The Corn Rake Mystery
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“I’m telling you, it was a ghost!” said the old man in his rocking chair. “We were just coming back from the cemetery when we saw this thing come out of that cornfield over there and run right at us.”
They sat on lawn chairs under an oak tree while they listened to the old man tell about how he’d seen something like a person running through the tall rows of corn with its arms waving around—the first time he’d ever seen anything like that.
The boy had been scared to death by it and had started crying; the girl had laughed as she ran off after it, but then all hell broke loose when the thing turned into some kind of monster-like creature. He didn’t know what made it do that.
“And it chased her right up to the house,” the old man continued. “That’s where I got my gun and shot at it. But it kept coming, so I tried again. And finally, I hit it in the head and it stopped moving.” He paused for a moment, staring across the lawn at the cornfields beyond. “When I looked down, it was already dead…” His voice trailed off as he stared off again, his face pale.
The boy who’d been sitting beside him leaned forward and asked, “What happened then?”
“I called the sheriff’s office,” said the old man. “He came over and took a look at it.” He paused again, staring at the cornfields across the street, before continuing. “Well, he did, anyway. That was a year ago. Ever since then, nothing seems quite right around here, and that’s no lie.
Every night, when we turn out the lights, we hear these strange sounds—we think they might be footsteps or voices or something else. When we go to bed, we always keep our doors locked tight.”
As the boy listened to the story, he thought about that old guy’s claim that everything seemed ‘strange.’ He wasn’t sure if it was really true, or simply his imagination working overtime, but something definitely wasn’t right in town, that much was certain.
In fact, the very next day he told the old man’s daughter that he wouldn’t mind living in the old house by himself; and when she gave him a funny look, he smiled and said, “I don’t know, maybe I’m getting a little jumpy.” She laughed and shook her head at him and agreed that she’d let him have the old house once the old man died.
The girl and her mother walked toward the house, but they heard someone calling them from the porch. It sounded like the old man, though neither one of them could see him sitting there in his rocking chair. “It’s your father,” his voice came to them, echoing through the still afternoon air.
“Dad?” the girl asked, but there was no answer.
She went to the steps and looked around the edge of the porch, then yelled, “Dad? Is that you?” But her words were swallowed up in silence as she turned and looked toward the cornfield across the way. There was nothing to be seen. No old man sitting in his rocker on the porch; and no sign of the monster he’d described to her just a few moments earlier.
“Where are you, Dad?” she shouted as she turned around and hurried up the stairs.
She opened the door to find the old man sitting in his rocking chair, staring across the empty lot to where the corn fields ended. For a moment he didn’t seem to notice her standing there looking at him, then he slowly lifted his face and looked directly into her eyes. “Why is everyone lying about this?” he asked quietly.
Then he smiled, revealing a long white grin, like that of a jackal. He reached inside the collar of his shirt, pulled out a black handkerchief, and wiped his mouth dry with it. When he spoke again, the words he said next chilled her to the bone.
“You know why… because this is how it happens every time. They come out of that cornfield…” He paused, shaking his head sadly. “All alone, with only their hands. Just a pair of filthy hands… to save themselves.”
In an instant, he leaped forward, knocking her aside onto the floor. The gun he’d hidden behind his back clattered to the floor as he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her across the room. He kicked the door open and yanked her outside onto the grass before throwing her down, her legs splayed out in front of her.
He stepped over her, raising his gun and leveling it at her as he moved closer and closer, pointing it between her eyes.
Then all of a sudden he froze like he’d suddenly remembered something.
“Don’t you move,” he whispered as he stood over her. “Stay where you are.” He glanced down at her as if noticing her for the first time. “What are you doing out here?” he demanded.
“Just taking a walk,” she replied meekly. “I’ll be going home now.”
The old man hesitated for a moment, as if deciding whether to trust what she’d said, but she couldn’t tell whether it was because he didn’t believe her, or if it was more likely that he simply hadn’t recognized her. His gaze wandered back and forth across her body several times, searching for some trace of a bruise or cut, but there were none.
