Darkly Wood

by Power, Max

  Daisy May had a lovely voice, but in truth everything about Daisy May seemed nice to Woody. It had to. Every time it was the same. Woody was always drawn towards and enchanted by almost all of those that came to him in the Wood. As he listened to her, he smiled even more. It was a rare treat for Woody. But then Benjamin spoke.

  Woody did not like Benjamin. He had forgotten all about Benjamin more or less, but when he had cornered him earlier that day Woody had recognised the boy. Then, to make matters worse, he had found his way to the clearing. He wished the boy would go away. Benjamin was an annoying distraction. The thought of that boy disgusted him and his smile temporarily disappeared. Woody shrugged as if trying to get rid of any thoughts about Benjamin. He didn’t matter. Not really. Benjamin was wholly unimportant to the events that were about to unfold.

  A sound distracted him and he cocked his ears. He knew if he could hear it, then Daisy May might hear it too. But the noise was distant, faint. Perhaps she wouldn’t hear it. Woody looked down, his lips parted slightly and his eyes opened a little wider, alert to the danger. She was still deep in conversation with Benjamin. He listened again, using his sensitive ears to pick out the low level background noise. There was very little else moving in Darkly Wood. Daisy May was perhaps distracted enough not to notice, but Woody wasn’t. He heard it again and the sound infuriated him.

  His skin pulsated. The veins on his forehead and temple throbbed and protruded and he rose up a little on his hunkers, suddenly anxious, no longer relaxed. Woody flicked his head from left to right, trying to catch the sound a little better, hoping it was too low for Daisy May to hear. He wanted the sound to go away. Woody wanted to hush the voice that ever so softly whispered across the clearing, seeking out the ears that belonged to Daisy May.

  He fidgeted and grimaced, turning his head to look down at Benjamin and Daisy May then alternately skyward, to tune in to the sound that tried to break through the Wood. Again he looked down at Daisy May but somehow she was unaware of the voice that called out, gradually becoming louder. He knew that his hearing was far superior to her puny hearing, but he also knew that sooner or later she would hear it, especially as the sound was getting clearer and louder.

  He couldn’t take it anymore. It was too soon, he wasn’t ready but his anxiety was getting the better of him. He knew that he would have to act, but he was torn. What to do? Woody really was becoming stressed as the voice called out again and again,

  “Daisy May… Daisy May!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO – THE TRUTH

  “Your father was J.S. Toner?”

  The question didn’t need an answer. Benjamin had already told her. He simply acknowledged her with a nod. Daisy rephrased the question as though she was finding it hard to believe.

  “Your father wrote ‘Tales of Darkly Wood?” she asked him plainly.

  “He did.”

  The answer was so simple but way too difficult to comprehend and it immediately created another question in her mind.

  “But your name is Blood, not Toner?”

  It was an obvious question and Benjamin had anticipated it, answering immediately before she had time to add to the question.

  “My Father was J.S. Toner Daisy May. Toner is a pseudonym. His real name was John Sylvester Blood. He did not want to use his real name for the book so he created J.S. Toner and wrote under that name.”

  His answer made sense. Benjamin watched Daisy to see if she was catching what he was saying. She was a clever girl, but she would have to make a leap to bridge the gap between what she knew and expected to be true and what he was telling her. He knew that it was a hard thing to explain but he kept on trying.

  “He was my father Daisy May,” and then to emphasise his point the repeated, “he was!”

  “You’re lying to me!” Daisy began, surprising him with her disbelief. She jumped to her feet and Benjamin followed suit.

  “If this is true, then why didn’t you tell me before? Why now? You’re a liar!”

  Then she did something that even surprised herself. She pushed Benjamin, catching him off guard causing him to lose his balance and fall over backwards. It hadn’t been her intention, but she was beginning to feel a bit freaked out. She just lashed out. The stress of the situation was catching up on her. It was beginning to become too much for Daisy to handle.

  “Get away from me!” she shouted. “Stay away from me! It’s because of you that I’m in this mess!”

