Final Chapter, Nowheresville

 

          When I pulled up to 324 Alder Lane again I spoke to Taylor. “Wake up sweetie. You’re home. Let’s put your shoes on and go see Mommy.” She sat up, I undid her seat belt. She yawned and smiled up at me. I got her into her shoes and we both scooted out of my side. I took her hand, and we walked the short distance to the porch and up the two steps.

          “Let’s knock,” I said and knocked on the door for the second time that day. It was early evening now. Everything looked different. The sun was going down over the bay. A soft wind was moving the tree tops just a little. I was both full of joy and terrified at the same time. Change was on the agenda.

          Lloyd opened the door. His questioning expression changed when he saw Taylor with me. “Thank God, Dan. Thank God,” he said. “What the hell happened? Where was she?”

          He called into the interior before even moving to let us in. “Judy! Dan brought Taylor back!” Then he opened the door wide and stepped out of our way. Judy, who had been lying on the sofa, jumped up and ran to her daughter. She picked her up and ran with her back to the sofa and sat down. She buried her face in Taylor’s whole little body and didn’t even speak at first. She just sat there silently holding her child. Then she looked at me. Her eyes flashed.

          “Where was she Dan?  Where did you find her?”

          The moment was here, and I was going to have to speak. How could I explain in such a way that her mother and her grandfather could hear it and accept it? I could hardly accept what I knew to be true.  How would they receive it?

          “Judy, Lloyd, the legends, those stories we grew up with and forgot are all true. I know this now,” I began.

          “What do you mean,” said Judy.

          “I found Taylor up Bear Creek Road. That’s a plain fact. How she came to be there is going to be hard for you to understand. It’s hard to explain,” I told her. “This morning before school, while she was waiting for her bus to stop for her, a creature from the forest found her. You know what our grandmas called them. I know how that sounds, but that’s what happened. What you feared came to be.”

          “Oh, Dan,” she moaned. “Please, how can this be true?”

          “It is. This creature carried her to the cemetery. I don’t know why,” I said slowly. “I’m not sure that anything these things do makes a lot of sense. So, then, they were met there by someone else. I know we don’t believe in Sasquatch or Dzoonokwa anymore, but that doesn’t matter. He was there. He met them there because he has ways of knowing.”

          Judy, holding Taylor on her lap, and Lloyd just looked at me. Dark eyes neutral and waiting.

          “The forest man fought the evil one for Taylor’s life Judy. They messed up my grandmother’s grave in the battle. He picked up her stone and threw it on the thing. I don’t understand if these things even have a physical body, because there was no body there when I got there.

          “Before I knew that, I was led on a journey into a much older version of the forest. It was a hard path. At the end of this journey at the end of the road, in many ways the end of a road, I found Taylor asleep and safe. The forest man had brought her there. When I asked him why not bring her home, he had something to say to me. He said that I needed to walk that path, for her sake, Judy.”

          I took a few moments to let them think about that.

          “Why Dan? Why did you need to walk that hard path Dan?” Judy said softly, looking over our daughter’s head. Lloyd looked from Judy to me and back to Judy like he was thinking some hard thoughts.

          I began, “because I have been a coward. I have failed as a man.” Breathing was hard, but I continued. “I let you shield me from my responsibility because you were strong and good, and I was weak. I allowed you to do what I should have been doing all these six years.”

          I turned to Lloyd. “Lloyd, Taylor is my daughter.” I could see his dismay.

          “Judy, I don’t know if it would ever be possible for you to forgive me, but I would like to begin to do what is right for Taylor.”

          She didn’t answer right away. I could see that she was thinking. Her black hair shielded her face as she looked down.

          “Alright, Dan,” she said, looking up. “I think the best way to do this is to go really slow. Let’s just start gradually changing things. Okay? It’s true that Taylor and I have had a hard time living on state money. It’s not much. But, I need to know that you aren’t going to say something different tomorrow or next week. So, as a practicality, what do you want to do for Taylor?”

          “First,” I said, “I want to formally acknowledge her in some quiet way. I don’t want to do anything embarrassing to you. So, you decide. I’d like to help you with money, if you will allow me to. And may I get you a little car, so she doesn’t need to ride the bus?” I was still standing in exactly the same spot as when I had first walked in the door.

          “Sit down Dan,” Judy said. “This is all so sudden!” she was laughing. “No need to be so stiff and sad!”

          I sat on a hard chair by the table. That laugh reminded me of why I had liked her before. I sneaked a look at Lloyd. He still hadn’t said anything, and he wasn’t laughing at all.

          “I’ll tell you what Dan. I really like your hero’s journey. I thank you for finding our girl. I am entirely in your debt for that. The score is even. I will accept your offers gratefully. I thank God for the forest man too.

          “Let’s do this tonight.  I will make dinner. Taylor will take a bath and get into her jammies. We will have a decent dinner because this is a good night. Then you will drive my grandfather home and try to make peace with him. I hope it goes well.”

          She was laughing again. Lloyd looked to be thawing just a little too. I thought that maybe we would still be friends, in a day or so.

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