by Sara Clancy
“It’ll be a bit lighter for you. Let me know if you need me to change it around again.”
Mina said she would, but she knew she wouldn’t, not until Basheba showed any sign of discomfort. Mina hated the fact that the smallest, weakest one amongst them was struggling the least.
Three more hours of hiking, and she started noticing the warning signs nailed into the trees that lined the path. No trespassing. Turn back. Do not enter.
“Should we be walking here?” Ozzie asked. “Maybe we took a wrong turn.”
“We’re just off the Witch’s Woods. The police put them up to try and deter people from entering,” Basheba replied.
Mina eyed the next sign she passed, a brightly colored one that urged the reader to turn back and had a suicide hotline scrawled across the bottom. A chuckle escaped her lips unbidden.
“What is with this town? If they really think the Witch is a threat, why don’t they do anything about it?”
Basheba pointed to a nearby sign as she stalked past it.
“Signs? That’s the best they can do?”
“What exactly do you want them to do?” Basheba countered. “Arrest her for being an illegal witch?”
“Haunting without a license?” Cadwyn offered with a small smile.
“Maybe they could do an exorcism,” Ozzie suggested. “You know, bless the woods and force her out.”
“They tried that when this first became a problem,” Cadwyn said.
Basheba snorted, finally stopping and calling Buck over. “It’s not their problem.”
“Of course,” Mina said. “Why on earth would they care about people dying?”
She had known Basheba would reply quickly but hadn’t been prepared for her response.
“The harvest.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Haven’t you noticed that for a nothing little town, this place looks really good? Nice cars. Nicer houses. Nothing that should be within their budgets. Pick any farm at random, and you’ll find it brimming with produce. Not just produce. Perfect produce. Walk through an orchard, and you won’t find a single apple that’s misshapen or rotten.”
Mina blinked. “The Witch bribes the townsfolk with plentiful harvests?”
“Yeah. I think she does.”
Again, Mina didn’t mean to laugh. It just came out. “That’s what you meant about human sacrifices? What are they? Ancient pagans?”
“Sure. Because they’re the only people ever, in the history of the world, to think human sacrifice was a good idea,” Basheba deadpanned. “And no one ever does anything monstrous for personal gain or a belief in the greater good.”
“The whole town is pretty obsessed with the Witch,” Ozzie mumbled.
“And Roswell is obsessed with aliens. That doesn’t mean they exist.”
“I’m confused. Are you saying Katrina is a real threat and the police should intervene? Or that she’s just a local legend and not worth anyone’s time?”
Mina found herself staring at Basheba, unable to answer.
“Well, this has been productive,” Cadwyn cut in. “How about we have a look at the map?”
Basheba pulled the map from her pocket, unfolding it as she knelt down. Cadwyn helped her trap the edges under small rocks to keep the wind from taking it. Yellow highlighter marks pointed out the essential places; where they came in, where they’ll turn off, the far off point that Mina assumed was their destination. Ozzie wasn’t afraid to ask questions and had Basheba explain each one.
“What’s this place?” Mina asked, pointing to the line of pink dots that arched between the yellow marks.
“Potential campsites,” Basheba said.
“And these two black marks?”
Tension filled Basheba’s shoulders. “Two things I was hoping to avoid. Unfortunately, we’re running too far behind. We’re going to have to cut between the two of them.”
“But what are they?” Mina asked.
Cadwyn leaned forward to tap one of the marks. “I know that one’s the Devil’s Tree, right?”
“What’s the Devil’s Tree?” Ozzie asked.
“It’s the tree they used to hang people from,” Mina said. “My grandma used to tell me legends about it. Apparently, it’s cursed. If you get too close, the ghosts will grab you and lynch you up with them.”
“Yet another thing you’re too smart to believe?” Basheba muttered.
“I have no doubt horrible things happened there, and that it was used as a suicide spot for many people. That doesn’t make it supernatural.”
Basheba grunted.
“I would ask you for evidence, but you tend to set that on fire,” Mina added.
