Into the Forest Shadows

Kate set the box down on the porch and banged on the door, "Come on, Grandma! I'm here!"

No one answered. Kate banged on the door again.

After still no answer she fished the key out from under a flowerpot sitting on one of the window ledges. She opened the door herself. Why did Grandma lock the door in the first place with no people around? For a woman considered a genius in botany, some of the things she did just didn't make sense.

The smell of seasoned spicy wood assailed her nose, as well as the aroma of something cooking in the kitchen. Only the light from two round windows illuminated the large interior room holding a formal sitting area and a dining area. The dining table held some of Grandma's experiments on top, including a small plant under a glass dome.

"Grandma? Where are you?" Kate called out.

The white round form of a housebot rolled out of the kitchen on four wheeled legs. It held a towel in one of its two arms, turning a blank expression towards her. "Good morning, Ms. Kate. Ms. Olivia is not currently in the house."

Kate set the basket on the table. "Fine, I'll bring the boxes in myself. Nice of you to open the door."

The housebot paid her no attention, turning around and heading back into the kitchen. Kate started lugging the boxes to the house.

Most of the supplies looked like they were for experiments, so she lugged them through the hall in the back. The tree itself formed the hallway to the unevenly shaped rooms beyond.

She turned into one of the larger rooms filled with steel-topped tables and enclosed glass and steel boxes of varied sizes. A computer on a desk under a window oversaw it all. She created a small pile of boxes near the door for Grandma to put away later.

As she stepped outside to pick up the last box a bunt ran under her feet into the living room. The white and brown ringed tail disappeared under the coffee table. It turned and twitched its nose, whiskers, and the tip of its tail at her. A second followed before she could close the door.

One second they were running as if a person meant to eat them, and the next they were underfoot.

Kate kicked closed the front door and used the boxes to barricade the hallway. Then came the trial of herding the wayward bunts out the door without letting more in.

The bunts raced from under one piece of furniture to the next. One slipped under a chair. Not a one squealed, only twitching their noses at her, watching her with their huge round eyes. She could almost see them laughing at her. She blew the bangs off her sweaty forehead and ran a finger around the nape of her cape.

She felt way too hot to stay inside. She would have to get Grandma's help to deal with the little invaders. She cracked open the door hoping the rascals would find their way out, although with her luck today an entire warren would soon be inside.

She stepped outside, turning her face into the light breeze filtering through the forest. She followed a narrow rock path through a garden to the left of the front door. A garden that looked a lot healthier than the fields near the city. Grandma needed to talk to the city farmers on how to improve their veggies.

She purposely took a deep breath, reminding herself that today was her day to relax. To spend time with Grandma. To enjoy a bit a life. She would find a suitable way to deal with Uncle later.

The wider spacing of the trees continued, along with the tell-tale signs of Grandma's handiwork. Tree trunks surrounded by bands of sensors. Hanging pots and containers to collect sap and other slowly dripping fluids. Cameras on poles watched several trees at once.

Grandma's orchard. And a flash of red told her that Grandma was right in the heart of it.

Wearing a red cape almost exactly like hers, Grandma sat on a crate next to a small tree running a line of sensors around the root systems. The red fabric highlighted her all-white hair as well as the smooth skin. Lithe fingers with smooth knuckles wove and threaded the sensors.

Grandma being herself, studying the trees of the forest.

The little tree was a new one she didn't recall seeing before. Surely she would have. Compared to the trees around them the little tree looked pathetic. The boughs drooped. The burgundy leaves across the top had shriveled.

Even the bark didn't look right. It should have long smooth stretches of bark running vertically. Instead, bark flaked off, streaked with white and gray instead of rich chocolate brown.

Grandma's soft lilting voice drifted with the breeze, "There you are. We'll get you over this just like your friends. You'll see."

Kate couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Grandma, you really need to stop talking to your plants."

Grandma lifted her head, her eyes crinkling as she smiled widely. "Oh dear, it is that time? How wonderful! And look, you're wearing your cape."

"Yes, just like you ask. Each and every time." Kate folded her arms over her chest. "You weren't waiting for me when the shuttle arrived."

She pulled a black computer module out of the other crate, "I've been so busy. Sick trees, you know. They just can't be left."

"Should I have come a different day?" Kate asked, moving closer.

"Oh no, don't think that. Today is fine. You'll be glad for the cape today. The temperature will cool off soon."

She recalled clear high-summer blue skies from the shuttle ride. The air still held a lot of heat, making her wish she could dispense with the cape. "The weather is suppose to stay hot."

"Not tonight it won't. You just watch." She held up a series of sensors on a connected line in her hand. Kate stepped forward to take it. "Help me place them along the trunk."

Kate wasn't sure she wanted to touch the tree, suddenly nervous even though she felt sorry for it. It looked so sick.

Grandma patted the trunk, crooning, "Don't worry. You'll be better in no time."

"Grandma, it's not alive."

"Of course it's alive, dear. It isn't a rock. Does it not emerge from a seed, grow, reproduce and die just like you and I?"

A leaf fluttered down from the top, so crinkled and dry that it looked as if it had been baked in an oven. Kate knelt to start stringing the sensors around the bark in a spiral pattern. "Okay, it's alive. But do you have to talk to it?"

"It makes them feel better. And knowing what is most likely wrong with it, it needs all the comfort I can give it." Grandma took an instrument and placed it at the roots, plugging the sensor leads in. "When it was brought to me I made a promise to cure it if I could, and I will. I keep my promises. I'm hoping a stronger tonic will help."

It must have been brought by the Gatherers. Maybe a blight they've been seeing? Kate had to concede that Grandma would have the best chance of figuring out what might be wrong than anyone else on the world.

If only she didn't carry out conversations with them. Grandma needed someone else out here other than trees to talk to.

"What's wrong with it? It doesn't look right." She reached out to touch it, but hesitated. Could trees be contagious?

"I don't know for certain yet, but I have my suspicions." Grandma finished winding the line of sensors around the base of the tree while Kate plugged it into the base controller. Grandma crooned at the tree, "And you'll feel better soon. You'll see."

A bunt squealed from the edge of the orchard. The forest went silent. Kate squinted, studying the undergrowth. A dark shape moved behind one of the bushes. She felt a chill wash over her and shivered. The shadow glided under another bush.

Then the movement was gone.