Will O Wisp (17 page)

“
No one is going to worry
about a small light in the timber that doesn't move. Aunt Gracie
says the glows we have been seein' is called foxfire. If anyone
sees this tiny fire or the lantern, they will think the same thing.
It's the moving lights that worry them so much.”

Shana lit the small pile of dried
leaves covering sticks. They watched as the leaves smoked and
caught on fire. As soon as the stick she held in the fire had a
fiery glow on the end, Shana brought it out of the fire. She
surveyed the timber around them as she waited for it to cool from
red to black.

After the end of the stick cooled to
the touch, Shana rubbed the burnt end over May Jean's wrist and
then her own. She put her arm against May Jean's. “Now we say the
pledge. We will always be friends, and we will always help each
other when we need help. Now you say it.”

May Jean repeated, “We will always be
friends, and we will always help each other when we need
help.”

“
Now we're honest to
goodness blood sisters,” Shana pronounced.

May Jean squealed. “Ouch.” The leg of
her trousers was flaming at the hem, on it's way up her leg. “My
pant leg is on fire.”

Shana pushed the girl to the ground.
“Lay down and rub that leg again the ground. Put out the
fire.”

After the fire was out, May Jean
squeezed her burnt leg. “My leg hurts.”

Suddenly it dawned on Shana that Spot
had been barking forcefully for a while. She looked around for the
dog. “Saints preserve us, the fire is gettin' away from us. We have
to put it out before the timber goes up in smoke.”

“
What do we do?” May Jean
said in a panic as she looked at the flaming circle they stood
in.

The girls spent the better part of an
hour tromping on smoldering leaves while Spot barked. The smoke
made it hard to breath. The girls coughed and waved one hand in
front of their faces while they beat at the flames with leafy
branches.

Finally satisfied that they had the
fire out, Shana said, “After all that, I'm tired enough to sleep on
nails. We better go back to the house and get in bed.”

“
I'm for that. It will be
morning soon,” May Jean agreed.

Shana concentrated beyond the trees.
“Doesn't look like we're goin' to have any luck tonight seein' a
will o wisp anyway.”

“
I doubted you would have
any luck seeing one of those things with all the noise we made,”
May Jean declared.

“
Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure
if I was you. We just scared them all off this very night but good
with the fire and smoke. That don't mean they won't be
back.

We should get some rest. Aunt Gracie,
gets us up early, and no tellin' what she will have planned for us
to be doin' in the morn.”

The girls left the bedroom window open
that night to air themselves off. The smell of smoke in their hair
and on their clothes was strong.

The next morning they were still
asleep when Shana was woken by a loud fluttering noise. She rubbed
her eyes and looked at the window sill. It was the red hen, Two
Feathers. She craned her neck out to its fullest length as she
studied the room. For a moment, she teetered on the sill then flew
to the floor. She cawed in a sing song way as she strutted to the
foot of the bed.

Shana elbowed May Jean and hissed,
“Wake up this very minute and see something.”

May Jean did a double take when she
saw the hen fly up and land near her feet. Two Feathers sat down on
the end of the bed. She scooted one way then the other to get
comfortable and fluffed her feathers out. She seemed to be
concentrating for the next few minutes. When she stood up, she
humped up and strained. Out came a shiny, wet egg onto the cover.
The hen lowered her head to look between her feet. Satisfied that
her job was done, Two Feathers flew off the bed and walked to the
window. She flapped her wings and flew outside.

The girls went to the kitchen for
breakfast with only half open eyes. Shana carried the egg over to
the table, before she washed her hands.

Melinda asked, “Where did that egg
come from?”

“
Two Feathers just laid it
on our bed and flew back outside,” Shana said.

Melinda gasped. “Ah,
Really?”

Gracie grinned as she sat down by
Shana. “If you don't want her to visit, best close the window.” She
covered her mouth and sneezed. With her nose wrinkled up, Gracie
sniffed the air. “Why does it smell like smoke in here?”

Shana gave May Jean a sick look. They
didn't think to put on clean clothes.

“
Oh, that's my fault,
Gracie,” Melinda said. “I had trouble making the fire in the cook
stove this morning . I wound up letting a bunch of smoke out into
the kitchen. I'm sorry.”

May Jean grinned at Shana. They were
off the hook this time.

“
Just open a window for a
while. That will take care of the smoke smell,” Gracie
said.

“
What about Two Feathers?”
May Jean asked, changing the subject.

Gracie studied May Jean. “She won't be
back for the day now that her job is done. Say, ain't it time you
went home?”

“
I suppose,” May Jean said
dejectedly.

“
Well, then after
breakfast, you best high tail it for home,” Gracie said.

“
Gracie, we can walk along
with May Jean,” Melinda suggested.

“
The girl ought to be able
to go home by herself. If I remember right, she got here by
herself. I'm not so sure I want to walk all that way on my sore
ankle,” Gracie declared.

Melinda gathered the apron in her
hands as she shook her head. “No, I will not hear of it. May Jean
is just a child like Shana. I wouldn't let either one of them walk
home alone. We need to escort May Jean home.”

“
If you say so,” Gracie
grumbled.

After lunch, she hunted a sturdy stick
hanging low enough on one of the oak trees she could reach it. She
needed a walking stick. Time to get rid of the low hanging limb
anyway. When they walked under it, it brushed the top of their
heads. She leaned on it to try it out. The stick seemed to support
her weight well enough.

Once they neared May Jean's home,
Gracie surveyed the yard. Neff wasn't sitting on the stump which
was his usual perch while he drank. The place was too quiet. No
sound from the children. Not any talking or laughter. May Jean and
Shana darted off without a word and disappeared around the house to
look at the puppies.

