way alongside the police tape, peering down in front of her to try and find the path that led to the Grandfather Tree. After a couple of starts and stops, she finally found the trail.
Leaves crunched under her boots as she walked along. She was thankful she’d thought to douse herself with bug spray; they were swarming about, but none were dive bombing her.
She slowed her step as she realized she was in the area where she’d heard the weird growling and snarling sounds. Poking into the shrubs, she tried to discern any prints that could tell her what animal had been making the unnerving noises, but there was nothing. Which was crazy. She knew she’d heard the sounds – even Jace admitted to hearing them. Just what the hell had they been?
She continued on and finally came to the small clearing that surrounded the hill, atop of which sat the Grandfather Tree. She studied it for a long moment, her curiosity replaced by an unexpected sense of deep disappointment. Before whatever those dark little figures were that had appeared out of nowhere, she had experienced a touch of magic, with the full moon beaming behind the tree, its flowers beckoning her and Jace forward. It felt as though they had stepped into a fantasy novel, where fairies and hobbits flitted about the revered receptacle of ancient knowledge. Now, in the light of day, the flowers looked wilted and lifeless, and the tree simply looked like an old and tired oak. Parts of it were dead, either due to insect manifestation or an old lightning strike. In either case, the majesty she’d perceived the night before was completely gone.
Had it ever been there? Or had her imagination run amok?
Pushing past the hollowness in her heart, she made her way up the narrow trail until she arrived at the top. There, she found all sorts of charms, trinkets and other items scattered around the trunk – left there, as Rick had told her, as offerings to this ancient creature.
She scanned the surrounding woods, finding it hard to believe how frightened she and Jace had been. Everything looked benign – a forest going about its business of being a forest. If Native American maidens, ax wielding loggers or pukwudgies did exist, they were nowhere to be found. Nor were there any traces left behind of whatever malevolent energy they possessed. If she’d hoped to find the answers to what exactly happened to her and Jace the night before, they were nowhere to be found either.
“I guess it was stupid of me to believe that maybe there are places where magic still exists,” she addressed the tree. “Certainly some people do if these items scattered around your truck are any indication. Do you think if I leave you something, you’ll tell me what it was Jace and I heard last night? Or am I going nuts because here I am standing in the middle of nowhere, having a conversation with a half dead tree?”
She shook her head at the absurdity of it all. Deciding it was time to leave before she ended up pouring out her life story to an oversized twig, she turned and made her way down the path. Just as she reached the bottom, she felt a sudden breeze come up and gently blow back her hair. It felt good against the heat of the day. She closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the coolness against her cheeks. In her mind’s eye, she saw the shimmering again and in that instant, she knew she hadn’t imagined it. Whatever it was and for reasons she didn’t know quite yet, the shimmering had led her to the Grandfather Tree. She opened her eyes and glanced back over her shoulder.
“Okay, maybe there’s still a teeny bit of magic around,” she conceded.
She turned back, took one step and tripped over a rock in the path. She tried to catch herself, but it was no use. In the next instant, she found herself on her hands and knees. “Damn it!” she fumed as she brushed away the dirt from her clothing. “I’m running out of clean uniforms!”
Hoisting herself to her feet, she continued to brush the dirt and leaves off her knees when a flash of something reflecting a ray of sunlight caught her eye. Leaning forward, she flicked away the dirt and found what looked like a cuff link. She immediately looked back to the tree. “Is this what you wanted me to find?” Thankfully, there was no response. Grabbing a bag from her pocket, she flicked the cuff link inside and held it up. “Now this is worth a dirty uniform.”
She glanced one last time at the Grandfather Tree before trotting back to the Explorer.
After driving to Doc’s to change into her last clean uniform, she arrived at HQ where she showed her staff what she’d found. She shared the story of what she and Jace had done the night before, carefully leaving out the details about running away in fear and talking to the Grandfather Tree that morning. Her staff didn’t need to know everythi
ng.
“I know you’re my boss,” Rick exclaimed, “but you are one crazy ass chick. Do you and Jace have some kind of death wish?”
“I’m here and in one piece, aren’t I?”
“How did Forensics miss the cuff-link?” Emmy asked. “They never miss anything.”
“This cuff-link wasn’t anywhere near where the skeleton was found. I discovered this near the Grandfather Tree.”
“What were you doing by the Grandfather Tree?” Rick asked suspiciously.
“You got me curious so I went looking for it. I found all sorts of trinkets around its trunk. I assume those are the offerings you mentioned?”
“Yeah. People leave things in exchange for advice or help.”
Cammie raised an eyebrow. “They actually expect the tree to answer them?”
Rick shrugged. “You don’t always get a response verbally, you know.”
She held up the bag. “I guess not.”
At that moment, the front door to HQ opened and the mayor walked in.
“When can I get the construction crew back to work? Time is money.”
“Sorry Bill, but you’re going to have to wait a bit longer.”
“Why?” he demanded.
“Because I just found this at the excavation site.” She held up the bag for him to see. “It’s a cuff link. It may mean nothing, but then again, it was in the vicinity to where the skeleton was found. I’m going to get Forensics out there to make sure there’s nothing else that could be potential evidence.” She stopped talking when she noticed Bill staring at the cuff link. “Do you recognize it?” she asked.
He tore his eyes away from the cuff link. “Don’t be ridiculous. How the hell would I know who a dirt encrusted cuff link belongs to? Listen, you need to finish up whatever you’re doing out there so I can get construction moving again. Before you know it, winter will be here and I can’t afford to hold things up until next spring. Do whatever you have to do to get this damned crime solved!” He turned on his heel and abruptly left HQ.
“Whoa, who put the hair across his butt today?” Rick asked. Cammie didn’t answer. Instead, she stared down at the bag in her hand. “Oh oh,” he said to Emmy. “She’s got that look on her face – you know, the one a lioness gets before it takes down a gazelle.”
