Dark Woods (5 page)

‘You think it’s nice to talk about people behind their backs? Do you? Huh?’ Jefferson jerked the barrel of the shotgun forward as he spoke. ‘Is that what you think?’

Eden raised her hands in front of her chest, as if the act of doing so might somehow stop a cartridge full of buckshot.

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said, and Cal saw that her hands were trembling. ‘I only just woke up. I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Jefferson kept the shotgun level as his gaze shifted from Eden to Cal and back again. ‘Well, it seems like I heard you calling me a freak.’

Cal saw the flash of anger in Jefferson’s eyes, saw the way his index finger curled around the trigger and decided it was time to get involved.

‘She’s frightened, that’s all,’ he said. ‘She doesn’t know you the way I do.’

Cal glanced at Eden and saw fear in her eyes. But he also saw the way Jefferson stared at him, like a man waking from a troublesome dream.

‘You know me?’ he asked, and his voice wavered. ‘You
know
me?’

‘I’m starting to,’ said Cal. ‘Just a little.’

Jefferson lowered the shotgun as if all the fight had gone out of him.

‘Come out here,’ he said to Eden. ‘I want to prove to you that I’m not a freak.’

‘How about you put the gun down first?’ said Eden. ‘You’re making me nervous.’

‘Yeah well you make
me
nervous,’ said Jefferson, recovering some of his anger. ‘All that talk about putting me in jail.’

‘She didn’t mean anything by it,’ said Cal. ‘She was just upset. Weren’t you, Eden?’

He stared at her, willing her to play the game.

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘That’s what it was. Now will you put the gun down?’

‘All right,’ said Jefferson, slowly backing out of the room. ‘But don’t mess with me, OK? I don’t want you trying any funny stuff.’

Cal wondered what kind of funny stuff he had in mind, but as they followed him into the living area he seemed to relax a little.

‘OK, maybe I got a bit upset there,’ he said, putting the gun on the table amongst the piles of papers. ‘But you have to understand that I’m not out to hurt you. Look. While you were sleeping I even made you something to eat.’ He went across to the breakfast bar as if nothing had happened and came back with a plate of sandwiches. Cal noticed the bread was thick and roughly cut and wondered if Jefferson had baked it himself. He imagined him standing alone in the kitchen, waiting for the dough to rise and listening to the wind in the trees.

‘What’s in them?’ asked Eden.

‘Nothing to worry about, if that’s what you mean,’ said Jefferson.

‘I wasn’t meaning that,’ said Eden.

‘They’re cheese and tomato,’ said Jefferson. ‘Cheese and tomato with a touch of mayo thrown in.’

It was late afternoon and as the sun threw long shadows across the pine floorboards Cal realised how hungry he was. He thought about how he never let Sarah make breakfast for him and now here he was sitting in a log cabin taking sandwiches from a crazy man. But then Jefferson wasn’t promising to look after him; he wasn’t promising anything except maybe a chance to go back where he started from, and Cal was used to that.

‘Not bad,’ said Eden innocently, taking a bite from a sandwich. ‘Where d’you get the cheese?’

‘From a convenience store,’ said Jefferson and Cal could tell from his face that he knew what was behind Eden’s question. ‘But I’d say two hours’ drive ain’t exactly convenient.’

‘I guess not,’ said Eden. She took a shifty look at the gun and Cal began to understand what Jefferson had meant about not trying any funny stuff. He tried to catch her eye, but she was too busy looking at Jefferson.

‘You said you had something to show me,’ she said as Cal reached for a sandwich and perched on the arm of the sofa. ‘Something to prove you’re not a freak, remember?’

Cal could see she was still angry, that she was deliberately pushing Jefferson, trying to goad him into an anger that would match her own. But Jefferson didn’t seem to notice. Instead he simply said, ‘That’s right,’ and disappeared into the bedroom. When he returned, Cal saw that he was holding something behind his back.

‘Shut your eyes,’ he said, grinning like it was some kind of birthday surprise. ‘Shut your eyes and hold out your hands.’

Eden glanced at Cal and he nodded, so she did as Jefferson had asked. When her eyes were closed, Jefferson produced the teddy bear from behind his back and placed it in her hands with a flourish.

‘There,’ he said proudly. ‘What do you think of that?’

Eden opened her eyes and stared at the teddy bear.

