Michael moved toward the figure that stepped out of the trees into the pale light. She was as Michael remembered her on the day she had appeared at her own funeral. The navy dress that she always wore to church on Sundays and her hair unbound to fall down her back. She smiled when she saw Michael and held out her arms for him.
“Mum!” Michael cried as he rushed forward to hug his mother tightly, almost crying when he felt her arms hold him tightly against her. “I don’t understand, how is it you feel so real?” he began, “You were dead. We had a funeral and everything!”
“Hush now,” she soothed tipping his head back so she could look into his face. She smoothed his hair back and kissed his cheek lightly. “That doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’m alive and well now. Let’s not spoil it with silly questions!”
“Michael! That’s not your mother!” James cried out from behind him.
For a brief moment Michael saw a flash of anger in his mother’s eyes at the sound of his friend’s voice but he was so happy to see her again he dismissed it. He turned to face his friends, staying within the circle of his mother’s arms.
“How can you say that James? Look! I can touch her! She’s real. If she was a ghost surely I wouldn’t be able to do that?”
“It’s a trick!” Billy said angrily, never taking his eyes off of Michael’s mother. “It’s just another way of stopping us getting to the Tree!”
Michael could feel himself getting angry at his friends’ inability to see that his mother really was back and took a step closer to them. Before he could say anything his mother spoke.
“What is he talking about Michael?” she asked curiously.
Michael turned back to her and smiled. “Oh, we were trying to get to the Tree to heal it so you could go to Heaven. But we don’t need to now because you’re back!”
His mother continued to smile at him but now there was something in her face that he had never seen before and he suddenly realised his friends might be right. She looked and sounded like his mother but there was a craftiness to the way she looked at him, as if she was trying to find out something.
“No, there’s no need to now,” she agreed.
There was a moment of silence and then Billy spoke. “So the rest of us don’t matter then? Is that what you’re saying? You’re not going to bother healing the Tree?”
“Of course not,” Michael said, “it’s just that, well …”
He looked pleadingly at James and then to Billy trying to explain how he didn’t want his mother to disappear again. To get her home where she would be safe from the horrors of the forest but he couldn’t think of the right words. It was his mother who spoke, breaking the silence.
“Just how were you going to heal it? It must have been such a strong spell that did all this!” She looked around with large frightened eyes and Michael instinctively went to comfort her.
“It’s alright Mum,” he soothed, “We can get you back out of here. Billy has been guiding us through the forest and with his help we can get back out.” He smiled up at her happily as he held her hand.
“Billy?” she repeated curiously looking at the forest guardian. “That must be this young man here! I want to thank you for bringing my son and me together again! I thought I would be forever lost in this awful place!” Tears came to her eyes and Michael clutched her hand tightly. He had never seen his mother cry and was beginning to feel more than a little uneasy.
He tried to let go of her hand casually but she held on to it tightly while using a handkerchief to dab her eyes with the other. She sniffed delicately and smiled down at Michael just like she used to and Michael could feel himself believing in her again, smiling back happily.
“Michael!” James hissed urgently but Michael ignored him.
“Just how were you going to heal the Tree anyway?” his mother asked curiously.
“Oh,” Michael began, about to tell her everything when he was suddenly yanked away.
Billy had stepped forward and pulled on his arm so fast that Michael was wrenched from his mother’s grip. Immediately Michael could feel his head clearing a little as if he had been feverish and not thinking clearly before.
“Billy!” Michael’s mother admonished, “That’s no way to treat your friends! Are you okay my darling?” She stepped towards Michael but Billy pushed him towards James who steadied his friend.
“Leave him alone!” Billy cried, “You can’t stop us! We will get to the Tree!”
“Foolish child!” the ghost of Michael’s mother spat as she began to change. “Do you really think you will succeed? You could never heal the Tree any more than you can help your friends!”
Michael watched in horror as his mother began to transform in front of him. Her dress darkened to black and became tattered and torn. Her hair began to thrash in long thick tendrils as if blown about by an unfelt wind. Most distressing of all to Michael was the look on her face.
