Into the Forest Shadows Read online

  And nowhere did she see Grandma.

  "Shuttle is launching. Please clear the area," the computer pilot said.

  Kate grabbed one of the boxes and dragged it after her towards the relative safety of the trees. The engines of the shuttle kicked in, causing air to billow the edges of her cape. One of the boxes still in the clearing tipped over, but the cover held.

  With the shuttle safely gone Kate peered down the path leading to the cottage. Still no sign of Grandma. Setting the basket on top of the pile, she heaved a box up and started down the short path leading to Grandmother's house.

  She knew what she would find. Grandma would be hunched over an experiment somewhere, completely oblivious to the world despite the trip having been planned for weeks. Despite the noise of the landing shuttle.

  And today she really would have appreciated having someone wait for her to arrive. To feel important enough. For someone to be glad to see her.

  She shook herself. Grandma didn't mean it. Grandma was just... Grandma.

  The path turned a corner around a large bushy tree. Beyond sat Grandma's house. Not a cottage, not a house like what would be considered a house on other planets.

  The front door and windows nestled in the intertwined roots. The tree itself towered up into the forest canopy, disappearing into the tangle of branches and leaves from the trees around it. Even the porch consisted of the gentle curve of a root, sheltering the front door.

  It looked like the home of a giant woodpecker.

  CHAPTER TWO

  She set the box down on the porch and banged on the door, "Come on, Grandma! I'm here!"

  No one answered. Kate banged on the door again.

  After still no answer she fished the key out from under a flowerpot sitting on one of the window ledges. She opened the door herself. Why did Grandma lock the door in the first place with no people around? For a woman considered a genius in botany, some of the things she did just didn't make sense.

  The smell of seasoned spicy wood assailed her nose, as well as the aroma of something cooking in the kitchen. Only the light from two round windows illuminated the large interior room holding a formal sitting area and a dining area. The dining table held some of Grandma's experiments on top, including a small plant under a glass dome.

  "Grandma? Where are you?" Kate called out.

  The white round form of a housebot rolled out of the kitchen on four wheeled legs. It held a towel in one of its two arms, turning a blank expression towards her. "Good morning, Ms. Kate. Ms. Olivia is not currently in the house."

  Kate set the basket on the table. "Fine, I'll bring the boxes in myself. Nice of you to open the door."

  The housebot paid her no attention, turning around and heading back into the kitchen. Kate started lugging the boxes to the house.

  Most of the supplies looked like they were for experiments, so she lugged them through the hall in the back. The tree itself formed the hallway to the unevenly shaped rooms beyond.

  She turned into one of the larger rooms filled with steel-topped tables and enclosed glass and steel boxes of varied sizes. A computer on a desk under a window oversaw it all. She created a small pile of boxes near the door for Grandma to put away later.

  As she stepped outside to pick up the last box a bunt ran under her feet into the living room. The white and brown ringed tail disappeared under the coffee table. It turned and twitched its nose, whiskers, and the tip of its tail at her. A second followed before she could close the door.

  One second they were running as if a person meant to eat them, and the next they were underfoot.

  Kate kicked closed the front door and used the boxes to barricade the hallway. Then came the trial of herding the wayward bunts out the door without letting more in.

  The bunts raced from under one piece of furniture to the next. One slipped under a chair. Not a one squealed, only twitching their noses at her, watching her with their huge round eyes. She could almost see them laughing at her. She blew the bangs off her sweaty forehead and ran a finger around the nape of her cape.

  She felt way too hot to stay inside. She would have to get Grandma's help to deal with the little invaders. She cracked open the door hoping the rascals would find their way out, although with her luck today an entire warren would soon be inside.

  She stepped outside, turning her face into the light breeze filtering through the forest. She followed a narrow rock path through a garden to the left of the front door. A garden that looked a lot healthier than the fields near the city. Grandma needed to talk to the city farmers on how to improve their veggies.

