Dark Woods Read Free

Eden.
    ‘It’s just a squirrel,’ said Cal. ‘What’s it going to do? Peanut me to death?’
    ‘Not that. The plants.’
    Cal looked down, half-expecting to see some sharp thorns or a patch of stinging nettles, but all he could see were a few shiny green leaves. Although they appeared harmless enough, the look on Eden’s face stopped him in his tracks.
    ‘It’s poison ivy, Cal. Touch that and you’ll blister up like bubble-wrap.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I’m telling you. A kid in our neighbourhood fell into some once and you could hear his screams from two blocks away. His hand swelled up like a baseball glove and for the next few weeks he had to walk around slathered in lotion.’
    ‘Wow, OK,’ said Cal, reversing back onto the path. ‘All that from one little plant?’
    ‘You’d better believe it. Don’t you have that kind of stuff back home?’
    Cal looked at the blue sky and the butterflies dancing above the path in front of him.
    ‘Not really, no.’
    He stared at the ivy again, fascinated by the thought of all that pain hidden beneath its innocent green leaves.
    ‘Are you feeling OK?’ asked Eden as they carried on up the trail. ‘I mean, I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you seemed kind of miserable earlier on.’
    ‘Most people are pretty miserable at six in the morning,’ said Cal, wondering if all Americans were this direct.
    ‘There’s miserable and there’s miserable,’ said Eden. ‘Did you have an argument with your parents or something?’
    ‘They aren’t my parents,’ said Cal.
    The forest hummed with insects, like an electric generator.
    ‘OK,’ said Eden. ‘Now that is interesting.’
    Cal could tell that she was intrigued, but he didn’t feel like going into it. So he just pointed at a smaller path that branched off into the trees and said, ‘Where do you reckon that goes?’
    Eden followed his gaze, then pointed with her stick.
    ‘How about we find out?’

Eight
    Eden gestured for Cal to go first and, after checking for poison ivy, he squeezed through the bushes into the forest. It was incredible really, the difference a few metres could make. While the path had been in the full heat of the sun, the air beneath the trees was cooler and heavier, laden with the scent of pines.
    ‘Are you sure this is the way to McDonald’s?’ asked Eden.
    Cal was still trying to think of a witty reply when he heard a voice calling through the trees.
    ‘Tansy? Tansy, where are you? Come on now, stop messing around, will ya?’
    Cal leaned against a tree and waited for Eden to catch up with him. Together they stood and listened to the sound of the man’s voice, somewhere up ahead.
    After a few moments, the voice stopped. Cal heard the snap of a branch breaking and turned to see a man standing in dappled sunlight beneath the pines. He looked to be somewhere in his mid-forties and was dressed in a check shirt and combat trousers. Draped around his neck was a pair of binoculars and on his back was a canvas rucksack with a sleeping bag tied underneath. He had brown, shoulder-length hair which looked as if it hadn’t been washed in a while, and as he ran a hand through it his eyes darted back and forth between the two of them.
    ‘My dog,’ he said. ‘Have you seen her?’
    Cal shook his head.
    ‘Sorry. We only just got here.’
    ‘Are you sure?’ The man frowned and scratched the stubble on his chin. ‘She came this way less than two minutes ago.’
    Cal was surprised at how softly spoken the man was. From his appearance he had expected something harder, less educated. But he knew from the poison ivy that appearances could be deceptive.
    ‘What kind of dog is he?’ asked Eden.
    ‘She,’ the man corrected her. ‘I said that already, didn’t I?’
    There was an awkward silence for a moment or two, but Eden was quick to fill it.
    ‘We could help you look for her, if you like,’ she offered, throwing a sidelong glance at Cal. ‘I mean, it’s not like we’ve got anything else