Escape to Witch Mountain (10 page)

There had been no owl in that other barn, years ago, and no comfort save in the reassurance of Uncle Bené's arms about them…

He went rigid at the thought of Uncle Bené. “Tia!” he said urgently. “Tia—we hid in a barn like this one night, with Uncle Bené! Do—do you remember it?”

It seemed forever before she replied. Then, in a tiny whisper: “Yes. I remember. It was a big stone barn, and we hid in it the last night… before we reached the ship.”

“Where did we come from?”

“I—I—please don't ask me now. But I know where we were going. We were running away, and there were men after us…men with rifles. They didn't find us till early in the morning… when we'd left the barn, and had found the little boat on the beach…”

“What happened?”

“They—they started shooting at us. We were in the little boat then, lying down on the bottom, and the fog was so thick they couldn't see us after a while. Then Uncle Bené paddled out to where the ships were, and found the one he was looking for…a Spanish ship…”

“But we weren't in Spain…”

“No, it was some other country… but the Spanish ship was the only one going to America, and he knew the captain. He paid the captain a lot of money to bring us over here…”

“And on the way over, Uncle Bené died.”

“Yes.” Tia's voice was so faint he could hardly hear it. “He—he was hit when the men with rifles started shooting at us, but we didn't know it till later…”

Tony had forgotten the night and the beat of rain overhead. “We're beginning to get somewhere,” he said, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. “It had to be Uncle Bené who put the
money and the folder in the star box. I'll bet it was all the money he had left, and he hid it there so we'd have it later…”

“Yes,” Tia whispered. “He—he didn't trust the captain, and he told us—”

Tony waited, then urged, “What did he tell us?”

“I—I don't know. Oh, Tony, don't you see? He was dying, and I'd just realized it. I was awfully little, and I couldn't talk too well, but I could understand… We'd seen some awful things… people hurt, killed… I didn't know Uncle Bené had been shot, then he told us we'd have to go on to America without him, and I saw the blood coming through his shirt.” Her voice broke. “He said to pay attention to what he had to say, because it was important but to me the only important thing was that we were losing him. It gave me the most terrible feeling, and I didn't get over it till we were taken to Granny's.”

“Then you don't remember what it was Uncle Bené wanted us to know?”

“Perhaps I do. I mean, I don't really forget anything, so maybe it's hidden in my head somewhere, and it'll come out when it gets ready. Please, let's talk about something pleasant.”

He wanted to stay on the subject of Uncle Bené, for it seemed they were almost on the edge of learning the truth about themselves. But it would never do to force Tia. Reluctantly he began talking about the Kozaks. His mind, however, was on what had happened years ago, and he was still thinking of Uncle Bené when he fell asleep.

When he awoke suddenly, hours later, the rain had stopped and he could see a star glittering through the barn's open door. And something had entered the barn, for he was aware of slow movement and a rustling in the hay. He experienced a momentary fright, then his nostrils caught the animal scent and he saw the vague dark shapes.

“Tia,” he whispered, “your friends have found us.”

“I know it.” She stirred and said, “They must know we're going to the mountains. I'm sure that's where they came from.”

“We can't have them following us—especially to the Kozaks. Tell 'em to go away!”

“They won't hurt you.”

“That's not the idea. Don't you realize that we're still in a spot? Mr. Deranian isn't going to stop looking for us after he's come this far. He's got money to spend, and he'll be paying people all around to be on the watch for us. He doesn't know about the Kozaks—but it sure won't take him long to learn if someone reports, seeing a couple bears over there.”

“Oh, dear, I didn't realize…How long is it till daylight?”

“Couple hours. If these crazy bears will just stay here and sleep, I wouldn't mind starting for the Kozaks now.”

“Let's try it.”

They got their bags and crept from the barn.

It was hard going at first, for the pasture ended directly behind the barn and they were forced to climb a long wooded slope in the dark. Soon they stumbled upon what seemed to be a cattle trail, and after much winding they came out suddenly upon a bare hilltop.

Tony looked around him in amazement. It was a clear, moonless night, and from where he stood he could see—and for the first time in his life—the full sweep of the heavens. In the city he had never noticed the stars; usually they were hidden behind smog or overcast, and even on the few clear nights the crowding buildings shut out the view. And Heron Lake had always been cloudy.

Now he stood, incredulous, before the glittering display overhead. Tia seized his arm suddenly and pointed, and he turned and saw his first shooting star. The sight brought a curious prickling to his neck.

He said in wonderment, “There must be spaceships out there somewhere, and other people…”

“I'm sure of it,” said Tia. Then, “Tony, why did you tell that policeman at the bus station that our name was Castaway?”

“I—I don't know. It just popped out. Maybe it was because I'd been trying to think of something between Caroway and Hideaway. Why?”

It was a long time before she answered. Finally she whispered slowly, “
Castaway
” and her hand swept the sky. “I think we
are
Castaways—and that we came from out there somewhere.”

“Now that doesn't make sense.”

“Does
everything
have to make sense? People would say that
we
didn't make sense, just because we're not like everybody else. We had to come from
somewhere
—and if you can believe there are other people out there, why is it so hard to believe that we might have come from where
they
are?”

“O.K. But we won't know the truth till we get to Stony Creek, and we've got to find Kozak's first. Which way is north?”

Neither knew the North Star by sight, but Tia was able to find it by first locating the Dipper, which she had no trouble remembering from star charts she had seen. Even with his directions straightened out, Tony had only a vague idea where they were, but he reasoned they could reach the Kozak orchard by heading straight west. If they missed the orchard itself, at least they ought to come out on the road that led to it, which was north of Red Bank.

