Sycamore Leaves

 

 

 

Robert pulled up the drive and stopped to look at the house. It had been almost an entire year since he'd been here, but the house had not changed much. So much else had changed instead. The last time he had stayed at the summer house he had still been married to Julia, and Danny... Danny had still been alive.

He shook his head to clear away those thoughts, and opened his car door. He didn't expect to find anything in the mailbox, but he checked anyway, out of habit. There was an envelope inside. Opening it, he found a note from Harlan, the caretaker, saying that he had gotten Rob's message and had opened the house and gotten the electric and phone turned on.

Robert smiled. Harlan had been the caretaker for years before Rob and Julia had bought it. He lived a few miles down the road, on the other side of an old abandoned boy scout camp.

Robert went back to his car and stopped to look again at the front of the house. 'Harlan should have raked up some of these leaves,' he thought.

He pulled the car to the garage at the side of the house. He got out and went up to the porch leaving his bags in the trunk to get later. He wanted to look first. The key stuck the first time he tried it, but after a bit of wiggling the lock gave.

'Honey, where's Danny?'

He lifted his head and looked out into the yards. It was empty. He shook his head again and went inside.

The living room was darker than Rob remembered. The long drive was beginning to get to him. He was exhausted. Telling himself that he would bring in his bags later, he lay down on the couch and fell asleep.

'Honey, where's Danny?'

'I thought he was with you.'

'He left here almost an hour ago to meet you at Harlan's.'

Well he hadn't gotten there by the time I left. He probably saw a bird's nest or something and got distracted. Why don't you call Harlan. I'll bet he's there now.'

'Harlan says he never got there. Robert, I'm worried.'

'I'll go look for him. I'm sure he just saw something and lost track of time.'

When Robert woke he was sweating and the room was filled with sunlight. His watch said seven o'clock. It took him a minute to realize that it was seven a.m. not p.m. He had slept for fourteen hours. He sat up and rubbed his face with his hands. After a quick trip to the lavatory he went into the kitchen to find something to eat.

As he stood at the sink eating the stale Pop Tarts he had found in the pantry he stared out the window at the leaves that covered the back yard. He decided to put off bring in his luggage, and after going upstairs and changing into some jeans and a shirt left from the previous year, he went out and started raking them up.

He was just finishing the yard when Harlan came up the driveway in his truck.

"Hey Harl," Rob said as Harlan got out of the pickup.

"Hiya Rob," Harlan replied. "Didn't know if you'd be here yet, but I thought I'd come up here and check.

Rob put the rake down. "Want to come in for a drink?" he asked. "I think I can scrounge up some lemonade or something."

"Thanks," Harlan answered, "but I can't stay long. Gotta run down to the store for my old lady. I'll take a raincheck though."

Rob smiled. "How's Sylvia been lately?" he asked.

"She's fine,: Harlan said. "She joined a ceramics class in town last April. Now there's a bunch of little statues and knickknacks all over the house. I can't find a place to set my paper anymore."

Rob laughed and Harlan smiled. "Was everything okay when you got here?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rob said. "To tell the truth though, I don't think I would have noticed one way of the other. I was so tired by the time I got here that I fell asleep on the couch. I haven't even taken my suitcases in yet."

Harlan shook his head. "Long drives will do that to a body," he said. "Do you need anything from the store while I'm there?"

"Don't worry about it Harl," Rob replied. "I'll probably go myself once I get done with these leaves. I have to restock practically the entire kitchen."

Harlan scratched his head. "You know, it's funny," he said. "I just raked this yard two days ago when I mowed it. It looks like there are more leaves on the ground now than there were then."

"It's these damn sycamore trees," Rob said, picking up the rake. "They never stop shedding."

Harlan laughed. "You may be right." He went back to the truck and opened the door. "Why don't you come up for dinner tonight. Sylvia'd love to see you."

Rob thought about it, but shook his head. "Thanks anyway Harlan, but not tonight."

Harlan looked into Rob's face. "You all right?" he asked.

Rob grinned at him. "Yeah, sure. Maybe later this week, okay? I've just got some stuff to do tonight."

"Okay," Harlan said, getting into his truck. "I'll see you later."

Rob waved as Harlan backed up the drive, then went back to raking leaves.

