The Wishing Tree

“Come quick!” shouted Julia down the phone. “Ari’s gone missing!”

No sooner had Detective Thomas McCloud closed his front door and started towards his car did large raindrops begin to splatter on the ground. Thankfully, he was wearing his trusty red trench coat. He sped along the dirt and gravel roads as quickly as his small battered car would allow and was soon sprinting, or rather jogging, towards Julia’s house, and Julia who was standing on her front porch looking a bit frazzled. McCloud didn’t mind a bit of rain, but he did not like thunderstorms one bit, and by the time he’d reached the front steps of the Sylvania’s house, the rain had turned into one heavy thunderstorm.

“Thank goodness you could come!” Julia exhaled a sigh of relief.

“You said Ari has gone missing?” McCloud asked as they went inside out of the storm, into Julia’s small but tidy living room.

“Yes. I called for her to come in for supper as usual. And as usual earlier, she said she’d be out playing around that silly big tree farther out in the fields. You know the one I complain about that she spends all her time around, by herself. It’s not healthy. She’s a fifteen year old girl, she should be playing with friends.” Julia brought through two steaming cups of tea and a little pot of sugar.

“Yes, I know the one. It’s ancient. Been around here for as long as the town, even before, I think,” said McCloud, lowering his glasses on his nose and running his hand through his rain soaked salt-and-pepper hair.

“So anyways”, said Julia looking upset. “I called and I called for Ariane, but she never came. And so I went out to that tree to bring her in, like I sometimes have to do, and she was nowhere to be found” Julia unconsciously began wringing her hands on her skirt.

“Well, have you called the police…” McCloud began to ask, when Julia stopped him by reaching around behind herself and holding up a small, dirty wooden box.

“I found this”, she said. “Near the tree. It looks like it has been dug up from being buried underneath the tree.”

McCloud made to reach for the small wooden box, with the intricately carved design of a dragonfly on the lid, when Julia opened it up. “And this,” she continued, “was inside it.”

Julia opened the lid of the box and inside was a very old and intricate ring, set with a small blue gem.

“Whose is it?” said McCloud, gently taking the box and examining it and the ring.

“I don’t know,” said Julia. “I guess Ariane must have found it. Maybe it has something to do with her disappearance.”

“Well first things first, we need to go out and have a look around the tree, see if we can find any signs of what’s happened” said McCloud, getting up and going to a window. The rain was starting to taper off, and the storm was moving away, which McCloud was glad for. “Let’s go,” he said as he took some dark chocolate out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth.

It was a good twenty minutes before they got to the tree. The large gnarled oak tree stood on it’s own in a large field surrounded by tall yellowing grasses. The grass underneath the tree was soft and green. Julia pointed to an area near some of the tree’s roots that had been disturbed.

“This is where I found that box.” There was a large hole in the ground where someone had to have dug quite deep to reach the box and the ring."

McCloud was looking at another area of the tree, at some footprints in the soft fertile ground.

“Are these Ari’s footprints?” he asked. “They don’t look like a small girls feet, they look more like boot prints, from a male” McCloud said. McCloud had been a detective by title for years, but hadn’t been out on his own for a long while. That’s what I get for going on vacation, he thought. Common sense and keen observation is all it takes, he always said. Plus the red trench coat helped with the look, he thought to himself.

Julia came over, looked at the prints, and shook her head. “No, Ari never wears shoes out here. She’s a bit of a tomboy. Just runs around in her bare feet all day.”

McCloud walked around the other side of the tree when all of a sudden he heard Julia scream. He ran as fast as his middle-aged legs would go, weighed down by his middle-aged not-very-active cop belly, and saw Julia standing and pointing up into the branches. Lying across a large branch were four dead mice. McCloud went up to have a closer look.

“What is it?” said Julia, frightened. “What does it mean? Is it witchcraft? There used to be stories of witches in this area.”

