The Legend of Butterfield Farm

Chapter Four

HENNA STOPPED TO catch her breath.In the silence that followed, she realized she needed more time to consider what to tell her family. She wished there was a button to push to put her life on hold—like the one on her Tivo remote to pause a TV show. Better yet, a rewind button, so she could take back the you won’t believe what I just saw words that had spilled out of her overly excited mouth a moment ago. 

But that wasn’t possible. And her family’s impatience was becoming obvious. She had to say something—but what? Should she tell her family the truth straight up, and face their jokes at her expense, their lectures about what is real versus what is make-believe? 

Worse yet, they’d think she was crazy—although they probably wouldn’t say it out loud, knowing how much it would hurt her. Well, maybe Holly would. She’d blurted it out many times before, and this time who could blame her? 

After all, stuff like this could only happen in one of her storybooks. Not in the real world, right?

                                                         ***

When Annie had run off into the woods earlier, Henna had covered a lot of ground chasing after her speed-demon puppy. She’d followed a well-worn path through Butterfield Farm—past the pond, the mountain stream, and the big orchard. She was able to catch up with her when Annie came to a quick stop at the top of a hill just beyond the last row of apple trees. 

Annie hunkered down in some tall grass. From the way she was acting, Henna could tell there was something in the meadow that had caught her interest. She cautiously climbed the hill and stayed low, so she would not scare away what her puppy came upon. She hoped it was maybe a fox or an eagle, or some other wild creature. 

This wasn’t the first time Annie had done something like this—like when she spotted a squirrel or a rabbit in the backyard of their old house on Willy Miser Lane.  But this time it wasn’t a squirrel or a rabbit. It wasn’t a fox or an eagle or any other wild animal for that matter. 

It was a tree—just a tree. Well, not exactly just a tree. It was an incredibly huge tree. But that didn’t fully explain why Annie was acting this way. Being a dog and all, Annie could definitely appreciate a good tree. But still, judging by how she was carrying on, there had to be something very peculiar about this particular tree.

Just then, Annie yipped and jerked back.

“What’s wrong, girl?” said Henna.

Annie whimpered a bit and ducked her head down. She was frightened of something.  

When Henna turned her gaze to the big oak tree, she saw what was freaking Annie out. The tree was slowly starting to move. It was turning around. Round and round like a merry-go-round, but without the calliope music.“What in the world?”

It turned slowly at first, and then it picked up speed until it was spinning really, really fast. So fast, it was a blur. The sound it made hurt Henna’s ears. Annie’s, too.  Henna tried to shut out the harsh, high-pitched whirring sound by covering her ears with her hands, and Annie attempted to do the same with her paws.

The wind generated by the enormous spinning tree was so strong it threatened to blow her over. She braced herself as best she could to prevent rolling away like a tumbling tumbleweed. The tall grass smarted as it whipped against her tender skin.  She rose up a bit to look around, hoping someone else was there to see what she was seeing. However, in this mindboggling moment, in this remote meadow, it was just her and Annie. 

Henna went back into a defensive crouch and returned her attention to the leafy whirling dervish. As if spinning around weren’t strange enough, it began lifting off the ground. Chunks of dirt and sod were thrown off its airborne roots in all directions—some almost hitting Henna. They exploded violently, like dirt bombs, as they hit the ground around her. She turned her back to the tree twister and wrapped her arms around Annie to protect her from the incoming missiles.