Rogue's Hollow

by Jan Tilley

  For some reason, those words didn’t reassure Malachi in the least.

  Taking a sip of his hot tea, he refocused his thoughts. “So, what are your plans now?”

  “I’ll go home, I guess,” Travis said with a shrug, interpreting that as his eviction hint.

  Malachi shook his head and tried to clarify what he meant. “No, you don’t need to leave on my account. I meant, what are your plans about Junior?”

  “I’ll stay far away from him. He’s gonna be pissed off for sure. I don’t think anyone’s ever stood up to him like that.” Travis grinned, impressed by Malachi. “That was pretty cool, if I do say so myself. You’ve got balls.”

  Malachi shook his head. “No, I had a gun. No balls were required on that one. I’ve met boys like Junior Barnett before. I used to tolerate them or look the other way, but sometimes a man reaches a breaking point. It gives you the strength to do what needs done, if you know what I mean?”

  Travis nodded. “Yeah. I’m just grateful that you showed up when you did. He was really pissed and nowhere near finished with me.”

  Malachi’s face took on a look of concern. “Is he finished now?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, probably, for a while anyway. He’ll talk shit to me, but the beating’s done. Until I piss him off again.”

  “Wouldn’t it be best just to stay away from him all together, Travis?”

  He squirmed in his seat, and swigged down the last gulp of orange juice. “Yeah, I try. We only have forty kids in our class at school. There’s not much else to do.”

  Malachi refilled the young man’s juice glass and replied, “Don’t you have other friends you can hang out with?”

  Travis looked at his feet and shook his head. “No, not really. I’m not the kind of kid that most people want their kids hanging out with.”

  “Why? You’re not a bad kid.” Malachi was trying to get a grasp on the situation, but it was making Travis uncomfortable.

  “I do okay,” he replied, as his leg began to twitch.

  Pushing a little further, Malachi asked, “Where’s your dad?”

  Travis’s brown eyes darted to meet his. There was anger and hurt behind those eyes as he gave a one word reply, “Gone.” He began to jut out his lower jaw and play with the stud pierced through his tongue.

  Refusing to let it go, Malachi pursued. “Do you ever get to see him?”

  Travis slapped his hand down on the table out of frustration. “No. He took off after my sister, Holly, died and I haven’t seen him since. Can we please talk about something else?”

  Malachi took the hint and got up to get another cup of tea. This was obviously a very sore spot with Travis. What a shame to have your dad run off on you like that, and especially when his family needed him the most. But, then again, he didn’t know the details. Maybe they were better off without him. With his back turned to Travis, he said, “No matter what anyone says or thinks, you must believe in yourself, Travis. I do. You’re a fine young man.”

  As he turned back around, he saw that Travis had a faint grin on his face. It was obvious that the kid didn’t get much praise in his life.

  Malachi stirred a dab of honey into his tea and sat back down at the table. He took a sip from the steaming mug and let out a sigh. “Okay, so what are we going to do about this Junior kid?”

  Travis squirmed in his seat. “Like I said, I’m gonna just stay away from him and let him cool down.”

  “Good idea.” Leaning in closer, Malachi ran his stump-fingered hand through his white hair and stared into Travis’s eyes. “Can I trust you with a secret, son?”

  With a look of confusion, Travis gazed into his piercing blue eyes and nodded. “Yeah, sure you can. I owe you a lot. Is it something about the amulets?”

  As Malachi searched for the right words, his gut instincts assured him that he could trust Travis. He hesitated. This was a huge step for Malachi. The delay in conversation made Travis uncomfortable. He had no idea what he was about to tell him. Malachi wasn’t sure himself what he was going to say. He looked at the young man intently, searching his eyes for help. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, “Do you feel up to a little ride with Rosie?”

  Travis brushed the straggles of brown hair from his eyes, and replied, “Sure, I’m always up for that. Do you want to take me home?”

  Taking a sip of his tea, Malachi noticed that Travis’s leg was shaking again. He shook his head, and replied, “Not unless you’re ready to go home. There’s somewhere else I’d like to take you first.”

