The Forgotten Eden (11 page)

“‘
Nothing,’ I replied. Startled by his voice, the images vanished. I would’ve thought forever, but after I recovered from the concussion I received two days later, I eventually remembered.

“‘
Yeah, right, Jackie. I’ll bet you’re thinking about that goddamn ‘Barney the Dragon’ thing from yesterday,’ taunted Jeremy. ‘Probably wondering if it wants to play with you again today, huh?’

“‘
I wasn’t even thinking about the lizard.’

“‘
Sure you weren’t.’

“‘
I
wasn’t
!
’
I glared at him.

“‘
Boys!
’
Grandpa shouted. ‘That’s quite
enough!!
’
He leaned toward us, and you could’ve easily heard a feather hit the floor. ‘I’d prefer strongly we not start this day like yesterday ended. Ya’ll best forget about that lizard Jack saw, as well as the other thing he brought in here last evening. Is that understood?’

“
Jeremy and I glanced meanly at each other before giving an affirmative nod.

“‘
Good. And you can promise me now you’ll both stay away from the woods too.’

“‘
I can think of a thousand other things I’d rather do than battle a copperhead or whatever else is out there,” said Jeremy, sarcastic. “You’ll never catch my ass near those woods!’

“
Grandpa nodded as he studied him, perhaps debating again whether or not to rebuke him for his smart mouth. Since he received the general response he wanted, he turned his attention to me.

“‘
What about you, Jack? I want your sworn word you’ll stay away from the woods
and
out of the backyard until further notice.’

“‘
I swear it, Grandpa,’ I promised. Didn’t seem like a big deal. I’d never visited the woods behind our home, and spent less time lately in the backyard.

“‘
Well, I reckon we’ve reached an understanding then!’ he announced, quite pleased.

“
I returned to my cereal and Jeremy to his coffee and newspaper.

“
After breakfast, my brother went to Demopolis to spend the day with Freddy Stinson. I helped Grandpa load up the dishwasher and went upstairs to finish getting ready for my day. After combing my hair and brushing my teeth, I ran back downstairs and was about to run out the front door when he called to me from the kitchen.

“‘
Where are you off to, son?’

“‘
I’m going over to Lee’s house.’

“
Lee Horne lived less than a quarter-mile up the road from us and I hadn’t hung out with him for the past few days. My closest buddy, I looked forward to spending the day with him. I glanced at my wrist to see the current time…
where the hell’s my watch!

“‘
I’ll be right back, Grandpa.’ I told him as I ran back upstairs. ‘I forgot something!’

“
Where the hell did I put it? As I ran up the stairs again, I remembered missing it the previous evening, too, but forgot where I’d last seen it. Checking everywhere and tearing my bedroom apart, the watch was nowhere to be found.

“
I should’ve looked harder for it the night before. Less than a week old, the watch was a birthday present from Grandpa. I’d had my eye on it at a Sears store in Demopolis. Loaded with all kinds of gadgets, Lee admired it so much that he asked his folks for one just like it when his birthday rolled around the next January. I prayed I hadn’t lost it.

“
I gave up looking for it and prepared to tell Grandpa the bad news when I suddenly recalled jumping off the swing when I last saw it. It must’ve fallen off my wrist somewhere between the swing and the sphere. Relieved, I ran back downstairs. Sitting in his recliner, Grandpa smoked his pipe as he read the newspaper.

“‘
Well, did you find what you’re looking for?’ he asked without looking up.

“‘
Yep,’ I lied. ‘I’ll see you later.’

“‘
Supper will be a little early tonight, so make sure you’re home by four o’clock,’ he told me, looking up from the paper just as I moved out of his direct view.

“‘
Four o’clock? Okay, I’ll be back by then,’ I confirmed, and swung open the front door, letting it slam behind me as I ran outside.

