The Truth Within The Trees

Chapter One - An Unexpected Encounter

    The bell above the door let off it’s soft chime as Marion made her way into Plants Galore & More. The earthy smell was welcoming and had been one of her favorite places for the last five years. She visited the shop almost weekly and all of the employees knew her by name. Oliver, the longest standing employee in the place, greeted her with his usual charming smile. She loved when Oliver worked and it wasn’t just because he was gorgeous, standing at a strong six foot with deep brown eyes and light almond colored hair. He was funny, kind to everyone and she had easily developed a friendship with him over the years that extended outside of the shop. 

The shop itself was bigger than the small storefront would suggest. It had a battered light green door, with small sections of window on either side. The entrance sat on a side street so it was easy to miss unless you knew what you were looking for. The first time she had attempted to come she had to search around until an older woman had finally pointed her in the right direction. After they had walked into the shop she introduced herself as Mrs. Elaine Crosstower, owner of the establishment and Oliver’s mother. Marion had quickly fallen in love with the store. Plants and herbs were packed on one side of the shop with recipes scattered throughout the displays, another area was filled with shelves of books, and finally, the third section was full of little pots, trinkets and various herbal supplements. 

    “Hey Mare,” Oliver said.

    “Hey, got any new recipes in?,” she asked. 

    “Not since last week,” he said with a laugh. 

    “Looks like you guys need to step up your game. The internet has new recipes everyday,” she responded with a mock look of judgement. 

    “But can the internet offer you all the charisma of this place?” he asked looking around. “I think not.” 

    After a slow, dramatic eye roll Marion made her way to the new selection of plants on display. Marion saw small, furry succulents called Kalanchoe Tomentosa, which was nicknamed ‘panda paw’ because it looked similar to a fuzzy little green paw with several brown spots near the tip that looked like toes. Got it already, she thought. She continued prowling through the aisles like a panther on the hunt for its next meal. Just then she heard a small clunk as a girl fell a few aisles over. She looked to be in her teens and was clearly embarrassed she had fallen and appeared to have scraped up her knee. Marion walked over to her and plucked a piece from a nearby aloe plant.

    “Excuse me,” she said. “My name’s Marion. I noticed you scraped your knee and these aloe plants work wonders for cuts and scrapes. Want to try it?” 

    The girl sheepishly nodded and took the leaf from her. 

    “What do I do?” the girl asked. 

    Marion explained that the girl should scratch the outside of the leaf to make sure that the gel substance inside is coming out. Then she mimed how the girl should take the leaf and rub the part with the gel onto the wound on her knee. The girl followed her instructions and smiled when the pain started to subside a little. She dusted herself off and stood with her hand outstretched towards Marion. 

    “Alyssa,” the girl said with a smile. “You seem to know a lot about this stuff.” 

    “Yeah, I might be a little bit of a plant nerd,” said Marion.

    The pair talked for a short while before Alyssa’s friends showed up and said that they had already checked out and were waiting on her. Alyssa grabbed one of the aloe plants and made her way to the register where Oliver was assisting an elderly customer. After helping the younger girl with her purchase, Oliver walked over to Marion and placed his hands on his hips. 

    “You know you can’t just use the merchandise for whatever you want,” he said whilst feigning the kind of tone a dad would use when scolding his child. “You don’t own the place.”  

    “But, I am good friends with the family who does,” she said, batting her eyelashes. “I’m sure they won’t miss one teeny tiny leaf. Besides, it helped them make a sale!” 

    “Touche, Bright,” he said. 

    The antique cuckoo clock that Mrs. Crosstower was so proud of, suddenly let out four loud, exaggerated clucks and Marion remembered she was supposed to meet her parents for dinner. The small town was around an hour away from their property and she knew she would be pushing it to make it to dinner by five thirty. With a quick wave she dashed out of the store and climbed into her Jeep. Yep, still awesome, she thought as she climbed into her burnt orange Jeep Wrangler. It had been her dream car since she was a teenager and she finally got one a few months ago. She went for the four door, hard-top version, which helped when she was convincing her father of the exact car she wanted. She turned on her favorite alt-rock station and started the trek back home. 

