Zeely (6 page)

“You’re a silly girl,” Warner said, seriously, “and I’m going home.” He whistled for his dog and the two of them ran down Leadback Road. The boy whistled and the dog yapped all the way across town.

When Warner had gone, Geeder forgot him and all he said. She didn’t have to say that Zeely was a queen again because by now everyone knew how important Zeely really was.

“Tomorrow,” she said, “Zeely’s going to move all the prize razorbacks down to Red Barn and I wouldn’t miss seeing her do that for the world!”

A short while after Geeder ended her story, leaves and corncobs were once more heaped on the bonfire. The flames shot high into the air. The boys and girls started leaping and dancing, making enough noise to be heard for miles.

Toeboy joined in the fun. Right away, he started the game of daring the flames with his clothing.

Geeder was left alone. “How can they play like that when so much is to happen in the morning?” she said to herself. “Toeboy’s the worst one of all. He could have sat with me to keep me company.”

She got up and quietly collected her necklaces from the girls. Then she left the bonfire without saying good-bye to anyone.

When Toeboy noticed that Geeder had gone, he at once headed for home. Nearly at the farm, he overtook her.

“Guess what I saw?” Geeder said. She had forgotten she was angry with him for leaving her alone.

“What?” asked Toeboy.

“I saw a circle around the moon,” Geeder said. “See?” She pointed up through the trees where the moon was going down. It looked like a cold, yellow eye.

“There’s a circle, all right,” Toeboy said. “I bet there’ll be mist in the morning.”

“Of course there will be,” Geeder said, “and it will fit just fine with what’s to happen.”

“What’s to happen?” Toeboy wanted to know.

“Why, Zeely!” Geeder said. “Zeely parading all those animals into town—what in the world did you think I meant!”

Geeder and Toeboy lay under a dark sky that night. The moon went away and the stars seemed hard and far off. Toeboy slept fitfully and Geeder stared into the night. Under the covers with her lay Uncle Ross’ flashlight. She did not touch it; she hardly realized it was beside her. Any thought of the night traveller had drifted far back in her mind. She slipped into a sound sleep.

Geeder did not dream or speak out in the night, nor did she witness the passing of the night traveller down Leadback Road. But Toeboy did. Perhaps it was the excitement of the bonfire that caused him to turn and toss in his sleep. He awoke several times, turned, saw that Geeder was asleep and went back to sleep himself. Maybe it was the fact that the night traveller did not only walk down Leadback Road this night. Before it passed the hedge in front of the house, it paused for as much as thirty seconds. It seemed to listen; perhaps it waited. Whatever its reason for stopping there in the road, it did so when Toeboy had awakened from a dream of bright fires.

He couldn’t have said why he crawled all the way out of the lilac bush and sat there with his toes touching the wet grass. It wasn’t just to see if Geeder was still asleep. Maybe he had heard some sound or maybe he thought he was still at the bonfire, for the bright, clear faces of his friends, the smell of smoke and the shape of the flames were with him still. Toeboy saw the thing at the hedge right away. It stood where the hedge parted, at the foot of the path leading to the house. It had no arms or legs. He knew at once what he saw, and he wasn’t afraid.

“Good evening, Miss Zeely,” he said, softly. “How do you do?”

Zeely Tayber turned slightly toward the place where Geeder slept. She made a movement as though to silence Toeboy. Then, she glided on down Leadback Road and the darkness of the night was all there was.

10

BEFORE DAYBREAK, A FOG
rose from the hollows and fanned out through the catalpa trees. It lay like smoke over swimming holes. When Geeder and Toeboy awoke at six thirty, it covered all the land. The whole town and countryside was trapped in a thick fog, too warm and wet to be anything other than strange. They found their bedding soaked. Even their clothing, which they had slept in in order to save time in the morning, was uncomfortably damp.

Toeboy was about to tell Geeder that he had seen Zeely Tayber come down the road in the night when she whispered excitedly, “Toeboy, it’s begun!”

And so it had begun. Nat Tayber had started his prize animals down Leadback Road. Toeboy forgot to tell how Zeely looked in the darkness and Geeder forgot to feed Uncle Ross’ chickens. They ran to the elm tree near the road and climbed to the top. There, they could see perfectly and not be seen. They saw Uncle Ross hurry out of the house, look around for them and then wait by the road. From their vantage point they could see above the mist. Suddenly, the sun broke through and the top of the mist was spread with gold.

