Purple Sweater

A Griffin in Trouble

The freezing rain continued at Woodslack Forest even though it was sunny at Lawndale, the helicopter that carried Daria and Jane would arrive at destination any moment now, most of the students had returned to the campsite and meanwhile the eerie drama continued out of sight.

It was warm and comfortable inside of the Visitors Center, with its colorful couches, the old photographs and portraits everywhere and the lumber burning in every fireplace, and yet Stacy Rowe just could not stop herself from crying her eyes out...

"Calm down sweetie, calm down" the VC manager said in a low and soothing voice, hugging the shaken girl and softly patting her hair in a very sincere attempt to make her feel any better- "It's over! You are safe, your friend... she's gone, we can only pray for her, you have to calm down..."

"T-thank you..."

"Do you want a little more of it?"

"Yes, p-please..."

The thirty something woman, who looked somewhat like a friendly version of Linda Griffin, poured some water in a glass mug and added twenty drops of some kind of potent herbal remedy. The water turned a soft shade of green, the scent was very pleasant and then Stacy just drank all of it in a matter of seconds.

After the third dose, she was already starting to feel a lot better...

"You have to present testimony" the manager said, now looking straight into Stacy's cold and tearful brown eyes- "Stacy, this is extremely important..."

"I am... I am ready now..."

The Pennsylvania Police officers stood a certain distance from them, and the commander listened carefully as Sandi Griffin and Anna Coulthard argued and sometimes even screamed at each other. A tearful John Astrella awaited his fate, handcuffed already, and given everything that Sandi and Anna had said already, it was clear that everything would be decided by Stacy.

"Commander Stephenson! Stacy here, she's ready to speak..."

"Excellent! Come over here, young lady..."

Stacy advanced towards the awaiting Police officers, Anna and Sandi turned their heads towards her in silence, John looked outside at Raven Rock through the window and the crucial moment that would decide everything was here at last.

"We have conflicting testimonies" the commander said in a deep and threatening voice- "Griffin blames the ranger, Coulthard blames Griffin... What do you have to say, Stacy Rowe?"

"Stacy" Anna cried out, and they stared into each other's eyes just for a moment- "You know what happened! John will land in jail, unless you speak the very truth!"

"We want nothing but the truth, Stacy..."

"John took good care of us! When we w-were there, he said... nobody takes a step ahead, until I install the rope! Then, he was called, but his orders were clear, we had to w-wait for his return! Anna s-said, keep waiting! T-then Sandi, she started to t-taunt Anna to cross the pass, Anna didn't want to, she followed orders, but t-then Sandi said b-bad things, she taunted again, and Anna crossed the pass, and Sandi crossed too..."

"Wait a second!" commander Stephenson exclaimed, and at this point, the man turned around to have another threatening look at Anna and Sandi- "That explains everything! So, Sandi Griffin... did you start some kind of challenge, which resulted in your friends crossing and attempting to cross that darn place, against the ranger's direct orders?"

"I... well, I..."

"Did you start this challenge that Stacy and Anna have described, or not?"

"I did..."

"Do you realize, that now your friend is dead, as a result of your actions?"

"I realize it..."

"Well, I sure hope your folks know a good lawyer, young lady... you are coming with us" the commander finished, and after that a tall female officer advanced and handcuffed Sandi before the terrified girl could offer any resistance- "Release the ranger..."

Anna dashed to hug her best friend as soon as he had been released from custody, John hugged her back in tears, the manager escorted Stacy away so she could call her parents and the officers quickly vanished from the scene taking Sandi Griffin with them.

"Keep in mind, all of you will have to testify in Court..."

"We keep that in mind, commander" John replied, still extremely pale and sickly after everything that had happened that day- "Thank you..."

"I am sorry John, I am so sorry that I fell for her tricks..."

"It's not your fault! That... That Griffin, she gave me a really dark vibe, from the start..."

"Come, I'll call my parents now..."

It seemed that nobody cared about the abandoned pizza and chips that now Daria and Jane would never enjoy, the rain was stopping at last, Anna and Stacy would soon get picked up by their parents and life slowly returned to normal at Woodslack Forest.