And the Trees Crept In(8)

“Ssh!” Her head snapped in my direction. “Let me finish. You need to hear this as well, Silla. A monster of sorts. He did terrible things. And then he returned to the woods. He’s still in there, waiting for young girls to go wandering so he can capture them. So he can tear them up and eat their flesh from their—”

“Cath!”

She looked at me with dagger eyes. And then she relaxed and smiled, turning back to Nori. “Well”—she tapped Nori’s nose gently—“the Creeper Man won’t get you if you just stay away from the woods.”

Nori was staring up at Cath’s chin. Then she looked at me. But we came through the woods.

Cath sensed the movement. “No need to be afraid.”

“We came in through the woods,” I said, winking at Nori.

“Oh yes,” Cath said, smiling. “Of course you did. Well, he wanted you here, didn’t he? But now… now that you are…”

“He won’t let us leave?” I offered, remembering her words.

Cath stared at me. “Exactly.”

I was relieved. Boogeymen I could handle. My father coming after us, I couldn’t.

Beneath Cath, Nori’s eyes had filled with tears and she was sniffling quietly.

“Oh, bug, come here. It’s all right.” I held out my arms for her and she crawled over to the foot of my chair, where I lifted her into my lap and wrapped my own blanket tightly around her. “It’s only a story,” I said. “Isn’t it, Cath?”

Cath smiled, a little too long. “Oh. Oh, yes. It’s just a story, Eleanor, nothing to be scared of.”

“See?” I said, and kissed her head.

“So long as you stay away from the woods,” Cath added quietly.

I kept kissing Nori’s head and staring into the fire.

Just a story.

Just a freaking weird story.





I like it here.

Sometimes I see Silla looking out the window feeling bad.

But she shouldn’t feel bad because I like it here.

It’s nice.

Auntie Catherine is nice.

I like the food.

Silla shouldn’t feel bad.

She really, really shouldn’t.

I miss them, too, but I like not being scared and I’m not sore anymore.

And the bad man is locked in the woods.

So that’s why Silla shouldn’t feel bad.





3


birthday cake



Things can stay safe for long

they can pretend to fit

but then you hear Discord’s song

and things crack bit by bit.



“Nori!”

By the time Cath screamed, Nori was almost at the boundary to the woods. I startled and looked back at my aunt. She was standing in the kitchen doorway, staring out at Nori with wide eyes, her mouth twisted into an almost-cavern, flashing with teeth and tongue.

She screamed again. “NORI!”

“What is it?” I yelled, my heart thudding like it hadn’t in months.

“Get her away from the woods! Get her away! Get her, Silla, get her!”

But she was already running. I followed on her heels, wincing every time Cath screamed Nori’s name. Nori was already standing in front of the trees.

I overtook Cath and when I reached Nori, I yanked her behind me and turned to face Cath.

Cath was there a moment later. “Did she cross? Is she okay?”

“Calm down—”

“DID SHE CROSS?”

“What do you—”

“The woods!” Cath screamed, and bent down to grab Nori by her small arms. “Did you go into the woods?” she yelled, the force of her shake bringing Nori to tears.

I shoved Cath away, and she fell onto her back, sliding a little down the hill. “Don’t touch her!” I yelled, old rage and old memories rising like a tsunami. “Don’t you touch her!”

Nori clung to my dress, looking up at me for guidance. “It’s okay,” I said, the anger draining from my body like sickness out of my veins.

I couldn’t bring myself to turn around, to look at Aunt Cath lying in the grass, her dress ridden up to her hips, to hear her soft sobbing.

“We… we should go back,” I said meekly, and glanced behind me.

Cath’s shoulders shook, and I noticed how thin her legs were, covered with varicose veins. I turned away, a horror at myself—and at her—rising within me.

“We could tend to the garden.”

She raised her head and, after a brief glance at the woods, nodded. I helped her to her feet and we walked to the house, Cath leaning on my arm all the way. Nori took Aunt Cath’s hand before we were halfway back to La Baume, and I hung back. The sun was setting, and they looked quite beautiful in the red light.

I couldn’t believe my reaction. Why had I shoved Cath away? Why had Cath acted so fiercely about keeping Nori from the woods? The story about the Creeper Man was just that. A story. A stupid child’s warning.

By the time we got back into the house, Cath was laughing, waving me inside, and Nori was smiling. Nori’s tears had stopped, as had Cath’s, and the oncoming night had dissolved my rage.

Something in the house had changed, though, before the night was over.