September 29, 1964
Startled, Clare turned to find Jimmy behind her. Sweat ran down her forehead and neck, and her skin had gone pale. When her legs gave way, she grabbed for Jimmy. The boy placed a hand under each elbow and held her up. After several deep breaths, she steadied herself.
Clare straightened her back and looked at Jimmy. “What are you doing out here at this time of night?”
“Cathy and Emily are fighting.”
Clare was confused. “They’re both here? Where are they? Can you show me?”
She followed Jimmy through several rows of corn and saw the two girls in the moonlight. Cathy tried to take Emily’s hand and Emily kept pushing her away.
Clare watched Emily grab her daughter’s arm and twist it. Cathy fell, crying, and then Emily kicked her.
The anger she felt had her temperature rising far beyond the hot flash. She stumbled to the girls, and shoved Emily to the ground. Clare helped Cathy to stand and then turned back to Emily. She was slowly getting up.
“How dare you treat my daughter that way?” Clare pushed her to the ground again. The woman fell to her knees and pushed Emily’s face into the dirt.
“Leave me alone, you old hag.” Emily started to get up again.
Clare saw the small axe lying there and grabbed it. She smashed it into the child’s head and Emily fell, facedown. She swung the axe at her head several times. When Emily finally stopped moving, Clare two-handed the axe and, in a frenzied rage, kept hacking at Emily. Cathy talked to her mother, but Clare didn’t hear her. When Cathy grabbed her mother’s arm, Clare froze. The child gently took the axe from her mother, and laid it on the ground. She tied Clare’s robe and looked at Jimmy.
“Please take her home.” The boy nodded.
Clare stood up and stared straight ahead.
Jimmy took her by the arm and walked with her out of the field. As he had always done, he rubbed out their footprints as they walked. He helped her across the creek, the road and the yard, and left her standing on her front porch.
She walked into the house and back to the kitchen. She removed the robe and pushed it to the back of a shelf in the pantry. She washed away the blood in the kitchen sink and put her damp nightgown back on. She climbed the stairs and crawled into bed. Robert snored softly. She cried silently for a few moments, but any memory quickly faded as she fell asleep.
Jimmy walked down the road to his house. He climbed back into his room through the window and went to bed.
Cathy tried to wipe the blood from the axe, and only managed to get it all over her nightgown. She sat a few feet away from Emily. Not knowing what to do, she lay back and fell asleep watching the stars.
October 1970
The rain pounded on the car’s roof. Steven didn’t notice the weather. He sat and stared at the wall in front of him. He hadn’t slept and couldn’t wrap his mind around what he had to do.
Snapping back to reality, he opened the car door, pushed the umbrella open outside the car and grabbed his briefcase. He rushed across the parking lot to the entrance and stood under the canopy.
“Come in before you catch your death out there.” Alexis held the door open.
Steven nodded. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. You’re a day early. Something must have happened.”
“Everything’s changed. I’ll see you in your office before I leave, and I’ll explain it to you then.”
They walked down the hall to the elevator. Steven, serious and quiet, got in and the doors closed. He reached Cathy’s door and knocked.
Wendy smiled at the doctor. “We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow. I guess I’ll just have an early lunch.” Wendy grabbed her purse and left, closing the door behind her.
Steven walked over to the table and sat down across from Cathy.
“What’s up?” Cathy smiled and looked up from her book. The expression on Steven’s face unnerved her. “What’s the matter?”
He looked into her eyes and, after a few moments, asked. “Can we talk about your mother?”
“Why do you want to talk about her?” Cathy blew out a breath.
A few moments passed before he responded. “Your father found her suicide note. She wrote out everything that happened in the field that night.”
“She killed herself?” Shocked, Cathy shook her head. “No. She accidentally took too many pills.”
“Your father thought it easier for you if you didn’t know. He only found this note two days ago.” Steven pulled the note from his briefcase and handed it to her.
Cathy unfolded the paper slowly and stared at the writing. She held back her tears. “I wish she hadn’t written this.”
“Why didn’t you tell us the truth, especially after your mother died?”
“I loved my mother and I miss her so much.” The tears overflowed. Cathy got up and paced the room, sobbing into her hands.
Steven stopped her and put his arms around her. He held her tightly and let her cry. Her body shook, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she seemed to finally calm, Steven handed her a handkerchief and, with his arm still around her shoulders, walked her to the sofa. Sitting beside Steven, she blew her nose and took deep breaths. She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling.
