Everyone in the school was talking about what had happened. The story began with the snake on Thomas' desk, then it became the snake on the floor. One boy clarified that the snake had been in Brendan Eriksson's bag and yet still, someone argued that the snake had been in Thomas' desk. Anyway, the cobra bit Thomas.
But if it was a cobra, how is it that Thomas was still alive? another one argued against this theory. Anyway, the "cobra" or "mamba" had its head bitten off by the black belt who proceeded to chew the reptile's spine.
And, so where does Brendan come in? one asked.
He planted the snake for Thomas.
No, that can't be true. Brendan was not that type of guy. He was quiet.
It's always the quiet ones, another said. But what about the fight?
Oh, yes, the fight. Brendan parried five Bradley punches before unleashing a fury of blows no one knew he were capable of.
So, Brendan Eriksson…the chilled guy who only had one friend in the school and kept to himself, the guy who had no prior record of violence and no history of truancy, beat a black belt?
The fight was a draw.
But Thomas Bradley's been taken to the school infirmary. Where's Brendan?
So, these and many other theories and counter theories continued to be conjured up. Eyewitnesses changed their story and all the other details were adulterated by other students that came in to the cafeteria to offer their own versions of what really happened.
Natasha Andrews, Patricia Okerlund and Susan Raymond had formed a circle around a speechless Simon, asking him questions.
Meanwhile, Brendan was making his way to the forest. He arrived at the same spot he had placed the rock as a landmark and luckily, it was still there. He walked in a straight line just as he had done when he chased the deer. His mind was still crowding with questions.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks. What if the Finch was more dangerous than he could ever imagine? Because from the way Simon and Samantha had described her, she did not sound like just some old lady stirring a pot of hocus-pocus in some bush just to give people warts and boils. Maybe she could fly. Whether on a broom or she had wings it didn't matter. That would make her dangerous. But what if she could truly turn people into frogs, like in the books?
Brendan never thought there would ever come a time when he would ever ask himself questions about witches and forests. And what about what happened in school with Thomas? How does anyone even come to explain something like that? An entire room, frozen in time, watching him, before that one push that sent his nemesis to the door. A feat physics could never explain. None of it made any sense: the disgusting, thick purple liquid he drank, The Finch and Thomas.
It was obvious now that the people would brand him as a wizard and burn him just like what they did to his grandfather, Howard's father.
He examined his hand, the same hand that had pushed Thomas. The same hand that had sent him flying across the room like a ragdoll tossed by a disgruntled child.
He turned his attention to a tree nearby. It was a pine tree and its top pierced the skies. He walked towards it then stopped. For a moment he felt shame for what he was about to do. This was not a fantasy. There was no such thing as a superhuman being. No such thing as witches in forests that grant wishes and favors. So, what was happening to him?
Am I sick? he thought, now starting to believe it. Did that drink make my mind see only the things I wanted to see? What if I only pushed Thomas before running away? Which would mean I left two hundred or more people in that cafeteria confused and worried about my state of mind. An idiot responding to a catapult of a fist with a shove to the chest, then the cowardly tactic of fleeing.
But there was only one way to find out, Brendan thought as he stepped a little closer to the pine tree. Only one way to find out if I really am crazy.
He took a long, deep breath. Not thinking it through, he placed both his hands on the tree and started trying to uproot it. He could feel the ground moving; a signal that the roots were coming up.
Within fifteen seconds the tree was above the ground, gripped by his puny hands. To him, the tree was as heavy as a giant piece of firewood. He grinned to himself. Perhaps he wasn't crazy after all. He felt on top of the world! He tossed the tree a few hundred yards into the bushes. It smashed into the ground with a quake.
'Hey, watch it!'
There was someone else with him in the forest. He started walking towards the source of the sound. Because of his new found ability, fear had now become a stranger to him. He spotted something red, half concealed in the bushes. He advanced towards it then he discovered that it was someone.
The boy was at least a foot taller than him. He had wild red hair that stood erect with white fringes and he had sapphire blue eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt which looked too tight even on his skinny body, a pair of green skinny jeans and black running shoes.
'Who the hell are you?' Brendan asked the stranger.