Stranger in the Woods

Liz got up early the next morning because she had a lot to do. It was the day they were going to start painting. She put on her slippers and her robe and went into her small bathroom, turned on the hot water faucet on the pedestal sink, and waited for it to heat up. She leaned heavily against the ancient porcelain fixture and regarded her face in the oval mirror that hung on the wall.

I’m getting old, she thought. The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes seemed deeper, and the rest of her face, creased by the pillow, looked like an unmade bed.

She felt tired, too. How am I going to find the energy to do everything that’s on my list for today? And keep Zach and his friends on track, too? I hope my father helps me, and doesn’t decide to take the day off.

She washed her face and patted it dry with a towel, then dragged a brush through her shoulder length, dark-blonde hair. Something caught her eye and caused her to stop. A gray strand stuck out near her temple.

“No!” She curled the discolored interloper around her index finger, pinched it tightly with her thumb, and yanked it out. She grunted from the pain and her eyes began to water. Whoa, that hurt. She leaned closer to the mirror and looked again, carefully checking for any other aged threads in her otherwise youthful-looking scalp. After a thorough examination, she decided that she’d gotten the only one, and she held it up and inspected it closely. It was definitely gray, no matter how she twisted it between her fingers in the light.

How can this be? I’m not even forty yet. The events of that last few months must’ve been taking a heavier toll than she realized. She tilted her head back and groaned with her eyes closed, then bit her lip hard. Buck up! Zach is depending on you.

She dropped the gray hair into the waste basket by the sink, pulled off a long strip of toilet paper, wadded it up, and stuffed it on top to hide the unwelcome strand. She jammed her fists on her hips and glared at it, then leaned over and snatched the white plastic liner out, even though it was nearly empty, and tied the top of the bag into a savage knot.

She carried it with her as she marched out of her room to the hall, on her way to the garbage bin outside, but paused when she reached the door across from Zach’s, the one that led to the shrine. Light was spilling from it, and she peered inside to find Zach already up and dressed, cleaning the trophies on one of the shelves. “What are you doing up so early?” she said.

“Getting this done before my friends get here.”

“You’re certainly consistent about doing that chore, and I don’t even have to nag you about it. I wish you were that way with the others I try to get you to do.”

He flipped the feather duster over a pair of enormous softball trophies that sat together like twin towers. “Can’t have it getting dirty. That would be disrespectful to Dad.”

He doesn’t care. He’s dead. “Just because you do this every day doesn’t mean you’re exempt from the rest of your chores. We have a lot to do before the summer’s over, and I’m depending on you.”

He faced her and the corners of his mouth turned down. “How come you pay my friends and not me? I don’t think it’s fair. I work as hard as they do.”

“I told you already, this is your house, too, and I’m not—”

“I know it’s my house, too!” He shook the feather duster at her forcefully, and a cloud of motes spread from it into the air. “But I still don’t think it’s fair. They get all the money, and all I get is tired.”

“You get a nicer house.”

He didn’t answer. He stared back at her resentfully, and she rolled her lips into her mouth while she considered what he’d said. Maybe it isn’t fair. Maybe he should get some kind of reward. “How about if we do this? If you work hard the rest of the summer, I’ll see how much money I have left, and maybe I can buy you something nice. Something that you really want.”

“I don’t want you playing video games all the time.”

“It would be something to do with my friends when they come over.”

“Shelby would get left out, I’m sure.”

“So? She can play on the computer or read in the library. She likes to read.”

“You can read in the library, too.” Liz nearly put her hand over her mouth when she realized that she sounded just like her mother. She remembered her saying something like that, years ago. “It hurts Shelby’s feelings when you leave her out. When they’re here, I’d rather you do things that include her.”

“It’s hard to include her all the time. She’s a girl.”

“I’m glad you noticed. But I’m still not getting you an Xbox.”

His mouth twisted petulantly. “What else is there, then?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of a cell phone.”

The pout vanished. “Really?”

“I thought it would make it easier to for us to stay in touch once school starts, especially if you do extracurricular activities, but you have to be responsible about using it. You can’t play with it during class and I don’t want you staying up late on school nights, texting your friends.”

“Who am I going to text? Jason and Justin and Shelby don’t have phones, and they’re my only friends.”

“You’ll make new ones once school starts. And I know that several of your old buddies from Raleigh have phones, and you’d probably text them.”