McCloud picked up a twig off the ground and poked at the mice, turning one over. “Looks like they’ve died of natural causes. Well, if you can call being caught by a cat natural causes. No witchcraft that I can tell.”

McCloud looked up and saw something else in the tree branches. Julia followed McCloud’s gaze and stifled another scream into a little squeak.

“What’s that?” she whispered.

“Looks like crows,” said McCloud. Perched on a higher branch were three dead crows. “Again, looks like natural causes. No witchcraft,” said McCloud gently, resting his hand reassuringly on Julia’s shoulder.

“It seems,” said McCloud, “that someone must have been trying to scare Ariane away, with these dead animals.”

“But why?” asked Julia. McCloud had no answer, so just shook his head.

Off in the distance thunder rumbled and a short while later lightning lit up the darkened sky. McCloud shook his head and drew his coat tighter around himself.

“So. What are the clues we have so far? Some dead mice and crows, and a strange wooden box with a ring,” McCloud muttered to himself as he continued to look at the ground walking slowly around the tree.

McCloud looked puzzled. “Did she ever come here with anyone? Because there’s definitely more than just bare footprints.”

“No,” said Julia. Then she gasped. “But now I do remember just the other day Ari was going on about some strange boy that had appeared and had been talking to her. She said he was quite strange and mentioned something about a Wishing Tree.

“Ah,” nodded McCloud knowingly. “Yes.”

“What?” said Julia, getting panicky.

“Trees. Ancient trees, like this one especially. Some people believe trees have powers. That they are beings of wisdom, because they have been around so long, observed so much. Some believe trees can speak – only to a chosen few. That they are living beings that have souls of a sort. But I’ve also heard people saying trees have other powers. Like powers to grant wishes, for example.”

“What?” said Julia incredulously, staring at McCloud with a wide-open mouth. “That’s crazy! That’s like some kind of witchcraft, isn’t it?”

“No”, McCloud said, “not really.” McCloud paused. “So Ariane mentioned a boy that she was talking to?”

“Yes. Just the day before last. She said this strange boy, older than her by a few years, started to come around the tree a few days ago. Asked her questions. She said he didn’t like her playing at the tree, said it was his tree, and she should find her own. Then she said that he said it was a Wishing Tree. I wasn’t paying much attention to what she was saying at the time.”

“So,” said McCloud moving back into Detective mode. “This boy was probably the one that planted the mice and crows to scare Ari off. Thinking dead animals would scare her away.”

“So where is she? If she was scared away, she would have just come home and not gone back to the tree. But she hasn’t. And she’s nowhere. And what about this box and ring that was buried under the tree. That’s a bit odd. It looks quite old,” said Julia.

McCloud looked up at the blackened sky, hearing more thunder in the distance. “I don’t know,” he said shaking his head. “Maybe she went somewhere with this boy?”

“No”, said Julia. “She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t go anywhere with someone she didn’t trust. Maybe this boy has kidnapped her!”

“Or maybe,” said McCloud softly, “she trusts this boy and has gone with him somewhere for a reason.” The rain began to fall again, softly at first but then harder, coming with another wave of the storm. “Come on, we can’t stay out here to get caught in the storm. There’s nothing more we can do out here at the moment,” said McCloud.

Julia looked around her. At the fields surrounding the tree in every direction. In the distance, she saw one or two farm buildings, and further still a copse of trees before the hills on the horizon. No sign of Ariane. Or the boy.

McCloud spent the night in the guest room and at dawn, with the sun rising he and Julia set off. They headed to the farm buildings Julia had seen the day before. “Have you seen my daughter Ariane?” asked Julia of the elderly lady who answered the farmhouse door.

The old woman nodded. “Yes, I saw her just yesterday. She was walking with a tall blonde boy. I remember him, recognize him from somewhere.” she said, thinking slowly aloud. “Yes. I know his grandmother. I think his name is Tristan. Tristan Ellery.”

“Where can I find his grandmother?” asked McCloud, once again Detective on duty.

