Let's Play in the Garden (8 page)

“I think I’ll give them some fresh air.” She set the can down upon her writing table and walked over to her window. She threw up the window and took a big whiff of fresh, clean air.

“Whew! That smells awful! What is it?”

The air wasn’t as fresh as she thought as she caught a whiff of something putrid and musty. A film of black drifted past her sight and was gone.

“It must be Grandpa, down in the workshop. It must be some new experiment. I have never smelled anything so awful.”

After a few moments, the smell left her nostrils and disappeared from the air. She shrugged it off and went to her mirror to brush her hair. She placed two puzzle pieces in place and then took up a bright red brush and began her work.

###

“Tobey?” Aaron called to his older brother, who was amusing himself with a small rubber ball and some jacks.

“What is it, Aaron?”

Aaron stared at the jacks a moment and then lost his interest as he tried to finish his thought. “Are we allowed in the woods way up at the end of the rocky road?”

Tobey stopped his rubber ball in the middle of a bounce and went silent. He thought about it for quite a while. Aaron sat spellbound, wondering what his brother was doing.

“Well?” Aaron pressed on.

“I don’t really know,” Tobey said. “They never told us we couldn’t go into the woods up there. We’re allowed to play anywhere we want, even Grandpa’s huge garden. I don’t see why not the woods.”

Aaron smiled with childish mischief. He’d come up with a brilliant idea. “Why don’t we go and take a walk in the woods?” He proposed to his stunned brother. “Doesn’t that sound like fun, Tobey? We’ve never been there. Let’s go now.”

Tobey smiled back and stood up. “That sounds like a great idea. It will be like we’re in the garden. The woods are almost as big, and we can explore it in a long walk. Okay, Aaron, let’s go now!”

Aaron jumped to his feet with excitement and the two left the front yard and set off down the dirt path, the very path that led to the main road.

“Take my hand,” cried Tobey as they vanished from sight.

###

In no time, the boys reached the end of the dirt road and stood at the edge of the highway, gazing into the deep dark woods on the other side.

“Well, this is what we came for. Let’s go,” Tobey said, still clutching his brother’s small hand.

They looked both ways, not a car in sight, and with an impatient pace ran across the street and into the woods.

The woods were large and overwhelming to the two brothers. They remained hand-in-hand as they walked along the paths. The dimly lit woods were full of strange noises and commotion, unlike what they were used to hearing…strange animal calls, rustling trees and bushes.

They stopped along a running stream and watched as tiny fish swam and traveled downstream, getting lost in the rushing water and overgrown plants.

“That’s something we don’t see in the garden, Aaron, fish. The garden has just about every animal, but no fish.”

“I’ve seen fish before.”

“Where?”

“On TV. Grandpa was watching a show about fish a long time ago.”

“Really, and you remember?”

“Of course I do. I remember everything.”

“Oh, okay, I believe you,” Tobey said with a smile upon his face.

They ran their hands once through the cool water and continued with their exploration. They followed the paths that led them deeper and deeper into the woods. It began to close in around them. Huge pine trees swayed just like in the garden. The tree trunks were so old some of them twisted into what appeared to the boys as faces…with pointy noses and toothless mouths. Aaron grew frightened as the wind howled through the leaves.

“Tobey, I want to go home now. I don’t like it here anymore.”

“Okay, Aaron, don’t cry. We’ll leave right now.”

They turned and started back the way they’d come. They stopped and looked around. A bird called and something scattered under a bush. Aaron started.

“I’m scared!” he cried.

“I think we’re lost,” Tobey replied.

They looked around some more as Tobey pulled his brother along. They saw a path and just took it out of desperation, unsure of what else to do.

As they rushed down it, they were stopped by a startling discovery. A man’s shoe was lying on the ground. Tobey picked it up, and upon examining it, he noticed, through the mud, that it was stained with blood.

“This shoe, Aaron, it has blood on it!”

Aaron wailed, his calls frightening a flock of birds from the trees. The boys seized with fear and looked down at the ground. There was blood there too.

