The Legend of the Firewalker (12 page)

Nathan froze. He stopped his crusade to somehow turn his fast pace into an unnoticeable sprint out of the forest to glare at Malick. He wanted to give him the most pissed-off look possible. He wanted to paint him a clear picture without saying a single word.

After a moment, he finally responded to a smirking Malick. “Look, let’s not pretend that you actually give a crap about anyone, let alone this forest,” Nathan scowled. “You might as well drop the act. If given a chance, you probably would love to start a forest fire, destroying the trees and everything in it!”

“Ouch!” said Malick, as Nathan continued on his wa
rpath down to the lake.

“What’s got your underwear in a knot?” shouted Malick as he trotted after him. “You and your girlfriend are so u
ptight!”

Nathan froze again, but this time he stopped to size Malick up. Malick stopped too, but he was more co
ncerned with fixing his hair, as it blew effortlessly in the wind.

You’ve got to be kidding me
, Nathan thought, as he stared at the James Dean replica standing in front of him.
Is this guy just a bad-boy wannabe, or does he just naturally look and act this way?
He shook his head.
The guy might be taller and a little older than me, but I can definitely take him.

With confidence, he moved closer towards Malick. “Look, I know you are from like Planet Stephen Malick, or something,” he spouted, “but here on Earth people usually don’t appreciate their lives played with!”

“Oh, that,” Malick responded, as if he had been caught off guard. “I thought you were over that; you didn’t seem too bothered by it the other day.”

“If the
it
you are referring to is you forcing us off the road with your car,” Nathan yelled, “then yes, I am definitely, absolutely bothered!”

“It was just a joke!” stammered Malick. “I swear
— you and your girlfriend act like you have never played chicken before.”

“Great!” scowled Nathan. “I’m glad that you had a good laugh at the expense of others. And for the last time, Lafonda is not my girlfriend!” He shook his head and immediately continued on his blaze down the path.

Frustrated, Malick trailed behind him. “Fine!” he yelled. “If that is what you guys tell people — I mean, it looks like something more is going on there than just friends.”

7

A LITTLE COMPETITION

As the summer sun descended in the sky, the cliffs ove
rlooking Lake Charleston created a foreboding shadow of the night to come. A welcoming cool breeze embraced Nathan, causing tiny ripples in the water and golden shimmers to dance carelessly across the water’s face.   

Nathan stood there as he normally did upon first sight of the water, but this time it wasn’t just the beauty of the lake that captured his attention. It was something that Malick said in the forest that bothered him. There was no doubt in his mind that Malick was a jerk and he shouldn’t put much thought into the ramblings that spilled from his mouth. He contemplated what Malick had said about him and Lafonda and just shrugged his shoulders. But what was it that he said that bothered him so much?

Another breeze passed over him, embracing every inch of him, but he was unable to relax and receive it. “But why?”
he asked himself. He paused and then examined the palms of his hands. They were tense but normal. But why were they so normal when he was so tense? And why was he so upset?

He drew a big breath, sighed, and thought that Malick was right. He wasn’t that upset about the car thing. Granted, he wasn’t particularly thrilled that he’d been forced to d
epend on Lafonda’s driving skills for his life, but he wasn’t angry about it.

He paused for a moment, and then suddenly, he rea
lized why he was so irritated. With everything going on that summer; with his hands, the strange occurrences, and Leah, he felt like everything was coming at him all at once, and now that he was a counselor at leadership camp, he had no time to deal with anything.

Nathan sighed again and relaxed his shoulders. The last thing he wanted to do now was build bonfires with Stephen Malick. He glanced down at his hands, but di
sappointment washed over him. The last time he remembered being this frustrated, his hands had shaken so uncontrollably that he’d spilled fruit punch all over Lafonda’s dress at her birthday party.

He had hoped that he had figured out the whole hand thing: that his hand problem was synonymous with him ge
tting upset or stressed. But they were not even red; no tingling, no shaking, nothing.

“What are you waiting for?” interrupted Malick with a slight grin.

“Nothing,” he responded grudgingly. Nathan looked up at Malick and dreaded having to work with him. He secretly wished that his hands would shake uncontrollably around Malick’s neck.

Malick froze for a second and glared intently at him as if he knew what he was thinking. But suddenly he looked away. “Is that the guy?” he asked, pointing to a tall, sle
nder man approaching them. 

Nathan rolled his eyes. He found it hard to even think about anything else other than his current frustration with not being able to solve his hand problem or the mystery behind his dreams. “Oh, and let’s not forget the myster
ious dog,” he mumbled aloud.

