by Emmett Swan
“You’re talking to trees!” Riley cried, his voice full of panic. He was tugging so hard on Jessica’s sleeve her hood popped off her head. “I’m going, Jess. With or without you!”
But Jessica kept her gaze riveted on the trees. She felt Riley’s hand move up to her bicep as he tugged even harder, dragging her to the creek.
“We gotta go, Jess.”
“Just wait a minute, Riley!” snapped Jessica. She jerked her arm loose from Riley’s tight grip. “They obviously can’t move very quickly. Let’s hear what they have to say.” She looked back to the trees, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What kind of spell?” she asked again.
“We were cursed…by the one called Thallach,” Conall replied. “We were men once. Now we are trees.” Sadness laced his words.
Jessica stared hard as the trees spoke, searching for the source of the words. It seemed they drifted from the general vicinity of the trunk, but she could see no mouth. She moved a step or two closer to see better in the moonlight.
“We have stood in this little forest…for many years,” said the third tree, the one named Meyler. His voice sounded youngest of all and was like a weak, pathetic whisper. “Will you help us? Please?”
Jessica’s brow furrowed as she tried to process what was happening. If Riley wasn’t with her, she would think she had lost her mind.
But then, maybe she had, and she was dragging her little brother into her craziness with her. Maybe Riley was right.
“We’re not from here,” she said, taking Riley’s hand. “And we know no magic. You need to get someone else. I’m sorry.”
“Please, Jessica…you are all we have,” said the tree named Conall.
Her heart jumped. “How do you know my name?” she demanded, poking the rusted metal at him half-heartedly.
“We…listened,” Conall replied, his voice charged with something. Was it tenderness?
“Oh, yeah,” she said, remembering the things she and Riley talked about. “I guess we did make it easy to eavesdrop.”
Against her will, she felt sympathy well up within her but felt conflicted. It was thrilling to have trees talking to them—trees that knew her name. They had names and lives at one time but were now stuck in their little forest.
But she was the big sister. The near adult. Should she take Riley and go back to Connaree Manor as if none of this wacky stuff was happening? Yes. That was the best thing to do.
She made a half turn, ready to make their escape, but before she could offer a reasonable excuse for departing, the tree named Laughlin spoke.
“Please summon the Lady of the Mist,” he said. “She is magical but benevolent. Tell her our plight. She is our only hope.”
“Find her in a broken land not far from here called Saler Swamp,” said Conall. He bent one of his branches toward the northeast, indicating the direction. “Find a clear fountain two feet in height...and toss a piece of gold into the pool below it. Beckon the Lady of the Mist…and she will come.”
A cloud passed over the moon, reducing the level of moonlight in the forest, and the trees spoke no more. Nor did they move. The forest was once again eerily still and quiet. Even the insects seemed to respect the plight of these trees with silence.
“They are back to being just trees,” whispered Jessica.
“It’s the moon,” said Riley. “It’s blocked. They said the spell was weakened in the light of the full moon.” Riley moved closer to a large tree and extended his hand to touch it but pulled away as if afraid to feel it. He looked over at Jessica. “Did that just happen?”
“Yeah,” replied Jessica, looking around the forest, needing to orient herself. It was now a perfectly normal-looking patch of woods.
“Let’s get outta here,” she said. “I gotta think this through.”
Without another word, they stepped into the creek and splashed their way back.
Jessica’s mind was spinning nonstop. What are we going to do? This was insane! This kind of stuff doesn’t just happen, yet it did just happen. Magic? I’ve read about things like this in fantasy books, but that wasn’t real; this was friggin’ real!
Once they were back on the dirt road by the bridge, she stopped and grabbed Riley’s arm, turning him to look him squarely in the eyes. The flushed excitement and broad smile on his face told her his mind was racing just like hers. They were simultaneously thrilled and afraid, incredulous and apprehensive.
“Riley, tell me that did just happen. I mean you were there, right? The freakin’ trees talked and moved, right?”
