The Legend of Butterfield Farm

Chapter Seven

THE ENORMOUS TREE rocketed skyward so quickly Gordon’s tummy hurt. This was due to the sharp edge of the hole pressing hard against his midsection. The force of the takeoff jackknifed his body around it.

Overall, though, things could have been much worse. When it took off, he was a little more inside the hole than out, so at least he didn’t fall overboard. Not that he had any control over that. With all his might,he struggled to get further into the tree.  No matter how hard he tried, though, he could not budge. He couldn’t even lift his chin off his chest. 

No one could see Gordon, of course, but if they had, they would have seen his hair blowing every which way but right, the skin on his face sagging like crazy, and his shifting headband shoving his ears outward. He looked very much like a droopy-faced bloodhound in a fright wig. 

Up and up and up the tree continued to climb. 

Gordon called out for Holly and Henna as loud as he could, but the roar of the tree drowned out his voice. And if they were screaming or calling out for him, well, there was no way he could hear them, either.  

The morning light would soon be coming on, but the only thing Gordon could see at the time was a set of headlights way down below on Rockfish Valley Highway. He tried his best to wave his arms, to draw the attention of whoever was in the vehicle. Maybe if they saw him, they could use their cell phone to call for help. But it was no use. He could not lift his arms.

The tree then changed course big time, no longer going straight up. In fact, it wasn’t going in any direction for any length of time. Gordon knew this when the car’s headlights seemed to dart back and forth, then go in circles, then closer, then farther away. The tree was zooming and zipping like crazy, off in one direction, then another, then another and another.

The ride eventually smoothed out and he managed to get inside the tree. His headband flashlight covered one eye, but when he looked down with the other, he saw Holly and Henna. They appeared to be scared, but happy to see he was still with them. Gordon was surprised to discover another rope right in front of him hanging from the entrance. It had knots tied in it every foot or so. There were also evenly spaced, well-worn notches carved into the wall. It occurred to him that someone had created a way to climb in and out of this tree.

He let go of his rope and grabbed onto the knotted one. He used the notches in the wall for footholds as he moved toward his cousins, the tree’s hollow passage getting narrower and narrower. When he reached Henna, he could see why she was so stuck. She had somehow gotten herself wedged-in nearly up to her armpits. There was a slight ledge surrounding the narrow cavity she was stuck in, with barely enough room for Gordon and Holly on either side.

“You guys okay?” Gordon asked, as he adjusted his headband so he could see with both eyes. He looked from Henna to Holly and back again. He could still see fear in their eyes, but they appeared to be no worse for wear.

Holly reached out and took Gordon’s hand; she was already holding Henna’s.

Then the knothole opening started shrinking. This caught Gordon’s attention because of all the intense colors coming in from the outside—all kinds of colors—along with snapping, cracking, and zapping sounds. The three of them were lit up like they were inside an oversized kaleidoscope. The lights were so intense Gordon had to close his eyes. He could still see the colors through his closed eyelids, though, until they got dimmer and dimmer and finally disappeared. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the hole had completely closed. And it was dark except for his headlamp.

Next the snapping, cracking, and zapping sounds stopped, and it got real quiet.

“That was cool,” said Gordon. 

“Cool?” said Holly. “Wouldn’t scary be more like it?”

Gordon’s ears popped, just like on the plane ride to Disney World last summer. He could hear better after each pop, which wasn’t such a good thing because of what came next—an incredibly loud sonic boom.

Gordon and Holly jumped. Henna would have, too, if she weren’t so stuck. 

The tree’s roar returned, but quieter, and it wasn’t steady. Now it was starting and stopping, as if it were coughing or burping.   

Gordon took off his headlamp and held it in his lap. He aimed it upward so that it shined on all three of their faces from below. It made them look creepy, but at least they could all see each other.

“You guys all right?” Gordon asked again.

“Yeah,” Holly said. “But what in the world is happening?”

Then it all spilled out of Henna. “Well, Iggy the gnome and Larry the wingless fairy are flying this tree, and they are looking for Iggy’s uncle, who can save everyone back home from some big trouble, and—”

“No, seriously,” Holly interrupted. “What is really happening? Am I like Dorothy dreaming all of this after hitting my head? And I’m going to wake up in my bed with my family all around me, and—”

Henna cut her off. “I don’t expect you to believe me just yet, but you definitely aren’t dreaming.”

“Well,I say I’m dreaming that you’re telling me I’m not dreaming.”

“Do the touch test, Holl,” said Henna. “That’s the way to tell what’s real and what’s not.”

“What are you talking about? A touch test?”

“Like this.” Henna reached up and forcefully pinched Holly’s cheek.

“Ow!” Holly cried out. “What did you do that for?”

“See, you aren’t dreaming.”

“Are you crazy?”

“I’m not crazy! You take that back.” 

It got physical, the two girls swatting and punching at each other. And if Gordon hadn’t wrapped his arms around them, he feared they might’ve done some real damage.

“Come on now, stop it,” he said, and after a couple slaps and hair pulls, they did just that. “If you’re going to fight someone, it should be the fiend who took us captive. I will, of course, defeat this foe, but I’ll need your help.”

“You’re way off on the fiendish foe part,” said Henna. “But you do have one thing right. We do have to work together to get through this.”

“You just leave the fiendish foe to me,” Gordon said. “I’ll have him crying uncle in no time. He has no idea who he’s dealing with.”      

Henna turned to her sister. “I’m sorry I pinched you, Holl. I just don’t think it’s fair to call me crazy. I’m not crazy. And I’ll prove it to you soon enough.”

“Okay, but… a gnome, a wingless fairy, and a flying tree? A dream sure makes more sense. My life wasn’t a fairy tale the last time I checked.”

Right then the tree let out its biggest, scariest cough yet, which shook the entire tree and everyone in it.

After that, the ride calmed down. And it got very quiet—too quiet.

“Uh-oh,” said Henna. “This is really not good.” 

But before she could tell them she crash-landed the last time the tree got this quietfor thislong, they . . . crash-landed. 

Bang!  Scrape!  Boom!  Bash!  Rumble!  Tumble!  Crunch! 

Then more banging, scraping, booming, bashing, rumbling, tumbling, and crunching! 

Finally, all was still.