With a collective sigh of satisfaction, the boys began relating tales, old and reliable alongside new and untested. The boys were old enough to make fun of such tales, but when the youngest member of the group, Jimmy, spoke up; they found themselves drawing closer to the fire, the protective circle shrinking closer, seeking safety in numbers.

"Have you heard the story of Green George?" Jimmy asked and everyone nodded or murmured a reverential 'yes'.

Their answers weren't urging Jimmy to tell another story, but the cue for him to continue. It always seemed to be the youngest member of any group that told the sorry tale of George. Perhaps it was an unconscious passing of the baton from one group to the next, ensuring the tale survived. Whatever it was, it didn't concern the boys and they huddled even closer as Jimmy began the well-worn narrative.

"One hundred years ago this month," Jimmy intoned in the time-honored fashion of tellers of ghostly tales everywhere, "George Jones went out to work with his father. George's dad felled trees in this forest, which was much bigger then. Whilst his dad was chopping down trees, George, who was ten that day..."

Jimmy paused to allow the nods and murmurs, acknowledgement of a peer, to die down before continuing.

"...decided to try out his new fishing pole. He wandered over to Crooked Creek. People say it was somewhere close to this very spot." More appreciative shudders ran through the group, "George spent the next hour fishing, but didn't have much luck so he wasn't too upset when he heard his dad calling him back for his lunch.

George started through the trees, but soon realized he'd taken a wrong turning. Somewhere along the way, trying to follow his dad's voice, George had turned deeper into the woods instead of back to the edge where his dad was waiting. He must have realized how badly off he was when he reached Miller's pond.

The pond was still, covered with nasty green slime and George worked his way around the edge carefully." Jimmy dropped out of bard mode for a second to explain to his captivated audience, "Cops found his boot-prints, ya see." Jimmy continued, his voice lowering appropriately before continuing in character, "George's dad had been calling for him for ages, and he finally decided to go fetch the boy. There was no sign of George at the creek, but George's dad spotted some broken branches on a bush and managed to follow George's trail as far as Miller's Pond.