by Power, Max
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO – THE POND
Daisy’s first hopeful thoughts were quickly sliding away the further along the stream she went. Even walking in the middle of the flow, the forest closed in all around her. She had to bend and crouch, to squeeze under thorny branches that clawed at her as she moved. Between the encroaching bush and the uneven rocky stream bed, progress was very slow. Step after step, the trees of the Wood were scratching and tearing at her skin and clothes. More than once she had to stop completely, in order to disentangle her top from the thorny claws that scratched at her.
One thing kept her going and that was the fact that Benjamin had told her that the stream led out of the Wood. She simply had to get help, so she followed its path. All the while, the sky darkened and the air became more and more still and heavy. She found it hard to catch her breath and a familiar wheezing sensation grew in her chest as she panted along. Daisy could hear it. There was a little whistley-wheeze every time she exhaled and it sounded most peculiar. The middle of her chest began to tighten and it hurt. Daisy knew what it meant and she reached for her inhaler.
To her horror it was gone! She was sure that it had been in the front pocket of her jeans. It seemed impossible for her to have dropped it. Then she remembered the fall. It must have dropped out of her pocket when she fell from the tree. There was no way around it. Daisy knew that she would have to go back. She knew how dangerous a full blown attack could be. Daisy also knew that she could die alone there in the forest and the very thought of such a thing, scared her even more. But just as she made her decision to go and look for her inhaler back where she had fallen, there was a twinkle in the air. It was the barest rush of a breeze, but the brief gust shifted the low hanging branches in front of her.
The glimpse that she caught of what lay ahead stalled her decision. She took a couple of steps forward and bent low to clear the tree branches blocking her path. Quite suddenly, the grasping forest cleared before her eyes. The flow of the stream slowed to almost nothing and then, as the clearing opened out in front of her, a broad placid pond presented itself and the stream flowed gently into it. It was a small pond, about forty feet in diameter, an almost a perfect little circle. The trees that surrounded it, still gathered close and shut off the sky above, but at least she could stand up straight at last without the branches tearing at her.
But her relief at escaping the clutches of the forest was short lived. Before her, the water became still just a few feet from where the stream entered the pond. She could not see the direction that the stream would take from where she stood. Daisy looked directly across to the far side, but there was no obvious sign that the stream continued in that direction. In fact there was a bank, raised up about one foot higher than the water level, virtually all around the pond with no break to show how the stream continued, if it indeed continued at all. Daisy looked back in the direction from where she had come, as if hoping it might help her follow some kind of logical path for the stream. It didn’t. She reconsidered her decision to go back for her inhaler but her chest tightness had eased somewhat and the little whistle in her breath had almost gone. Daisy decided to have a quick look. She could still go back if her breathing deteriorated further.
So she stepped forward slowly, the shallow water immediately deepening to her knees as she neared the centre of the pond. Could Benjamin have been wrong? Perhaps this was another stream, a different stream. Maybe she was following a dead end. What a thought. Daisy continued on to pretty much the centre of the pond, in order to survey the bank in its entirety. Somehow she remained calm.
The water was a green-brown murky mush, covered in algae and it smelt pretty bad. At the bottom, there were layers of forest detritus, all slimy and slippery, so Daisy had to be careful how she moved. All around the edge, Darkly Wood maintained its reputation for being impenetrable. In fact when she looked back to where she had come from, Daisy could no longer make out the gap in the trees. It was only twenty feet away. For a moment she felt a little panic, but she knew that it couldn’t have closed up after her. That was impossible. She did have to stoop pretty low to get through to the pond, so the stream was there somewhere. All she had to do was look close enough.
So she looked, but Daisy couldn’t make it out. ‘No big deal‘, she thought. Daisy had lost her bearings. It was understandable. She knew herself that she was tired. It was only a small pond. All she had to do was walk around the edge to find it again. That is precisely what she did. It didn’t seem like a difficult task. Daisy walked back towards the place where she believed she had come from. As she neared the pond’s edge, the water became shallow again, down to her shins just as Daisy expected. But at the water’s edge, she discovered a raised bank. The stream couldn’t have come through here.
Which way? Left or right? It didn’t really matter that much, Daisy needed to search the bank for where the stream left the pond as well as for where it entered anyway. So she headed to her right, along the bank in a clockwise direction. It was tough going as the pond bed was so slippery and the trees at the edge did their best to keep her away from the bank. The fading light didn’t help either, but she carried on regardless, confident in her ability to find the place where the stream entered if not where it left this place.
About half way around, Daisy began to get worried. There wasn’t even a hint that the pond was anything other than a stinking stagnant pool. It was that thought that gave her an idea. If she just stopped and stood still, the flow of the stream would reveal itself. Why she hadn’t thought of it before was beyond her, but it didn’t matter now that the idea had entered her head. So Daisy stopped.
She stood quite still and waited for the ripples from her movement to subside. It took longer than she had anticipated, but she was patient. As she stood there, knee deep in putrid slimy water, Daisy scoured the edges; still sure she would spot the opening. Eventually it was all still again, more or less anyway. No matter how still she thought she was, Daisy created miniature ripples. But they were not enough to disguise the flow of the stream. She looked all around but saw nothing. There was absolutely no movement whatsoever.
