Cheesman Chronicles

“Tag!” Alice called out. “You’re it!”

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Penelope said. “I was catching my breath! Harry chased me around so much I couldn’t keep up.”

“Well that’s your fault,” Harry smiled as he ran away from the two of them. “I told you we’d be playing tag today and you didn’t have enough to eat before then.”

Alice and Henry laughed and ran away from Penelope as fast as they were able to. Her large backyard gave them plenty of space to get away from her. The expansive grassy area, a wide tree that was as big as Alice’s own home, a small chicken coop to the south, and a huge dark forest beyond it all.

But right now, Penelope didn’t care about that. She just cared about not having fun.

“I’m telling!” she said, stamping her feet. She ran up to the entrance of the house, it’s back door wide open to allow the cool spring breeze to float in and sooth the airs inside. “Dad! Their being mean to me!”

The father of Penelope appeared from the kitchen, apron still on as he prepared the three friends their lunch. He set his utensils up on the sink as the fresh ingredients lay bare on the counter and walked out to meet his daughter. A warm smile appeared on his face as he came to her eye level.

“What did they say, sweetie?”

“They said I wasn’t fast enough to run away,” she sobbed. “But I tried to do my best! They’re making fun of me.”

The man smiled calmly and looked up to the other two children. Alice and Harry had been friends with his daughter since they were in prep, almost five years ago now. Ever since they had practically become inseparable. Always running around in the backyard, at the school, on excursions, anywhere they could.

Both of their parents had dropped them off at their house for a few hours while they worked. Penelope’s mother, Elena Smith, worked as a high-ranking executive at an important company, making them easily the wealthiest family of the three of them. The father, in return, decided to stay behind and make sure that the house was in tip-top condition. Though to call it a house was an understatement.

The mansion stood at four stories tall, filled with all sorts of rooms like dance halls, gyms, games rooms, a private movie theatre, and at least ten bedrooms – Penelope never counted. It boarded on the edge of a large forest, dense with lush vegetation and tall trees. One that she had been warned never to enter.

The father sighed and looked back to Penelope and nodded.

“That’s alright, honey,” he said. “If you don’t want to play tag, you don’t have to. Just let your friends know and sit out for a bit.”

“But I don’t want to sit out…” she pouted. “I want to keep playing with them. I’m just tired.”

The man smiled and stood up. He looked around to them all now.

“Well, maybe you three should try another game. I’m sure there is something that you can all get interested in that doesn’t involve much running around anymore, right? Maybe some pretend will do you three good.”

The other kids nodded and he walked back into the house, clearly pleased that he mad managed to resolve the situation. Though if the kids themselves thought that, they didn’t show it. Alice sighed and kicked at the ground.

“It’s not fair,” she said. “Why do we have to play another game because you lost?”

“I’m sorry,” Penelope said. “But I am getting tired from running around. Maybe we should play Adventure instead?”

“Adventure?” Harry said excitedly. “Yes! I love that game! Where will we go first? Can we go in the forest?”

Before Penelope could tell him once again that No, The Forest Is Off Limits Because Mum Said So, he was already halfway to the edge of the woods. His little legs carried him much faster than the other two expected. Faster than it had been during the game of tag. The love of adventuring in the forest wrapped around and propelled him like a bullet into the dark and foreboding reaches of it’s tall and inviting trees.

The other two girls ran after him, calling out his name and begging for him to stop. Yet he kept running. It was as if he was compelled to enter it. There shouts soon died out as he came to the edge of the forest. Just beyond the fallen leaves and brown dirt which seemed to cut right along the well trimmed lawn.

Alice was the first to reach him. She bent down and held her knees to catch her breath, while Harry simply stared up at the branches and shadows ahead.

“You’re being very silly, Harry,” she said. “You know that Penelope’s mum said you can’t go in there.”

“But I want to play adventure…” he sulked.

“We can have adventure here,” she said. “Where it’s safe. Where we know what is happening.”

“Can’t I go in? Just a little bit? I promise I won’t go far, that I can still see you.”

Penelope had finally caught up to them both. She stared angrily at Harry, her hands on her hips in the same way she had seen her mum do to her when she was naughty. But once she saw how much he wanted it, she frowned and looked into the forest.

From where they were, the first parts of the forest didn’t look too bad. While the dark quickly took hold, the sun still lit the way ahead well enough for them to make out most of what was inside. They couldn’t see any animals, no strange plants or fungi. As long as he stayed within their sight, maybe it was okay.

She sighed and looked to Harry.

