by Bill Bright
Wise to him, Hughie eyed his brother as Red moved into position. The older boy covered his mouth.
“Press hard,” Hughie said. “You have to press hard on your mouth.”
Red yelled against his hands to demonstrate that he was pressing hard.
Hughie stepped up to the tree. Keeping his brother in sight, he selected a good-size branch. He grabbed hold with both hands. He checked his brother.
Behind his hands Red made muffled shouts, urging Hughie to do it.
Hughie pulled.
The branch bent but didn’t break.
Red rolled his eyes.
Planting a foot against a root for leverage, Hughie positioned himself to pull again. This time he gave it everything he had. The branch gave way with a loudsnap.
“Aaahhh!”A banshee scream erupted from the tree.“Aaahhh!”
Terror-stricken, the limb in his hands, Hughie stepped back, tripped over a root, and fell backward. His legs were running even as he hit the ground. Staring at the limb in his hands as though it was a bloody arm, he tossed it aside. His arms became legs, pawing, pushing at the ground, scrambling to get him away from the tree.
Bawling and blinded with tears, Hughie flipped over onto all fours—arms and legs still churning—and crawled as fast as he could until his feet caught hold and he was upright, running and screaming and wailing.
He passed beneath Daniel on a dead run.
Next to the tree, Red had dropped to his knees, laughing so hard he couldn’t stand. The laughter became a duet as a second voice joined his.
The beefy boy with the switch in his hand stepped from behind the tree. The two boys relived the look on Hughie’s face several times, pulling branches from the tree and howling, and laughing so hard they cried.
Falling all over themselves, they disappeared into the woods, heading the opposite way from Hughie.
Daniel climbed out of the evergreen. His intended journey would take him in the same direction as Red and his friend. But Daniel went the opposite way, following the path of the terrified boy.
Chapter 26
“I saw what they did to you,” Daniel said when he came upon Hughie, sitting at the base of some rocks, his arms wrapped around his legs.
The boy was shaking and crying. He jumped up and started to run away when he saw Daniel.
“Hughie!” Daniel said. “It was mean, what they did to you.”
At the sound of his name, the boy turned around but continued backing away.
Daniel spoke with a soothing tone. “I saw it all. The sap on your finger. Your brother. The tree. And I saw the large boy hiding behind the tree.”
“Dumps?” Hughie asked.
“Big fella. Brown hair. Likes to hit things with a stick.”
“Aya, that’s Dumps.”
“He and your brother teamed up against you. Two against one. Wasn’t fair.”
“And they’re both older than me too!”
“Want to get even with them?”
Hughie’s eyes lit up, then became wary again. Skeptical. “I don’t know you, mister.”
“Well, my name’s Daniel. And I’m just like you.”
“Like me?”
“Aya. I have big people picking on me. That’s why I’m out here in the woods. One of them has a thick, black beard and a big knife. If you see him, run away.”
“He’s here in the woods?”
“I saw him last night. He didn’t see me. He wants to hurt me.”
“What did you do to him?” Hughie asked.
“Nothing. I saw him do something bad. Real bad. And now he wants to make sure I don’t tell anyone. So when I saw two big boys picking on a little boy, I wanted to do something to get back at them. Make things even. What do you say?”
“Are we gonna hurt ’em?”
The way Hughie asked, Daniel got the impression the boy wouldn’t have objected to hurting them a little.
“No, just scare them. Like they scared you. What do you say?”
Hughie’s grin was answer enough.
“Hey, Red! Red! Wait for me!”
Daniel followed at a distance as Hughie caught up with his brother and the boy called Dumps.
Red whirled on his brother. “Go ahead and tell Pa. But if you do, I’ll tell everybody in school that you’re a frightened little crybaby.”
“I’m not gonna tell Pa. Promise,” Hughie said. “I came to warn you.”
Daniel urged him on.Good boy, Hughie!
“Warn us? Warn us about what?” Red asked.
Hughie looked from Dumps to Red. “Does he know?” he asked his brother.