His face fell, and she knew she’d hit a sensitive spot. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’,” he grumbled. He turned away from her and began flipping the feather duster over another trophy. Then he abruptly stopped and faced her again. “Are we going to paint in here, too?”

“We’re painting every room. Even the laundry room.”

“But I’ll have to take everything down, and I’ve got it looking just right.”

“You can put it back up.”

“But I might not be able to get it all in the exact same spots.”

Now he’s being petty. Something was bothering him, and she wondered if it had something to do with his friends from Raleigh. She forced herself to answer calmly. “Then let me at least paint the ceiling.” She glanced up. “It’s got water stains on it.”

“You’ll get paint on Dad’s stuff.”

“I’ll cover everything. I’ve got plenty of drop cloths and old sheets.”

“How about the plaques and stuff on the walls?”

“I’ll tack a plastic sheet over them. I know how to be careful, Zach.”

He snorted and turned back to his dusting, a sign that the conversation was over, as far as he was concerned.

Zach’s friends came over around midmorning and his mother put them right to work, Shelby inside with her, and Zach and the boys outside with Grandpa, painting the wooden fence in the backyard. Zach’s mother embarrassed him by insisting in front of everybody that he put on sunblock, and she managed to get Jason and Justin to wear some, too.

“The sun is too strong right now for you not to have it on,” she said. “It’s almost July. And you really should be wearing a hat, Zach. You don’t have one, do you? Do you want me to go to the store real quick and buy you one? Maybe I should get one for each of you.”

“Please don’t,” Zach said. “We’ll be fine.”

She left, and Grandpa gave each of them a brush and a short lecture on putting the paint on the wood and not on each other, followed by a sharp look at the twins. “By the way,” he said as he handed a plastic bucket to Justin, “I saw your uncle at Bennie’s the other night.”

“Unless you have more than one uncle, yeah. He was getting drunk and bragging about hunting the white giant, or some such nonsense.”

Justin stared back at Grandpa wordlessly, while Zach and Jason exchanged troubled glances.

“Where does he get such fool notions?” Grandpa asked.

Justin managed a shrug. “I dunno. Mama thinks he’s crazy.”

“Grandpa,” Zach said, trying to sound nonchalant, “what’s the white giant?”

“Supposed to be like Bigfoot, only an albino one, I guess. Lives somewhere out in the national forest. I think it’s just a stupid rumor. We have our share of those around here.”

He started to walk away and Zach said, “Aren’t you going to help us?”

“My knee’s acting up, and I don’t want to take away from you boys’ livelihood.”

He retreated to the shade of the terrace to supervise them. It was hot. Zach was already sweating and having second thoughts about rejecting the offer of the hat from his mother.

The work was difficult, too. His mother had selected white paint for the fence because she felt like it would set off the green of the camellias once they grew back, but after only a few brush strokes, it became apparent that it would require more than one coat to cover the wood. It was also hard to get behind some of the shrubs, and their bare branches scratched his back as he wiggled into the hard-to-reach places.

Grandpa relaxed in one of the rusty wrought iron chairs on the terrace where it was shady and cool, and after a while, pulled his cellphone from his pocket and became engrossed in it, ignoring the boys while they worked.

Jason, who was painting a few feet away from Zach, stole a glance at Zach’s reclining grandfather and moved closer to Zach. He said in a low voice, “Did you get what he said about the white giant? That must be the guy we saw. We gotta go back to the woods soon.”

“Yeah, but when?” Zach said. “My mom said we’re having a party here, so she wants to have all of the painting done before that. We’re gonna be busy for days.”

Jason dipped his brush into his plastic bucket and laid a couple of white strokes on the fence. “I don’t have to do this.”

“But I do. I can’t go to the woods for a while.”

Jason continued to paint and didn’t answer right away.

“I guess you guys can go without me,” Zach said.

Jason paused and held his brush by his side. A few white drops dribbled from the tip and fell onto the grass, and Zach watched them idly, suddenly feeling low.

“Nah,” Jason said. “We’ll wait for you.” He swept his wet brush across the fence again. Zach felt better.

Liz worked Shelby hard all day, and the slim girl never complained, but kept at it steadily, painting baseboards and then cutting in the new color on the walls. She seemed to be able to sit cross-legged or kneel for hours, taking care of the low areas that would’ve been difficult for an adult, while Liz worked on the higher spots and used the roller.

