I closed my eyes again and concentrated. Within a brief second, I had Linked and could see myself clearly sitting across from me. Confusing, huh? Startled, my eyes flashed open.
Rose nodded. "That's it, dear. I could feel you there. Now, try again. This time, slip me a thought. Once you link, just pick a thought to send me. Have it foremost in your mind. Pictures or images seem to work best."
I was prepared for the Link this time, or at least thought I was. Rose laughed and I blushed. I'd been trying to send a picture of Jed in his Indian suedes when the vision of him naked fishing his phone out of the toilet had blindsided me.
"I can certainly see why Dunwood may not seem quite the catch to you if Mason truly looks like that."
I swallowed, feeling guilty. "Actually, that was Jed." I thought about explaining that I hadn't actually seen him naked, but decided to leave well enough alone. My imagination was pretty thorough.
She raised her eyebrow, but Creator bless her, she kept her comments to herself. We went through the process a few more times until I was actually able to send the thought or image I meant to send. Of course, I was still new to this, and it would only work with other Benandanti. I could Find anyone and Link with some, but the thought slipping thing was strictly like to like.
Which made sense, although it might have been interesting to be able to slip thoughts to Jed next weekend.
WHEN I GOT HOME, I found Rebel just as I had left him, sacked out on his rug in front of the empty fireplace. He had opted to be a homebody this evening. As I walked in, he yawned and stretched.
"Okay you lazy dog, you better stretch good if you're gonna keep up with me tonight. It's wolfy time."
Reb jumped up grinning. From sleepy dog to hyper dog in .01 seconds. He never failed to amaze me.
I stepped into the bathroom leaving the door barely cracked open, then stripped to skin before changing. Now that I knew Reb was part were, it was just too weird to get undressed with him watching. Even though he'd see me naked shortly, at least then I'd have my fur. I took out my blue contacts last thing before changing, placing them carefully in their container of solution.
Scientists and physicists alike will tell you that the human form, along with every other form on earth, is made up of millions...or is it billions?...of separate flowing particles. In the end, or perhaps more fitting to say the beginning, these particles are truly nothing more than energy. A Benandanti, in my opinion, is simply a human who has the ability to reshape their energy into another form. With nothing more than a concentrated thought, I changed.
My reflection in the long mirror on the back of the door stared back at me. A striking brown and gray wolf with glorious topaz eyes. My skin form may not win any major beauty contests, and I have a bit more gray hair than most women my age, but in fur form, I'm amazing. I turned this way and that, the better to see myself until I heard Reb chuff with impatience. Boys never understood.
Pushing the door open with my nose, I joined Rebel. We both ducked out the doggie door and were gone. I run in skin form, too, but it doesn't come close to the exhilaration of running on all fours. Close to the ground with speed and control skins can't come close to matching, we headed for the park.
Our favorite trail was number three that ran down from near the inn to the creek bed close to the small shelter house there. From there it followed the creek bed till it came to a small set of natural limestone stairs that led to an amazing wooden staircase that snaked up the wooded hillside. In wolf form, I usually bypassed the wooden steps and kept following the creek up to the old quarry, where it met up with trail two.
We loved this trail because there were places in the creek that got deep enough for a dog to swim. It was close to heaven on earth to run, swim, then run again, letting nature's blow dryer of passing wind dry your fur. Not to mention the occasional small fish we nibbled while swimming. Sushi at its finest. Fresh from the stream.
This year had been different, and the swimming holes farther and farther apart, until finally, only two remained. The Smokey the Bear fire warning sign at the park's entrance had been set to Extreme for most of the summer. Months seemed to pass with only a sprinkling of rain.
At this time of year, the rainless months meant we could still run the trail and not have to get wet and have our fur freeze. With the water level so low, there were long stretches of flat limestone to run on, and the few places where we needed to cross the water had lots of large stones to walk across. We reached the quarry and were back in the woods, following the tree-lined trail to the fence that marked the park's boundary. Happily tired, we slowed to a walk, enjoying doggie companionship and the crisp evening air, even as it burned into our lungs.
All seemed right with the world.
Until we smelled chickens and the bullets started flying again.
