Return to Blackberry Chapter One

Warning- UNEDITED, part of my attempt to force myself to Get On With It.

Feedback welcome




Chapter one --




The old man really was very weak, and it took all of Riley’s strength to help him out of bed and into some clothes. The trip down the stairs seemed to Riley to take an eternity, but he bit his lip, not wanting to give the old man any reason to back out now.

By the time they got outside to the truck the rain was spitting and the wind was whipping around them. Riley, for the first time since finding the note, was beginning to think that maybe this was not the best idea.

“Pawpaw!” he yelled over the wind as they shuffled to where the truck was parked. “Maybe we should do this after the storm, it’ll pass in half an hour I bet!” To his surprise the old man put his hand on Riley’s arm.

“No!” his grip was firm. “I think if we are going to do this, we have to go now!” Riley shrugged, opened the door to the truck and helped his great-grandfather into the passenger side.

It only took a few minutes, bouncing down the dirt road that led off from their house off the mountain, until they got to the large stand of bamboo near the main road. The long tall green grass was bending in the wind, the delicate tops buffeting back and forth. The movement, along with the sound of the wind and the creaking of the bamboo, made the forest seem alive. Riley felt a shiver go down his back as he helped the old man out of the truck.

The old man grabbed onto Riley’s arm to steady himself, but then let go, a resolute look in his eyes. “Riley, you head back now ok? No sense you getting caught up in anything, if there is anything…”

“Pawpaw, you won’t make it twenty feet. I don’t mind. Come on, it’ll be an adventure even if nothing happens…”

Riley reached back into the truck and pulled out his recursive bow and a quiver of arrows. The old many started to ask Riley what he was doing, but Riley shrugged. “Just in case, you know, this… works.”

Slowly the two made their way over the uneven pasture in front of the bamboo stand. The old man stumbled a few times, but Riley held him up. Soon enough, as the rain began to come down more heavily, they were at the edge of the bamboo. The old man stopped, turned and looked back for a moment at the old pick-up truck. The outline was blurred by the rain. Then he shuffled into the bamboo, with Riley close behind.

Very quickly the forest closed around them, the bamboo getting thicker and thicker the deeper they went, until it had encircled them completely, so thick it blocked any view of what was behind them or what lay ahead. It was slow going, trying to find a pathway wide enough for them to make their way through. Riley looked back for a second and realized that he could no longer see the pick-up truck, the field, or the mountain, or anything except for more bamboo. When he looked back ahead he had a sudden sense of being utterly lost and directionless. He was not even sure that they were still going forward. The rain, the sound of the wind and the dim light from the dark stormy sky only made things worse.

Then his foot slipped. He stopped, but the old man bumped into him. Before he could grab onto anything he felt himself fall down a steep bank and tumble into water… the stream! It was full and raging in the downpour. The skies had opened up, rain pouring out of it, and the water from the creek seemed to be rising by the second. He felt the old man land on top of him with a loud “oomph!” The bank they had fallen down was quickly dissolving into mud. He could barely see the other side of the creek which was flatter, and grass covered. With a huge effort Riley helped the old man get up. Weighed down by water and mud the old man seemed heavy that ever. Riley used every ounce of strength he has to pull the old man out of the creek and onto the flat bank on the other side. The old man fell to the earth and Riley, gasping for breath suddenly had the thought that the old man might have died. Riley sat down next to the still body, closed his eyes and fought for breath. The rain stopped, suddenly as if a spigot had been turned off.

He shook the old man’s leg, “Pawpaw? You ok?” No answer. Riley sat there afraid to look, to open his eyes. But then he was aware of changing light, and felt that the rain had stopped. He opened his eyes. He saw his bow and quiver lying on the bank, covered in mud. Above, the clouds had thinned considerably; it looked as if the storm has passed.

“See Pawpaw?” Riley said, still regaining his breath as he stood up, his back to the old man, “I told you we should have waited. It was just a summer thunderstorm.”

“No, it would have been too late” came a deep baritone voice from behind him. Riley swung around, looking up on the creek bank, but did not see anyone.

“Pawpaw!” he whispered, “Get up! Someone’s found us.”

The prone figure lying face down in the mud in front of Riley stirred. Riley felt relief wash over him. The old man got up and turned around.

As the sun light now filtered down, the clouds having cleared out, Riley could see that his great-grandfather was covered in mud. But there was something else. Riley took a step closer and squinted. Then he fell back, a look of terror on his face. The old man blinked and tilted in his head.

“What the hell is wrong with you boy?” he said, but even as the words left his mouth a look of shock came across his face too, “What on earth!?”

Riley scuttled back as best he could toward the top of the grassy bank.

“Oh God Pawpaw… what the hell happened to you…”



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