“Yep,” he said. “What are we gonna do?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, shrugging. “I don’t know.”
“Well, we can’t just leave them there, Jess. You heard him. We are their only hope. I sure as hell would hope someone would help me in that predicament.”
“You sure did change your tune. You were ready to run away back there.”
“I was scared then. But they are just boys. We gotta help.”
“Look, it’s not that simple. I’m the one responsible!” She realized she sounded defensive, so she softened her tone. “I’m responsible for you, Riley. We’re in a foreign country and some really foreign things just happened, so give me some time to process this, okay?”
They hurried back across the moonlit fields in excited silence, exchanging glances and shakes of their heads. Back at Connaree Manor, they scampered up the tree and stepped along the branch to the window in Jessica’s room. Stepping from the limb to the brick ledge was a little scary, but they pulled themselves through the open window, where they plopped down on the window bench. They closed the window and listened attentively, but there was no movement or sound in the house. Their absence had been undetected.
“Did that just—” began Riley in a whisper.
“Really happen? Yes, we’ve established that it did.” She was still flustered with excitement. She bit at her fingernails, something she did only when she was in deep thought.
“Jess, there are three living, moving trees in our forest, and we just talked to them.” Riley could hardly contain his excitement. “Oh my God, this is like…like unbelievable!” His voice was high. Tense. He stood up and started pacing.
Jessica leaned back on the wall and looked up at the ceiling, her eyes closed. “Can you imagine what it must have been like? To spend your days stuck as a tree. To wake up every day and not be able to move?” She released an empathetic groan.
“I bet it sucked. But like you said, that doesn’t mean we should get involved.”
“What are you saying now, Riles? Now you want to just leave them in the forest? Make up your mind.”
“I don’t know, it all seems kind of crazy. Maybe we should tell Uncle Basil and Aunt Noreen. It’s their country. They’ll figure it out.”
Jessica was comfortable with that plan of action. Let experienced adults take over. That would take responsibility for the life of those boys off her shoulders. She didn’t need to go through that again. No more human blood on her hands. Of that, she was sure.
“Okay, let’s tell them,” said Jessica. “Better do it now.”
“Now? They’ll think we lost our minds.”
“They’re gonna think that anyway. Come on Riley.”
Together, they walked out into the hall and down the dark stairs to the first floor. The doorway to Aunt Noreen and Uncle Basil’s room was off the main hallway, down a small entrance hall. They tiptoed down the hall and stopped at the bedroom door. It was cracked open, and they could hear the low rumble of Uncle Basil snoring.
Jessica stood there for a minute trying to drum up her courage. She looked at Riley and could tell he was equally conflicted.
She stuck her thumb out and gestured back up the stairs. Riley nodded and followed Jessica to her room. They sat on the window seat.
“I was just thinking,” she said. “They are already pretty mad at us from last night. If we tell them we went out the window and into the woods in the middle of the night
—”
“Yeah, it wouldn’t be good for us,” agreed Riley.
“So we’ll just tell them in the morning. That we saw the trees moving and talking while we were out exploring during the day. Just give them part of the truth, ya know?” Jessica needed some time alone to analyze things from all sides. Lie low and think.
“Okay Jess. Sounds good to me. I just hope they’ll believe us.”
Jessica shrugged. “It will be hard to believe. But maybe stuff like that happens around here on occasion. Who knows? Anyway, we’d better get to bed.”
“Yeah. As if we can sleep.”
Riley softly moved across the floor and began to close the door but stuck his head back in the room at the last second. “Sweet dreams, Jess. And it did happen! I heard it and saw it! We aren’t crazy!” he added, then pulled the door closed.
Jessica was already lost in deep thought about the boys they’d found, trapped for so long in the woods.
Twenty-Two
The next morning, Jessica popped open her eyes and was instantly awake. All the strange and wonderful events of the previous evening flooded her mind. She looked at her bedside clock and was surprised to see that it was late morning. Grouchy Gerald usually woke her before now, but they had been allowed to sleep in. That was good since they were up so late in their enchanted forest.
