May 1964
“Cathy, we’re going over to the Lewiston farm.” Robert found her playing with her doll on the front porch.
“Why?”
“I need you to see how scarecrows are made.” He had talked to Barry about her fear of his scarecrows. Her visions had turned into nightmares. Clare got up with her almost every night. He had to stop her dreams.
“I don’t want to go see them. I‘m scared, Daddy. They hurt people.”
“They don’t hurt people. I will prove it to you. Let’s go.” Robert took her hand and they headed up to the road. They walked along the creek and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather. The night before brought rain, and the noisy birds crowded the fields.
“Cathy, you need to be very polite to Mr. Lewiston, and I don’t want to hear anything about walking scarecrows. He knows you’re afraid of them and he’s going to show you there is no reason to be afraid. Listen and learn, young lady.”
“I‘ll be good. Will you stay with me?” The child spoke quietly and then looked up at her father. “Please don’t leave me alone with them, please.” She held back tears.
Robert lifted the child off the ground and hugged her. He spoke to her softly. “I won’t leave you alone. I promise. No crying, okay?”
Cathy nodded and he put her down and grasped her hand again. They walked up the lane, and before they were halfway, a teenage boy came out of the large barn behind the house. He ran toward them.
Mr. Lewiston came out of the house and called, “Jimmy.” The teenager stopped and turned around. “I told you that you could talk to them, but you have to wait for me.” Barry caught up with Jimmy and patted his shoulder. He turned to greet his neighbors.
“Hello, Robert. Hi, Cathy.” Barry smiled at her. “You’re growing into a very pretty little girl. You look just like your mama.”
She looked carefully at the tall man with the wide shoulders and big stomach. He wore overalls and an undershirt. Barry turned to her father. Jimmy and Cathy watched each other.
“Jimmy usually does up the scarecrows and he’s doing that now. I told him he could explain what he does. We normally hang them in the fields when we finish seeding.”
“Thanks, Barry. I know this seems ridiculous. When she was little, I told her the scarecrows would get her, just to keep her out of the fields. Terrified she’d get lost, made me say stupid things. I guess it’s my fault she’s afraid now.”
“Hey, we do whatever we can to protect our kids. I understand.” Barry turned to Jimmy. “Okay, Jimmy, lead the way.”
Jimmy started walking slowly to the barn. He kept turning around, looking at the little girl. They grinned at each other. Once inside the barn, Jimmy led them to the back where bales of straw and a pile of old clothes were sitting on the floor. There were pieces of dowelling and flat wood in a pile next to a small table. Jimmy sat at the table and picked up a wooden cross, made from the flat pieces of wood. Barry started to say something and stopped. He looked at his son.
“Jimmy, can you tell these people how you make the scarecrows?”
Jimmy looked at his father and, with a full smile, nodded. For the next hour, he explained to Cathy what he did to create the scarecrows. The body had to fit over the tall pegs that were already in the field. He used work gloves, old rubber boots, a plaid shirt, and a butcher’s apron to make the first one. When he had the body ready, he pulled a straw-filled burlap bag over the end of the wood and started to paint a face on it. Robert watched Cathy and she watched Jimmy.
“Are you all right for a few minutes? I’m going with Mr. Lewiston and have a cigarette.” Enthralled by the process, she simply nodded at her father’s comment and never took her eyes off Jimmy’s project.
Robert signaled to Barry and the two men went outside. They strolled slowly up the lane and stopped where they could see the empty fields all around them. Each lit a cigarette and stood quiet for a few moments.
“I think she’ll be fine. Jimmy isn’t capable of much around here, but he does a good job on those things. It’s interesting, especially to a kid Cathy’s age. I don’t think she’ll be afraid anymore, now she knows they’re just wood and straw.”
“That would be nice. Last fall she drove us crazy with her stories of wandering scarecrow killers. Then this winter she woke up almost every night with nightmares about them.”
“Amazing what kids come up with these days. It’s that damn television. Have you watched some of those detective shows? No wonder kids think about killing.”
“You could be right, but like I said before, I think I can take credit for her fear this time. She already had a pretty active imagination.”
“Most kids do. If Lowell hadn’t decided he could be rich digging up that racetrack, Jimmy would be fine now. I can’t blame him, mind you. That boy always dreamed big.”
“Have you heard from Lowell? Has he called you?”
“Not a word from him since he left last fall. He and Jesse, his girlfriend, just took off. Her mother thinks they’re probably in some hippie commune somewhere. I think I probably agree with her. They even left his car here. Maybe that ‘live off the land’ stuff they were yapping about really took over those two kids.”
“I guess that’s common for kids to believe in that crap.”
“Yeah, hard work is just not that exciting.”
The two men stood in the fresh spring air and caught up on the latest gossip. They didn’t worry about the kids inside the barn as they shared the slow, easy atmosphere of the open country.
