"… no carving on the tables!"
Shy picked himself up off the smooth pine floorboards of the Hive amid cheers and slaps on the back from the other six boys. Come to find out, as Ralph told it, all the boys had gone through the same thing, more or less. Some of them had cooperated quicker, but all of them had the same experience of being convinced by some invisible force. From what Shy could gather, they had been arguing, joking, and bragging about it since. Shy, however, was still a little shaken. Tad seemed to notice, and came up to Shy and put his hand on Shy’s shoulder, as he began to quiet the boys.
"OK, OK…. We have a lot to talk about. I know you all have questions about what just happened. It is all part of the lesson that I am going to teach you this summer in our time together. That lesson is: believe in yourself, be confident." He paused and looked around as they stared at him. "Well… plenty of time for that later. We will meet back here before bed, and I will answer your questions. Right now, I’m hungry! How about we head to the lodge for dinner?" Taking in the chorus of answers, he smiled and said, "All right then, let’s fly!"
He opened a wooden cabinet and dragged out seven metal bars, welded onto a pulley system. He took one and walked to the far side of the Hive, slid open a screened door, which exposed a cable attached to the roof of the outside of the Hive. He slid a step stool over, and hooked the pulleys onto the heavy metal cable. The metal bar hung down.
"OK, who is first to fly? Eagles, step forward." Sampson and Daniel moved up to the stool. Both boys were tall and strong, and Shy felt like they were probably older than he was.
Daniel spoke up, "This is a zip line, isn’t it?"
"Yup. It should take you about three minutes to the bottom. We land several hundred yards behind the Lodge. Just stay within the pines of the landing area, and wait for all of us. NO noise!"
Daniel nodded to Tad, high-fived Sampson, and stepped up onto the step stool. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed the bar and pushed off into space. Sampson, not to be outdone, stepped quickly up, grasped the new bar Tad hooked up, and followed Daniel. You could hear both boys hooting with joy as they zipped down the hillside.
"Quiet!" Tad yelled after them. "Raven cabin, you're next"
"Me?!" Shy panicked.
"Come on… believe in yourself, remember? You can do this. I promise there will be no pushes this time… no tricks. You can push off when you are ready."
Shy looked around. The other four boys were staring back at him… waiting. He took a breath and stepped up onto the stool. Tad handed him the pulley bar, looked Shy in the eyes and winked. Shy grabbed the cool metal bar, and somehow felt like maybe he could do this. Tad stepped back. Another deep breath and Shy awkwardly leaped forward into space. Initially there was a bounce as the cable responded to his weight, then he smoothly began to roll forward. He began to gain speed quickly and found himself flying through the tree branches. The route the cable followed shifted slightly to the right and then to the left, dodging large trees. No sharp turns so far, Shy realized and he began to relax and enjoy the breeze zipping past. The line brought him over the tops of smaller trees, and around larger ones. The only unpleasantness was the occasional mosquito hitting his cheeks. He shut his mouth tight, but continued to smile.
Within a minute or two, Shy could feel the path flattening out. Soon he could just barely make out the ground below. The zip line began to slow until it came to a stop in a small clearing thickly surrounded by pines. Shy’s feet hit the ground and he let go of the bar. Daniel and Sampson motioned him over.
"Were you scared?" Daniel asked.
Shy shrugged.
"That was an awesome ride," Sampson added.
"Are you staying in your cabin all by yourself?" Daniel switched topics.
Shy had not thought about that. He didn’t have a roommate. All the other boys had someone to stay with, but not him. He knew he hadn't heard Crutch's name called for one of the cabins, and he instantly he pictured Crutch lying on a hammock in the Raven.
Shy nodded in answer to Daniel's question, but his anxiety remained. His thoughts lingered on the possibility of Crutch being his roommate. He was relieved when he could hear the distraction of the distinct zip line noise coming from behind him. Sampson pushed past Shy and Daniel, and positioned himself in front.
"I wonder who got to go next? Who do you guys think?" Sampson turned back towards them.
"I bet it was Finn," said Sampson. "He’s kind of loud and obnoxious."
Sampson was wrong. It was Henry that flew through the branches to land in front of them. Shy had decided that he liked Ralph, Henry's cabinmate, because Ralph had seemed a little quieter than most of the other boys. Henry, on the other hand, never stopped talking. Sure enough, they could hear him talking to himself as he came through the trees.