“Know what?”
“About the trees and the…” Hughie whispered the next three words. “…the girls inside.”
Dumps and Red exchanged grins.
“Yeah, he knows,” Red said.
“Then he’d better listen, too, so he doesn’t get hurt.”
“What are you babblin’ about?”
“You were right, Red. About the girls, I mean. He got real angry that you woke one of his girls up.”
“He? Who got angry?” Red asked.
“Their father.”
“Whose father?”
“The girls in the trees. Their father,” Hughie said.
The older boys laughed.
Dumps scoffed. “What a dunce.”
Red shoved Hughie. “You’re makin’ that up. And it’s stupid.”
“I’m not makin’ it up, Horsebreath!” Hughie’s expression was earnest. “He told me hisself, Red. He said if any of us woke up his girls ever again, he was gonna turnus into trees!”
The older boys laughed harder.
“Told you hisself, did he?” Dumps mocked.
Hughie was persistent. “I’m not lyin’. If you wake up one of his girls again, he’s gonna turn you into a tree! Why don’t you believe me?”
“Because you’re a seven-year-old chucklehead, that’s why,” Dumps replied.
“Yeah. A little, half-brained thickwit,” Red added.
“Oh yeah? Then, why don’t you come hear him for yourselves?”
Dumps and Red stopped laughing.
“What the matter?” Hughie pressed. “Scared?”
Behind the distant tree, Daniel grinned.Atta boy, Hughie. You got ’em now.
Dumps shoved Hughie hard, almost knocking the boy down. “I ain’t scared of nuthin’, you little maggot.”
“Then come see for yourself, you big oaf!” Hughie was already out of reach, but he stepped back anyway.
“You take us there,” Dumps said. “But I don’t hear no voice, so help me, I’m gonna skin your skinny little carcass to the bone.”
Red shot a warning glance that only a brother would understand.What are you doin’? You’ve gone and made him mad!
Hughie shrugged it off. “It’s this way. And you’re gonna be apologizin’ all over yourselves when you hear the voice.”
Daniel smiled.Good boy, Hughie! He ran on ahead to get ready.
Several minutes later, the three boys caught up with him. Hughie led the two older boys to the rocks where Daniel had found him. Daniel was waiting for them, concealed, so he could observe their reaction. As they approached, he was stuffing a tree limb up his pants leg.
“I was sittin’ right here.” Hughie showed them the place.
“Yeah? Well where is he?” Dumps spread his hands, waiting for an answer.
“I didn’t say Isaw him. I said Iheard him.”
Dumps scanned the trees. “Hey! Old-man tree! Talk to me!”
Red thought Dumps was funny. Grinning, he joined in. “Hullooooooo, Father of the tree girls! Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
They listened.
The forest was silent.
Dumps turned to Hughie with a raised fist. “I’m gonna flatten you.”
Hughie hid behind his brother. “I’m tellin’ ya, Red. He spoke to me. Honest!”
But his brother sided with Dumps. He grabbed Hughie by the arm and pulled hi
m around so he was between the two bigger boys. They started shoving him back and forth between them.
“He’d have to be a pretty stupid voice to talk to you,” Dumps said, pushing Hughie so hard he would have fallen down, had his brother not caught him.
“Don’t say that,” Hughie complained. “He’ll hear you.”
Dumps stuck out his chest and called to the tops of the trees. “I don’t care if he hears me. I’m not afraid of no stupid voice. You hear that?”
A long, low musical note floated through the trees and surrounded them.
Now all three boys were gazing up into the treetops, their mouths open.
“Uh-oh!” Hughie said.
“What, uh-oh?” Red cried.
“He’s angry. You shouldn’t have done that, Dumps. You made him angry!”
The note rose in pitch and began to flutter.
“I ain’t scared of no whistle,” Dumps said, his jaw slack.
Hughie tried to break Red’s grip on him. But the grip tightened, holding him in place.
“Where do you think you’re goin’?” Red asked.
