Wraith

Dark Stirrings Chapter Six

Chapter Six

That night as she approached the fallen tree, Wraith was surprised to see another figure standing next to the roped off trunk. The figure was dressed in a variety of natural greens from light to dark that made her look a bit like an odd shaped bush. After a moment's thought Wraith recognized her as a User called Pictsey who had an affinity to growing things. Curious as to what the other User thought, she approached openly and greeted her when she was close enough.

Pictsey nodded cautiously back. "Hello. Wraith, isn't it?"

"Yes. And you're Pictsey?"

"I am. I didn't expect to see you here. In fact, no one's really seen you since the summer. You never attend the meetings – not even the one where we assign districts."

"I'm here now," Wraith answered briskly, brushing off the vague guilt she felt at the faint accusation in the other User's tone.

Pictsey regarded her steadily for a minute longer before she evidently decided to let the evasive answer pass. "Why are you here anyway? I know you were working through the districts earlier in the year, but you never made it to this one. Are you here to help me tonight?"

Wraith shook her head. "I tend to try to focus on trouble spots at the moment, so I'm really just here to find out why this tree fell. Something about it seemed funny to a few of the witnesses."

"So you've been doing the same sort of thing as Magnoss, then." Pictsey surmised. "Well if your witnesses don't think it should have fallen, they're right." She answered definitively. "It was a good strong healthy Beech and it should have lasted for at least another 100 years."

"Have you found any reason why it might have fallen then?"

Pictsey frowned behind her leaf shaped mask. "It was flattened by something," she said succinctly. "I know no one was badly hurt and it isn't a crime to knock down a tree, but whoever is responsible needs to be punished."

"Can you tell what it was flattened by?" Wraith asked, trying to keep the conversation focused.

"That's what I was trying to do just now." Pictsey shook her head in a rustle of cloth. "Whatever it was seems to have applied pressure evenly all along the trunk so there aren't any tool marks or anything of that kind. If it wasn't for the fact that I absolutely know that this tree shouldn't have fallen," she shook her head. "I don't know what sort of machine was used, but that tree did not fall on its own."

Wraith nodded slowly. There wasn't much she could say in the face of such definitiveness. "Thank you," she responded at last. "I'll see what I can find out."

"Wait," Pictsey stopped her as she turned away. "Are you going to come vote in the meeting tomorrow?"

Wraith hesitated. "Vote?"

Pictsey nodded. "Yes. Magnoss has called a meeting for tomorrow. I don't think he knows who our Messenger is since he's sending the information around by word of mouth, so if you see any other Users tonight pass the word."

"But what is the meeting about? And why is Magnoss calling it instead of the Captain?" Wraith asked patiently. She was surprised to hear that the elusive Magnoss had actually been talking. I'll just have to listen more closely the next time I hear him rescue someone, she resolved.

"Well the Captain has been fine as an interim leader after that business with the Chairman," Pictsey explained. "But he's still quite young. He's also rather difficult to get a hold of and he doesn't really have time to devote himself fully to the role. Magnoss is a lot more accessible, and if we keep our current districts then he'll be available for us whenever we have User issues; like the Chairman was. I know he was an Abuser but that man was never too busy to talk to a User."