"That Louisa's really strange."
"You're telling me! I don't know how Anne can like her. And when she looks at you ..."
"What?"
"She hasn't done it to you yet?"
"What? What?"
Mary was getting a little irritated by this time.
"When you make her mad, she looks at you ... her eyes get all bright, and afterward something happens. Like I bumped into her in the hall. I said 'excuse me' but she looked at me, her eyes all bright and sort of yellow and I hadn't walked ten steps before my books fell. That isn't all. She's done other things."
"Coincidence. You have a great imagination."
"It's not my imagination. Wait until it happens to you."
The bell rang.
"Gotta go. See you after school?"
"I'm walking."
"Well, then, tomorrow."
They parted. Mary thought for a minute about Louisa, the strange girl with the yellow eyes and black hair, but only for a minute. She would walk home by way of the path through the fall woods, maybe find a lovely leaf to add to her collection, and all would be fine. Kathy always did have an active imagination, as Mary's mother said. And that was all the thought she gave to Louisa until the last school bell rang.
***
"You can't go that way."
"I can too. You don't own these woods!" What is Louisa doing here? Mary wondered. Why can't I go that way?
"Look. I don't have anything against you. Just do what I say or you'll get hurt."
"Why? Will you punch me?" Mary said in mock fear.
"You'll be sorry."
Louisa's eyes were blazing at her now, like the sun only cold instead of hot. A burning cold.
"I'm not moving until you take the other road."
Mary had never before taken the woods path home from school, but she had walked the path once in the summer, just to see where it led. From a hill she had seen the school, but just then she had had to go home for lunch. Since then, the weather had been bad, rainy and chilly. It was Indian summer now, and Mary wanted to make te most of it.
"I'm going home this way, like it or not," Mary said in sudden decision. She pushed Louisa bodily aside and started running. For a few minutes she heard running footsteps behind her and felt Louisa's eyes boring into her neck, burning her back. But soon they faded away and were gone. Why didn't she hurt me? Mary wondered before she could stop herself. If she can make Kathy drop her books with one look, why didn't she do something even worse to me?
Mary stopped. She was very tired for some reason, as if Louisa's yellow eyes sucked one's strength. She sat down under a large gnarled tree and closed her eyes.
- The Talking Oak.
"What?"
Mary jumped. The voice came from nowhere, almost as if she had thought it. Like when one is almost asleep and thinks a word. It is so clear and real that one wonders whether someone else said it. When one is almost asleep ... But was I tired enough to fall asleep? Mary wondered. She almost thought she had done so because all the strength that Louisa had taken was now restored and Mary felt on top of the world.
And from somewhere above, a beautiful leaf fell. Mary caught it and admired it. I was all the loveliest fall colors with no green or brown or bug holes bitten in it. It was a perfect leaf, one Mary would save for her collection. She put it carefully into her notebook between pages and started running. She suddenly wondered what kind of leaf it was but didn't look because she didn't want to spoil the glorious feeling with reality. She put her head back, felt the sun on her eyes, closed them and ran on down the trail with the wind in her hair. Oh, the glory of running, she thought. She opened her eyes and laughed for the joy of it and the wind swept up the pieces of her laughter and carried them away into the sky.
***
"That's strange!"
"What?"
"It's an oak."
"What's an oak, Mary?"
"My new leaf. I found it yesterday. And I thought I heard someone say ... "
Her voice trailed, but her mother wasn't listening anymore. Just as well, Mary thought. I couldn't explain it anyhow.
***
"Ow! Help!"
"What's wrong?"
Mary was running around in circles, waving her hands and shaking her head. At last, Kathy and Anne calmed her down.
"A bee! It stung my hand!"
"Let's see."
"She did it!"
Mary pointed a shaking finger at Louisa, who stood watching, eyes yellow with anger.
"Now, Mary. Louisa's my friend. She had nothing to do with it." Anne looked troubled, afraid, almost not believing her own words. Kathy looked frightened too, glancing from Louisa to Mary.
