Babes in the Woods

The boys are on a ‘no-parent’ camping weekend in Wayland Woods.

After putting up the tents they gather round the fire for sausages and marshmallows. But a chance discovery reminds William of a story he had heard about these very woods.

A story of murder and fear that took place hundreds of years ago in a clearing just like this one.

What is that noise?

Did you see something in the shadows?

Can you hear that?

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Babes in the Woods

Tales of Time

The tents were finally up and the fire was lit. Josh’s tent looked a bit lop-sided, but he was very proud of himself for putting it up at all. The boys had all started to settle themselves in for the night.

“I love the woods!” said William.

He was the leader of the group – and nobody minded ‘cos he always had great ideas.

Mike, Josh, Adrian and William were on a camping weekend in Wayland Woods.

They had chosen a clearing deep in the ancient Norfolk woodland, surrounded by tall trees. They had tents, sleeping bags and sausages to cook on the fire.

Josh was looking forward to the hot chocolate with roasted marshmallows! Mmmm.

But, undoubtedly, the very best thing about this camping trip was that there were NO PARENTS!

The boys were having a great time! The Sausages were delicious. Adrian dropped his one into the fire and when he poked it out, it was all covered in ash – but he still ate it!
“I’m hungry!” he whined.

Out came the marshmallows, and the boys all stared into the dancing flames of the roaring fire.

William was poking his cooking stick aimlessly into the ground gradually hollowing out a small hole. Suddenly, his stick slipped and banged against something that made a “ting!”

“Ting?” he said.

All the boys looked over and they started digging with all their sticks. Josh reached into the hole and pulled out a....

“It s a...”

“What is it?” said Mike.

“It s...”

“It’s an old-fashioned child’s rattle”. Williams face was serious and sombre.

“A rattle? What would a child’s rattle be doing this far out in the wood?” mocked Josh.

“Haven’t you heard of the babes in the woods?” said William his eyes small and his voice hushed.

“No”

“Babes in the what?”

“No”

“Babes in the wood – these woods; Wayland Woods’ trees were once the keepers of a most despicable story of murder and fear.”

“These woods?”

“These woods?”

“What happened William?” said Mike, not very sure himself that he really wanted to know.

“Hundreds and hundreds of years ago lived a family in Watton. Both the parents were really ill and needed the doctor to look after them day and night. The poor children didn’t understand and it was up to the nurse to look after them both.  Finally, the parents knew that they would die. The father’s brother came to see them and the parents asked if he would look after the children after they were dead.  They wrote their will so that when the boy reached 21 and when the little girl married, they would both receive half of their fortune.

“Now the fortune was a considerable amount and the brother started twiddling his moustache. He agreed to take care of the children and this eased the parent’s worries, and by the time the sun rose the next day, both were dead.

“He took them to his manor house, Griston Hall. Pouring over the will that his brother had written, he smiled under his dark moustache.  What if the children died young? The will said that if the children should die before the uncle, that the uncle would receive the money....”

A crack snapped the boys out of the story. They all looked around them, but the light was fading fast and all they could see were shadows. Josh took a deep breath, dark wasn’t his favourite thing in the world.

Then came a sound that made the whole crowd jumped right off their bottoms.

“Hahaha” Mike made an almighty noise as he hid his nervousness under his obnoxious laugh.

“Shut up Mike!” hissed Josh, his words disappearing into the whispering sounds of the leaves blowing in the trees.

“Sorry, William, carry on” said Mike.

“It didn’t take long for the uncle to come up with a wicked plan. He sent them off in a coach with two strange men. Not just any two men, but they were murders! The uncle had hired them to take the children way into the woods and slaughter them!

The owl was almost directly above them.

“Where did that come from?” said Josh, gradually slowing the beating of his heart.

“At the edge of the woods, the men took the children on foot as far into the woods as they could. But on the way, the nicer one of the two started to like the children. So when they reached the clearing that the deed was to take place, he found he didn’t want to do it anymore. The two men argued and while trying to protect the children, the kinder man fought the nasty one off. The struggle turned to a proper fight and the kinder man managed to overcome the nasty one, killing him.”

A rustle in the undergrowth made William stop in his storytelling and stare off in to the darkness.  All eyes followed and could see nothing ...or maybe...No, no. It was nothing.
As he turned back towards the group he continued his story with growing intensity and hushed tones.

“The little boy and little girl were petrified and clung to each other for dear life. The man told them to sit down together by an old oak tree and to wait for him. He would return after dark with some food and water for them. But they must stay at this spot

“But no one came. Three long days they did as they promised and stayed by the tree – by no one came, and finally, both the poor little babes died.”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaghggaaaaaaaaagh what was that?” screamed Josh.

“Where did it come from?”

“Oh my goodness”

“Shhhhhh”

“It must have been a fox, they make human like noises at night.”

“My goodness, those children must have been so afraid.”

“They were; they cried the whole time they were here and that is why Wayland woods used to be called ‘Wailing’ woods, because for years afterwards, anyone coming through these woods at night would hear the sounds of young children crying. Some even saw the shadows of small figures darting between shadows in the undergrowth.”

The boys all sat in silence. The night seemed eerily quiet now with just a lonely cricket playing a lonely tune.  None of them dared say it, but a ‘no-parents’ weekend wasn’t as great as they had thought.

As they tucked themselves in that night, they all looked out into the darkness, just to check nothing was lurking there. The owl still sat on its perch and surveyed the moonlight canopy of the branches shaking their leaves in the wind the way a skeleton might dance if the witching hour had brought some poor sacrifice.

The noise of the zips closing on the tents was both comforting and scary as, though they were finally inside, they were each alone.

Josh slipped deep into his sleeping bag so that just a tuft of his hair poked out the top and he held his breath. Some branches were scraping the sides of his tent and the wind picked up.
“Silly me,” he thought, “getting all worked up about a silly story. I shall forget all about it and just go to sleep.”

He allowed his eyes to close and his mind to relax. The wind outside quietened down and the branches stopped scraping the tent. The night became calm and still. In fact there was no sound at all. The owl had stopped hooting and the cricket had finished his lonesome song. Not a sound came out of the night. Until suddenly...

Josh sat bolt upright “Mike? Adrian?...William?

No one answered.

And then he heard it.

The End.

©Tales of Time 2010