Jimmy finished the first scarecrow. It looked like an old woman. He stuffed the clothes with more straw until it became a very fat old woman. He had painted red lips, brown eyes and black eyelashes on her face and added an old mop head for hair. The little girl laughed when he pulled the scarecrow up to a standing position.
“Well, what do you think?”
“That’s really good, Jimmy. Does she have a hat?”
“I almost forgot. Can you hold her up for me?” Cathy stood up, held on to the wood in its back with both hands, and kept it standing. Jimmy nodded and, from behind his table, retrieved a big floppy straw hat with red plastic flowers covering the brim. They both laughed when he placed it on the head and tied the ribbon around its neck several times.
“She’s very beautiful, isn’t she?” Jimmy took back his art piece.
“She sure is. I don’t know how I could ever be afraid of her.”
Jimmy laid the scarecrow down and took Cathy’s hand. “You’re afraid because you saw them doing bad things. They won’t hurt you, because you’re my friend now. They don’t hurt me or my friends.”
Jimmy went back to his table, turned and watched her. She looked at the hat perched on the scarecrow’s head and laughed aloud. “Jimmy, that really is an awful hat.”
Thursday, July 28, 1966
Steven found the third concession easily. The train yard spread out and away from the roundhouse. He turned at the dirt road and headed east. On his right sat the cornfields, and on his left a fence with a natural-gas insignia surrounded a grassy area. Rolling slowly down the dirt road, his instincts told him he found the right place. The corn on the south side stood a couple of feet high, and he could see the scarecrows in the field.
Just past the fence on the north side, he saw a two-story house. The older home sported white clapboard siding and a wide front porch. The upper floor had two double windows facing the cornfield. He pulled into the driveway and shut off the car. Even though he only had Cathy’s stories to go on, this had to be the Millard homestead. He walked up the steps to the wide porch and knocked on the door.
“He’s not home. He’s at work,” a voice called out from the other side of the road. Steven turned and saw a young man standing at the edge of the cornfield. Steven smiled and waved. Moving down the stairs, he walked across the grass toward the road.
“Hello. Do you know when Robert will be home?” Steven hoped the name reference would confirm his location.
“He’ll be home soon. Who are you?”
“I’m a doctor. I’m here to talk to him about his daughter Cathy.”
“Do you know her? Do you know where she is? Have you seen her?” The young man jumped into the ditch and pulled himself up the near side. He walked quickly toward Steven.
“Cathy’s in the hospital. I haven’t met her myself, but I will be seeing her very soon. I just needed to talk to her father.”
“Is she sick?”
“No, she’s not really sick. Cathy needs to stay until we can find out why she is having delusions. When she’s better, she’ll come home”
“What are delusions?”
Steven realized this young man had to be Jimmy. “Are you Jimmy Lewiston?”
“Cathy is my friend. I miss her. She’s been gone a long time. Can you make her come home?” Jimmy stood right in front of him and stared at the doctor.
Steven felt unnerved by the boy’s intense stare. He needed to engage this young man. “Do you want to help her come home?”
“How?”
“Answer my questions. Can you do that?”
Jimmy nodded. Walking over to his car, Steven grabbed the notebook from the passenger seat. He slowly walked back toward Jimmy and sat down on the grass. The old willow tree in the front yard provided shade, while he waited for Jimmy’s physical response. Steven had spent a lot of time with kids like Jimmy and understood their caution. He waited patiently, and after several minutes, the boy slowly sat beside him.
“Jimmy, do you know anything about the scarecrows in your fields? Cathy seems to think they can hurt people and that they walk sometimes.”
Jimmy became pale and jumped up quickly. “I can’t talk about that.” Jimmy started backing away. He suddenly turned and bolted across the street. He jumped into the ditch and pulled himself up the other side. He turned once, looked back, and then ran into the field.
The doctor realized that questions about scarecrows created fear in someone besides Cathy.
He enjoyed the breeze under the tree and slowly smoked a cigarette. The place reminded him of Illinois and his uncle’s farm. He loved the fresh smell in the air and the sound of birds everywhere. He decided to catch up on his notes while he waited for Robert. He wrote about the woman’s reaction at the fruit stand, the man with the gossip, and Jimmy.
Putting his hands behind his head, he lay back under the huge tree. The grass felt cool and the trains chugged and shunted in the freight yard. He closed his eyes and almost dozed off. Steven sat up quickly when a vehicle pulled onto the gravel driveway. He stood up, brushed off his jeans, and walked quickly to Robert with his right hand extended.
“Mr. Millard, I’m glad to finally meet you. I’m Dr. Steven Webster, Dr. Wagner’s associate.”
Robert shook his hand and looked him up and down. This new doctor looked to be in his early forties, slim, sporting a full head of dark hair. His calm, professional attitude made Robert feel comfortable. “I’m surprised you drove all the way out here. What exactly did you want?”
