Well thank goodness for her mom's money that she was left. Her father was still alive but he had a new family now and Linda knew he loved her but she needed to be on her own. So here she was driving to her new home, actually it was left to her by her mother but own by an old aunt of her mothers.
Aunt Nelly was a beekeeper and self made business woman of substance. She made jams and jellies and had her own brand; she never made a million but was always comfortable. Linda was told she looked a lot like her aunt, with long brown wavy hair, big blue eyes lined with long dark eyelashes and the peaches and cream complexion.
The narrow road she was driving on, wrapped around clover covered hills.There were brown jersey cows spotted on each knoll and clouds forming like a storm was coming. Linda was thinking of writing a book or just getting a little job in the small town near her. She remembered the directions the real-estate person gave her, her mom had her assigned to take care of the place and she also owns a store in the area, she too was a strong woman her mother once said and self supporting. "Look for the white fence going down the pasture with a row of junipers in a line along it, then turn in the next drive way" the directions said. And there it was and there she was turning.
The house was a small white and yellow single story house, with a large porch that ran the front of the house. How excited Linda felt, she was loosing her depressing feeling and was looking forward to the new life laying ahead of her. Linda brought her car to a halt in front of the house; there was a small garage next to it that she would check out before going to bed if it wasn't pouring rain by the time she was ready. She took the large gold key from her purse and opened the front door.
Instantly she spelled fresh flowers and paint, everything was a fresh white paint and it looked like the place had new scattered floral pink/green rugs and it sure was inviting. There was also a bottle of white wine on the kitchen counter, which was modernized with granite Linda felt teary because this was exactly what she needed! How did her Mom know?
She unpacked her clothes in the little oak dresser in the bedroom which was all light blue with white walls and curtains, and the bedspread was blue and white checkers. She had a box delivered before she came there so all her belongings were in the house already. After refreshing herself, Linda looked in the refrigerator; and saw she needed to go to the small store down the road.
So she grabbed her purse and locked up the house and drove down the driveway. As she was emerging out of the driveway a bold tree caught her eye. It was standing back towards the house just in view of the driveway and was very sturdy in its appearanceand stance. It seemed to be like a proud tree and it was looking like it watched Linda driving away.
Linda drove up to the wooden store, which still had hitching posts embedded in front of the building. I guess that was for the people who still road their horses around the area, not from the old west days. There was an elderly lady standing behind the counter, she had an old baseball cap on and seemed very friendly. "Hi there you must be the young lady we were waiting for that owns old Nelly Anderson's place now." Said Bell the storekeeper. "Yes I'm Linda nice to meet you" she replied.
Linda went looking around the store and saw Bell had a good meat counter which she commented on, and the meat was local. So she grabbed a steak and some potatoes, a chicken breast and some eggs milk and bread. Linda noticed the vegetable aisle was generous too and stocked up on some fruit and salad. Bell said she was the person to whom was responsible for the up scale of the house, Nelly left her some money to fix it up and somewhat stock it full of can goods and coffee. So Linda felt she was set and made way back to the house. Bell told her Nelly lived there all her life without needing a companion, she seemed to be content with all that was around her.
Linda settled in after a nice shower she ate her steak had a little more wine than she needed and listened to the storm outside. From Linda's bedroom window she could see the valley drenched in rain, it was a very impressive view, as night was slipping into the dusk light. She went to bed a little earlier than usual and slept a deep in toxic sleep.
Linda woke up to some scratching on her window; it almost looked like an arm. The storm left the valley now and the sun was just peaking over the hills. There was a mist floating over her yard and Linda felt like grabbing her wrap and going out to see what it was that was scratching on the window. She unlocked the back porch door and stepped on to the lawn and in the lighted dewy mist there in the shadows was the Tree. Not just any tree but a masculine tree made with large green leaves and thick bulky branches, a bold branchy tree. The tree she thought was closer to the road and near the driveway!
Linda walked over to the tree, which was blowing in the breeze and gently swept up her nightgown and brushed her leg. She didn't know what she felt then but with a dazed feeling went to a bench that was under the tree. As she sat down she tied her wrap around her and enjoyed the breeze and the morning coming up in the distance. There she sat and felt the first time a relaxing harmony in a long time. She didn't notice but the tree kind of felt an easiness too!
For Linda didn't know this was a special tree and that she would soon find out. Linda felt she needed a cup of coffee and that would make this a perfect morning. She left the bench and wondered into the house and kitchen, made some coffee and then went out to the bench under the tree again.
There she enjoyed her coffee and started to get a comfortable feeling like she was home. After her morning shower she straightened up her house by putting away things that were packed, and wandered out to the tree again. There she sat and listened to the tree, as if it was speaking to her, with the leaves blowing in the wind it was mesmerizing.
