Heart of the Woods

by Grant C. Holland

  “Are you sure you’ll be okay with me gone today, Grandma?”

  “I’ve made it through every day at the lake for over ten years. I think I can last through at least one more while you’re taking care of our needs at the crossing.”

  Levi looked up and was happy to see the sparkle in her eyes when she set the breakfast plate in front of him. He dutifully waited while she prepared her own eggs.

  “Levi, go ahead and eat. Your food will get cold.”

  She said that nearly every morning, and he always waited. He knew that she was happy that he didn’t start without her, but politeness dictated that she offer him the option of starting early.

  As Grandma seated herself at the table, she asked, “Do you know what you’re buying for yourself? I won’t tell you what to get, but I’m curious to know.”

  Levi shook his head. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  Grandma Daley had surprising energy. After breakfast, she pulled the all-purpose garden and kitchen shears from a drawer and headed for the flower garden. While she snipped fresh blossoms and gathered them in a basket, Levi wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and leaned down to kiss her cheek. She set the shears in the basket and reached up with one hand to rest it on his cheek. “You are a wonderful grandson, Levi. This old woman is blessed. I didn’t know what would happen to me after Walter passed. ”

  “I’ll be home before it gets dark. Please be careful while I’m gone. ”

  “I’ll get some painting done while you’re gone. Say hi to Don Wagner for me.”

  The trip to Iron Crossing was uneventful until Levi took a wrong step. The most tricky portage had a downhill slope beside a rushing stream. With the canoe hoisted on his shoulders, he stepped onto a small stone. He was sure it was one he’d used for his pathway downhill a dozen times before, but it was damp, and Levi’s foot slipped. Before he could pull himself back into balance, he tumbled to the side and slid with the canoe at least twenty feet down the slope.

  After digging his fingers into the mud and pine needles, Levi came to a stop and instantly worried about Grandma Daley’s paintings. He ignored the pain in his knee and worried about damage to the canoe, too.

  Fortunately, everything seemed to come through the mishap without damage. After righting the canoe and scrambling along the ground to check the pack with the paintings, Levi rose to his feet and gingerly tested weight on his knee. A sharp pain shot through the joint, but it was bearable. He couldn’t lie in the woods and moan about the knee. He had no choice but to press onward.

  While hoisting the canoe back up to his shoulders, Levi thought about the cell phone again. If he had one, he could call for help even after a small accident. It was a good idea regardless of what Grandma Daley thought.

  When he reached the camp store in Iron Crossing, Mr. Wagner offered a breathless greeting. He was a short, stout man with a ruddy complexion. A few wisps of white hair crowned his head. He said, “You’re running late, Levi. You never run late. I started worrying that a bear got hungry for a sturdy young man along the way. I hope Isabel is hale and healthy, and that’s not a reason for your delay.”

  Levi grinned. “No bears, and Grandma is fine. I did slip and fall along Gunflint Creek. I made a stupid mistake, but everything is fine.”

  “Did Isabel send some more great work?”

  “There are three paintings in the pack. She said that one of them is specifically for Mrs. Simpson in the Hamptons. She marked it on the back. I think they’re all beautiful, but I’m biased. Grandma works on them at least four days a week.”

  Mr. Wagner shook his head. “She’s a genius. Have you convinced her to move to town yet?”

  Levi followed Mr. Wagner into the back office of the store. Mr. Wagner always said it was best to keep their transactions away from the prying eyes of the general public.

  With a gentle laugh, while he lowered the pack onto a chair in the office, Levi said, “She’ll never do that. I think she’ll die out there. That will make her happy, and she’ll be close to Grandpa when it happens. The cabin in the woods was their dream come true.”

  “And how are you, Levi? You’re all alone out there, too.”

  “I’m good.” Levi thought about mentioning Brandon, but he held his tongue. “I do wonder if you can help me with something.”

  “Of course. Anything for the Daleys.”

  “I want to get a cell phone, but if you come out to the lake, don’t mention it to Grandma. She calls it data pollution, but there is reception near the cabin, and I’d like to have it for emergencies.”