By three o'clock he'd gotten most of the leaves into the compost heap in the backyard. He stopped for a minute to look at the path that lead through the boy scout camp to Harlan's place. The cliff was about a quarter of a mile to the west of it. Rob could hear the ocean crashing against the rocks at the bottom.

They'd never found Danny's body. The sheriff and his men searched the area for over a week, but the only thing they found was his baseball cap, on the rocks at the base of the cliff. Sheriff Tate said that the boy must have wandered too close to the edge and fallen, his body washing out to sea.

Rob looked down at the compost. There was something under the leaves.

'Daddy, what did you find?'

'Nothing Danny. Don't come over here.'

'But what is it?'

'Nothing. Go inside and get your mother.'

'What is it Rob?'

'I found something under the leaves.'

'Isn't that Harlan's dog?'

'Rusty, yeah. Or at least it used to be Rusty.'

'Robert, what do you think...'

'Looks like he was attacked by some sort of wild animal.'

'It looks like he got mauled by a bear.'

'There are no bears in these woods.'

'Well I don't know. Maybe it was a wolf.'

'Yeah maybe. You'd better get Danny back in the house and call Harlan. I'll get a bag or a tarp or something.'

'Okay. But...'

'What?'

'How do you suppose he got into the compost?'

When he was done he took the boxes out and sat them on the bed. He could remember putting them in the closet last year, but he couldn't remember what was in them. The first was full of clothes. They were mostly Julia's and his, but at the bottom were a couple of Danny's sweaters. Robert stared at them for a long time before putting them back. The red had been Danny's favorite. He wore it almost every time that they had gone down to the beach in the evening. It had been getting to small for him.

In the other box were more clothes (all Julia's this time), some books and a photo album. He held the photo album for a long time before opening it. It held a lot of memories which hurt to think of, but he had to look.

The first page had a picture of Robert cutting wood and hamming muscles for the camera. That was the year they'd bought the house. Danny had been three then. The next picture was of Julia with Danny, then four. He had his ear on her belly. She had been pregnant them with their second child, which had miscarried in the seventh month.

Rob passed over a few pages until he had come to the pictures that had been taken only the year before. The last picture in the book was of Danny holding up a fish that wasn’t quite six inches long, and grinning from ear to ear. It was the first fish he had every caught. Robert remembered the day vividly. They had taken a picnic down to a little inlet on the other side of town. Rob and Danny took their poles down to the end of the pier while Julia set out lunch. Danny had been so proud when he pulled that fish from the water that Rob thought he was going to fall off the pier.

Rob shut the album with a snap. He leaned his head back and tried to stop the tears from rolling down his face. He missed Danny. He missed Julia. After their son had died it seemed they couldn't talk without getting into an argument, but he missed her anyway.

He had to get away from the house. He got up and practically ran out, stopping only to get a jacket. Outside he felt calmer. He could hear the sound of crickets and might birds and beyond that the low roar of the ocean crashing on the rocks below the cliff.

On the edge of the path that lead through the boy scout camp he realized that it would be dark soon. He debated about going back for a flashlight, but decided against it. The moon was out and he knew the woods like the back of his hand.

Harlan kept up the path between Robert's house and his own, and cleaned up messes made by the odd bunch of teenagers who would use the campgrounds for parties and 'other' purposes. The lodge was boarded up, but kids still got into it and there was unusually empty beer cans, used condoms, and other trash scattered around the place.

The campfire ring was to the left of the path about halfway between the two houses. The ring of stone at the center was filled with ashes that had been soaked flat by rain and had dried into a powdery dust.

Robert and Danny had camped out there for the first time last summer and as he stood there now he could hear the crackling of the fire and smell the marshmallows that caught fire when they tried to toast them.

'Daddy, where do the stars come from?'

Robert looked up. The sky was clear and he could see the stars through the treetops. He shivered with the cold.

The marriage hadn't lasted long after that summer. They had had Danny to try to save it, and when he died, so did their relationship. She moved out before Christmas and the divorce was finalized by the end of July. She got the apartment in the city and he got the summer house.

It was past eleven when he got back to the house and he was exhausted.

In his dreams, Rob was back in the woods. He could see a bonfire burning in the campfire ring and people moving around the fire. He could hear the deep boom of a drum as if a stereo were being played with the bass turned to the maximum level, and below that, the crackling and snapping of the fire. He followed the path trying to get to the fire to chase off the kids and put it out. The fire was way too big. If it got out of control the whole forest would g up in flames. No matter how long he walked the fire always stayed ahead of him through the trees. He began to feel something calling to him and his need to get to the circle and put an end to whatever was happening there grew more and more urgent. By the time he awoke, to see daylight filtering through the curtains, he had been running.