There was a small TV in the living-room and she sat there to watch some shows after her dinner of chicken and salad. Linda fell asleep, woke-up and noticed the lights were out. She needed to turn on the lights, and heard the scratching coming from her bedroom window. It was the tree branch again. Was the tree alive or was it her imagination?
Her long brown hair swirled around the branches, the woodsy smell hypnotized her and she fell asleep. When she awoke the sun was coming up and she gathered her thoughts and climbed down and ran in the house. Her breathing was coming fast. What the heck happened out there? Was it the wine?
She fixed herself some coffee and took some aspirin. She needed to get a shower and calm down and do some work around her place and forget what just happened. After her shower she put on a flowered peasant blouse with her jeans and cleaned up the dishes from last night and the morning. Going out into the fresh warn air helped clear her mind and figured what happened was just her imagination and the wine, for she drank that whole bottle herself.
Looking through the little garage she found a hand mower and some clippers. Clearing the grass was easy and she soon was perspiring,the work felt good and soon the small yard looked lived in. Bell had taken care of the place but it needed the touch of the owner and loving care from someone who really cared. Linda looked at her small house and took pride in all that she saw. As she looked over her house she saw the branches of the Tree peering over the roof. Opening a can from the cupboard she heated some soup and relaxed eating the food.
Linda went into the town and visited the store and Bell. She dared not get anymore wine and choose some diet soda and beer. The sun was warm on her and she felt tired when she came home. A nap soundedgood! Lying on her bed she fell asleep looking out at the Tree. It kind of was calling her out to it, the branches waved a coming motion, and with that she turned her back and looked over her room and fell asleep.
The sun was setting when she woke up and decided to fix her supper which was a sandwich and potato salad she bought at the store. She found herself walking out to the, Tree and staring at it.
In the remoteness of the backyard she heard a deep low voice calling to her to sit in the tree, "come to me Belinda my love." It said. She felt dizzy and found herself climbing in the Trees branches to be cradled as if she were a child. She looked at the Tree this time and thought she saw a face. A masculine pleasant face smiling and drawing her into a world of the past.
A story was told to her with the sounds of the breeze and wind that she thought sounded like a deep man's voice. It started back in 1856; a colonist named John Stern was married to a woman named Juliette who turned him into the British and John was hung. But before this had happened there was a love lost to him through circumstances beyond his control and her name was Belinda.
John Stern was not wealthy but a good hard working man who planted potatoes and crops with care, and raised his livestock for sale and was very comfortable with his life and standing in his community. He would go to the local tavern and there behind the bar was a girl named Belinda. She had long dark brown hair, big round blue eyes and a face of an angle.
Belinda had the body of a goddess and the disposition to match. He first saw her when she came from a gypsy troupe that was traveling through town. She won the tavern from an old man that believed her when she did his fortune and traded her fathers wagon and gear to go west as was the troupe. Belinda who was tired of the journeys and whose father passed on wanted to settle down in one spot and thus here she was.
Stern having one of his fights with his wife wondered into the tavern one night and saw her from a table he sat at. She sauntered over to him and bent down and asked "what will you have". Never was there a more beautiful voice he heard and she agreed with him too. John Stern was never a man to go against his vows he made the day of his wedding but he tried so hard to avoid the passion Belinda brought out of him.
Before he and Belinda could make love his wife turned him in for helping the militants and thus he was hung. The very tree John was hung has his spirit in it and he vowed on that day he would have his Belinda no matter what. The very night his body was taken down Belinda was crying on the trunk of the tree and she felt a branch caress her cheek. She looked up and grabbed the branch that swept her in its circle and there she knew who and what it was. Now what happened to Linda, Belinda experienced till the day she died, she had his love and more.
Linda is adescendent of Belinda and so was her Aunt, now feeling what Belinda had is a very special experience to say the least. The next day Linda needed supplies at the local store again and needed to see some people. The center where the store was had a bar, besides the post office and a couple of novelty stores.
This sunny day there was a crowd of people getting groceries their mail and just enjoying the day. Linda pulled up in the best spot she could get, next to the bar. As she was coming out two men, scruffy, sweaty and dirty bumped into her."Excuse me" said Linda. The men took it to be she was snobby, and called her a bitch. Linda then retorted with the same slang for a man, and then she was grabbed by her arm and shook. The post office manager came to her rescue he was walking from the post office and told the guys to get lost and go on their way, and that they were late for their afternoon shift at the mill.
There is a paper mill on the outskirts of town that most locals work at or have their own business even if it is farms etc. Linda thanked the gentleman who helped her and went to get her mail and a few groceries. Bell was talkative and welcoming, she told her the latest gossip and that included the two guys that threatened her. Theys eem to be in trouble with the law most of the time and there had been some stealing at the mill of personal items in the lockers and these two were suspected. Bell asked Linda if she would like to have dinner with her and Linda not wanting to go home right away agreed, she needed some space from the Tree.