  Mr. Wagner sat behind the desk and lined up the three small paintings in a row. “You know that you should have no worries about me leaking your secret. My joints are getting a little stiff and weak from age. I don’t know if I can make many more trips out to Lone Cedar.” He paused for a moment before adding, “These are, wow, Isabel never ceases to amaze me. She is getting even better with time. It’s like somebody pulled all the restraints off her and let her be herself.”

  “That’s all good?”

  “Fantastic is what it is. The collectors in New York are going to drool over these. I wish she could meet some of her biggest benefactors. Maybe Maurice could convince one to make the trip out here.”

  Levi shook his head. “I don’t think that’s important. Grandma would probably tell them not to come. She likes the privacy.”

  “I suppose so. I want to spend a little more time with these jewels, but if you go out to the front counter, Lisa will help you with the phone. We don’t have anything fancy, but they work, and that’s what’s important in a phone in the woods.” Mr. Wagner looked up and nodded approvingly at Levi. “Is there anything else we can help with?”

  “I wanted to look around the store a little bit. I don’t know what I want. I’ll have to browse.”

  Mr. Wagner nodded. “That’s all good. It will take some time for Lisa to activate the phone. Tell her to waive any of our usual set-up fees. That part’s on the house.”

  Levi reached a hand across the desk and shook Mr. Wagner’s fleshy hand. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  Levi wanted something for Brandon. It was an old habit. He liked to buy small gifts for the important people in his life. Many times he’d gone to Iron Crossing with orders from Grandma Daley to buy something for himself. Instead, he brought back something for them to share or a new necklace for her.

  Grandma would ask him what he bought, so he decided he could get some of the dark, rich chocolate the store sold on the little rack by the old-fashioned cash register. He wanted to bring home one of the flowered vases on the shelf behind the checkout counter, too. He would still have plenty of cash left to look for something else for Brandon.

  Lisa called out, “I’ve got the phone ready!”

  Levi listened politely while she explained the basic operation. He said, “It looks pretty easy.”

  “They’re not bad. Haven’t you had one before?”

  “Oh, I did before I moved up here, but it was a different brand.”

  “Well, anything else I don’t show you is in this little booklet. You’ll catch on quick.”

  Levi slipped the cell phone into the right pocket of his jeans, and he stuffed the booklet in the pocket on the left. Lisa started to turn away, but he stopped her. “Hey, if you were buying something as a gift just because, what would you get of what you have here?”

  She turned back around. “Hmm, male or female?”

  “Male. Just a friend.”

  Lisa showed him the T-Shirts and jackets, but they were bulkier than what Levi wanted, and he thought Brandon was the type of guy who had a lot of clothes. He looked at the sport watches they had in a small locked case.

  Lisa said, “Those are great, but they are expensive.”

  Levi nodded. He didn’t want to spend a lot of money, and he didn’t have that much with him to spend.

  She pointed at a box on a shelf on the opposite side of the store. “There’s the travel cha
rms. Some people really like those. I’m not sure your friend would be the right kind. Women are often more into them. They usually get them because they’re worried about bears or accidents in the canoe. The charm makes them feel a little better if they are doing the traveling, or they feel better about their loved ones out on the lakes.”

  Levi stared down into the box. It held a wide range of little trinkets. He saw a rabbit’s foot dyed orange and cringed. Then he spotted a small round, metal medallion with a shamrock engraved on one side. It gave him an idea. He knew the perfect thing for Brandon. It was in the top drawer of his dresser back in the cabin. He hoped Brandon would like it as much as Levi enjoyed sharing it.

  As he had Lisa box up a whole pound of Grandma’s favorite dark chocolate to take back to the cabin, he said, “I’ll have to think more about the gift the next time I stop in. His birthday is still a long time away. I wanted to get a head start. At least I’ve got ideas I can think about now. Thank you.”

  9

  Brandon

  Gabe gingerly lifted the lid of a plastic container in Brandon’s fridge. He made heaving sounds like he was in danger of losing his lunch. “What the hell is this? It’s actually furry like it has little green and black caterpillars crawling across the surface.”