His mother had been a caring, happy woman who had never said a bad word about anyone, never raised her voice or lost her temper. The ghost of his mother was screaming in fury, her face twisted into a mask of hatred as she advanced on them making the boys step back to keep away from her.
Before Michael could think of what to do or say Billy had picked up a stone from the forest floor and held it to his lips, muttering some strange words. When he held the stone out towards the angry spirit it glowed brightly and Michael’s mother shrank back in sudden fright. As Billy stepped forward the stone continued to get brighter until the ghost of Michael’s mother streamed away through the trees with a high-pitched wail.
Michael stood frozen to the spot looking in the direction his mother had gone. His emotions were a confused jumble and he couldn’t seem to focus on anything except the fact he had lost his mother again.
“Michael?” James spoke quietly placing a hand on his arm.
Michael turned to look at his friend slowly and said, “I just need a moment alone.”
James hesitated a moment then nodded, waving Billy back a short distance but not too far in case of any danger that might be lurking close by. James could only watch as Michael stood still and silent with his back to them. He felt a little awkward as he waited for his friend to pull himself together. He felt sorry for Michael for having to see his mother like that although he had no idea of what to say that might comfort him so he waited.
It was a long while before Michael turned back around to face them with a determined look on his face. “That was not my mother!” he said angrily. “I won’t leave her here to be used and twisted into something she never was in life. Let’s go, we need to hurry now.”
James hesitated for a moment and then smiled in agreement while Billy nodded. The guardian looked deep into the shadows of the trees, studying the surroundings intently before turning back to the two humans.
“To be honest, we might as well continue the way we are going. They know why you’re here but they obviously don’t know what you are going to do so maybe we can use that to our advantage.” Billy paused for a moment to think, rubbing his chin as he did so. “Let’s go. Before something else is sent!”
“That’s comforting,” James muttered but followed his friends as they moved off.
Their pace was quick but still careful. Every now and then Billy had to use his fire magic to deter vicious swipes from the trees that made them shake their branches in anger but left them alone otherwise.
After a while Michael began to notice movements amongst the shadows to either side of them. After the appearance of his mother he didn’t really want to see what else the forest would bring but he couldn’t stop himself from looking. He slowed down as he saw what looked like a white mist seeping through the trees to either side of them. When he looked over his shoulder he could see that it was behind them too.
“Billy?” he called out, “What is that?”
Billy slowed down to a walk as he looked around and behind them before shrugging. “Mist sometimes finds i
ts way in here. Since the taint began natural events like mist, rain, frost haven’t happened like they used to. It’s like the taint has affected even those things. Every now and then though, it happens.”
“So, this is just ordinary mist?” James enquired as he kept an eye on the mist behind him as it got closer.
“Yes,” Billy replied as he picked up the pace again.
When he said no more Michael and James hurried to catch up but still watched the mist warily as it slowly advanced through the trees around them. It swirled around their feet as it eventually reached them and continued on past. The two boys looked fearfully at each other, expecting something to happen any minute but the mist just continued on its slow path through the trees.
Michael couldn’t help feeling relieved that this wasn’t another trick of the forest to stop them from reaching the Tree. There was something almost comforting about the familiar chill of something so normal. As the mist thickened he began to worry that Billy might not be able to see his way or even worse, they might lose sight of each other.
“Billy!” he called out as loud as he dared. He waited for the forest guardian to walk back to them before he voiced his concern about the mist.
“I wouldn’t worry too much,” Billy told them, “We haven’t much further to go. Be ready, it’s only a short distance now.”
Michael and James looked at each other in excited expectation before following their friend along whatever unseen path he was leading them.
The mist continued to swirl and thicken around them but they could still clearly see each other and the trees immediately around them. Then something else in the mist began to appear and they slowed down their pace as it got closer.
A strange orange glow appeared in front of them. Obviously still at a distance but it seemed to be getting brighter while remaining still. The mist made it hard to recognise what they were seeing and it wasn’t until Billy actually stopped and Michael could see his face that they began to worry.
“What is that?” Michael asked him. “What’s making that glow?”
Billy sighed quietly, “It’s fire from the torches.”
“What?” James said uncomprehending.
Billy smiled sadly at both of them and then explained, “I think my parents have got to the Tree before us.”