Jimmy opened the door to a symphony of night sounds. He leaned over and said, “Are you sure you guys will be all right?” He motioned into the deep woods. “Cuz it’s really dark out there.”
“We’ll be fine, Jimmy, thanks.”
“Okay. Good luck, dude.” Jimmy reached out and shook Phillip’s hand. Phillip saw the surprise in Jimmy’s eyes, the new respect he had for him.
The door pulled shut, and the Camaro’s tires crunched slowly down the road. Phillip watched the taillights fade until they were down the hill and out of sight. Now they were in total darkness. Cedar’s eyes were barely open, her presence seemed tiny and fragile. A sliver moon gave off the thinnest of light to see by.
They walked silently down the trail, Phillip feeling disconnected from his body. Once they were engulfed in the trees, and the moonlight did not reach them, Phillip stopped and bent over his backpack. He pulled out a flashlight.
“No, Phillip.” Cedar’s hand went to his. “We need our eyes to get used to the dark, for them to get adjusted, then we’ll be fine. This way we’ll be able to see more.”
“Are you crazy? Then anything can sneak up on us! A bear, a coyote.”
“Shhhh! Phillip, its okay. Nothing will hurt us out here, I promise. All the animals are well aware of our presence. They mean no harm and want to be left alone.” He nodded his okay.
Phillip walked ahead, crunching leaves under his feet. Noises ahead on the trail stopped as they neared. The chorus of crickets silenced as they walked by. Phillip’s heart hammered against his chest. He tried not to turn around to check if anything was following them. The sliver of moon appeared over the trees. The temperature cooled, and Phillip realized the chattering he heard was coming from Cedar.
“Take my jacket. Why didn’t you tell me you were cold?” He slid his fleece around her shoulders and felt her spine through her thin hospital gown. He looked at Cedar, who was barely awake. Her long brown hair, matted and knotted, flew behind her. She walked in her hospital gown and now Phillip’s thick fleece. Her long, deer-like legs were pale and smooth in the moonlight. It was amazing that this little person had so much strength, so much will. He flushed as he thought about her frail, beautiful body.
Before them rose Stella, the great Cedar, almost glowing in the moonlight. Cedar walked right over to her, to the curved roots that cradled her long ago, and lay down. Phillip followed, putting down his pack and taking out a sleeping bag and blankets he had packed. Cedar curled up in the blankets and leaned back. Her eyes closed immediately.
Phillip sat partially covered with the blanket. He didn’t want to invade her space, but he was not comfortable at all. His mind raced with the possibilities of all the things that could be happening at this very moment. Police cars looking for them. Calls being made to their houses, their parents alarmed and worried. Phillip pushed his glasses up his nose, looking around. The trees stood silent, their orange ribbons bobbing gently in the night breeze. A stillness settled around them, and he looked over at Cedar.
She lay curled on one side, her back cradled in the reaching, curving roots of Stella, the mighty Cedar. Her face looked almost translucent, glowing, and utterly peaceful. Her lips were curled up in a small smile, and she looked more at home and comfortable than Phillip had ever seen her. And more beautiful.
It was crazy, what they were doing, and he knew it. But deep down in his soul he knew it was the right thing to do. He couldn’t explain why. It was like how you know when someone is looking at you, even before you see him or her. The plan had to work. He hadn’t thought about what would happen if it didn’t. If Cedar became gravely ill, or worse—he couldn’t even begin to imagine.
He stared at her for a long time, before she sighed lightly and moved a bit. He jumped out of embarrassment and fright and nearly screamed. It took him several moments to recover his normal breathing. Even then, he never fully recovered. The woods were Cedar’s home, not his. Sure, he learned to like it, but he didn’t feel comfortable, or safe, especially on this night when he knew many people would be looking for them soon.
Phillip looked around. The crescent moon provided just enough filtered, milky light to see the varying shapes of the reaching, towering trees around them. From the ground the branches hung over them like a maze, and stars peeked through the holes, twinkling. The trees, Phillip had learned, were sugar maples, cedars, white pines, beech and birch, and were all valuable for their wood.
But their value was so much more than that.
As he watched her sleep, he knew that these trees were worth everything he and Cedar had done. They’d given oxygen, homes to animals, life to the forest, and to Cedar. Their value was so much greater than a mere dollar amount. Phillip had learned that a Cedar tree, in Latin, means “tree of life.” This was certainly true for Cedar. Not just that, but Cedars had been used for centuries for the medicinal properties of their sap, bark and twigs. This tree, all trees really, held magic, medicine, and life. How could he explain this? How would anyone ever understand?
Would anyone come?
He had sent emails to every TV station for miles around, to every student at Chester school, even to local politicians whom he found on the Internet. What if they all laughed it off as some stupid kids acting out a fantasy they created? What then?
Phillip’s stomach rumbled loudly. He hadn’t been able to eat anything at dinner, and now he felt intermittently hungry and nauseous. He dug around as quietly as he could in his pack, searching for some forgotten snack, a crushed-up energy bar, crackers, something.
And that’s when he heard it.