It was seven o’clock by the time Nat Tayber and his hogs reached the elm tree. Uncle Ross stood nearby, hoping, perhaps, that Nat would need him to help move the animals. Nat didn’t, of course. He had hired strong, husky lads from the village.

“The mood he’s in,” Geeder whispered, “he won’t ask Uncle Ross for anything.”

“He’s got mud all over him,” Toeboy said.

“I bet he fell chasing one of his hogs. Oh, does he look mean!” Geeder said.

Nat Tayber was covered with mud from the chest down. In one hand, he carried a long prodding pole. All the boys he had hired were equipped with the same sort of poles.

“I don’t see Zeely,” said Geeder. “She ought to be right in front.” All she could see through the mist was the trail of animals and Nat Tayber and his boys. Suddenly, Geeder found Zeely far back at the end of the line of animals.

“Why, what’s she doing way back there?” Geeder whispered. Zeely moved slowly in and out of the mist, never once hurrying and never speaking. She wore a long, white smock that reached to her feet.

Toeboy recognized the smock Zeely wore. It was what had made her appear to have no arms or feet or head the night before. The smock was streaked with mud.

“She’s got herself all dirty,” he said. “She’s about as muddy as old Nat.”

“Hush, Toeboy!” Geeder whispered. “I don’t care if she is dirty. Just look at her! Oh, she’s pretty, with all that mist around her!”

Zeely Tayber carried a pail of feed instead of a prodding pole. Whenever one of the huge razorbacks stopped for too long, she held the pail under its snout. As it ate, she walked forward again until the animal was moving. It was a slow process but it worked well. Still, the hogs took their time.

“I bet Nat thinks he’s going to get those hogs through town before it’s full of trucks and cars,” Geeder said to Toeboy.

“He won’t make it,” Toeboy said, “not the rate he’s going.”

“It’ll serve him right for not letting Zeely lead,” Geeder said. “Can’t you just see the street packed with folks and those animals and Nat and all those boys trying to get through?”

On Leadback Road, some of Nat Tayber’s hogs got going in the wrong direction; others lay down by Uncle Ross’ hedge to rest. The boys he had hired rushed to the hedge, hitting the tired animals with their poles. When the first blow was struck, Geeder held her breath. Finally, she had to turn her face away.

“That’s no way to treat hogs,” Uncle Ross hollered. “Those are prize animals—that’s no way!”

Nat Tayber ignored him. “Hit them! Hit them!” he yelled to the boys. “That will make them move!”

The animals rose, squealing frantically, and lumbered away down the road toward the village. The rest of the hogs followed as fast as their great bulk would let them. Nat and the boys ran after the hogs.

Through it all, Geeder had watched silently. She felt sick when the animals were hit so hard and sorry when they were forced to run down Leadback Road. And now, she was left with a sour taste on her tongue.

“Goodness knows, animals shouldn’t be hurt by anyone,” she whispered to herself.

She felt like not going into town, fearing to see the animals beaten again. Then, Zeely passed by the tree. She did not seem to be a part of what had happened, nor to be aware of the press of smelling, dirty animals around her. Geeder whistled so Zeely would look up and see her.

Once she sees me, Geeder thought, I know she’ll want me to help.

Zeely Tayber paused. But then she went on, as silent and serene as ever. Toeboy and Geeder watched her disappear into the mist.

Geeder guessed Zeely hadn’t heard her. “Maybe when she gets into town and sees me there. . .,” she whispered, not quite able to finish the wish, even to herself. She and Toeboy climbed down the tree and raced for the catalpa trees. There was a shorter route through the forest to town.

They were more than halfway along, running fast, when Toeboy thought about seeing Zeely Tayber.

“I saw Miss Zeely last night,” he began. “And Geeder, it was very late, I know it was because I was so sleepy. She looked just as funny, like she didn’t have any arms or anything. That was because the night was so dark.”

Geeder stopped dead in her tracks. She was panting hard and her eyes were too wide, as though she hadn’t enough light to see. “What did you say?” she whispered.

“I just said that Miss Zeely came down the road last night,” Toeboy said, catching his breath.

Geeder stared at him and slowly nodded her head. “The other part,” she said softly, “how did you say she looked?”

