Chapter 19
The children turned around, but there was absolutely nothing there. Somehow, they found that creepy and unsettling, even a bit lonely. They turned back and touched the door they could no longer see wondering if the Professor would open it if they knocked. Wondering also, if he were watching them? Would he miss them now that they were gone? Well, it was time to go home, so they turned around again.
They looked down at their tunics. Maybe they’d wear them back to the house and save them for Halloween, but the wigs had to go. They ripped them off their heads and flipped them over their shoulders. The wigs bounced off the invisible door and landed at their feet. This produced a fit of hysterical, relieved giggles.
Reece released Bear’s collar and the three walked through the woods as quickly as the brush would allow. It was hotter than when they were in the village. They thought about taking off their tunics, except then they’d have to carry them. Although they were sure they walked towards the path behind their house, each succeeding step brought them no closer. By now they should see the outline of fences with houses and roofs rising above them, but there was nothing.
“We turned the right way, didn’t we?” asked Sean.
“What do you think? Of course, we turned the right way.”
The woods began thinning out now, and soon they came to a vast opening. It looked like an enormous field of some kind. But, then a house came into view just beyond the field. Trees surrounded it so all they saw of the house was four windows on the second floor. But, there was an even larger tree in front of the door dividing the house in half. A distance from the house, were two red barns. One was quite a bit larger than the other. Then the woods picked up again beyond this property. It was as though the field, house, and barns had been carved out of a forest, and they were on the edge of one side of it. They had no idea where their own house was, but at least they weren’t back in the village where they would most definitely get locked up.
“There’s nothing like this near our house,” said Sean as he gazed at the house and barns. “We’re not lost again, are we?”
“Don’t be silly,” Reece said in her most reassuring voice. “We just took the wrong turn, that’s all.”
“Like last time.”
Reece turned back in the direction from which they’d come then looked down at their dog. “Take us home, Bear.” When he continued to stare back at her, she added. “Go on, take us home, and we’ll follow you.”
But, Bear just stared back at her then transferred his gaze to Sean before finally sitting down. Might as well be comfortable, since this may take a while.
The children allowed their eyes to drift over the open space until they spied someone in the distance. Maybe he could tell them where they were. They moved towards him at a steady pace with Bear walking between them.
“Reece?”
Something in Sean’s voice made her look at him. “What is it?”
“Are we allowed to ask where we are now?”
Reece stopped and turned to her brother. “Well, I don’t. . .let me do the talking.”
“I wonder if he’s carrying a cell phone.”
“Look at his pockets. If we don’t see anything that looks like a cell phone, then we can’t ask.”
As they moved closer, the man appeared to be placing items in sacks then tying them shut with twine. As soon as he finished one sack, he stepped down the row, grabbed another sack and filled that one.
The person had sandy colored hair and eyes with skin that showed a lot of sun time. He was on the tall, thin side. And, even though it was very hot, he wore long pants that ended about two inches above his ankles, like he was wearing his kid brother’s clothes. He wore suspenders rather than a belt. Was this a fashion statement or something? But what about the too-short pants. That had nothing to do with fashion; they were just too short for him. His shirt was a checked long sleeved rolled up a couple of notches. His clothes were old and worn, but unlike James, they’d been carefully mended and appeared to be clean.
As the children approached, they saw a shovel lying on the ground. The dirt had been dug up in both directions and potatoes were scattered along several rows.
The children studied him a little longer and decided that he was really too young to be called a man, however he was bigger than the middle schoolers they’d seen. They shrank as a miserably uncomfortable thought occurred to them. What if he were in high school? They turned around about to tippy toe away when a voice barked at them.
“You’re late! You were supposed to be here half an hour ago!” he turned around and his head and eyes dropped down. First, came the look of surprise then a scowl of dismay. “They said they’d send help, but you’re just two. . .children!” he spat out. “You can’t be more than ten!”
Really, was it their fate today to be thought of as a complete nuisance? Ever since they’d left their back yard, everyone they’d met treated them as though they were an overwhelming problem, except Mr. Johnson. He’d been nice to them. And, the Professor was nicer at the end.
Reece cleared her throat as her eyes focused on his shoe laces. “Actually, I’m almost ten. . .or I will be on my birthday.”
“Which is?”
“Uh, well, next year.”
“So, you’re nine.”
“Well, yes.”
The boy transferred his attention to Sean. “And you?”
“Almost eight.”
“So, you’re seven.”
“Well, right now anyway,”
The boy placed his hands on his hips his eyes darting back and forth between the two. “Nine and seven,” he muttered under his breath. “What am I supposed to do with nine and seven?”
They were temporarily relieved of the spotlight when he shifted his attention to Bear. “And nobody said anything about a dog. I hope he doesn’t’ bark, because if he does, we’ll tie him to a tree and leave him here.”
With eyelids drawn back as far as they could possibly go, Reece and Sean stared at each other utterly speechless.
Bear crouched down and stepped forward. The hairs between his shoulder blades stood up and he drew back his lips, but before he could growl, Sean took hold of his collar, stroked his head, and whispered soothingly into his ear.
“Well,” Reece began. “We aren’t staying, because we. . .”
“Have to go home.”
“Right. So, we wondered if you could help us. . .”
“Are you crazy? Everybody wants to go home! But there’s no going home until it’s safe. So, that settles it. You’ll be able to go home when everyone else does.” He issued an order before returning to work. “Put all the sacks I just filled onto the cart, so we can leave. I should have left an hour ago. I just hope it’s not too late.”