“What’s this one?” Ozzie blurted, the words clashing together in his haste to get them out.
He shot nervous looks around the group before Basheba answered in a flat tone.
“Bell’s Brook.”
“Your family found it?” Ozzie asked, clearly hopeful for a conversation change.
Basheba smiled, her eyes dead and cold. “My namesake drowned in it.”
Ozzie instantly deflated and stammered out an apology.
“How were you to know?” Basheba dismissed, busying herself with the pockets of Buck’s saddlebags.
“Bare bones history,” Cadwyn cut in. “Basheba Senior was gathering berries with her friends. She went to cross the brook and fell in. After laughing for a bit, her friends realized she hadn’t come up and waded out to help her. It was then they discovered the brook was only three inches deep where she disappeared. Her body was never found.”
“I don’t go near that water.”
Basheba spat the words out as she finished fastening the last belt of Buck’s new harness. He still carried the saddlebags, but now they sat upon armor instead of fur. The thick harness covered his chest and spine with sharp two-inch spikes. With a matching collar and what could be best described as a tactical dog helmet, he looked ready for war.
“Where did you even get that?” Mina mumbled without thinking.
“Same place I got these.”
Basheba tossed a small bag to each of them. A collar and twin cuffs of the same make were inside. It didn’t click in Mina’s head until she saw both Basheba and Cadwyn putting theirs on.
“You want us to wear these?”
“They protect your most exposed arteries. Neck and wrists. Also keeps people from choking you.” Cadwyn ended with a warm smile and a passing, “It’s tradition.”
Once everyone was outfitted and Basheba had safely tucked the map away, they swooped under the metal bar that separated the main trail from the Witch’s Wood.
For the first hour, everything remained the same—a crisp autumn day with all the beauty a day like that could hold. During the second, things changed. It started gradually, so Mina didn’t notice at first. A dulling of color, a dip in temperature, a thickening of trees. The mist lacked such subtly. Mina watched in shock as it rolled toward them as a wave, swooping around the tree trunks and leaving a thin layer of frost upon everything it touched.
None of them managed to smother their gasped cries. First contact was like submerging their feet in ice water. Numbing to the point where it almost felt like fire. A thousand needles driving through her boots to find her flesh.
“I hate this stuff,” Basheba muttered, pausing to angrily rip open one of the pockets of Buck’s bag. Again, she brought enough for everyone.
Mina caught hers with both hands. “Feet warmers?”
“They start working upon contact with air,” Basheba said. “Put them in your boots. They’re horrible to walk on, but you won’t get frostbite.”
As Mina ripped open the pack, she heard Basheba add in a whisper.
“Hopefully.”
“This happened to you before?” Ozzie asked as he hopped around, unwilling to sit in the airborne frost to put on his shoes.
“It’s part of her game.”
Ozzie stopped, growing motionless as a weak smile curled his full lips
. “I’m really glad you’re here with me.”
For a moment, Basheba was held in stunned silence, staring at him like a deer caught in a car’s headlights.
“Sure,” she said at last. “Don’t mention it.”
Cadwyn straightened his spine, drawing himself up to his full height to look around. Distracted by the conversation and the cold, Mina had missed the greater implications of the fog. It covered the path. And, without it, she was lost. The dense trees all looked the same. The more she looked, the less she saw, until nothing looked real anymore.
“Basheba?” Cadwyn said, pulling a compass from his pocket as he inched closer.
She waited until she had put little socks on Buck’s feet before retrieving the map from her back pocket. The instant it was free, the dog reared up. It latched onto the paper and ripped it from her hands. A sudden breeze claimed it before Basheba could snatch it back. The paper flapped, toppled, and danced on the air, weaving through the bare branches and luring them further from the path. They all knew it. But the need for the map forced their hand.
Running until sweat dripped down her spine, Mina lunged for the paper. It spiraled around her arm, staying just beyond the reach of her fingers, before soaring higher. Lunging after it, she burst into a barren meadow.