“What?” asked Malick, appearing puzzled. “What dog?”

“Nothing,” Nathan responded quickly, while shaking his head to focus. “That must be him. Who else would be out here stocking the bonfire pits?”

Malick chuckled as he walked past Nathan and headed towards the silver-haired man.

Nathan kicked a few of the small round pebbles that filled the shoreline before following Malick.

As they approached the middle-aged man, he looked up at them, and his eyes squinted as if they were focusing to see something. Once his eyes connected with Nathan’s, he smiled. “You must be Nathan,” he said with a grin, while reaching out to take Nathan’s hand.

The man’s striking blue eyes were warm and youthful, and his weathered tan skin suggested he’d frequently worked outside in the sun. He was a silver-haired man with a long ponytail, and his hands were slightly bigger than normal and strong looking. Nathan also caught a glimpse of what looked like a red-colored tattoo on the man’s right forearm. 

“Yes, yes,” the man continued, while shaking his head at Nathan. “Let me show you and your buddy here what to do.”

“Buddy?” Nathan chuckled to himself. He wouldn’t consider Malick a friend, let alone a buddy. He glanced over to find a grin on Malick’s face. He too found the comment a far stretch.

“So, I guess you’re Argus?” Nathan asked.

“Ha-ha,” laughed Argus, “the one and only!” He gestured with his head. “Come now; follow me while we still have sunlight.” He continued to laugh to himself. “I’m sure LaDonda is keeping you boys hopping.”

Both Nathan and Malick glanced at each other. Nathan found Argus both fun and a little strange, but deci
ded to just keep quiet.

“He probably doesn’t get a lot of visitors,” whispered Malick with a grin. Nathan tried not to laugh at his co
mment. 

“Okay, boys,” said Argus while keeping a watchful eye on Malick. They stood by a large old wood bin. “I did you guys a favor by stocking the bonfire pits already, but the ones at the end there may need a little more wood.” He placed his hands on his hips and suddenly had a grin on his face. “Unfortunately for you, I completely emptied out the wood bin doing so.”

“So, you need us to stock all the wood bins for you?” interjected Malick.

“Close, but not exactly,” said Argus. “There are smaller ones around the beach, but I need one of you to stock this one while the other sets the fires. It would be best to do all this while the sun is still out. If you do this sep
arately, you should be finished before it gets dark.”

“Well, I volunteer to set the fires,” said Malick quickly.

“What?” complained Nathan. “Why do you get to do the easy job?”

“What?” responded Malick with a sly grin. “Your job is not hard.”

Argus left briefly and returned with a wheelbarrow. In the barrow lay a small white bottle. “And look, there’s even a wheelbarrow!”

Nathan reluctantly took the wheelbarrow from Argus.
Why do I get the feeling Argus only stocked the pits so that he didn’t have to do the work of stocking the wood bin himself?

“Okay,” said Argus. “Now, the wood is stored in the large bin next to the Hiking and Camping Center, over the top of that hill.” He pointed the way. “And I’ll be there fi
nishing up some invoices if you have any questions or problems.” He reached down to pick up the small white bottle. “Oh, and you will need this.”

“What’s this for?” asked Malick, staring curiously at the bottle.

“Exactly what it says on the bottle,” responded Argus. “Lighter fluid.” He glared and appeared to be scrutinizing Malick. “How else do you expect to set the fires?”

Malick paused with the small bottle in hand and looked out at the fire pits. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he e
xclaimed. “There’s got to be at least fifteen pits out there.”

“Well, you’re really only set up for twelve,” retorted A
rgus.

“This little bottle for twelve fires?” mocked Malick.  

Argus shook his head while raising one eyebrow. “Oh, and you will need these,” he continued, reaching into his pocket and handing over a single book of matches.

Malick stood there with a look of disbelief across his face as he stared at the small bottle of lighter fluid and the book of matches in his hands.

“What?” chuckled Argus as he headed to the path that led up the hill to the Hiking and Camping Center. “You didn’t expect me to leave a blowtorch with some teenagers.”

“Teenager?” yelled a frustrated Malick, so that Argus could hear him. “I’m twenty-one!”

“I thought he was older,” Nathan said to himself. He turned to gawk at the wheelbarrow. “Look, Earth to Planet Malick,” he said in a demanding tone. “Wheelbarrow or no wheelbarrow, you’re crazy if you think I’m going to stock this wood bin from way up there all by myself.”

Nathan waited impatiently as Malick continued to stare at the book of matches and bottle of lighter fluid in his hands. Malick had a weird, frustrated look on his face.

