The Boy Who Understood
by Biff Spork
Chapter 14
Viral Video and Underpants
When Melissa awoke, she checked one of the video sites, eager to see if anyone had watched the pig rescue video. The view-counter read over 50,000 views. When she refreshed the page a few minutes later it had jumped to 60,000. There were hundreds of comments, and her e-mail in-box was full.
Her animal rights group phoned. They were overjoyed. Many new members had signed up, and more people were joining every minute. The video was magic. The boy was magic. With a simple act of heroism, he had transformed the animal rights movement. It was no longer a crackpot cult. It had become an ethic anyone could adopt with honor. Everyone wanted to know more about the amazing boy. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why was he naked? How did he communicate with animals? Why didn't the bear or the mountain lion attack the boy or the pigs?
When Pete walked into the Sheriff's Headquarters on Monday morning, it was busier and noisier than he'd ever seen it. "What's all this?" he asked Deputy Frankl.
"Have you seen that video — the one with the kid and the pigs?"
"Nope."
"Yesterday morning we got a call. A trailer truck full of pigs went off the highway into the Jana River." Deputy Frankl looked at Pete and said, "You won't believe me if I tell you what happened next, so let me get the video on this laptop."
Pete watched the video in amazement. A naked boy on horseback rescued eighty-six pigs from a trailer-truck submerged in the Jana River. After rescuing the pigs, the boy rode away with them into the forest. The view-meter on the video's web page read 100K.
Pete's phone rang. Caller ID informed him it was Celia Duffy from Social Services.
"Hi Pete," she said.
"Good Morning, Miz Duffy. How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks. Have you seen that video?"
"The one with the kid and the pigs?"
"Yeah, that's the one. You know who the kid is?"
"Nope."
"It's Sol Mundy, the boy who went missing over a year ago."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah. He's a bit bigger and his hair's longer, but I'm certain it's him."
"That's great! Now we know where he is and that he's alright."
"It also means we can bring him in and try to get him settled in a new foster home. He shouldn't be running around out in the bush without any clothes on."
"Let me follow up with some of the deputies who saw him with the pigs. I'll see if I can find out what happened to him after he went into the forest."
"We've got to act fast on this, Pete. He may move somewhere else now that he knows he's been seen."
"I'll talk to the sheriff and see if we can work out a strategy. I'll call you back later today. Okay?"
Pete grabbed Sol Mundy's file from his pending tray and walked over to the sheriff's office. He tapped on the open door. Art Jameson stood in front of the sheriff's desk engaged in an intense conversation with the sheriff.
Sheriff Morgan waved Pete in. "Mornin', Pete."
"Good morning, sir. Mornin', Art."
Art Jameson nodded at Pete and resumed his conversation. "Look, Sheriff, this is a cut-and-dried case of robbery. The kid stole my pigs, right out of my truck, and rode off into the bush with them. The longer we wait, the more chance he has to sell them pigs. I don't know what you're waiting for. You've seen that video!"
"Yeah," said the sheriff. "I was there, but it's complicated. For instance, the truck was there, in the river. The pigs were in the truck, but the driver wasn't there, and you weren't there either. So, it seems like maybe you abandoned those animals to their fate. You can't just abandon a truck full of animals because it's inconvenient for you to take care of them. I had time to get there. A bunch of animal rights activists had time to get there. We had two patrol cars there. A naked kid on horseback had time to get there, but I don't recall seeing you there, or any of your sons either. Then there's the law of salvage — maybe, since no Jameson Pork representative was on the scene, and the pigs were in the river, that boy is now the legal owner of the pigs."
"I'd have been there, but my youngest boy's in the hospital. He got himself bit by a couple of rattlers on Saturday," complained Art.
"Well, I'm sorry about that, but you should have sent someone, or done something. You're responsible. Now, why don't you go get that truck out of the river and give me a chance to sort out the legalities of this situation?"
Art Jameson turned and stamped out of the office. The sheriff pointed to a chair. Pete handed him Sol's file and sat down.
"What's this then?"
"That's the kid in the video," said Pete.
The Sheriff opened the file and riffled through the documents. He held up a photo. "Yeah, looks like him, for sure. Hair's a lot longer now, but that's him."