***

“
Noticeably cooler that morning, the previous day’s downpour had cleared much of the stifling heat and humidity from the air. I stood for a moment on the front porch, admiring as I often did the front yard’s neatness. Unlike the backyard with its littered variety of junk, the front yard looked like it belonged on the cover of some home-improvement magazine. The lawn was perfectly manicured with several flower gardens, including two small gardens that encircled a pair of large maples. A long walkway led right up to the Lelan’s Way, the graveled road that ran along the front of our property.

“
I set out immediately to retrieve my watch from the backyard without Grandpa finding out about it, worried he might be watching. I followed the normal route to Lee’s place that he’d normally expect, and then scurried past our vegetable garden adjacent to the Palmer’s front yard. Then I quietly climbed over the wall to the backyard, avoiding the wrought-iron gate since the latch always squeaked.

“
So far, so good…. Cautious, I moved over to the giant oak, listening to birds chirping even louder than they had earlier. Just as I reached its outer branches, the birds flew off in a squalling flock.

“
Loud enough to pull Grandpa from his recliner’s comfort and out to the back porch, I searched in haste around the swing for my watch. It wasn’t there either. Hearing the backdoor open, I stumbled over to the side of the oak’s trunk facing the woods. I peeked around the corner, thankful he hadn’t stepped outside. A moment later the door shut, and the porch remained empty.

“
Relieved he hadn’t ventured outside I turned my attention to the birds, watching their noisy progress as they hurried to the west. Once they passed over the woods, they veered north as if they’d hit an invisible wall. Fascinated, I listened to their shriller cries to one another as they changed direction in mid-flight.

“
I soon resumed the search for my watch, groping through weeds and grass near the tree’s base, and around Banjo’s food and water bowls. No sign of it. Ready to give up altogether, I heard an animal whimpering in pain near the sphere. Thinking I’d just take a moment to investigate and leave, I hadn’t even turned to fully face the sphere when I suddenly froze in my footsteps. It’d been rolled away from the old iron gate, and Banjo was now stuck between the rusted rails! He was crying and kicking his legs frantically in the air. My worry for him easily overrode the part of me that was surprised and frightened by what I saw. Once he recognized me, he calmed down some.

“
I pulled on his legs. Wedged in tight, I started pushing on his butt. He finally slid to freedom on the other side of the gate, leaving a small cloud of black paint and rust flakes spiraling toward the ground. He stared back at me through the gate’s rails. A large rusted and bent steel padlock held the gate securely shut. I needed to get Banjo back inside the backyard before he ran away, but the gate was too damned tall and awkward to climb over. Desperate, I dropped to the ground and squeezed my body through a space beneath it, just big enough to crawl through.

“
Banjo stuck his nose in my face and began licking me. I stood up, wiping his slobber onto my shirt. Undeterred, he jumped up on my chest to lick me some more. I noticed the golden object from the night before, secured to his neck by several thin strips of leather. The torn and frayed remnants of my watch’s wristband.

“
When I removed the object from his neck, I found my watch resting beneath it, unharmed. The object started glowing like it did the night before. Same markings and all, and as I held it in my hands I soon felt dizzy again.

“
It took Banjo trotting away to shake me from the trance. My heart pounding like a sledgehammer inside my chest, I watched him push through the tall grass and weeds on his way to the woods.

“
I shoved my watch into the right pocket of my shorts while I considered the strange object’s fate. It shimmered as if alive in my hands, which made me tempted to throw it deep into the woods where hopefully no one would ever find it again. But Grandpa already tried to do that, so I decided to hold onto it until I knew for sure what to do.

“
I had a hell of a time keeping it from bouncing out of my other pocket while I ran after Banjo. The grass and weeds rose above my waist, and by the looks of things, no one had been in this area for quite some time. Only a weather-beaten washboard along with an exposed edge from its rusted tub was visible in the untamed field. This, along with the absence of any previous footprints in the rain-softened earth, made me wonder even more as to who had moved the immense sphere aside.