  She purposely took a deep breath, reminding herself that today was her day to relax. To spend time with Grandma. To enjoy a bit a life. She would find a suitable way to deal with Uncle later.

  The wider spacing of the trees continued, along with the tell-tale signs of Grandma's handiwork. Tree trunks surrounded by bands of sensors. Hanging pots and containers to collect sap and other slowly dripping fluids. Cameras on poles watched several trees at once.

  Grandma's orchard. And a flash of red told her that Grandma was right in the heart of it.

  Wearing a red cape almost exactly like hers, Grandma sat on a crate next to a small tree running a line of sensors around the root systems. The red fabric highlighted her all-white hair as well as the smooth skin. Lithe fingers with smooth knuckles wove and threaded the sensors.

  Grandma being herself, studying the trees of the forest.

  The little tree was a new one she didn't recall seeing before. Surely she would have. Compared to the trees around them the little tree looked pathetic. The boughs drooped. The burgundy leaves across the top had shriveled.

  Even the bark didn't look right. It should have long smooth stretches of bark running vertically. Instead, bark flaked off, streaked with white and gray instead of rich chocolate brown.

  Grandma's soft lilting voice drifted with the breeze, "There you are. We'll get you over this just like your friends. You'll see."

  Kate couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Grandma, you really need to stop talking to your plants."

  Grandma lifted her head, her eyes crinkling as she smiled widely. "Oh dear, it is that time? How wonderful! And look, you're wearing your cape."

  "Yes, just like you ask. Each and every time." Kate folded her arms over her chest. "You weren't waiting for me when the shuttle arrived."

  She pulled a black computer module out of the other crate, "I've been so busy. Sick trees, you know. They just can't be left."

  "Should I have come a different day?" Kate asked, moving closer.

  "Oh no, don't think that. Today is fine. You'll be glad for the cape today. The temperature will cool off soon."

  She recalled clear high-summer blue skies from the shuttle ride. The air still held a lot of heat, making her wish she could dispense with the cape. "The weather is suppose to stay hot."

  "Not tonight it won't. You just watch." She held up a series of sensors on a connected line in her hand. Kate stepped forward to take it. "Help me place them along the trunk."

  Kate wasn't sure she wanted to touch the tree, suddenly nervous even though she felt sorry for it. It looked so sick.

  Grandma patted the trunk, crooning, "Don't worry. You'll be better in no time."

  "Grandma, it's not alive."

  "Of course it's alive, dear. It isn't a rock. Does it not emerge from a seed, grow, reproduce and die just like you and I?"

  A leaf fluttered down from the top, so crinkled and dry that it looked as if it had been baked in an oven. Kate knelt to start stringing the sensors around the bark in a spiral pattern. "Okay, it's alive. But do you have to talk to it?"

  "It makes them feel better. And knowing what is most likely wrong with it, it needs all the comfort I can give it." Grandma took an instrument and placed it at the roots, plugging the sensor leads in. "When it was brought to me I made a promise to cure it if I could, and I will. I keep my promises. I'm hoping a stronger tonic will help."

&n
bsp; It must have been brought by the Gatherers. Maybe a blight they've been seeing? Kate had to concede that Grandma would have the best chance of figuring out what might be wrong than anyone else on the world.

  If only she didn't carry out conversations with them. Grandma needed someone else out here other than trees to talk to.

  "What's wrong with it? It doesn't look right." She reached out to touch it, but hesitated. Could trees be contagious?

  "I don't know for certain yet, but I have my suspicions." Grandma finished winding the line of sensors around the base of the tree while Kate plugged it into the base controller. Grandma crooned at the tree, "And you'll feel better soon. You'll see."

  A bunt squealed from the edge of the orchard. The forest went silent. Kate squinted, studying the undergrowth. A dark shape moved behind one of the bushes. She felt a chill wash over her and shivered. The shadow glided under another bush.

  Then the movement was gone.

