The Hobgoblin of the Redwoods (6 page)

Without saying a word or thinking, I pulled my sister away from there and ran for the woods.

There was a lot of noise, with the Hobgoblin scurrying about the ground and Lucky growling. I heard the dog yelp once, just as it had when I hit it with the rock. But this time the dog held its ground.

Far enough away now, I stopped to make sure Lucky was all right. He was running in our direction. Then I saw the spear in the air.

“Noooo!” I yelled, just as the spear entered Lucky's shoulder. Lucky rolled to the ground and the spear pulled loose. The dog pulled himself to his feet and limped forward toward us.

Then it went past us and stopped in its tracks to look at us. He wanted us to follow him.

We didn't need any more hints. But it was so dark. We could barely see a few feet ahead.

Now I heard the ferns behind us rustling. “Get back here,” the Hobgoblin yelled. “You'll freeze to death out there. Or that wolf will eat you.”

In the darkness, I did the only thing I could. I grabbed onto Lucky's tail with my right hand and held onto Sara with my left hand. The dog led us through the darkness like that for a while.

Then I noticed he was starting to slow down. He was limping worse now.

“Lucky wait,” I said, and we all came to a stop. “Let me check you out.”

I rubbed my hand along the dog's side until I felt a warm moisture. Blood. There was a lot of it. He would die if we didn't stop.

In the darkness I could see that we were in the very spot where the Hobgoblin had found us. The upturned tree was only a few feet away.

“Down here, Lucky,” I whispered, leading the dog and Sara down inside the hole in the root.

“But the Hobgoblin will find us here,” Sara said nervously.

“No, he won't think of coming back here.” I was trying my best to speak softly.

The three of us huddled down inside the hole.

I was afraid for Lucky. He was bleeding too much, and he had saved our life. I didn't want him to die. I held onto Sara with one arm and the dog with the other.

Then the rain came again.

Not just a little rain.

It poured like crazy.

It rained like it had the night before, sitting at Danielle's house in front of the fire and later laying in bed listening to nothing but the wind and rain.

When the wind picked up now, I thought for sure one of the trees would fall and crush us.

At first the drops were not hitting us, but then the hole under the exposed root started filling up. I knew we would have to move at some point. But, for now, we were safe and warm. Besides, I wasn't sure Lucky would make it if we moved him.

I know I dozed off from exhaustion, but I don't know how long I slept. I do know that Sara fell asleep first. And I tried to keep my eyes open. I really did.

How I woke up was no real mystery. The water had filled up so high in the hole, we nearly drowned.

To make matters worse, the water was making its way through the roots above and pouring down on our heads.

I shook Sara to wake her.

Nothing.

She wouldn't wake up. I was sure she was dead from the cold, sure I would never hear her whining voice again—never get to call her a pain. I pulled her tight to me. She was cold right through her sweater now.

“Please don't take Sara,” I said aloud. “Sara...wake up!” I screamed. “Wake up!”

She just lay there against my shoulder.

Now I knew I was in big trouble. First I had gotten her lost in the Redwoods, going against everything my aunt had told me. Then I had gotten us caught by the ugly Hobgoblin who nearly ate us. And now, if she did not drown in the hole, she would die from the cold. I had never done anything so stupid.

I shook Sara again and even slapped her on the face.

Still nothing.

Then I realized something else. The dog was no longer laying next to me. It had vanished.

Great! Now I didn't only kill my kid sister, but I lost my aunt's dog, which probably went off to die somewhere.

The wind and rain died down some for a few minutes, and I thought the worst of it might pass.

Moments later, I could see a light from above, high above the hole and off in the distance. I thought maybe the angels were coming down to get us. Maybe I was really sleeping and freezing to death just like my sister Sara and I didn't know it. Maybe they would forgive me for being such a bad, stupid boy.

The light got closer and closer.

Then another thought came to my mind. Maybe the Hobgoblin was back and hungrier than ever after having to fight off the wolf-dog.

I held Sara tighter, hoping she would wake soon.

