Village Squire, 1977-11, Page 19LOST.
A short story by Pat Boyle
The dark forest frowned on either side of them. The trees had
been stripped by the recent wind and a thin white frost clung to
one side of them like gum. They seemed to lean towards each
other as if preparing to attack anything that might pass below.
The desolate, lifeless forest was so lonely and cold that it seemed
to be filled with sadness and grief, like that of an unkept
graveyard.
It had all began when a neighbour's herd broke loose and
strayed into the large swamp, the one called "Saratoga". In the
middle of this swamp there was a large pond, called "Mud
Lake". The owner of the cattle came to the Bradley farm where
he picked up two boys who lived there, Tom and Jack. The owner
of the cattle, Mr. Silverwood, took the boys to the edge of the
swamp, about 15 miles away from the Bradley farm. His
instructions were to find and chase the herd out of the swamp
and back to the pasture from which they had broken out. Mr.
Silverwood told the boys that he had to leave for London that
day, and that he was counting on them to complete the job.
Tom, who was 14 said that he and his younger brother would
have the cattle back to their pasture in no time.
The two boys eagerly set out into the swamp, not knowing
what experience lay ahead. Tom was a husky boy with curly,
brown hair that touched his shoulders. He was about five foot
four and weighed 130 pounds. Jack was eight years old, blonde
haired, and weighed ninety pounds and was a good foot shorter
than Tom. The two boys were typical rough -necks, with dirty
jeans, partially unbuttoned coats and well-worn boots. The
bruises on thoir faces and dried patches of cow manure on their
jeans, showed that they were the type of boys who liked to fight
with each other and who couldn't care less about getting dirty.
It was late fall and there was some indication that the cool
VILLAGE SQUIRE/NOVEMBER
1977, 17.