CCARS15 - Theirs Eh Which Inn Thee Would Traditional Cache

When I was a young boy my mother would take me to work with her on the days that I did not have school. A few of my moms co-workers would bring their kids as well on weekends and school holidays. Just down the street from my moms workplace there was a market that was busy on the weekends but was quiet during the week.

Behind the market was an area that was a bit of a junk collection with both gravel and some paved pathways going from junk pile to junk pile. It was a bit of a maze of sorts to me I would spend the mornings playing and exploring throughout the junk yard as young boys are inclined to do. Eventually I got bored playing by my self and I told one of the other kids about my secret maze in the junk his name was Billy.

That afternoon Billy and I were  exploring in the junk yard close to the street when an old lady came through on  one of the paved paths she was struggling as she was pushing a cart with only 3 wheels on it and it was full of empty bottles. We ducked behind a big pile of empty pales so she wouldn't see us but it was too late ... she shouted in her raspy old voice "Hey you kids come here I see you behind there you come out here right now" Billy and I stepped out from behind the buckets and the lady grabbed us both by the wrists and said "listen to me it's ok to play in and around these junk piles but don't ever go in there" she pointed at the forested area across the junk yard and said "don't ever go into the wood ... that area over there is called the wood and it's not safe in there" Just then she let go of our wrists and pulled a piece of dirty brown paper out of her shirt pocket and showed it to us it said .... THEIRS EH WHICH INN THEE WOULD ... the lady quickly said "don't say it just read it in your head" Billy and I said yeah right and began to laugh the strange woman gripped us tighter and shook our arms and said very quietly "shh she is listening to us right now but you are safe just stay out of the wood and never say those words on the paper out loud... if you need to warn someone write them down and make sure you spell it like I did ... if you say it no matter how softly she will hear and put a curse on you if you write it with the correct spelling she will feel it and put a curse on you ... the only safe way to warn someone is to write it down the way I showed you" the lady then showed us the paper again THEIRS EH WHICH INN THEE WOULD. After that she put the paper back in her pocket and started walking and pushing the cart again.

Billy and I continued to explore the junk yard over the next few days and although we both thought about the wood we never went near it. One day 2 of the other kids came to the junk yard with us they were twins Sasha and her brother Stevie. We all ran around and played hide and seek and kick the can around the junk yard. Stevie suggested we go and climb some trees and started running towards the wood. I shouted at him to stop but he kept going I yelled you can't go there. Just then Sasha said lets go it will be fun I grabbed her and said no stop !! just wait ... I did not have a pen so I took a stick and wrote it in the mud at the edge of a puddle THEIRS EH WHICH INN THEE WOULD Sasha looked at it and said it out loud before I could stop her then she screamed at Stevie "Wait these guys say that there is some kind of witch" then I covered her mouth and told her you can't say it you can only write it or she will know and she will put a curse on you. Sasha didn't believe us but just then her nose started to bleed and drops of blood fell on her shirt Billy said "you see it's because you said it out loud" Sasha thought we were stupid and plugged her nose and tipped her head back and said "come on lets go get my brother and then go back to the office so I can get some tissue"

We walked up to the edge of the wood but we could not see where Stevie was ... we called his name but he never answered then Sasha said we will come back for him my nose won't stop bleeding and I need a tissue. Just then we heard something in the long grass at the edge of the wood it was Stevie he was curled up in the fetal position and he was whispering something over and over "there's a witch in the wood ... there's a witch in the wood ... there's a witch in the wood ... don't go in there's a witch in the wood.

We walked back to the office Sashas nose kept bleeding and Stevie wouldn't talk to anyone he just stared straight ahead. The next day when my mom and I arrived at work my moms boss said that Stevie and Sashas mom was not going to be working there anymore and that this would be the last day any kids would be allowed to come to the office with their parents. Billy and I hung out on the lawn in front of the office that day but we never went back to the junk yard we wondered what happened to Stevie, Sasha and their mom but we never asked. When work was over that afternoon I said goodbye to Billy and our moms made plans to get us together on a weekend or something but I never saw Billy again. 

Now many years later the junk yard is cleaned up and the pathways are somewhat grown over I sometimes walk along where the pathways were but I never venture into the wood. I often think of Billy, Sasha and Stevie what ever became of them I do not know but I do know THEIRS EH WHICH INN THEE WOULD.

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