“Just taking in the countryside and getting a better idea of what Cathy talked about in her story.” Steven looked around and smiled. “It’s beautiful here. It reminds me of being a kid and dozing in the shade on hot afternoons.”
Robert pointed to the porch. “We could sit up there instead of in the grass. It’s hot for July, but there’s always a nice breeze and plenty of shade.”
They walked up the steps and found two old wooden chairs.
“Can I get you something to drink? I just got off work and I’m going to grab a beer. I can get you one. They’re cold.”
“Sure, that sounds good.”
Robert opened two beers and came back out to find Steven standing on the porch with a basket of strawberries in each hand.
“What’s this?”
“I needed directions, and I stopped at one of the fruit stands and asked a bunch of questions. I had to buy something.”
Robert handed him a beer and took a box of berries. “Eating strawberries and drinking beer. Why not?”
They enjoyed the cool breeze and took in the view.
A huge lilac bush at the west end of the porch hid most of the chain-link fence. On the other side of the driveway, Steven could see a garden thriving quite nicely and, behind the vegetables, a long, wide row of huge sunflowers. Some had blossomed, but most were just starting to open.
“That’s an odd garden. The vegetables and sunflowers seem a strange mix.”
“Leroy and Gladys grow vegetables and cultivate honey to sell at the market. They grow even more vegetables in my backyard. The sunflowers are for the bees. There are at least a dozen big hives over behind the house. When he grows sunflowers, the bees pretty well stay on his property. In fact, I don’t think the bees ever stung any of my kids.”
“Nice people? Good neighbors?”
“They are very nice people and great neighbors. I have no idea how old those two are. Leroy is tall and very thin and walks around dressed in all black with an old top hat on his head. Gladys wears long black dresses and one of those hats that tie with a ribbon under her chin. I think they’re Mormon or something like that.” Robert used his hands to describe the pair.
“They sound like quite the couple.”
“Clare used to talk to Gladys quite often. She’s very nice and very quiet. I always wave to Leroy, and we’ve talked a fair bit over the years. I like the old guy. He’s very intelligent.”
“That must be the cornfield.” Steven stood to get a better idea of the size. He looked up and down the road, and cornfields lined the road on both sides.
“That’s the one.”
“Where you found the girls that morning?”
Robert looked beyond the field. “I’ve thought about selling this house and going somewhere else. I hate looking at it. Yes, I found Cathy and Emily out there that morning. I’ll never ever forget that.”
Steven realized he needed to change the subject. “Jimmy came here earlier, but he ran away when I asked him about the scarecrows.”
“You can’t talk to Jimmy. He doesn’t understand what happened to his friend. When I drove in, you surprised me by being here. Usually Jimmy waits for me, to see if I bring Cathy home.”
“He waited. I told him she had to stay at the hospital.”
They each lit fresh cigarettes and sipped their beers.
Robert dropped deep into thought. When he finally spoke, his frustration was obvious. “Jimmy always asks me where Cathy is and when she’s coming home. I talked to his father, but Jimmy’s just…Jimmy. I tell him the same thing every day, and he goes home and tells his father the same thing every day.”
“That reminds me. The man at the fruit stand talked about a pond and a racetrack. He said Jimmy fell into the pond there and that caused his problems.”
“You’re good at getting people to talk.” Robert finished his beer and then pointed to the cornfield. “The racetrack is on the other side of the cornfield, in the bush. It burned down fifty-some years ago. There’s a pond there.” He stood and looked across. “Stories of ghosts and treasure attracted kids like Jimmy and his brother to that old racetrack. Their belief in those stupid stories ruined Jimmy’s life.”
A cool breeze swept across the porch. Robert went into the house and came back out with fresh beers. He sat back down and related the story of Jimmy’s accident to Steven.
“Mr. Millard, do you mind if I ask you about Cathy’s story?”
“Please call me Robert.” The man hesitated and finally nodded in agreement.
“Okay, I’ll go grab the file. Please, I’m Steven.”
Robert lit a cigarette.
The doctor got up and walked to his car. Reaching through the window, he retrieved the file and his notepad. After only a couple questions, Steven realized Robert had heard Cathy’s statement many times, and took the blame for his daughter’s obsession with scarecrows. There was nothing new he could learn from this man.
“Do you mind if I see her room and her window?”
“Sure. Come on in and we can head upstairs. I’ve already spent hours standing at that window, watching scarecrows. You’ll see exactly what she could see.” Robert walked into the house. On his way up the stairs, he hesitated. “I need to open the windows up there anyway. It’ll be stifling otherwise.” Steven followed him to the second floor.
The fields and the house proved fascinating. Cathy’s story somehow came to life. From the window, the field and the scarecrows filled his vision. Steven suddenly understood her childhood fears. The scarecrows masked a reality far more frightening to her, than they could ever be.