Stranger in the Woods

by Geof Johnson

  “Maybe people are holding off until all their leaves are down. Then they would only have to hire us one more time.”

  Jason scratched behind one ear, shaking his head. “I don’t blame ’em for doing that, but we need more money, don’t we?”

  Zach did the math in his head. “Counting what we have now? Another hundred and fifty dollars, probably, and that’s just to order the rest of the tubes and stuff. Grandpa said we should have a little extra saved up in case anything else burns out when we turn the equipment back on.”

  Justin held the bow at his side and an arrow in his other hand. “What if all of it burns out again? We’d never be able to make enough money to replace it. Not before winter, anyway.”

  “Maybe we can find some other ways to earn some cash,” Jason said. “Nobody seems to want their cars washed or anything, so it’ll have to be something we haven’t thought of.”

  “Grandpa said we could probably make some money shoveling people’s sidewalks and driveways after it snows,” Zach said, “but that’ll be too late.”

  Jason grunted. “Way too late. There’s no point by then. Bo will be stuck here forever.”

  “It doesn’t snow that much here, anyway,” Justin said.

  “I’ve been saving my allowance,” Zach said. “It’s not nearly enough, but it’s something.”

  Justin waved the arrow at Zach like a conductor’s baton. “Shelby’s saving her babysitting money, too, but that don’t seem right. Y’all shouldn’t have to do that.”

  “Why not? You’d do it.”

  “Maybe, if I got an allowance. But I don’t, and we’re runnin’ out of time to make money.” Justin sighed towards the ground. “Sure hope we can manage, somehow.”

  Jason made a fist and scowled. “We’d have enough if Uncle Marty hadn’t ripped us off.”

  “But he did,” Zach said, “and we gotta find a way to deal with it.”

  Justin scowled, too, the expression on the twin’s faces so similar that it would’ve been impossible to tell them apart if not for Justin’s scar. The brothers looked at each other and their jaws tightened, and Zach could only imagine what was going through their minds. Justin turned to Zach and said, “You think it’s true what your Grandpa said about Uncle Marty, about how the folks at Bennie’s threw him out?”

  “He wouldn’t have said it if it didn’t happen.”

  “He didn’t just say it to make us feel better?”

  “I’m sure he wanted to make you feel better, but I’m also sure it really happened. I don’t believe everybody around here looks down on you like you think they do. Maybe some people, but not everybody.” I don’t, he almost said aloud, and neither does Grandpa or my mom. But he was also sure they knew that.

  The brothers faced each other again and another unspoken message passed between them, then Jason said, “When do we work next?”

  “Monday and Tuesday. After that I have to rake my yard again. Leaves are starting to pile up and Mom doesn’t want them killing the grass.”

  “How about your Grandpa’s yard? You gonna do his again, too?”

  “Probably right after I do mine. I told him I would.”

  “We’re gonna help.” He gestured at Justin. “Me and him.”

  “You don’t have to. I don’t help you with yours.”

  “There are three of us doin’ ours, countin’ Shelby. It’s easy. We ain’t helpin’ with your yard, just your Grandpa’s.”

  Zach considered his two friends for a moment, thankful of their offer. Then he pointed at the bow, which Justin still held at his side. “Tell you what. Let’s have a little archery competition, five shots each. The one with the best arrow gets to use the leaf blower tomorrow the whole time, second best gets the wheelbarrow, last place has to rake.”

  “What about Shelby?” Jason said. “She ain’t here to shoot. She’s still downstairs with your grandpa.”

  “She has to bag.” They all hated bagging. Some of the dried leaves inevitably broke into tiny, itchy particles and managed to work their way into the skin of their arms and hands, even when they wore longs sleeves and gloves.

  “You’re on.” Jason tapped the back of his hand against Justin’s arm. “You shoot first.”

