The Seventh Summer

"You don't go down there girl, it's dangerous. The old woman is crazy!
You will disappear, and no one will ever know what happened to you!"

She had heard these words all of her short life.
The blond boy they called R had gone down the  weed choked
embankment, and he had come back with horrible stories of dead
animals hanging in the windows and strange signs
drawn in blood on the door posts of the old house. But no one
could ever say they had really been close to the place,
so she never really understood what all the big fuss was about.
But there were the stories.
She had never heard an adult either confirm or deny them. There
was a cold feeling about it all deep down inside of her. She didn't
allow it to surface often.

Some of the kids said a witch lived down there, and would  come out
at night and tie black crow feathers to peoples trees.  If you
found a black feather in your tree, that meant she was coming
for you, and nothing could save you!

The old man who owned the grocery store had found feathers in
his trees, and his wife had disappeared later the same evening
when the moon was just rising. Some said she had taken both his
children years ago when they were just babes, so all
the towns people believed he was cursed. No one ever went into
his store, and when he walked down the one long street of the
tiny town, people would go to the other side of the street,
or would not come out of their homes.

The witch's ancestors were believed to be buried in the south end
of the graveyard, and large circles had been found scratched into
the ground around the stones, along with odd symbols.  And then
there was the small stone grotto that had been there as long as
anyone could remember, at the edge of the graveyard. It
had always remained untouched, yet always seemed to be changed,
different somehow. Some claimed to have seen a shadowy figure
lurking there at night, and things were not in the exact same
positions as they had been. Shallow, small footprints were also
found. It was a place that was always avoided, even
by the adults.

People disappeared in this small town, and no one seemed to know
just what happened to them. Some families packed what would fit in
their old cars and just left, without so much as a goodbye.

This had all  happened the summer she turned seven.

Strange things still happen there

This had all happened twenty years before. She was grown now,
married with a babe of her own...

She had met John in college, they had both been in the
same conservation training courses. They had had a whirlwind
romance for two short years, then had been married.


When they had finally found the farm, it had been like a dream,
it was the perfect place. It was for sale at a good price, with
only one barn of the three being in very bad condition. They
had fallen in love with the place instantly. Dia loved the huge
front porch, and already knew she wanted her beautiful
white wicker set there.

The next two months were filled with planning just how to set
things up on the rest of the place.
Then one morning, she had idly wandered out the back door,
to the big barn where John was working. She passed the well,
and just glancing, noticed something fluttering around near the top.
Walking closer, she saw there was a black feather snagged in the
clapboard shingles. Shrugging her shoulder, she reached up and
pulled it from the old wood. Somewhere in deep memory, a vague
twinge of uneasiness rose, but she shrugged it off...

She had been working in the garden only a short time, when she
heard, John come in through the front door. She stood up from her
crouched position, and pulled off her garden gloves.
"John, is everything ok", she asked, hearing angry voices. She
found him sitting at the table with the sheriff, one of the
farmhands, and two other farmhands from the nearby farm.
"No, I'm afraid not", He replied. "Dan found three of his cattle
dead last night, in the north field. Real strange too, they were
cut open straight down the middle, nothing taken but the hearts."
"And there were strange symbols carved on there faces in blood
too. And the area was strewn with black bird feathers, crow,
if i'm not mistaken". Added the sheriff. "A couple families I met
coming out of the super-mart said they had seen an old woman
lurking around town the last week or so, and they didn't
recall ever seeing her before. We'll check it out, John, and
let you know what happens. Until then, everyone's going to
have to keep their eyes peeled, he remarked, standing. "See
you in a couple days."

The next evening they were sitting together with the fireplace
pleasently warming the large room, when the phone rang. John rose to
answer. After a few short moments, he returned.
"That was the sheriff. He couldn't make it out here tonight, too much on
his hands. It seems this old woman people have been seeing isn't
from town. No one seems to know where she's from, she doesn't
speak to anyone, and she's pretty strange by what their all saying.
Seems she crossed his path last night, and he arrested her, put her
in jail, and she tried to set the whole place on fire!"
He rose slowly, shaking his head, and walked to the window.
"No one knows what to make of this. He cant hold her for more then
one night, because no formal charges have been brought against her.
Dan is angry, but he doesn't have the heart to put her in jail
for good."...