“That’s impossible!” she heard herself say out loud. But it was true. She couldn’t see even a glimmer of hope on the surface of the water. With a growing apprehension, Daisy resumed her bank search. There was nothing else to do. On she went, until she had completely circled the pond. It was hard to tell when she had made a complete sweep of the edge because there were no discernable landmarks. All the trees looked the same, so she over compensated and went further than she needed. When she completed the lap and a quarter without finding the stream, self-doubt forced her to continue, as she had lost all sense of what point she was at in the pond.
Eventually she stopped after circling the pond at least twice. Daisy removed the hair band that kept the hair from her face and hooked it over a protruding branch.
“OK. Let’s go again!” she instructed herself and Daisy took off, leaving her hair band as a visible marker. This time, Daisy moved even slower and searched even more carefully, finding it hard to believe that she could miss the spot where she had come into this watery clearing. On she went, the hair band getting closer and closer. With each step, her sense of fear and disbelief was growing and so was the tightening in her chest again.
By the time she reached her hair band, despite moving at a snail’s pace, Daisy was almost completely out of breath. She was panting heavily. But it wasn’t just the tightness in her chest or shortness of breath that bothered her. Such was her distress at feeling trapped in the filthy murky pond, that everything else was secondary.
It was crazy, impossible, frightening. She should have turned back for her inhaler, she knew that now. Daisy remembered the story that Benjamin had told her about John. He had followed his instinct. Daisy felt stupid. She knew that she should have followed her instinct and turned back to get her inhaler when she had the chance. Now it might be too late.
Daisy clasped her hand to her chest and spun a
round, searching desperately with her eyes, not believing what her senses were telling her. The stream had gone and the forest had closed her in, it was unbelievable. Daisy couldn’t come to terms with the notion. Tears welled up in her eyes. Daisy May Coppertop felt beaten and that was not her. She didn’t cry easily. Daisy didn’t like to be beaten and she never gave up, but this was something altogether outside of her understanding.
Just as she was about to give up the last remnants of hope, to abandon her sense of reason, Daisy caught a movement at the far side of the pond. It wasn’t much, but something definitely moved in the undergrowth.
There was not a breath of air, so it couldn’t be the breeze. Daisy snatched her hair band from the branch beside her face and pulled the hair away from her face. She slowly put the band back on and tried to focus on the place where she saw the movement.
Her breathing was so laboured and the pain was much worse, but Daisy knew this might be her last chance. She had to push on through the pain. Daisy never took her eyes from the spot where she had seen a movement and Lo and behold, it happened again. Something moved in the tree line near the water’s edge. Maybe it was the stream.
She fixed her eyes on the spot and began to wade straight across the pond. Again, the water deepened a little to just above her knees as she reached the centre, but she never even blinked. If the movement indicated the flow of the stream, then that meant it was her way out. As Daisy waded across the middle of the murky mire, the movement became more regular and obvious.
There was definitely something happening at the bank and the excitement only made Daisy wheeze more. She panted and huffed rapidly sucking in air rather than breathing. Her face changed. She became very pale and her lips were turning purple. Daisy’s high knee movements, splashed water up higher around her as she increased her pace, anxious to get out of that horrible place. There was definitely something there.
Without warning, Daisy missed her step. She was rushing and at first thought it was her haste that caused her to slip on the slithery pond bed beneath her feet. But her second thought was something altogether different.
Terror never struck so suddenly or with such surprise. There was nothing below Daisy’s feet. There was nothing at all. Daisy knew that she hadn’t slipped. She plunged downward sinking like a stone. The water was above her head in an instant and Daisy could not see a thing. She had no idea what was happening, except that she must have fallen into a hole.
But it was a hole like no other. It just kept going. Down and down Daisy went with it, gulping mouthfuls of water and slime, screeching a gurgling stifled, terrified scream as she sank. She clutched and clawed all around her expecting to feel the sides of the hole, hoping to grapple onto something to scramble back up. But there was nothing. It seemed as though the whole floor of the pond had just dropped away and she was falling with it, being sucked down in a filthy whirl of muddy water.
In seconds it was completely black, as what little light that there was above her disappeared. She knew that she was sinking ever faster, being sucked down ever deeper by the second. Daisy did her best to save herself, to pull herself back against the sucking water. She was a strong swimmer normally, but it was impossible to fight the pull. Daisy May knew, that she was drowning.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE – A WARNING
There is a forward to J.S. Toner’s little book ‘Tales of Darkly Wood.’ It is rather short and somewhat cryptic. Like many a forward, some readers are inclined to skip right over it. Unlike most however, this particular little piece though puzzling, is very important, especially if you plan on going beyond the outer reaches of the forest. Daisy May, in her enthusiasm to get to the first tale and beyond, never read the forward. Perhaps she should have. It goes like this.
