Maud was running. Behind her the brook babbled innocently and the sun was shining. Just in front of her were her two best friends Gene and Sarah. They were dodging branches of pine trees in their rush to get away. The picnic basket bumped awkwardly against Maud’s thigh. If they could just reach the next bend in the lane then they would be safe, for there the lane turned away from the brook. Maud’s breath came in short rasping gasps. She wasn’t used to running like this. It was all right for Gene and Sarah. Gene had four brothers and she was always trying to keep up with them and Sarah - well she just was naturally athletic. She won all the races at CGIT camp.
Maud slowed and snatched a quick look over her shoulder to see if he was coming, but there was no sign of him. However, that didn’t mean he wasn’t following.
They reached the turn in the lane and slowed down to investigate the front of Gene’s dress.
“Gene, your mother is gonna skin you out for messing up your new dress,” said Maud ruefully. A big splatter of lemon dribbled down her chest.
Sarah bent over breathing heavily. “So much for a nice picnic,” she panted.
“Maud did you get mother’s plate? It’s bad enough that she’s gonna be mad at me for the dress but if I lost that plate I won’t be able to get the bike for a month.”
This was true. Gene’s family only had one bike for all five children to use and sometimes Gene’s dad would use it if he decided to go fishing, which meant that if Gene got in trouble it would be ages before she could get the bike again.
“Don’t worry Gene I got the plate. I even managed to wrap it in the cloth before we had to run.” Maud answered proudly.
“Did you see which boy threw the cow patty?” Sarah asked standing up slowly.
Gene and Maud shook their heads no. They had been sitting on a big flat rock by the edge of the brook about to start eating a nice lemon meringue pie when the first cow patty had been lobbed through the air from behind some pine trees on the other side of the brook. It had landed right in the middle of the pie splattering it all over poor Gene just as she had been about to cut it and serve it on plates. There had followed a hoot of laughter and then more cow pies had come flying threw the air in quick succession. Not wanting to be hit with something so fowl, they had scrambled to their feet throwing everything into the basket and sliding what was left of the pie into the water of the brook, dodging cow patties as they worked. Then they had started running, gaining the nearby lane in only seconds.
Maud had wanted to head for the main road and go home but she had been behind the other two and they had turned up the lane towards the dreaded Kitty Casey’s Hill and The Farm. Kitty Casey’s Hill had been the home of the infamous Casey Family. Maud wasn’t supposed to know but she had heard her granny talking about it to her mother. Kitty Casey had cut her throat fifty years ago from grief when her daughter had died of diphtheria. People said the old place was haunted and Kitty Casey would never find rest until a cure for diphtheria was found. Maud, not wanting to be left alone with a mad cow pie thrower, turned and followed the other’s in their bid to escape.
“I bet that was Jimmy Davis. He is always up to no good.” Sarah said with a frown.
“Well it did sound like his laugh.” Maud answered.
“We can’t go back that way or we’ll be dodging cow patties again.” said Gene.
“Now what are we supposed to do?” Sarah asked plaintively. “We can’t just stand here waiting for him to leave. He’ll just come after us again if we stay here.” They stood there looking at each other questioningly.
Maud thought about Kitty Casey’s Hill and the path beyond the old place that would lead them back to her father’s vegetable garden. It would work but she hated to pass that old place. The old house was gone now but the foundation could be seen through the grass, and rose and lilac bushes grew amok beside the old lane that had lead to the house when it used to be occupied. She had been through there a number of times with her father on their way to the berry picking patches on this side of the ridge but she always felt like someone was watching her. It was ridiculous of course because nobody was there and hadn’t been there for fifty years or so. Still it gave her an uneasy feeling. The problem today of course was that it was their only way to get home unless they wanted to brave Jimmy and his aim with the cow patties.
She was just about to tell her friends about the old path behind the Casey’s place when a cow patty came flying through the air and hit her square in the back. Maud yelped and grabbed Sarah’s hand since she was closest to her and began to run again.
“Come on Gene, I know a way to get home.” she called as she thundered up the lane away from Jimmy and his missiles. “We’ll follow Dad’s path behind Casey’s old place that leads back to our garden. It’s not far.”
All three girls ran quickly up the lane and veered up what seemed to be an old path. They passed a broken gate which was attached to a fence that leaned precariously and was grayed from age. Maud could hear Jimmy crashing though the trees behind them. Obviously he had found a place to cross the brook and was now in serious pursuit of them.
Maud let go of Sarah’s hand who was now partly dragging her along. Gene was right behind her but Maud was beginning to slow and she pressed her fist into her side where a stitch was starting.
“I can’t run for much longer,” she yelled.
“You had better keep going or Jimmy will get you.” called Sarah over shoulder.
Maud felt herself slowing down as Gene passed her.
“Go Gene, the path is beyond the old outhouse. It’s just left of the old foundation.” Maud had stopped now. The stitch in her side was hurting so much she couldn’t run anymore.
