He didn’t bother stopping at the fort but continued in a straight ahead path to the bus. He knew that’s where Willie had gone.
He stopped for a moment to look around and make sure no one was going to fly from the house to chase him away. Not seeing anyone, he kept heading toward the bus, only stopping long enough to listen for any movement. When he came around the corner, he could see the door standing open, and he moved slowly to look inside.
“Oh shit!” he heard Donna screech. “Butch, you scared the hell out of me. Get in here! There’s somethin’ wrong with Willie.”
Butch came through the door, dropping instantly to his knees beside Donna as she held an ashen-faced Willie up off the floor. “What the hell happened to him? Is he bleedin’ anywhere?”
“Not that I could find.”
“You just came in here and found him on the floor?”
“Not really,” she said turning away.
“What the hell did you do, Donna?”
“On the way home I saw Willie walkin’ down the road so I parked the car in a grove of trees to go after him.”
“That’s why I didn’t see your car when I came outside.”
“I knew if Willie was goin’ to that house you couldn’t be far behind. I didn’t want you to know I was back.”
“I wasn’t planning on getting out of bed, but when I found Willie had left, all I could think of was getting him back before Mom and Dad came home and found us gone.”
“That’s what I had in mind, so I waited until he was far enough ahead that he wouldn’t hear me and I took out after him.”
“Then what’d you do, come in here and kill him?”
“No, I thought I’d teach him a lesson and scare the shit out of him so I started scratching on the sides of the bus.”
At that exact moment the door to the bus banged shut so hard they both felt the bus move.
“I don’t think it’s a game this time, Donna,” Butch whispered, crawling to the window to look out.
“Oh my God! We’re dead. Whoever lives here is gonna come in here and shoot us for trespassing!” She laid Willie down on the floor to crawl over beside Butch. “Can you see anyone?”
“No, but we can’t just stay here.” He stood up and moved toward the door.
“Butch, come back here,” she whispered. “Maybe whoever it is just saw the door open and shut it to keep cats and dogs out.”
“I don’t think so, Donna. Whoever shut that door, knows we’re in here.”
Butch reached for the door handle to turn it, praying it was not locked from the outside. He pushed the door open then jumped back at what he saw. An old woman stood right outside. She was dressed in a long gray dress with a shawl over her head. Her long, stringy hair was snow white, and she leaned heavily on a thick cane of sturdy oak. Her face was lined with age and her eyelids drooped, making her look deformed. All the stories he had heard about witches flew into his head.
“You, and the other two,” she motioned him forward with her cane, “get on out here.”
Butch cleared his throat, trying to get the words he wanted to say past his dry throat. “My cousin can’t come out.”
“Why can’t he?”
Butch cringed as her screechy voice crawled over him. “We think he’s fainted from fright.”
Her laugh was a cackle that sent shivers down Butch’s spine. The next words she spoke only added to his discomfort.
“Look at me, boy, and tell me what you see standing before you.”
“I see…a…woman who’s not happy about my being on her property.” He forced the words out of his parched throat.
“Don’t lie to me, you skinny little ruffian.” She poked him in the stomach with her walking stick. “Now I want you to look at me and tell me what you see.”
Butch could feel the blood drain from his face as he whispered, “I see a witch.”
***
Bill and Rita pulled their cars into the drive at about the same time.
Up ahead, they could see Donna’s small compact parked off to the side in the grove of trees.
Bill walked over and opened Rita’s door. “Looks like Donna stayed with Butch and Willie like she was supposed to.” He nodded to the little brown hatchback.
“We can always hope she is growing up, finally.” Rita reached over and grabbed her brief case off the seat.
“It takes some longer to catch on to life than it does others.” He slipped an arm around her waist to walk with her into the house.
“I’m going to go up and check on the boys,” she said already walking out of the room.
“Tell Donna I want to talk with her.” He raised his voice to be sure she heard him.
Rita made her way down the hallway until she came to Butch’s room. She tapped the door lightly before walking into the room. “Butch, are you…” her voice slid to a stop in the empty room. “Hmmm, they must be in Donna’s room.” She walked back down the hall. She pushed on the door. “Donna?” she called out, then peeked into the room.
“This isn’t right.”
She headed back downstairs to look for a note that would tell her where everyone was.
Bill looked up from the TV. “Are Butch and Willie feeling better?”
“I don’t know. No one’s here—including Donna. Her car’s here, so we know she can’t be far. Unless, she left with someone.”
“If she left and took the boys somewhere, she would have left a note. She might be an airhead, but she has enough sense to let us know where the hell they were going.”
“I’ll go give Dave and Julie a call. Maybe she just ran Willie back to their place and thought she’d beat us home.”
Bill turned his attention back to the news. Within moments, he sat forward in his chair as Rita picked up the remote to shut off the TV.
“Julie hasn’t heard from Willie all day,” she told him, a cold fear creeping into her voice.
“Now don’t go gettin’ yourself all upset. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for what’s going on.”
“I’m not going to sit here and wait to hear it. I’m going to walk down the road and see if they took it into their heads to go out for awhile.”