“The next town. The small cottage on the hill.” the woman smiled a strange smile. “You can’t miss it. It’s the only hill in the town. But I must warn you,” said the lady, “she is a bit strange.”

McCloud and Julia continued walking towards the next town was a few miles away. McCloud pulled out his bar of dark chocolate and offered some to Julia, which she politely turned down. “Suit yourself”, said McCloud. “I find chocolate helps me think.” Soon they were walking up the hill towards the small, run-down cottage.

”Oh look at this place,” said Julia. “How lovely it must have been. I love yellow. Such a joyous colour. But now…” she trailed off, taking in the walls of the little cottage, once a vibrant yellow colour, now washed out, like a faded stain with peeling paint.

They walked up the rotting stairs and along the creaking old porch to the front door. McCloud knocked and the door slowly swung open. “Must not have been closed properly,” whispered McCloud. “Hello?” he said a tad nervously as he poked his head through the widening door. “Is anyone in?” McCloud was about to turn away when he heard a noise from the corner of the room. From the corner of the living room came a strange glow. “Come in,” said a gravely, almost incoherent voice.

McCloud and Julia slowly and cautiously opened the front door wide and entered the living room. Barely noticeable sitting in a reclining chair in the corner of the room, lit only by a dim and waning fire beside her, sat an elderly woman. The chair swallowed her she was so small and frail. The small fire with its dying light cast a strange glow on half of her. The woman cleared her throat. “Please come in, don’t be shy. I won’t bite.”

McCloud straightened up. “Hello, Mrs…?”

“Blythe”, said the woman. “Cailynn Blythe.”

“Hello, nice to meet you Cailynn”, said McCloud. I’m Thomas McCloud…”

“Yes, I know who you are Detective McCloud” said Mrs. Blythe. “And you must be Julia,” said Cailynn looking at Julia. “Mrs. Sylvania.”

Julia looked shocked and nodded. “How did you know?”

“My grandson. He has told me much about you. Both of you.”

Now it was McCloud’s turn to be shocked, but he wasted no time and got straight to the point. “We’re here Mrs. Blythe because we were told that Julia’s daughter, Ariane, has been seen with your grandson, Tristan, I think?”

“Yes,” Cailynn nodded. “He’s just taken her to the other tree, that’s all. Nothing to worry about”, she said. “He’s a good boy. He was just protecting his tree. My tree actually. The Wishing Tree.”

“Your tree?” said Julia, confused.

“Yes. That tree has been part of our family for generations. It’s been my tree for many years, but I’ve recently passed it onto Tristan. And when Tristan found out that your daughter had taken it as hers, he got a bit upset, that’s all.”

“Was it Tristan who left those dead animals on the tree?”

“Ah, yes,” nodded Cailynn sadly. “He did that to scare her away from his tree,” she paused. “Our tree" she corrected herself.

“But...” McCloud started, wanting to ask where Ariane was.

“Tristan told me he pretended to be a ghost as well," said Cailynn. "To scare your Ariane away. He was playing around making it seem like the tree was telling her to leave. Which of course it wasn’t.”

“Of course it wasn’t,” agreed Julia, glad to hear that this lady didn’t believe that the tree was alive, like McCloud had mentioned earlier.

“No, trees love children playing on and around them. They love children’s spirit, their playfulness. And they for people to use them for their shade. They love to be of use, not just neglected in a field with no-one to make use of their abilities, like giving shade and fruit and nuts,” continued Cailynn. “They want to be loved and taken care of.”

Once again Julia stared in shock.

“I told Tristan it was fine for young Ariane to use our Wishing Tree too. As long as she shows it respect, as it is a living creature,” said Cailynn. “But Tristan was put out and wanted the Wishing Tree for himself, which is selfish, I said. The Wishing Tree will only grant wishes to those who are selfless and generous,” said Cailynn.

Julia shook her head in amazement, and mouthed the word ‘crazy’ to McCloud who just looked at her, smiled and patted her knee.