Pete continued, "Celia Duffy from Social Services was just on the phone. She identified him from the video. He ran away from his foster home about a year ago and has been missing ever since. He's a special case for her, and she asked me last week to check his file to see if he might have turned up somewhere."
"Looks like he's turned up," said the sheriff.
"She wants us to get out to the park and catch the kid before he disappears himself again."
Sheriff Morgan walked over and closed his office door. When he regained his seat, he scratched his head and said, "You know, Pete, I was out there when the kid did all that. He blew my mind about ten different ways. I've never seen anything like it.
"First, he gets to the riverbank and rides right in, no hesitation at all. He's come to do a job, and he just does it. And you know, at this time of year the Jana is not exactly a gentle stream. It's fast and deep, and even an experienced, adult horseman would be wary of riding into it.
"Then I notice there's no tack on the horse, not a saddle, not a bridle, no reins, and no bit in his mouth. There's no way to control the horse, and the kid is stark naked, but the horse seems to know exactly where the boy wants to go. Horses aren't real keen on swimming, but this horse is willing to tread water while the boy hops off to rescue the pigs.
"He dives down and opens the back doors of the truck. Then he comes up and sits on the horse's back like he's waiting. He stares at the truck and waits. The pigs have been making a non-stop, god-awful racket, squealing and screaming. All at once, they shut up, not a sound, as if they got a message. The problem is that the pigs have to dive down and swim underwater to get out of the truck. Pigs are not great underwater swimmers. The boy waits a little longer then dives into the river again. He's out of sight for a long time, but when he surfaces, he's got his arm around a pig. The kid points to the other side of the river, and the pig sets off like he's obeying an order.
"That pig only needed to swim about fifty feet to get to the shore where we were standing. Instead, he swims away from us across the river, a lot further. And what's on the riverbank there? A black bear, a big black bear, and a cougar. It doesn't look good for the pig, but as soon as it gets to the shore, the bear heads into the woods, and the pig follows. The pig follows the bear! It starts to feel like a circus, only the animals are running the show. What the hell is going on? Other pigs come popping up out of the water, and they do exactly the same thing, like someone told them what to do. No confusion, no panic, no running around.
"When the last pig has swum away, I look at the kid. He's sitting on the horse and staring at the trailer, like he's thinking. Then he dives again. He's underwater a long time. It seems way too long. Everybody on the highway is worried. Finally, the boy comes to the surface. We all heave a sigh of relief. He has his arm around another pig, but this one looks to be in bad shape, bleeding from a head wound.
"The kid pulls this last pig across the horse's withers, and the three of them make it across the rapids to the other side. The kid jumps off there and helps the wounded pig ashore. The pig seems okay to walk by then. The boy pats it on the head and gives a nod to the cougar. Yeah! He nods to the cougar, like he's saying, 'Great! We're done here. Let's go.'
"The horse kneels down. The kid doesn't touch the horse. He just looks at the horse, and the horse kneels down, so he can get on. I don't believe this, but I saw it. He's not a very big kid and it's a big horse, so it has to kneel down. Otherwise, the kid can't get on. Then they stroll off into the forest. The animal rights bunch cheers, and all us hard-nosed cops cheer right along with them.
"There's so many things in that story that just don't make sense, it scares me." The sheriff paused, and then concluded, "Art Jameson wants us to arrest the boy and charge him with robbery. Celia Duffy wants us to catch that kid, so she can put him in a foster home.
"Personally," said the sheriff as he leaned forward over his desk, "I'd be proud to meet him. I'd like to shake his hand. I definitely don't want to catch him for Social Services or arrest him as if he's some kind of criminal."
Pete had never seen Sheriff Morgan so moved. He waited in silence.
"A lot of weird things have been happening lately," said the sheriff. "The animals around Jana Mountain are acting funny. How about you and me go out there this afternoon and sniff around a little. There's something else I want to talk to you about as well."