‘What’s this?’ she asked.

‘I should have thought that was obvious,’ said Jefferson. ‘It’s a teddy bear. Or rather, I should say, it’s
your
teddy bear.’

Eden turned it over in her hands and Cal watched as her fingers stroked the worn patch of fur, touching the frayed threads where the glass eye used to be.

‘Where did you get this?’ she whispered.

Jefferson smiled.

‘From inside your head,’ he said.

‘Do you think I’m stupid?’ There was a hard edge to Eden’s voice now, like water turning to ice. ‘This whole thing you told Cal about turning dreams into reality. You might have talked him into believing it, but if you think you’re going to get me to go along with it then you’re even crazier than you look. And that’s saying something.’

Jefferson clenched his jaw so tight that Cal could see the tendons in his neck.

‘So how do you explain this?’ he asked, snatching the teddy bear from her hand and shaking it angrily. ‘How do you explain it? Hmm?’ He was shouting now but it felt like only the beginning, the first gasping breaths of a toddler before the tantrum.

‘How do I explain it?’ replied Eden. ‘Well, let’s see. Maybe the kind of guy who’s willing to hang around a campground and drug people is also the kind of guy who is going to wait around outside a person’s house and steal their stuff.’ She glared at Jefferson. ‘That’s it, isn’t it? You broke into my house and took it, just so you could live out your weird fantasy about making dreams come true. Well, I’ve got news for you, buddy. I don’t believe a word of it. Like I said before, you’re crazy. A crazy freak.’

‘What did you say?’

‘You heard me.’

Jefferson dropped the teddy bear and clenched his fists.

‘You think I’m crazy?’ he said. ‘Well maybe I’ll just show you some of the other things I found in that twisted brain of yours. Then we’ll see who the crazy one really is.’

Cal was still trying to work out what he meant when Eden leapt across the room, grabbed the shotgun from the table and pointed it at Jefferson’s head.

‘All right,’ she said. ‘Give me the keys to the van.’

Cal looked at her incredulously.

‘Eden, what are you doing? You can’t even drive.’

‘Oh yeah? Just watch me.’

‘Don’t be a fool,’ said Jefferson, holding out his hand. ‘Give it to me.’

‘Oh, I’ll give it to you all right,’ said Eden, holding the shotgun level and backing towards the door. ‘Come any closer and I’ll give you both barrels.’

Jefferson didn’t seem to hear her. Or if he did, he didn’t take any notice. Tight-lipped with anger, he strode across the floor and closed his hand around the end of the gun.

‘Now what are you going to do?’ he asked. ‘Are you going to kill me? Or are you going to stop this nonsense so that everyone can go home?’

Cal saw the hesitation in Eden’s eyes and knew that Jefferson saw it too. When he pulled on the end of the gun, there was no resistance; Eden loosened her grip and he took the weapon and placed it on the table.

‘You don’t have to hate me, you know,’ he said.

Eden narrowed her eyes, concentrating all her emotions into a single stare.

‘I don’t have to like you either,’ she said.

Jefferson’s lip quivered momentarily and it made Cal think of a small boy standing alone in a playground, waiting to join in the others’ games.

But then Jefferson’s anger returned.

‘We can do this easy,’ he said, ‘or we can do it hard. Either way, it’s going to get done. So what do you say?’

‘I say we do it easy,’ said Cal quickly, before Eden could start another argument. ‘Why don’t you go and lie down, get yourself comfortable? Then when you’re ready, we’ll see about finding your dog.’

‘Is that a promise?’ asked Jefferson suspiciously. ‘Do you give me your word?’

Cal nodded.

‘I promise,’ he said.

When he heard this, Jefferson seemed to calm down a little. He walked across to the kitchen cupboard and took out a mug and a bottle of whisky.

‘I don’t want your friend in there,’ he said, half-filling the mug with whisky and taking a mouthful. ‘She’ll ruin it. Same as she probably ruins everything. I knew I shoulda left her back there in the woods.’

‘Whatever you want, OK?’ said Cal as Eden sat on the sofa and folded her arms, refusing to look at them. ‘Whatever you want.’

Outside, the sun was setting and a pale moon rose above the trees.

