Eliza Twitchel & The Haunted Forest

Eliza Twitchel & The Haunted Forest--Chapter 32

                                 All's Well That Ends Well: Sort Of

Eliza, Phoebe and Grizzle stood at the edge of the forest, gazing across a grassy meadow at their small white house.  Everything looked just as it had when they left: the same woodpile and stump used for splitting firewood; same gray strip of duct tape covering a crack in the laundry room window where a blue jay struck last month; even the same rusted tetherball pole and deflated tetherball.

Eliza scratched her head.  If fifty years had passed, it certainly didn't show.  Of course, living in the boonies as they did, houses seldom changed much. Maybe the new owners simply kept it the way they found it. 

Phoebe tugged on Eliza's hand.  "I'm hungry, 'Liza."

Eliza took a deep whiff.  The air smelled of spruce, blackberries, grass and wild flowers.  If anything was wrong, she couldn't sniff it out.  "What do you think, Grizzle?"

The brownie vanished and appeared sitting on Eliza's shoulder.  He squinted at the house.  "Looks alright to me." He opened his satchel and reached for his luminositer. "Blast! I forgot," he grumbled. "Only way to know for sure is to go inside."

"Yay!" Phoebe broke free and ran toward the house, whooping and hollering.

"Phoebe, wait!" Eliza took off after Phoebe. Grizzle yelped as he rolled backwards off Eliza's shoulder, landing on his butt on a molehill.

Patch appeared from around the house, barking excitedly. He raced toward Phoebe, his tail wagging and tongue lolling. 

The Border collie leapt ten feet through the air into Phoebe's outstretched arms.  They fell to the ground in a tangle, Phoebe squealing with delight as Patch held her down with muddy paws, licking her face.  His tail wagged so fast Eliza was afraid it would break off.  After the week she just had, nothing would surprise her.

"Patch! Down!" Eliza ordered, clapping her hands.  The dog jumped off Phoebe and into her arms.  She laughed and squeezed her eyes shut as Patch slobbered her with dog kisses.  "Okay! I'm glad to see you, too!"  She set the dog down, who proceeded to chase Grizzle around the meadow. The brownie hopped from one spot to another, yelling at Eliza to rein in her pet while Patch barked playfully, enjoying this new game.

Eliza opened the back door with one hand while holding Phoebe back with the other.  She poked her head into the laundry room.  Gerdy, the old wringer washing machine, stood in the middle of the room, waiting patiently for a load of dirty clothes. That's weird, she thought. Why would the new owners keep the old Maytag around? It wasn't good for much except maybe to use as a planter for flowers as some folks were want to do these days.

She entered, followed by Phoebe. It definitely looked like her old house; even smelled the same. She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out the reveal stone. Holding it up to her eye, she peeked around the room.  Everything looked normal.

Phoebe hopped from one foot to the other.  "I have to pee!"

Eliza took Phoebe's hand and headed for the door leading to the kitchen. "We have to make sure everything's okay." She opened the door, peeked out, then stepped into the kitchen.  It looked just like it did the day she left. She let go of Phoebe's hand. "Okay.  Go ahead."

Phoebe rushed out, holding the crotch of her dirty yellow jeans. Eliza went to the fridge and opened the door.  Inside, she found milk, a pitcher of lemonade, and leftovers sealed in yellow Tupperware.  She didn't need to open them to know what was inside: Trout, mashed potatoes, and creamed corn. She'd put them there herself the night before Phoebe was kidnapped; before they fell down the rabbit hole into a world every bit as remarkable and dangerous as anything poor Alice faced.