"Yeeessssss…. Henry-niner-niner you are clear for approach…. Landing gear down…. Thank you for flying Henry Air," he joked as he came to a stop.
As Henry walked over, still babbling, Shy caught sight of some movement on the far side of the small clearing. The cable ended where it wrapped many times around the base of a pine. As Henry's bar came to a rest against the base of the tree, it began to jiggle. It then slid from the cable and began to rise into the air! Nothing was holding it! Shy was speechless.
Finally, as it rose further into the air, and back up the hillside, he pointed at the bar and stammered, "LOOK!"
"Whaaaad up?" Henry answered for all of them as they turned to look.
"The bar, it just raised itself up and flew off!"
They looked to where he was pointing, and then looked at each other. Shy could read their expressions. They thought he was crazy!
"Really… I am serious," Shy pleaded. "See, the bars are gone…. Watch, watch the next one after it stops."
They could all hear the zipping noise as the cable began to sway and then pull taut. Sawyer came into view, trying not to smile, but not succeeding. He let go of the bar and began to walk over to the rest of the group, but stopped when he realized they were not even watching him. Instead, they were watching the bar as it came to a rest by the base of the pine. Sawyer looked at the tree and back at the boys in bewilderment.
"What are you staring at?"
"SHHHHhhhhhhhhh…" came the response from all of the boys at once, with hands raised toward him in a stopping gesture.
"Just watch," Henry added, not being able to be quiet himself.
Soon their curiosity was rewarded, and disbelief dispelled. The pulley from the bar lifted off the cable and the device began to rise into the air! There was a sharp intake of breath from Sam, who took a step forward. The bar paid them no mind and began to rise off into the gloom, back up the hillside. Shy swore that he could faintly hear wings beating out a rhythm. The air around the bar began to blur slightly. Shy rubbed his eyes, and the blurriness went away.
The zipping of another rider on the cable turned the boys' attention back to the landing area. Finn came hurtling through the branches, legs flailing and swinging like he was knocking over some bad guys. Before he could even begin to ask what was going on, Henry updated him.
"SHHHHhhhh…. Be quiet… we got some magic or ghosts or somethin’ goin’ on over here. They all turned and watched the whole process repeat itself.
Daniel turned to Shy, "You were right, we didn’t believe you, but you were right…"
"But what is doing that?" Shy whispered.
Ralph landed next and quietly approached as the boys watched the process begin to repeat itself yet again. This time, however, Sam had built up enough courage to walk over and wait for the bar to reach the tree. When it did, he grabbed the bar. At first nothing happened, then the bar was yanked from Sam’s hand, and he went flying backward. At that time, Tad zipped into view and landed. While walking over he took in the excited looks and Sampson lying on the ground, by the end of the cable.
"What happ…" Tad started to ask, but then a look of alarm spread across his face. "You didn’t …. Interfere with the bars being brought back up to the Hive, did you?" He asked accusingly to Sampson, who was now getting up off the ground. Sampson simply shrugged as he dusted himself off. There was a pause when no one said anything. Tad angrily looked around, then he took a breath and his look softened. Henry started to talk, but Tad silenced him by holding up his index finger.
"Look, I know you guys are wondering what is going on. I told you, I will explain everything tonight, after dinner. Please, until then, don’t investigate, don’t question. Just follow my lead and go with the flow, OK?"
They all nodded except Sam.
"Sam?"
"Huh? OK," he answered.
"I will smooth this over later," Tad said as he glanced up the hillside one last time. "OK, let’s hit the bricks…. Follow me!"
As they pushed through the tightly interwoven pine boughs of the clearing to a thin path, they slid into a single file line. Shy was flanked in front and back by the two boys from the Jay cabin, Finn and Sawyer.
Sawyer stopped in front of him, turned, and asked, "What was going on back there?"
"I don’t know really," Shy answered. "The bars just flew away."
Finn bumped into Shy from behind, which in turn pushed Shy into Sawyer. All three almost went down in a heap. Shy caught himself at the last second by catching onto a low limb, but Sawyer landed on his butt.
"Finn!" Sawyer scolded him.