Bell lived in back of the store which made it easy for her to open early as she did. Her living quarters were roomy and quaint, with dollies on every space you could see. She also redid her place almost like Linda's but different colors. After a dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy and a side salad Linda felt good. She also was served some red wine that she only had a couple of glasses because of the ride home. The evening was getting late and Linda needed to go, so she said her goodbye to Bell and headed for her car.
The sky was dark now and there was a coolness to the air and as if fall was approaching the area. Heading down the highway she saw a young deer and her offspring just crossing the road. Linda was glad she didn't go faster like some of the people here so she wouldn't have the opportunity to run into the small family. As she passed the paper mill she noticed the car of the men who confronted her. The two men looked like they were up to no good, pouring something from a can and then she noticed the lighter in their hands flaring up.
What were they doing with all that, were they starting the mill up? They saw Linda staring at them as she drove by and in that instant looked at each other and hopped into their car. They raced after her and she caught their reflection in the mirror of their angry faces.They thought she was spying on them Linda assumed and with that drove a little faster herself. Just around the corner was her house and driveway, if she could just get there faster than they. Linda made it into her driveway with the two men on her tail. She was reaching into her purse for her cell phone to call the local sheriff when her arm was grabbed from the window where a man's hand was.
She left her window open on the ride home to smell the air's freshness not realizing this would happen. Linda felt scared and tried to shake the man's hand from her arm. Once she was free Linda then bolted from the car, running up to her house as she just reached the porch she felt a arm around her waist. "Let me go I'll have you arrested" Linda's voice shook out the words. "I don't think you will little lady" said one of the men who had her. Her breathing was coming at a pace of fear and helplessness.
Then a weird sound of crackling earth with rocks hitting the house came to everyone's attention, the man who had her stopped as her struggling also seized. Everyone then turned towards the sound and there standing before them was the Tree, it looked angry with its branches crackling and waving. The Tree, with its roots as feet stepped towards the men, who at this time were startled and backing up towards their vehicle. "Gus make a run for the car, get the butane and pour that on that tree", yelled a scared Gus. "No lets get out of here before it kills us, no one will ever believe us" screamed the other man.
The Tree came towards them with its powerful figure dragging across the yard; it struggled to make the distance but moved with a grace and speed of a rhino. It lifted one branch and came down hard on the men's car making wood splintering sounds as it hit the hood smashing and denting the metal. Now the men seemed angry also because of the damage to their car. Gus opened the trunk and pulled out a container with assumingly the butane, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the lighter and was ready to harm theTree.
Linda saw what he was up to and ran over to him and smacked the lighter from his grasp. Gus then whipped out his hand and slapped Linda in the face, with that going on the Tree swung a branch towards Gusk nocking him to his knees. The other man gave up with his hands in the air, and sat next to one of the wheels of his car. Linda raced into her house and grabbed her phone and called 911 she needed to stop what was going on and have these guys arrested for bothering her. Sirens were heard a few moments later and the men lay out on the ground with the Tree standing guard Linda knew she had to tell the Tree to go back to its spot in the back of the house. The Tree noticed her concern and nodded as if to understand and lumbered back across the yard towards it usual spot.
It broke a couple of roots on the way and Linda was worried and hoping it wouldn't get some disease in its roots. When the police showed up Linda told them they were the ones who started the fire on the paper mill. As the men were handcuffed and taken away Gus rambled on about the Tree coming at them and beating them up. The Sheriff just kept saying "yeah", and basically ignored the men's attempts to tell their story. She would later swear under oath that they were the men who started the fire to the paper mill.
The Tree went back into its spot in the backyard only to fall ill. Its leaves fell off its mighty branches and it drooped ever so badly. Linda went in to talk to Bell and asks what would be good for roots. Bell asked what had happened and Linda said it fell over with a good storm. Linda was given some root disease medicine and she hoped for the best.
TheTree was now a friend and lover; it saved her life and made her feel life again so to speak. Days went by and Linda sat with the Tree when she could. Its branches started showing signs of growth again, new leaves were poking out from the branches and it was getting a little friendly also. For one day Linda came over to the bench and the Tree started its old routine again and she could fall again under its spell.
Fall approached with a crisp breeze, and many other trees leaves were falling off their branches but the Tree was thriving. Whatever Bell gave her made it more alive than before and Linda loved it more and more. And so it went and when spring came Linda and the Tree reunited Linda didn't know what the future would bring but she had her Tree and it her.
Maybe she would marry some day and the Tree encouraged that when they had their meetings. It told of the years by gone and how it saw all what went on in the land it stood on. Yes her days with the Tree were an adventure worth reliving.