  “Just scoop it out in the garbage and wash the container. So what. I forget about that stuff in the back sometimes.”

  “I’m a little worried you might try to eat this stuff when you run out of other food. I mean, look at your fridge. How old are those strawberry preserves? And there’s a crust of bread and one wrapped slice of American cheese. Are those eggs still good?”

  Brandon grumbled and swallowed a mouthful of beer. “What’s your fridge look like? I’m busy. I have a life. Cleaning out the refrigerator isn’t the first thing on my list of priorities.”

  “You’ve seen it. I keep it neat and tidy, like me. Everything is in its place. I run the Roomba every morning to do the floors, too. You could use one, you know.”

  “Did you ever think about the phrase ‘neat freak?’”

  Gabe flipped open the trash can and pitched the plastic container inside. “I’m not a freak. If I were, I’d use rubber gloves to dust the furniture.”

  Brandon lunged toward the trash. “Hey! Those aren’t cheap! Wash it.”

  “It’s full of disease. I’ll buy you a new set of containers if it’s that important. It should’ve been emptied and washed weeks ago before you started hosting a dozen species of bacteria and molds.”

  “I think there are pork chops in the freezer. You wanna have those for dinner? It’ll get your mind off my fridge.”

  “And they are from when?”

  Brandon shrugged. “How am I supposed to know? I froze them so they wouldn’t go bad and get green and fuzzy. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?”

  “And you write the date on the container or the bag. Damn, I should have married you before we broke up. You need somebody to protect you from yourself.”

  “Grab a beer and relax. I’m healthy. You saw the proof when we slept together.”

  Gabe said, “Yeah, don’t remind me. It’s hard enough for me to forget it without you bringing it all up again.” He grabbed a beer bottle and closed the fridge. “Okay, fine, I’m done with that, and I’m not eating frozen meat that could have been there for two years. We’ll order pizza.”

  “Did Elle see much interest in our trips at the Fest? I haven’t gotten to talk to her since. I’ll see her tomorrow morning, but she likes to put a bright shine on things. You can tell me the truth.”

  “Let’s go sit on the couch. I’m a little worried something in that fridge might learn how to open the door and escape. I thought the Fest was okay. A couple of guys flirted with Elle. I thought she was going to sock one in the jaw, but he got away.”

  Brandon settled himself on one end of the heavy wood-framed couch. The furnishings were still somewhat sparse in his cabin, but he made sure it all looked like it belonged in the Northwoods. He couldn’t imagine a cabin filled with glass and metal.

  “How was Haunted Lake? At least you came back in one piece. I’m glad you sent that text. I would have been worried sick otherwise when you didn’t come back last night.”

  “Well, I waited to tell you any details until you got here. It was on purpose. I’ve got quite a bit to tell.”

  “Oh, fuck, you didn’t see something, did you? I’m gonna get the creeps if you did. Surely, I’ve told you the dark freaks me out sometimes.”

  Brandon chuckled. “Five times at least. You told me about your mean older sister who used to take you into the dark basement just to scare you.”

  “Yeah, she’s a great sister now, but then, ugh. I had nightmares. She got in trouble for telling all the neighborhood kids ghost stories. They would run home to their parents and have nightmares.” Gabe closed his eyes. “Okay, lay it on me. What scary thing did you see up there?”

  “Open your stupid eyes. I didn’t see anything scary, but I met a guy.”

  “The sniper?”

  “If Levi is the sniper, he killed his grandfather when he was about 15.”

  Gabe’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “He’s got a name? And you said his grandfather? Okay, go back to the beginning. Were you hallucinating? Too much heat? It was hot yesterday.”

  “Levi is our age, and he lives in a cabin up there on the lake with his grandmother, and their last name is Daley. Wasn’t that the name of the guy that died?”

  Gabe mouthed the name three times. “Yeah, I guess so. That story is too crazy to be true, Brandon. The old woman’s either dead or she moved away. That’s what everybody says.”

