Kentucky Hauntings(6)

Her words made Danny feel better. His friend hadn't forgotten his promise!

When they got home, Danny was almost too excited about the knife to eat his supper. His mother urged him to eat because thunder was rumbling in the distance and she wanted to have supper over and the dishes washed before the storm hit.

“Do you think Mrs. Stanton will bring my knife to me tonight?” he asked.

“No,” Hattie told her son. “She's too sad now. Besides, a storm is coming.”

“But I want my knife now!” Danny insisted.

“Danny, that's enough,” his dad told him. “She'll bring it to you when she's ready. You're too little to use it now anyway. You might get hurt.”

Danny pouted, but said no more. They finished supper in silence and went to bed before the storm hit.

Danny did not go to sleep, though. He wasn't afraid of the storm's roaring and lightning. He was thinking about his knife. If Mrs. Stanton didn't want to come through the storm to his house, then he could go to her house. The more he thought about it, the more he thought that this was the thing to do.

He got out of bed quietly and put his clothes on. He tried to release the latch on the kitchen door, but it was too high. He looked around, and his eyes rested on a kitchen chair. He moved it to the door, careful not to wake his parents. They would make him go back to bed. He climbed up on the chair and released the door latch. He didn't think about getting his raincoat. He didn't mind getting wet. It wasn't far to Mrs. Stanton's house anyway. He walked out the door into the woods while his parents slept peacefully inside the house.

Danny hadn't gone far when he began to realize he should not have done this. He knew he was lost. The woods didn't look the same on a stormy night as they did on a sunny day when his mom and dad were with him. He decided to go back home, but when he looked around, he had no idea of where to go. He was already soaked and chilled by the rain, and he wished he had a dry place to sit and rest. He looked around and noticed a large hollow tree standing by the path. He didn't know that hollow trees were dangerous in storms, so he crawled inside the opening in the trunk and rested.

As he sat there, the storm seemed to get a second wind. It blew with fury now, and suddenly a blast of wind uprooted the tree where Danny was resting. Danny tried to hold on, but he bounced back and forth inside the trunk. When the tree came to rest, Danny tried to crawl out, but a large branch pinned him inside. He was alone and lost, and nobody knew where to look for him. He cried and cried, and he thought he heard Huley Stanton tell him he would be all right.

Meanwhile, the renewed energy of the storm woke Hattie Peterson. She heard the kitchen door banging in the wind, so she got out of bed and rushed to the kitchen. One look at the open door sent her hurrying to check on Danny in his room. She knew what she would find. Her son was gone. His bed was empty. She ran into the kitchen.

“Lee, wake up!” she yelled. “Danny's gone!”

Lee pulled on his pants and hurried from the bed to the kitchen. One look at the chair beside the door told him what had happened.

“He's gone after that knife!” he told Hattie. “I've got to go look for him.”

“How will you find him in the woods in this storm?” she asked.

The answer to her question came from the darkness outside the door. Lee and Hattie both smelled the strong scent of fresh cedar right outside.

Lee grabbed his coat and lit the lantern. He opened the door, and the light showed a small pile of shavings right there by the door, with a thin trail of shavings leading into the woods. They were cedar shavings like the ones Huley Stanton whittled.

“Wait here,” said Lee. “I'll find him now. I have some help!”

Lee followed the trail of shavings into the woods for a few minutes. Then they led him off the main path onto a smaller path that was seldom used. Soon he heard Danny crying.

“Danny!” he called. “Where are you?”

“Here,” Danny answered, whimpering now.

The sound was close. Lee looked around, trying to locate the source, when he saw what had happened. He ran over, lifted the limb, and checked Danny for injuries. His ankle was sprained, but otherwise he was unhurt. Just for an instant, Lee felt the presence of Huley Stanton beside him. He breathed a silent thank you to the whittler, picked Danny up in his arms, and carried him home.

Danny had to rest and stay off his ankle for a few days. He was feeling restless and bored one day when his mother came into his room and told him he had a visitor. He was surprised to see Mrs. Stanton.

“I have your knife for you, Danny,” she said. “Your mom says you can't use it yet, but I am leaving it with her for you to use later. I brought you something you can use now, though. I found something that Huley whittled, and I know he would want you to have it.”