Their progress was still painfully slow, but presently it became easier as the sky lightened. Now the black mass of the mountains ahead became clearer in outline, and suddenly the higher peaks and ridges were edged with the first crimson light of dawn. They stopped for a while, enthralled, watching the color creep slowly
down the slopes as the sleepy world around them began to awake. Finally they trudged on, following cow paths and country lanes when they could, then cutting straight across the fields in order to get back on course.

The rising sun was topping the hills behind them when Tony glanced back and saw the bears.

“Oh, no!” he groaned. “Tell 'em to go away, Tia.” It was soon apparent that the bears had no intention of leaving them. Whenever Tia scolded them, they would look at her wistfully as if to say: “You are our friends, and you're going in the same direction we are, so why can't we all travel together?”

Because his attention was on the bears, he almost walked into a farmyard before he saw it.

He was taking his time carrying Winkie when it happened, and they were going downhill, following a path along a strip of woods. The little cat suddenly leaped away. Too late Tony saw the weatherbeaten shack on the left, where the woods ended. He was instantly aware of the man in faded overalls who sat on the back steps, for the man was staring up at him, slack-jawed, as if it were impossible to believe the sight of two human beings and two black bears, who seemed about to enter the yard.

Abruptly the man leaped up and sprang into the house. Tony heard him say hoarsely, “Hand me the gun!
It's them witch people— bears an' all! “

Tony caught Tia's hand and jerked her into the cover of the woods. As they ran, a shotgun blast sent bits of leaves falling in the green twilight ahead. They dodged behind a large tree and scrambled on through the shadows as another blast sounded behind them.

Long minutes later, after splashing across a rocky stream, they reached the far edge of the woods and fell, panting, in a bed of ferns that grew along the top of an embankment. Below them, following a much larger stream, was a narrow gravel road that wound away through a valley. At the moment, going any farther was unthinkable, for they could hear traffic on the road and see farmhouses beyond a bridge downstream.

When she had got her breath, Tia turned stricken eyes to him and said, “I—I don't understand. That man called us
witch people!
And why would he
shoot
at us?”

Tony looked grimly at the road, and a little longingly at the creek, and wished they'd stopped to drink at the stream they'd crossed. He was very thirsty.

“It was seeing us with the bears,” he muttered. “He must have heard about us over the radio, and realized who we were. It scared him.”

“But—but why?”

“You oughta know we can't go hiking around the country with wild animals without giving some people the shakes. And didn't you hear what Ben Purdy called us?”

Then he shook his head. “I guess you didn't. You were busy at the bear cage. Anyway, after what we did at that police station, he was really scared. Said we couldn't be human—that we must be witches.”

“Oh, dear!”

He was trying to get his direction straightened out when two cars came by, moving slowly. Then came a third car, barely creeping along. The driver was speaking over a two-way radio, and though the conversation was muffled, their sharp ears could distinguish every word of it.

“…We're up on Yellow Creek Road,” the driver was saying.
“About two miles from the highway, near Mace Johnson's place. Got it straight?”

“We got it,” came the reply. “What about the bears?”

“Mace says he seen 'em crossing the creek just a couple minutes ago. We figger those witch people can't be too far off—mebbe up here in the timber above the creek. There ain't but six of us up this way, so we're gonna need some help. You guys get over here fast!”

“Coming!”

A cold knot was clutching in Tony's stomach. It seemed, suddenly, that every man's hand was turned against them.

He looked bleakly at Tia, and whispered, “Let's get away from here.”

T
hey crawled back until they were well out of sight of the road, then began hurrying through the woods in an upstream direction. The bears, Tony reasoned, must have crossed the creek somewhere near the bridge, and he wanted to get as far from there as possible before slipping out of the woods.

Several times in the next few minutes they heard cars moving slowly along the road, patrolling from both directions, but gradually these sounds faded as the narrowing valley swung to the left, curving past a jutting ridge. Tony moved straight on, climbing steadily until they were over the ridge, and then angling cautiously down through a cutover area on the other side. Reaching the safety of a thicket of young pines, they stopped to get their bearings, for just ahead was another road, and beyond that lay a farm. The farm sprawled over a hill, and directly behind it rose a mountain.

Tony ran his tongue over dry lips and forgot his thirst. “Kozak's can't be far from here,” he said, looking wonderingly at the cool heights ahead. “The way I figure it, that road runs sort of west. Maybe it runs into the one we want. What's the name of it?”

“Cahill Road, and the Kozaks live four miles north on it.” Tia rubbed a grimy hand over her smudged face. “Oh, dear,” she added. “The Kozaks must have heard all about us by now. What if they don't want anything to do with us?”

Tony experienced a momentary jolt at the thought of being hunted and having no haven to run to. But instantly he shook his head. “Don't
talk that way. If they're Father O'Day's friends, you know they'll have more sense than these other people. Let's get going.”

“Wait—where's Winkie?”

“I haven't seen him since we were shot at. Don't worry about him. He always manages to catch up with us.”

During the rest of the morning there was no sign of Winkie—or the bears either, for which he was thankful. Ever on the alert for people, they followed the road a while, taking cover in the shrubbery when they heard cars approaching; later, when the road turned in the wrong direction, they skirted a farm and began angling over the rising hills.

Once, after they had stopped to drink from a trickle of water coming from a ledge, he closed his eyes and tried to visualize the Kozak place. He saw, clearly, a long hill entirely covered with a grove; on one side, nearly hidden by the trees, was a large red brick house. A paved road ran in front of it.

When they reached the crest of the rocky hill they had been climbing, he looked hopefully ahead and glimpsed a paved road in the distance.