Tales From the Woods #8

The formerly Adorable Baby Panda had wasted no time showing up. Once here, it wasted little time trying to show off.

'It's a good thing you called me in, Calvin. You're a nice guy, but you're not cut out for investigating the strange.'

I glared at the now Clever Adolescent Panda (or CAP). 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'You're too trusting and gullible. You just assume it's a Ghost following you around. I haven't heard of many ghosts you gently set tools against trucks. They like to throw things. The falling branches? Sure, that could be a ghost. But it could also be someone alive, but invisible. A cloaking device, maybe.'

'I never heard or smelled anything when the Ghost was around. Wouldn't a living being need to breathe, or make other sounds?'

Cue dismissive noise 'Pfft. Human senses aren't worth anything. It's a miracle you don't spend all your time crashing into stuff.'

Actually, I have more trouble with tripping than walking into things, but whatever. Point made. 'I'm guessing you have more criticisms of my amateur investigating?'

Big grin on that furry face. 'You're catching on. You don't know for sure who left those presents, or the note about the Lady in Orange. And you just assume the the girl you met is the Lady.'

'She's a lady, and she's wearing orange. Ergo, she is the Lady in Orange.' I mostly said that to piss CAP off, since this know-it-all shtick was wearing on my nerves.

'That may be, but we need to draw them out and get some direct answers.'

For the next three days, CAP followed me surreptitiously. Whether because I wasn't strictly on my usual site, because I had a partner, or because I was being tailed, the Ghost made no appearances. I wanted to try tracking the Lady. Cap had nosed around the array where I met here, and claimed to have a scent, but felt establishing what the Ghost was first took precedence. It made contact first, and if it was going to be violently protective or interventionist, it'd pay to know what we're up against. To that end, CAP argued I should visit my site off hours. I contended I never did that, and it would look suspicious. CAP argued that because it was unusual, the Ghost would be more likely to appear. The Ghost does seem to have a curious streak, so it might work.

That Saturday I was free, so early in the morning I drove out to my site. While I had concerns at first, I quickly relaxed. This was an opportunity to explore, which I never took the time to do while working. I followed a few trails I'd only partly pursued before. I caught another glimpse of the horses, though they stayed well away. And eventually, I sensed the Ghost.

I started off with, 'Howzabout you hold up your end of the conversation for once?' Nothing. I sighed. 'Did you drop the branches? What about the message, and the gifts?' Silence. I'd reached a small pond by this point, and settled myself on a log. 'I'm not going to be working around here much longer, so if there's something you'd like to unload, now's the time.'

At that point, I noticed a small flower drifting across the pond towards me. I reached out to collect it, only to have the wind to arise and blow it away. I looked up, and the Lady in Orange stood on the opposite side of the pond, much the same as before, humming quietly, as she had before. The wind intensified abruptly, the log I'd been sitting on was upended, branches and leaves swirling about before hurtling towards her. Again she withdrew, but this time I didn't waste time looking to see the cause. I immediately set after her, but didn't get far before being thrown to the ground by a black-and-white furball.

'What are you doing?' It hissed in my ear, while doing its best to keep me flat on the ground.

'Following a lead,' I retorted.

'You have no idea where she's going!' Cap responded testily.

'Well certainly not after you tackled me and let her get away!' I was getting annoyed. I called the little stinker in to help, not boss me about like it was playing Patton.

'I have her scent, remember? We can follow when we choose. No rushing in blind.' By this point the wind had abated with the Lady's departure. Or because of CAP's appearance. CAP climbed off me, and I sat up.

'We could have done that already. You had the scent before. Did we learn anything new?'

'Yes.' Such sarcastic eye-rolling from such a cute critter. 'Your Ghost is a ghost all right. No scent, footsteps, or respiration. And it's a human spirit.'

'As opposed to what? A deer?'

'Nooooo.' More eye-rolling. It is fun to tweak the little one sometimes. 'As opposed to a spirit of the woods or the earth. One of those would have sensed me the moment I set foot in the forest.' I think CAP's been drilled on this repeatedly and was enjoying the the chance to lecture for a change.

'Can you track an actual ghost?'

'Not if it doesn't want me to. This one is old enough to know how to disperse, I guess, when it feels like it.'

'Then what's the next step?'

'Track the Lady in Orange, obviously.' So matter-of-fact about how now we'd do the thing I'd been pushing for days. I exploded a bit. More of a rupture, really.

'That's what I was trying to do!'

CAP was unperturbed. I guess I spout off enough it's used to it. 'You were unprepared. We could find anything.'

'And it's better to have something and not need it, than need it and not have it. Right.' I'd learned that often enough out here with regard to tools. 'The scent'll last until we can pack?'

'Absolutely. We don't need to take much. She can't be going too far.' I should have asked how CAP knew that, but when there's something that needs doing in front of me, sometimes it's all I can focus on. At the moment, that impatience was in the driver's seat.