Later, after Shelby and her brothers had gone home for the day, Liz put dinner in the oven and got her father and Zach to help her move the furniture back into place in the family room, the only one that she and Shelby had finished painting.

She admired the results, standing with her father and Zach. The walls were now candlelight yellow, and the trim was white. The room seemed brighter now, and more cheerful. It had turned out better than she hoped. “What do you think?”

“Stinks in here,” Zach said.

“The paint smell will go away soon.” She turned to her father. “How about you, Dad?”

“Looks good, Liz. Sure is a lot of trouble, though.”

She wasn’t going to let their indifferent responses dampen her mood. “Well, I love it. I think it looks great. I think you boys did a terrific job on the fence, too. I can’t wait to finish the other rooms.” She looked around again and smiled. They had taken a significant step toward turning the gloomy, antiquated house into a home, and she was beginning to feel as if it was theirs.

After her bath that evening, Liz found Zach in the family room, idly scrolling through channels on the television. She sat down beside him on the sofa and patted his leg. “Thank you for being such a good helper today. I couldn’t do this without you.”

He rolled his eyes toward her without moving his head. “You make it sound like I’m four years old. A good helper? That’s what they told us in preschool.”

“Would you like a gold star?” She chuckled but his face remained stiff. She furrowed her brow and said, “What’s wrong, Zach?”

He lifted one shoulder and let it fall, as if it were too heavy to hold up for long. “Just tired, that’s all.”

“You got a lot of sun today while you were painting the fence. That’ll wear you out.” He didn’t answer or look at her. Instead, he stared at the television and began clicking the remote again.

“Zach, something is bothering you, I can tell.”

He pressed the mute button and turned to face her. “I talked to Jason and Justin today about the school. What it’s like and all. Now I’m worried.”

“That’s understandable. It’s a totally new situation for you, and you’ll have to find a way to fit in, but I’m sure you will.”

Zach glanced at his lap for a moment. “That’s the problem. All of the other kids have been going to school together since kindergarten, and I’m the new guy. What’s worse is the popular kids play sports and stuff, and I’m terrible at that, so that’s out. And I’m not geeky enough to fit in with the nerds. Not that I want to, but still.” He looked at her, his eyes miserable. “That would be better than nothing.”

“Zach.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it and tried to think of something to say that didn’t sound like it came from a Hallmark greeting card. “You’ve got three friends already, and from what I can tell, they’re good friends, not just the rainy-day types who only want to hang out with you when things are going well for you.”

“Well, that’s true.” He smiled cheerlessly. “Because things aren’t going well for me.”

She took a long breath while she wondered how to respond, and she suddenly had the urge to say, How do you think I feel? Have you even considered that, or is it always about how hard life is for you? Instead, she patted his leg again and smiled thinly as she stood. “We have a home, I have a job, and you have three friends. Try to be happy with that.”

Zach’s mother pushed them relentlessly the rest of the week, and the work proceeded quickly. He and his friends were allowed to paint inside, after a short trial under her watchful eye. By Friday, he was tired and begged for a day off. She said it could be on Sunday.

Liz searched the downstairs for Zach and found him in the living room, staring dolefully out of the front windows at the downpour. He turned when he noticed her and said, “There’s nothin’ to do.”

“Tina just called, and she’s bringing her kids over in a few minutes.”

“Aren’t they getting tired of being over here?”

“Apparently not, but I am. We were thinking about going bowling. How’s that sound?”

“Mom, you know I’m a terrible bowler. I bet even Shelby’s better than I am.”

“We could do something else.”

“Like what? Their mom doesn’t have any money. That’s what Jason and Justin are always saying.”

“We could go to the dollar theater. That’s cheap, though it won’t have any newer movies.”

“I haven’t been to the movies in forever, so they’re all new to me. Do we get to pick which one?”

“It has to be something we all agree on. I thought about asking your grandfather if he wants to go, too. He might like that.”

“Aw, we’ll never agree on anything. We’ll probably end up watching something stupid.”

“You can stay home by yourself, if you’d rather.”

“No. Whatever. I’ll go.”

Tina arrived soon after with her family, and Liz proudly showed off the results of their painting. The kids headed to the family room to watch television until it was time to go to the movie. Liz’s father came over a few minutes later, and he joined Liz and Tina in the kitchen for coffee.

They were only halfway through their cups when Zach appeared in the doorway. “Mom, what movie are we going to see?”

“We thought we’d let Shelby pick.”