“Why the hell would they be outside if they’re sick?” He swallowed the last of his beer and threw the can in the wastepaper basket by his chair. “Hold on while I grab a pack of cigarettes. I’m going with you.”
***
“Girly, you and the boy might as well come out here. I ain’t in a good mood, so if you’re smart you won’t rile me any worse.”
Donna shook Willie until he made a move. “Get up, Willie,” she bent low to whisper. “We got trouble.”
Willie rubbed his eyes then sat up. “What’s going on, Donna?”
“We need to go outside. Someone’s onto our being here.”
“Oh shit.” He stood up on shaky legs, grabbing onto her shoulder as Donna reached out to steady him. “Does he sound very mad?”
“It ain’t a ‘he’ it’s a ‘she,’ and yes she does.”
They stepped outside. The air was oddly refreshing given the circumstances. The moment Donna saw the old woman standing outside the bus she gave a moan and moved to stand behind Butch.
“Holy shit!” Willie whispered. “She’s a witch!”
“Yes, I am, young man.” Her head shook with involuntary tremors. “A very angry witch.”
“All right,” he held up his hands, palms outward, “you caught us. We’re sorry we came onto your property. It won’t happen again.”
“What you carrying in that?” She gently, poked the backpack with her cane.
“Our lunch that we never got to eat.” He gripped the bag tighter.
“Why would you want to eat lunch in an old empty bus?” She watched him, her eyes holding his in a steady gaze.
“I guess because we’re stupid?”
“Hand the pack to me. I want to see what you have inside.”
“Run!” Willie yelled, prodding the other tw
o to action as he took off running across the corn field.
“You won’t get away. I’ll find you!” she screamed after them.
“Keep going,” Donna cried.
For the first time that day, Butch didn’t think about his aching head or rolling stomach. All he could think about was getting away from the ugly old woman still screaming after them.
As they ran into the road, they slowed down.
“She scared the hell out of me.” Butch tried to catch his breath.
“Still think I was lying about a witch living in the Prescott Mansion?” Donna said, smacking Butch on the arm.
“Oh like I’m the only one who wouldn’t believe you about a witch living in the mansion….” His voice slid to a stop as he saw who was coming down the road. “Oh shit, now we really got problems. Look who knows we left the house.”
Willie glanced up to see his aunt and uncle striding intently toward them. “I don’t know about you two,” he murmured, “but I’ll take a chewing out any day instead of standing in front of an ugly old witch.”
Donna nodded in agreement. “I sure hope she don’t find out where we live.”
“She can’t find us. She’s too old and ugly. Probably spends all her time in her room.”
“Where have you three been?” Rita stood, glaring at them.
“Trespassing and stealing things from the neighbor.” Butch smacked a hand against the backpack.
“Since I know your mom,” Rita grinned, relieving some of her fear and anger, “you’re stealing from the neighbors isn’t even an issue. Same goes for your parents, Willie.”
“Thanks, Aunt Rita.” Willie quickly looked away.
“Now you can tell us what you’re doing outside, instead of being in bed where you belong.”
“That was my idea, Dad,” Donna spoke up. “I thought some fresh air would be better than laying in that bed all day. And, as you can see, they’re both feeling a lot better.”
“Butch, Willie,” Rita placed and arm around each boy’s waist, “I guess sometimes the best place isn’t always in bed when you’re sick. Getting outside to soak up some vitamin D helps too.”
“Yep,” Butch nodded, “running around outside instead of being safe in my bed at home is what I wanted to do most.”
“What in the world?” Rita had turned to give Butch a hug when she noticed someone walking behind them. “What is that old woman walking behind us for? And wherever did she come from?”
Bill turned, looking behind them. “I don’t know, unless she came from that big house down the road. But at her age, that’s a pretty far piece for her to be traveling.”
“Oh who cares?” Donna said without turning. “I think we should just get home so the boys can rest. They’ve been up a while.”
“I agree, Donna.” Willie glanced at his cousin. “For some reason, I don’t feel too good right now.”
Bill looked at the old woman as she walked steadily toward them, then back at everyone standing on the side of the road. “Okay, I guess if she needed help, she would have called out by now.”
Breathing a collective sigh of relief, Willie, Butch, and Donna continued down the road to the house.
When they got to the driveway, Butch turned to see if they were still being followed. When he saw the road was empty, he laughed and walked on up to the house.
She waited a few moments more before stepping from the big Maple and out onto the road. She didn’t need to go any further.
Chapter Six
This time when Willie and Butch walked into Mr. Simmons’s room, he was waiting for them.
“Right after class, I want the two of you to hang around so I can discuss something with you. I’ve already talked with Borden, and he has no problem with your missing his class. Which tells me, either you both get top grades, or you’re both screw-ups and he’s glad to be rid of you for a day.”
“We get good grades,” Butch spoke up.
“I know you do,” Simmons chuckled. “You always pull an ‘A’ across the board in my class.”
“Have you been able to find out what was in the jar we brought you?”
