Chapter 3
On the other side of Creeks Hill there is a forest, a
proper forest. Back when the city/ large town was a just a small village it was
surrounded by a wood but to make way for more buildings most of the trees were
cut down and only a small part of the wood was persevered. Over time more and
more trees grew in the wood until it became a fully fledged forest of tall dark
trees so thick and close together it was forever in a state of semi darkness.
This was where we found the house. See at the time we
were playing another superhero game and ‘the bad guys’ lair was in the woods.
Since I was the victim that always needed saving I had to go into the woods
first. We never had mobiles then but even if we did they wouldn't get any type
signal. I got lost, very lost. All the trees look identical and if you walked at least 10 feet into the forest it would be difficult to remember which way
you turned or what way you came from.
Right smack bang in the middle of the forest, it must
be the middle of the forest there is a small clearing than only gets sunlight
for around about 2 hours a day depending on whether it’s cloudy or not. There is an old wooden house with a porch and
a round turret with the remains of a pointed roof. The house must have been
from the old village but when more buildings were built the other side of
Creeks Hill and the forest grew bigger it must have been forgotten and
abandoned. More likely the people left after two 50 foot oak burst through the
floor boards and shot through the roof and windows making the house unstable.
The thick branches curled round the house like a snake
crushing its prey to death. The trees ever grew out of the turret in an attempt
to compete with the other evergreens for sunlight. On one corner of the house
the wall had completely disappeared probably swallowed by the massive trunk of
the oak. When the sun shone down on the house it’s old wooden walls went from
grey to a dark brown and the windows left undistorted by the trees looked like
pitch black square voids, with willowy curtains that drifted lazily in the
breeze that was coming from the hole in the other side of the house.
It was a magnificent
and eerie sight that both amazed and rooted me to the spot in fear.
When the others finally found me, Sammy kept saying
the house was haunted and full of ghosts and zombies. Lucy on the other hand
walked straight up on to the porch to knock on the front door but as her fist
made contact with the door it just fell off its hinges and Louis screamed.
Obviously we all ventured into the house, who wouldn't
if your friends were there to scream and flee with you? Apart from a couple of
holes in the floor and everywhere; damp rotting the roof, no glass in the
windows, no heating, no working toilet, crawling with bugs and other wildlife,
or the fact there weren't any signs of electricity the house was in pretty good
shape. For a place that had spent the last couple of decades evolving into a
money pit we managed to fix some of it up.
First off we marked a path in and out of the forest so
we would get lost again, Alice came up with the idea. So at regular intervals
she and Louis cut tiny segments out of trees all the way to the tree house.
Only those who knew what they were looking for would understand what this
was. Sammy, me and Lucy boarded up the holes;
Greg ‘borrowed’ his dad’s chainsaw and bit by bit cut the roof into pieces.
(Thinking about it now that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, we were
only 10 or 11 at the time.)
Lucy had idea about what we could do for a roof;
because the tree branches that stuck out of the house were thin they could be
bended to cover the house instead. We managed to do this by tying strong ropes
to the ends of the branches (I did this, again I'm surprised I didn't fall) and
we pulled them down so they arched over the attic like a leafy canopy. We
couldn't do this by the turret because the trunk of the oak tree was sticking
out of it.
At that point Sammy decided to build a ladder up the
tree and made small wooden platforms at which we could see for miles from on a
sunny day. Louis and I made a dumb waiter that could lift stuff up to the top
of the tree. One day Greg came back to the tree house dragging a long metal
pipe said it could be a fireman pole for the house. No one knew where the hell
he got it from but we were too afraid to ask, we just hoped there wasn't a fire
station out there without a pole. Since the pole would fit in the house we
stuck it half way up the tree from the turret floor to the top look out post.
It was quicker to slide down the pole than climb down
the ladder especially if someone was climbing up, sliding down that pole is one
of the scariest and dangerous things I've ever done. If it’s wet and you lose
your grip you could potentially fall and die or fall and break your leg like I
did one summer. 4 weeks in a plaster cast hobbling around on walking sticks,
funny thing is during that time I still climbed the tree house I just came down
on the dumb waiter instead.
The tree house will forever be our den/HQ it’s a place
we can re enact of favourite films and read comics. Right from the start we agreed not to tell
anyone else of the tree house, it was ours now, we are the only people who know
of its continued existence. You must swear never to tell anyone of what I've
just told you or I will make you walk the plank we nailed onto one of the
window ledges. It’s a short drop into a pile of leaves and pillows, it won’t
hurt. Much.
Actually I'm surprised I never broke my legs or my
neck doing that for that matter.... I
should really stop doing stupid things before I get hurt. I should stop......I
probably won’t but I should.
I followed the small nicks in the tree trunks to the
tree house, there right by the roots but they’re shallow so the trees don’t
stop growing. It’s quiet in the forest, it’s like the technologically advanced
world doesn't exist. Once you step into the trees the sounds of the city, cars,
and overhead power lines disappear and the sound of wildlife sort of switches
on. There are deer in the forest, they like to eat the bark off the trees in
winter and somewhere in here there has to be at least one unicorn. Or a centaur,
I don’t which; actually I would prefer the unicorn they can fly, do magic and
poop rainbows.