Hughie gaped at his brother with fear in his eyes. “Let me go, Red! The girl’s pa said if I ever heard pipe music in the trees to run and not look back, ’cause if I did, I might get turned into a tree!”
The music jumped in pitch again. Strident. Angry.
Dumps grabbed Hughie from Red. “I’ll hold him. You circle around these rocks. Whoever’s doin’ this is behind these rocks.”
“Me? I’ll hold Hughie.You circle behind the rocks.”
“Do you want me to put my boot on your backside?” Dumps bawled. “Go!”
“They didn’t mean it,” Hughie called up to the trees. “Please, don’t hurt us. Please!”
The sound stopped.
Dumps glared at Red, who had stopped when the music stopped. “Go. Hurry! Before he gets away!”
“Wh-what if I find someone?” Red asked.
“Then yell. I’ll circle around the other way and come up behind him.”
With the forest silent again, Red was getting back his nerve. He nodded and circled around behind the rocks.
The road sign had announced the town as Dry Run a ways back. Asa had yet to see the town itself when Epps grabbed his arm.
“Listen.”
Asa heard it. “Daniel!”
He pulled back on the reins. The carriage halted. Epps jumped out, his ear to the wind. Asa grabbed his cane, climbed out, and joined him.
“It’s coming from behind us,” Epps said.
“I do believe you’re right.”
With a single mind, the two men returned to the carriage. Asa turned it around.
“He just started,” Epps said.
“The boy can play for hours.”
They rode a distance, then stopped. Epps climbed out. Listened. “Keep going,” he said, jumping back in.
They did this two more times before they began searching for a suitable access road.
“There!” Epps gestured.
Asa had already seen it.
The carriage tilted side to side as it straddled a ridge, then started down an embankment.
The music was louder now. Then it stopped.
Epps cursed. “Keep going.” He leaned forward, his eyes intent. “Keep going. He’s close.”
“Why did it stop?” Dumps asked.
“How should I know?” Hughie struggled against the grip the larger boy had on him.
Earlier he hadn’t been able to break the hold his brother had on him, so what chance did Hughie have against Dumps? But that didn’t stop him from trying.
“Let…me…go!” He twisted to break free.
“Shut up!” Dumps shouted. “Listen for your brother.”
Just then Red appeared.
“See anything?” Dumps asked him.
Breathing hard, Red shook his head. “Nothin’.”
“Maybe we scared it away.”
“Maybe it went away because I apologized to it,” Hughie countered.
“Not likely, Chucklehead,” his brother spat.
“Shut up, Horsebreath!” Hughie spat back.
“Let’s find out.” Dumps peered up at the trees again.
“What?” Red cried.
“Let’s find out if it stopped because Thickwit here apologized.”
“And what if it starts up again?”
Dumps shrugged. “We’ll just have the little maggot apologize again.”
“Don’t do it,” Hughie warned. “I’m tellin’ ya, Red. Don’t do it.”
Dumps and Red exchanged glances. That sealed it. “We’re doin’ it!” the older boys said together.
Dumps called, “Hey! Tree-god! We’re gonna go knockin’ on as many trees as we can, just to see how many girls we can wake up!”
“Then we’re gonna pull off some arms and limbs,” Red added. “Start a collection. Maybe build us a bonfire!”
A single note floated through the trees, just like before.
The two older boys exchanged grins.
It rose in pitch faster than before.
The boys’ grins faded.
The pitch continued to climb.
Red punched Hughie’s arm. “Tell it you’re sorry.”
“I’m not sorry. I didn’t do anything.”
Dumps got a worried look. “Yeah, tell it you’re sorry, you little maggot.”
Hughie glared at him. “Tell it yourself!”
Dumps bent inches from Hughie’s face. “Tell it!”
“There it is again. Over there.” Epps pointed to his left.
Bushes and a stream blocked their way. Epps took the horse by the reins. He led it downstream a couple of hundred yards and found a place to cross, all the while tracking the sound.
“Make it stop!” Red shouted.