  Daisy really didn’t know if that was the truth, but it felt good to blame somebody and she stomped away as best she could over the uneven upturned earth, across the newly arisen graveyard. She wanted to at least make a point and the first thing she needed to do, was to get some space between herself and Benjamin. Daisy felt bad that Benjamin had fallen down when she pushed him and she hoped he wasn’t hurt, but she didn’t want to show it. She was determined to make her point.

  Daisy chose to ignore the befallen Benjamin, although she knew that wouldn’t really be possible in such a small clearing. Still if she was to keep up any appearance of determination, Daisy felt she must at least try. She decided to change her focus on getting out of the Wood, away from everything, away from Benjamin. There had to be a way out of this place. Her anger helped her and she decided to look for a way out, no matter how pointless she thought that might be.

  Benjamin quickly got back up, but he didn’t go after her. The way she walked confirmed her determination. When she got to the far side of the clearing, Daisy tried to hack and pull at the mass of tangled branches and briars, but they only cut and scratched her badly. Thorns pricked at her sleeves and nettles stung the back of her hands. It was hopeless. There was no way she was giving up and Daisy skirted along the edge of the clearing, poking and probing for an opening. All the while Benjamin stood his ground.

  He knew she was wasting her time. Unlike Daisy May however, Benjamin hadn’t forgotten about Woody and as she tried to force a way through the impenetrable scrub, he searched the tree line above to see if he could spot the evil creature. But the only sign that he was anywhere near, was the ever changing light as the clearing faded in and out through various degrees of twilight. Benjamin knew that the changing light and their constant changing surroundings all emanated from Woody. This was his world. They couldn’t ignore the fact that he was here somewhere, watching, waiting. Benjamin had to get Daisy to understand that much at least and he knew that time was running out, so he shouted across to her at the far side of the clearing.

  “Daisy May!” and again “Daisy May!”

  She chose to ignore him, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that Daisy was wasting her time. Sooner or later she would have to face the fact that they weren’t going anywhere. When she did, Daisy knew she would have to deal with Benjamin. He was determined though and again he called to her.

  “Listen to me, please. Let me explain.”

  Daisy stopped her struggle with the forest and turned back to face Benjamin. He was right across at the far side of the clearing, but there wasn’t another sound in the Wood. Not bird or a breath of wind. Daisy realised that she was perspiring like crazy from the effort. The air was so thick and heavy here. She looked a mess. Though determined and focused when she wanted to be, the one thing Daisy May wasn’t, was patient. When she thought of something to say, she said it. More often than not it got her into bother, but Daisy May could not help but speak when some thought or idea struck her. So she shouted at him.

  “Why should I believe you eh? I don’t even know who you are! It’s your fault I’m in here. You’re a liar Benjamin Blood, or whatever your name is!”

  Daisy was tired, stressed and worn out. She didn’t want to have to keep coping with everything that was happening. Daisy was just a teenager. It wasn’t her job to have to deal with the responsibility that came with keeping herself safe. Other people did that for her. That shouldn’t have to be her job. For a while Benjamin had stepped up to take over the role as her guardian, but it did not feel like that anymo
re. Every time it felt as though Benjamin might be there for her, he let her down again. Daisy May did not feel safe. She felt helpless and it didn’t sit well with her. Benjamin still stood his ground and looked at her across the freshly risen cemetery.

  “I can explain,” he offered simply and held out his hand imploring her to come to him with the gesture.

  But Daisy wasn’t going to concede any ground. His hand could stay there, hanging. Daisy was not going to fall for his soft touch. She felt vulnerable, at a disadvantage. Benjamin was in a position of power in a way. He may or may not be on her side she thought, but for the moment he held the high ground. Benjamin seemed to know what was going on, which was more than she did. It made her feel inferior and she remembered something that her father had once told her.

  “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

  She had not really understood what he meant at the time, but she understood the meaning now. Daisy didn’t know why those words came to her in that moment, but they helped her remain defiant. Daisy May was determined to get some answers.