Zhiv and David met as usual on Monday morning, then hiked to the lake. After the excitements of the weekend, both boys happily relaxed in the peace of the forest as they trekked upward through tall trees. At the lake, the trout joined them as they swam. The cool waters refreshed them, and they enjoyed the gentle massage of a thousand silky fins. Afterward, they basked in the sun. When they lay in each other's arms, all worries and cares fled. David buried his face in Zhiv's tangled golden hair and sniffed deeply. The boys floated in the mara with delight until the grumbling of David's stomach brought them laughing back to earth.
When they walked across the alpine meadow toward the path that led to Zhiv's cave, three pigs trotted up to them. Zhiv knelt and submitted to their kisses.
"These are more of the pigs you rescued yesterday," asked David, as he scratched one's bristled belly.
Zhiv patted and caressed another. "Yeah, they're heading for the wilderness. They want to get as far as possible from the valley."
As if they understood Zhiv's words, the pigs got up and shook themselves. They cavorted around the boys, leaping and kicking their heels. Then they galloped away across the grassland.
David laughed. "I didn't know pigs could run like that. They're like little pink horses."
"Yeah," said Zhiv. "They love to run. They're just kids, you know, only about six months old."
When the boys arrived at the cave, David retrieved his phone from his pack to check the time. He knew exactly how long it took him to get home and wanted to stay with Zhiv as long as possible. The direction the cave faced and its height above the valley meant he had internet access. He looked at the clock app. There was a notification from one of the animal rights groups he followed. They had posted a video.
"Oh, wow," exclaimed David, and called Zhiv over to look at a video of the pig rescue. There was no end to the comments. A few were negative or called it fake news, but most were enthusiastic. Zhiv was being hailed as a hero, the new face of the animal rights movement.
David put the phone down. The boys sat in silence on the sun-warmed rock with the peaceful, green valley far below. Each tried to process what the video might mean for their life together.
Zhiv shook his head. "They're gonna be after me for sure, now."
"They don't know where you are. They know you're around Jana Mountain somewhere, but that's all they know. Probably, if you're careful and stay out of sight for the next little while, they'll get tired of looking," David said. He picked up his phone again and looked at the count of views. It read 1.4M. The boys lapsed into silence.
A few minutes later, Zhiv said, "As long as it doesn't stop me from seeing you, I don't care what happens."
The boys hugged. Then David said, "This could be good. I was wondering last night how we were ever gonna to talk to people. I mean, how do we tell everyone what's happening? Nobody listens to thirteen-year-old boys. But now, you're famous. We need to find a way to let you speak to all those people without anybody finding out where you are. Then we can tell them how the animals are feeling, and what they want. People will start to understand what's going on."
The sheriff pulled his cruiser onto the highway, heading for Jana Mountain. "Pete, there's an evidence bag in the glove compartment. Get it out and take a look."
Pete glanced at the baggie in his hand. "Looks like a pair of underpants, maybe a kid's underpants."
"Yeah, take them out of the bag and look inside the waistband."
Pete's eyes widened as he scanned inside the briefs. The label said 'Fruit of the Loom Boys size 12.' Below that was written, 'David McAdam Cabin 8.'
"That's your boy's name, isn't it?"
"Yeah. And Doreen's handwriting. I'd know it anywhere. She bought him new underwear to take to camp last August. How did you get this?"
"Saturday, after we got that rattlesnake bite report, I went out to that gravel pit. It just seemed like a strange story — a kid getting bitten by two rattlesnakes at the same time. The hospital said he had a lot of wasp stings on him, too. I was thinking we should put up a sign or block the road to the pit, to discourage people from going there.
"So, I got to the pit and walked around. First, I found a kid's bike. I've got it in the trunk of this cruiser. It's probably River Jameson's, since he left the pit in an ambulance. I kept looking around. I thought maybe there was a rattlesnake nest, or a wasp nest. I found a piece of duct tape, looking like it just came off the roll. Then I found the underpants. They were out of sight behind some boulders at the edge of the pit, but it wasn't as if they'd been there a long time. They were fresh and clean, like someone had put them on that morning. You got any idea how they could have ended up there?"
"No," said Pete. "Beats me, but I sure intend to find out."
"I didn't want to talk to you about it in the office because it's not a sheriff's office matter. There's no crime involved, but it does have to do with your boy, and it's mysterious. It's not my business, so you can take those Fruit of the Looms home with you, and how you deal with it is up to you."