  “Yeah, that’s cool with me. I’d rather not go home yet, if I don’t have to. My mom is gonna be really pissed at me when she sees my face. I’m gonna avoid her as long as I can.”

  Slapping his worn blue jeans on the knees with his calloused aging hands, Malachi smiled. “Good. I think this will be of interest to you.” He placed the dirty dishes in the sink and they headed out to the truck.

  Malachi’s eyes twinkled as he locked up the rear door. “Travis, you’re in for a treat.”

  Seven

  Travis moved slowly, waiting for the pain to catch up with him and force him to double over. But surprisingly, he was starting to feel okay. He was sore, but the ibuprofen helped take the edge off.

  Rosie sat in the rear driveway patiently waiting for her old friend. He fired her up, took his cloth out from under the seat and gently wiped off the dashboard. Her engine sounded strong as Malachi revved it a few times to get her warmed up. He slid the transmission into drive and off they went. He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. Nerves took over and he was lost in his own thoughts. Something deep inside him kept encouraging him, but his mouth remained shut.

  Rosie meandered down the bending country roads through the gently falling leaves, as they made their way to an old dirt drive that led off, deep into the woods. ‘No Trespassing’ signs were posted about every hundred feet. It was very obvious that this property was private and off limits. Malachi slowly steered Rosie down the long, winding path until they reached a downed tree which blocked the way. “Looks like we’ll have to hoof it from here,” Malachi said with a twinkle in his eye.

  Travis wasn’t exactly sure what was happening. He nervously shook his leg, and asked, “Where are we going?”

  Malachi stared at Travis for a while and then almost as though he’d been talked into something, he sighed and said, “It’s time to show you my cryptics, son.”

  Travis furrowed his brow and winced a little in pain as he replied, “Your what?”

  Malachi winked and motioned for Travis to follow him.

  The fresh-fallen leaves crunched underfoot as they made their way down a narrow path that led towards the creek. Travis could hear the water getting louder as they walked. Finally, he mustered up the nerve to ask, “Okay, I give up. What’s a cryp-tic?”

  Malachi turned to him and grinned. “A cryptic is something that is hidden away or concealed. Mr. Webster says it’s not real or false.”

  “Who is Mr. Webster?”

  The question brought a smile to Malachi’s face. Travis had so much to learn. “Noah Webster was a very wise man. Anyway, I have created my own kind of cryptics out here.” He stopped and turned to look Travis in the eye. “I do hope that I can trust you, son. This is a very big deal to me. I’ve kept this secret for a very long time.”

  Looking a bit nervous, Travis’s brown eyes darted around the woods with curiosity. “What is it, Malachi?”

  Just then, Malachi scared up a rabbit from its hiding place and it ran straight at Travis. He nearly jumped out of his skin with fright. Travis clutched his chest and laughed. “Wow, I scream like a little girl when I get scared.”

  Malachi grinned. “It’s easy to lose sight of reality out here. Frights become the norm and sometimes we do things that we never expected.” Around a small bend, they came upon the contraption. It was Malachi’s cryptic.

  Travis’s face lit up with curiosity. “What the heck is that thing?”

  He smiled proudly a
s he took his glasses out of his chest pocket. “That’s my cryptic.” He watched as Travis walked around the machine, trying to figure it out. “It is my pet project.” He opened a compartment and changed out the old batteries with fresh ones. Staring at Travis, he smiled and pushed a small red button on the side. A faint noise began. It was the sound of a baby crying.

  Stepping back, Travis tripped over a log and lost his balance, almost falling over. He regained his footing and shook his head in confusion. “What is this thing?”

  Malachi squatted down and began working on the machine. He cleaned off the detection lens with his handkerchief and brushed leaves off the top with his hand. “This is my baby, Travis.”

  “Strange looking baby.” He chuckled, as he tried to wrap his mind around it.

  Groaning as he stood up, Malachi braced himself against the machine. He wiped his brow with the other side of his handkerchief and found an old tree stump to sit down on. He knew that he’d have to start at the beginning. “Have a seat, son.”