“What’s the problem?” Malick finally responded, as if springing back to life. His eyes now had a gleam to them that made Nathan nervous. “A strong guy like you should have no problem bringing the wood from up there.”

“Yeah, probably so,” responded Nathan cautiously. “But the question is, do I want to?”

“Well, before you put on your grumpy pants,” continued Malick with a grin, “I’ll make you a deal.”

Nathan cocked his head and stared at Malick suspiciou
sly. “Okay, go on; let’s hear it. What’s cooking in that head of yours?”

“Now, that’s not fair,” said Malick in a halfhearted way as if offended. “You haven’t even heard what I have to say.”

“Believe me, I wish I didn’t have to.”

“Anyway,” continued Malick with a grin. He was hol
ding up the items in his hands now for Nathan to see. “How long do you think it will take me to start all twelve fires?”

“Well,” said Nathan, taking a pause, “I would say at least fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes!” blurted Malick, almost dropping the items in his hands. “It will take that long just to soak the wood with lighter fluid!”

“Okay, okay,” responded Nathan with a shrug. “Twenty minutes.”

“You got to be kidding me, right?” asked Malick, while waving the small white bottle in his hand. “I probably will use this entire bottle on the first pit alone, and then I’ll have to try and ignite the other pits from it — without lighter fluid!”

“What’s your point already?” groaned Nathan.

Malick paused shortly before speaking, and his eyes had that same flicker in them as before.

Nathan’s stomach began to twist in knots as Malick opened his mouth to speak.

“Would you agree that the Hiking and Camping Center with wheelbarrow in tow is about a five-minute walk from here?” Malick asked with a grin.

Nathan glanced up the hill and then nodded. “I would say less than that,” he responded confidently.

“Good,” Malick responded equally confidently. “I’ll make you a deal. If I fail to have all twelve of these bonfires burning bright before you return with your first load of wood, I’ll help you stock the wood bin.”

Nathan glanced up the hill again. He had been up there plenty of times before over the years and he was pretty sure that he was familiar with the area.
It should take me about five minutes total to run up there, fill the wheelbarrow, and race back,
he thought.
And even if it takes a little longer, there is no way he will have all twelve fires set by then.

Nathan extended his hand. “You’re on!”

“Nothing like a little competition,” responded Malick, shaking Nathan’s hand.

They grinned at each other before quickly parting ways. Nathan grabbed the wheelbarrow and pushed it as fast as he could up the path leading to the Hiking and Camping Center. Sweat beaded on his brow as he reached the top of the hill. Lungs laboring, he figured it must have taken only about two minutes.

From the top of the hill he could easily see the Hiking and Camping Center only a few yards away. And behind him, he couldn’t see the fire pits down below, but a trickle of smoke began to appear in the blue sky.
Wow, that was quick
, he thought. Malick must have gotten the first fire started.

Nathan approached the Hiking and Camping Center and the large storage bin was right where Argus said it was, which was exactly where Nathan remembered it to be. With a full wheelbarrow in front of him, he quickly descended back down the path. It wasn’t quite evening yet, so the sun’s rays continued to beat across his sweat-drenched brow. N
athan’s heart pounded against his chest as he ran. He was sure that he’d gotten a splinter or two in his hands from grabbing the wood so fast. Coming up the hill and filling up the wheelbarrow took a little longer than he had expected, but he guessed he was only approaching five minutes. He wasn’t exactly sure, but he didn’t want to risk losing time by stopping to pull out his cell phone to check.

“Why am I so worried?” he mumbled through laboring breaths. “There is no way Malick can light twelve fires in under fifteen minutes, let alone ten.”

Halfway down the trail, a gust of cool air with the scent of burning wood passed over him, providing a welcome relief. As he hurried down the path, something about the sky caught his eye. To Nathan’s surprise, the evening’s blue sky wasn’t so blue anymore. Darkening the sky was what looked like one mass of black smoke. As he got closer, twelve continuous pillars of smoke began to emerge out of the once huge mass. 

He can’t be done.
Nathan pushed himself down the hill harder and faster now. He couldn’t believe his eyes and had to see for himself. “He can’t be,” he murmured.

As he got closer, he could definitely tell the smoke was rising from the shoreline, right about where the fire pits would be. When he reached the bottom of the hill, he aba
ndoned his wheelbarrow in astonishment. All twelve fire pits had been set ablaze with a continuously burning fire in each pit. Only the first pit had begun to cinder as its flame flickered in and out.

“Looks like that first one might need some lighter fl
uid,” joked Malick as he approached him from the side.