Rob got up feeling completely unrested. He couldn't remember any of the dream, except that it had scared him. He was still tired, but he didn't want to sleep anymore.

It was muggy and hot all day and by afternoon clouds had begun to gather. Rob spent the day wandering around the house and cursing himself for not bring a television with him. The house wasn't air-conditioned and he felt too hot and tired to do any work. He eventually grabbed a beer from the fridge and took a book out onto the front porch. It was even hotter outside, but there was some semblance of a breeze and the air felt better than it did indoors.

It cooled down to around eighty degrees by early evening. Rob was just about to go in to grab a bit to eat when he heard Harlan's truck driving up the road. He went inside, but came out again as Harlan pulled up the drive.

"Have you come to collect that raincheck?" Rob asked.

Harlan chuckled. "It's Sylvia's turn to host her bridge club," he said. Changing the subject, he asked, "Did you get that beer for me?"

Rob held out the can that he had brought from the kitchen.

"Thanks," Harlan said as he popped the tab.

"Looks like there's a big storm coming," Rob said.

"Aya," Harlan said. "Don't think it will break today though. It's just too damn hot."

"Hmm."

"I have a message for you from Sylvia," Harlan said. "She says that if you don't come to dinner tomorrow night she's going to tell the whole town that you've become a hermit."

Rob smiled. "Okay," he said. " I give up. Anything to please Sylvia." He took a sip of his beer. "Actually though, I think I may be becoming just that. I haven't really talked to anyone since I got here, except for you."

"There's not much going on to talk about, really," Harlan told him. "The biggest scandal we've had all summer was last week when Sheriff Tate caught the Peters boy smoking marijuana behind the grocery."

"Billy Peters?" Rob asked. "Geez. He's only twelve isn't he?"

"Thirteen actually. The sheriff let him off with a good scolding, but his parents have grounding him. The kid's pretty sore about it. He doesn't understand why pot should be illegal."

Rob grinned. "I felt the same way when I was a teenager."

"I think my son still feels that way," Harlan said. "He's teaching up at state and you know how liberal-minded university people can get."

Rob took a sip of his beer. All day he had kept trying to remember his dream from the night before. "Are they having any problems with animals disappearing like they did last year?" he asked.

"Oh a cat or dog runs away every once in a while. I don't think that wolf or whatever was killing animals last year is back," Harlan said.

Rob put his beer can on the floor by the chair. "I wonder if maybe it wasn't a wolf that killed all the animals last year," he said.

Harlan looked at him sideways. "Just what are you thinking?" he asked.

Rob shook his head. "I don't know. I had a weird dream last night, and it got me thinking. What if it was one of those cults, like you hear about in southern Ohio and Massachusetts."

"Devil worshippers?" Harlan laughed. "You did have a weird dream last night. There ain't nothing like that 'round these parts, believe me. You've been under a lot of stress lately. You're imagining things."

"I guess so."

Harlan set his can down and got up. "I'll get going," he said. "That game should be almost over by now."

Rob stood up with him.

"Don't forget, you're coming for dinner tomorrow," Harlan said.

"Oh I won't, " Rob said. "I'll see you then."

Harlan wave as he got into his truck and pulled away.

After the truck disappeared Rob went inside and went to bed.

He was back in the woods again. He could hear the pounding and ahead of him, the fire roared. He had to get to the clearing and stop those kids from causing more trouble.

The fire was huge. It flickered and reached up to touch the leaves that drifted and hovered above the flames. Shapes were moving around it and the closer he got the more shapes appeared. The drums got louder. Robert's heart was began to beat the their rhythm. All of a sudden he decided that the clearing was the last place on Earth he wanted to be. He tried to turn around and go back, to run back, but he couldn't. He tried to stop, but no matter what he did he kept getting closer.

He hid behind a tree and stared into the circle. The drums were on the left of the clearing. Two figures in white robes banged on them relentlessly. Other figures in white were moving to the rhythm around the fire. Rob's eyes followed them to the other side of the clearing. There, sitting in a semi-crouch, was a beautiful golden retriever. Rob recognized it. It was Harlan's dog, Rusty.