  “What happened to your father?” she half shouted, although her voice had dropped a little.

  “You refer to him in the past tense, so I assume he is no longer in your life. What happened?”

  It was a bold question that held many inherent traps. The answer might be difficult to hear, but Daisy May needed to be bold. Benjamin answered her without hesitation or emotion. When he spoke, his words were softly delivered and there was a truth in them that made Daisy waiver.

  “He died.”

  In normal circumstances, it would have been a moment to say, ‘I’m sorry’ or to offer some such platitude, but these were not normal circumstances and Daisy chose not to. On any other day, in different circumstances, Daisy would have withered. Not, now, not in this place. Daisy would not be kept in the dark any longer. Before she allowed herself to fall into the trap of sentimentality, Daisy pushed him further.

  “What happened?”

  Once more, she dropped the volume, but there was still intensity in the question that demanded an answer. Benjamin had lowered his outstretched arm, clearly aware that Daisy was determined not to come to him, or at least not on his terms. But as he answered her, he started to walk slowly in her direction, picking his footfall carefully over the uneven ground.

  “I told you most of the story already.”

  He spoke slowly and clearly. His answer didn’t make any sense. Benjamin hadn’t told her any such thing! She knew that her memory was a little hazy but Daisy felt sure she would have remembered, if he had indeed told her such a thing. For his part, Benjamin knew he hadn’t been fully open with Daisy. It was not his fault. She wouldn’t have listened let alone understood. He knew that he had to explain things to her, to make himself clear.

  “I didn’t want to, I couldn’t really tell you, but the story I told you about the man who escaped from Darkly Wood.”

  He paused and stopped walking for just a moment to look directly at Daisy,

  “John?”

  He used the name as a question, still walking in her direction, zigzagging through the maze of headstones. Benjamin gave her a moment to remember and then continued regardless.

  “He was my father.”

  Benjamin watched Daisy carefully, trying to gauge her reaction. But he wasn’t finished.

  “That man was John Blood, my dad.”

  Again Benjamin let the words hang in the air, giving Daisy an opportunity to let them sink in and to perhaps make some sense of them. But he didn’t give her too long. She was impatient and was likely to jump in at the first opportunity, throwing him off his pace. He wanted to keep going, to get it all out in one big rush. Benjamin wished he could just make her understand. As he moved and spoke, Daisy unconsciously began to move towards him too, as though she was being drawn towards him. It was something that she wasn’t even aware of.

  “What I did not tell you was that he died later on.”

  He sounded sincere. Daisy suddenly believed him. She didn’t know why, but for some reason, she just knew in her heart that what he told her was true. Benjamin just seemed to her, to be telling a true story. They had moved closer now and she could see it in his eyes. Those eyes couldn’t lie. It was a difficult moment of clarity. Now she wondered why she hadn’t believed him in the first place. She felt a little uncomfortable with her guilt, but didn’t show it. Daisy still needed the whole truth.

  “What happened to him?”

  Her question was simple but this time genuine and Daisy didn’t expect the response that she got from Benjamin.

  “He died trying to save me.”

  His voice trailed off to a near whisper. As he spoke Benjamin finally reached Daisy May. They both stopped and stood quite still staring into each other’s eyes. Benjamin raised his left arm ever so slightly and waved it in the direction of the nearest headstone. It was just off to Daisy’s right and she looked down, following his pointing finger. He seemed to have been leading Daisy to this point all along as he had been walking towards her. The headstone that sat up all a kilter in the mucky earth was marked with two simple and shocking words. The name on the headstone was ‘Benjamin Blood.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE – DESTINY’S FORK

  Thump! Thump! Thump! The sound had started a while back and Woody knew exactly what it was, but he chose to ignore it at first. Thump! Thump! Thump! There it was in the background. The sound was always steady, slowly evolving.

  Thump! Thump! Thump! He knew what it was alright and it made him angry. Below him was his delicious prize and now this!