"Go see the nurse."
"No. It's all right now. It ... doesn't hurt anymore."
The bell rang. Mary and Kathy entered the school together, leaving Louisa and Anne standing, looking after them.
"Did she really do it, Mary?"
"I think so. Anne doesn't believe me. Louisa must have cast a spell on her."
"Shhh!"
***
As soon as Mary got out of school, she ran to the trail, hoping to be before Louisa. She was not.
"I'd like to know something, Louisa. If you are a witch, why didn't you hurt me going home last night? Why did you do it this morning instead of yesterday?"
"What are you talking about? I'm only a girl."
"That's what I said! How did you know?"
Louisa's face went suddenly blank. She moved out of Mary's way, and without another look at her face, Mary ran down the path. She was nearing the old tree she had rested under the day before, when rain came pounding down from the clear blue sky.
"Oh!"
Mary huddled in under the protective branches of the tree, keeping as dry as she could, and hoping the rain would stop soon. It did not, and she sat down to wait, closing her eyes and not thinking about anything.
- The Talking Oak.
Mary's eyes jumped open. She looked around but saw no one. My imagination, she thought, and closed them again.
- Mary. Do not fear Louisa. She feeds on fear. You have guessed that she is evil, and she knows. So steer clear of her. Do not trust her.
That was all. When Mary opened her eyes, the rain had stopped and the tree was shedding water like a dog, shaking from side to side. She got up, bewildered, and started home. A leaf blew at the back of her neck, and when she turned around, she saw it was an oak leaf. She looked back at the tree. It was waving a branch, almost as ir waving goodbye. She screamed and ran. Her mind raced, trying to sort out the sudden rain and Louisa and Anne and the perfect leaf the oak had given her and the message ... "Do not fear Louisa. She feeds on fear." Does she feed on fear, Mary wondered. Who do I trust? Maybe the "Talking Oak" is as bad as she. And yet ... the voice had seemed understanding and powerfully kind, as a tree would sound if it had lived for many years and could now talk. But was any of it really real?
***
"Kathy! She did it again!"
"Who? What?"
"Louisa. She tried to stop me from going on the path again. I don't know what she'll do to me today to pay me back, but I'm on the lookout. And the strangest thing happened when I was walking home."
Kathy was suddenly more alert than before.
"I was resting under a tree, and this voice ... "
But something stopped Mary from finishing. Somewhere, far away something said, "Don't trust her. She is with Louisa now." Kathy's eyes, to Mary, seemed all of a sudden to glow with yellow light.
"What about the oak?" Kathy asked, slowly and menacingly, sounding out each word on her tongue. Mary was startled.
"How did you know it was an oak?"
The bell rang.
During the fifteen-minute break from school work, Mary was wandering the corridor when to her horror she saw Louisa and Anne and Kathy talking intimately together. Mary sauntered up as casually as she could.
"Kathy, you don't want to talk to them, do you?"
"Yes, I do. They are very interesting."
"I don't want you to. Don't you remember that Louisa made you drop your books?"
Kathy looked puzzled.
Anne said, "Why don't you join us? We have a lot of fun!"
"You come with me," Mary said, pulling Kathy's arm.
"Well, if you are jealous that I have other friends, I'll stop talking to them."
"Yes. Thank you."
Mary felt enormous relief and thought that Kathy seemed like herself again, which was good. But the words kept racing in her mind, turning in and out like mice in a maze, trying to find the answer, trying to get free. "She is with Louisa now. Don't trust her. She is with Louisa. She is one of them."
It was during that week that the fragile time of Indian summer was gone, and it snowed. The old oak was nearly sagging from it. When Mary stood under it, the wind showered such a powder of flakes all around her she felt like a snow man or a polar bear walking on to school. It was also during that week that she lost her grip on Kathy, and her dread of Louisa increased. Mary saw them always together - Anne Louisa, and Kathy. In the weeks that followed, Mary saw that one by one, all the girls who had noticed Louisa's strangeness were now in her spell.