As he watched, the two figures which stood on either side of Rusty grabbed him and pulled him to the center of the circle in front of the fire. On the other side, the dancers had stopped and were moving to the outside of the ring. A man walked around from the back of the fire. He was dressed in black; black jeans, a black shirt, and black cowboy boots. The light of the fire made everything as bright as day, but in spite of that, Rob couldn't see his face. It was completely dark, except for the eyes which glowed amber in the firelight.

The drums got louder as the man walked forward. Rob wanted to run, but he couldn't move. He watched as the figures let go of Rusty and backed away. The dog didn't bolt, it stood petrified as the dark man approached and stood before him. The man raised his arms above his head and for the first time Rob saw that they held something. Slowly the man in black lowered his hands unsheathing the knife at the same time. He walked around the dog and slowly gracefully bent over to put the knife to the dog's neck, His next action was quick and ruthless. Even as the blood gushed out, he pulled it onto its back and cut into its chest. He stepped over the dog and lowered it to the ground. When he stood, he held something up in his hand. It throbbed and pulsated with the rhythm of the drums. The dark man raised his arms upwards again, holding his prize aloft and walked to the edge of the fire. His eyes were glowing as red as the flames. As the drums increased to a deafening pitch the man thrust his hand into the fire.

Rob watched as the heart burned to nothing. When the dark man pulled his hand from the fire it was unscathed. Only the fringed of his shirt sleeve was singed.

Just when Rob thought he couldn't stand them anymore, the drums stopped. The silence was earsplitting. A path cleared from behind the fire and another small figure was brought forward.

Rob screamed the minute he saw it.

"Danny!"

He woke up sweating. The sky was grey and the clock read five a.m. He got up and made his way into the bathroom.

He was exhausted, but he knew he wouldn't get anymore sleep. The dream was fading. All he remembered was the bonfire and the drums, But they terrified him.

The sky was completely overcast. The clouds were oppressive and the air felt thicker than water. He tried to fix breakfast, but the heat bothered him and he didn't think he could eat. He stood for a long time looking into the refrigerator, letting its cool air envelope him.

He tried to get some cleaning done, and went upstairs to sort out the boxes he'd found a few days ago, but the first one he opened had Danny's things in it and he pushed it away, half in tears, and half afraid of what he might find.

Eventually, he laid down on the couch and read the book he had started the day before. After a while he relaxed and the last after-effects of the dream faded from his memory.

He woke up with the book on his chest. No dreams this time, he had slept like a log.

At four he made his way through the woods to Harlan's. He didn't like the idea of cutting through the old boy scout camp, and had actually planned on driving, but his car wouldn't start. As he got closer to the campfire ring he became nervous and he slowed down to keep from making any sound. The clearing was empty, except for a few beer cans. Were those fresh ashes? If some kids had a party last night then maybe that was the reason for his dream. They could get pretty loud. He'd have to remember to ask Harlan.

Harlan was sitting on the front porch watching the clouds. "I think it may rain tonight," he said as Rob walked up.

Rob smiled and leaned back on the porch railing. "It might," he said. "I hope so in fact. The air's gotten so thick that it's getting hard to sleep at night."

Harlan nodded. "Sylvia's banished us from the house until dinner's ready. She was down at the grocery store gabbing and got home later than she planned."

"So is there anything new in town to report?" Rob asked.

"What makes you think she tells me anything?" Harlan replied.

"Come on Harlan, I know you too well." Rob said as he moved from the railing to the porch swing.

Harlan laughed as he reached under his chair and brought a couple of beers. He handed one to Rob. "Well let's see now, Ed Rice went on a toot last night and ran his son's new car into the drainage ditch down below town."

Rob laughed.

"The only other thing is the Peter's boy."

"Why, did he get caught smoking pot again?" Rob asked.

"Nope," Harlan said. "He ran away."

Rob's face grew sober. "Ran away?" he said. "Do they have a search party out looking for him?"

Harlan shook his head. "Not really, " he said. "This ain't the first time he's done it apparently, although no one knew he'd run away before except his parents and the sheriff. They've got an all cars notice out, but the kid usually shows up at his uncle's house a couple of days later, so nobody's really worried."

"What if something's happened to him?" Rob asked. "He could be in real danger."