“Shelby?” His voice rose and his brow fell. “I thought you said it would be something we all agreed on.”

Tina smiled with her lips together, “We all agreed that Shelby should pick.”

Zach glared at them silently and Liz said, “Like I said, you don’t have to go.”

He spun on his heel and stomped away, only to return shortly after. “Mom? When are we gonna go?”

“The movies don’t start for another hour, at least. Try to be patient.”

“We’re bored.”

“Watch TV until then.”

“There’s nothin’ on.”

She spread her hands and angled her head as if to say not my problem.

Zach frowned for a moment, then said, “Can we look for the key to the lab?”

Tina’s eyebrows drew together. “What lab?”

Liz’s father pointed at the closed door behind them. “My Uncle Nicholas’s old laboratory is down in the basement.”

“So he really was a mad scientist?”

He huffed a laugh. “He wasn’t crazy, he was just reclusive. He was an inventor, and he did all his work here. But the door is locked and we don’t know where the key is.”

Sparks flashed in Tina’s eyes. “I want to see that. I’ve never been in a lab before.”

Zach bobbed his head. “So can we look for the key? Just ’till it’s time to go to the movie?”

Liz glanced at her father, who didn’t respond, so she said, “Okay, but try not to get dirty. It’s filthy down there.”

“We’ll be careful. Thanks.” He turned and yelled into the family room, “Hey! She said we could.”

Liz’s father led the way down the unfinished wooden stairs to the basement, limping with every other step.

“Mr. Ogletree?” Shelby said, walking behind him. “What’s wrong with your leg?”

“Injured my knee when I was younger.”

“He hurt it in the war,” Zach said as they neared the bottom. “He was a hero, just like my Great Uncle Bill. He was Grandpa’s brother, only he died in Vietnam.” They spilled out across the cement floor, and Liz shot her father a hard look. He never told Zach what really happened. Her father dropped his gaze to his feet and scratched the side of his neck, avoiding her eyes.

Shelby’s expression saddened, and Liz said, “It’s okay, honey. It was a long time ago.”

“Did you know him?”

“Uncle Bill? No, he died before I was born. But my brother, Will, is named after him. His full name is William.”

“He’s the one who called you Lizard?”

“Yeah.” Liz chuckled. “That one.”

The boys had already lost interest in the conversation, and their curious eyes were darting about the dusty room. “Where do you think he might’ve put the key?” Jason said.

“Could be anywhere,” Liz’s father said.

“But the trunks and boxes are off limits right now,” Liz said quickly. “We’re not getting into those today.”

“Come on, Mom,” Zach groaned. “What if it’s in one of them?”

Liz’s father shook his head. “I told you, Uncle Nicholas wouldn’t have put it there, and I don’t think he kept it on his key ring because he would’ve worried about losing it.”

“So?” Tina said. “I’ve lost my keys before. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“But someone might’ve found his, and then they would’ve had the key to this lab, and he wouldn’t have allowed that. My sister, Winnie, always thought he hid it down here, somewhere close by.”

He turned and gestured at the stairs behind him. “He would come down these every day when he was ready to start working, and he would want to fetch the key out of someplace that was handy, but not obvious. And he was an inventor, so keep that in mind. It was probably someplace clever.”

“Like a secret compartment?” Jason began thumping the wall beside him with the flat of his hand. “Maybe it’s here somewhere.”

Shelby looked at the steps and said, “Or maybe he kept it hidden somewhere on these. Then he could’ve gotten it on his way down.” She and Zach began peering under each tread and running their fingers along the wood, while Jason and Justin checked the entire length of the plain, white wall, whose only features were the closed steel door and the light switch next to it.

Zach suddenly stopped what he was doing. He turned and stared at the plastic switch plate, yellowed with age. He went directly to it and said, “Maybe it’s in here. This would’ve been a handy place to keep it, right by the door.”

“Sneaky, too,” Grandpa said.

Zach flipped the switch a few times while the rest of their group crowded around him.

“Maybe it moves,” Justin said. “Try sliding it up and down or turning it.”

Zach did. It wouldn’t budge.

“That’s not it,” Liz’s father said. “You’d see scrape marks on the wall from where it had been sliding over it, but there aren’t any.”

“Push on it,” Shelby said. “Hard.”

Zach tried that. There was an audible click, and it popped open. Everyone’s mouths fell open, too, as they caught their collective breath.

“He put a spring mechanism in there,” Liz’s father said. “That’s just like him. Clever and sneaky.”