“
Banjo hesitated just before disappearing into the woods. I ran as hard as I could to catch up to him, following the trail of broken weeds and grass he’d created. I tried not to think about the poisonous snakes and whatever else might be lurking about. By the time I reached the woods, Banjo was moving farther away from me, scaling the tree-covered hillside with ease. I wasn’t sure if he was really worth it, but I pressed on.

“‘
Banjo, stop!’ I called after him. ‘Come here, boy!!
Come here!!!
’

“
He stopped just long enough to glance at me before climbing further up the hill. I scrambled up the hillside, pulling up a few saplings in the process. Almost toppling down the hill twice, I grabbed onto a strongly rooted fern to steady myself. Unseen things slithered beneath the thick underbrush near the ground, but I kept moving, more worried about what might come after me if I stopped.

“
Panting heavily, I reached the top of the hill. In the sparse light penetrating the trees’ thick canopy, I spotted Banjo feeding nearby. I ran toward him, but once I closed in on the ornery animal, he scampered off again, moving deeper into the woods where even less sunlight reached.

“
Clueless as to where he’d run off to in the woods’ deepening darkness, I headed for the spot where I’d last seen his white-tipped tail. Then Banjo’s voice echoed shrilly from an area just ahead of me to the right. Unable to see well, I tripped on a fallen branch and went tumbling down a small embankment. If not for the insects and shit, I might’ve been tempted to linger a moment in the cool undergrowth. Banjo called out again, so I got up and followed his cries.

“
After moving through this dim-lit environment a few hundred feet, I reached a steeper embankment. I cautiously scaled it, praying to God Almighty I didn’t grab anything that could move or bite me. When I reached the top, Banjo fed on a clump of moss a few feet away. I brushed off my clothes, all the while scolding him. The little asshole still didn’t respond. Instead, he moved even deeper into the woods.

“
Mystified by Banjo’s defiant behavior I ran after him, shouting every obscenity I could think of to get him to stop. As I ran, I began to hear the faint rush of water, which grew louder until it became a roar. Banjo stopped at the edge of a clearing, where the morning light poured through brightly. I caught up with him and just happened to look down. A drop-off of a few hundred feet, I grabbed onto a branch to keep from losing my balance, peering over the cliff’s edge. A river raged along its banks, crashing against a series of large boulders as it coursed through a beautiful sprawling valley.

“
I’d never seen anything like it. The valley was filled with grove after grove of large fruit trees. Separating the groves from one another were huge meadows full of colorful wildflowers of every hue imaginable. It seemed endless, stretching for many miles in any direction.

“
As my eyes followed the valley’s expanse, something massive shined within its midst, a mile or two away. An enormous spike-shaped tower of gold shimmered brilliantly in the sun’s light. It stood majestically like a grand mountain encircled by a crystal wall, the top of which glistened just above the surrounding treetops.

“‘
Will you look at that, Banjo,” I whispered in awe. ‘
Banjo?
’

“
The goddamned billy goat was on his way down a flagstone path carved into the cliff’s side. I chased after him, but the steepness of the path and Banjo’s sure-footedness allowed him a huge head start. I wondered how I’d ever get us back home.

“‘
Banjo, stop!
’
I yelled.
‘
Hey, wait for me!!
’

“
At the bottom of the cliff the path turned sharply toward the river. Banjo hesitated, just long enough for me to catch up. I reached out to grab him, but he trotted off again! Extremely pissed, I dove at his feet to stop him. He still avoided my grasp.

“
I scrambled to my feet and ran after him. I didn’t catch Banjo again until he trotted up to an old woman sitting on a rock beneath the shade of a large willow next to the river. He wagged his tail as if he knew her, and she extended her hand to pet him.

“
I walked over to the woman, wondering who she could possibly be. I stepped under the willow’s branches, greatly surprised to find she wasn’t old at all. It must’ve been her long white hair that at first glance threw me a curve. Now within a few feet of her, I saw she was young—not more than a year or two older than Jeremy.