  * * *

  Zach came home from school on Tuesday with his mother to find an old gray van in their driveway and extension ladders pushed up against the house. Four men were working on the outside walls, which seemed worse than when Zach had left that morning. “What are they doing?” he asked his mother when they parked on the street. “Looks awful.”

  “They have to do a lot of prep work before they can paint, remember?”

  “But it looks like they’re taking paint off, not putting it on.” Scattered patches were bare now where plain wood showed like sores.

  “They’re sanding some places and filling in little holes here and there. Your grandfather explained it the other night. You must not have been listening.”

  “I didn’t realize it would look like that.”

  They walked across the grass together toward the front steps. “Don’t worry about it, honey. It’ll look awesome when they’re done. Trust me.”

  * * *

  By Thursday, the house was transformed. Zach sat in the car and stared at it when his mother pulled into the driveway after school. “Whoa,” he muttered, dragging the word out for an entire breath.

  “You can say that again.” His mother shut off the engine of her Honda and stared, too. They both got out and walked to the middle of the yard so they could see the results better.

  The house was no longer the color of a dull olive, tired and drab-looking. It was white, so white that it seemed alive with in its own light. The shutters and trim were now forest green instead of black, and it matched the rails and gingerbread trim of the porch that Liz and Shelby had painted before. Even the turret on the upper left corner looked good. Less medieval.

  He and his mother considered it silently for several moments, taking it all in, until Zach said, “It looks like a mansion.”

  “Not quite, but I’m glad it’s not that big. I’d hate to clean it.” She wore a wide smile, standing with her eyes shining as she regarded their home. “Bet you don’t think it looks spooky and creepy, now.”

  “It’s the nicest house on the street. By far.”

  “I never thought I’d be able to say it, but I think so, too.” She glanced at the houses on either side of theirs and her smile faded. Both appeared shabby in comparison and in need of care, and the For Sale sign in Mrs. Schultz’s yard stuck out like crude flag. “I wish they’d paint, too,” she said, her gaze still on the empty home. “They could sell it a lot faster.”

  “Is it bad to have houses for sale in your neighborhood?”

  “It’s okay if it’s only one or two. We have more than that, though.”

  “Maybe somebody will buy Mrs. Schultz’s place now that we got ours painted. Who wouldn’t want to live next to this?” He grinned and extended one hand toward their house.

  She laughed and started up the steps. “I hope you’re right. Come on. Let’s see if the painters left an invoice on the front door.”

  Chapter 39

  A long string of tiny orange lights. A plastic jack-o’-lantern. Fake spider webs. Glow-in-the-dark skeletons.

  Saturday was Halloween. Zach didn’t have any leaf-raking jobs, so after he helped his mother decorate the front porch and the yard, he went with his friends to see Bo. Beepee tagged along.

  The white-haired giant took them on a tour through the woods, pointing out different plants and describing their uses. He also discussed the textbook Jason and Justin were reading in their Biology class, but the conversation sometimes lagged when Bo became preoccupied, pausing to stare into the distance while Zach and his friends waited, concerned and confused. After the last such episode, Bo exhaled deeply and said, “Would you come with me to my home? I have something I would like to do there.”

  He turned without an explanation and star
ted walking briskly away. Zach and his friends looked at each other, as if one of them might know what Bo was up to, then hurried to follow him. No one spoke.

  When they reached his cabin, Bo abruptly stopped and faced them. “I have been thinking about doing this for many days.” He grew silent for a moment, and Zach had the feeling that something important was about to happen. Bo said, “In the event that your endeavor with the laboratory is successful and I am able to return to my people, I need to make arrangements regarding the ownership of my home.” He paused while he looked each of them in the eye. “I know that you have been unable to work on the structure that you call your clubhouse, due to the demands on your time required by the rehabilitation of the laboratory.”

  Jason waved one loose hand as if shooing away a gnat. “Aw, we don’t care about that. It’s just something to do, is all.”

  “I still feel badly about it. You have sacrificed many hours of your time to labor for my benefit, and I am grateful for that.”