The grass was brown and brittle, crumbling with the slightest amount of pressure. It was the first time since dawn she had been able to glimpse the sky. The clear blue was gone, choked behind heavy clouds that pressed down upon the canopy. A single gnarled tree stood in the middle of the dead earth. Swollen and bare and formed like a hand reaching toward the sky. Mina heard the others join her but didn’t look at them.
“I take it that’s the Devil’s Tree,” she whispered.
Cadwyn nodded.
“Up there!” Ozzie’s outburst made everyone turn to him before they realized he was pointing to the top of the tree. Tangled around the highest branch, the map flapped like a flag.
Relief bloomed behind Mina’s ribs, barely stifled by the weary expressions the others wore. She stripped off her pack and placed it at Ozzie’s feet.
“Cadwyn, can you give me a boost please?”
His eyes widened.
“It’s lucky for all of us I’m a good climber,” she smiled.
Basheba stepped closer, “You don’t have to. We have the compass.”
“Yeah, you’re not the least bit convincing.”
She flinched back. “Did anyone else bring a map?”
“This is mostly stuff Ozzie bought me,” Cadwyn said.
It was the same story for all of them. Frustration brewed on Basheba’s face until she bit savagely at her lips.
“I should have bought more than one. It was stupid of me. I meant to get more yesterday.”
“It’s okay, Basheba. I’ll just go get it.” When soothing didn’t work, she added somewhat playfully, “Yell if anything weird comes close.”
The group cautiously edged closer to the tree. Cadwyn braced his back against the trunk and cupped his hands, transforming himself into a human ladder. Grabbing his shoulders helped her to balance.
“This is a trap, you know,” he whispered. After a moment’s pause, he added, “If anything happens, jump. I’ll catch you.”
“Thanks,” she said, because she felt like she should respond, but didn’t know what else to say.
One firm push and an awkward stomp on his shoulders allowed her to reach the lowest branch. She scrambled up, her new hiking boots scrapping away the bark. Focus was her strong suit. She used it now, fixing her attention on the map, surging toward it, letting everything else fade away.
Branches thinned as she got higher. Some cracked and threatened to snap under her weight. Higher and higher, until she was straining, her fingers trembling and her shoulder threatening to pop from its socket. One final surge and the paper was in her grasp. Her landing broke the branch. It crashed down to the earth as she scrambled to keep from following. How she managed it, she had no idea, but she ended up swinging around the trunk and landing hard on another, far sturdier branch.
“Mina?” Cadwyn called.
Pressing her forehead against the truck, she thrust her hand out. “I’ve got it.”
As she straightened herself, she heard it. A low, steady buzz. Shifting and living and swarming. Bees. Her heart skipped a beat and jammed itself into her throat. The map ripped on the bark as she grasped the tree with both hands, trying to hold her panic at bay.
“Cadwyn?” It came out as a whisper. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Cadwyn?”
“I’m right here. Right under you. Just fall back.”
“Where’s the hive?” He must see them. That’s why he sounds like that. God, they’re so loud.
“Listen to me, Mina,” Basheba said. “Close your eyes and fall to the left. We’ll catch you, okay? Just close your eyes and fall.”
Just tell me where the hive is!
“Mina! Just do what I’m telling you!”
Her body reacted to the direct order, but not in compliance. Twisting her head to the right, she forced her eyes open. There, dangling from the nearby branch, she found the hive. Fat insects of black and yellow squirmed and swarmed. Crawling over each other as they delved into the honeycomb labyrinth they had created in the hollowed-out eye socket. The hanged man dangled from his noose, decayed and bloated, riddled with bees as they burrowed under his flesh to create their home.
“Mina!” Cadwyn roared.
A scream ripped out of her chest. The corpse twisted, swaying as the bees burst from free of his body, their numbers blacking out the sun.