Harlan brushed the worry aside with the wave of his hand. "Now Rob I know you're thinking of what happened to Danny, but Billy's a lot older than Danny was and besides that he knows these woods better than some of the old-timers out here. If he doesn't want to be found, ain't nobody going to find him. He'll turn up in a couple of days."

It was just beginning to get dark as Rob started home. He was beginning to think the rain might hold off another day when the mist began. He was halfway to the campfire clearing when the real downpour began. The wind whipped around and rain began to crash down. Only a small part of it came through the tree tops, but it was enough to get Rob completely soaked. He started to run. The rain crackled on the leaves and the whole woods sounded as if it were on fire. He was careful to avoid the animal holes and tree roots that crossed the path, but the wind was blowing twigs and fallen branches everywhere and in some places the path was completely covered with leaves.

He didn’t see the last tree limb, which lay across the path where it had fallen not ten minutes earlier. His shin rammed it. The next moment he was falling. He tried to catch himself, but all his hand grasped were leaves which came away in his hands. His head struck a rock and everything went black.

When he came to, he could still hear the rain on the leaves. He didn't feel it hitting him though. He opened his eyes and was struck at once by how bright it was.

Had he lay there all night?

No. The sky was still dark. The stars had come out. The rain had stopped. The crackling was coming from a huge fire in the campfire circle.

With a crash Robert's dream came back to him. He was in the some woods, this was the same fire, there were even figures moving around it, just like in his dream. Just then another sound started that froze the blood in Rob's veins. Drums. They began as a low rumble, hardly audible below the sound of the fire, but slowly, gradually they became louder.

Rob wanted to run, to get the hell away from there, but a strange foreboding feeling had entered his heart and instead of leaving, he crept closer until he was within a few yards of the clearing, and his behind a tree.

The drums sat on the left side of the clearing, just like in his dream. The only difference was the men behind them. They weren't wearing the white robes that he remembered. They had on jeans and long sleeve grey oxford shirts, and they struck Rob as out of place. Everyone who stood around the fire wore the same grey oxfords and Rob shook his head as if to make sure he was seeing clearly. This couldn't be the same heathen ritual he had seem in his dream.

But had it been a dream?

There was something else missing. There was no one standing on the opposite side of the fire from the drums, where the two figures had stood guarding poor Rusty. Not the same then. That was good.

Just as he thought this, the crowd around the fire turned to face someone who was walking around from the other side. The blood in his head throbbed with the sound of the drums as Robert recognized the Dark Man from his dreams.

The man was exactly the same. He wore black jeans, a black shirt and black cowboy boots. This time though, Rob could see all of the man's face with its eye's that glowed read as the fire. Those eyes scanned the circle of followers, and then the trees beyond them. The trees where Rob hid. They stopped and stared at the tree Rob was standing behind. They stayed there for a long time. Rob got ready to run, although he didn't know how far he could get. His legs felt frozen. Just when he thought he could stay there no longer, the eyes moved on. The Dark Man hadn't called him out; hadn't seen him.

Rob closed his eyes and leaned against his tree. When he opened them the man had turned his back to Robert and stood facing the fire, and those who surrounded it. He raised his hands above his head and unsheathed a knife.

Rob looked around trying to see what the Dark Man planned to use it on. Then he saw it. A young boy was being lead up to the man. The last scream of his dream came to him and Rob ran from behind the tree and screamed it again.

"Danny!"

The drums stopped and the Dark Man turned to face Robert. His grin was huge and terrifying. Rob looked behind the man to the child. It wasn't Danny. It was Billy Peters. Billy was also grinning widely.

Rob turned and ran blindly, He heard the man shout, and then a crunching of leaves and twigs as dozens of feet followed him through the woods. He also heard the roar of the ocean slamming against the rocks below the cliff. The crashing grow louder as he ran. He tripped, landing with his face buried in the soft wet leaves. He wanted to stay there, to breathe that fragrance forever, but looking back he saw his pursuers getting closer and closer and in his terror he got up to run again.

 

 

Epilogue

From the Northern Messenger September 6, 19--

The body of Robert Fowler was found today at the bottom of the cliff at Hallow's Point north of town earlier this week. The body was found by Harlan Davies, Fowler's caretaker, who had gone looking for Fowler's after not being able to contact him for several days. Fowler was recently divorced. His body was found on the same spot where his son Daniel Fowler is to believed to have died a year ago. Suicide has not been ruled out.

 

 

Sherri Kidner

October 1993