Shy nervously watched the rest of the group disappear down the path ahead of them. Shy stepped over Sawyer and hurried to catch up. He heard the other two scramble to follow. Soon the path became wider and eventually opened up to the picnic grounds and a view of the back of the lodge. Dusk was beginning to take control of the sky. Shy noted pink sky off to the West, in the direction of the river. He thought, for the first time since he had arrived, of his mom.
"Red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning," she would always say. He wasn’t really sure what it meant, but he felt a twinge of homesickness in the pit of his stomach. He missed Shep too. From the time he got off the school bus, until he went to bed at night, the dog followed him everywhere.
Lights began to pop on in the lodge, and he could hear music faintly from inside, as they got closer. When they stepped into the back picnic area, Tad stopped them.
"When we get inside, our table is off to the left. Head over and sit down. They will tell us when it is our turn to go thru the line."
With that, he stepped up stairs made from boulders and rocks cemented together, and pulled open a giant screen door. As they walked in the music became louder, and laughing voices filled the air. They walked to the left past an unoccupied long, pine table. It held a sign that said the Lake cabins. The next table’s sign identified the Forest cabins. Sam and Daniel took a seat at the far end, and all the other boys followed suit. Shy ended up sitting between Henry and Sawyer. Ralph was seated across from him, and they smiled at each other because Henry was babbling on about nothing.
Shy looked at the table. It had names carved in it. Tons of names. As he began to read the names in front of him, he saw a small curl of a wood shaving appear on the table directly in front of him. Had that been there a second ago, Shy wondered. As he stared, more shavings appeared! Lines appeared, carved into the soft pine of the tabletop. A large letter S began to take shape. While he was staring at it, an H appeared. It was as if an invisible carving knife was at work right in front of his eyes. As he stared, a portion of the tabletop began to blur, but cleared when Shy shook his head. Next, a Y appeared! Shy quickly covered up his newly carved name with his hands, but had to peek again to make sure he hadn’t been imagining.
A voice sounded through a handheld megaphone. It was the bossy lady that had taken Crutch away after he had taken his spill into the puddle earlier.
"Attention all campers! Attention! Quiet down now. Gust will come around and pick the quietest tables to eat first. When your table is chosen, please proceed slowly to the food line. We have some wonderful tater tot hotdish tonight! My own special recipe! Now, for those of you who have been here before, remember, no carving on the tables! For the new campers, no carving on the tables! Thank You."
Shy's hands were almost turning white from pressing them flat to cover his newly carved name. Embarrassment and anger welled up inside him. He was going to get in trouble for this, even though he didn’t do it. It wasn’t fair. He tried to look around to see if the other boys noticed. As he looked at Henry, he noticed H-E-N-R-Y slowly forming on the table in front of him. Shy looked at the carving and looked up at Henry to see if he noticed, but he was too busy trying to convince Finn that Kirby Puckett was the best Minnesota Twin in history. Shy turned his attention to the others, still covering his own name in the pine table with his hands.
Sawyer must have been hungry because he was watching Gust make his rounds of the tables to decide which would start dinner first. He didn’t see the S-A-W-Y-E-R start or finish. Shy turned his eyes across the table and saw a look of horror cross Ralph’s face, as he covered the table in front of him with his hands. Ralph looked up and his eyes locked with Shy’s. He looked at Shy’s hands and back up to his face. A nervous half smile crossed his lips. He lifted his hands toward Shy, and Shy could see the upside down carving of R-A-L-P-H in the pine. Shy lifted his hands in turn, and Ralph looked at Shy’s carving. Their eyes connected again and they both smiled. Soon the smiles turned into nervous giggling. The two boys tried to hold it in, but the ridiculousness of the situation pushed their laughter out. Shy nodded towards the names appearing in front of the other boys.
"What do we do?" Ralph asked quietly across the table, still stifling his laughter.
"We can’t all get in trouble, can we?" Shy responded.
At that moment Shy felt hands grip his shoulders.
"I suppose you are the next quietest table," Gust boomed out, "although this young man does not seem to be able to quiet down."
He had taken his hands from Shy’s shoulders and pointed to Henry. Henry fell silent. Shy looked at the other tables and realized two had been through the line already. He felt his stomach rumble. It was almost eight-thirty at night, he noted on the big clock on the wall. No wonder he was hungry. They had arrived in the buses at what must have been his usual suppertime, now it was well past time to eat.