"Thanks, Sheriff." Pete put the evidence bag into his back pocket. "You're right. It's mysterious. David's a good kid, a real good kid, but I'm gonna want an explanation for how his underwear ended up in that gravel pit. He sat with me and Doreen and watched the news report about that kid getting bitten, and he never said anything."
"Well, he's at that age, you know, when boys get a little crazy," said the sheriff.
"Yeah, Doreen says I've got to give him The Talk."
The sheriff laughed. "Oh God! The Talk. I remember when my wife told me to give our boy The Talk. I put it off for about three months, trying to figure out what to say. You know you got to say something, but what to say — there ain't no easy answer. Good luck!"
Aaron Jameson came out of the house whistling. He was feeling good. The weekend's events had taken the speeding ticket off the old man's mind. River in the hospital and the truck in the river kept him too busy.
Aaron was about to get into the red pickup when Sheriff Morgan's squad car pulled into the yard. Pete and the sheriff got out and strolled over to him.
"Good afternoon, Aaron," said Pete.
"Afternoon," said Aaron.
"Sheriff Morgan's got a bike here that might belong to your brother who got bit by snakes on Saturday."
"Oh, yeah?"
"How's he doing?"
"Last I heard, he was doing okay, be home in a couple of days."
They walked to the back of the squad car and the sheriff opened the trunk. "I found this in the gravel pit," he said.
Aaron looked at the bike and shook his head. "Nope, that ain't River's bike." He took them inside the garage and pointed to a bike leaning against the wall. "That's River's bike. The one you got probably belongs to Jude. River was having a sleepover at his house on Friday night. Maybe he was using that bike while he was staying there."
"Where does Jude live?" asked the sheriff.
"They got the chicken place, Bedford Poultry, further down the highway." Aaron pointed. "About ten miles that way."
Melissa's video was spreading a message to humans, but a similar message was going viral in another way. The rescued pigs foraged beyond the forests surrounding Jana Mountain. They spread the mara's message so that animals far beyond Jana Mountain learned of the mara's decision and rejoiced. A better life was possible if they stood together and resisted mankind's oppression. It was an awakening, a revolution, and it was spreading faster than a wildfire.
A swarm of honeybees pulled David and Zhiv out of their thoughts about the video they had just watched. The bees landed on the sunny rock face near the cave entrance, and many came and settled on the boys. It was a welcome diversion.
Zhiv said, "I love these little bees. There's no harm in them."
Another swarm arrived, and another and another. Thousands of bees covered the cliff face. Their triumphant hum filled the air.
David asked, "Any idea why so many bees are here now?"
Zhiv chuckled. "I think they're runaways, like me. They don't want to be around humans anymore."
By this time, a thick coating of bees covered both boys, a pleasant and relaxing sensation.
"But we're human, so how come they're giving us this nice hug," asked David.
"They know we're different, that we respect them. We're in the mara."
"So, the war has begun?"
"Yep, and it's not only the bees. Other animals and insects that have been living with humans are leaving too. They're heading for wild places where they can live without people bothering them."
Zhiv pulled David into a gentle hug, so as not to harm the bees. He said, "Close your eyes and listen to the mara. It's like a huge song of happiness."
David closed his eyes, and a torrent of joyful feelings filled his mind. He was brought back to earth by the alarm app on his phone informing him it was time to leave for home.
As they drove away from Jameson Pork, the sheriff said to Pete, "You know, this morning wasn't the first time I had Art Jameson in my office. He was schmoozing around last week about a speeding ticket you gave Aaron."
"Yeah, I keep thinking about that," said Pete. "Not about the ticket — I clocked him at 36 miles an hour above the limit. What I keep wondering about is his excuse for going so fast. He said he was being chased by a bunch of birds, that they attacked him up on the mountain. It seems there's a lot of animals attacking people lately."
"I've noticed that too," said the sheriff. "It's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I didn't know about that boy's story. I was just thinking about Dick Wilkins, Charlie Baxter and River Jameson. One of them's dead, and two are in the hospital. And there's a lot of animals acting funny in that pig video — I mean, aside from the boy, the horse, and the pigs, there's a bear and a cougar. Something funny's going on, but I can't put my finger on it. You got any ideas?"
