Jack Kelly Meets The Just Forests Gang Based On The Adventures of Casper Elder
Grace Jolliffe
Published by Just Forests
Copyright 2014 Grace Jolliffe
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, incidents and events are either the product of the author’s imagination, or if real, are used fictitiously.
Text by Grace Jolliffe Cover Design and Illustrations by Suzie Hunt
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form, or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical including photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written permission from the author.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 THE TERRIBLE CHANGE CHAPTER 2 KING OF THE TREES CHAPTER 3 VOICE OF AN ELDER CHAPTER 4 THE FORCE OF NATURE CHAPTER 5 TO DISAPPEAR GUESS WHAT - ALL ABOUT TREES ABOUT THE AUTHOR ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
CHAPTER 1 THE TERRIBLE CHANGE Ever since Jack Kelly could remember, he and his parents lived in a small apartment near Dublin city centre. Jack loved living in the busy city. There was always something happening and he had lots of friends, who all lived close by. They all went to a school that was just around the corner and they walked there together in one big group. On the way home, they would usually stop off at the local park to play football. If you asked Jack about his life, he would tell you it was as perfect as any ten-year-old boy’s life could be. But then something happened and every single thing that Jack loved about his life changed.
It started on a Saturday afternoon, when Jack came in from playing football to find his mum and dad sitting hunched over the laptop at the kitchen table. They were both looking really serious and they barely looked up when he came in. Jack threw his football boots into the corner instead of putting them away tidily in his room like he was supposed to, but to his amazement, neither of his parents said a word.
They didn’t even notice when he went to the fridge and poured himself a sloppy glass of juice, made a mess on the worktop, and didn’t bother to wipe it up. Jack knew something was wrong. If there wasn’t, he would have had at least two tellings off by now, but his parents were so busy staring at their laptop they hardly seemed to notice him. ‘What are you doing?’ asked Jack. His parents looked at each other. ‘We better tell him,’ said his mum. ‘Yes,’ said his dad. ‘What? Tell me what?’ said Jack. ‘Dad’s been let go from his job.’ ‘Let go? You mean like Liam’s dad?’ ‘Yes, like Liam’s dad.’ Jack thought for a moment. Liam’s dad had been let go from his job the previous year and Jack knew things had changed a lot in Liam’s house. Jack had noticed that Liam’s dad was around the house a lot and Liam didn’t have much spending money any more. The worst thing, though, was the chocolate biscuits. Liam’s mum used to have a great big tin filled with gorgeous crunchy chocolate biscuits, and she always let Jack and Liam have two or three after football. Now the biscuit tin was nearly always empty, or if there were biscuits, they were only plain old boring ones. Jack hoped this wasn't going to happen to his family. Still, he knew it wasn’t just about biscuits. He had noticed that Liam’s dad always looked unhappy and Liam’s mum always looked worried. ‘Will you get another job, Dad?’ asked Jack. ‘Yes, actually I’ve got another job already.’ ‘Wow, that’s great,’ said Jack. ‘What are you going to be?’ he asked, hoping his dad had got a job doing something really exciting like fighting fires. That would be a lot more fun than his old job working in an office, developing computer software. Maybe his dad would bring him to work that would be so cool, Jack thought, imagining himself shooting down the pole and racing up ladders, not to mention putting out fires in burning buildings. ‘I’m going to be doing the same kind of work, but instead of doing it in the office, I’ll be doing it at home,’ said his dad. Jack had known deep down his dad wasn't suddenly going to turn into a firefighter, so he was only a little bit disappointed. ‘Brilliant! You’ll be able to play football with me more often, then,’ said Jack, stretching across the counter to help himself to a biscuit.