  Only a shadow of one of the swaying trees, she told herself. Nothing to be afraid of. Probably more bunts running around or maybe one of the larger beetles that sometimes appeared in the area. Either way, it was harmless.

  "Time to head in, I think, and have a spot of tea," Grandma suddenly said. "The air is already cooler. Help me up. The knees aren't as young as they used to be."

  Grandma reached out for her hand. Kate stiffened to take the extra weight as Grandma pulled herself up with the help of Kate's hand and arm. Tea sounded good, but it also reminded her of a little problem back at the house.

  "A few bunts got into the house when I took the supplies in," Kate said.

  Grandma chuckled, handing one of the crates to Kate while taking the second one herself. "Doesn't surprise me. They've been doing that a lot lately. I'll have the housebot do a little vacuuming later on. They hate that. Meanwhile, time to visit with my favorite granddaughter!"

  "Grandma, I'm your only granddaughter."

  "And you would still be my favorite!" Grandma pinching her cheek. "Of course, then all of them would be my favorite. How could I choose over such a thing? I wouldn't be able to! Wouldn't be right anyway."

  Kate didn't miss Grandma's eyes going towards the bush where Kate had seen the shadowy shape. The shivers returned, lingering even after they moved down the path. Maybe Grandma had a reason to lock the front door after all.

  "By the way, does anything ever come up near the house? Other than bunts, I mean."

  "Whatever do you mean? Only trees, bunts and such around here. That Uncle of yours trying to put a little fear in you so you don't come out and visit me?"

  "Both him and Mom. I ignore him anyway. He isn't my father," Kate said. Rats, how did he get into her mind again?

  "Yes, not your father. You don't let him act like it, either!" Grandma laughed along with a grimace, "I don't expect you do let him. A barrel of fire you have. You let him have it anytime he tries, dear."

  "I have been, but now I have Mom on my case," Kate said.

  "Don't worry so much about your mother. She'll put up with the lout for only so long and then she'll come around. Oh dear, look at this root system. I need to get more water down here. Hello Green-Thrush, how are you today? Feeling better? Oh, the flowers have come back!"

  Kate held her tongue as they quickly walked back to the cottage. She didn't agree. Mom married Father, hadn't she?

  She couldn't help eying the path behind them. No movement or odd shadows, but she knew. Something was still out there watching them, keeping the bunts quiet.

  The bunts looked up as she and Grandma came in. Kate cringed at how many more were under the furniture. "I hoped they would go outside."

  "No problem. Go put the crate in the lab. I'll have tea ready for us in a jiffy."

  Kate carried the crate down the hall, moving the boxes she'd barricaded the hall with her foot. She retuned to pick up the basket on the table, taking it into the kitchen. While setting out the bread, crackers and few off-world spices she saw the prescription bottle.

  The bottle bothered her. The front of it said something she could hardly sound out. She eyed Grandma as she readied the tea. Grandma didn't move like she felt unwell.

  Kate held out the bottle, "This is from your doctor. Apparently you are supposed to take one right away."

  Grandma picked up the tea tray, squinting at it as she passed. "I didn't ask my Doctor to send anything."

  "I guess he thought you needed it anyway," Kate said.

  "Take it back to him. I don't need anything other than what I have here. The forest has an answer for what ails me." Grandma took the tea to the table next to her chair in the living room.

  Kate let her hand drop, the bottle of pills untouched. She should have known Grandma would refuse them. Leave it to Uncle to make her drop the big surprise on Grandma. Kate didn't appreciate being put in the middle. Now she would also be in trouble for not getting Grandma to take her first dosage. Definitely a no-win situation.

  Getting even for this morning wouldn't be enough. Kate would have to come up with something much more creative and long-lasting.

  CHAPTER THREE

  She slipped the bottle into an inside pocket of her cape and sat down on a chair where two bunts rubbed noses underneath. She muttered under her breath, "Behave down there."

  Grandma passed Kate the cup, "This is brand new. I've found several highly beneficial elements in it. I might even pass it on to a bio-tech firm for medicinal purposes."