  Travis made his way over and found an old log to sit on. Malachi wasn’t sure how to share this secret that he’d kept for all these years but his gut told him that it was time. “I grew up here, son. I’ve lived here my entire life. Rogue’s Hollow was a real hopping town when I was a kid. The mill was in full swing. Folks all had jobs and we were a tight community.” His mind wandered and he smiled, recalling the memories from his past. Snapping back to reality, his eyes met Travis’s. “Those were the good old days.”

  Fidgeting on his uncomfortable stump, he continued, “I was just a kid when the mill closed down and the hard times set in. It became a different place. Folks moved on looking for work; very few stayed behind. Mama and I were part of the hold outs. Our roots were here and we just couldn’t walk away. She converted the mill into a general store, but was barely able to put food on the table. It was tough.” His mind wandered off again, lost in thoughts of harder days. “Many a night, I would lie in my bed listening as she cried herself to sleep in the other room.” Malachi hung his head, fighting back the memories of his mother’s pain.

  His attention shifted to Travis and he watched him nervously play with that thing in his mouth. It was obvious that he also was no stranger to painful memories. Trying to lift the mood, he redirected his conversation. “But, then it all changed, my friend. One day, out of sheer boredom I found myself at this very spot. It was dark, on a spooky, full-moon night.”

  Malachi’s bright eyes began to sparkle with excitement as he spoke. Uncontrollably, Travis began to shake his leg, and fidget on his log seat. Leaning in closer for added drama, Malachi’s eyes pierced right into him as he continued, “I heard voices. There was a young couple, down stream at the bridge. I could hear them plain as day. He was trying to scare her, taunting the baby to make its presence known.” Malachi giggled, barely able to contain his enthusiasm.

  Travis’s big brown eyes searched the old man’s face for details. “What’d you do?”

  Malachi smiled and paused, drawing out the tension. “I began to cry little baby cries. Soft at first, barely noticeable. They didn’t hear me, and then the girl grabbed her fella’s arm and told him to hush. I did it again.” Malachi slapped the knee of his blue jeans and belly laughed. “You should have seen the look on that guy’s face. It was hilarious, Travis. He was more scared than she was I think. They took off like a bat outta hell.”

  Wiping away laughter tears from his eyes, Malachi sighed with delight. “It was the funniest thing ever. And that’s where it all began. The next weekend a whole slew of them came here, hoping to hear the cries of that poor baby. Business at the store doubled. I couldn’t remember Mama looking that happy in a long time. That day it became my mission to scare folks, to stir up business and keep this old town alive. And, it worked too.”

  Travis shook his head and grinned. “You sly fox. That was genius.” His attention shifted back to the machine. “So, this thing is what you use to scare people?”

  Nodding, Malachi giggled like a kid, “Yep. That’s it, just an old home-made contraption. It’s light and sound activated. I saw a design for something similar in National Geographic eons ago. The original machine was meant to make a sound to scare critters out of your garden. I just tweaked it a bit and came up with this old thing. Quite a novel piece, if I do say so myself.”

  Malachi stood up and pointed toward the bridge. “When cars round the bend at night, their headlights hit the lens on the machine. Or, if they get out of their car and slam the door, or talk loudly, that triggers it as well.”

  “Wow, that’s awesome. How have you never gotten caught?”

  “Fear isn’t something that most folks mess with. No one hears that baby crying in the night and goes searching for it, they high-tail it outta here lickedy split.” He gave Travis a little wink. “It’s downright hilarious to watch them.”

  With excitement in his voice, Travis eagerly asked, “Can I watch sometime, or help you? This is really cool.”

  It was at that moment that reality set in and Malachi realized what he’d just done. He’d held this secret close to his heart for forty years, and now it was out in the open. Suddenly, he felt very exposed and took a deep breath, wondering if he’d made a mistake. “Travis, I hope that you realize what a big deal this is. If word got out that there was a hoax at Rogue’s Hollow it would ruin this town. Ruin me and the store.”

