The Shadow's Club

We grew up calling them the Shadows. I can't, for the life of me remember why and I'm sure it'll come to me, anyhow that's the name that stuck. Now I'm gonna I chat y'all up some. It was after all seventy odd years ago, you know it gets harder to remember as you get older and I expect I may start to wander some. Now that I think back there are alot of spots in my life I've had trouble recalling, till now that is. I'm sure more will come back.

Y'all were asking about my remembrances of the Shadows. I guess y'all saw them too right, well sure I remember the first time I saw them, guess I was a youngin, about ten. You know I remember them to be real nice folk, always helpful and they'd never spoke in anger. They was quite mannerly. They was always there when I needed them for help with some such thing or another.

Are you sure you don't want a coffee, can make a hot chocolate if you'd like? Just thought I'd ask, you know, manners and all that stuff. My ma used to drill it into us, "If you don't have money, you can at least have manners." I try to live by that rule out of respect for my mother, God rest her soul. Now if y'all change your mind, you just stop my rambling and ask. But here I am wandering again.

When you get to be my age, wandering becomes the only thing you can do without feeling some sort of pain or another. You know I think my Ma used to pretend she'd see them there Shadows, I remember believing, she was truthin' us. Can't really blame her, guess it was one of them unwritten rules of motherhood. She used to say hello to them and bye-bye to them and everything in between. They never ever came into the house, no sir, never did. They says to me, they says: "We don't belong in there with your people." As a matter of fact, they ain't never come closer than the edge of the forest, back of the yard over yonder. It was always strange to me that part.

Well, lemme see. My earliest memory of them, have to say... yeah around the fifth grade. I don't recall them ever being with me in the woods before that, but they did help me that first time, when I got myself lost. They sort of chatted me up, then took me home. You know they would be saying things like: "Peter, you have to learn about nature. It is both dangerous and beautiful, but if you are blind to its dangers, you may very well regret your ignorance." Yes sir that's what they said, word for word. I was always trying to get them to stop calling me Peter thought. I always hated that name, Peter.I Preferred Pete, or PJ but not Peter. I hated being referred to as the thing that dangles between a man's legs. You know, I thought that it was real funny back then, still do today. Here I am goin off into space again. They was the ones that taught us about them woods. No matter which one of us called them, they'd always be there. You'd never hear them coming though, but they'd always just sort of appeared behind you, like some sort of spook or something.

What'd they look like? Well, kind of like you and me, excepting they was sort of magical. You know, like that Magician from King Arthur's time: Merlin. They was just people you know, sure enough they could appear and disappear, but they was just like us. Only difference was they lived in the woods, they did. As I recall, they would never ever come out of that there wood. Didn't bother us none though, they was our friends back then, "best friends", we'd say. We all sort of swore an oath each to the other, and to them too, of course. Us kids, well we promised that if they'd call us for help, we'd always be there for them. We all meant it, too. Thing is they'd never call, but our word was as good as gold. Well, now that I been thinking, there was the time when them twins died, they called us that time, they did. Well, now that I think back, callin ain't really what they did. We just sort of knew they'd be wanting us to meet them. Sort felt them in the back of our noggins, as kids we had skulls as hard as rock and twice as thick. But for them twins they'd done called us, like it was the end of the world. They asked us to pray, so there we was, in the middle of nowhere, on our knees praying like there was to be no tomorrow.

Like I was sayin, my first recollection of them was when they helped me out of that wood, when I got lost. I was all scared an all, crying my eyes out, like there was no tomorrow. I stopped into some clearing, and just plopped my fanny down on a rock and wailed to the wind. Ain't never heard them come, they was quiet as a field mouse looking for cheese. I was just sitting there, and I sort of felt a sort of tap on my shoulder, actually it felt more like a feather ticklin' me. I was real angry when I first went exploring, but after a bit, I realized that I was more than a bit lost. My anger changed real quick to fear and I jumped away when I felt that touch. Guess that fear give me the idea that I might get hurt if I weren't real careful like. When I got myself turned around, there wasn't nothing there. I'll tell you I was scared enough to pee myself, almost did too. Knowing something was touching me, and sneaking around without my hearing them, well that just feared me something fierce. Not knowing what it was feared me twice as much. Now that I think back, they was real leery about me too.

The others? Well some of the others they knew them, I wasn't the last, and I weren't the first either. I guess out of the six of us, I was the fourth to join our little club. Billy was the first, then there was the two Johns, then me and then Albert twins were the last. The twins they was about eight when they joined the club. Called ourselves "The Shadow Club" we did, old Billy's the one that thought of the name. He sort of became the leader, so to speak.

