Page 58 of Entangled in the Woods
We set off on the trail with Leo leading the way. He seemed more relieved now that I was coming with him to see the tree firsthand. I almost felt bad that I had made him wait. The stress of his research must’ve been really getting to him.
His hair was untied, and it flew around his face as he looked down at his feet to avoid tripping on the rocky trail. I caught up with him, matching his brisk pace. The trail was wide enough for us to walk side by side, and I took advantage of the wide berth.
“So, what do you know about this Charles Daniels?” I was hesitant to talk to any other locals. My past run-ins with them had led to kidnapping and bloody tournaments. Leo had said he’d spent a lot of time researching this week on Charles Daniels’s land, and it seemed like he hadn’t anything like I had yet, so maybe Daniels was just a regular guy.
“He came up to me about a week ago when I was knee deep in a pond on his property,” Leo said. “I didn’t know it was his property, and I apologized and offered to leave. He insisted I could stay as long as I looked at a tree on his property that was dying. I told him that wasn’t my area of expertise, and he asked if I knew anyone who could help. I instantly thought of you and told him I knew someone. He wanted me to go get you that day, but I told him I wanted to see the tree first.
“When he brought me to the tree,” Leo continued, “I knew it was something that you would want to see. This past week, knowing you’ve been busy, I’ve been trying to figure out how the rot is spreading. I thought I could do it myself since most diseases can be traced to water, but I haven’t been able to find any answers.”
I looked at Leo’s frustrated face with one of understanding. It was easy to remember all the times I had been there too, thick in the research, unable to find any solutions.
“Daniels has been getting impatient about wanting to meet you, since you’re the expert,” he said. “He’ll be happy to see you.”
A strange feeling came over me at the way Leo talked about Daniels. He seemed pushy and confused about how research worked. Solutions were hard to find. Often it took lots of data and analysis to find actual answers, and while I had some expertise, I was still just a grad student. There was no guarantee I would be able to do anything for him.
Nevertheless, I reached out and patted Leo’s shoulder. “I’ll do my best to help.” He was tense but nodded in appreciation.
We came to the rocky avalanche across the trail, and I had flashbacks of Wilder telling me to turn around a couple weeks ago. Stupid Wilder and his stupid chivalrous act. He had just wanted to get into my pants. Warn the pretty girl that danger was ahead, and she’d fawn over you in gratitude. Too bad for me it had worked. Lesson learned.
Leo and I carefully climbed over the mess of rocks that littered the path. Thankful for my thicker trail shoes, I made my way across the rocks unscathed. Leo, although slower, followed behind, making his way over the rocks. He climbed over the rocks in a certain pattern that made me believe he had come this way many times before.
As we continued along the path, it became narrower, and we had to walk single file. I let Leo lead the way, and our conversation diminished. The crunch of our footsteps and bird calls floating through the woods filled my ears as we got into a walking rhythm.
Miles went by as I flipped through the mental catalog of my research findings so far, which was pretty much nothing. My samples had brought back no results and had landed me in hot water with the university. Hoping that I would find something that could save my reputation kept me walking, one foot in front of another.
A few miles in, the ground surrounding the trail became littered with splotches of brown. Every fifty feet in, the rot became more and more prevalent. The spots of rot went from the size of a coffee mug to a basketball to a small car. Soon there was less green on the forest floor and more brown.
I stopped walking to squat down on the edge of the trail. Leo, hearing the loss of my footsteps behind him, stopped as well. My fingers reached out and brushed the brown foliage. Reacting as my samples had, the leaves crumbled beneath my fingertips and turned to a fine dust.
I looked up at Leo. “This is the worst I’ve seen.”
He nodded and turned forward, continuing the trail. I followed, interested in what I would find ahead.
The canopy of the giant oak tree blocked the sun from the sky with its thick branches and broad leaves. We weren’t even to the trunk of the tree yet; I could see how large it was. The ground was completely brown. Each of my footsteps caused a mound of dust to poof over my shoes as the pressure of my footsteps pummeled the leaves beneath. Leo and I had to watch where we walked, dodging the giant tree’s roots that weaved above and below the ground, making small bumps that were perfect to sprain an ankle on.
“This is it.” Leo motioned to the trunk of the giant oak a few feet ahead of us. I’d been so busy watching my footing, I hadn’t seen it coming.
“Amazing.” The tree must have been a couple hundred years old. Its bark was thick and strong, and its branches were large enough to support a complete set of swings. Any child would be lucky to have a tree like this in their backyard.
Walking forward, I dropped my backpack onto the ground near the tree, then ran my hand down the bumpy bark of the tree. It was so majestic that I felt the need to touch it. A tiny zap hit my hand as I laid it on the bark, and I jumped back, pullingmy hand away quickly. I turned my hand to look at my palm, but there was no red mark, no inclination that it had injured me. Leo looked at me curiously and walked over to where I was standing.
“Hey there!” We both jumped at the loud voice and turned around, keeping our backs to the tree. A tall man with dark brown hair and a mischievous smile walked out from behind some trees. A baseball cap covered his head, thick black glasses outlined his eyes, and long brown beard covered his chin, but I knew that face anywhere.
“Hey, Daniels. I brought my colleague, Elise, with me today. I think she can help me figure out what’s going on with your property.” Leo motioned to introduce us. I unfortunately didn’t need any introducing.
“Charles Daniels? Is this what you’re going by nowadays?” My blood was pumping.
“What, Elise? You aren’t into a little role-play?” His smooth, deep voice now made me nauseous.
“Wilder! What are you doing out here?”
His presence and smug attitude had thrown me for a loop. After our initial encounter, he had been nothing but standoffish and quiet toward me, acting like nothing more than a grumpy teenager. Wilder stood before me, now a confident man. That made me nervous.
“I hoped he would bring you. I was told you’re the expert in all things…nature.” Wilder motioned to the surrounding trees. “It took some convincing, didn’t it, Leo? Lots of late nights with you trying to figure out what was going on.”
Leo stood still, taking in what he was saying.
“I was patient with you, let you figure out that you couldn’t solve the mystery of what is happening in these woods,” Wilder continued. “I knew you would eventually bring her.”