I could hear footsteps above and rustling through ferns. And panting. A lot of panting.

Suddenly, there was a distorted figure above the hole. That's all I could see. I was sure it was the Hobgoblin, but I wasn't sure I had any fight in me.

And then...then it happened. The totally unexpected.

As the light got closer, I could make out the figure above. It wasn't the Hobgoblin. It was Lucky. He was back and panting above us.

Lucky climbed over the edge and down the embankment. When he reached me, he gave me a big kiss on my face and then barked loudly.

Then he moved over to Sara and kissed her on the face. When he barked this time, Sara moved a little. I shook her and yelled, “Sara, wake up!”

She let out a big sigh, yawned, and slowly opened her eyes. “What?” she said, yawning again.

The light was now bright enough to see around our shelter.

Sara's eyes brightened when she saw Lucky. “Hey, Lucky found us,” she said.

She must have been delirious.

“Of course he did,” I said. “Don't you remember?” Maybe she had brain damage.

By now the light was almost to the top of the hole. But this light didn't flicker like the flame from the Hobgoblin's fire stick. This one hissed like a snake.

I looked at Lucky for some sign of concern. Nothing. In fact, he was wagging his tail. It couldn't have been the Hobgoblin up there.

I heard a little whistle and Lucky flew up the embankment and barked once.

The light came over the top first. It was one of those camp lanterns.

Then came a face we both knew.

“Danielle!” we both screamed together.

She looked very concerned, with her forehead wrinkled and her eyes squinting toward us.

“This is the Redwoods,” Danielle said to us.

I knew what had to be coming next. She would lecture us just like our father. When that didn't happen I wondered why, and guessed she was too mad to talk at that time.

Instead, with her left hand holding the hissing lantern, she reached her right hand down for us. I took her hand eagerly, pulling Sara behind me with my free hand. With our human chain, we made it up the embankment.

By the time we reached the top, the rain had slowed some. It was now only a heavy drizzle instead of a gushing downpour like earlier.

“How did you find us?” I asked her.

She looked at her wolf-dog. “I didn't. Lucky found you. Even in the rain he could smell your scent.”

“But he's hurt,” I said.

I looked at Lucky, who was now wagging his tail so fast his whole back end was nearly shaking off the ground. I got down to check out his shoulder, rubbing my hand across his mane, but there was no blood.

“What do you mean he's hurt?” Danielle asked. “He looks fine to me.”

“But the Hobgoblin hit him with his spear,” I pleaded, separating the thick fur to find the bloody spot. The place where I had put my hand to stop the bleeding.

Nothing.

Was I going crazy? He was just down in the hole with us, barely alive. Now he looked fine.

“Come on,” Aunt Danielle said. “We better get back to the road and ride home. You two need to get out of those wet clothes.”

“But....”

“Ben,” she said firmly, “we'll talk at home in front of a warm fire.”

I couldn't argue with that. As she mentioned wet clothes, a great chill came over me. And, I could hear my sister's teeth chattering again.

We walked back through the woods with great purpose, Lucky leading the way. Judging by the short time, we had not been as far from the road as I had first thought. It was so close, in fact, that I suspected without the huge Redwoods and thick, tall ferns, we would have been able to see the road on a clear day.

When we got to the road, I could see Danielle's truck a short distance away. I wanted to run and jump inside, but my legs were so cold and wet that they had gotten really stiff. I was walking funny now, much like the way the Hobgoblin waddled. I couldn't run now if the creature was after me.

“The bikes are in the back,” Danielle said, opening the door for us and helping us both into the high pickup cab.

Lucky took one leap and hopped into the back end.

None of us spoke a word the entire way home. Danielle turned up the heat and blasted air at us. Although I didn't say anything, this whole experience wasn't adding up. Lucky was hurt and then he wasn't hurt. How could that be?

As we rounded the last corner toward my aunt's house, the truck lights shot across the yard. My heart almost stopped with what I saw.

Danielle jammed on the brakes and the truck skidded to a halt.