“I see,” said McCloud. “Sounds like you have a very special bond with this tree.”

“Yes. It goes back generations,” said Cailynn. Suddenly there was a creak as she got up from her chair and moved to add some wood to the fire. In the gloom, it looked like she only stood around four feet tall. McCloud got up and helped her put more wood on the fire, and pushed around the logs, blowing on the embers to give more light in the room.

“You know,” said Cailynn suddenly, sinking back into the chair. “My name means happy.”

McCloud was about to say something when Cailynn continued.

“It actually means happy, happy. Both my names Cailynn and Blythe mean happy. Tristan’s on the other hand, may explain why he is like he is, a bit confused. The name Tristan means sad, and his last name Ellery, means happy as well. No wonder the poor boy has issues,” Cailynn sighed. “He’s so possessive of that tree.”

“So,” said McCloud trying to get back to the heart of the issue. “Where is Ariane then?”

“Oh,” said Cailynn, thoughtful again. “Well, I would think that Tristan would have taken her to the other tree.”

“What other tree?” asked Julia, sceptically, not believing all this nonsense she was hearing about trees granting wishes and being alive.

“The hollow tree,” said Cailynn matter-of-factly.

“What is that?” said McCloud and Julia at the same time.

“It’s what we call the Unwishing Tree,” she said. “Its soul is dying. It was hit by lightening many years ago, and since then its soul has slowly been draining away.” Cailynn peered over her reading glasses at both of them. “Trees take a long time to die, you know,” she said as if it was a well-known fact. “And it’s where you go when you want to un-wish a wish granted by the Wishing Tree.”

McCloud and Julia both looked at each other. “So where is this tree?” they both asked in unison. Cailynn told them, and off they went.

It took them about an hour to get to the hollow tree. It was a large old cherry tree. Its leafless and bare branches stretching upwards and outwards. There was a large hole burnt through the trunk, and a large opening, like a doorway in the side, leading into the hollow centre of the massive trunk.

McCloud and Julia ducked inside, and were swallowed up by darkness, the grey light from outside unable to penetrate the cavernous stump of the tree. “Ari?” whispered Julia and McCloud. “Tristan?”

There was no answer.

“Where is she?” said Julia, getting worried. “I was hoping so much that she would be here safe and sound with that boy.”

“Lets go back and speak with Cailynn. Maybe this is the wrong place,” said McCloud.

“How many dead hollow trees around here can there be?” shouted Julia.

“Well, maybe she sent us here for a reason and we’ve just misunderstood why,” said McCloud exiting the tree and squinting in the bright light of the cloudy sky.

McCloud and Julia began their long hike back to the cottage on the hill.

McCloud reached out to open then door when Julia put her hand on his arm and put a finger to her mouth for him to stop and be quiet.

Both stood quiet, listening, straining to hear. And there it was. A quiet tapping. Tap, tap, tap. Then a pause. And another few taps. Julia and McCloud walked down the rotting steps careful not to creak the old boards of the porch. Tap, tap, tap. The faint sound grew louder as they made their way around the side of the house, careful to keep their heads below the windows with their closed curtains. McCloud and Julia stopped when the tapping sound seemed loudest and looked around. There wasn’t anything around except the fields, and a large pile of wood and leaves. Tap, tap, tap. They looked up at the house, but there was no window.

Then Julia looked down and noticed a narrow basement window, barely visible above ground. She and McCloud got down on their knees and were face to face with a boy, Tristan, who had his hand on the glass and his finger up to tap it again. Behind him was Ariane, looking frightened with a tear-stained face. When she saw her mother and McCloud, she ran up to the window and put her hands on the glass. ‘Help us’ she mouthed.

McCloud looked around on the ground. After a few seconds he found was he was looking for and picked up a small sharp stone. Lying on the ground on his stomach he gently but firmly began to tug and pick away at the window frame and trying to chip at the glass. After a few minutes he managed to pull away a bit of frame lining so that there was a small hole.

