08 – Deep in the Forest

The wind subsides to a breeze. Sometimes he throws up an unsuspected gust as if saying ‘I am still here.' Chloe removes her sunglasses when she enters His and Her's at exactly three-o'-clock that afternoon. Mrs Kennedy, busy with a young lady, looks up when she enters. "Chloe, you're right on time. Robert is here waiting for you." She nods with her head in the direction of a middle-aged man on the sofa. Robert rises and without any emotion on his face stares with his right eye. His left eye is glass. He has a scar over the full length of his face that shows the terrible damage of a very old wound. The blade must have cut open his face and also claimed his eye. Then also, a deep scar under his chin runs across his throat as if someone wanted to cut his throat. This must have happened years ago. It seems as if he has just come out of the woods where he is cutting trees. There are wood chips and sawdust in his longish, grey hair and on the collar of his shirt. He is wearing black Stihl suspenders over his shoulders that hold his robust working trousers in place and he wears muddy, waterproof boots as if he had to walk in a swamp. Expressionless he stares at her and she hesitantly greets him. "Good day, Robert. I'm sorry if I keep you from your work; it looks as if you were sawing trees or something." He doesn't reply and only looks fixedly at her with a rigid face and a shivers run down her spine as she remembers the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre.' She must force herself not to recall a few other horror flicks while he gazes at her without uttering a word. Mrs Kennedy explains: "Robert lost his voice and he cannot speak, but he can hear you very well and also can see quite well with his one eye. He has his own cabin deeper in the woods on the plot. Only a footpath leads to his secluded place. He'll visit your part of the plot only for maintenance, cutting back branches, cutting the grass and repair broken things when necessary. There is a large bell that hangs over a deep well between the houses and whenever you need him, just pull on the rope. Robert will now take you. Just follow him in your car, Chloe." Robert leaves the salon with a stiff right leg followed by a limping movement of his body. What a strange fellow; he churns her stomach. She follows Robert outside and he moves painfully slow on the pavement towards an old classic, dirty, rusted, dark brown 1952 Dodge Fargo. He stops at the half ton truck and stares at her. She gestures with her hand to her Cooper lower down the road. "I will follow you in my Cooper over there." He nods satisfied. The Dodge's door creaks eerily when he opens it. Earlier on Chloe noticed the truck when she sought parking space. It really looks like an old dilapidated crock. She begins to wonder about this place she wants to rent. Maybe it is a strange outback place somewhere in the desolation because Robert and his truck may fit in there but definitely not in this modern civilization. Briskly she walks up to her Cooper and quickly gets in. She looks in her mirror and it looks like a horror scene from a black and white film as the Dodge slowly creeps onto the road and Robert eventually passes her. She pulls out of her parking and follows the Dodge. They drive at a snail's pace to the west of town. She doesn't even use all her gears. Eventually, they pass the first smallholdings and then turn off on a bad, dirt road that in places is heavily corrugated and Chloe has to swerve left and right to dodge the deep potholes. The trees and bushes become denser the further they go on both sides of the road and the path narrower. The Dodge stops and then turns into a small opening between the high Eucalyptus trees. She follows him slowly in the shade of these towering blue gums on the one track lane which cut off the rays of the sun. The path runs deeper and deeper in the dark, lonely forest. Chloe lowers her electric windows and invites the aromas of the woods inside. All that she encounters, however, is the unique sound of the truck and the smelly gasses from its exhaust. She looks to the left and right and only sees dark, giant trees that encroach on them from all sides. The place reminds her of the first horror film ‘Wrong Turn' she saw and she now understands that people easily become paranoiac all alone here in the woods and with the family murder that took place here in their minds. The path takes a sharp bend and suddenly they drive into an open island in the middle of the woods. Chloe feels elated to see the blue sky again. There are two houses opposite each other to her left and right. The grass is cut short and she also sees the well with its low wall around it and the bell under thatch in the middle of the hole. The house on her right side is built with tree stumps and looks massive. The Dodge stops in front of the smaller house of pine planks on her left side. This then must be her place. She stops behind the Dodge. This really reminiscent of an island but only surrounded by gigantic trees. She gets out and suddenly a gust moves the leaves of the trees and it hisses as the leaves whisper. It feels as if the trees suddenly awake and speculatively whispers to one another about her arrival like spectators in a theatre. Robert limps with his stiff leg over the lawn and up the stairs and unlocks the front door. The trees are now silent as if they hold their breath in anticipation in this eerie silence that hangs in the air. Robert doesn't wait for her but vanishes through a dark door opening and hesitantly she follows him. The wooden veranda planks creek when she enters the dark opening. The lounge is dark but as her eyes adapt she