“Yeah,” his voice lowered as he looked around the room, “and that’s what I want to talk with you both about.” He nodded for them to take their seat.
“This is gonna be a long hour,” Willie said, as he walked past Butch.
Gently, Willie set the backpack down beneath his desk. As he straightened up, he saw Simmons watching him. He hadn’t made up his mind whether to show Simmons the other three jars. His fear of having to tell where they got them weighed heavily on his mind.
“Class, I’d like to talk with you today about something that has not been discussed in our class before.” Simmons sat on the edge of his desk, glanced around the room.
Butch turned in his seat, giving Willie an “oh-shit” look.
Willie nodded in agreement.
“What I want to discuss is, how many here have seen something you know to be wrong and instead of telling your parents or another person of authority, you kept what you saw to yourself out of fear of getting you, or someone else, in trouble?”
A girl in the front row held up her hand.
“Yes, Rhonda?”
“My sister Janet pretended she was sick just so she didn’t have to go to church.”
“And you know for sure she wasn’t really sick?”
“Yes. She told me she was going to lie and say she was sick so she could stay home and watch a show on TV.”
“Why didn’t you tell your parents what you knew, Rhonda? I mean skipping church is a very serious thing to do.”
“Janet said she would beat me up if I told on her.”
“So your sister coerced you into remaining silent.” He glanced around the room and seeing the confused looks on the student’s faces, he added. “When someone is coerced it means that someone is threatened with harm if they tell what they know.
“My sister is really fat!” Her eyes rounded as she shared this information. “She sits on me until I can’t breathe if I don’t do what she tells me to.”
Simmons drew a cupped hand down over his mouth to cover the grin he could not control. “Yes, well, it sounds as though your sister knows how to get her way. Now, while this is not a dangerous coercion, I hope, it is certainly a frightening one.” He turned toward the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. “Who can tell me what a dangerous coercion would consist of?”
Without thinking, Butch raised his hand. “When someone takes something that don’t belong to them and they get caught.”
“Exactly!” Simmons’s hand shot out.
Willie dropped his head in his hands, unable to believe Butch could have shared such telling information with someone who already knew they had found a fetus in a jar. “What a dumb ass you are, Butch,” he murmured beneath his breath.
Simmons jotted the word THIEVERY across the blackboard. “Willie,” Simmons turned away from the board to look at him, “do you have anything to add to the very interesting example Butch has given?”
Willie shook his head, too scared to even try to speak.
“When someone takes something that doesn’t belong to them, and they get caught…” he echoed Butch’s words. “Yes, I can see how that could cause problems.” Simmons walked a few paces away from the blackboard. “Someone catches you taking something, especially if that something is damnable evidence of legal wrong-doing, the next thing you know, you’re being threatened with harm if you tell anyone where you got the stolen item.”
Butch raised his hand in the air. When Simmons glanced over at him, he stood up. “I need to be excused to go to the bathroom.”
“Class will be over in less than ten minutes, Butch. I think you can wait that long.”
Without a word, Butch left the room, closing the door behind him.
“Hmmm, guess not.”
A boy in the back raised his hand.
“Knowing who murdered somebody, and the killer calls you up an
d tells you, ‘you better keep your mouth shut or you’re gonna die,’ would be a good one, too, don’t you think, Mr. Simmons?”
Simmons walked back over to the board. “Knowing about a murder,” he breathed, writing the word MURDER in big bold letters before turning around to look at the boy who had just imparted such an example. “Am I correct in assuming this is not something you have actually participated in?”
“Heck no, I saw it on the TV.” He grinned as the boy next to him offered a high five.
“Good. Now I’ll be able to sleep tonight.” He tossed the chalk into the large groove at the bottom of the blackboard
“My reason for our talk about coercion, since we try to find answers to mysteries in this room, is I wanted to make you all aware that sometimes mysteries can get you into a lot of trouble. So, in closing, just let me say, anytime any of you think you have a mystery that can get you in trouble, or harmed, I’ll be here to listen if you need me.”
The bell rang, and kids grabbed backpacks and scrambled out of their chairs.
Simmons glanced up to see Butch standing just inside the room. “Glad to see you’re all right, Butch.”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” He walked across the room to his desk.
“Since you weren’t here for my closing statement, I’ll repeat it for you, Butch: if you ever find yourself in need of a friend, I’m here for you.”
“I don’t need a friend at the moment, Mr. Simmons, but thanks anyway.” He kept his eyes cast down on the desk.
“I don’t believe you, Butch. In fact, I would venture to bet the opposite is true.”
“What did you need to talk to us about, Mr. Simmons?” Willie asked.
“Let’s all have a seat.”
On shaking legs, Willie and Butch followed behind as Simmons walked up the aisle.
Like a good detective, the teacher took his time getting to the point, allowing fear of the unknown to mount in the two boys seated before him.
The chair he was sitting in squawked its displeasure as he leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head.
“I know what was in the jar you brought to me. Do either of you have any idea what it was?”
They both shook their heads at the same time.
The Hay Fort Page 4