He lowered his gun and stared at her a moment longer, then nodded slowly as he put the gun away in his pocket. “Good. You can take off your clothes then,” he instructed. “But don’t go too far. You hear me?”
The girl nodded. “Yes, sir.”
As the old man watched her pull down her top, he smiled again. “That’s right… I remember you. That’s why I’m telling you not to go too far. You stay right there, young lady, just like you’re told.”
“Yes, sir!”
He stepped back and leaned against the wall of the old house, watching as she stripped off her shorts and panties and threw them at him. Her body was still tinged with that faint green color; a reminder that even though she’d been healed, there had still been a price to pay, that the curse might return.
She bent over slowly as if preparing herself for some terrible blow, and he let out a low chuckle when he saw how much pain he’d caused her. She turned and crawled toward him, crawling slowly along the ground in the direction of the cornfields, keeping her bare feet out of sight.
Then he stepped aside and pointed his gun at the field, and fired. A single shot echoed across the lot as he waited for her to come running back. After a while, there was no response, so he started to walk slowly toward the woods, his rifle in his hand.
A moment later she appeared from the trees and made a slow circuit around the field, staying close to where she’d first entered, but never crossing the line where the corn ended and the dirt began. It seemed like a game of hide-and-seek they played sometimes at recess, except that she was always the one who got found.
This time, though, she’d finally gotten away from him… at least for a little while.
***
They were standing together on a street corner in downtown Denver, watching the crowds pass by in both directions—some hurrying past on their way home, others coming and going from the stores nearby.
The girl’s parents stood beside her, trying to ignore the stares as other children and adults walked by, looking at them as if they didn’t belong there. But after a few minutes of standing there with their daughter, they decided to leave.
“Come on, honey,” the mother said gently. “We need to get home.”
“No,” replied the father. He looked down at his watch. “It isn’t even seven yet. There’s plenty of time.”
“Well, you’re sure about this, aren’t you?” his wife asked. “About us staying here until eight o’clock? Because if it really is just another stupid prank…” She glanced at the faces passing by as people stopped to watch. “I could have sworn that woman was following us earlier.”
She turned to look at the old man who’d saved the girl’s life. “How are we supposed to know how serious this is if he doesn’t explain himself?”
“All right,” the old man agreed easily. “But make sure you tell your husband how serious this is. And tell him not to worry. I’ve been doing my job as long as he’s been alive, and I’ve seen things happen before that no one else ever would believe.”
“You better not be playing games with us,” the mother warned.
“I promise you I’m not,” the old man assured her. “And besides, you don’t have any choice.” His smile faded quickly. “Not unless you want me to kill your daughter.”
“Oh,” she whispered as she glanced up at him again, but the old man was already walking away without another word. He hurried across the street, heading west toward downtown Boulder. In the distance, he noticed something shining through the leaves on the ground.
As he moved closer, a glint caught his eye and he knelt down to examine what it might be. It was her earring, and he smiled at its simple beauty. For a moment, he wondered where the girl had gone, then shrugged and got to his feet. Whatever happened tonight, he decided to wait for her to make her own decision.
If she decided to come to him, fine, and if she decided to run instead… well, then he’d deal with her accordingly. But he doubted that either scenario would end happily.
When he reached the outskirts of town, he paused for a moment to study the stars above, and he felt a strange warmth spread through his heart as he stared upward at the moon, which was now nearly full. Then he turned and headed for the mountains beyond.
As soon as their car left the main road and drove deeper into the forest, the boy glanced nervously at his watch, wondering what he should do next. Then he realized that there was no point in being nervous because he’d lost all sense of time anyway, so why waste effort on worrying about things that didn’t matter anymore?
Instead, he turned toward his sister and took a deep breath. Then he reached for the door handle.
“Hey!” came the cry from behind them. “Don’t you dare open that door?”
