Page 2.
The Halloween get together was just an hour away as Penny's mother braided strands of gold and silver thread into her daughters hair putting the finishing touches on a beautiful Prairie Princess. Nelly watched intently while laying across Penny's bed and wondered if she would be next in line for the hair treatment? At last they were done giving Penny the first real opportunity to take one last look at herself in the mirror before leaving. Penny closed her eye's for a second and then quickly opened them as if awaking from a dream. Her reflection from the mirror was radiant from this child's point of view wearing a loose fitting shirt with matching pants that seemed to flow and swirl like prairie grass in the wind each time she made the slightest movements. Her shirt was the color of the darkening night sky and her pants were a deep forest green giving her the appearance of a sunset especially after her mother draped a silver silk cape across her shoulders. Penny's parents smiled at one another as Penny, Mark and Nelly piled into the families truck and headed out to a Halloween party that would be like no other!
Well, the High School gym was packed with demons, goblins, and witches not to mention every super hero on the planet including Mars and the Moon? One parent was Freddy and three others were Micheal Meyers and one person wore a presidential mask and he spend the entire evening in the back of the Sheriffs patrol car just for his own safety? Anyway, the older kids had a water balloon fight in the parking lot until Mark decided throwing an egg at the mayor was funny and he ended up in the back of the Sheriffs patrol car with the president for the rest of the night. While inside the gym spooky music drowned out the laughter as well as screams of terror mostly from the little ones who weren't really sure why they had to be frightened just for a piece of candy? Most the treats and the candies were home made with some store bought stuff but one rancher brought several gallons of what he called clear water that only the adults could drink?
Penny's costume was the talk of the town but not for the reasons you might think. Some folks took offense still believing in the curse of the dead oak tree while others asked Penny's parents to leave. Fear and superstition is a powerful emotion causing the weakest of human beings to make the worst choices and it was for that very reason the old oak tree still stood. There was however one thing our fear stricken town folk didn't know and that was the fact that the dead oak tree sat directly on the far east corner of James property. Penny's father had seen and heard enough and it wasn't the first time the thought had crossed his mind of cutting down the dead tree once and for all. Like any good rancher worth his sand he never left home without his trusty rifle and chainsaw and tonight he would change a few minds and perhaps put an end to a hundred years or so of bad thinking?
Page 3.
Mr. James wasn't a man who wasted time just like all real ranchers do and when the town folk saw him leaving the High School Parking lot and travel hell bent down a dirt road toward the old oak tree those Halloween festivities came to an abrupt stop. The Sheriff was the first to follow with the town mayor riding shotgun while the president and Mark still remained locked in the back seat of the patrol car. Mark had an idea on what his fathers intentions were and cheered him on as the mayors face got redder not knowing there were several pieces of egg shell still sticking to the back of his bald head. Penny and her mother along with Nelly jumped into the back of a neighbors pick up and together with what seemed like the whole town headed up after them. Just as everyone had arrived Mr. James stood in front of the towering dead oak and started up his chainsaw with one single pull. The sheriff attempted to blind Mr. James with his flood lights but bright lights never stopped a determined man with his mind made up and he knew it. The mayor begged Mr. James to stop and threatened him with arrest for destruction of a county landmark but his pleas and threats fell upon deaf ears.
The whole town surrounded the dead tree and stood silent like a flock of crows mourning the death of one of their own. The sheriff on the other hand had attempted to charge Mr. James like a raging bull but fail to anticipate the quickness and agility of a hard working cattle rancher. Mr. James quickly stepped to one side causing the sheriff to face plant himself at the base of the tree bouncing backward like a rubber ball. Stunned but uninjured the sheriff slowly sat up while Mr. James put down the chainsaw and helped the fallen sheriff to his feet. It was at that very moment the mystery of the dead oak tree would be revealed to everyone. Suddenly the ground beneath the two men began to give way as they stood at the base of the looming tree. Both men quickly jumped back as the ground nearest the oak caved in revealing a deep shaft twisted with a massive root system reassembling a funnel shaped spider wed. There near the bottom lay two skeletal remains of a man and a young child huddled together and holding hands. Near their feet the ground took on a golden glow that grew even brighter from the light of the sheriff's flashlight. Some from the crowd peered into the hole while others turned and ran with fear.
It wasn't long before Mr. James discovered the real truth about the Ghost Child of Dead Oak Creek after taking a closer look at the ground round the hole. It was a trap designed by Jacob Davis to protect one of his many gold cashes but on that faithful night so many years ago it took the life of both him and his precious daughter. The ground in front of the oak was purposely rigged with the intent to give way and in his attempt to save his daughter he too became entangled and trapped in an underground tree of death. The bodies were removed and given a christian burial in the towns local cemetery. Mr. James was the rightful owner to the gold discovered on his property but he donated it all to a major hospital for children under the name of Jenny Davis. The tree that stood as a tombstone for all those years was cut down and the wood was stored near the high school gym and only used on Halloween in honor to Jacob and Jenny. There is no telling how many more of these deadly gold cashes Jacob Davis rigged in town before losing his life and maybe it was or wasn't the only one? But when Penny returned home on that night with a bag full of candy there was one just a little heavier than the others. Folded inside an old piece of brown paper and wrapped with some blue cotton twine was a large gold nugget and a note that read, “Treat or Treat” from Jenny.