"Let’s go boys, get up there." Gust boomed again, and pointed the way.
Shy waited until Gust walked away before he took his hands away from covering his name.
On his way up front, Shy spied Crutch for the first time since they arrived. He was sitting at a table with other raucous, gruff, older boys. He just glared at Shy. The sign on the table read, the Cave cabins. Shy was relieved that Crutch would not be his roommate. That one is going to cause trouble for me, thought Shy. It would be best to avoid him if he could.
He and his tablemates passed the table of counselors. Tad whispered to some of his fellows as they approached, and several turned to look at the group. Shy knew he was probably just being self-conscious, but it seemed that they were only looking at him.
***
The trip back to the cabins after dinner was uneventful, and slow. It was difficult to not trip in the dark on the uneven path back up and down over the rocky hillside. Shy’s mind was occupied with the strange happenings of the day. First, the cabins themselves, high in the trees, on the hillside, were awesome. Then there was the mysterious voice and push that made him jump into the Hive. That was really freaky. There was the zip line and its bars that floated themselves back uphill to the cabin. Then, finally, the name carving on the tables in the Lodge. He wouldn’t have believed these things were real, or could happen, except he had seen them himself! Plus, he had seen Crutch get what he deserved with that little trip he took into the mud puddle!
Shy’s thoughts then turned to Claire. He saw her momentarily at dinner, and their eyes met for a minute, but she was busy directing the others at her table. It looked like she fit right in; but then, she always had an easy time making friends.
Eventually Tad led them back to the Elevator, and they rose into the night air as mosquitoes buzzed around their heads. After getting off the Elevator, they waited for Tad to lower it back down. Then they set off like they had done several hours earlier, except this time, rather than going by each cabin, he led them straight to the Hive. Shy watched as first Sam, and then Daniel stepped back, and made the leap into the Hive. Finn and Sawyer went next, with barely any hesitation. Henry followed, but even his running commentary couldn’t hide the fact that he was nervous, and was stalling.
"Let’s see," he said as he walked up to the edge for a second time. "If I jump with an angle of twenty-three degrees, and a velocity…." He trailed off as he looked down.
"Come on, man, you can do it!" Sawyer hollered from the other side.
Henry looked at him, pushed his thick black glasses up higher on his nose, took a deep breath, walked backwards, turned, and began to run. A little yell escaped his lips as he jumped, but he made the other side easily. Ralph was next. He looked at Shy nervously.
"It was worse for me than it was for you the first time."
"What do you mean?" Shy asked.
"I almost didn’t make it. I hate this."
"I think you can do it." Shy encouraged and offered up a fist bump.
"Here goes nothing."
He bumped fists with Shy and then abruptly turned and ran towards the edge. Just before the edge, he started to pause, then overcame his worries and jumped, landing safely and uneventfully on the other side. Now, Shy felt Tad nudge his shoulder from behind.
"Easier if you don’t think about it. Just do it." Tad urged.
Shy quickly began to run, before he started thinking and lost his nerve. He got to the edge and jumped, this time with his eyes open! He landed well, and felt the adrenaline rush through his veins.
They all gathered inside the screened walls of the Hive. There was a stone fire ring in the center, with a fire roaring and crackling. Shy noticed that there was a hole or gap in the roof that allowed the smoke to escape, and it looked like it could be closed when there was no fire. Bean bag chairs lay randomly about the cozy firelit room, along with assorted hammocks to lounge in. The boys piled into their choice, and waited as Tad mixed lemonades for all. When they were all settled, Tad began to pace around the fire ring.
"I am never sure where to begin when answering your questions. It is pretty unbelievable. I guess I will start with some background. This area of Minnesota has always been wild. You can see from the landscape how ruggedly beautiful it is. It is a very quiet and isolated part of the country. It was originally travelled by French explorers and trappers in the late 1700’s. That is when the lake got its name, Lac Igam. The word lac means lake in French. Igam is the French interpretation of what the Native Americans in this area called the lake. Then in the 1800’s much of it was heavily logged. One of the groups of people that settled in this area was Scandinavians. Do you all know what Scandinavian means?"
The boys, surprisingly quiet, shook their heads in response.
