March 27, 2015 - Tie A Buoy

Edwin and Abigail were two lovers who lived in these parts a long time ago.  They would meet in secret any chance they could--in the woods, by the stream, at the mouth of the river--to kiss and to talk about the life they wanted to have together.  They didn’t dare tell anyone of their affection for one another because Abigail’s parents had already chosen Gus for her, and Edwin’s parents felt that Abigail was too common for their son.  And so the two of them met any chance they could and began to plot a way to escape together.

Abigail always refused Gus’ attempts at affection because she was not interested in him, although she couldn’t come out and tell him that directly, and this made him very angry.  He was not stupid.  He noticed that her eyes lit up whenever Edwin was around, and he saw Edwin following her everywhere.  The more he tried to gain her attention, the more she rebuffed him and the angrier he became.  He noticed that they would whisper in a corner any chance they got, and he decided he would try to find out what they were talking about.  Perhaps he could shame her into loving him.

So he followed them, and he was very good about it, very nonchalant.  His efforts were rewarded after church one Sunday when Abigail and Edwin headed toward the shed out back.  Once they had disappeared behind it, he ran over and crept to one side in the hope of hearing their conversation.

“Can you get away just for a few minutes tonight?” Edwin asked.

“No, I dare not.  Mother’s in a tizzy about the picnic and has been ordering me around day and night.  She’d miss me if I stepped out.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” Abigail said, “but doubtful.  Let’s wait until the picnic is over.”

“If you can get away, hang a buoy on the old Elder tree by the river walk.  I’ll see it and meet you in the usual spot!” Edwin said.

“Good idea, my love.  Now I must go!"

Tie a buoy as a message to me.

Abigail came out from behind the shed, and Gus was terrified for a moment that she would come around on the side where he was hiding, but she did not.  She walked straight forward to the church where people were milling about and talking.  Shortly thereafter, Edwin followed suit, using the same side Abigail had used, and so Gus was never found out.

Back at home, Gus was furious.  It was as he had suspected all along.  And who did she think she was??  This was not the way his future wife should behave.  And Edwin.  Every time Gus thought of him, he clenched his large fists in rage.  He was just playing with Abigail.  His family had plenty of money, and he was sure to marry a wealthy girl and not a pauper like Abigail.  He was just using her.  He didn’t deserve her.

All night long, Gus fumed and paced back and forth in his bedroom.  At last he came up with a plan.  He would sneak down to the Elder himself and tie a buoy on it so that Edwin would think that Abigail was going to meet him.  Then he would follow Edwin to wherever their secret spot was, and he would have it out with him.  He would not allow Edwin to steal Abigail from him.

The following day, Gus waited patiently and did all of his chores and whatever his parents asked.  Near suppertime, he headed out to the barn and told his parents he would take care of the horses.  When he was sure they weren’t looking, he stole away from the barn and went down to the tree by the river walk.  He stayed just inside the woods the whole time so no one would see him.  When he was sure the coast was clear, he ran out and tied the buoy on the Elder tree.  Then he ran back into the woods and waited.

It didn’t take long for Edwin to come by.  He had brought a couple of pails with him, which he would no doubt fill up at the river and that was his excuse for leaving.  When he got to the tree, a huge smile appeared on his face and he hid the pails behind the tree.  Then he left quickly for a small path in the woods, not far from where Gus was hiding.  Gus gave him a minute or so, and then began to follow the path.  It was a little used path and partially overgrown, but it was passable.  After about five minutes, he rounded a ridge and saw Edwin waiting in a gully by a small bolder.  He sneaked around a bit and came quietly down into the gully, out of Edwin’s eyesight.

His plan worked perfectly, and now Gus was standing just behind Edwin.  He cleared his throat very loudly and Edwin spun around, alarmed.

“What are you doing here, Edwin?” Gus asked.

“I could ask you the same thing!” Edwin said, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Well, I followed you, if you must know.”
“Do you always follow me?” Edwin asked.

“No, but maybe I should have.  You see, I know all about you and Abigail, and I know about the tree and the buoy.  And yes, I’m the one who tied the buoy on the tree, Edwin.”

“You ass!!” came Edwin’s swift response.

Gus hadn’t planned what he was going to do after he confronted Edwin with the truth about him and Abigail.  He knew he was going to confront Edwin.  He knew he was going to accuse Edwin.  He knew he would let Edwin know that he was the one who had tied the buoy on the tree.  But after that, he hadn’t made any plans.  He just knew he wanted Edwin to stop seeing Abigail.

“She never wanted you!” Edwin sneered.

“And you never wanted her.  Not truly wanted her.  You just wanted to use her!” Gus yelled.

“Abigail and I have been in love for two years now.  We’re leaving together, and there’s nothing you can do about it.  Better get used to the idea!  And find somebody else to follow, you ass!”

Gus hadn’t planned on Edwin being so loud and stubborn.  He hadn’t planned on Edwin resisting.  He hadn’t planned on Edwin calling him names, very much like the names he heard his father call him all day long.  He kept hearing the word “ass” in his mind over and over, and he was certain that Edwin was laughing at him behind that stoic appearance.  He hadn’t planned on any of it.