manages to see an antique sitting room set in the dim light. Robert is at a coffee table in the centre of the lounge and the light comes on when he pulls a chain and she feels relieved. Chloe studies the room. Everything made of wood. The walls are made of varnished pine planks. There are no curtains but bamboo blinds. A kudu and a warthog trophy hang near the ceiling. There are two life-size portraits against the one wall and a lion skin mat is penned down by the coffee table. The floor is white gum planks. The two portraits hang on the opposite wall of the front door and it looks as if the man and the woman watch you sombrely as you enter. One is of a middle-aged man with cold, brown eyes and his right boot rests on a dead lion. He's got a gun in his hands. His face strangely looks a lot like Robert's without the nasty scars. Left of this man is a middle-aged woman with the strangest, green eyes that stares at her with her boot on a dead kudu. She looks a lot like Mrs Kennedy, also with a gun in her hands. These people must have been hunters and are probably kinfolk of Mrs Kennedy and Robert. It could be this man that murdered his family. Shivers run down Chloe's spine as she looks into his cold eyes. A wooden staircase runs up at the right wall of the room that leads to a platform and an opening that is probably the entrance to an attic in the roof. On a showcase against the left-hand wall are photos in black and white frames. Chloe studies them inquisitively. A teenager boy and girl each stands with a bloodied knife in their hands and the carcass of a kudu hangs in the background on a tree. There are other family photos; all with somber faces. Chloe gets the feeling that someone is looking at her from behind and she looks back into the strange, green eyes of the woman. It looks as if those eyes follow her when she moves around in the room. Robert vanishes through a bead curtain to the right of the showcase that leads to the rest of the house and Chloe follows him. He pulls another string and the corridor's light comes on. Suddenly Chloe realizes that there are no doors inside the house and that only bead curtains hang in the openings. Robert goes through the first entrance. This is a sleeping room with a single bed and a bed table, an alone-standing cupboard, a mirror table and once again bamboo blinds. She is pleasantly surprised to see bedding down in the cupboard. She looks through the blinds and realizes that when it's dark outside and light inside, someone might watch her unknowingly. The rest of the place looks the same, no doors and only bead curtains and pine walls and blue gum floors. The main bedroom at the end of the corridor has the same size as the lounge. At the opposite of the two guest rooms are the bathroom and a kitchen. The bathroom has a toilet and shower with a cabinet and a gas geyser in one corner. She opens the hot tap and the geyser fires automatically. Hot water runs over her hand and she smiles happily. Satisfied she closes the tap. The kitchen has a gas stove and oven, an empty but cold fridge with a freezer cabin, microwave and toaster. There are enough cupboards with marble tops and a sink. She also finds clean pots and pans of stainless steel and porcelain mugs, cups and saucers, plates and steel cutlery and also different kinds of glasses in the kitchen cupboards. Near the backdoor is a washing machine with a steel trough, a dishwasher and a round dining table. She looks through the window and sees a washing line in a U-form spanned tightly between blue gum trees. This place has everything she needs. They climb up the stairs to the platform that leads to the attic and enters through another bead curtain. Robert once again pulls a chain on the inside and the light comes on. The roof is low but with enough head space under the beams. The windows are open and the sound of blue gum leaves gives it an eerie atmosphere while a fresh breeze caresses her. With the high, dense blue gum forest around them; the isolation; the portraits; the hunting trophies and photos, this place has an uncanny character with his history that lingers in the back of your head. But the beautiful pine walls and ceiling and blue gum floors, on the other hand, ensures a warm and unique atmosphere, especially because it is well furnished and receptive and she feels relaxed and that she will be at home here. The isolation enhances the unique atmosphere and she feels she will be settled within a few days. Although Robert is a strange man, she feels secure by knowing he is only a few pulls on the bell's rope away. Chloe now feels quite excited as she thinks that Zoey will join her shortly. This will help a lot for her peace of mind. Once outside again, Robert locks the front door and makes his way to a small footpath that goes into the bush, probably to his cabin. Chloe drives back to town and pays Mrs Kennedy with a check. She asks about the photos and portraits and Mrs Kennedy tells her that those were the people that were murdered and it was her family. Robert is her brother and unlucky for him he visited the place and slept over when the tragedy happened. Stabbed and with his throat nearly cut off he was left for dead. Now he lives like a recluse alone in the woods and seldom comes out and then only to get stock for maintenance and groceries. She gives Chloe her own set of keys. Chloe buys groceries and takeaways and back in the woods she occupies the main bedroom at the end of the corridor. Robert must be back; his Dodge is still parked on the same spot. She warms her food in the microwave and sits down at the dining room table in the kitchen. She wonders whether she should bring a TV, radio or sound system. There