Gene turned back and said, “Let me take the basket. At least you can run easier without it.” She grabbed hold of the basket and Maud let go. Another cow patty landed at their feet between them. Where was Jimmy getting all the cow patties? Gene screamed and took off running again. Maud jumped into the bushes and felt her foot give way beneath her. She looked down and saw leaves sliding beneath her feet. A branch of an Alder tree whipped her face and for an instant she couldn’t see anything and then everything stopped.
She was lying on her back in a thicket of Alder bushes and the damp musty ground was sloping away from the old lane that lead to the Casey’s old place. She could see the lane above her head and behind her now. She heard the pounding feet of Jimmy as he belted after Gene and Sarah. For a moment she stopped breathing in case he might hear her and turn to come back to pester and terrorize her. Gene and Sarah would outrun him if they reached the path because not many people knew about the old path and with Jimmy being from the North Side, he probably didn’t have a clue about the old trail.
Maud’s shoulder hurt and her ankle hurt and her lip was stinging from the Alder branch that had whipped her face as she fell. Gingerly she put her hand to her mouth and it came away bloody. She sat up and looked around her. If she let herself slide down the slope she would just be getting into thicker brush. That meant that the only way out was to go back up the way she fell. She rolled over on her hands and knees. Nothing seemed to be hurting too badly. She slowly made her way up the bank to the edge of the lane where she had been running only moments ago. Very carefully she peeked out through the branches of the Alder bushes and peered up the path. Jimmy was returning back the way he had come. She ducked back into the Alder patch and waited, hardly daring to breath. Jimmy passed by muttering to himself.
That was good. He obviously hadn’t found the trail that the girls had taken. She watched until Jimmy was out of sight and slowly she got to her feet with the aid of several branches and pulled herself up the last few feet of the bank to the lane above. She brushed herself off and surveyed the damage. There was a mud streak down the side of her arm and her ankle felt stiff. Her shoulder would probably be bruised tomorrow but otherwise she seemed to be o.k. She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from her lip.
It wouldn’t do to stand here in the lane. Jimmy might come back looking for them if he thought they were hiding in the trees. She slowly walked up the lane toward the old Casey place. The lane got steep here and that’s why this place was called Kitty Casey’s hill.
It was quiet here with just a slight breeze whispering through the upper branches of the Spruce trees which surrounded the clearing that marked the garden which once had been tended so dutifully. Gooseberry bushes had grown high enough to dwarf the foundations of the cabin that had once stood in the clearing. The foundation was still there but grass had grown so that you had to look hard to find it. Maud walked toward a gooseberry bush so that she could make her way past the foundation to the old outhouse that leaned forlornly. She always wondered why the outhouse had been left when the old ruins of the house had been burned. It had been her father who had told her that Patrick Casey had returned years later and had burned the house to the ground. He had been a bitter old man by that time and had not wanted any part of the old place. So much sorrow here, Maud thought.
She was just walking past the gooseberry bush when the head of a woman came into view. The woman was picking berries and startled Maud so completely that she tripped but caught herself before she fell. The woman looked up and then standing said, “ Oh, hello. I didn’t realize anybody was here.”
Maud recovering from her first shock, said at the same time, “I’m sorry I didn’t realize anybody was here.”
They both grinned at each other. Maud couldn’t understand how this lady could not have seen Gene and Sarah being chased by Jimmy only a few moments ago. Perhaps this strange woman had entered the clearing just moments after Jimmy had retreated down the hill.
“I’m just looking for my friends who ran this way a little while ago. Did you see them?” Maud asked.
“That’s odd. I didn’t see anybody and I’ve been here all afternoon.” the lady replied.
Maud shook her head at the strangeness of the situation. She had to have seen Gene and Sarah. They would have run past this very spot if they were going to make it to the path. If they had run the right way. Perhaps they had not found the path and had hid in the trees. Maud looked away from the woman as if she expected to see her two friends walk out of the trees any minute. Everything was peaceful and nothing was moving. Still this lady must have seen Jimmy belting past.
Maud looked back at the lady and noticed for the first time the very odd style of outfit the woman was wearing. It looked old. Like something Granny Louisa would wear. Her boots were heavy and very worn and Maud had not seen boots like those in a long time. Yet this lady could be no more than thirty-five. She smiled at the lady and said, “It looks like you are doing well with the gooseberries.”
“Yes, they are plentiful this year. My daughter helped me to pick them. She is around here somewhere,” and the lady scanned the clearing as Maud had done only seconds before.
“Have you got a daughter with you?” Maud asked in surprise. Surely one of these people had seen Gene or Sarah or Jimmy for that matter.
“Yes, but she doesn’t like to pick berries and often wanders away when I’m busy,” the lady answered.
A voice from far away called on the breeze. It was Gene calling Maud from the direction of the path.
“I’m here,” yelled Maud turning in the direction of the voice. “I had better go and let them know I’m all right,” she said as she turned back speaking to the lady again. Only no one was there. Where the lady had been standing, was empty. Maud felt a cold shiver pass down her back. Her heart was pumping very fast now. She was scared. She turned toward the voices that were still calling to her and began to run.
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