Gracie glanced at a pen not far from
the house. The small pen surrounded a small log shed. She walked
over and tapped on the pen wire. Two small pigs jumped up, squealed
loudly and raced for the shed's open door. They ran inside and
hid.

Junior Singleton mentioned two pigs
missing at one of his neighbors. Gracie wished she'd thought to ask
what color they were. She didn't mind pointing the finger at Neff
rather than at the Indians. They hadn't ever done anything that she
knew of except live off the land. She hated to see Junior spreading
rumors that weren't true.

Of course, some Indians were just like
some white folks. Might be if they were hungry, they would help
themselves to pigs or any other animal small enough to carry
away.

Melinda stood by the porch and watched
Gracie. When she came back, Melinda said softly, “Is something
wrong?”

“
Yip,” I don't like seeing
two little pigs in that pen. They weren't here the other day when
we talked to Neff,” Gracie growled softly.

Melinda asked, “What's wrong with
having pigs?”

“
Junior Singleton said two
pigs were stole from his neighbor recently. That pen was empty last
time we were here. That's what about it,” Gracie said, knocking on
the Graves door.

May Jean came to the end of the porch.
“Just go on it, Miss Gracie. Mama, may not have heard you. Shana
and me are playing with the puppies. They sure grew while I was
gone.”

Lettie opened the door and stepped out
on the porch. “I thought I heard talking.”

“
We brought your girl
back,” Gracie said.

“
That's nice,” Lettie
replied.

“
Lettie, how is the new
baby doing? Did you have a boy or girl?” Melinda asked.

“
I don't have a new baby,”
Lettie said. Her lips trembled.

“
You don't. I sure thought
you were expecting one a couple months ago when I saw you in Locked
Rock,” Melinda said, puzzled.

“
Not me. I do have a bigger
belly than I used to. Don't seem to lose that after having so many
younguns,” Lettie said, tightening her apron over her stomach to
prove it.

“
Oh, well sorry. My
mistake,” Melinda apologized. “We just wanted you to know we walked
May Jean home. We should go now, Gracie.”

“
Yip.” They walked down the
steps, and Gracie hollered, “Shana.”

The two girls came running around the
house and stopped. Shana asked, “Can I stay with May Jean so we can
play with the puppies some more?”

“
How long, dear?” Melinda
asked.

“
Two days, and I will come
home,” Shana said.

“
Lettie, what do you think?
You too busy to put up with another girl under foot?” Gracie
asked.

“
It's all right with me. I
will never notice one more with the brood I have,” Lettie said with
a weak laugh.

“
All right, but just for
two days, and you get yourself home before chore time on the second
day. We don't want you getting out of your chores any longer than
that,” Gracie said.

“
Yes, ma'am,” Shana
answered meekly. “Come on. We can go back to the puppies, May
Jean.”

As soon as they tired of the puppies,
May Jean asked Shana if she wanted to go see a spooky
cave.

“
Where is it?”

“
Not far. The cave is in
the bluff at the back of our property,” May Jean said.

So they took off across the cornfield
and through the timber to the rock bluff. May Jean led the way
right to the cave opening. “Come on in.” Her voice carried to the
back of the cave and echoed back at them.

Shana stepped inside. “To be sure,
it's too dark to see anything. Is it safe to be in
here?”

“
Yip, I reckon it's safe
right here at the mouth of the cave. Let your eyes get used to the
dark. That blindness always happens when the sun is shining
outside,” May Jean said.

“
Listen! Sounds like
running water,” Shana said.

“
Yip, there's a spring way
to the back, and water runs under the rocks and the bottom of the
cave,” May Jean said.

A black blur sailed at them and
skimmed over the top of Shana's head, causing a cool breeze that
made her hair stand up. She ducked and rubbed the goose bumps on
her arms. “What was that?”

“
A bat. This cave is full
of them,” May Jean said.

“
No funnin',” Shana said.
“How far back does the cave go?”

“
We don't know for sure.
We've been afraid to find out since we heard the story,” May Jean
said.

“
What story would that be?”
Shana asked. She had a creepy feeling, being in there with bats
trying to land in her hair.

“
Well, Jasper heard tell
two Indian lovers decided to hide in here. The must have walked too
far back in the cave and got lost. They were never heard from
again. My brothers said we best not go any farther than right near
the mouth of the cave just in case,” May Jean explained.

“
I agree. I wouldn't want
to step on human bones in the dark. That would for sure make the
spirits angry at us,” Shana said. Her mind came up with another
idea. “Wonder if the will o wisps live in here durin' the
day?”

“
I have never seen one in
here or heard one, but that might be where they go,” May Jean
agreed quickly. “We should get out of here before one of them
things come after us.”

Chapter Thirteen

Gracie and Melinda weren't worried
until the two days went by. By chore time of the second day, Shana
wasn't home. Gracie managed to hobble along to get the chores done,
including egg gathering. Melinda had supper ready and still Shana
wasn't home. They went ahead and ate. Always in the back of their
minds was Shana would come bursting in the door, apologizing for
being late. By the time Gracie helped Melinda with kitchen clean
up, it was close to dark.

“
Gracie, Shana has been so
good to mind since we have been here. It isn't like her to stay
away when she knows we're waiting for her to come home,” Melinda
worried. “What if she tried to walk home on her own and got lost?
She might not find here by herself.”

“
I know it,” Gracie said
sharply.

“
What should we do? It's
almost bed time, and it will be dark soon,” Melinda worried. “With
someone roaming around in the timber you don't want there, this is
a dangerous time for a little girl to be out alone.”