{"id":234,"date":"2014-03-29T07:32:03","date_gmt":"2014-03-29T11:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/?p=234"},"modified":"2014-03-29T07:32:03","modified_gmt":"2014-03-29T11:32:03","slug":"rafethe-man-in-the-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/2014\/03\/rafethe-man-in-the-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafe–The Man in the Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: You may want to read Being Born first<\/u>.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Their chores done, Mam sent them out to play in the woods. \u201cJust stay out of my hair. And out of trouble. I don\u2019t want the neighbors dropping by with news about what you\u2019ve been up to. I\u2019m talking to you, Rafe. You\u2019re older and you should know better.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rafe stood tall and still had to look up to meet her mother\u2019s eyes. She hated being eight, old enough to take the heat of her mother\u2019s tongue if things went wrong, but too young not to get saddled with babysitting. \u201cThey will not get into any trouble. I\u2019ll keep them in line.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not them I\u2019m worried about.\u201d Mam stepped back onto the porch and returned to warping her loom. \u201cAnd have fun.\u201d <\/p>\n

Now Rafe, Jenna, and Ducky were out in the woods to the west of the river, playing \u201cFeral Sheep.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t have my child, you raddled old sheep.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rafe dodged and barely avoided Jenna\u2019s alder pole, threatening to conk her on the head. The wig Jenna had provided slipped over her eyes and she shoved it back onto her head. <\/p>\n

Rafe\u2019s job, in this game, was to play the Feral Sheep. Jenna played either the mother (or father, Rafe had no idea which), who would defend infant Ducky to the death. <\/p>\n

Jenna, full of five-year-old fury, shoved Ducky behind her and knocked an apple out of his hand. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would I want with that snotty little whelp?\u201d Rafe paused. That wasn\u2019t quite the right attitude. She waved what passed for a clawed hand, brushing away the accusations, and tried again. \u201cThe poor babe was hungry. See, he scrabbles for that tasty apple you wasted on the ground.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI know who you are, old woman. You\u2019re the Feral Sheep, come to steal children from properly fearing townsfolk.\u201d Jenna took another swing with her pole. <\/p>\n

Rafe tore the wig and kerchief off her head and flung it on the ground where the apple had lain moments before. \u201cNo,\u201d she said, shedding the guise of the Feral Sheep and returning to her role as older sister. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to insist on playing \u2018Feral Sheep\u2019 you might just have the sense to stay fooled for a bit. The game is over as soon as I\u2019m caught. If I were really the Feral Sheep, you\u2019d never recognize me so soon.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jenna picked up the wig and handed it to Rafe. \u201cCome on. Please. You\u2019re supposed to be looking after me and Ducky. Ma said to have fun, and we can\u2019t have fun if you\u2019re not going to play the Feral Sheep.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cShe told us all to have fun. I can\u2019t have fun if I\u2019ve got no chance to fool you. How about hide and seek?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo. \u2018Cause you\u2019ll just practice sword fighting and never come look for us.\u201d <\/p>\n

They both looked at Ducky who said nothing and munched his apple. At three, he was smart enough to stay out of his sisters\u2019 squabbles. \u201cNever mind,\u201d said Rafe. \u201cHe won\u2019t be able to hide by himself anyway.\u201d <\/p>\n

Their dickering was interrupted by a scream. Rafe picked up Ducky and flung him on her shoulders. She and Jenna took off toward the sound, all at once joined in purpose. They headed up stream, toward the old quarry, both of them sure footed. Rafe hiked up the skirts that Jenna had made her wear. Already she was planning on how she might use them in case of a genuine emergency. <\/p>\n

Unburdened by either costuming or a child, Jenna had snaked ahead of Rafe through the trees. Rafe saw her stop, skidding on the wet leaves and fall to the ground clutching her belly. It was a moment before laughter, and then cursing, though not, Rafe thought, her sister\u2019s, came floating downhill. Rafe set Ducky on his feet and told him to follow. <\/p>\n

At the top of the rise, she, too, fell to the ground in laughter. Bouncing from the end of a birch tree, was a stout man, long hair streaming toward the ground. Coins and bits of rubbage rained out of his pockets with every bounce, and he was swearing up a storm, shaking a fist at the two girls. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019cha doin\u2019 up there?\u201d asked Ducky when he came close enough to see. <\/p>\n

\u201cTrying out the newest Festival ride. What do you think, you little woods\u2019 rats?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNope.\u201d Ducky stuck his thumb in his mouth for a solemn suck. \u201cThat\u2019s Pauly George\u2019s snare. It\u2019s caught you.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jenna looked at Rafe and quirked her head in a question. <\/p>\n

Rafe set her lips together, shaking her head. \u201cMam said I shouldn\u2019t.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou know you do it anyway. When it suits you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll tell. And so will Ducky.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jenna looked at the man suspended above them. \u201cIf we get you down, do you promise never to tell how we do it?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course. Anything. Just run along and get some help.\u201d The man moved more and bounced more, and was turning quite green. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure you understand. We\u2019ll get you down now. Right now. But you\u2019ve got to keep it a secret.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSure. Whatever you say.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSwear on your hair. We\u2019ll cut it off if you tell.\u201d <\/p>\n

The man quit moving and gathered his hair in his hands. \u201cI swear on my hair. It will be forfeit to you if I tell.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDo it,\u201d said Jenna to Rafe. <\/p>\n

Rafe started to hum. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll want to start doing a sit up if you don\u2019t want to land on your head,\u201d advised Jenna. <\/p>\n

Rafe opened her mouth. A small sound emerged, not quite a whistle, not a scream, and no longer a hum. The tree began to vibrate. She swiveled her head and aimed her sound at a knot in the tree. The tree popped and spit as if struck by lightning. The man and the branch hit the ground together. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell done,\u201d said Jenna. \u201cAnd you didn\u2019t even break his glasses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: You may want to read Being Born first. Their chores done, Mam sent them out to play in the woods. \u201cJust stay out of my hair. And out of trouble. I don\u2019t want the neighbors dropping by with news … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[71,39],"class_list":["post-234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rafe","tag-rafe","tag-youth"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Gnw9-3M","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions\/235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}