Dia sat idly rocking on the front porch, looking out over the farm.
She sighed, glad the last month was behind her. Planning the
birthday party for her sixteen year old daughter had been both
a trial, and a blessing. Tomorrow was the big day!
But Jenny was the light of their life, spirited, gutsy, not afraid of anything!
Picking up the note pad from the small table, she rose to go into
the house, glancing one last time at the moon rising in a beautiful
night sky. A movement caught her eye, and she looked out at the hedge
bordering the large yard. Probably just an owl or nighthawk, she mused,
and went in.

"Wake up! Get up, lazy daisy!" She heard Jenny's voice outside her room. 
Opening her eyes, she looked at her clock. Eight o'clock already! Goodness!
She sprang out of bed and hurriedly showered and dressed, there was a lot
to do! She walked into the kitchen, and Jenny poured her
a cup of hot tea.
"The trucks are coming in from town already, and the
caterers will be here in an hour," She reported. Then she wandered out
onto the porch with a glass of orange juice.  After a few moments she
called "Hey Mom, come out here and look at this, it's really odd!"
Dia came out to look at the hedge Jenny was pointing at. It looked like
some kind of dark streamers had been attatched to the hedge.
A strange feeling, like vague cobwebs in her mind, swept through her.
She ran across the yard to the hedge and stood in disbelief!
There, strung throughout the whole hedge were black crows feathers!
From somewhere far away, she heard an unearthly scream. Then she
fainted dead away...

Somewhere from the depths of eternity, she felt herself rising
slowly from the blackness. John was there, gently patting her face to
revive her. She slowly sat up at last.
"What happened outside?" He asked her, "You let out a scream that would wake the dead!
Some kid had some stupid idea of a funny joke, I guess that's all it is."
She shook her head to clear it, but she knew better, she knew what it was!
"John, there isn't time now, but we have to talk about some things,
tomorrow maybe." She said.

The next day they all slept until noon, exhausted from the festivities.
They ended up sitting in the front room with the big stone fireplace
taking the chill from the air, talking about everything right into
the evening.  John had listened, fascinated by the history that he
had never heard up until now.
"I'll just say that's the most interesting thing I have heard ever." He finished.
"What can I say about all this? I just wonder why you never told me before now."
Dia thought about that for a long moment. "Well, I guess after we were married, it just didn't
seem to be part of my life anymore, then as time went on, it just
stopped being of any importance. But, you know something, I don't
believe this is over, John. The old witch didn't come for me, she
came for Jenny, and I don't know how to stop this! I don't know
why this is happening now! Bringing the police  into it isn't
going to stop her. Oh God, I wish Momma were here now! She was right
in the middle of all this in that little marsh town, and she would
know just what to do! Meanwhile, we can't let Jenny go out
anywhere with her friends, or otherwise. I don't know how in hell
I am going to tell her about all this!"
"Well, mom, you don't have to." Came  a voice from the back staircase.
"I heard it all when you were telling Dad! You have always told me
that there are always ways to solve a problem, and I believe we
can do this together!"
Dia sighed, "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry I never told you and your Dad about
this. It never seemed of any importance."
John comforted her, "Well,
it probably would not have made any difference, she was going to do it
no matter what. I'll just tell Luke to keep his eyes peeled for anything
funny going on around the place."

Several days went by with no incident. Then one day they came home from
a shopping trip early in the afternoon, and as they came into the driveway,
they saw thick black smoke billowing into the air. The house was
burning!
"You stay in the truck with your mother!" John barked, and he was running
across the yard to meet Luke coming out of the barn. Luke panted out,
"Mr. L, I've called the fire trucks, nothing else seems to have been
bothered but the house!  I gotta tell you, I've never seen a hotter, faster
fire then this! It went up like a tinder box!"  Then He added low, so
he could not be overheard. "Man, it's like someone knew what they were
doing!" He shook his head.
They heard the sirens shrill blast coming down the road, and John ran
to move the truck to the far side of the barn, out of the way.
As the large water truck came into the yard, the walls of the house
were falling in. The men jumped out and stood watching the inferno
in disbelief.
"John, nothing we can do!" Yelled Walt, the fire chief,
over the roar of the flames. "It's a bloody rotten shame!"

They stayed in the farmyard for the next few hours, watching to
be sure nothing else would catch fire. It seemed forever until the
flames engulfing the house finally started to die down. The scorching
air billowed up in huge swirling devils, and as the fire chief
looked up to the sky, he saw a strange sight.
"John, look at that." He remarked, pointing upwards. Then they
all stood watching the amazing sight.

There, swirling slowly down from the sky, were hundreds of black
crow's feathers...












Copyright 3/2007
D.Fleck