Chapter 14
The Devil’s Tree convulsed violently, lurching from side to side. Half frozen clumps of earth hurled out in every direction as the roots ripped free of the soil. What started as a slight hum confined to the open, dangling corpse grew to a deafening roar. He could barely hear himself as he screamed for Mina to jump. Stubborn to the end, the girl hadn’t listened. She had looked.
“Jump, Mina!”
Her answering scream came with a thunderous crack of splintering wood. The top branches exploded, releasing a wild swarm that blanketed the sky. A wall of stinging insects hid her from his view.
Cadwyn braced himself to catch her, but the impact didn’t come instantly. The droning hive covered any sound that might have given him a hint of where she was. They rushed at the group, raining down upon them like fire. He could feel the bees’ venom swell under his skin. Grinding his teeth against the pain, he forced his arms to remain outstretched, waiting. She still hadn’t come down.
The tree rattled. Thick branches dropped through the living cloud, slamming into the earth and making it tremble. Mina’s scream almost went unnoticed. He shifted toward it at the last moment. The impact sent them both sprawling across the brittle earth. Mina’s elbow drove into his mouth and blood splashed his tongue. He didn’t know which one of them it belonged to. Rolling to the side as best he could, he tried to bundle the frantic girl close, tried to shield her from the attack. The insects went straight for their eyes, their mouths, crawled under the necklines of their shirts in a hunt for tender flesh.
“Up!”
Bees crawled over his lips, trying to squirm down his throat, piercing his gums and tongue. Cadwyn swiped at his mouth and spat, attempting to clear his airway.
But there were always more.
A thousand needles stabbed him all at once and flooded his bloodstream with venom. Trembling with pain, he looped an arm around Mina’s waist and dragged her to her feet. Mina kicked and screamed, too far beyond the point of reason to even try to calm down. He swooped low, tossed her over his throbbing shoulder, and sprinted across the open field.
Breaking free from the heart of the swarm and clawing at his eyes, he was able to catch a few fleeting glimpses of the others. Basheba had haphazardly wrapped her thick knitted scarf around her head to leave only her eyes exposed. It did little to keep the insects at bay. Running didn’t dislodge the layer o
f bright yellow and black that covered her arms.
She latched onto Ozzie’s shoulder with one tiny hand and kicked hard at the back of his knee, driving him to the ground. He fought the touch until she yanked his scarf up over his head to bring him some small measure of relief.
“To the woods!” Basheba bellowed.
The dead earth crumbled under their feet as they stampeded for the tree line, revealing tangled roots and potholes to catch them. Half blind, Cadwyn ran until he felt the sharp twigs slash across his face and rip at his arms. Pain radiated from the stings to mask any damage the plant life caused. He kept running, trying to keep Basheba and Ozzie in sight through squinted eyes, unable to leave the swarm behind completely.
Each insect he knocked aside was replaced by a dozen more. Shrubs and fallen trees caught his legs. Coupled with Mina’s constantly shifting weight dragging down one shoulder, he stumbled and tripped. The pain was the only thing that kept him moving. Pain, and the simple plan to follow Basheba’s retreating back.
“Left!” Basheba screamed.
He jerked around obediently, following her voice until the ground gave out from under him, and he fell. It was a short drop with rocks and icy water at the end. He tried to soften the impact for Mina, twisting around to take as much of it as he could, but there was little he could do. The stones found every newly forming bruise and stoked the fire the bee venom had ignited in his skin. He cried out in agony. Bees swarmed the instant his mouth opened.
Then he hit the river’s surface. Icy water flooded his mouth and sent the insects into a wild panic. He spat and choked as his throat swelled.
Cadwyn forced his head under the water, gaining a few seconds reprieve while using the current to force the insects from his mouth. He stayed until the need for air made his lungs burn. A sharp tug on his backpack jerked him back up. Blinking the water from his eyes, he flung an arm back. Bees squished between his skin and the slender wrist he latched onto.
Basheba. It’s too small to be anyone else.
She wrenched her hand free of his fingers and jerked at his bag again. Only after she had found what she was looking for did it occur to him that she was trying to fight her way inside his medical pack.