Now the Albert twins, well they done passed on when they was just 17, it was a fire that killed them back in thirty-four. Tore right through that trailer they and their mamma lived in. The whole family was killed. They was good kids, though Benny, well, he could be a downright nasty son'ofa'mule turd, he could. When they was with us though, Benny was a good kid. Billy was ten, Johnny H. He was eleven, JJ that's the other John, and he was thirteen. JJ was a little slow on the upswing if you catch my drift, God rest his soul. I was ten but younger than Billy by a month and a bit. The last to join our little club, it was the Albert twins, Ned and Benny. They was the youngest at eight, when we first met them. They both sort of just tagged along and well we just sort of let them. JJ died fifteen years ago and Johnny, well, he died of the cancer must be going on 21 years ago, God rest their souls. Billy and myself were the last two left, till last month. Billy just sort of went to sleep and decided he wanted get some right proper rest. He just stopped breathing during the night. I'm the only one left, now. I'm wandering ain't I. Well I sure will continue for you.

I got me plenty of milk, If'n y'all be hankerin for some chocolate milk and some home baked cookies. It ain't no problem at all. As I was saying, I first saw them Shadows in the summer a nineteen hundred and twenny five. Like I was tellin you. I was angry at my mamma and I went wandering to sort of cool off a little. Then, when I found myself lost and all, well I just started to cry. So I sat down on a rock, balling my eyes out. When I sort of feel this real light touch on my shoulder, well I jumped about a hundred feet into the air. Got myself turned around, like I said, there weren't nothing there. But I did hear someone saying "Don't be frightened". It was a real kindly voice and sounded old and wise, yet at the same time it sounded young, I suppose you had to be there to understand. Guess I don't have to tell you, I nearly pee'd my pants. But that voice, well, it was real quiet like, almost soothing. That there voice was coming from inside my head, not from the outside like normal like. I saw someone coming towards me, real slow like. He was tall, about as tall as my daddy, but his face was, well, sort of looking like what you would look like, if you was eating your most favourite desert in the world. Happy he was, a smile as big as you please. He went on smiling at me, like he knew something I didn't. It was when I saw that smile I started to feel calmer, almost like I was dreaming. He come about as close as y'all are to me right now.

You know, he just stood there and waited. He was waiting for me to talk before he even moved, stood as still as a buck trapped by a car's headlights. I asked him who he was and tried to wipe the tears out of my eyes. He told me that the other boys called him William and that I could call him William too. Y'all may find it strange, but I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting it up with William. They was one peculiar thing about them Shadows, they never let any of us kids touch them. In fact they never let us get very close to them at all. You know they could touch us whenever we weren't looking, but we couldn't ever touch them. I found that part real weird like. The others, well they just sort of respected the Shadow's wishes. But it was always nagging me in the back of my mind, even now it nags at me.

It was gettin close to dark and I had to get on my way home or my ma would have thrown me a fit. I guess William knew it was on my mind, and he told me not to worry, that he would take me home whenever I'd ask him. I really wanted to stay, but even though I was real angry at my ma, I wanted to get back. I told William that mamma was probably worrying over me and fussing about, so I asked him to take me back. He didn't move an inch, he just told me to close my peepers. I did and I felt the feather touching my shoulder again. I must have held my eyes shut real tight for awhile, sort of waiting for William to tell me what to do. Well after about four or five minutes I opened my eyes. I almost fell over backwards, and that was right after my mouth fell to the ground. When I opened my eyes I found myself not more than three feet from the edge of my back yard.

I grabbed a hold of my wits and marched myself onto the back porch and took off my shoes. I stopped and thought about my day for a second, then went into the house. I yelled out to my ma and then I heard her scream from the kitchen. She ran to me, her eyes were just filling with tears. She grabbed me so tight that I could hardly breath. After awhile she let me go. She started to pet my hair like she always did when she thought I was hurt or somthin. Momma spend ten minute's drilling me with questions, giving me heck for making her worry, hugging me like there was no tomorrow and not once did she ever let me talk. She phoned the police. They called out to the squad car the sheriff and my daddy were in. I was starting to wonder what the heck was goin on.

Finally my ma cooled down when my daddy came through the door. He asked me the same questions as Momma did, only this time he let me answer. I told him that after the argument with momma, I went out exploring the woods, and I told him that I got a little lost. Just then my momma said the most amazing thing to me, she said to me, she said: "My boy, you have been gone for two days". My daddy nodded that it was true. I didn't know what was happening. I knew that there was no way that I'd been gone a whole two days, yet I knew my daddy and my ma would never lie to me. She started in again with the questions, an I answered them. They worried about me and this William man I kept tellin them about. They drilled me for hours and the next day they asked me to take them to the spot where I'd spent so much time. I kept insisting that I was gone for just the day, and they kept insisting that I'd been gone for two. I kept disagreeing with them an they kept disagreeing with me. After a while I was gettin tired of the whole rigmarole, so I gave up trying ta convince them. I tried to find the rock where I first met William and I kept calling out. William wasn't answering. If y'all figured out that he never showed up that day, well y'all just won the kewpie doll.

