Not So Little Boys

As Gregory neared the desk he caught a glimpse out the window. It was as if a ghost had come calling for him, for out on the moonlit driveway he could see a lone figure walking toward the house. He felt his legs go limp, and his heart stopped along with his breathing. He gasped aloud for air as he scrambled to get out of the moonlight that might give his presence away.

He made his way to the second window near the corner of the room and peeked out the curtains without moving them. Sure enough, he wasn’t imagining this, there was someone walking down the middle of the driveway. The phantom had a hooded jacket that concealed his face from the light of the moon, and he carried his hands tucked into the side pockets, as the night air had become cooler.

Gregory wanted desperately to ‘sound the call to arms’ but he wasn’t convinced that that was effective. He also wanted to go down and confront whomever it was, but there wasn’t enough courage in his legs to get him to move to the door. The person continued to close in on the house and Gregory knew he needed to do something fast.

Just then, as he watched from his window, someone came out from behind the trees on the left startling the phantom. He began to run to the right when another individual came out from the trees on that side and tackled him.

This change of events gave Gregory a sudden surge of courage. He was down the stairs and at the front door before he realized he didn’t have shoes or his shirt on, but it was too late to go back now. As he opened the door he could hear the struggle less than fifty yards away. He didn’t hesitate but charged out into the cold night air not knowing what he was going to do once he got there.

As he neared he could make out the voices of Philip and Todd shouting commands back and forth as they wrestled with the unknown figure. Suddenly the hooded phantom scrambled out of the pile and was on his feet just as Gregory neared the trio. "Get him!" Philip’s voice commanded. The suspected horse thief looked up as Gregory approached at a rapid speed, and then took off running up the drive toward the road. Gregory passed the two boys picking themselves up off the ground and pursued relentlessly.