“She looked funny, that’s all,” Toeboy said. He fidgeted uncomfortably under Geeder’s gaze. “See, she had on that long dress she was wearing today and it made her seem to glide. I couldn’t see her face. And that bucket she carried floated with her.” He laughed. “That was because I couldn’t see her arms.”

“Bucket?” Geeder said. Her voice made hardly a sound.

“The feed pail,” Toeboy said. “I guess she was coming from feeding the hogs. Geeder, what’s the matter?”

Geeder sat down, hard, on the ground. “Oh, Toeboy!” she said. She covered her face with her hands and rocked back and forth. “Oh, my goodness, Toeboy! That wasn’t Zeely Tayber you saw. That was the night traveller!”

As soon as she said the words, Geeder had a clear vision of the night traveller, the time she had seen it. It had had no arms or legs, no head. It was a thing that moved right on the air and Toeboy had seen it. A shiver ran up her spine.

“Toeboy!” she said, “You saw a night traveller and no one is ever supposed to see one!”

Geeder looked so terrified that all of a sudden Toeboy was aware of the wet, misty trees surrounding them. The catalpas were so dense they could have been a solid wall. Anything could hide within them, just there, where it was as dark as night. He felt his back grow cold.

“I thought it was just Zeely Tayber,” he said.

“No,” Geeder said.

“It stopped right by the path to the house,” Toeboy said.

“Toeboy, did it do anything?” Geeder asked.

Toeboy nodded, watching the trees. He crouched next to Geeder and his voice began to tremble as he spoke. “I thought it was going to say something,” he said. “I was sitting right out in front of the lilac bush and it was looking at me. And you know what it did, Geeder?”

“What?” she said. She put one hand on his shoulder, pulling him closer.

“It moved real funny,” he said, “and I got the feeling it didn’t want me to say anything. I guess it didn’t like noise.”

“Oh, Toeboy!” Geeder said. “Can you just think what it would have done if you had made a sound!”

Toeboy tried to swallow but he couldn’t. He remembered he had said good evening to what he thought was Miss Zeely Tayber. “What do you think it would have done?” he asked.

“Why, it would come back some night,” Geeder said. “It would wait until you were asleep!”

An awful fear welled inside Toeboy. The night traveller was sure to get him because he had talked to it. He wanted to get away from the old trees around him and Geeder. He wanted to be as close to Uncle Ross as he could get.

All at once, Geeder jumped to her feet and started to run. Toeboy fell flat on the ground and covered his head with his arms. His eyes were closed tight and Geeder, seeing him, had to laugh.

“Silly!” she called. “Nothing’s going to get you in broad daylight. It’s the hog drive—did you forget?”

Toeboy lifted his head.

“There’s Zeely to see,” Geeder said. “And don’t you worry about the night traveller. You just stay close to me.”

11

“JUST LOOK AT ALL
the people!” Geeder had not thought so many folks could fit on the main street. The mood was right for a parade. The children were all there, the ones who had been at the bonfire the night before and still others who had heard the story of Zeely.

“Let’s get closer!” Geeder grabbed Toeboy by the arm and pushed her way through the children at the curbs until she was right in front. Now she could see all the folks talking in small groups at the corners. They would glance curiously at the children and then quickly away.

“They don’t want us to know why they’re here,” she said, “but I know why. They’ve come to see Zeely just like we have!”

Before Nat Tayber reached the center of the village, the air held the smell of hogs. The scent caught in the mist not yet evaporated by the sun. Wild, piercing squeals cut through the musky odor as Nat and his boys used their poles. Geeder shivered and crossed her fingers so the animals would not get hurt badly. People poured forth from stores and shops, taking up positions on both sides of the street. There were women in bonnets against the mist, with loaded shopping bags and baskets. There were farm people in their coveralls and wide-brim hats. There were all kinds of people there—townspeople, country folk and hordes of near-hysterical boys and girls, unable to speak for fear they might spoil what was to come.

“Geeder, I’m going,” Toeboy said. “I want to go back to Uncle Ross.”

“Toeboy, what’s wrong with you?” Geeder said. She couldn’t believe she had heard him right.

“I don’t
like
it here,” he said, “and I don’t want to see those animals hurt.” He was thinking about the night traveller and wondering what it would do when it caught up with him.

“Oh, don’t be dumb, Toeboy! They won’t get hurt,” Geeder said. “Zeely won’t let them get hurt. You stay right where you are.”