Sunday, January 26, 2020

GRAVE ROBBERS part 3

Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.



GRAVE ROBBERS
Part 3

                                                 By R. Peterson         

            The front of the Ford lifted high into the air. Ardel and Rodney screamed. Steam gushed from a broken radiator hose, almost as though the car screamed too. A mouth opened in the gnarled trunk just below a single monstrous eye and the creature roared, “You hurt my Momma!”
Ardel attempted to remove the “ring” from his finger but the strange organic object seemed to have become part of his skin. “I’m sorry,” he blubbered. “We were looking for treasure not to hurt anyone.”
The leaf-covered monster blinked twice and then allowed the car to fall back onto the road. It was as if Ardel had been understood. The car bounced, stalled and the trunk flew open. Bolts broke and the front bumper sagged on one side. Wolves gathered around the walking tree. Eyes, glowing with malicious intent, warned the boys not to run.
            “Don’t stop,” Rodney urged his friend. “I’m not as good at begging as you are.”
            “I only took this,” Ardel pleaded with his hand. “I don’t want it now.”
The wolves all howled at once … and then were strangely quiet. The silence was eerie. A sound like flowing and dripping water came from the bushes. Adel thought maybe a creek had overflowed. Rodney could hear his own heart beating … as well as his friend’s.
The wolves all turned as the pale root that had lain next to Amanda Hick’s corpse emerged from the trees. The thing was larger, had sprouted legs and was now staggering toward them.
            “You have given Booma new life!” The monster gestured toward the root walking toward them. The words invaded their thoughts. Rodney covered his ears but could not block out the sound. “You are hereafter charged with keeping the baby safe.”
Ardel and Rodney both felt the car sag, even with the extra heavy duty truck shock absorbers as the thing crawled into the trunk.
Wolves and the monster moved to one side as Rodney frantically tried to move the car. The starter dragged, backfired and the engine started. Back tires kicked up a cloud of gravel and dust as they spun furiously to escape the huge crack in the road. Perhaps the added weight in the trunk allowed for more traction. Finally the tires found purchase and the car lunged forward. Just then a battered pickup truck passed them with horn honking furiously. A bearded man shook his fist out an open window. Within a minute the two boys were careening around blind curves at more than sixty miles per hour. “Thank God!” Ardel allowed himself to breathe as he settled back in his seat and flipped on the radio. Guy Mitchell was crooning the second verse of Heartaches By The Number . “For a moment there … I thought we were in trouble!”

-------2-------

            A half hour later they were parked in Rodney’s parent’s yard trying to figure out what to do with the walking root crammed into the truck when a Comanche County police car pulled in behind them. Deputy Sheriff Wylie Young ordered them to step out of the car with one hand on his holstered revolver. Another police car arrived seconds later. “What seems to be the problem officer?” Ardel figured he knew the answer but he had to ask anyway.
            “Fred Hicks is the owner of one hundred sixty acres of timberland bordering Motha Forest,” the deputy said. “He says you tore the hell out of a bunch of his trees, dug up a road and disturbed an ancestor’s grave.”
            “It was all a mistake,” Rodney stammered.
            “What was … the grave or the road?” the deputy asked as he produced two pair of handcuffs.
            “Everything,” Ardel moaned as they were loaded into the back of the police car. “Everything was a mistake.”
The trunk was open when the officers searched the car and they found nothing.

-------3-------

            The arraignment was delayed for a week because the judge was out of town. Ardel and Rodney were surprised when they found out they’d both made bail. Sean O’Brian far and away the richest man in Cloverdale waited for them just outside of the police station. They were transported home in a chauffeur driven limousine. “I’m sorry it took so long to get you out but I was in Chicago on business,” Sean told them.
            “Why help us?” Ardel was astonished at the sudden change of events.
            “I’ve had people searching for Amanda Hick’s grave for years,” Sean told them. “Thank God you two stumbled across it.”
            “The police laughed when we told them about the monster tree and the wolves,” Rodney said. “Don’t tell us you believe!”
            “I was just a boy when the woodcutters brought the Wandelen Boom baby out of the forest,” Sean said. “But the county was never the same after.”
            “How can we ever repay you?” Ardel asked as they stopped at Rodney’s parent’s farm.
            “Fate goes where it will and cannot be led,” O’Brian told them. “Watch over that which was hidden in your trunk and keep it safe. I’ve already made arraignments to buy the woods from Hicks so I’m sure the charges against you will be dropped. As for the delinquent taxes on your parents’ farm …. I’m sure they will be paid also.”

-------4-------

            After two days of searching, the boys found the strange root. It was concealed in a patch of weeds behind a woodshed. “Looks like our baby tree picked a good place to plant itself,” Ardel said. “The soil here is rich and rain coming off the shed roof should keep it well watered.” Rodney nodded grimly. On their return to town, he  stopped at Spare-A-Dime and called Sean from the cafĂ©’s public telephone. “All good, Mr. O’Brian. We’ve found it. And it’s already thriving.”

-------5-------

            The strange tree grew faster than anyone expected. Six months later it was so large the woodshed had to be moved to a new location. Two years later, in late fall, the tree could no longer be concealed from traffic driving by on the road. “One day an old man being driven in a Lincoln Continental stopped at the farm. His face radiated astonishment as he walked toward the shady tree. “I’ve searched the world for rare tree species,” he said. “I never thought I’d see another VanGagen,” he blubbered. I’ll give you one-hundred dollars for it!”
            Rodney laughed. He and Ardel were working on Rodney’s car. “The tree is much too large to be moved,” he said. “Besides I’ve grown kind of attached to it.”
            “I’m not talking about the whole tree,” the man said picking something off the ground. “I’ll give you a hundred dollars for this leaf. I only wish you had more.”
An astonished Rodney put the money and a business card in his pocket and watched as the man drove away. Ardel walked over and Rodney opened the door to the woodshed. Ardel whistled. At least a dozen plastic bags bulged from under the shingled roof. “I spent all day yesterday raking under the tree,” Rodney said. “I was going to burn the leaves …. but now I think I’ll hold off.”
And both boys laughed.

THE END ???

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