Jack’s mum and dad looked at each other for a moment, then looked over at Jack. Jack’s mum turned to him and said, ‘Come over here and sit down for a minute, Jack.’ His parents looked really worried and Jack sat down quickly, hoping whatever was wrong wasn’t going to be anything really bad. ‘You see, Jack, your dad’s been trying really hard to get a job in Dublin, so you wouldn’t have to change schools and everything but—’ ‘What do you mean?’ asked Jack, butting in. ‘Dad’s going to be working at home; why would I change schools?’ ‘Jack, I am afraid we have to sell our apartment. We won’t be able to afford to live in Dublin any more. We’re moving house and your dad is going to start his own business. He will be working from home, but home won’t be here any more. Home will be in County Clare.’ ‘County Clare?’ asked Jack. ‘I don’t want to go to County Clare. I don't know anybody in County Clare and I like it here. What about my friends?’ ‘You’ll make new friends, Jack. I promise you,’ said his dad. ‘When? When are we going?’ asked Jack. ‘If everything goes well, we’ll be in our new home for Christmas.’ ‘Christmas! That’s only six weeks away! I don’t want to move house and I definitely don’t want to move anywhere before Christmas. This is terrible. This is the worst thing that ever happened,’ shouted Jack. ‘I know it’s hard, Jack, but shouting isn’t going to help you and it won't change anything either. You see, we can’t afford to stay here, but if we sell our apartment, we’ll be able to afford a house in Clare with a big garden. It will be great, more space to run around, and it's near the ocean. There are lovely woodlands and nature trails for you to explore. You’re going to love it, you’ll see.’ Jack stood up and put his hands over his ears. He couldn’t believe this was happening and he kept hoping he’d wake up and find it was all a dream. A very bad dream. He ran to his room and threw himself on the bed. He felt like he was being forced to leave his whole life behind him and move to some strange place in the middle of nowhere. Jack buried his face in his pillow, and even though his eyes ached with tears, he refused to cry. He kept his face tight against the pillow as though moving an inch might cause an avalanche of tears.
CHAPTER 2 KING OF THE TREES The week before Christmas, Jack was sitting in the back seat of the car looking out. He felt terrible as he watched the city streets disappear from view and gradually be replaced with motorways and fields. His parents were being cheerful and they kept telling him how much he was going to love his new home once he got there. He knew it wasn’t their fault they’d had to move, but he just couldn’t cheer himself up. He kept picturing his friends playing football and getting all excited about what they were getting for Christmas. Christmas without Jack. Jack just knew his Christmas was going to be lonely. Lonely and miserable. A few hours later, they were just outside a small town called Betula. They parked beside a petrol station and shop. In the window was a sad-looking plastic Santa sitting beside an even sadder-looking plastic Christmas tree. Someone had sprayed the words ‘Happy Christmas To All Our Customers,’ in artificial snow on the window above them. Yeah right, thought Jack. Every year since he could remember, Jack had walked along Grafton Street, Henry Street and O’Connell Street with his parents, doing their Christmas shopping while admiring the fantastic display of lights and decorations, not to mention the trees, lots and lots of brightly lit Christmas trees. Jack’s parents got out of the car and went inside. Jack followed them in. There were just a few rows of groceries and a newspaper stand. His dad bought a newspaper and some groceries while his mum stood at the door and looked across the road at a tiny school and a church. ‘Let’s go take a look at your new school,’ said Jack’s mum. His dad joined them and they all crossed over the road. It was the smallest school Jack had ever seen. His stomach churned as he thought of his old school, all big, bright and modern and full of kids. They were on Christmas holidays now, but if he still lived in Dublin, he would see them even when the school was shut. That was because all over the holidays, they would meet in the park, or he could go to their houses and vice versa. He was missing his friends already. ’So where’s our house then?’ Jack asked his mum. ‘Just down the road. Come on, we’ll go now,’ said his mum. ‘It’s one mile exactly,’ said his dad. ‘Walking distance to the town,’ he added. They were at the house in minutes. Jack had seen pictures of their new home on the laptop, but what he hadn’t seen was that the house was surrounded by fields. Jack looked down the road; as far as he could tell, the nearest house to theirs was nearly half a mile away. Jack’s dad put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. ‘We can walk that way later, stretch our legs and meet the neighbours,’ he said. Jack didn’t answer. He just wanted to get back in the car and go home.