Luckily for us, James Riley, Sr. had been imbibing spirits at his home before deciding to go shoot the coyotes who had nibbled on his boy. Thus, it is doubtful he could have peed in a toilet, much less hit a running wolf with a shot from a rifle. That didn't stop him from trying, and once in a while, everyone gets lucky.
A stray bullet took a chunk out of the tree beside me and showered me with splintered wood. A large piece levered its way into my shoulder. I stumbled and whined, but kept running, having to put distance and trees between us and the rifle. It didn't take long before we left the drunken man behind us, swearing and sobbing in the night.
We stopped long enough for Reb to pull the large splinter out, both of us whining. I knew I was going to have to employ tweezers once I changed back, but Reb got the most of it. At least my shoulder and right front leg worked better now, though it still hurt. As the crashing through the trees behind us was actually headed away rather than toward us, Reb took the time to clean the wound as best he could to stop the bleeding.
Crouching under a pine tree, we waited till Riley was out of earshot, then headed for home at a hobbled rate. The return trip wasn't nearly as much fun. Judging from the stars' path across the sky, it was about midnight when we reached the cabin to find two vehicles parked in the drive by my Jeep, and Dunwood and Jed hammering on my door.
This just couldn't be good. Especially since they were standing between me and the doggy door. And my clothes.
Chapter 11
Letting them see me in wolf form was bad for a whole passel of reasons. If I changed to skin form, they would see a lot more skin than I was comfortable with. My bolt hole in the park had a spare change of clothes, but that was miles away. I swore at my shortsightedness in not installing a back door. But then how was I to have predicted my sudden and somewhat overwhelming popularity?
Sitting on my wolfy rump, I watched the two men as they came to the correct assumption that I wasn't at home, regardless of the fact my Jeep was parked outside. I looked at Rebel. He was grinning. At least one of us thought this was funny. If only that mind connect thing worked both ways, maybe I could enjoy the joke, too.
Now there was a thought.
I focused on Reb's mind and slipped my thought through, just as Rose had shown me. He dashed out of the trees, pushed past the two startled men and shot through the doggie door in a matter of seconds. A scant minute later he shot back out, proudly carrying ...my makeup case? I sighed. Okay, so I didn't have this thing perfected yet.
Then I realized Reb was heading for me and the men were following. Fudge nuts. They must think Reb would lead them to me. They were right, but wouldn't they be surprised when he did.
It's hard to focus when you're running, but I finally managed to get a thought through to Reb. He turned and ran across the drive and into the trees on the other side. Unfortunately, he dropped my case halfway and instead of following Rebel out of sight, the men stopped to investigate the case.
I crept closer so I could make out their words. Dunwood's voice was strong and came through clear, but Jed's soft voice was half carried away by the night wind.
"She must be out on a night run, but I'd have thought s
he'd be back by this time of night."
"...shouldn't be far...Rebel wouldn't...trouble."
"They're waiting for us and the nose over there," Dunwood jerked his head in the direction Reb had disappeared. "We need to get after him before he causes any more damage."
Yeah. They must be talking about Riley shooting off in the state park. I was all for helping them track him down if I could just get some clothes.
Rebel must have had a thought or two of his own because he howled and the two men took off after him. I owe you a steak dinner, Reb.
Maybe two.
Was that thought mine or Reb's? No matter, I gathered myself for a flying charge to the door. Just as I was about to take off, Jed appeared back out onto the driveway. Foiled again.
It was about 40 degrees out here and I was going to get cold, but I was desperate. I ran a little further into the woods then changed and called out to Jed. He broke into a run in my direction, and I broke out in a silent run through the trees toward the house.
I was out of the trees and almost to the house before I realized the huge gaping hole in my plan: my keys were also in the house with my clothes. My body would fit through the doggie door even in skin form, but with my luck, one of the men would make it back in time to see my bare full moon disappearing into it. With a last, frantic look around trying to judge the location of the men, I furred and shot through the door.
I pulled on a pair of sweats in record time, put in my contacts, and shoved my first aid kit into my pack in case I had time later to deal with my wooden shrapnel problem. If it wasn't dealt with soon, it would fester. Having changed back and forth three times already, who knows how deep it had worked itself.