“Alright,” she said with a small smile. “You can quickly go in. But no more than five minutes. Don’t go too far so we can’t see you. And when we call for you, head straight back. You got all of that?”

“Yep!” he said, before quickly running into the trees.

But as soon as he set foot into the forest, he fell through the ground and out of sight.

The girls heard him scream out for help. They rushed to grab his flailing arm but only seezed the air. They came to the edge of where he disappeared and found a natural looking slide of some kind. One that descended down forever and ever.

They quickly moved back from the edge as if they were trying not to throw themselves into it themselves. Penelope herself felt a strange pull from having stared down it. Like something was asking her to jump in after her friend. She held onto Alice for support, who took hold of her in a way that reassured her she was grounded and safe.

Penelope looked up to Alice, fear and worry in her eyes.

“What do we do?” she asked.

“I…” she stammered. “I don’t know. We need to call my parents. They will know what to do.”

“No,” Alice said, backing away from her friend. “If they find out we let Harry run off into the forest, we’d all get into big trouble. And… this isn’t normal. I mean have you ever seen a hole in the ground like this?”

Alice looked back to where their friend had fallen through. Penelope followed her eyes and down the crevice. She was right. With all the stories they knew about forests and the dangers inside of it, they had never heard of something quite like this. What if the adults couldn’t fit inside it to help Harry? What if it closed off by the time they got back? What if he was lost forever?

With her childlike thinking, she could only see one way around this. That they would have to go after him themselves.

“Alright then,” Penelope nodded. “I’m going to go get some supplies for us. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Alice nodded and stared down into the long and winding hole. Penelope ran up to the shed and inside it. She grabbed two pairs of gloves, a belt, a small trough, two disposable water bottles they kept around for emergencies, and two torches. She also grabbed as much rope as she could, so that they could keep track of where they were once they were inside. Though she didn’t know what they would experience down in the depths of the forest, she knew that this would be a good start to things they might need.

She set them all down outside the shed and ran inside her mansion and through the kitchen. Her dad looked up to her and gave a smile.

“Hi honey,” he said cheerfully. “Seems like your getting a few tools there. Are you going to play garden?”

Penelope froze and looked up to him. She smiled widely and prepared to lie.

“Yep!” she said. “I just want to get some food to plant.”

“Alright then, sweetie,” he said, turning back to the cutting board. “Don’t be too long now. I’m making you some actual lunch, and I’d hate for your appetite to be lost by the time you get back.”

“Don’t worry, dad,” Penelope smiled, grabbing a couple nutrient bars. “We won’t be long.”

The dad nodded absently and continued to dice the vegetables up. He could tell something was odd with his daughter, but whatever it was could wait. He knew her. She wouldn’t do anything too silly while playing.

Back out in the garden Penelope ran over to Alice. Her run was awkward with all of the things she carried, setting them down on the ground by the hole. They both rummaged through the supplies and put them on like little soldiers. Once they got to the food, Alice squirmed.

“Aw, you got these as snacks?” Alice asked. “I hate the taste of them.”

“We need something healthy while we’re down there,” Penelope snapped. “Anyway, notice anything weird while I was gone?”

“The hole started to get smaller,” Alice said. “I don’t think we have long until it closes.”

Penelope looked back to the hole. She was right – the edges of it slowly formed back together. Sticks and fallen leaves appeared to stick to the edges as they rose from the hole. The dirt around its edge came back together like a ripple in water. The girls had never seen anything like it. Penelope grumbled in annoyance.

“We’d better hurry then. Help me tie this rope around the tree.”

The two girls wrapped the rope around a nearby tree. It’s thick trunk appeared to be sturdy enough to hold onto the rope, and with the tie being a simple shoelace knot. They hardly knew any others. Harry had been the one to go to cub scouts, not them.

Alice pulled on the rope, feeling it grab sturdily enough, and began to head to the hole. She pulled out the rest of the rope from it’s wrapped form and dropped it down. It uncurled and continued to go beyond their view. She looked back to Penelope and held her hand.

“Ready?” she asked.

Penelope gulped and nodded slowly. Now that they were at the edge of it, ready to jump down, she was beginning to have her doubts. What would happen if they get lost? Or the rope runs out? Or they meet something dangerous and get hurt? So many things could happen if they weren’t careful.

But their friend was in danger. And they were the only ones who could help.

Alice gripped her friends hand and looked down the hole.

“On three,” she said. “One… two… three!”

They jumped in.

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Thumbnail credit from ‘Pexels free photos’

Read Part Two here