Jefferson lit the oil lamp and placed it on the table. Then he walked towards the bedroom with the whisky in one hand and the mug in the other. He stopped in the doorway and turned back to look at Eden. ‘You upset me, you know that? How am I going to find my dog with all that bad energy running around in my head?’

‘Maybe you should have thought of that before you drugged me and threw me in your van,’ said Eden.

Jefferson took a slug of whisky straight from the bottle and shook his head.

‘Just keep her away from me, OK?’ he said. Then he walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

‘What are you doing?’ hissed Cal.

Eden turned to look at him, her green eyes sparkling with anger.

‘What am I doing? What are
you
doing, more like.’

‘I’m trying to get us out of here without anyone getting killed.’ He looked at the gun on the table. ‘And I mean
any
one.’

‘I should have done it,’ said Eden. ‘I should have pulled the damn trigger.’

‘Yeah, because you so would,’ said Cal.

‘How do you know I wouldn’t?’

‘Because you’re a good person,’ Cal replied. ‘And good people don’t kill other people.’

‘Maybe they do if they have to.’ Eden walked over to the table and picked up the shotgun.

‘Don’t, I mean it,’ warned Cal. ‘Let’s just do what we have to do and get out of here.’

‘My thoughts exactly,’ said Eden. She turned the shotgun over in her hands and Cal guessed she must have handled one before on her dad’s farm. Holding the barrels in one hand and the stock in the other, she put it over her knee and broke it open.

‘Well I’ll be,’ she said.

She turned the gun around to show Cal.

‘It was never loaded,’ she said. ‘The chambers are empty.’

‘That’s what I was trying to tell you. He doesn’t want to hurt us, Eden. He just wants us to help him. And when we’ve done that, we can go home.’

‘You really believe that, don’t you?’

‘Yeah. What’s wrong with that?’

‘You’re a fool, Cal. Don’t you see? There’s no way he’s going to let us go after this. He knows if he does then the authorities are going to find him and lock him up for a long, long time. You really think he’s going to let that happen?’

Cal shrugged.

‘Maybe we don’t have to tell anyone.’

‘What? And let that freak do the same thing to some other poor kids? I don’t think so.’

‘He gave me his word,’ said Cal. ‘And I gave him mine.’

‘Yeah, well you’ll excuse me if I don’t share your faith in human nature.’

Eden glanced at the door and then lowered her voice.

‘While he’s busy drinking himself to sleep in there, I’m going to get busy finding the keys to his van. And when I do, I’m out of here. Now are you with me, or are you going to stay here and play let’s pretend? Cos I’m telling you, Cal, when he finally realises this whole thing is just a product of his warped imagination, he’s going to flip.’

‘I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s like that.’

‘You’ve got to stop kidding yourself, Cal. You saw how crazy he got when he heard me talking about him.’

‘That’s because you called him a freak. And he isn’t a freak. He’s just trying to get back something he lost.’

‘OK, Cal, you know what? I can’t deal with this. Either you come with me now, or I’m going to have to go without you.’

Cal shrugged.

‘You do what you want. But I think you’re making a big mistake.’

‘No, Cal, you’re the one making the mistake.’ As Cal turned towards the bedroom, she tried one last time.

‘Please, Cal. Don’t do it. Come with me.’

‘I can’t,’ said Cal. ‘Like I said. I gave him my word.’

Then he went into the room and closed the door behind him.

The room was dark, lit only by the faint glow from the computer screen. Jefferson was lying on his side, clutching the empty whisky bottle to his chest. When he saw Cal, he leaned over and placed the bottle on the floor.

‘I’m ready,’ he said. He looked past Cal towards the open door. ‘Where’s your friend? Planning new ways to mess things up?’

Cal shook his head.

‘She doesn’t want to get involved.’

‘Good,’ said Jefferson, fastening the metal discs to the side of his head.

‘You remember what to do?’

‘I think so,’ said Cal. He stood beside the monitor and watched a snowstorm of static fizz across the screen. ‘I’m not getting any pictures.’

‘That’s because it’s not tuned into conscious thought,’ said Jefferson, settling back onto the pillow. ‘Nothing will happen until I reach the second phase of sleep. That’s when you’ll start getting images. And when you see my dog, I want you to move in and grab her.’

‘With the cursor?’

‘Same as I showed you before. Isolate her, cut her out and the machine will do the rest.’

‘You might not even dream about her, though.’