I did make a detour up Creeks hill but there wasn't
anything interesting there other than a smouldering bonfire. Bonfires can still
be warm years after going out; all it would take would be a couple of pokes
with a stick before it comes back to its full blazing glory.
Anyway I got to the tree house and stepped inside
taking in the thick musty air and walls painted red and yellow with green
floors and blue ceilings. Comic posters stuck everywhere; old armchairs and junk collected over the years fill most
of the rooms. I could hear Louis and Greg’s voices from the attic as I climbed
the stairs. I came to a stop on the landing next to the turret; the door to the
attic was closed in front of me.
‘Are you sure we should fix it?’ – Greg
‘Yes’ – Louis ‘I have to know what it knows’
‘Why you probably know more than it knows already’
‘Yeah but I won’t know that until we fix it’
‘Do you even know how to fix it?’ Lucy’s voice cut in. There was a moment of silence; Louis
hesitating, I should probably walk in there but I waited instead.
‘Well, no I don’t know how to fix it but I, I just
have to’
‘No you don’t, you don’t have to do anything. If they
come for you they’ll have to come through us first’
‘Yeah and while they’re distracted by pummelling us
into the ground you just make a run for it, ok?’
‘O, ok. But I'm still going to try to fix this,
thanks’
‘Demi?’ I
nearly fell back down the stairs turning round I came face to face with Alice.
She stood on the steps below me in her arms were camera parts and she looked at
me questioningly. I on the other hand was leant up against the wall still
getting over the shock. God, she can be quiet when she wants to be.
‘Huh Hi’ I manage calming down. Alice smiled.
‘What’re you doing here?’
‘School’s cancelled.’
‘Oh,’ Alice looked surprised but slightly relieved;
(heh guilty conscience). ‘Why?’
‘Hey, Demi’s back’ Sammy called out a bit loudly as he
jumped down the last few rungs of the ladder, ‘ Why are we all stood out here?’
he asked strolling in to the attic, Alice and I in tow.
‘Oh! Hi Demi’ Lucy greeted me; she was stood at a
table next to Louis who was sat down on a plastic chair. Greg was the other
side of the table, as soon as walked into the room he dived onto the table and
dragged something onto the floor and dumped a beanbag on it. I didn't get a
chance to have a proper look at whatever it was, he can move quickly when he
wants to.
‘Hi, I pointed questioningly to the beanbag Greg was
now sitting on, Louis was silently staring furiously at him.
‘Greg broke Louis’s toy robot’ Lucy explained
casually.
‘It was Sammy, not me!’ protested Greg
‘Hey’ Sammy held his hands up, ‘Alice was the last one
with it’
‘How could I have been? I was too busy polishing my
cameras’
‘They don’t look very shiny’ Greg pointed out
‘They’re not supposed to’
‘Then what’s the point in polishing them?’
‘He’s got a point’ quipped Sammy
‘She polished the lenses
not the casings, you idiots’ snapped Lucy.
‘Hey, I resent being called an idiot’ exclaimed Greg
banging his fist on the table. He squealed as a sharp bit of metal cut into his
hand and spent the next couple of seconds with his hand in his mouth.
‘I rest my case’ Lucy said with a straight face. Louis remained silent staring down at the
empty spot on the table.
‘Cheer up Louis’, I say optimistically, ‘It s not the
end of the world,’ He flinched like he’d just had an electric shock. There was
a small awkward silence before Sammy cleared his throat.
‘Yeah, like Demi said it’s not the end of the world
you can always buy another’ he spoke hollowly.
Louis looked up from the table and forced a smile,
‘Thanks’ he said tightly, his eyes full of despair. Lucy clasped he hands
together suddenly making everyone jump.
‘So, Demi you haven’t got the flu still have you?’
everyone took drew back a couple of steps simultaneously.
‘No’ I said flatly
‘Phew’ Greg relaxed, ‘My mum would so not be happy if
you gave me the flu. But just to be on the safe side stay at least five feet
away from me’
‘I'm not contagious!’ I said stepping towards him.
Greg instantly started backing up against the wall.
‘Lucy! Stop her! I don’t wanna be ill!’ he pleaded.
Bleep..... Everyone
paused looking around for the source of the noise, Bleep, Bleep, Bleep, Bleep, All eyes fell
on the bean bag. Blleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
‘RUN!’ yelled Lucy and
everyone acted immediately, Sammy was already on the landing, Alice held the
door open, Louis shot past him. Greg hopped over the table and slammed into my
back just as Lucy grabbed my hand, the momentum carried us out of the room and
we crashed into a heap on to the landing. Alice slammed the door shut as a
tremor shook the whole house.
For the next few moments
there was silence, Sammy let out a moan and Louis wheezed at the bottom of the
doggy pile. Alice helped Greg up I rolled to the right to stop crushing Lucy
and fell down a flight of stairs. Stairs and ceiling flashed before my eyes.