  Kate took a cautious sniff, "Does that mean it tastes horrible?"

  "Of course not. It tastes a little different than what you might be used to, but it's rather refreshing. Now, tell me what you've been doing with yourself."

  Kate held the cup on her lap to let it cool down a little. A war brewed in her. She suspected Uncle of wanting Grandma to come into the city where he could control her. Perhaps even force her to retire.

  At the same time she wanted Grandma to come, to have someone completely on her side. Uncle Travis would find the two of them a united front against him, a force he couldn't easily push aside or manipulate. And maybe they could talk a little sense in Mom.

  Time to just ask. "Grandma, are you sure you wouldn't like to come for a visit, just for a short time? You know, interact with other people?"

  Grandma finished taking a sip of her tea and then set it down beside her. Her steady gaze pinned Kate to the chair. "What is this about, dear?"

  Kate shrugged, "I just thought it would be nice. I could show you the new fields and the fishermen have a new boat. And you could join us for dinner. That would be really nice. I could actually have a conversation with someone for a change!"

  "You know a certain someone and I don't get along. And I hear he's been asked to dinner a lot lately."

  Kate grinned, "Exactly! Two against two."

  Grandma sighed and picked up her tea cup to take another sip, "I get plenty of interaction through the communication link-up. You would be surprised at how much I know is going on in the city. And then there are the Gatherers traveling through the area once in a while. Plus, I have your visits to look forward to."

  So much for moral support. So, like usual, she would take care of things herself.

  She would let Mom return the pills to Uncle Travis or to the Doctor. A few extra study periods at school to stay out of the way until she plotted out and executed her revenge, and all would be good. Uncle Travis wouldn't see her vengeance coming.

  The thought filled her with perverse pleasure. Oh, she was going to enjoy taking him down. She just had to come up with the right way to do it. Maybe something to do with the Oburos Directory? A short time ago they'd been rather angry at him. Maybe she could find out what that was all about and use it.

  "Besides, I can't leave my experiments. I have sick trees to tend to. Dear, drink up before your tea goes cold." Grandma turned to add a little more hot tea to her cup. "I'll have to show you what I'm up to in the lab. I think I'm on the brink of a breakthrough."

  Kate lifted the tea an
d blew on it. It smelled okay, with an underlaying aroma of spice and mint. Grandma liked things to taste good. The off-world spices were the few food items she brought in from outside the forest. She tipped the cup and took a deep swallow.

  Bitterness flooded her mouth. Kate's eyes went wide.

  Where was the spice and mint? Kate forced herself to swallow, just to get rid of it. She glared down at the cup. Grandma thought this tasted good?

  "Drink up, it's good for you. Now, tell me about school. How have your classes been going?" Grandma asked.

  "Uh, going okay. No big problems. Nothing like at home," Kate said, considering the dark liquid. She wanted to throw it out. She doubted even the bunts would like something like this, and they ate almost anything plant-based.

  Kate took a deep breath, held it and gulped it down. The vile taste ran over her tongue, making her want to gag.

  Nope, doing it that way didn't help. Now she had it all over in her mouth. Kate set the cup on the table on the other side of her chair where Grandma wouldn't be able to refill it.

  Kate rattled on about school. Not that she had much to say as school usually bored her. Two more years of it and she would be done and could go do something she wanted.

  Kate realized she'd stopped talking. Her head felt funny. She peered at Grandma, "What was I saying?"

  "Book reports? School?" Grandma sipped at the tea, settled comfortably in her chair. "By the way, have you ever read "Flight of the Monarch Butterfly"?"

  A wave of dizziness flooded her. The image of two bunts rubbing noses under the dining room table spun and waved in her vision. Kate squeezed shut her eyes as the sensation grew worse.

  She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. The bunts had moved to sit under the couch. The vile taste of tea lingered on her tongue. She should get some water to get rid of it, but she wasn't sure she trusted her feet yet.