I didn't see William for weeks after that, mainly cause my daddy wasn't going to let me out of the yard. He and ma kept a real close eye on me. I was starting to wonder if they weren't openin up some kind of kiddie prison or something. After awhile they just let up. I'd always go into them woods hoping that I'd find old William. For awhile there I was thinking it was all some kind of dream or other. It was in the summer when I came up on Billy, Johnny and JJ. They'd been looking for William too. They was real slow deciding whether to accept me into the gang or not. They just sat there and chatted it up for a whole twenty minutes before they finely let me join them. You know, Billy and me hit it off right quick. We was the same age an all. He told me his telling of how he'd gone out an got lost himself. "Same as me?" I says, Billy just nodded. Seems to me we all had same story.

After what seemed like hours, us four kids done quit looking.

We all decided William was out there an we'd find him sometime. Ma, she was all happy that I'd found myself some new friends. Me and Billy, an the two Johns kept wandering through them woods for two straight weeks. Finely we done found William or more than likely he done found us. We had been sitting for a couple of minutes, when all sudden like he sort of appeared out of no where's. He was so happy to see us. He started to chat us up. We sat and listened an he'd tell us all sorts of stuff about the woods. Like for instance, he told us about the Indians that were here for thousands a years before us folk got ourselves here. He showed us what sort of plants to eat if ever found ourselves lost again. He showed us lots of stuff. Ya know all of us youngins would be dead if it weren't for old William and the other Shadows, cause we'd all been lost when William found us.

Was there more than old William? Well sure! He'd only been the first one of them we met. Sure they'd been more, though I couldn't tell you how many, they'd met us at different times and we was not always together as a group us kids. Sometimes we just got a hankerin to go wandering by ourselves. They'd always be there for us. They'd always teach us something new. Time with them just sort of passed right quick. We all agreed that we'd never tell our folks about William and the others, no sirree. And we never did, not a one. I trusted them kids and the promises we made, each to the other. Them was the days when a man's word was his bond. We all kept our words to this very day. You're the first to hear about William and "The Shadow Club".

What? Oh why am I telling you about The Shadows? Well y'all is just a kid, thirteen right. Well y'all is the last of my family. You being my great niece and all, sort of like keeping it in the family. Sure they'll come to you, all you gotta do is go wandering in them there woods and sort of think about William, kind of like hoping your going to see them. Sometimes they show up sometimes they don't, but they'll decide when you're ready. Ain't nothing going to rush them. Fact is I had a dream last night. Ya'lls going to meet William soon, and he told me that I should let you in on our little secret. You'll have to keep the club going.

What are the shadows? Well I don't rightly know exactly, but I guess I'd have to say they are sort of like guardian angels. I remember reading once, it was in one of them there inquiring type rags, I remember it saying something about there being spirit guides everywhere. I guess that's as good an explanation as any. I sort of lean to the guardian angels myself.

What? Oh why'd we call them Shadows? Well Billy told us that he'd called them that cause they never left the shadows of the forest. Billy also told us that our little club been around since before his daddy's, daddy's, daddy been born.

Nah, my girl there's been no one since us six to join The Shadow Club. It's awful important that y'all remember us, and keep going out there into the woods. You have to start soon though. Yes'm, there's gonna be five more kids around about your age looking. You'll meet, and you'll become the greatest of buddies.

Well, I don't rightly know if they'd allow girls. I'm sure there's bin girls before.

No! You can't never tell you're daddy nor you're momma, for that matter y'all gotta keep it a secret. Only those brought together can know. Don't you worry bout that, they'll know you and y'all are going to know them.

I gotta lie down now, little darling. I been getting real tired these days. Would you mind helping me to that there couch? Thanks. You remember what I done told you, no one but the six of you can know about them there Shadows. I'm so tired, I gotta nap now Sarenna.

After Sarenna gave the operator the address, she hung up the phone and went over to sit beside her great uncle. She held her favourite uncle's hand, it was still warm. Sarenna knew that she would never see her uncle again. She looked at him and tears started to flow freely. She saw for the first time in her ten years, since her birth in fact, her great uncle was smiling. There was a wet trail on her uncle's cheek left by the last tear he would ever shed on this earth. He had gone to join his friends.