Enchanted forest? It is literally enchanted.
She was tempted to reach for her journal and work on a poem, but she was too excited. She pulled herself out of bed, stepped into the bathroom to rinse her face, and tapped on Riley’s door.
He opened the door and spoke up before she had the chance to say anything.
“I know what you’re thinking, Jess,” he whispered, looking up and down the hall. “That it was all a dream. That we really didn’t see living, talking trees. But we did. We saw magical trees!” He pulled her into the room.
“I did wonder,” said Jessica, smiling at her little brother. “And now we go downstairs and tell Aunt Noreen and Uncle Basil.”
She wondered if Riley was still good with their plan. But Riley started rummaging through his drawers looking for a shirt. “Sounds good,” he said.
Jessica went to a window and peered out, thinking things over. A fitful night’s sleep had brought her no clarity. She had tossed and turned, thinking about it from all angles. There were still too many unknowns. Would this Lady of the Mist even show if we went to Saler Swamp? Is she safe? Would she help us? What would we have to do? What if this Lady of the Mist decides to turn us into trees as well?
Too many unknowns.
She turned back to Riley just as his head popped through the neck opening of his shirt. “But when we go down, let’s act normal. Don’t say anything and see how it goes. If they’re still mad at us, maybe we don’t bring up the talking trees,” he said.
“Don’t you want to help those boys?” asked Jessica.
“I do, but remember how Uncle Basil’s face looked last night? Let’s not make it worse.”
Jessica shrugged. “Okay, we’ll see how it goes.”
The two of them stepped tentatively down the stairs. It was Saturday, so when they entered the breakfast area, Uncle Basil was still at the table reading the paper. The door to the terrace was open, letting in the fragrant morning air. Aunt Noreen was outside on the terrace reclining on a chaise and reading a book. They both looked up with smiles as Jessica and Riley walked into the room.
“Well, here are the sleepy heads,” said Uncle Basil. Aunt Noreen got up and came to sit at the table while Jessica and Riley took their customary seats.
“No one woke us up,” said Jessica. “Sorry we overslept.”
“It’s Saturday. No reason to get up until you’re ready,” said Aunt Noreen, reaching over and lightly clasping Jessica’s hand.
“Well, thanks.” Jessica was relieved that there was no tension in the room. In fact, Uncle Basil and Aunt Noreen seemed their usual welcoming selves.
“What would you like for breakfast?” asked Uncle Basil. “Gerald and Meeda have the day off, but I could scramble you some eggs.”
Jessica was surprised. She couldn’t imagine Uncle Basil cooking over a stove. Apparently, her facial expression gave her thoughts away.
“Don’t be afraid,” said Aunt Noreen, looking fondly at Uncle Basil. “Believe it or not, your uncle knows his way around the kitchen.”
“These bagels are fine with me,” said Riley, grabbing one and smearing cream cheese on its toasted side.
“Bagels and juice are all I need too,” said Jessica. “Though I’m sure the scrambled eggs would have been delicious,” she added, smiling at her uncle.
Uncle Basil returned her smile. “Well…maybe.” And then he looked out the window for a moment, scratching the back of his neck. Aunt Noreen sat quietly watching him. He then turned back to Jessica and Riley. “I would like to say I’m sorry I lost my temper last night. You two are our guests this summer, and that was no way to treat guests. Please accept my apology.”
An awkward silence followed, with both Jessica and Riley looking down at their bagels.
“We talked about it last night,” Jessica finally said. “There may be something to what you said. Riley and I had a lot of plans for the summer back in Louisville, so we got upset that we had to leave.”
“It wasn’t that we didn’t want to see you,” added Riley. “It was just that our plans meant a lot to us.”
“So maybe we really didn’t want to be here, and that’s probably why we’ve been unfriendly.”
“Well,” said Aunt Noreen. “It shouldn’t be us who decides who your friends are. You two decide.”
