A Mission - pt 10 Back to Coale

It is time I stopped talking about myself, and resumed Coale's part.
Coale, as you remember, was hiding behind a bush, waiting for all the guests to leave, so that he could get help about his injured leg.  Well, as he waited, he grew colder and colder, weaker and weaker, until at last he couldn't wait any longer.  He raised himself to stand, but after taking a few steps, he fell fainting to the ground. He had waited to long, he would die of cold and blood loss if he was left.  But it just so happened that the owner of the house, one Tom Macabee, owned two old hunting hounds, these were lazing in the heat of the waning fire when Ol' Ben heard Coale's fall, or at least a slight rustling of leaves and underbrush.  Quintilliy, the other dog was not so sharp of ear, but her sight was perfect, and she had seen a movement.  Both dogs growled cautiously, and rising to their feet went to investigate the phenomenon.  They went quietly, slinking out of the fire light, and nobody saw them go.  When they reached Coale, Ol' Ben gave him a good sniff, and seeing that he did not pose a threat, he trotted back to his place by the fire.  Quintilly started after Ben, but, paused and returned to Coale and commenced licking his face, evidently the mother instinct had taken over.

Although Tom Mac' as he was called, did not see his dogs leave, he did notice Ol' Ben returning from the patch of thicket in which Coale was concealed.  He noticed that Quintilly was not lying where she had been a minute ago.  Scanning the clearing for her, Tom walked over to Ben.  The dog looked up slowly to Tom, then turned his head toward the thicket and growled softly.  Tom called, "Quint!"  A short bark came from the thicket.  He retrieved a blazing brand from the fire and went to find his dog.  When he came to her she was standing over Coale, licking his face.  Tom was aghast at the sight, he stooped down and felt his pulse... good he was alive, at least sort of alive.  Calling to Clack Henderson, a friend that was staying at the House, Tom searched Coale to find any sort of identification.

A Mission - pt 9 My new rooms and a friend.

Jared was probably the only one of the gang who hadn't been to the tree house, being a very new member, and the instructions so bluntly put by Creakley ( as I later heard him called ) made him stare dumbly at the door through which Creakley had just vanished.  I saw the pitiable plight Jared was in, not knowing where anything was and not wanting to look stupid by chasing Creakley and questioning him, and I hurriedly spoke up to give voice to my opinion.
"Let's go find it!" I said.  He turned to me and shook my hand.  At least he wasn't alone.  From that time on, a sort of friendship started growing up between Jared and I, at least, as much as one can have between a crook's henchman and his news reporter captive.
"All right, come along then."

My new quarters were easier to find than either of us thought it would be, their being right across the hall from the door which Creakley had used, but we passed out through the other door.  When we came out, we heard voices coming from a room to our right, probably Phil and Daren's, but they were to low to distinguish.  Around the corner we saw the door of the room that the voices were issuing from, and on it was a bright brass number,  4  .  We turned to our left and passed a door  ,  3  , and then we came upon door two.
Jared opened it, I entered and the door was shut behind me.  It was a mostly bare room, a piece of rough carpet, a high barred window, and half of the main supporting tree which came through the wall were it's only variations.  I flung myself down on the dirty carpet and fell fast asleep.


When I awoke, I surveyed my surroundings.  The walls were of wood paneling, stained a dark, sombre color, and the color of the tree half which protruded blended nicely with them.  I glanced around for the source of the warm, dim, light which pervaded the room, but I couldn't see it anywhere!  The light was spread evenly, there wasn't one especially bright spot, or any dark spot, it was as if the the air itself was light.  I pondered on this for a while, but not given to vain speculations, I decided to tidy up my cell, for indeed, dust lay everywhere.  I rolled up the bit of carpet after shaking it thoroughly, and leaned it in a corner.  Then, using my jacket, I swept the dust as well as I could into another corner.  After this was completed, I inspected the tree.  The bark was firm and smooth, it had evidently not been spared when the rest of the room was sprayed with the clear glue type stuff that protects wood from rot and pests.

