By Bree Mobley & Kelsee Greuter
Many years ago, in the forest, there lived a mother and her three teenagers. Mama Pag, Laura, Jimmy, and Ruth Anne all enjoyed their isolated home and all of the peace and quiet that it provided, but ever since Jimmy had gone into a growth spurt, things had gotten a bit cramped. Mama Pag decided it would be best if her children moved into their own homes.
As the three Pags picked up their belongings and headed out the door, old Mama Pag stopped them.
“Jimmy,” She said, “this is for you.” She handed him an old, faded plaid shirt. “It was your father’s.” “Thank you.” Jimmy quietly said, carefully placing it in his cloth bag. “Laura, dear,” Continued Mama Pag, “I heard you liked flowers. Take this.” She gave her a journal full of pressed flowers. Laura smiled, trying her best to conceal the tears that were forming in her big brown eyes. “Ruth Anne,” Said Mama Pag, turning to Laura’s twin, “I was saving this for your wedding day, but now will have to do.” She gently placed a small, golden compass in her hands. “Don’t ever forget where you came from,” said Mama Pag, “because it tells you where you’re going.” Ruth Anne looked at the compass. “So true.” She said, clutching the compass to her heart. “I love you all!” Cried Mama Pag, hugging all of her children.
Suddenly, Mama Pag became solemn and quiet. She looked around to make sure no one was watching from the ominous woods. “Be careful.” She whispered. “I heard a madman lived in these woods.” Suddenly her voice got much louder. “Goodbye!” She said. “Stay safe, and don’t forget that work benefits more than play!” The children started off after giving Mama Pag another hug. “A madman!” Exclaimed Laura as she skipped along the dirt road that lead to their house, “Imagine that! Our mother is about as crazy as the man she was talking about!” “Who knows,” Said Ruth Anne as she followed close behind Laura, “She could be telling the truth.” Suddenly, Johnny saw an old man with a big horse-drawn cart driving down the path. “Excuse me, sir,” said Jimmy politely, “what do you have in that wagon of yours?” The man spit on the ground, then spoke. “I sell hay.” He said. “Want some?” Jimmy looked at his siblings. Laura went up to the man. “I’ll take it all.” She said, handing the man a bag of coins. The man peered into the bag. “Not enough.” He said as he threw the bag onto the ground. “If you can’t give me a good offer, then I’ll be on my way.” Laura looked the man in the eye. “You aren’t going to get a penny more from me,” She said, “and there aren’t any other people for miles, let alone people who want to buy hay.” The man glared at Laura. “Deal.” He said. “Where do you want the hay?” “Dump it in that clearing over there.” She said, pointing to a large patch of grass. The man dumped the hay, then rode away on his cart. “What do you want with all of that hay, anyway?” Asked Jimmy. “Why,” said Laura, “I’ll build a house out of it. Will you two help me?” The two agreed to help her, and they built the house in no time. After Laura got settled in, Ruth Anne and Jimmy went off to search for materials to build their houses out of. They found a man driving an old covered wagon. Ruth Anne went up to the man. “Nice wagon.” She said. “Where did you get it?” The big bearded man smiled. “It’s been in our family for generations.” He said. “It’s decades old, maybe even centuries.” Ruth Anne smiled back at him. “A covered wagon seems like it would be a cozy home,” She thought. “How much do you want for the wagon?” She asked. “Oh,” Said the man, “I don’t think I want to sell it. But you can have the sticks I’m carrying in the back of it for free. I don’t need them, and I was wanting to get rid of them. I’ll also dump them where you want me to.” Ruth Anne agreed to the deal, and she made him dump the sticks in another clearing close to Laura’s. Ruth Anne visited Laura and asked her to help build her house. Laura said yes. She also asked Jimmy for help, who also said yes. As the sun started to set, the three Pags finished Ruth Anne’s house. The two girls unpacked their belongings at Ruth Anne’s house, and, soon, Laura was fast asleep on