  “But we want to do it,” Zach said. “We like it. It’s fun. Well, the raking’s not too fun, but we like fixing up the lab.”

  Bo stared at him as if he were considering the truth of what Zach said. “I still want to offer you something for it. I cannot pay you because I have no money, but I can do something else.”

  “You already did something for us,” Shelby said. “You taught us how to shoot a bow, and you cured my asthma.”

  “And other stuff, too,” Justin said. “It’s a fair trade, far as I’m concerned.”

  “Even so,” Bo continued, “something must be done regarding this matter I am getting to.” He turned and gestured at his cabin. “If I return to my people, this will stand unoccupied. I would like to give it to you. It can be your clubhouse.”

  No one said anything for several seconds as the meaning of his offer sank in. Jason said, “Oh…cool. That would be awesome! I hadn’t thought about what would happen to it when you’re gone. But won’t somebody else find it and use it, or tear it down or something?”

  “It is very difficult to find if the forest does not allow it. It is almost impossible to see from the air, too, because of the growth on the roof.”

  “There’s a little bit of a clearing here,” Justin said. “Can’t you see it from a plane or a helicopter?”

  “The clearing is irregular and should appear natural from above. I cannot say for certain because I have never flown, but I believe it is nearly indiscernible. That is what Dr. Sizemore thought, also.”

  “But how will we find it if you’re not with us. Won’t the forest hide it from us?”

  “I will ask the forest to allow it. You mostly know the way already, in a general sense.”

  “But how about the door?” Zach said. “It won’t let us in.”

  “I will tell the door to allow you to enter. That is why I brought you here, now.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “Put one hand on it, all of you at once.”

  They hesitated at first, then crowded together before it. Each of them placed a palm flat against the wood. “Like this?” Shelby looked up at Bo.

  Bo nodded and joined them, reaching over them with one long arm and setting his huge hand on the door, high above theirs. “Close your eyes and empty your minds.”

  Zach did, and sensed only a slight warming of the skin on his palm, so faint that he knew it could have been his imagination. He expected something dramatic, but it didn’t happen that way.

  After several long seconds, Bo lowered his arm. “It is done.”

  “That’s it?” Zach said as he and his friends lowered their arms, too. “The door will let us in now?”

  “Try it and see.”

  How does it work?”

  “Put your hand back on it, focus, and use your mind to ask it to open.”

  Zach did, though he wasn’t sure about the mental part of the process. He closed his eyes and thought, Please let me in. He felt something in the wood release, like a piece of metal pulled from a strong magnet. “Hey, it worked, I think.” He tugged on the handle and the door swung outward, easily. He huffed a laugh that settled into a grin.

  “Let me try,” Shelby said, and Zach moved aside. She repeated what Zach had done. She got the same result, and her face lit up. “I just did some magic!” She turned and beamed at her brothers, and neither of them tried to contradict her.

  “I’m next.” Jason stepped forward and tried it, and then Justin, and the door responded similarly to each of their touches.

  “Now you may enter whenever you wish,” Bo said. “You do not need me with you.”

  “That may be true,” Jason said, “but I doubt we could find the cabin on our own yet. You still need to tell the forest not to hide it from us.”

  “I already did.”

  “We didn’t have to do something special, like become one with the trees or whatever?”

  “The forest already knows who you are. It likes you. I only had to ask it with my mind if it would allow you to come here.”

  “And it said yes?” Justin said.

  “In its own way.”

  Zach pinched one earlobe with his thumb and index finger and wondered about the dense woods that lay beyond the small clearing where the cabin stood. “I still don’t know if we can find it, though. There’s no path or anything. The forest keeps covering it up.”

  “Bring Beepee with you until you become proficient at it. She knows how to get here.”

  “Did you ask the forest to let her?”

  “She has always known the way.” Bo bent at the waist and put his hands on his knees so that he was closer to the dog. She looked back at him, ears forward, head slightly tilted. “Am I right, Beepee?”

