Jeshara

Chapter Four

Chapter four

I know, I was just as surprised as you are. I mean, hello! You can talk to trees! How on earth did you fall out of one? Truth is I don't know. Though i'm thinking the oak I was in dumped me on purpose to keep the boy from killing the girl. So, where was I, oh yeah, I landed on the ground with a thump.

The boy spun around to face me. He pointed his knife in my direction and I stood up slowly.

"Well, this is awkward." I said.

With the silence broken the boy Bobby began, "How, long were you up there? How much did you hear? Who are you? What were you doing up there?" Yes he said that all in one breath, impressive I know.

"Long enough, nearly everything, call me Jess, enjoying the view." When in dangerous situations I tend to get really sassy which normally leads to more trouble but hey, can't change your nature.

"Are you going to tell anybody?" The boy asked.

"Umm, since I'm down here I guess i'll do my best to stop this so there won't be anything to tell." I replied.

"Y-You can't st-stop me." He stammered out. My confidence was draining his.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"13 last week." He answered. Younger than I had thought, that might make this a little easier.

"Do you really want to kill somebody?" I asked, not talking about the girl specifically.

"No, but I have no choice." He said.

"There is always a choice." I told him and continued before he could interrupt. "In everything you do you have an option, one thing or another. You can kill someone who might deserve it or might not," I was talking about the girl now.

"And damn yourself. Or you can move on with your life and do all the things that your friend wished of you without the extra weight on your conscious."

"How do you know what Ellie wanted?"

"I don't, I only know that when we leave someone behind, one way or another, we want the best for them." He didn't answer.

"I've had to leave people behind and though they may have done me wrong, my greatest wish is their happiness. To move on from me. Do you understand?" the boy nodded.

"Go home, say your goodbyes and get away from here." I told him, and his head rose surprised. "You may be a sensible young man but this little thing is probably quite the tattletale." I explained gesturing at the girl. He turned and began to walk away.

"Wait." I said and made a series of gestures over my torso that could be mistaken for crossing my self. What I was actually doing was pulling energy from the trees to either side of me, from the sky and from the ground. Then I released the energy toward the boy.

"The forest will be with you." I said with a small smile. With that he disappeared into the trees. I sighed, even with the forest's blessing there was a very good chance the boy wouldn't see winter.

On to the girl. "Okay kid, where do you live?" I asked.

"Calvern manor." She said proudly.

"Where is that?"

"Just over 2 miles outside of town." I sighed.

"What is the town called?" Eash, this kid was dense.

"Westbury." Hmm, where on earth is that, to the west? This wasn't helping. Oh! I'll ask the trees where the kids came from.

"From... Rising... Sun." A nearby Birch said. East then, I grabbed the girl hand and dragged her off into the woods. I set a brisk pace and she could hardly keep up but I had to get back to Naiomi and Mother Oak, they were probably wondering where I was.

After a while I decided to see what she thought of the morning events and whether or not she'd be scarred for life.

"Do you know what just happened?" I asked.

"He tried to kill me." She said softly.

"Not exactly." I told her glancing behind me at her puzzled face. "What you just saw," I continued, "was a desperate man." I pushed aside a bush and let the girl pass first.

"No matter where you live, you will encounter many desperate men in your life. Trying to make amends or right a wrong. This happens when men of action don't know who to blame." I paused, making sure she was getting all this.

"That boy was miserable. He didn't know who to blame. Men, people in general need someone or something to blame. Very few can accept the fact that something bad has happened and move on. When blame needs to be placed, it's the the most and least obvious people who are punished." I sighed again, this wasn't going exactly where I wanted it to.

"What I mean is, he didn't want to kill you. He wanted to place the blame. Now that he has, you are safe and he's as satisfied as he's going to get." The trees began to thin.

"Human... Dwelling..." A few of them whispered in warning.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I think so." She told me. "He didn't want to kill me just blame me."

"Exactly, someone needed to be blamed in his eyes and he chose you. Why? No idea." I could see an open field up ahead. A large brick house was coming into view. "Is that where you live?" I asked.

"Yes." she replied.

"Off you go then, and remember what I told you."

"I will." she said and raced toward the tree line and paused.

"Miss?" She said faintly.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Thank you." She said and ran toward the house. Your welcome, I thought.

Ah kids so much to learn so little time. Learn! Time! I'm late for lessons! Naiomi's going to kill me!