The winter was nearly over. It was January, and March would be spring. Mary was beginning to think that Louisa's power might not be agreat one after all because she left Mary alone. But the more Mary thought about it, the more she was afraid that Louisa might be saving her strength for something. The snow kept coming.
It was on Friday, in late January, when the great storm came. It was almost the end of the school day, and all of a sudden the sky blackened and the snow came down. As she watched the first flakes falling, Mary felt a foreboding and a call came into her mind.
- Be careful. Don't let them catch you alone. As soon as school is over, walk home. Come to me. The great battle will be today, and you must be here for me to protect you.
"What is the great battle?" The whole class stared at Mary when she asked the question aloud. She blushed and hurriedly looked at her book, still frowning as she struggled with her fear. The snow, the dormancy of Louisa's magic, and the warnings of the oak all worried her, like a jigsaw puzzle without a picture. The pieces fit together, but what did they make? What would come of it all? Mary knew she had to go to the oak on her way home, for some vague reason of protection, and she suspected also that the girls under louisa's spell would try to stop her. She was very much afraid because she knew that if she did not get to the oak in time, she would be like Kathy and Anne and the other girls who had once been on Mary's side against the yellow glow of anger and hate in Louisa's eyes.
The bell range to announce the end of the school day, and Mary raced for the door. But obviously she was not the only one who had been anticipating the end of the day. The way was jammed. She ran to the back door and out, towards the path.
But the others were waiting, their heads already coated with snow. They faced her, eyes blazing yellow with power and hatred byond Mary's comprehension. She glanced around but saw no way of escape. They seemed everywhere. Blocking her way.
Fear overwhelmed her, and she yelled, "Get out of my way! Get out of my way!" again and again. The eyes moved closer in, burning like bee stings even through her coat. She yelled again and turned back towards the school. They blocked her way. She ran and fell in the freezing snow, but wasn't down long enough to feel the biting cold. She juped up and Kathy was facing her.
"Kathy! Help me. Please. Help me, Kathy! Don't you remember ... "
But Kathy did not remember, and coming closer she mumbled words that were not English or any other language but magic, words that only the bewitched know. And so Mary's friend had turned into an unknown creature to be feared and run from. Mary looked deep into her eyes trying to find a remnant of what was Kathy and suddenly found herself paralyzed.
She tried, strained every muscle to move but could not. And they were closing in. Louisa was coming forward, and now they were in a ring, chanting, chanting, chanting louder and louder. Mary had a feeling of slipping into a deep pit, trying to claw her way up but slipping deeper with every effort. It was like being caught in quicksand with no escape! She could not even scream as she felt them probing her mind. And then, from millions of miles away it seemed, a voice was saying, Think! Think something powerful! Think my name. Mary thought with all her might. "The Talking Oak. The Talking Oak."
Louisa screamed. Perhaps it was more of a cry. She fell back and Mary ran towards the trail. "The Talking Oak." She stumbled over an unseen rock and fell panting in the snow. She got up again and fell again. Now, behind her, Louisa, Anne Kathy, and some dozen or so other girls were coming after her. The snow was in Mary's mough and in her coat and in her hair. She was cold all over and her legs were trembling, but she still got up and ran, stumbled, ran again towards the one hope still left in her mind. They were not three yards behind her now as she ran through the white winter woods.
Halfway to the tree, Mary fell and they were nearly upon her, but from somewhere a lightning bolt came from the sky and a girl screamed. Mary ran on, strength nearly gone. The crackling streaks of lightning continued. Mary saw, ahead in the distance, the tree, as tall as the world, holding up the sky with its gnarled age-old branches. She sobbed with relief and floundered towards it. In the distance she could hear the chants and cries of the creatures pursuing her. It's going to be close, she thought. Perilously close. But the strength of the Oak is too much for Louisa. We will win. And her thoughts were joined by those of the oak. We will win, it said. At great cost, Mary, but we will win.