  She barked once and wagged her tail. Bo patted her on the head and smiled. “I guess that answers my question.”

  * * *

  Liz spent part of the afternoon getting ready for Halloween. She went to the store and picked up a few more decorations — some fake headstones and large plastic spiders— and set those out with the other things on the porch and in the yard. She had three big bags of miniature chocolate bars. She opened one and poured it into the wide plastic bowl she’d placed on a chair in the foyer.

  It was still hours until nightfall.

  Zach came home later and was angry when she told him he wasn’t allowed to go trick-or-treating. “Why not?” The corners of his mouth turned down sharply.

  “Because you’re too old.”

  “I’m only thirteen. Teenagers used to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood back in Raleigh, and some of them were seventeen!”

  “And I always hated that. Most of them didn’t even bother with costumes. They just grabbed a pillowcase to hold their loot and went with their friends, mooching candy that should’ve been going to younger kids.”

  “Jason and Justin and Shelby are going, and they’re older, except for Shelby. She’s my age.”

  “Did they say they were going? Because Tina told me she wasn’t letting them. I hope they’re not sneaking out. Did they say they were? Tell me the truth, honey.”

  “No.” Zach’s face fell. “They didn’t say. I just assumed they were.” He shook his head and his gaze dropped to the floor. “What am I going to do? I’ll be bored, and it’s Halloween. It’s supposed to be fun.”

  “Why don’t you invite your friends over and you can watch scary movies and make popcorn? You can have a little party. Tina won’t mind if they come.” Liz gave a small shrug. “Or, if you don’t want to call them, you could help me give out candy to kids who come to our door.”

  “Crud.” He looked away. “I’ll call my friends. Can we have pizza, too?”

  “I have two in the freezer.”

  * * *

  The doorbell only rang twice.

  The whole night.

  Liz was disappointed. “That wasn’t very many trick-or-treaters,” she said to the empty foyer when she finally gave up and turned off the front porch light. She ca
st a disconsolate eye at the candy bowl on the chair beside her. And we still have a lot of that left.

  She carried it to the family room, where Zach and his friends were strewn across the furniture like discarded clothing, watching the old black-and-white Dracula movie.

  “We’ll help you eat your candy, Mrs. Webster,” Justin said from his spot on the sofa. He was stretched out with his shoes off and his feet on the coffee table, which was littered with soda cans, paper plates, and stray pieces of popcorn.

  “That’s fine with me. Why don’t I get some smaller bags and split these up for you and Jason and Shelby to take home?” Zach started to frown and she added, “I’ll keep plenty for you. Don’t worry.”

  “Thanks Mrs. Webster,” Shelby said. “This is almost better than trick-or-treating.”

  Jason held up both of his thumbs. “We got to have popcorn, pizza, and candy, and we didn’t have to dress up in itchy costumes or walk anywhere.”

  “After we spilt up the candy,” Liz said, “I’ll give you a ride home.”

  Liz drove the three siblings to their house, and on the way, she paid attention to the homes they passed, to see how many had been decorated. She saw pitifully few jack-o’-lanterns or other things until she turned onto the street where the Rosses lived. The houses there were newer and sported more Halloween trimmings.

  After dropping off Jason, Justin, and Shelby, Liz and Zach rode home, and the closer she got, the gloomier she became, as the gaiety of the holiday gradually gave way to the somberness of their street. The hulking Victorian houses stood dark and silent, and weary. We live in such an old neighborhood, she thought sadly. I wish some younger people would move in.

  She pulled the car into her driveway and glanced at the For Sale sign at the house next to hers. That would be a good place to start.

  * * *

  On Sunday morning, Zach used the computer in the family room to print out the picture that Grandpa had taken of him and his friends in front of the tall cylinder in the lab. Then his mother sat at the kitchen table and watched as he trimmed it and mounted it in a small frame that she’d dug out of a box in the closet.