‘Sssh, listen,’ said his mum. ‘What?’ asked Jack. ‘It’s the sound of the Atlantic Ocean. We are so close, just think of the great days we’re going to have at the beach in the summer,’ said Jack’s mum. Jack pictured himself sitting on an empty beach. He loved swimming - with his friends. They went inside and his mum and dad got busy unpacking. Jack went to his new room. It was much bigger than his old room, and he would have really liked it - if he could lift it up and put it down in their old apartment. His room was at the back of the house, and through the window, he could see a forest. Close behind the forest was a range of mountains with flat tops and colours of deep grey and rich, dark shades of purple. He stared at the forest for a while, but saw nothing but trees. He wasn’t impressed. The trees were too close together to make decent goal posts, he thought. Jack stuck his earphones in his ears and lay back on his bed. He wanted the blaring music to block out the terrible reality of his new life. His mum came in and stood beside him. ‘What do you think of your new room, Jack?’ she asked. Jack had the volume turned so loud he didn’t hear her. The truth was that he didn’t want to hear her. He was too angry. His mum placed her hand on his arm and then pointed to his ears. ‘Take those out,’ she said. Jack yanked them out in a temper and slowly turned his face towards his mother. ‘I was asking you what you think of your new room. We gave you this room so you could have a view of that forest. Aren’t those trees beautiful?’ asked his mum. ‘Yeah right. I hope they can talk, because by the looks of this place, they’re the only things I’ll have to talk to,’ he said. ‘Oh Jack, now come on, you’re going to have to stop this. I know it’s hard for you, but you won’t help yourself by moaning the whole time. Come on, Jack, why don’t you come and help us unpack and tidy up? Tomorrow, we can go and get a Christmas tree, then we can start putting up our decorations,’ said his mum. ‘Christmas! What’s the point? We don’t know anyone here. There’ll just be us. I don’t want to have a boring Christmas in this kip and I didn’t want to come here! I hate it here. I want to go home,’ shouted Jack, shoving his earphones back in his ears in one angry movement. ‘Jack, take those things out of your ears while I’m talking to you! You're going to have to get used to it. We all are.’ Jack ran out of the room and into the garden. He looked around him. In the corner, there was a wooden seat nestled in a willow shelter. He ran to the seat, sat down and put his head in his hands. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes.
He didn’t want to cry, but when he looked around at the space around him—the mountains, the trees, they all just seemed to remind him of how different this place was from his real home in Dublin. The home he now knew he was never going to see again. That’s when he cried. Big hot tears dribbled down his face that he had no power to stop. All he could do was wipe them away with his sleeve. ‘Jack, listen…’ It was his dad coming towards him. But Jack wanted to be on his own. Things were bad enough without his dad seeing him cry. He wiped his eyes and stood up. ‘I’m fine, Dad. I’m just going to go for a walk,’ he said. ‘Oh? I’ll come with you if you like,’ said his dad. ‘No, I just want to go on my own.’ ‘Okay, don’t go too far then. We can go for a big walk tomorrow and do a bit of exploring,’ said his dad. Jack nodded and started walking. He had no idea where he was going and could hardly see for the tears in his eyes. He walked towards the road and looked down it. Nothing. Great big fat nothing. He was just about to put his earphones back on when he heard a loud noise coming from straight above him. He looked up and saw a heron. The heron swooped down in a movement so fast Jack barely saw it, and before he could react, it had snatched his earphones and soared back up into the sky. As Jack watched in amazement, the heron began flying in a straight line behind the house, towards the forest, with Jack’s earphones trailing in the wind behind it. Jack watched as it flew into the top of one of the tallest trees and stopped, dropping the earphones on the highest branch of the tree. The heron stayed completely still with its wings outstretched and its head held high, as though it was a king. King of the trees, thought Jack. As he continued to watch the heron, Jack began to get the feeling that the heron was watching him as much as he was watching it. Even though he couldn’t see the bird's eyes, he could tell that its body was angled in his direction as though poised deliberately to see him.
Jack began to walk in the direction of the forest, hoping his earphones would fall through the branches and on to the forest floor so he could get them back. He tried picturing himself explaining what had happened to his parents and realised they wouldn’t believe him. In fact, he wasn’t sure he believed it himself. The entrance to the forest was framed by a group of trees growing so close together that there was only a very narrow space for him to walk through, but he could see as he looked in that the forest looked much larger within than it seemed from the outside. He heard what sounded like a branch snapping and a tiny rustling noise from somewhere in front of him and followed his ears towards the sound, thinking it might be a rabbit. A pair of eyes peered straight at him. The eyes belonged to a young deer with small velvet ears and a lightbrown speckled coat. The deer slowly lowered its head, as though to nod to Jack, and then it raised its head again and slowly walked away. Jack had never seen such a tame deer before. He had seen them in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, but those deer kept their distance, whereas this deer looked like it was waiting for Jack. Jack continued walking. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but he felt compelled to walk further. It was as if the forest was drawing him in. The smell of earth and leaves filled his nostrils and he realised he liked that smell. It made him feel strangely comforted, as though the forest was where he was meant to be. The sound of the heron drew his eyes upwards and he realised it seemed to be following him. As he looked up, he wondered if he was right about that, or if he was actually the one doing the following. Jack wasn’t sure, but it seemed as though the heron was guiding him. But where did the heron want him to go?