“A bear,” Sara yelled.

Before we could do anything, Lucky flew out the back of the truck barking at the bear, which took off even faster in the other direction and climbed a big Redwood.

Danielle laughed. “I guess that's what the bear gets for coming into Lucky's territory looking for a free meal.”

She parked the truck and got out, leaving the door open.

“Is it safe to get out?” I asked Danielle.

“Sure. Lucky will keep him up the tree most of the night.”

“Cool.”

I helped my sister out onto the wet grass.

In just moments we were inside the house, in warm, dry clothes, and sitting in front of the warm fire.

Danielle brought us hot chocolate and handed us each a mug full with tiny marshmallows on top.

When we were settled and content, Danielle said, “Okay, who wants to start?”

“Start what?” Sara asked.

“First, tell me how you got into the Redwoods.”

I felt really guilty and responsible. I thought I had killed my sister, after all. So I also felt like I should tell the story.

“It was my fault,” I said.

“Let me guess,” Danielle said. “You were riding the bikes down my driveway, but it wasn't far enough or interesting enough. So you decided to ride up the forest service road that ends up in Oregon?”

“Good guess,” I said.

“You should have at least brought Lucky with you,” she said. “He would always find his way home for you.”

Sara smiled at me.

I didn't want to sound like a broken record, but all I could say was, “Again, that was my fault. I thought you'd want him to stay home and watch for the bear.”

Danielle sipped her cup of tea. “Well, that's a nice thought, but he knows the area better that anyone. I've hiked all over the woods with him. Where I go mostly by what I see, he can go by what he hears, what he smells, and what he sees. Most humans who spend much time in the woods try to do the same. Most also fail. That's why we use a compass and map. Animals have an internal compass. Now, why did you go into the Redwoods?”

I was waiting for that question. So I explained the rabbit, and how we had chased it for a while, lost it, and then got turned around with everything looking the same. All the trees looked alike.

“Then we came across this funny-looking creature,” I said. I glanced at Sara to see if she would react. When she didn't, I said, “It looked kind of like a little bear, but it was much shorter and it had a lighter stripe on its body and a bushy tail. Then it ripped open an old stump with one swipe.”

“Yeah,” Sara said. “It had huge claws.”

“Was it a badger,” Danielle asked.

“No. I saw a badger at the San Francisco Zoo a few months back. It was taller than that and thicker. Much darker, too.”

Danielle jumped from the floor and quickly went to a bookshelf. She found a book and started flipping through the pages. When she found the page she wanted, she poked her finger at a picture and brought it to me.

“Was it this?” she asked me.

Sara and I both looked at the animal in the book. I said, “That's it!”

Danielle shook her head. “I've been working for the last six months, trying to find even one track, and now you two stumble across an actual sighting in just one day. That's the wolverine I've been looking for. So then you decided to hole up under the tree when the rain started?”

Sara spoke up now. “Not until after we saw the bear,” she said. “It looked just like the one Lucky has treed. Only it stood up on its back legs.”

“Boy, you two have had quite a day,” Danielle said.

“Then came the Hobgoblin,” Sara said.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to mention the Hobgoblin. Part of me thought maybe I had dreamed the whole thing. But, since Sara brought it up, I'm sure we couldn't have both had the same dream.

“The Hobgoblin,” Danielle repeated.

“Yeah,” I said. “We went down in the hole, but the Hobgoblin came and brought us to his camp.”

“How did you...are you sure it was the Hobgoblin?”

“He didn't deny it,” I said. “He just said that was a cruel name for him. He looked just like you and Mr. Hatfield described.”

Danielle let out a deep breath.

Before I got a chance to finish my story, Lucky went crazy out back—barking up a storm.

Danielle looked concerned. “What's that about?”

“Don't go out there,” Sara yelled at Danielle, who had turned on the porch light and was now peering out the door.

“It's all right,” Danielle explained. “Maybe the bear tried climbing down and Lucky didn't like that. Maybe I should let him in and give the bear a chance to escape.”