a pile of sticks. Ruth Anne called to Jimmy, who was sitting outside with the old plaid shirt smoothed across his lap. He went inside with her and the two each enjoyed a hot bowl of beans. Ruth Anne made some beans for Laura after she finished eating, and woke her up. “Thanks.” Said Laura as she put a spoonful of steaming beans in her mouth. Laura and Jimmy slept in Ruth Anne’s house that night. At midnight, Ruth Anne was still awake, listening to Laura’s snoring and Jimmy’s sleep-talking. She heard a piercing shriek. At first, she thought it was a panther. After listening for a long time, she realized that it sounded like a man hysterically laughing. It sent shivers up Ruth Anne’s tired spine. She shook Jimmy until he woke up, and told him about what she heard. “Go back to bed,” He said. “We’ll investigate in the morning.” So, at the crack of dawn, the two woke up, drank a tin of coffee each, and set out towards the direction of the sound. They soon came across footprints. They were going wildly in all directions, and it looked like whoever made them was barefoot. They also found the remains of a fire and a jug of whiskey. It was a humongous flask, half full. “Whoever owns this must be having a monster hangover,” Whispered Jimmy as he studied the jug. Suddenly, both heard the shriek again. This time, they were sure it was a crazy laughing man. “Let’s go back!” Said Ruth Anne. So they did. When they came back, they found Laura making flapjacks. “Where’ve you been?” She asked, puzzled. “Oh,” said Jimmy, “just investigating a frightening sound.” Laura nodded. After breakfast, Jimmy went out on his own. Very soon, he came across a man a bit older than him struggling with a heavy load of bricks. Jimmy cleared his throat. “Anything I can help you with, mister?” He asked in a manly tone. “Yes!” The man yelled suddenly. “Buy these bricks from me, please!” Jimmy pulled a leather bag out of his pocket, and handed him a few coins. The man walked away with the money, and Jimmy was left with the huge load of bricks. He wheeled the cart of bricks to his sisters’ houses, and got to work making his house. “Come and make daisy chains with us!” Ruth Anne yelled from a nearby field. Jimmy shook his head. “I gotta keep working, Ruthie.” He said. In a few hours, the house was finished. It was messy-looking, but strong. Night fell. Laura made them all a meal of buttered bread and beans and they ate at her house. When the guests left, Laura sat outside to watch them go. As soon as they disappeared out of sight, she suddenly spotted a big, staggering form creeping in from the darkness. “Who’s there?” She asked, trembling. All that came from the form was a spine-chilling cackle. She bolted for the door, shutting it tightly and pushing a few bales of hay against it. She heard a raspy voice outside of her door. “Let me in.” It said slowly and with many short pauses. “Who are you?” Laura asked, frightened. “Wolfe,” said the voice. “Jim Wolfe.” Laura sat, frozen to her chair at the thought that this man was trying to get in. “I’m comin’ in.” Said the voice, and she saw the door move slightly. She knew she had to get out of that place. She ran to the window, climbed out, and ran as fast as she could through the eerie darkness. She finally came to Ruth Anne’s house, and threw herself against her door. Ruth Anne answered shortly, hair messy and eyes tired. Laura ran in. “What are you doing?” Ruth Anne asked, rubbing her eyes. “There’s a crazy person out there!!” Laura exclaimed. “I’m gonna give you one more chance.” Said the voice outside. “Or I’ll burn your house down. And you don’t want that.” “Cmon.” Said Ruth Anne. “You’ll be safe here. Suddenly, the girls heard a “Poof!” Laura stared out of Ruth Anne’s small window. She saw her house on fire! Unable to control herself, she burst through the front door. “What do you think you’re doing?!” She asked, infuriated. “Of course threatening a poor, defenseless young woman is wrong, but burning down her house, which she worked so hard and so long to build- that’s just plain rude! And-” The scruffy man interrupted her. “Well, you wouldn’t cooperate, so-” Laura angrily