Rose Gold: Figure in the Woods ~Part 2

<<Previously: Figure in the Woods ~Part 1

James carried the basket since he knew that Will would get tired if he was forced to carry it. As they walked, he told Will to keep his eyes open for mushrooms, pointing out some as they went.

Watching Will eagerly run in each direction indicated reminded James of when he was around Will’s age. It had been years ago now, that he had been abandoned in the woods. Not that he could remember how or why, of course. All he could remember was that a warm body had settled down next to him until Dezachi arrived.

It had been the cat, of course, that lay by his side. At that time there had been several cats that lived with Dezachi. The eldest had led Dezachi to him. James turned to see the cat follow him at a distance.

“Look at that Will, we have a friend following us.”

Will turned and scanned the forest. “Where?”

James pointed, the cat pausing mid stride.

“Oh!” Will said, his face turning from confusion to delight. “Mr. Cat is coming with us!”

The cat stared at them, watching from a distance. Finally he decided in was no use to watch them from a distance and walked up to them. He sniffed at the mushrooms they had already collected, a small batch of mushrooms. Satisfied, he sat down a licked his paw.

“Guess that means we don’t have any bad mushrooms!” James told Will. “You know, Will, these cats have got some very fine noses. They have many times stopped us from eating something that could hurt us.”

“Wow,” Will said, eyes widening. “How do they know?”

“I’d guess they can pick out something in the smell.”

“That’s good to know.”

They started walking again, following the deer trail through the woods. Here the sunlight dropped down onto the forest floor is swathes of warm light, highlighting leaf litter and mossy patches.

The trees on the edge of the forest were thinner, not yet having outcompeted their competition for sunlight. Brambles and bushes choked the path in front of them. James pointed out an opening and they pushed through. Further into the forest the trees started to spread out more. They didn’t have to worry as much anymore about getting stuck on branches or bushes and here the forest seemed to stretch on into the indiscernible distance.

Will clambered up a fallen tree and walked on top of it.

“Wow! Come here James! You got to see this!”

“What did you find,” James clambered up after the cat who had jumped after Will already.

As James made it to the other side of the fallen tree he too marveled at Will’s find. It was a giant patch of mushrooms that stretched along the entire length of the decaying tree.

“Will! You’re a legend! Cat, what do you think? Are they Ostrions?”

The cat sniffed the mushrooms closest to him, then sat down and licked his paw again.

“Legend I tell you!” James exclaimed, patting Will on the back. “We should probably only take a few for now, the largest . That way we can come back and gather more when we run out.”

Will spotted another mushroom. It was golden brown. “Look at this one!”

“Very nice! I wonder what it is…”

“Mr. Cat,” Will called out, what do you think… Mr. Cat?”

The boys had been so caught up in their revelry that they did not notice when the cat had left them.

“Where’d he go?”

“I’m not sure,” James said, suddenly concerned. He looked towards the sky. The sun had dropped in the sky. “Common Will, we best get back to the house.”

Will looked up at James, noting the sudden change in tone. James normally kept his voice light and positive but something had crept into it that wasn’t normally there.

“What’s wrong?” Will asked, worried.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” James flashed a faltering smile. “I think we may have stayed out a bit later than we should have. We gotta hurry back, okay.” His tone was back to normal but his eyes betrayed his concern. “Keep up or I’ll be forced to leave you behind,” He joked.

“You wouldn’t!”

James started back and Will hurried after him. The distance they travelled felt longer now than it had been on the way into the forest. Will’s feet began to hurt and his legs grew tired.

James noticed Will slowing down and took his hand in his free hand, the basket of mushrooms in his other hand. James pushed Will to go faster. He couldn’t tell Will. He didn’t want to give him cause for concern. The cat leaving them didn’t seem that big of a deal, however, they were late going back and if it had simply been a matter of meeting back at the house, why wouldn’t the cat have simply gone with them.

No, James thought, he left us for a reason. I just hope the others are at the house.

When they made it back, James’ concerns were met with validation. The others had not yet returned. He set the basket of mushrooms down inside the house and then turned to Will.

“Will, get washed up, okay. I need to go check on the others. I want you to stay in the house and don’t leave it for any reason. Do you understand.”

Will nodded, recognizing that James considered the situation serious.

“Don’t let anyone into the house unless it’s me or one of the others. You know the rule.”

Will nodded.

James got back to his feet and patted him on the head. “You did good today.”

He turned and walked out, closing the door behind him. He heard Will push the lock on the inside and called to him, “Good. I’ll be back as soon as I can. If Dezachi makes it back before me, tell him I went south, looking for the others.”

He heard Will’s quite response from the other side of the door. It was a muffled little ‘okay’.

James didn’t dare waste any more time, heading off into the direction the others had gone.

Figure in the Woods ~Part 3 :Next>>