“I thought I had it all figured out.” Cathy shook her head. “My dad told us a story once, about how his father and the other farmers had trouble with snakes. Big rattlers had moved into the fields, and they were afraid one might bite one of their kids. The farmers went into the fields together, wearing boots and carrying hoes and rakes, and scoured all the fields. They killed fourteen rattlesnakes that day and never saw another one after that.”
“Is this part of the real story?”
“I thought I had to find the answer. I saw scarecrows kill people and I saw them walk around that cornfield. I knew no one believed me. I went into the field that night to help Emily. My mother followed me and killed her. I couldn’t tell anyone what I saw, and the next day, Mom didn’t remember any of it. I thought if I told everyone the scarecrows did it, they would believe me. I thought my father and the other farmers would go into the field and kill them, like the snakes.”
“You used Emily’s murder to try and get rid of the scarecrows. Do I have that right?” Steven recognized her calculated plan.
She nodded and turned toward Steven. “Mom got really sick that summer. She couldn’t take care of me very well and she didn’t want my dad to know how sick she felt. Mrs. Cutforth would come over and help her. She’d cook and clean when my mother couldn’t. Sometimes she took me back to her house. The pills didn’t help Mom very much. Mrs. Cutforth brought her a special tea she made from leaves and roots. It made my mom sleep a lot, and sometimes she’d just forget stuff.”
Cathy stopped talking and got up. She walked to the window. The rain pelted the glass, obscuring the view. She stared through the pane. “I couldn’t tell anyone about the things she did during that summer. She never wanted my father to think she was crazy.”
“Were you ever going to tell anyone the truth about Emily’s murder?”
“I’ve almost told you a couple times. I just couldn’t hurt my father. He adored my mother. He still cries when he talks about her. It just had to wait.”
“Your father knows the truth now, and he wants you home with him. My only question is about…”
“You want to know about the scarecrows? I believed they were real. Jimmy committed suicide because I said he had to get rid of them. I told him to put them back into the pond. I thought it solved the problem.”
Steven walked to the window and watched the rain with Cathy. “We’ll talk about all this. You’re going home now. I’ll go tell Alexis and complete your release. Wendy can help you pack. We’ll leave in about an hour.”
Cathy sniffled back the tears.
August 1974
Cathy looked around from the swing on the porch. The city expansion plans had destroyed the old farms, rerouted the creek and filled in the ditch. Blacktop covered the road now and the highway ran four lanes. She could see the framework of a shopping mall sprouting in the fields across the road. The Cutforths’ property became an industrial building. City planners demolished the roundhouse, and only three tracks remained.
Cathy crossed the road and made her way around the construction site to the old racetrack. The concrete grandstands and stables had disappeared. She couldn’t find the pond at first, but the three old willow trees finally gave it away. Dirt filled the hole and shoots of grass sprang from the ground where the water had been.
It surprised her to find a bench under one of the trees, and she sat down in the shade. This would be her last time here. They were leaving in two days. The city expropriated the house, and her father arranged for the two of them to move to Brantford to live with her brother Richard and his family until they found a place of their own.
She sat at Jimmy’s grave. They never did recover his body. She remembered those days when he laughed at her books, and they sang songs, and caught frogs. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the pleasant memories.
The hand on her shoulder gave her start, and she jumped up and turned around quickly.
“I bet you thought you’d never see me again?” Jimmy smiled.
“I…I thought…how did…” Cathy’s voice left her, and she dropped back onto the bench and stared at him. He sat down beside her.
“I’m sorry I startled you. I missed you, Cathy.” He sat down beside her. “I’m not really Jimmy. I’m not sure who I am. I came up with him when they pulled him from the pond. He died in the water, and I thought I could just be him for a little while. Then you and I became friends.”
Cathy’s heart pounded. She listened to his voice.
“Those murderous thugs that took over the scarecrows, they came up too. I did get rid of them. I threw those sacks onto the bottom of the empty pond and watched truckloads of dirt bury them for good. I wanted you to know I did what you asked me to do.” He looked sad. “I’ll miss you. I have to go now.”
Cathy sat on the edge of the bench, took a deep breath and slowly reached for his face. As her fingers touched his cheek, Jimmy grinned and disappeared.