"Well, it means people from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark. When they settled here, like most groups of people, they brought their cultural values, language, and their ways of scraping a living from the wilderness. Turns out, they brought something more…. Their myths, legends, and stories. This particular isolated forest, seems to have allowed these myths and legends to grab hold and come to life. I don’t know if it is because it is so isolated or it has some other magical properties.… Maybe it's because of the waterfall… Who knows? Maybe, just maybe, it is because children like you still use their imagination. This camp has been full of kids every summer for over one hundred and fifty years. Clancy herself bought it, ohhh, over thirty years ago from her uncle. Anyway, whatever the reason is, I am here to tell you, these things are real."
At this point, he paused and began to circle the fire again.
"This land has constantly been surrounded by rumors and legends of strange creatures. Well, I know for a fact that at least some of these are true!" He paused for dramatic effect. "Some of these creatures are kind and gentle, helpful to us. Some are vengeful and nasty. Because of that, rule number one is, we need to stick together. We don’t have many problems with these creatures, and many times you will not encounter them any more than you already have. However, be mindful, be aware, and do not go off alone. Ever!"
Tad stopped pacing and looked at the wide eyes focused on his words.
"Now, I am not trying to scare you, but we need to be respectful of the way these creatures view things. What I mean is, follow the rules…. Don’t harass them, like what happened with the zip line bars earlier," Tad looked at Sampson.
Shy watched as red-headed Sam look back at Tad defiantly, while the counselor just stared with his little quirky grin. Eventually Sam looked away, and Tad continued talking.
"See, there is something like a sprite that carries those bars back up here for us. Do you know what a sprite is? Think of Tinkerbell from the Peter Pan stories, but bigger. They are called sylphon. They do this job for us because... well, I am not sure why, but you can see that it helps. That it makes our lives easier?"
The boys nodded all around.
"Like all of these creatures you may encounter in and around this camp, they do not think about things the same way we do. Even though, during that incident with the sylphon, you were simply investigating something you couldn’t see…. well, they might be very offended. If that happens, they will simply stop doing what they do for us. They will just completely disappear back into the world they come from. Not only will we no longer see them or their gifts, but over time we will eventually forget they are real. They will just return to being a legend. Worse yet, if we really make them mad, they will even play nasty tricks on us. Three years ago, in one of the Lake Cabins, a girl not much older than most of you woke to find her hair tied and woven into her hammock. It took her counselor three hours to free her! There have also been many stories of the fossegrimen of the waterfall, the creature of the lake, the huldra of the forest, or the tricky will-o-wisp. Campers have had run-ins with all of these. Or the trolls…" At this, Tad’s eyes became distant and a slight shudder ran through him as if he had caught a chill.
"Yeah…. The trolls are a nasty lot. I have had a run in with them myself a few years back, but that is a story for another evening. For now, don’t go off anywhere by yourself; do not go off at night, unless approved by me or another counselor; do not thank these creatures for the work they do, except by leaving an edible treat, like a cupcake or piece of cake… those are usually safe. I will answer your questions in a minute Henry. First, I need to tell you about the creature that we will be sharing our cabins with….."
Henry sat back onto the beanbag chair he had worked his way out of. Tad simply stared at the boys. He had paused his pacing around the fire, and now simply stood and seemingly stared into the corner where the firewood box sat. Shy looked around. His fellow campers were completely captivated by Tad’s words. It almost seemed like the fire had risen higher as he had been telling the tale. The fire actually felt nice against the cool night breeze that pushed through the screen walls. It was a perfect setting for a sort of disturbing tale. Even though he had seen examples of some of what Tad was explaining, there was a part of Shy that had a hard time believing. Trolls, really?
Tad continued to stare, and Ralph hissed, "LOOK!"
A small log of firewood rose into the air and began to move towards the fire. It moved in a jerky motion, swinging side to side about a foot and a half off the pine floorboards. When it reached the firepit, it rose up, over, and into the fire. No one spoke for a short time, then all at once they erupted.
"Shhh…. Shhh…. Quiet down. You have just had a firsthand glimpse of Tom T, our nisse. A nisse is a type of Scandinavian fairy, or wight, that helps farmers to do chores on their farm. Tom T has chosen our set of cabins to be his home. He chooses to do things like helping to pick up after us, keep the fire going, clean the cabins, and keep night watch. For our part, we need to respect what he does, and try to keep our living spaces neat. When we can, he appreciates baked goods. You know, things like cookies, cupcakes, rolls, and pieces of cake… that type of thing."