  “She’s very much alive, and she made lemonade for me.”

  Gabe swallowed a mouthful of the beer. “You haven’t had enough to be drunk. Did you listen to yourself? An old woman lives on a haunted lake with her grandson, and they said hi to you, and she gave you lemonade. It sounds like the perfect opening for a ghost story. Did you have dinner, too? Didn’t you worry they might be fattening you up like poor little Hansel? You are damn cute, Brandon. You’ve got to watch out for strangers.”

  “And you’re being ridiculous. Yep, Levi takes care of her. He’s cute, too.”

  “Dagger to the heart. You didn’t have to tell me that part. And what the hell do they eat up there? Do they scrape the lichen off the rocks, or do they have fish three times a day?”

  “Levi takes his canoe and goes out the other end of the lake and portages down to Iron Crossing. They want to avoid people, so it makes sense that he doesn’t come this way. The cabin is amazing. There’s this amazing flower garden and art. There’s lots of art on the walls. His grandmother is a painter. I remembered reading that when the old guy died.”

  Gabe kicked his sneakers off and pulled his feet up onto the couch. He said, “Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s say you really did meet a lost Northwoods boy. Let’s call him Tarzan of Minnesota. Does that work? Anyway, when can I meet him? Can you lure him down here to Arrowhead Falls? I’m not sure I want to see the lake. It’s creepy enough in your stories, but I’d like to meet this guy.”

  Brandon shook his head. “No, I haven’t convinced him to come down here yet, and I can’t take you up there. I respect their privacy.”

  “Because they aren’t real? Is that why you want them to be private?”

  “You’ll have to give me some time. I do want him to come down to Arrowhead Falls. I’ve invited him, but it will take awhile. He’s nervous.”

  Gabe held out his forearm. “Look, this whole story is giving me goosebumps. How do they keep from freezing to death in the winter? It gets cold out there, you know.”

  “I asked Levi about that. He said they use the fireplace a lot. They have a kerosene heater, too. He told me the snow helps provide some insulation. I helped him chop some wood.”

  Gabe’s eyes opened wider. “I do like that part. You out there in the wilderness chopping wood. Did you swing an ax? You should have t
aken a selfie. I like thinking of you as a lumberjack.”

  “I did. It was fun once I got the hang of the ax.”

  “I hope you left the ax up there on Haunted Lake. It is a bizarre story, but you definitely made up a whole lot of detail for it not to be real.”

  Brandon sighed. “I wouldn’t screw you over about this.”

  “Still, I don’t think you should go back. There’s something seriously weird about that lake. You’ve got thousands of others to choose from.”

  “But Levi…”

  “Maybe he should move, too. Did he tell you why they stay up there? Are they out of money? Maybe he could work for you.”

  Brandon hadn’t thought about that idea. It didn’t sound like an awful one. Maybe Levi would be a good guide. He was soft-spoken, and he was a nice guy. He hadn’t thought about the money either, but it didn’t look like they needed any help. Levi’s grandfather might have left a nice nest egg behind.

  Gabe said, “You look like you’re lost in thought. Why would they stay up there anyway?”

  “It’s his grandmother. She doesn’t want to leave. I suspect it’s because it’s close to where Levi’s grandfather…” Brandon’s voice trailed off.

  “Bit the dust?”

  “Yeah, that. He’s a little worried about her. She’s getting frail.”

  “And there are no doctors for a long way around. How long do you think it would take me to get up there if I had a call? Five or six hours?”

  Brandon said, “At least. Unless you took a helicopter. I only got back here a couple of hours before you came over, and I left early this morning. I did do a little poking around.”

  “A little…” Gabe laughed. “Do you know what you’re like when you’re out in the woods? I’ve gone with you a few times.”

  Brandon smirked. He wanted to hear Gabe’s observation. It was likely a humorous one. “What am I like?”

  Gabe said, “When I was a little kid, my Uncle Charlie and Aunt Liz had this ugly dog.”

  “Well, that’s kind of rude.”