  Travis furrowed his brow, and nodded. “I totally get it. Believe me; I won’t say a word to anyone. I think it’s freakin’ awesome, Malachi. You can trust me. I swear.”

  Instinct told him that he could count on the kid to keep his secret. “You know Travis, as much as this has helped the town and business and all, there’s more to it than that. I really enjoy it. Sometimes, folks get too serious in life. There’s nothing better than a good old-fashioned scare. That adrenaline rush and surge of fear pulsing through your veins, throwing you into fight or flight mode. It’s priceless. I think people really enjoy what I do out here.” His face grew serious and he scowled at Travis. “Those that turn down the music and actually listen anyway.”

  Hanging his head, Travis grinned. “Yeah, I know.” He chuckled. “But, I really do like my M&M’s though.”

  They both burst out laughing at the inside joke between them. Malachi grew to adore the kid more every day. He brought a breath of fresh air into his stagnant boring life and it was fun to be around a youngster again.

  Taking a deep breath, Malachi looked somberly into Travis’s eyes, and smiled. “You’re a good kid.”

  Shifting nervously in his seat, he replied, “Glad you think so. No one else seems to.” Pain began to creep back in and Travis gently touched the stitches on his cheekbone.

  Anger boiled up inside Malachi as he looked at his young friend’s battered face. A vengeful feeling swelled inside him that he didn‘t like. “It’s gonna hurt for a few more days, but you’ll be okay.” Malachi smiled and leaned in closer. “Now, what do you think about a little payback?”

  Travis winced, and looked at him with confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t you think it’s time that Junior Barnett got a little scare of his own?”

  Shaking his head, Travis tried to hold his knee down to stop the twitching. “You want to use this thing on Junior? He’d probably be the one person that would come looking for it and ruin everything.”

  Malachi squinted his eyes and shook his head. “I think guys like that are big talkers. They like to put on a show for other people, but when they’re alone, they’re just big sissies.” Throwing his hands in the air, he said, “There’s only one way to find out. Are you up for it?”

  Travis sat in silence for a moment, pondering all that Malachi had just said. Then his face lit up and he grinned. “I’m in. Do you think we can actually pull this off?”

  Crunching leaves underfoot, Malachi stood up and breathed in the smell of pine trees. He circled his machine and nodded. “Yes, son, I do believe we can.” He stared at t
he creek rushing past them and rubbed his chin as he thought. “Let’s head back to the mill and put our thinking caps on.”

  Even though Travis’s face hurt like hell, he couldn’t seem to wipe the grin off it. Just the thought of getting a little revenge on Junior Barnett made his day. The two picked up a few branches along the way to use for amulets, and headed back to Rosie.

  Malachi took a detour and drove to Maggie’s old place. As he parked the truck behind the charred frame of a house, Travis questioned, “Why are we stopping here? Do you have a cryptic set up here too?”

  Grinning, Malachi shook his head. “Don’t need one here.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Pay attention to the upstairs window. She’s shy. Sometimes it takes her a while.”

  “Takes who a while?” Travis questioned.

  Malachi winked and said, “Maggie.”

  “You’re kidding me, right?”

  “Patience, son. Just have patience.”

  Travis sat with his eyes glued to the upstairs window. His leg began to nervously twitch. The anticipation was killing him. Finally, he looked over at Malachi and said, “You’re pulling my leg, very funny.”

  Malachi pointed towards the house. “There she is.”

  Travis jerked quickly to look for her. “Where? I don’t see her.”

  “She’s hiding behind the curtain. Sit very still and she’ll come out and give us a wave.”

  Travis’s leg stopped twitching and his breathing was shallow as he anxiously waited. After a few moments, Maggie’s little face appeared. Travis’s mouth dropped as he stared out the windshield, afraid to move. “Holy shit! Is that really her, or are you screwing with me?”

  Malachi smiled at her and waved. “That’s really her. She’s here all the time. She’s just shy and most folks aren’t patient enough to wait for her.” He sighed, “She was twelve years old when she died, and she’s never left.”