The Wager

                                                           The Wager

By

Lynne Conrad

           “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Huey muttered, adjusting his backpack after slamming the car door shut.

           “You’re a goober,” Todd called out, chuckling.

           “Tell me again why we’re doing this?” Huey scowled at his friend.

           “One hundred smackers. Half for me and half for you.”

           “How’s Will gonna know if we stay all night?”

           “He’s sending Bull to stay with us.”

           “Great. You know there’s a reason he’s called Bull, don’t you?”

           “Yeah. He’s big.”

           “He’s big and bad. He hurts people.”

           “Why do you take these wagers?” Huey followed Todd to the rusted iron fence that encircled the cemetery.

           “Why are you whining? You can leave if you want to and I’ll take the whole hundred.” Todd snapped at him. He pushed open the old gate. Huey cringed from the squeal the rusted hinges made. “I’m sorry Huey. I didn’t mean to…”

           “It’s fine. Let’s just find Bull and make camp.” Huey cut him off. Todd was a daredevil and hardly ever backed off from a dare or wager.

           Huey continued to follow Todd through the maze of various sized stones until they reached the rendezvous spot, but obviously they had beaten Bull there.

           “Did you see the graves of the Civil War soldiers?” Huey asked as they set their packs down.

           “Yeah. Did you know this cemetery dates back to the early 1800’s?” Todd said, scanning through the large trees with the Spanish moss hanging from the limbs, gently swaying in the evening breeze, for Bull. 

           “What happens if he doesn’t show?”

           “Will forfeits the bet and we win by default.” Todd pulled a wool blanket from his bag along with a pistol and a flashlight.

           “Gun?”

           “You never know.” Todd slid the pistol under his blanket. Huey folded his blanket on the ground, so that his back was against the front wall of the mausoleum, pulled out his own flashlight and a lantern. While he waited, he pulled his coat tighter around himself and

closed his eyes.

           Feeling a light jab in his ribs, Huey opened his eyes. “Look,” Todd whispered and pointed in the direction they had come. There was Bull lumbering around the stones coming toward them, laden with his own backpack.

           “Thanks for joining us,” Todd called out to Bull, who only shrugged. Bull let his large backpack drop to the ground with a thump about ten feet away from them. Wrapping a thick blanket around himself he sat with his back against a headstone. They all sat in silence as the last rays of the sun disappeared and the full moon appeared.

           “Not much of a talker is he?” Huey scooted over to Todd and whispered.

           “No, he’s mostly just Will’s handyman.”

           “I thought he was related to Will.”

           “He’s Will’s cousin. Will's mom took him in, but Will looks out for him and in return Bull does what ole Will asks.”

           “What time is it?” Todd asked.

           “9:48.” Huey muttered, looking at the Timex with the glow in the dark face on his wrist.

           Huey leaned back against the wall, looking up at the star dotted sky. The breeze had picked up some. He could hear the dead leaves rustle across the ground.

 This was one of the oldest cemeteries in the county. Heck, in the state. He had heard stories about the cemetery since he was a boy in grade school, but hadn’t believed them. Todd certainly didn’t believe the stories. The only thing Todd believed about the afterlife was that there wasn’t one.

 Huey shoved his hands in his pockets, resting quietly, his eyes closed. Todd was unusually quiet and Bull still didn’t have anything to say, even when he got up to use the bathroom behind the nearest tree. The breeze had died away, but now a foggy mist was rising from the ground. Huey heard Todd pop the tab to a drink.

“Time?” Todd asked.

“11:55.” Huey stood up, stretching. Todd went to use the tree, but when he came back, his face was wonky.

“Todd? What's wrong?”

“I saw something among the trees.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. A shadow, maybe.”

Huey felt a pang of anger. Was he trying to scare him? He was about to say something when Bull finally spoke.

“Look,” he called out in a deep baritone voice and pointed out in front of him. Huey’s eyes followed the direction of Bull’s finger and gasped. Five yards ahead, something moved.

“Hide,” Todd whispered. The tree of them ducked behind the mausoleum. Peeking around the corner, they watched as a dark man, his face painted white, paused by a headstone. He raised a crooked stick he was carrying over his head and cried out, “Arise.”

Wide eyed, Huey watched as a spirit rose from the grave. Huey thought it was a general, by his clothes. Ghostly soldiers, in perfect formation marched across the cemetery, stopping in front of the gravestone. The dark man whirled, looking straight at Huey with a grin, his white teeth shining in the moonlight. With his heart thumping in his chest, Huey saw the soldiers marching toward them, the General, leading them, his eyes glowing red. 

“Run!” Todd uttered, making for the gate. Huey and Bull followed. Todd wrenched open the gate, but as Huey followed, he stumbled and fell, hitting his head on the ground. Todd yelled out his name. The last thing he saw was the red eyes of the General.

Suddenly, Bull was shaking him. “Wake up.”

“What?”

“It’s morning,” Bull was saying. “We must have fell asleep, but you woke me up calling Todd’s name.”

Stiff and sore, Huey stood, looking for Todd in the early dawn light. “Where’s Todd?” Bull shrugged. Nothing was missing, not even the pistol.

“Think he got spooked and ran off?” Bull asked, searching too.

“Maybe.” Both men searched the cemetery for Todd. Frustrated, Huey finally gave up.

"I guess he's gone for sure," Huey shrugged, upset that his friend left him.

“Let’s get out of here,” Bull said, shoving their things in the backpacks.

Remembering his dream, Huey told Bull to wait a minute. Striding up to the headstone he read the name, “General William Sherman.”

Huey never did see Todd again, although he often wondered just what happened to his friend and if his dream held the clue. One day, he told himself, he would go back to the cemetery and see if the ghostly soldier brigade had a new recruit.