“Thank you,” said Jessica, but she wasn’t sure what else to say. But she knew she would try harder to get along.
“Are you sure you don’t want something else to eat?” asked Aunt Noreen.
“We’re good,” said Riley. Jessica nodded in agreement. Uncle Basil picked up his paper and returned to his reading.
Jessica glanced at Riley and then turned to Aunt Noreen.
“Um, we have something to tell you. Something we were afraid to talk about, because it is so strange. But we’ve got to.”
Uncle Basil set down his paper again, his face concerned. “What is it, Jessica? Is everything all right?”
“Yes. Everything is all right with me and Riles. But we saw something. Something very weird.”
“Well, Ireland is very different from back home,” began Aunt Noreen. “Lots of things are different here—”
“I don’t mean strange like that.”
“We saw trees moving!” blurted out Riley.
Aunt Noreen and Uncle Basil stared at them with puzzled faces but didn’t respond.
“There’s a patch of woods not far from here. It’s a beautiful place and we were there…yesterday. And the trees started moving and spoke to us.”
“Dear, what is it you are saying?” asked Aunt Noreen.
“Three trees. They started moving their branches and roots, just like they were feet. And they spoke to us! They said they were men once but were cursed and wanted us to help free them.”
“Have you heard of the Lady of the Mist?” asked Riley. “They said she would help them.”
Uncle Basil nodded slowly. “I have heard of the Lady of the Mist. She is supposedly a magical creature that lives in the swamp and sometimes helps people if they bring her gold. It’s an old legend in these parts.”
“Dear,” said Aunt Noreen, reaching over and grabbing Uncle Basil’s forearm, “remember you said that Mr. Tinker went on and on one night down at the pub, telling everyone that this magical lady helped him talk to his deceased wife? Could he have been filling their ears with his nonsense?”
“Have you two been talking to that old coot?” asked Uncle Basil. “He’s half-crazy and both of you should stay away from him.”
“No, we haven’t spoken to anyone,” persisted Jessica. “We saw the trees move, and they talked to us. We both heard them.”
<
br /> “Just come with us,” said Riley. “We’ll show you.”
“Well,” said Jessica, nudging Riley. “Maybe not right now. But later, at night, when the moon is out.”
Uncle Basil stood up and put his hands on his hips. “I know I crossed the line last night, and I apologized. I don’t know what you two are up to, but maybe you still feel resentment toward us. Please, let’s put that unpleasantness behind us. From now on we will treat you two like adults and you two will stop mocking us. Fair deal?”
“But we’re not mocking—” began Jessica.
“Dear, now would be a good time for you and Riley to go outside and explore, don’t you think?” suggested Aunt Noreen.
Jessica could see that Uncle Basil’s good nature was again turning sour.
“But—” began Riley.
“You’re right, Aunt Noreen,” interjected Jessica. “Riley and I will go outside and explore.”
She pinched Riley hard on his thigh, and he followed her as she got up from the table and went out the front door.
Twenty-Three
Once outside, Jessica turned to Riley.
“We aren’t going to get anywhere with those two,” she said. “No one else is going to believe us either. We’re gonna have to do this on our own.”
“What do you mean, Jess? How?”
“Well go see the Lady of the Mist ourselves. We know she is in Saler Swamp. We’ll find out where that is, borrow the horses, and go ask for her help.”
Riley bit his lower lip nervously as he looked back at the house. “But if she’s real, then she is magical. She has powers, Jess. She might be dangerous.”
“We’ll just go check it out, ya know? We need more information to make this decision, Riley.” Jessica felt her need to analyze kicking in. “We can’t pretend it didn’t happen, but we’re not getting any help from them.” She nodded toward the house. “I’ve decided I’ve gotta do this, Riles. At least find out what the deal is. You can stay here if you want to. I won’t mind.”
“What do you mean you gotta do this? You don’t even know what you would need to do. You don’t know who those tree people are. Just let the local people know they’re there. You do that, then you’re off the hook.”