A Mission - pt 8.5 Tree house Lay-out

I will at this point give you a diagram of the parts of the tree house.  It is not complete however, as I only saw a portion of the inside of the tree house.  This is only the part that I saw at the time, I did not measure anything, so allow for give or take.  There is also a lower and an upper floor, as well as many smaller one room structures clustered around the main house.  These were built in the trees near that in which the large tree house was built, and probably served the purpose of storage and living quarters.

A Mission - pt 8 A Secret Hideout...

The path was high in the trees, varying from about thirty to forty feet above the forest floor, the width was narrow, and the night was dark.  It was with difficulty and a beating heart that I made my way along behind Jared, feeling in front of me with my feet and keeping my hand tight on the light rope that made up the hand rails. Barney had given up all attempts to keep me in line, he was on all fours, groping his way forward, a full six yards behind Phil, Daren, Jared, and I.  He was evidently quite afraid of midnight travelling over old boards and frail ropes suspended forty feet in the air above thick branches and vegetation.

After going a short time, we came to a wide sprawling tree in which a large tree house was built.  You couldn't call it a children's play house at any stretch, no, it was an abode, a fortress just as grim and formidable as the surrounding forest.  We descended a short ladder and found ourselves in an entry way lit with dim lanterns.  I was able to see more clearly the thick rough boards bored through with loop holes which made up the outside walls of the structure.  My attention was drawn however more directly to a particular loop hole as I saw the barrel of a gun protruding from it, and a sharp whiny voice demand who we were in irritable, jerky tones.  I had for so long heard no human voice that the sound of this one startled me.  I shivered.  Phil told the man at guard who he was, and we were promptly let in.  When we were all in, Phil released me from Jared and pointed to the corner, I obeyed, glad for a rest as I had walked over seventy miles that day, enough to drive any man to bed.

In glancing about the room, I observed the man who challenged us lighting a row of lanterns.  As he finished the task, he turned, regarding me with an oily smile, it was the first time I had seen his face as he had begun the lantern lighting immediately after releasing the door latch.  Or was it... I started and shuddered on recognizing the evil face at the window of the Lonely Motel.
"I see you remember me News Boy, I regret that your friend decided to decline our hospitality."  I made no reply, but my face reddened with anger, I hated being called News Boy.
"We have another guest of honor, perhaps you know him?"  He was evidently trying to get me to talk, but I made no move to do so.  My tormentor continued in his mock deference, saying to Jared who alone had remained in the room, the others having passed out through another door, "Here Jared, please take our distinguished visitor to his rooms, suite two I think." He then made me a respectful bow and left through a third door.

A Mission - pt 7 A strange path

After walking for an hour we came to a byroad leading off of the main road.  My captors and I turned down this and continued walking, though at a slowed pace.  The byroad was a mere track, the branches of the massive trees on either side growing together so as to form a roof.  The canopy above was so thick, that even if it was midday the ground would be dark.  You can guess therefore that the way at night, and that a very dark one, was treacherous indeed!  We came upon a huge broad limbed tree growing right out of the middle of the road, testifying to the road's ancient origins.  Instead of circling around it as I guessed we would, Phil led us straight toward it and commenced climbing up steps cut roughly into the tree, completely invisible in the pitch blackness of the night.  After Phil came Daren, and after Daren came Jared and I, with Barney taking up the rear.  The steps were easy for Phil and Daren as they had gone up that secret way often, but for me, and apparently Jared and Barney, the steps were difficult to traverse.  They were cut into the tree so as to be disguised even in daylight, and consequently were randomly placed, quite a few being substituted for branches or knobs growing from the tree itself.

Though Barney too found the climb difficult, he did not desist from pausing in his ascent to jab me with Jared's stick when I stumbled or stopped to find the next step.  Jared was having just as difficult a time as I was, especially since our hands were bound together, and twice, when the way was hardest, Barney accidentally jabbed him.  On the second of these occasions, I was above Jared, and he, being close to Barney, gave him a kick which nearly sent him to the forest floor.  This threat stopped Barney from continually pestering us, and our rate was greatly increased.  After thirty feet of climbing, about half-way up the tree, the whole party reached the top of the ascent, and stopped for a breath before going on.  As near as I could tell, there was a path leading from branch to branch stretching away into the forest.  It consisted partly of short planks fastened to the wide branches, and partly, when no thick branches were in the way of the aerial trail, of rope bridges.

