The Legend of Youngs Corner XX

PART XX
The Children

I took the empty book and placed it in my pocket. I had also placed the list of names inside the book to keep them safe. Our small group had explored almost everything. All that remained was a cabinet attached to the ground by the wall of the short half of the “L” section, and a pile of miscellaneous junk behind the old recliner chair. Bobby and I went after the cabinet, while Nicholas and Gaeten went for the junk pile.

I approached the cabinet with caution. Ordinarily, a cabinet is found on a wall, high on the wall. Frankly, it was quite strange that this cabinet would be positioned on the floor, at the base of a wall. It was only a foot high, but there was nothing of significance above it, nor could it be removed from the wall. The cabinet itself was rectangular and had two small panels on the front. Two knobs were placed at the sides of the panels so that they could be swung open. Bobby and I each grabbed a knob and opened the cabinet. The contents inside were, in a word, bizarre.

A toy car, crayons, markers, and a coloring book. That was all. The writing utensils were in a wicker basket, while the toy car (which appeared to be a remote control car) sat alone in the back. These objects struck us with disbelief more than anything else. What in God’s name are children’s toys doing up here in a cabin in the middle of the woods, atop a mountain, with no bathroom, no sink, no bedroom, and no electricity? Who were these children? Where did they come from? Just as I was about to call the other guys over, Nicholas called to us.
“Hey, Curt, Bob, come see this,” he said. We walked over the corner of the cabin. The two had pushed aside the dilapidated chair and had gone through much of the debris. It was mostly paper, shoes, and dust.
“We’ve found something big,” said Gaeten. He and Nicholas turned around, wrestled with something. When they turned to face us, they were holding the corners of a large piece of paper.
“It a picture of some sort, well, we think it is anyway. We haven’t unraveled it yet.” said Nicholas. The large piece of paper turned into a long sheet as the two unraveled it across the room. It stretched for about 5 feet. The side of the sheet I was facing was white, and then Gaeten and Nicholas flipped it over…

It was a watercolor mural! The long sheet depicted a blue sky, with birds, and the sun. It was clearly drawn with the artistic skill of a second grader. Rolling, green hills stretched across the horizon with houses dotting the landscape. At the bottom was a road, and people stood single file, facing us. They were dressed in uniforms, those of various occupations. There were men in business suits, doctors, teachers, firemen and policemen. And there were horses. All the figures had smiles.

We stood in amazement: how did something like this, as big as this, end up here in the middle of no man’s land?
“This is freaking me out,” said Nicholas. “How can one explain this?” I asked. “I mean, was this made by the old woman’s grandkids or something? But if she had grandkids, what parent would bring them up here, in the middle of the woods, with no sink or bathroom? More importantly, what adult would let their mother live in such a place, under horrible conditions? How would they ever know if she was in good health? There is no phone here. What if she died? What if she died in the woods? No one would ever find her!”