"No, only it seems like too many cases to be coincidence. At the same time, no matter how I add them up, I can't come up with a conclusion that makes any sense."
They pulled into the entrance to Bedford Poultry Producers and stopped in front of the house.
"Let's see what this Jude boy has to say about what they were doing in the gravel pit," said the sheriff.
Jude's mother answered the door and called her son out into the yard.
They stood looking at the bicycle when the sheriff took it out of the trunk.
"Hey, that's great!" said Jude. "That's my old bike."
"Maybe you could tell us what happened in the gravel pit on Saturday," said the sheriff. "That's where we found the bike."
"Oh, yeah," said Jude. He examined the bike like he was considering buying it, and avoided meeting either of the men's eyes.
"What happened?" persisted the sheriff.
When Jude failed to answer, his mother said, "Oh, I can tell you. He told me they were playing in the gravel pit, him and River Jameson, and some wasps started stinging them. You can see he's still got lumps all over him. Then River just ran off and left him. That River seemed like a good boy, but running off and leaving a friend behind, that wasn't very nice."
"River was riding the bike?" Pete asked Jude.
"Yeah, he didn't have his bike, so I said he could ride this one."
"Is that what happened?" asked the sheriff.
"Yeah," said Jude. "That's what happened. Just like my mom said. The wasps were bad, and there was birds pecking at us too."
"And River just ran off and left you?"
"Yeah, as soon as the wasps started stinging us, he high-tailed it outta there."
"Was anybody else there? Was it only you two boys?"
"Just River and me. That's all."
"What were you doing in the gravel pit?" asked Pete. "It's a long way from here. Maybe you had a special reason for going all the way there?"
"We weren't doin' anything, just playin' around," said Jude. He began to edge away. "Can I go now?"
"In a minute," said the Sheriff. "See, we're getting a lot of reports lately about animals attacking people. I'd like to find out more about those wasps and birds attacking you. Did you see any other kind of animals in the gravel pit? Any snakes?"
"Naw." Jude shook his head. "There was only birds and wasps. We wasn't doin' anything, and they started going after us. I didn't look around to see if there was any snakes. There might have been some. I dunno."
"So let me get this straight," said the sheriff. "You and River were playing around in the gravel pit, just you two, nobody else. Then you got attacked by some birds, and then some wasps stung you. Is that right?"
"Yeah." Jude stared into a nearby tree.
"And then River ran away and left you alone in the gravel pit. Is that right?"
"Yeah."
"What did you do then?" asked Pete.
"I run over to my bike and got outta there, and come home."
"He must have had about twenty wasp stings on him when he got here," said Jude's mother.
"River was staying with you?"
"Yeah, we had a sleepover," said Jude.
"So, why didn't he come back here with you?"
"I dunno. Maybe he was scared and just wanted to go home or something."
"And you never saw him when you rode out of the gravel pit. I mean, if he was heading for home, then he would have been along the road somewhere. And if he was on foot and you were on a bike, you must have caught up to him or passed him on the way?"
"I dunno where he went after he run off," said Jude. "I was just trying to get away from those wasps."
The sheriff turned to Jude's mother. "Thanks for your time, Ma'am," he said. Then to Jude he said, "If you remember anything else, please let us know. Okay?"
"Yeah," said Jude as he wheeled the bike toward the garage.
His mother said, "Well, thank you for bringing the bike back."
As they pulled onto the highway, the sheriff said, "I can't say I think much of that boy's story. River never ran away from the gravel pit. That's where the ambulance picked him up."
"Doesn't add up at all," said Pete. "Did you see the news report on Saturday night?"
"Yeah. There was another boy in the gravel pit, a boy who risked his own safety to help a friend; saved his life, probably. Seems nobody knows his name, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Jude."
"Nope. I don't think so, either."
"I suppose we could find the ambulance driver and ask him for a description of that other boy."
"Yeah," said Pete.
"But, though it's an interesting mystery, there's not been any law-breaking involved, so far as I can see. So, it's not really police business."
"Thank you, Sheriff. I might just look into it a little more, unofficially, I mean."
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