    She pulled up to the main estate with a few minutes to spare and brushed off her outfit before walking into the home where she grew up. She smelled a wonderful medley of spices wafting from the kitchen when she entered the house. She made her way through the entryway and down the hall that led to the kitchen. It was a large kitchen with new marble counters and several of the latest appliances shining from their positions on the swirling countertop. 

    “Mare is that you?” her mother called from the kitchen. 

    “Present,” she answered as she leaned against the counter opposite the one her mother was busily working away on. 

    Her mother pursed her lips and turned but broke into a smile as soon as she saw Marion. She quickly walked over and wrapped her daughter in a warm hug. She pulled back and left a hand on each of her shoulders. 

    “We are so glad you could make it!,” her mother exclaimed. 

    “Calm down, Jules,” said a low, familiar voice. 

    “Well I’m sorry Rodney but I just don’t get to see my little girl enough anymore,” she said. 

    It was easy to forget that she was adopted with how well she got along with her parents. They adored her and the feeling was mutual. Rodney and Julia Bright had adopted Marion when she was only two years old. Not much is known about where she came from, just that she showed up in their woods one day. She was found wrapped in a blanket inside a dark wicker basket. The only other thing in the basket was a necklace with what appeared to be a tree carved into an iron pendant. They immediately took her inside and after searching for her parents for months the state decided to call her abandoned and it allowed the Bright’s to adopt her. 

    “Hey Dad,” Marion said. 

    “Hey champ,” he said. “Find anything good at the plant store today?” 

     “Nothing super new,” she said, “but I did help a customer who fell and scraped her knee.” 

    “I hope you at least asked her first,” he laughed. “You’ve been doing stuff like that since you were little.” 

    When Marion was young, around age five, she started to develop her interest in plants and nature. She would ask her mom and dad for books about plants and was amazed when she learned that plants could be used for different reasons. She was eager to demonstrate her knowledge and would show it off whenever she could. If they were all out in public she would run over to other kids that had fallen and proudly tell them what plants they could use to help. This led to a lot of parents giving her strange looks as they pulled their kids away. She had always felt this need to help others and it followed her into her adult years. She still offered as much help as she could, she was just a lot better with the approach now. She drifted back from her thoughts when she realized her mom had left the room and was setting the table. She grabbed a few glasses and the silverware and made her way into the family’s dining room. She tried to have dinner with her parents at least a few times a month and looked forward to these nights with them. 

    “Can I tell her now, Rodney?” Jules said excitedly. 

    He smiled and nodded. 

    “Your dad is taking me on a trip!” she exclaimed. “Ireland of all places.”

    “That’s amazing, mom,” Marion said. 

    “I know,” she said with a laugh. “I have always wanted to go and your dad decided to surprise me for our 25th anniversary.” 

    “Well, I never take a lot of time away from work so I had more than enough vacation time,” Rodney said. 

    “As if you couldn’t take off whenever you wanted,” Jules said teasingly. “You love your work.” 

    Marion’s father had inherited his company from his father and just so happened to love being in the business of running museums. They had several galleries across the country and traveled often for work, but never for themselves. She was glad her father finally decided to take a personal trip. 

    After dinner, she hugged her parents goodbye and told them to have fun on their trip. She made her way to her Jeep and started the fifteen mile drive into the woods towards her house. The road wound and curved through the forest and she enjoyed the solitude it offered.

    Marion had always felt comfortable in the dense forest that surrounded her home. As a child she was never afraid to roam through the trees or wade through the creek that nearly circled the entire property. While the main building was a nice modern estate, Marion preferred to spend her time in the refurbished guest house that lay on the outskirts of her family's vast acreage. House was a strong word, it was more of a cottage but she felt the most at home here. When she turned eighteen she had convinced her parents that she would fix up the old place if she were allowed to stay in it. That had been a few years ago and as the now twenty three year old looked at her home she felt a warm feeling grow inside her.

    Sitting nestled in the forest about fifteen miles from the main building, the cottage was wider than it was tall and had several rooms spread within the ranch style floor plan. The outside was welcoming and had purposefully grown ivy sprawling over sections of the weathered gray stone walls. The roof was made of modern tile but they were a deep amber to remind viewers of the common hay thatching that suits cottages so well. The large curved doorway was a deep mahogany color and swung open to reveal a cozy living room. A plump couch that appeared to be overstuffed was the center of the room, it was placed squarely in front of the fireplace. The carved texture of the hardwood floor gave the room a very natural feel and that was why she could never talk herself into covering it with a rug even though it got a little chilly during the winter. Potted plants and a variety of succulents lined one wall of the room and the other had an open doorway that led down a long hall that stopped at the guest room. 