She had nearly reached the tree when something incredibly cold and invisible tripped her. She sprawled in the snow, exhausted and powerless against Louisa's magic.
"Help me, Oak! Help me!"
A great gust of wind swept the forest and pulled the tree's branches down. In one great effort, Mary lifted her hand up, caught a branch, and held on with all her might. In the distance, the girls were approaching, but Mary was not afraid anymore. The Talking Oak would protect her.
The great battle which followed then was more than Mary could ever comprehend afterwards, but even with her eyes closed she could feel the powers clashing in the dark and falling snow. The lightning came in great bolts from the sky and the snow continued to fall. Never was there such a night or such a storm, Mary thought, huddling close to the tree, away from its lashing branches. She could feel the eyes shining in the blackness and the lightning of the Talking Oak. And then words came into her mind, words she would never forget.
- We have won, Mary, at great cost. We have won. Goodbye, Mary. Goodbye.
She opened her eyes and in an instant the sky lit up with a bolt of lightning that cut the sky into shreds. A burning ran down the tree and a scream came from nowhere.
- Run, Mary! Run, run, run, run ...
So she ran. She didn't stop until she felt the bottom step of her porch hit her foot. With a terrified yell, she fell across the porch and was unconscious.
No one knew afterwards exactly what had happened to Mary that night. Her excuse was that she had got lost in the woods during the great storm, but everyone knew it must have been more than that by the way she told the story like a hunted animal, nervous and worried. She was sick with a terrible fever for weeks, and by the time she had recovered, it was spring. When she was able to go back to school at last, she was afraid of encountering Louisa, but the old tree's words rang still in her mind. "We have won." She wondered at what great cost they had won, but assumed it must have been her fever and thought little more of it.
"Hey, Mary! Welcome back!"
It was Kathy. Mary shied away, but after watching Kathy for a few minutes, she realized it was the same Kathy who had been her friend before Louisa won her over, so long ago. As soon as she had a chance, Mary talked to Kathy.
"Do you remember Louisa? Where is she?"
"Oh, her. She moved away the night of the storm. Very strange. She moved away without telling anyone. Why do you ask?"
"She moved away? Do you remember ... last year?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean ... you know ... "
But Mary saw in her eyes that Kathy did not know, did not remember. In fact, Mary noticed that nobody remembered anything about Louisa except that she had once been there and now was gone. Moved away, the night of the storm. By the end of the day, Mary was nearly convinced that Louisa had never been more than a very quiet girl. Then she remembered the Talking Oak. If it was still there and would talk to her, she would know the truth. As soon as school was over, despite having promiesed her parents not to tire herself, she ran down the familiar trail where the tree had been.
To her horror, she saw it split in two and lying across the trail, blackened and burned. She realized that this was the great cost at which they had won. The Talking Oak had been rent and destroyed by one great streak of light from the sky.
Had Louisa really moved away, Mary wondered, or had the tree destroyed her? Perhaps in its effort to destroy Louisa the great Oak had outreached its own power and destroyed itself. Perhaps. Mary could not be sure.
The great trunk was split through, but its stump still stood, wider around than Mary's arms could reach. She knelt down beside it and let her tears fall into the charred wood, hoping it would somehow soften the charm that had kept the tree lying dead across the path. Then she walked slowly home.
The next day, after school, Mary stopped to look at the dead stump. At first glance, she drew back in surprise. Then she looked again and laughed with joy. There in the blackened wood where her tears had fallen was a tiny shoot of green. It had no leaves, but Mary knew that it was the beginning of another oak. There might be hundreds of Louisas to burn the tree down, but each time it would rebuild itself, each time it would be older and wiser and more powerful than before. It would take more than the magic of one girl to destroy it completely. The root would live on and grow again.
A slight breath of wind came from somewhere far away and in that breeze Mary thought she heard a sigh, the sigh of something very, very old that suddenly felt very young again.