“I think someone was killed here.”

Aaron screamed as Tobey threw the shoe down. Suddenly, movement in the distance caught their attention. Foliage rustled and twigs snapped.

That had done it. Tobey grabbed Aaron with all of his strength and they ran like never before. They dared not look back, afraid something was following them. Tobey couldn’t be sure, so he just kept running. All he cared about was getting back home.

Their legs were starting to wear out until finally they found the way out of the woods and actually made it to the edge of the highway. A car screamed by just in front of them, its passing blowing their hair and clothes every which way.

They ran down the street and to their familiar dirt road, their faces whiter than freshly cleaned sheets. They looked as if they had seen death itself.

###

“You what!” Simon’s face was red with rage after hearing the tale spun by the two frightened boys.

Merydith listened at the top of the stairs. She was in shock. She could not believe what her brothers had done, nor what they were in for from Grandpa. The thought of it made her wince.

Marion and Gladys stood together in the kitchen doorway. They were equally stunned.

“How dare you venture into those woods up there? You have crossed me, boys, very much. You shall never, ever enter those woods again. I did not think I would ever need to warn you about leaving the yard. No child shall ever leave the yard without an adult. Understood?”

They nodded silently.

“The woods could have killed the two of you. You shall never speak of what you saw there to anyone, and you shall go to bed now without supper. Now, march!”

With that, the two of them ran up the stairs to their room, their eyes burning with tears, their voices hoarse and their noses running. They threw themselves into their beds in a fit of fear and anger and did not come back out the entire night.

Gladys and Marion had to do their very best to calm Simon down. When he was angered, he was a virtual madman. No man ever crossed Simon Santaneen.

Merydith wiped the tears from her eyes and went down to dinner. The scolding had been a horrible thing to overhear. Dinner was in total silence.

###

Days passed and the memory of that day faded. No one mentioned it again. Simon had returned to his normal, jolly self in no time and treated the children no differently.

School was next week. The excitement grew in Merydith and Tobey. They couldn’t wait to return. The summer was nearing its total end as subtle changes could be noticed. August swept into the beginning of September, and soon there would be no more trips to the garden. That saddened Aaron a great deal; no more lunches for the three of them. He would be by himself, and only able to enter the garden when an adult was with him because he was too small to undo the gate.

“Oh please, Merydith, please,” Aaron begged and cried to his sister. “This is the last chance we get. We have to have a lunch in the garden today. Mery, let’s play in the garden.”

Merydith resisted going to the garden. She was afraid and not ready to enter it after what had happened. The garden had changed for her and she didn’t much like it. Its magic and enchantment were lost.

“Mery, please, let’s play in the garden.” His face was sad, his mouth set in a pout, his eyes large and sad.

“Oh, c’mon, Merydith,” added Tobey. “We have to; it’s the last lunch until springtime. Now we must go.”

“All right…all right! Stop bugging me. We’ll have just this one last lunch. Now go wait outside while I make it. I have to start the tea.”

“Yippie! Hooray for Merydith, she’s the best!” Aaron called with as much praise for his sister as he could think of. He ran through the door and out into the yard.

Tobey quickly followed him.

Merydith set the teapot on the stove, took out a basket and began their favorite sandwiches.
I have the worst feeling about this, the worst.
We should not have this lunch. It doesn’t feel right. Please make it be all right.

As usual, they finished lunch, devouring every bit of the delicious food Merydith had prepared, and once they were done, the boys, as usual, took off to once again frolic in the garden.

Merydith sat in the gazebo and did not move. She felt strange, something bothered her, and she could not enjoy herself today. She watched as Aaron popped in and out of sight among the giant plants and flowers of the garden. He spotted a baby rabbit and followed it eagerly. Merydith watched with cautious eyes as he ducked behind a dense Rhododendron bush.

“Aaron,” she called, slightly concerned.

“What?” he called back from behind the bush.

“Remember, don’t roam off too far. I really mean it. This is too big a garden for you, for any of us. Stay close by, do you hear me?”

“Yes, Merydith,” he called back.