is no dish for satellite TV but she decides she first wants to drink in and appreciates the silence of the woods. Maybe she could, later on, bring a small transistor radio. She's got her laptop and through her smartphone, she could surf the internet until Zoey tells her what she needs. She tests her phone and finds a strong network sign. She smiles happily. She brushes her teeth in the bathroom and then steps into the shower. The water is lovely and warm over her skin and she feels satisfied and relaxed while she washes herself. Then she remembers the bamboo blinds and realizes that the light is switched on with no curtains. It must be her frantic thoughts because her back is turned towards the window. She imagines that someone is watching her naked body through the blinds. She turns around and instinctively tries to cover her breasts and crotch by turning her lower body askew. She stares through the blinds to find if Robert is trying to peep at her. She feels a little relieved when she sees no head beyond the window but she is not totally at ease. Maybe she missed his head and once again this monster-like man and the isolated place brings memories of the thriller ‘The hills have eyes' and she gets goose-bumps. Then she smiles at herself and acknowledges that she must refrain from watching thrillers because they have a negative effect on her. Chloe now realizes that she should have gotten curtains but she forgot about it. As soon as it becomes dark outside she won't know if Robert is watching her stealthily. She won't be surprised if the disfigured man who lives here all alone in the woods, secretly delights himself in the beauty of female visitors. She feels naked and disposed and dries her self-consciously while she watches the window continuously before she covers her nudity with a big, dry towel and then walks back to her bedroom. She leaves the light off. She is sure her privacy is guaranteed. She gets her laptop out and then her 9mm pistol. She pushes in the magazine; pushes down the safety catch and put it under her pillow. They all think she is a helpless, little girl but Tony coached her in self-defense and she will surprise most men and let them play second fiddle. She only doesn't like the idea that the room has no door. Someone can stalk her in her sleep when she is vulnerable. She puts the towel in the cupboard and decides to lie down on the bed naked to slumber in. She is a free girl now and alone for the first time in her life. She is going to celebrate it with sleeping naked until Zoey's call round about seven. Zoey promised to phone her from the hostel before dark fully sets in. Then she'll make a plan and hang a sheet before the blinds. On her stomach, on the bed, she feels happy and free and before she knows it, she is fast asleep. ~*~*~ With a jerk, Chloe awakens in pitch dark and feels the cool evening breeze on her naked body. She is cold and is still lying on her stomach exactly in the position when she fell to sleep. Only her stomach has a little heat. She remembers she reckoned on Zoey's phone call before dark but now it is pitch dark and must be late in the night because it is chilly. She even remembers that she wanted to hang a sheet in front of the blinds so that she could put on the light. Now here she is, naked and cold in the dark and will have to search for a sheet in darkness and hang it before she can put on the light. You never know who could be peeping in from outside. She then realizes with a shock that Zoey hasn't phoned and immediately a flicker of worry burst through her. She feels with her hand on her bed table where she put the phone and charger to make sure she doesn't miss Zoey's call. She gets it and holding it in front of her the flicker burst into a flame and churns her stomach when she sees it is two-o'-clock in the morning. She can't believe that she has slept so soundly but she surely has. Where is Zoey? She never phoned! By this time she should have been on the plot with her. She tries to rub the sleep out of her eyes and anxiously she finds Zoey's number and calls. Tensely she listens to the ringing and hopelessness engulfs her when the network answers cold and succinctly: ‘The number you are dialling is not available at the moment. Please try later.' Loudly she talks to herself: "Oh no, Zoey! Where are you? Oh no! Oh no! Answer me!" Her heart suddenly jumps when something falls down somewhere with a loud bang. It sounds like in the sitting room. Is there someone in the house? This place has no door behind which she can hide and she is stark naked. Quietly and intensely she listens and it sounds like someone fiddling with the plastic bag she left on the dining room table earlier. Boxes of cookies are in the bag. She searches under her pillow, gets her pistol out and slowly sits up on the bed. The springs are noisy and surely give her presence and location away. Then she hears something falls to the ground. Spell-bound she listens and hears sounds like the steps of light, children feet run across the wooden floor and she hears something that runs through the beads as they bump into each other and from the wall. Then the sounds of little footsteps goes down the corridor. Horror grips her heart while she jumps out of bed and aims the pistol in front of her. It sounds like the tiny bare feet of little children that run up the stairs in the sitting room and then she hears it above her head over the ceiling and then it is quiet. Anxiously she moves forward and reaches nervously for the light chain and pulls it with her left hand. The light blinds her. She stands there naked and exposed in the bright light. She holds the pistol in front of her aiming at the corridor.