There are places in this world that I shall never see in my short life. Some are perhaps, the most wonderful and exotic locations that one could possibly imagine. Others may not live up to their reputation. Whatever the case, such places, cities and sites spoken of and about by travellers through the centuries, will always attract the curious, the adventurous and those with an eye to discovery.
I have not travelled much beyond the reaches of my poor imagination. The places filled with monuments, pyramids and ancient artefacts, the great cities of the world and the landscapes to take your breath away, have only ever come to me through books for I am a bookworm. I am a home bird. There is no great adventure hiding beneath my coat of ordinariness. I never expected to find one and yet I did.
A word of warning comes along with this text. Before you read on, beware. Pay close attention to my words, for they may be the most important things you ever read. Certainly they are the most important words I shall ever write. In seeking adventure, you seek out the unknown. In hiding from it, sometimes you call its name. There are no certainties except that no matter which path you choose, the thing you least expect, may be lying in wait.
I found a hole in my dampened spirit and I poked my finger through. Thus, I discovered an adventure to put a stop to my inquisitiveness forever. I am a changed man, yet I remain the same as I was before my adventure began. I am a little wiser perhaps. My enquiries now are once more, made through books and books alone. But I know that books do not satisfy the soul of everyone with an adventurous heart, so again I ask you to heed these words of warning.
Look in the dark places with care. Stop for just a moment when you most want to go on. Be careful not to rush headlong around the corner of uncertainty. Take flight and run like the wind when the fear grabs hold of you and tells you not to move. Outwit the dark and shine your own light and all will be just fine.
There are things in this world beyond understanding. Such things do not need to be always or of necessity understood. Sometimes they are best left alone. If you cannot leave well enough alone, then read on and heed the lessons from these stories. Of all the places that you could find, discover or seek out, let not Darkly Wood be one of them. The warning I offer is in the tales I tell and though some be tall, there is substance in their outcome.
My best advice is to steer clear, but if by chance you come upon Cranby on your travels, stay away from the dark Wood that nestles above it. If you are drawn to, or happen upon the Wood itself, do not tempt fate and look for answers within. The questions that place will ask of you, are too great to handle. Read on, beware, and heed my advice. Take each story to heart. Follow your instinct. Do not go into that dark place, leave well enough alone and do not tempt fate.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR – THE CHASE
The darkness that had closed in, the mire that filled her lungs and the cold that froze her limbs left Daisy still and quiet in the water. From nothing, she descended mysteriously to nothing and then just as all was lost, a light grew in her mind’s eye.
Daisy didn’t know which way was up or if she was alive or dead, but something crept back in along with her consciousness and she did not know what it was. There was light, yet her eyes were closed and there was sound but nothing she could recognise. Slowly her senses re-awakened and the light had direction, the sound had a meaning.
Daisy burst through the surface of the pond like an air filled bottle that had been held down and then released. The light had been the sky above and the sound was the noise of her splashing through the surface. She gulped, choking and gasping, grabbing at the air for breath. Daisy coughed and spluttered, gurgled and rasped, her arms flailing, trying desperately to get a purchase on anything.
With her eyes still filled with water and mud, Daisy felt a solid surface beneath her body, as she clambered onto some sort of bank like a beached whale. Her upper body free of the pond, Daisy lay prostrate and still, half in, half out of the water. She was panting heavily and kept her eyes closed, relieved and disbelieving that she had somehow survived. For some time Daisy lay at the water’s edge, with her eyes closed, simply glad to find herself on solid ground once more. As soon as she began to breathe more easily, Daisy realised that she was actually lying on a flat piece of muddy bank.<
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She rolled over, opened her eyes and sat upright. It was true. Daisy was sitting still partially in the pond, but there was a wide opening in the tree line where she sat. It was impossible. Leading from the water’s edge was a clear, uncluttered muddy track. It hadn’t been there before, she felt sure of that. Daisy was confused. She couldn’t possibly have missed it? She looked across the pond and then back at the track.
“Weird!” she said to herself out loud and immediately felt nervous again. She had no idea where she was and then she thought of Benjamin. Perhaps he was within earshot. It was worth giving it a try. She stood up and called his name at the top of her voice.
“BENJAMIN!”
She listened carefully for any response but there was none.
“BENJAMIN!” she called again but still nothing. Daisy gave up. She knew the terrible truth could be that Benjamin might be far worse off than she dared think. Thinking about it, was not a good idea. It was time to focus and get out of this terrible place, which was the best way to help Benjamin. Her head ached and there was a foul taste in her mouth from the water. She was cold, but at least the pain in her chest was gone and she could breathe properly again. Much like the night when Woody had attacked her, Daisy couldn’t quite recall exactly what had just happened. She remembered falling into deep water and something about a stream, but just what exactly, Daisy could not fully remember. The memory of her arrival to this place was clouded and seemed unimportant.
The sky was still missing through the trees above and the light was very dim indeed. Soaked through and very cold, the one thing Daisy knew was that she had to get moving. So, without hesitation she set off to follow the track laid out before her. It was a good clear path with little in the way of obstacles. It was in fact the first clear path she had found since entering the Wood, although that time was now a vague and distant memory to her.