But when Edwin turned to go, Gus reached out quickly with his very large and strong hands.  He grabbed Edwin from behind and smashed his head into the boulder!  Then he smashed it again and again and again until there was blood everywhere and Edwin wasn’t moving at all.  Then Gus just let him fall to the ground.  He stood there staring at Edwin.  This was not what he had planned, but it was too late now to do anything about it.  He realized that Edwin was dead, and a tremendous fear overtook him.  He had to get the body away from the boulder before Abigail found it!

So he picked Edwin’s lifeless body up and started marching back up the path toward the Elder.  He wasn’t sure what he was going to do.  What should he do with the body?  He hadn’t planned on any of this.  When he got to the tree, Edwin was still dead and slung over his shoulder.  Gus dug out a very shallow indentation with a large flat rock he found.  The ground was very wet and soft from many rains.  He put Edwin’s body into the indentation and then piled many small stick up over it.  He wasn’t thinking clearly at all, but this was the best he could come up with, so the grabbed the buoy and left.

Gus ran home as fast as he could.  He sneaked into the barn and took off his bloody clothes and changed into some spare old clothes that were always kept in the barn.  He rinsed his hands and face in the watering trough and then went back into the house without a word.  His parents never said a thing to him.  They didn’t know, and this made him feel somewhat relieved.  It began raining very hard, and this made him feel even better because it would wash the blood off the boulder and from around the area where he had killed Edwin.

The next day, Gus could not resist taking a walk toward the river.  Maybe he could come up with a better way to hide the body.  Animals were sure to find it soon, so he had to do something.  But when he got there, he saw a buoy tied to the old Elder.  Abigail must have tied it there and must be waiting for Edwin!  He quickly untied the buoy and tossed it into the woods and ran home.

The day after that, the same thing happened.  He wanted to remove the body, but when he got to the tree, there was another buoy tied to it.  Abigail again!  He untied the buoy yet again and tossed it into the woods.  For three more nights the same thing happened, and each time he untied the buoy from the tree.

But on the last of the five nights, Abigail jumped out from the woods and ran over to Gus, demanding to know why he was removing the buoys.

“Why are you taking the buoys off??” she screamed.

“Why are you tying them on??” he yelled back.

Abigail just stared at him.  Then her eyes narrowed.

“You know, then, about me and Edwin?”

“I know, and I also know that it’s not going to happen.”

“It’ll happen,” she said fiercely.

“No,” Gus said, “it won’t.”

Then he took her behind the tree and moved the sticks away and showed her Edwin’s body.  Abigail cried out in fear and horror, but not for long because Gus had grabbed her around the neck tightly.  This was not what he had planned.  He wanted Abigail to love him.  He wanted to marry Abigail.  But she kept screaming and fighting him and he didn’t know what to do.  And now she knew about Edwin.  Now what should he do?

Abigail kicked Gus as hard as she could, and he almost dropped her.  The pain brought him out of his thoughts, and when she spat at him, he snapped her neck.  And it was over so quickly.

None of this was what Gus had planned.  He brought Abigail’s body down to the river.  Then he went back and grabbed Edwin’s stinking corpse and brought it down to the river as well.  The current was running tremendously strong because of the extraordinary amount of rain they had gotten that spring.  He tossed both bodies into the river, and the water quickly rushed them away.  Where the bodies ended up, he never knew.

Gus went back to the Elder, guilt and fear overtaking him more and more with every step he took.  He began talking feverishly to himself about how it was all just a big mistake, about how he never meant it, about how everything would be okay in the morning.  Then he went back home.

Just like the last five nights, though, he couldn’t resist walking down to the tree.  But when he got there, he was in for a severe shock.  There was a buoy tied around it!  He untied it and threw it into the woods and ran home.  But the next night, the buoy was back on the tree!  And the night after that and the night after that.  He kept tossing the buoys into the woods and talking more and more to himself, rather loudly.  His guilt was overwhelming him.

Then came the night when there were several buoys tied all over the tree.  Gus stared at the tree in disbelief.  Had someone followed him?  Did they know what he had done?  He kept looking over his shoulders.  He removed the buoys and sat down for a moment.  Then he made to head home, but when he looked over his shoulder at the tree, it was covered with buoys again!  Gus began to cry and went home.

No one in the village knew what had happened to Edwin and Abigail, but they began to notice Gus’ strange ritual of going down to the tree every night and taking buoys off of it.  A couple of people asked him why he was doing it, but he just cried and cried and said that Abigail was watching him.  The people in town believed Gus had gone mad with Abigail’s absence, and they supposed that she and Edwin had run off together because some of them had seen the two of them whispering together whenever they could.

People felt sorry for Gus.  He had lost the woman he was going to marry to another man.  Every night he went down to the Elder tree and pulled the buoys off and cried and cried out Abigail’s name.  People became used to Gus’ strange behavior and just sort of left him alone.  They figured he was quite mad but harmless.  Of course, they were wrong about Gus being harmless.  He was quite dangerous, in fact, but it was true that he was quite mad.  Night after night he wrestled with the buoys on the tree, pulling them down and crying out Abigail’s name, and night after night the old Elder, the silent witness to Gus’ crimes, tied the buoys back on.

Elda Mor, Elda Mor.  The spirit of the Elder tree.  Together through the decades she and Gus danced through their strange nightly ritual, hanging buoys as markers of those dead long ago.