"Now you need to understand how this arrangement works. The baked goods are not payment for his services. Rather, it is just something nice we do for good ol’ Tom T. If he felt we were trying to thank him, or pay him, he would be offended, as would any of these fairy creatures. He might even take it out on us. The story I mentioned earlier of the girl in the Lake cabins, whose hair was tied up in knots to her bed, well, we figure that was the work of their nisse. It seems like each of the cabins were adopted by one of these fairies. For two years after the incident, the Lake cabins went without the services of their nisse. They, or that specific girl, must have done something to offend the nisse. So, be respectful of him by picking up after yourselves. Remember, when you get goodies… bring some back for him.
With that, Tad pulled a chocolate chip cookie out of his pocket. He laid the morsel, which had been the evening’s dessert, on a ledge over by the woodpile. Then he ignored the cookie and came back by the fire. He chose two bean bags chairs, piled one on top of the other, and jumped onto them. Reclining, he looked up at the smoke drifting up through the hole in the roof.
Shy was watching the cookie. The napkin it was sitting on began to rustle. Soon a disembodied arm, the size of a child’s, appeared. The arm held a carved wooden staff that was hooked on the end. The arm placed the hook over the cookie and pulled the cookie to the end of the ledge. Then, the arm raised the cookie and bites appeared out of it! It was quickly consumed. Shy looked back at Tad, who had begun to smile, and speak again.
"Yes, a nisse can control when they appear to us or not. Usually, when he is eating something we have brought him, at least a portion of him will be visible. If you otherwise catch a glimpse of one of the fairy creatures in this camp, feel honored, because it is rare that they allow it. Even rarer are the instances of catching a glimpse of one of these creatures without them knowing it. If you do, they cannot disappear until you take your eyes off them. If you blink, or look away at a noise, or they get behind an object, the spell is broken, and they can disappear again from your sight. They use some type of a magic to hide things, including themselves, from us. We don't know much about it, but it seems like some are stronger than others in using it…. In other words, around here things aren't always what they appear to be." Tad smiled and concluded, "now… the time has come to answer your questions."
One hand shot up immediately, behind Tad.
"Yes Henry?" Tad guessed without even turning around.
"So what was it that pushed us, or made us try the jump into the Hive earlier tonight?"
"That was Tom T. He is a good judge of character, and doesn’t really have the patience for those who hesitate. He can be rather…. aggressive…. at times."
"So, he can talk?" Finn spoke up.
"Well, some of you may have heard him say a few words. He may open up more once he gets to know you better and trust you more. Truthfully, though, he is rather bossy. OUCH!"
Tad jumped up out of his bean bag, rubbing his ribs.
"OK, maybe bossy is the wrong way to say it," Tad said as he gingerly sat back down. "Let’s just say he sees a situation clearly and speaks his mind."
"Tell us more about the trolls," Sampson said, trying to make his voice sound deeper and braver.
"That's a long story. It’s late, and it would take us a whole evening…. Not tonight. Two more questions, then it is off to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow. We are going to have our first practice at the events for the end of summer competitions. Did I tell you guys? Each of you will need to pick one event to compete in against the other cabins. We call them the Camp Games. It’s really kind of a big deal, so I want us to decide who is doing what early on. That way we can practice and bring home the Camp Games trophy for the Forest Cabins!
"Two more questions, then we are done for the night," he said.
"What is a will-o-wisp?" Shy finally found his voice and spoke up before the others.
"That is a good question Shy," Tad stood once again. "Some say a will-o-wisp is a fairy creature that appears as a light in the forest or marsh, and lures people off until they are hopelessly lost. Some say it will lead one who is lost back onto their path, or help those in trouble. Some even say it is a creature that marks the site of buried treasure. I don’t know what the truth is, but this camp adjoins a very, very large national forest. You could hike for days and not find your way out if you get lost. Don’t follow any lights in the woods, and if you get lost stay where you are at and we will find you."
Tad paused expectantly, waiting for the final question. Sawyer’s hand shot up.
"Go ahead Sawyer," Tad said, now slightly impatient.