“Ariane!” whispered Julia still on her hands and knees. Speaking through the hole in the window, she asked, “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Ariane went up to the hole and whispered, “I’m okay. I’m not hurt.”

McCloud whispered into the hole “what happened? Why are you down there? Are you stuck?”

“We’re trapped,” said Tristan. “She locked us in here.”

Julia spoke. “Cailynn?” she asked in disbelief. “Why?”

“Because I told Ariane the secret of the Wishing Tree. Her tree. And she didn’t want anyone else to have it. She made me try and scare Ariane away. And then when that didn’t work she told me to bring her to see her and that she would tell us where another tree was that Ariane could go to and play around instead” said Tristan.

“You mean the hollow tree?” asked McCloud.

Tristan nodded. “But then when I told her that we’d found her box, the one with the ring, under the tree, she got angry and dragged us down here and locked us in.”

“But she told us you were at the hollow tree,” said Julia.

“We were going to be, before she found out we’d dug up her box,” said Ariane. “But then we found out the hollow tree is a bad tree anyways,” interrupted Tristan. “That the wishing tree is a good tree. The hollow tree is angry that it is dying and is negative. That’s why it’s the un-wishing tree. It cancels all the good wishes that the wishing tree grants,” said Tristan. “At least that’s what Grandma says.”

“So Cailynn sent us there so she could lock you away down here,” said McCloud, cursing himself for being led astray so easily.

Both Tristan and Ariane nodded.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you guys out of there. Just stay quiet and stay safe” said McCloud, straightening his red trench coat, a Detective ready for action.

Stealthily McCloud and Julia walked back around to the front of the house, up the rotting stairs and across the creaky porch. McCloud tried the door handle. It wouldn’t move. Locked. He rattled the door. Nothing. McCloud straightened his glasses and whispered to Julia “I’ve always wanted to do this” then took a large step back, and kicked the door. The old wooden door flew off its hinges and went flying across the inside of the house landing with a thud on the hallway floor.

In the dim light a shadow at the back of the room the old woman screeched “she was damaging my tree, hurting it! And she defiled my gift. She dug up my gift to the tree. The box and the ring!”

McCloud ran blindly towards the shadow reaching out to grab hold of the grandmother. All of a sudden he was lying on the floor with pain shooting through his stomach, his head spinning. ‘What?’ was all he could mumble in a confused daze.

Cailynn marched swiftly towards McCloud lying on the ground and was about to hit him again with the object she was holding when all of a sudden the old lady went flying backwards, with Julia standing a short distance behind her.

McCloud struggled up off the floor and saw Julia standing overtop of Cailynn, tying her hands behind her back with a rope. McCloud took his chance and ran to the basement door, yanking it open. The children nearly toppled on top of McCloud as they had been up at the door listening.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” said McCloud reassuringly. McCloud went over to Cailynn who was securely bound to a chair and Ariane ran into Julia’s open arms as soon as Julia stepped away from the old woman.

“Thank you!” exclaimed both Ariane and Tristan in unison. “My grandmother is a crazy old lady,” said Tristan. “Thank you for finally stopping her. I hope that this will be the last I hear about that crazy Wishing Tree nonsense. I never really believed it. I just liked playing at that tree. It was grandma who put me up to all that stuff.”

“Well…” said Julia hesitantly, “You might just want to thank that Wishing Tree, as I think it saved all of us,” she said seriously.

“What?” exclaimed McCloud and the two children.

“Well, I was standing here when Cailynn attacked Thomas with that piece of wood just wishing for something to help me stop her…” Julia lowered her voice. “But I didn’t wish for just anything”, she said, “I wished for some rope so I could tie her up. Then all of a sudden, right at my feet where there wasn’t anything a second earlier, was a big thick piece of rope. Just lying there.”

The three of them stared at Julia, and she just smiled. In her hands was the piece of wood Cailynn had been holding, a branch from the Wishing Tree.

~~~~~~

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