cut in. “I’m not done yet!” She loudly exclaimed. “-And you could get arrested- and maybe even killed- for the crimes that you committed… and there could even be more that we don’t know about! You should be ashamed of yourself!” “Well, I’m sorry!” Whined Mr. Wolfe childishly. “I can’t really help it if I’m a hardened criminal!” Laura walked back into Ruth Anne’s house, holding her skirt up daintily. “I don’t want to hear another peep from you, Jim Wolfe!” She cried, filled with indignation. “What are you doing?” Asked Ruth Anne. “You sound like our mom!” “Should I go back out and tell him I’m sorry?” Asked Laura. “Of course not!” Said Ruth Anne. “He wants to rob us, Laura! He deserves no apology!” Laura looked at Ruth Anne. “Well,” She said, “c’mon. I have an idea on how we can get rid of this ‘Jim Wolfe’.” Ruth Anne followed Laura to the very back of the stick house. She pushed on the wall so hard it swayed. Ruth Anne looked at Laura with a confused expression on her face. Laura winked at her. “My, oh my!” She said loudly. “I wish we had a window to crawl on this side of the house to crawl out of! Now Mr. Wolfe will surely get us!” The two girls heard a grunt as Jim Wolfe ran towards the back of the house. “You girls just gave yourself away!” He said as he rammed into the wall. “Let’s go out the front door now.” Whispered Laura as she grabbed some of her belongings. They walked out of the front door and then knocked on Jimmy’s window. A groggy Jimmy soon opened it. “The other Jim is here!” Breathed Ruth Anne as she grabbed the window pane. “Oh, that guy…” Hissed Jimmy as he ran his fingers through his red hair. “You know him?” Asked Laura. “Well, come in first.” Said Jimmy. “I’ll tell you then.” The girls ran inside Jimmy’s sturdy brick house. “So,” he said once he’d shut the door and locked it, “you wanna know how I know who Jim is?” He asked. Laura and Ruth Anne nodded in unison. “Well, mom let me have some books a while back, you know, about this forest and stuff. I saw this one section about murders.” Laura gasped. “What did you find? She asked him. “I was getting to that part.” Said Jimmy. “So, I was looking in this murders section and I found this one part about a madman. It had a sketch and everything! His real name is Dwight Polard, but he likes to call himself-” The girls interrupted. “-Jim Wolfe!” They cried. “Yes.” Said Jimmy. “This page about him sent shivers up my spine. They say he’s a heavy drinker. Well, one day he drank a bit too much. I’m sure you girls know how disagreeable people are when they drink. Anyway, he was drinking and the bartender came up to him- said he had to pay for his drinks. He got angry- and- and- he killed him. Then he ran off into the forest, eventually going mad.” This left the Ruth Anne and Laura speechless. “So, you mean we are dealing with a murderer?” She said. “Yep.” Replied Johnny. Ruth Anne quietly picked up a large black cauldron in the corner of Jimmy’s house. “Jimmy, Laura, come help me with this thing!” She called to them. “What, may I ask, are you doing with that?” Asked Laura. “You’ll see.” Said Ruth Anne. All three of them lugged the heavy cauldron to Jimmy’s well-built fireplace. Then Ruth Anne poured water into it. After that, she put fire into the fireplace. After the water had boiled long enough, she opened Jimmy’s window. “Mr. Wolfe!” She yelled. “Why waste your time shouting to us when you can simply climb down the chimney?” Jim Wolfe was there in a flash. As he was climbing up the brick house with his bare feet, he said with his raspy voice, “I feel like I shouldn’t take advice from the people I want to kill…” Suddenly, the three heard a scream coming from the fireplace. Jim Wolfe had fallen headfirst into the scalding water. “Look here!” Said Jimmy triumphantly. “We have ourselves Jim soup!” Ruth Anne gagged. “You’re so morbid.” Said Laura as she put out the fire. “Let’s go bury Jim Wolfe now.” As soon as the water had cooled, the three Pags took Jim’s body down to the stream and buried him, along with his whiskey jug. “Jim Wolfe’s reign of terror is over.” Said Ruth Anne. “Thanks to you!” Said Jimmy and Laura.
THE END