    If you kept straight instead of turning left down the hall you would dead end into the master bedroom. It’s tray ceilings gave the impression that the room was taller than it was. A large queen bed was in the center of a far wall, while a large wooden desk sat on the opposing wall. A plush floral comforter covered the bed and swirled with a full palette of colors. 

    To the right of the doorway another open passage led to an open kitchen. The island in the middle was clean save for a mortar and pestle. The counters held small jars of herbs on one side, a deep sink in the middle and the other side housed a coffee pot and a stack of cookbooks. The small dining room table off to the side was settled in front of a gorgeous, large window. It gave a perfect view of the herb garden just outside the window and the creek bed that lay beyond the backyard. The river birches towered over the backyard and the rushing water below, their exterior cracking and peeling to reveal the smooth white bark beneath. The elms and oaks coated more of the surrounding forest as their branches twisted and reached their way upward. The fall colors lit the forest up with bright crimson, burnt orange and deep yellows. Leaves covered the ground and made every movement and jump of the wildlife amplify throughout the area.

    Marion’s phone dinged from it’s position on the counter and she walked over to check it. She smiled when she saw a bright red notification next to Oliver’s name in her phone. 

    “Are you free this weekend?” Oliver asked. 

    “Yeah, mostly,” she replied. “What’s up?” 

    “I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie,” he said. 

    Is this really happening right now, she thought. She had been waiting months for Oliver to finally ask her out. He was single now and she knew it was her chance. 

    "I would love to," she said. "What's out right now?" 

    "There are a few good horror movies out right now," he said. 

    They decided on four o’clock on Sunday and that they would meet at the movie theatre since she lived so far out of town. She sighed happily and set her phone down on the counter doing a little side to side dance with her hips in excitement. In two days she was finally going to get to go on a date with her extremely dreamy friend. As she got ready for bed she examined herself in the mirror. Her hair fell just below her shoulders and had a natural wave to it. Her complexion was overall clear and she could only pray that it would stay that way for the upcoming date. Date! A freaking date, she thought. She still couldn't believe Oliver had asked her out on a date less than an hour ago. She let out sigh and pulled on her tank top and pajama bottoms. She crawled into bed and reached down to where Onyx, her large black dog, was curled up beside the bed to give him a scratch on the head. 

       "Goodnight, boy," she said. 

       She pulled her comforter around her and pulled it up tight below her chin. She was so excited about this weekend that her brain wouldn't stop thinking about all of the possibilities. After tossing and turning for a few minutes she was able to drift off to sleep with a smile on her face.

       When she woke up the following morning she pulled the comforter up over her shoulders as she felt a chill in the air. She laid there soaking up her last few minutes of warmth before she stretched the sleep out of her limbs and got up to start the day. 

    Fall was the start of the cold weather and Marion knew she should add to her stores of firewood now to save herself being outside when the weather got too cold. She pulled her long, reddish brown hair into a loose ponytail and put on her warm, fleece-lined boots. She walked out to the shed to the front side of the cottage and looked at the un-chopped wood before her, silently cursing herself for having gathered so much a few days before. She went to work adding to her stockpile of firewood and told herself that she would chop at least half of the wood that she had gathered. A few hours later, after stacking up the last few pieces of freshly chopped firewood she decided it was time to head inside for the day. Just as Marion had turned to head inside she heard multiple sets of heavy footsteps running in her direction.

    Since she had been standing by her new collection of firewood, she quickly reached her hand for the axe that was laying against the wall. No one should be this far in the woods, she thought. Her parents always called before they came to visit and none of her college friends knew where she lived. Axe in hand she started to slowly make her way towards her front door. Suddenly thankful for the self defense classes her parents had invested in, she backed towards the door knowing that you should never turn your back on a potential attacker. When she was a few feet from her door two figures emerged from the woods. A man and a woman both had apprehensive looks as they came to a stop a few feet from Marion.