"You said something about a creature of the forest… a huldry or something. Can it get to us up in our cabins?"
"A huldra…. And, no, it cannot get to you up in our cabins. From what we can tell, the fairy creatures do not sleep. Tom T keeps watch every night, prowling the walkways of our cabins. I'm not sure if he protects us with some kind of magic spells, or if he is just that good of a watcher. We would know before any creature even got close, though... I know that.
"The huldra is said to be a dangerous creature though," Tad continued. "They say she takes the shape of a woman or girl, and a very pretty one at that. Two significant things give her away: the first is that she has a cow’s tail. She will usually appear, they say, in a skirt or dress, and has the tail tucked up under it. The other way to identify a huldra is that from behind she will appear hollow, like an old hollow tree trunk. She lives in the forest, and she usually appears out of the morning fog or mist. Some say she is bound to a particular forest, and cannot leave until she finds a man to marry her. Once she gets married, the story goes, she becomes very ugly, but kind…. Oh, and at that time she supposedly loses her tail. She is supposedly very tricky and cunning, and if the man or boy she meets refuses to marry her, she finds a way to make sure they never leave the forest. The stories say that the only way a man can break her spell is to view her from behind."
"Now, keep in mind… I have never seen a huldra. However, long ago, parts of this forest were regularly logged. There are many tales of lumberjacks meeting a huldra. Many of those stories end with the lumberjacks never being seen or heard from again."
Sawyer shivered, eyes wide. Tad stood up and said, "OK off to bed. I will walk each cabin group to their hammocks this first night, to make sure you know your way. We will start with Eagle cabin. C’mon Sam and Daniel."
The two tall boys followed Tad to the north wall of the cabin. There Tad pushed on a solid portion of the wall, and it tumbled outward. The three walked across and into the darkness.
"I’ll be back for Jay cabin next," Tad’s voice trailed off into the night.
Upon closer inspection, Shy found that the new exit was hinged at the bottom, so that it could be pulled back into place again as a wall with a rope that was strung through a pulley, and tied inside. So, there was one way into the Hive by jumping, and two ways out: hidden door, and zip line.
As the remaining boys milled about the Hive, waiting for Tad to return, anxiety began to creep up inside Shy again. He again felt the pangs of missing his mom and Shep. Bothering him more than those worries, though, was the fact that he had no one to stay in his cabin with him. Just like its name, the Raven, felt isolated and lonely.
Just then, Tad landed back into the Hive with a boom.
"Ralph, Henry, let’s go!"
They walked across the newly formed north wall walkway, Henry jabbering about what he would do if he came across a huldra.
Shy couldn’t help but smile. He felt like Henry wasn’t really that brave, but he could sure talk a good game. Shy would be fine by himself, wouldn’t he? He had slept outside in his tent back home, by himself. Of course, he wasn’t really by himself… he had had Shep with him. Ol’ faithful Shep would take down a bear just to protect him, Shy was sure of it.
Shy stood by the east wall of the Hive and looked out. In the darkness, he thought he saw a light. He pressed his eyes up to the black screen and used his hands to shield out the light from inside the cabin. There was a light! Far down below, in the distance, it bobbed behind trees and back again as it made its way towards the west.
BAM! Again Tad’s big feet slapped out the signal that he had returned.
"OK…. Finn and Sawyer, you two are next. Shy, be ready, I’ll be back in a snap."
"Tad, wait, there’s a light…"
"Shy, I’ll be back soon!" He interrupted Shy with his yell that trailed off.
Shy was alone now. He looked back out the east side, but could see nothing. He went to the north wall exit and squinted off into the dark. Sure enough, he could see the light again! It was still making its way to the west. Shy watched silently. He was too frightened to move. After all that he had taken in today: will-o-wisps, huldra, fossegrimen, sprites, nisse…. He doubted he would sleep at all tonight. Especially since he would be alone. Tad had said not to follow the light. Shy was so scared he was rooted to the spot. No worries about him following some creepy light down in the forest night!
Yet, he did wonder where it was going and what it was. It had moved beyond the sightlines of his current vantage point. Scared as he was, he felt better with it in sight, rather than where he could not keep an eye on it. He slid over a few screens to the west, and peered out again.