“I can’t! I can’t make it stop!” Hughie shouted back.
The whistle was high-pitched now and trilling feverishly. The boys had turned their backs to each other to keep anything from sneaking up behind them.
Hughie grew frantic. “Someone’s gonna die! Someone’s gonna die!”
“I don’t want to be turned into a tree,” Red whimpered.
Holding Hughie in front of him, Dumps exclaimed, “If I’m gonna be turned into a tree, I’m makin’ sure this one gets it first. It’s all his fault!”
Dumps’ voice was shaky. Red had tears in his eyes.
The music grew louder. More shrill. More frantic.
“It’s comin’ for us!” Hughie screamed. “I warned you. It’s comin’ for us!”
Hughie went berserk, screaming and wrestling to break free, but Dumps had a death grip on him.
The two older boys danced in fear, their heads whipping this way and that, expecting something to swoop down on them.
Hughie kept yelling, “It’s comin’! It’s comin’!”
When Dumps turned his head, Hughie stomped on his foot as hard as he could.
Dumps howled in pain. His grip on Hughie released. The instant it did, the boy was gone, running back in the direction from which they came.
“Get back here, you little—” Dumps grabbed for him, but got only air.
Red took off running after his little brother.
Dumps was hot on Red’s heels.
From behind the rocks, Daniel watched Hughie run past him. That was his cue.
He set the recorder down, adjusted the tree limbs he’d stuffed down his shirt, up his sleeves, in his waistband, and up his pants legs until his appearance was that of half-man, half-tree. Branches hid his face and scraped the ground when he walked.
Moving stiff-legged, his arms extended at his sides, he rounded the rocks just in time to run into Red and Dumps.
The instant the two boys saw him, they stopped dead in their tracks. Dumps plowed into Red. They both turned as white as ghosts.
“Ahhhhhh!!”Daniel moaned. “Help me! Help me! My legs! My arms! Stiff…so stiff!”
He hobbled toward them. “Help
me!Ahhhhhh! I don’t know what’s happening! Please, help me!”
Pushing each other out of the way, Dumps and Red screamed and stumbled and scrambled as fast as they could to get away from him.
“Come back! Help me! Help me, please! Help me!” Daniel called until he could no longer see them.
Then he stood in the road, grinning from ear to ear. He hadn’t felt this good in years. He began pulling branches out of his clothes.
When Hughie showed up, the boy was smiling.
“Did they see you circle back?” Daniel asked.
Hughie collapsed to the ground. “That was sooo great! I was laughin’ so hard it hurt!”
“You were masterful, Hughie. Played your part perfectly.”
“That sound. You told me you’d make a sound that whistled in the trees. How did you do that?”
Daniel walked over to where he’d dropped the instrument. He handed it to Hughie, who examined it and placed his fingers over the holes.
“It’s called a recorder,” Daniel said.
“It scared me!”
“Even though I told you I was making the sound?”
Hughie nodded, handing it back to him.
“It’s a wonderful instrument.” Daniel positioned his fingers on the holes. “It can reflect any mood the musician feels. Happy, sad…”
“Scary,” Hughie added.
Slipping the recorder into his waistband, Daniel tugged the last of the twigs out of his clothes.
“This was the best day ever, Daniel!”
“It was fun, wasn’t it? Do you think they’ll give you a hard time when they figure out what happened?”
“I don’t care if they do. It was worth it!”
“Even so, it might be wise to lay low for a couple of days,” Daniel advised. “Give them time to convince themselves they weren’t scared out of their wits.”
“But they were, weren’t they?” Hughie laughed again.
Daniel slung his haversack over his shoulder. “Well, I’d better be on my way. It was nice meeting you, Hughie. Remember today when you’re older, and don’t pick on boys smaller than you.”
“’Cause it’s more fun pickin’ on boys older than you.”
Daniel grinned.
“Sure you can’t stay?” Hughie asked.
“Thanks, but I have to keep moving.”
“’Cause of the men who are after you?”