Free The Hollow Tree at Dead Mule Swamp by Joan H. Young Page B

trash out of the woods," I
temporized.
    "You remember Bella
Hanford?" Adele asked.
    "Sure," I said. I had
gotten to know Bella just a couple of weeks previously. "But she's too
small for what I have in mind." I didn't really have anything in mind, but
there was that old manure spreader I wasn't sure how to get rid of…
    "Not her. Her older brother,
Thad, does odd jobs sometimes. Do you want me to talk to him?"
    "No, no! I'm… um… just working
on a list. I can call when I'm ready. But thanks for the tip."
    "No trouble. Would you like to
come to church on Sunday? The coffee and singing are good, and the sermon
usually is too."
    "I haven't been to church in
years, Adele!"
    "No better time to
start."
    "I'll think about it."
    "OK, take care."
     
    A little before three, I cleaned up
the mess in the living room, took a plastic garbage bag and my binoculars and
walked back to the old deer blind. The bag was to sit on. I knew I'd need to
stay low to the ground to be hidden well enough from a human. By three-thirty,
I was in place. By four-thirty, I was stiff as a board. No one had come to the
tree. I was just thinking about taking a chance on standing up to stretch when
an old bicycle with only one gear rolled down the mostly forgotten lane. I
lifted the binoculars to my eyes so I could see more details. The bike had two plastic
milk crates fastened to it, one on the handlebars, and the other on a rack over
the back wheel. In the front crate I could see a number of shiny tin cans.
    Peddling the bike was a thin boy
with fair skin and black straight hair that fell into his dark eyes. He looked
to be about ten years old. He glanced around, but didn't see me; then he pulled
the bag from the tree. It looked like he put some money into the envelope, but
I didn't see him add any marks to the paper. He quickly flung the bag back
through the hole and pedaled off. My suspicions were confirmed, but I had no
idea what to do about it. It wasn't any of my business, but I thought if I'd
found the money that easily, someone else might, too. And, someone else might
be perfectly willing to steal what was now more than $57.00. This boy was
clearly worried about having the money taken by someone. Why else would he hide
it so far away from where he lived? There were no houses within several miles
of mine.
    Giving the boy plenty of time to
get away, I waited another twenty minutes before rising stiffly and returning
home. I wanted to sleep on this puzzle.
     
    The next morning, Wednesday, I
awoke with the conviction that I should try to talk to the boy, and decided I'd
wait in the woods near South River Road. If I could find a good enough place of
concealment, I would see when he rode down the old lane, and then stop him when
he came out again. I left the house at two-thirty to give myself plenty of time
to find a hiding place. I finally settled on crouching behind some honeysuckle
bushes that were already fairly dense with leaves. It wasn't great, but it was
the best I could do. This day, I brought a book, which made the wait more
tolerable. I hunkered down behind the bushes till five o'clock, but no one at
all, not a bicycle, a car, or a stray cat, came down the road. That was the
normal amount of traffic on my back road.
    I repeated my plan on Thursday, but
this time, it worked. I watched the boy bike down the lane at four-thirty-nine-even
with a book to read this was boring enough that I was counting the
minutes.  As soon as he was out of sight, I stepped out on the dirt road
to wait for him. I managed to partially hide myself behind a tree. After a bit
he came pedaling back, struggling slowly over the uneven ground, and I stepped
out directly in front of him, and grabbed the crate fastened to the front of
the handlebars. I had to step back hard to stop the bike, but he had been
moving so slowly it wasn't really difficult.
    "Hey, lady!" he yelled,
planting his feet on the ground. "What the f… heck do you think you're
doing?"
    "I want to know who