A small square cavity was now visible behind the switch plate, and Zach dug his fingers inside it and suddenly grinned. He withdrew something small and held it aloft.

“Oh, geez,” Tina said. “That’s really cool.”

“Open the door,” Jason said eagerly.

Zach turned to his mother. “Can we?”

“Why not? I want to see it, too.”

“Let’s get the lights on, first.” Liz’s father reached over and flipped the switch up. “And hope they still work.”

Zach’s hands shook as he jiggled the key into the lock, and he struggled with it for a few seconds and stopped. “It won’t work.”

Liz’s father extended one hand. “Let me try.” Zach moved aside and his grandfather fiddled with it briefly, then withdrew the key and pounded on the lock a few times with the flat of his fist. “This might do the trick. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to put some graphite in it.” He slipped the key back in and twisted it. The lock turned with a metallic clack.

He glanced over his shoulder and said, “You ready for this? It’s liable to be pretty musty in there. This hasn’t been opened in eleven or twelve years, at least.”

Tina tapped Shelby on her shoulder. “Do you have your inhaler?” She nodded and Tina said, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go in.”

Liz’s father turned the knob and pushed the door open. Light flooded out, accompanied by a cloud of stagnant-smelling air, and Liz immediately thought of the pyramids of Egypt and the ancient tombs beneath. She felt like an explorer, excited and nervous, about to view the mysterious burial chamber of some long-dead pharaoh as they all filed inside behind her father.

The room was large and cluttered. Instead of an Egyptian king’s tomb, it seemed more like Dr. Frankenstein’s lab. Cobwebs draped from the four overhead lights and across the old machines, which filled every available surface. An exotic apparatus or instrument was in every corner. Workbenches lined the walls, stacked high with antique-looking electronic equipment, most of which she didn’t recognize.

“Jason, Justin,” Tina said firmly, “don’t touch anything! You hear me?”

“Yes ma’am,” they said in sullen unison.

“That goes for you, too,” Liz said to Zach.

“What is all this, Mr. Ogletree?” Shelby said, looking about, wide eyed.

“This is where Uncle Nicholas made his inventions. I’ve never been in here before. I don’t think anybody has but him. We’re probably the first to ever see it.”

“This is interesting.” Zach went to a contraption in the middle of the room. It looked like a control station, chest-high and slightly wider than a dishwasher. It’s dusty, slanted front was crammed with large, black knobs, rows of switches, and meters, like something from a NASA rocket launch in the early days. Project Mercury. Apollo 1.

On either side of that, set about a dozen feet apart, were big cylinders that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. There was an opening at the front of each one, large enough for a good-sized man to fit through, and their corrugated walls were made of long, finger-width metal tubes fitted tightly together.

Zach nodded toward one of them. “What were those for?”

“They look like futuristic phone booths,” Tina said.

“What’s a phone booth?” Justin asked.

“It’s a place where you used to be able to make phone calls for thirty-five cents.”

“They cost a dime when I was a kid,” Liz’s father said.

The kids stared at him vacantly and Liz said, “Never mind. I’ll find a picture of one on the Internet for you, later.”

Jason reached for one of the dusty black knobs on the control station and Tina snapped, “Don’t you even think about it!”

He snatched his hand back.

Liz’s father stepped beside him and said, “We don’t want you to get shocked, though I think this machine is kaput. Look here.” He pointed to one side of it, where there was a vent with black smudges rising over it. “Something inside burned out. Probably a lot of stuff, from the looks of it.” He leaned close to it and sniffed. “Still has that fried-insulation smell.”

Liz gazed about the lab and pursed her lips. “I think it would be better if we kept this room locked for now. I don’t want you kids playing around in here and getting hurt or burning the house down.”

“But Mom,” Zach said. “We could…we might learn something in here.”

Tina gave her two boys a severe look. “You mean, like how to electrocute yourself?”

“Right,” Liz said. “It’s not safe.” Liz extended her hand toward her father. “May I have the key, please?”

“I want to make a copy of it, first. Then you can have it.”

Disappointment swept over Zach’s face and Liz added, “Maybe after we get the rest of the house fixed up we can come down here and sort this mess out.”

“I want to be with you when you do that,” her father said. “In case you stumble across something important and don’t realize it.” He gestured at the contraption with the two cylinders. “Uncle Nicholas was obviously working on something significant before he died. I’d love to know what it was.”