A Mission - pt 6 Coale's Escape

When Coale dived off the bridge, he cut his shin badly against a bulwark supporting the bridge.  This disabled his swimming powers, and he floated down the river on his back, only his face being above the water.  He went down quietly, not making an effort to swim as any movement would point him out immediately to his late masters. Except for the pain in his leg, and the anxiety which he entertained about me, he was comparatively comfortable.  The air had a chill, but the water was not cold, for it had been an exceptionally warm day for December.  After the last sounds of the searchers had died away, Coale laid still, for he knew that once out of the water he would be cold indeed, and he might catch pneumonia from being so wet out in the cold night air.  But also he knew that he was losing blood, and if he stayed on in the water he would soon be too weak to sustain any hope of survival in the woods that bordered the river.  Presently however, as he was debating the question with himself, Coale heard a distant hubbub of voices, and saw a faint glow of light through the trees around a bend in the river.  Retaining his position on his back, Coale swam with his arms, using the paddle wheel technique he had learned as a boy.  But after a minute of thus exerting himself, he was nearly exausted, and coming to the realization that he was much weaker from loss of blood than he had previously supposed, he lay quiet again, letting the river carry him on its shoulders to the desired location.

  The river was a slow one, a tributary of the Sharklett, and it was five minutes before Coale was brought to the light.  The scene was a pleasant one, it was the departing of a considerable group of people in boats from a large house set a hundred paces from the river's edge.  There had apparently been some sort of party going on, for there was a large bonfire positioned inside a circle of log benches, some of which were still occupied.  The party on the dock were loading into boats to go to their respective places of dwelling.  A strange feeling of leftoutedness and hesitant shyness came over Coale, and despite the weakness caused by loss of blood, he crawled out of the water and crept behind a bush so as not to be observed by the departing guests.

A Mission - pt 5 Captivity

So, Yah, I guess you could call me a Tree Lover, but it really is a misfortune to be continually crashing into trees.  When I revived again it was by being roughly shaken by Jared.  Coale and I marched along between the two juniors (Jared's companion's name was Barney.) Coale had a slight injury in his leg but he exaggerated it to the utmost, limping along most painfully.  It was for this reason that he was not watched as closely as I, though I doubt not that had I escaped, the PAMonians and pan-rearmed man would take the pursuit easily, being sure that I would crash into a tree and so fall into their hands again.

It was while we were crossing a bridge that spanned a small river.  Coale's bad limp, and my bruised head, slowed our pace along with that of our guards.  We were about ten paces behind the others when Coale surprised Barney by tripping him, and diving off the bridge he disappeared from sight.  I tried to take advantage of the distraction and escape, but... let's just say that I realized why I did not choose chasing criminals over journalism.  At the splash, the head PAM soldier and my initial attacker (named Phil and Daren respectively) turned to see what had caused it (it was at this moment that I made my attempted escape,)  I tripped Jared, but he was not only more agile than Barney, but was also cool headed and knew his duty which he preformed in thwacking me over the head with his stout walking stick.  The blow knocked me off my feet, and I was pounced upon before I could get up.  I decided then that I would not try to escape any more, as I now had a severe head-ache.

Phil and Barney searched up the river for Coale, while Jared and Daren took the opposite side of the bridge, dragging me along with them.  I went as slow as possible without receiving the kicks which Daren apparently delighted to bestow, I did this partly due to the fact that I was not able to walk fast at all, and partly to give Coale more time to escape.  After a quarter of an hour with no luck, we heard the sound of Phil's whistle, the signal to stop hunting and return.  When we got back to the bridge, Phil and Barney were waiting for us. Phil reprimanded Daren for taking so long to return saying, "We've been waiting seven minutes for you Daren Shanty, next time you dally, I'll cut your pay by half!"  Daren, in turn, gave me a hard kick and muttered, "If it weren't for you we'd've been here before him." but he didn't say more.  Phil shackled my wrist to that of Jared, gave Barney Jared's stick telling him to whack me if I lagged, and set out in front with long strides which were difficult to keep up with.