The girl twisted around to look back at him. Her mouth opened wide, her eyes blinking rapidly, and she grabbed for her brother’s hand as she leaned forward in an attempt to push him out of the moving vehicle. But he was too quick.
“Stop!” she demanded angrily. “You can’t stop now! Not now when you—”
“—have to go so far, or your father will be mad,” the old man finished for her.
He smiled at the girl as she glared at him. “Your father won’t be mad,” he insisted calmly. “Because nothing happens to me. Now turn back, and let’s finish this.”
She shook her head and tried to pull the door open once more. When that failed, she kicked it as hard as she could. “Let me out!”
Her father glanced at the rearview mirror. “Why don’t you take some clothes?” he suggested.
The girl hesitated for only a moment before deciding to obey him, so her mother pulled over and parked the car near a stream that ran through a valley. She got out of the car and hurried off toward the trees while the two brothers followed behind.
They walked for perhaps twenty minutes through a thick forest, where they climbed several small hills and crossed a few creeks before they emerged onto a rocky bluff overlooking a vast lake. The moon hung high overhead, casting its light down upon the water, which was surrounded by steep cliffs and dense groves of pine trees.
In the distance, they could see another cliff rising up against the dark sky, and it looked almost like an island floating in the middle of the lake. From where they stood, the water sparkled in the moonlight as though it were dancing beneath its silvery veil, and the breeze blowing through the tall pines made it seem even ethereal.
There was nothing threatening or frightening about this place; instead, it seemed warm and peaceful, and it reminded the brothers of the mountains of Tibet—though, of course, it couldn’t possibly exist in such a harsh land. But here, at least for a night, it would be theirs alone to explore.
When they reached the edge of the cliff, the girl’s father pointed upward at its towering height. “We’ll start climbing up from here,” he told them. “And when we reach the top, just follow whatever path seems best to you. Just try to stay close together, and don’t stray too far from where we’ve landed.” He put his hands on the girl’s shoulders and pushed her gently toward the edge.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, turning back to glare at him. “This isn’t fair, Dad. This is stupid! I want to go back right now. Why did you bring us here?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But there’s no way out now, not until the morning.” He turned his gaze to the younger boy. “Now go ahead,” he urged, and the boy nodded reluctantly as he stepped over the edge.
“Be careful,” their father whispered as the boy disappeared into the darkness below, and he looked back at the girl who was still looking back at him with tears in her eyes. “Try to be quiet. If we’re lucky, we might hear something unusual tonight.”
They watched for a long while, hoping that their father and brother had climbed up to a cave somewhere inside the cliff face, but after a while, their hopes diminished and they started to worry that they might have missed them entirely.
It was impossible to tell exactly how high the cliff was because it rose sharply away from their view, so all they could do was sit and wait for signs of their return. The girl stared down at the waves lapping against the rocks and listened to the sound of their soft rush, and it seemed as if it echoed endlessly across the dark lake.
As she sat watching the dark silhouette of the boat, she felt a curious sense of familiarity and peace, like she’d been there before, and it calmed her as much as the sound of the water. Suddenly she realized how tired she was and that she needed to rest before she went any further.
She looked toward where her father had gone off to search for them, and then she moved slowly forward, using her arms and feet to climb up and over the ledge. At first, she felt as though she were walking in a dream, but as she reached the top of the cliff, she began to shiver violently and her legs trembled.
She looked back down at the ground and saw that it had begun to sink away, and suddenly the water was rushing past her, and she felt dizzy as she lost her footing and tumbled downward.
Down, down she fell, slipping and sliding along the rock until her hair whipped wildly around her head and her breath caught in her throat. Then something strong grabbed her hand and pulled her backward, and suddenly she was falling again, but this time she wasn’t afraid anymore because she knew what she must do.
She closed her eyes as the water rushed up to meet her, and as it enveloped her, she thought she heard someone calling out from above: “Little girl, little girl…”
The End