Morris and Darryl sat against the guard oak for several hours talking about what they understood, what they didn’t, and in general what the heck was going on.
They made sure they had time to talk by pulling the classic double-blind sleepover trick. They both told their parents they were staying at the other kid’s house and then stayed at neither.
Some kids would use this kind of duplicity to get into all kinds of trouble. However, trouble didn’t interest these boys; they wanted to share stories and maybe find some answers.
After a while, talking about what was going on wasn’t enough. Both boys instinctively wanted to show the other what was going on. The problem was, it was so dark now they couldn’t see their hands in front of their faces.
The next day was Saturday. They agreed to meet up at first light to see what they could do.
Two flashlight beams met against the tree trunk and then split in opposite directions, bobbing up and down and catching odd items in their light.