‘Believe me, I will. She’s all I ever dream about.’

From his top pocket Jefferson took out the photograph he’d shown Cal earlier and held it between the tips of his fingers.

‘Take it. Remind yourself what she looks like.’

Cal took the photograph and studied it closely.

‘She was a nice-looking dog,’ he said.

Jefferson nodded.

‘Best friend I ever had.’

Cal stared at the walls of the cabin that Jefferson had built miles from anywhere and wondered if she was the only friend he ever had.

‘I’ll hang on to this, shall I?’ he asked. ‘Just to make sure.’

‘Yeah. You do that.’

As Jefferson sank deeper into his pillow, Cal put the photograph next to the monitor and wondered if Eden had found the van keys. If she had, he hoped Jefferson wouldn’t hear her start the engine. He was determined to do this now, determined to help Jefferson find what he was searching for, no matter what Eden or anyone else might think. Naturally, he was curious, but more than that, it felt like he would be doing a good thing, and Cal couldn’t remember the last time he had felt that way about anything.

‘You’re a good kid,’ Jefferson murmured as he closed his eyes. ‘You know that, don’t you?’

The monitor was flickering, reds and greens bleeding from the edges and mixing together in the centre of the screen. Cal looked up and saw that Jefferson’s hands were folded across his chest, like a knight lying in state. His breathing was deeper now, eyelids twitching as his eyes followed the dreams that emerged from the shadows of his mind.

The colours on the screen were starting to blend, solidifying into the reds and browns of autumn leaves. As they floated from the trees, adding to those already carpeting the forest floor, Cal saw, through a gap in the branches, a path leading down to a lake. He glanced across at Jefferson, astonished to think that he was witnessing the scene unfolding inside his head. Turning his attention back to the screen, he saw that something was waiting by the water’s edge. The picture began moving rapidly towards it, as if the person in the dream had started to run.

The colours were glowing, so sharp and bright that Cal felt almost as if he was having the dream himself. His heart beat faster as he realised that the image beside the lake was that of a dog.

Tansy.

As the image came closer, Cal used the mouse to position the cursor in the centre of it. He was about to click on the mouse when he noticed something moving in the left of the picture.

It was a red-haired girl, waving her arms about and shouting, and as Cal realised that the girl looked very much like Eden, the dog bared its teeth and snarled. Then Cal clicked the mouse and the image froze, captured in mid-snarl by a red outline. The word ENLARGE? appeared on the screen and Cal clicked the YES option, then CUT & SAVE and the image of the lake returned to the screen. Only this time there was no sign of the dog.

In the corner of the room, Jefferson began to whimper softly.

‘Cal,’ hissed a voice behind him. ‘Cal!’

Cal turned to see Eden standing in the doorway, silhouetted in the light from the living room.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked. ‘I thought you’d gone.’

Eden held up a set of keys and dangled them from side to side. ‘I found these in the kitchen drawer. They don’t open the van, but maybe there’s another one somewhere. Want to help me look?’

Cal saw that they were the keys Jefferson had used to open the door of the building across the clearing.

‘I know what they’re for,’ he said, switching off the monitor. Jefferson turned to face the wall, but Cal could see from the slow rise and fall of his shoulders that he was still asleep. ‘Come on.’

‘Wait,’ said Eden, ‘I’m taking the gun.’

‘It’s not loaded, remember?’

‘Doesn’t mean he can’t load it when he wakes up.’ Eden picked the shotgun up off the table and followed Cal across the living room to the back door.

‘Where are we going?’

‘I need to check on something,’ said Cal. ‘I need to make sure I did it right.’

He stepped outside and smelled the heavy fragrance of pine needles in the warm night air. The trees were silhouetted against a sky full of stars.

‘It’ll only take a minute. If everything’s OK, I’ll have kept my side of the bargain and Jefferson will have to take us home.’

‘You really believe in this whole dream thing, don’t you?’

‘Yeah. I guess I do.’

Eden rested the shotgun barrels in the dirt and stared at him. ‘OK. But if it hasn’t worked, will you come with me?’

‘It will work, Eden. I’ve seen it.’

‘But if it doesn’t?’

Cal remembered Jefferson’s anger when Eden had called him crazy. He thought of the image of her in his dream and the vicious snarl of the dog.

‘If it doesn’t, then I’ll come,’ he said.