Relieved, she sat back and turned her attention on Tobey.

Hours passed and Merydith lost all track of time, her thoughts caught up in daydreams and suspicions. She could have kicked herself. She didn’t want to spend all this time in the garden.

She piled all their things quickly into the basket and started to leave. “Tobey, it’s time we left. It’s way too late. Dinner will be soon. Let’s go.”

“Okay, Merydith, I’m coming,” he answered without argument.

“Where’s Aaron?”

Tobey looked behind himself and far into the garden. “I don’t know.”

Merydith stopped and turned around. “Aaron, c’mon, we’re leaving now.”

Nothing.

“Aaron, answer me!”

Still there was nothing.

Wind blew through the air. There was a baleful moan in it.

“Aaron! Aaron!” Panic began to set in when she got no response. “Tobey, help me. My God, I knew something was wrong about this damn lunch!”

“Aaron! Aaron come here, answer us now or you’ll get a whipping!” Tobey’s forceful, loud voice was useless. Aaron never answered. They searched and searched, dashing in and out of every path, every plant, bush and tree, and looking into every well.

Minutes grew into hours as their ultimate nightmare became a reality—Aaron had vanished in the massive garden. It was as if the garden had engulfed him, claiming him for its own.

Their voices grew hoarse as the adults joined in, relieving them of the search, wandering aimlessly into the night, but in the end they realized it was hopeless…the baby of the family, Aaron Santaneen, was gone.

“Aaron…Aaron!”

8. A Day of Mourning

The sorrow that filled the next few days was indescribable.

No one could eat. No one could sleep. Not a day went by that someone didn’t enter the garden for one last search.

Merydith even sat in front of the great wall and laid her head upon it just waiting for Aaron to return through the gate. But alas, he was gone, the garden was too vast, too thick, too strange. It had reached out and taken him, and that was that.

The family took a day to remember Aaron. Pictures of him were placed everywhere. Candles were burned throughout the house, at the garden wall, and within the garden itself.

Lastly, Simon erected a stone in the backyard that he made and engraved himself. It was plunged deep into the ground a few feet from the wall of the garden. Upon it was inscribed:
Aaron Santaneen. Beloved Son and Grandson. 1985-1990
.

The sun did not shine that day. The sky grew black as onyx as dark clouds rolled in. There had never been a day so gloomy and sad in the lives of the family. They gathered in a circle around the stone and joined hands. A moment of silence was held, and nothing on Earth could break that silence.

At last Simon spoke. “Aaron was the youngest member of our family. He was the last to enter it and the first to leave it. He was our baby and my last grandchild. We all shall hold a special place in our hearts for him, and although life will not be the same for us, we shall continue on, for I know that Aaron is happy in the place he has gone to. We will never forget him, and I’m sure he will never forget us. For now, farewell, Aaron, and rest in peace, my little one.”

They departed knowing that their lives would be forever changed. There was a bit of emptiness in them all.

Someone so full of innocence, love, and beauty was snatched away. It was unthinkable, unfathomable and senseless. It couldn’t have happened. It shouldn’t have happened. Why in all this time would the garden take their youngest? Why?

Of course, it was well understood that the adults would never mention this again. Like so many things before this, they would bury this incident. Put it behind them as if it hadn’t happen, as if he had never existed. For Merydith and Tobey, it would be far more difficult. They would never forget.

As everyone left, Merydith stood alone in front of the makeshift tombstone. Tears warmed her face on a day that was uncommonly cold. She stared at the stone, at the words, the lettering and his name—a name that she would never forget, a name that she would honor for the rest of her life. His memory would forever haunt her, and really, she wanted it that way.

“I will find you someday, Aaron. I promise.” Her tears became heavier and she tightened both her fists in a sworn promise. “I vow that I will uncover what became of you, dearest brother. Dead or alive, Aaron, I will find you.” She placed her right hand on the cold surface of the stone and then glanced into the sky as a streak of blue-tinted lightening lit up the horizon.

In silence, she returned to the house. It refused to rain the rest of the day.