He was relieved when he picked up its progress again. It was now heading away from the Forest cabins, still westward. Suddenly it stopped! Shy’s imagination carried him away, and he imagined a huge, horrible creature, carrying a lantern. In Shy's imagination this monster slowly turned back towards Shy, and sniffed the air, like he had caught Shy's scent.
"WHAM!"
"Auugghh!" Shy screamed as he stumbled backward from the screen and fell flat on his back.
There was Tad, smiling that half smile as always.
"What were you looking at?" He asked.
"There was a light moving… in the forest…. Out there!" Shy hopped back up and pressed his face back against the screen, while Tad walked over. Tad also looked out.
"I don’t see anything. Are you sure? Or, did our talk tonight just scare you?"
"No, I really saw it! I tried to tell you before you took Finn and Sawyer, but you just left," he said accusingly. "It started out that direction, and walked all the way off into this direction," Shy stated as his arm swung from east to west.
Tad was quiet for a moment, and then began to speak softly.
"Did you feel an urge to follow it?"
Shy answered by shaking his head back and forth. Tad looked out the screen again for a long time. Finally, he turned back to Shy.
"Well, it could have been a will-o-wisp, but it could have been other things too. I think that not only do the fairy creatures of this forest not sleep, but they know of human sight limitations in the dark, and that humans are more easily frightened and confused in the dark. So, they tend to try to pull their pranks after dark.
"It’s strange that you have seen something like this already. Most campers count themselves lucky to have even one sighting of something fey. Fey means a fairy, or mythical creature. Viewing true fairy creatures will play games with your mind. It is almost like some of them have a power to make you see something that isn’t really there, or vice-versa. I think that is how they are able to stay invisible to us. Tell me what you felt when you were watching it."
"Scared," Shy shrugged. "Mostly just scared. I remembered your warning about following the lights. I thought it was a stupid thing to say, because at that point I felt too scared to follow anything." He looked up at Tad to see if he had spoken too harshly. When Tad said nothing, he continued. "Then, after you left with Finn and Sawyer, I watched it again. I felt like I could see it way off in the distance. I imagined that it was sniffing for me. It seemed like it turned, held up a lantern, and looked back right at me. That was when you came back, and I jumped."
Shy felt foolish for telling Tad something that, after repeating it now, sure seemed like his imagination. Again Tad was quiet for a few minutes. Finally, he turned back to Shy.
"I am sorry, Shy. I should have stopped and listened to you when you tried to tell me. This is the type of thing that we as counselors need to be aware of. Promise me that you will tell me again if you ever see any more strange things? Even if it makes you feel embarrassed?"
Shy nodded his agreement.
"Remember believe in yourself, and others will too. Now, it’s off to bed for us. Follow me!" Tad had returned to his usual tone.
They crossed the north walkway that exited from the Hive, and Tad turned. He pulled the wall panel back into the upright position, and swung the rope back to the Hive. No one would be able to get in that way until the wall panel was lowered from inside.
Tad took them on a different route back to the Raven. Shy was beginning to realize that there were so many different interconnecting walkways and paths that there must be dozens of different routes from one place to another. What a great place to play tag, or hide-and-seek, Shy thought.
Soon they arrived back at the same stairwell Tad had brought Shy to earlier that evening. He clambered up the stairs, realizing how tired he was, and that it must be really late. Reaching the platform, Shy pushed on the knothole and looking back to make sure Tad was still with him, he hopped onto the slide. Even after a long day, this late at night, it was exhilarating to slide across the empty space between trees!
Tad landed just after Shy in the Raven. He motioned for Shy to climb into the hammock, which Shy attempted, but was promptly deposited onto the floor. Tad chuckled. Shy popped up and tried again, very carefully. Once he was finally settled, he turned back towards Tad and was surprised to see him climbing into the other hammock he had set up earlier.
"Are you staying here?" Shy asked, not allowing himself to get his hopes up.
"Yup, you didn’t think I would allow you to stay here by yourself did you?"
Shy didn’t know how to answer, because that is exactly what he had thought.
"I will be here with you for the whole eight weeks, unless we get another camper. Usually I sleep in the Hive, but since you didn’t have a roommate, I thought I would stay here. OK with you?"
"Yep," Shy stated happily. Now his homesickness didn’t seem to be hitting him quite so hard. He drifted off thinking of Shep sitting on the front porch, waiting for him.