  “Bah!”

  Thump! Thump! Thump! Over and over it went, growing louder by the minute. He was just beginning to enjoy himself and now this! The voices, the words they spoke, it was all coming back. He could smell Daisy May in the Wood below and she smelt like some old familiar smell. It was a nice smell, it was somehow comforting. But then, Thump! Thump! Bloody Thump!

  “Basheeesh.” He hissed to himself under his breath trying to keep his voice low so they wouldn’t hear him. Woody clamped his long filthy fingered hands over his large ears in a pointless effort to stop the sound. It only made matters worse. Squatting with his hands on his ears, Woody bounced up and down on his hunkers unconsciously comforting himself, anxiously wishing the sound to stop.

  Thump! Thump! Thump! It was the sound of destiny. Well, it was the sound of one possible version of destiny anyway. No one’s fate was sealed. He had learned that much in his time in the Wood. But mostly it was. Daisy May was for all intents and purposes, his now. There was no way out, pretty much no way out anyway. But nothing is done until it is done. Again this was a painful lesson that he had learned the hard way. Destiny could meet a fork in the road and then it had to make the right choice. The sound in his ears was a stark reminder of that very fact. The sound in his ears was the fork in the road.

  Thump! Thump! Thump it went and his head began to hurt. The veins in his temples became swollen and engorged and his face paled even more. Woody grasped his temples and when he pulled his hands away, there were clumps of dry frizzled hair entangled in his filthy hands. They looked more grey than fair now and his hands hurt. The spot on his head from where he had pulled his hair out hurt. His whole body hurt.

  Despite appearances, or at least sometimes, Woody was not a boy. He was as old as the Wood and sometimes, at times like this, he was reminded of his age.

  “Now is not the time,” he whispered to himself. But there was never a good time for this to happen. The thumping sound was not something common for Woody. In fact he rarely experienced it. But it wasn’t just the sound that was uncommon. The sound was accompanied by other strange and painful symptoms. The sound and the pain only visited themselves upon him at special times. Oddly and usually they only appeared at times like this, at special times.

  Raised voices below went unheard as Woody bounced ever more frantically on his perch.

  ‘Go away...Go away!’ he thoug
ht, hands clamped on his ears, eyes tightly closed. He clenched his teeth. All of his muscles tensed and tightened. He squinted. He hissed very quietly through his tightly closed fangs. Woody rocked and swayed and would have begged for it to go away, if only there was someone to beg. But there wasn’t.

  Woody felt the creeping agony. It started in his toes and worked its way quickly up through every bone, vein, muscle and fiber of his body until nothing was spared. He knew that soon he would feel like a single raw nerve, exposed to the elements and he knew too, that he had to do something about it. The pain was unbearable.

  Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump, Thump! It got louder and faster, always reminding him that he had a job to do. As if he could forget! The fork in destiny’s road was here. It was no longer a matter of choice. Sure, he was going to do what he was going to do. But what was the hurry? Why did he have to go through this every time? He wanted to go at his own pace, to take things slowly. Woody wanted to savour the nostalgia before striking.

  But that was exactly where the problem lay. He couldn’t be allowed to dilly dally. He couldn’t sit and watch and remember. For a creature like Woody, memories were dangerous. Memories were distracting. They made you soft. Woody couldn’t be soft. He was a very particular beast with a very particular purpose and he had to accept that and get on with what he was destined to do.

  It was time to take the right fork. Woody opened his eyes. They were wild, dark circled and blood shot. Wilder than they had been in a very long time. He removed his hands from his ears and clamped them on his knees. Slowly, still in a crouched position, he craned his neck, stretching it out as far as it would go and turned it almost all the way around left and right. Woody stretched out his neck as though it was a thing that gave him great pleasure. It was longer than one would have imagined. He looked older now. He was now more man than boy, with thinning wispy hair and a deeper darker brow. He growled a low growl to himself no longer thinking of anything but his prize and he looked down into the forest below.