I heard Rebel and Dunwood come up on the porch and I opened the door, trying for an innocent look. Dunwood stared at me, not buying it. I hadn't made it to the bathroom mirror, but I figured he could tell I'd been on a run. The sweats would hide my fur problem—I always needed a shave after a wolfing—but my hair would still be windblown and my face red from my time out in the cold.
"Where have you been?" he demanded.
"I just got back from a run, why? Are you here to arrest me?"
Just then, Jed came bursting through to the drive. When he heard my voice, he stopped and stared at me. He glanced over his shoulder and then back at me. "Didn't you just call for help from back there?"
"Who me?" I was still going for innocent, dang it. "Oh, you must have heard me when I tripped over that hidden tree root on my way back in." I smiled.
Dunwood shook his head and tried to get the evening back on his schedule. "I don't suppose you'd loan us Reb for the day? No questions asked?"
"You know we're a package deal, Dunwood. You guys going after Riley? I doubt you'll need Reb's nose for that, he's shooting at practically anything that moves and probably trailing enough smell of alcohol that even you could track him. No offense intended."
The two men stared at me with open mouths. Dunwood recovered first. "What the hell are you talking about?"
I blinked. "James Riley, Sr. He's out in the park with his rifle. Drunk and shooting."
"Ah, hell." Dunwood pulled out his cell phone. "I'll call the office and get a couple men out to the park to deal with him. Where was he?" I told him. "Jed, fill her in while I make the call." He took a couple steps off the porch, his phone to his ear.
Jed and I faced each other. "There's been a report of a fatal wolf attack over in the Owen-Putnam forestry. A couple of survival campers were testing out some new cold weather equipment. One of them went out to fetch more firewood. The other one heard a scream, grabbed his gun and took off after him." He hesitated. "I really wish you'd let us borrow Rebel. I'll be responsible for him."
It must have been bad. "Did he see the wolf?"
"No, but he heard it. He said it had an 'unholy howl'. I guess he wet himself when he heard it and broke back for his truck. I think he'll be doing his survival camping in the big city from here out."
Dunwood walked back over to us. "How soon can you be ready? We really need to get after this thing. My boys will take care of Riley."
I nodded. "Let me grab a couple of things. We all driving separate?"
The men had a stare down, but naturally, Dunwood won. I mean a Ford Explorer has more room than a 1978 Chevy Nova. It's just a matter of semantics. At any other time, their posturing might have amused me, but as it was the words 'fatal wolf attack' kept echoing in my mind, forcing out all other thoughts.
In a daze, I collected what I might need into my pack and loaded myself and Rebel into the back of the Explorer. Once rolling, I leaned back and closed my eyes, faking sleep. Actually, I was taking the time to pray my mantra. Please Creator, not a were. Please Creator, not a were.
In less than half an hour, I opened my eyes to rotating blue and red lights. The service road was lined with emergency vehicles, police cars, sheriff's cars, and DNR vehicles. If I hadn't been so sick to my stomach, I might have felt special—all those important folks just waiting for little ole me and, of course, Rebel.
We piled out of the Explorer. Several of the workers stepped back when they saw Reb. I guess they hadn't been warned he was a good wolf. Maybe they were expecting a bloodhound or something. At least none of them had their hand on their weapons. I looked around but didn't see Jeffries, so at least one thing was going right.
Jed looked over the car at me. "Why don't you stay here at the car. I'll take Reb to the site so he can get the scent. Once we're on the trail, you can join us."
I looked at him. He was trying to spare me from seeing the actual kill. I appreciated his offer but shook my head.
"I'll be fine, I promise." I smiled weakly. To be honest, I was dreading this worse than my annual rabies shot. "I'm stronger than I look."
He didn't look too sure but turned to follow the DNR man who had assumed responsibility for the hunt. With all the noise and lights surrounding our party, I was sure the wolf was long gone. It was going to be a long morning. Depending on what we might not find, perhaps only the first of many.
I'm a Benandanti and I'm used to seeing blood on a kill. However, the kills I see are not of the human variety. It was enough to almost make me wish I'd taken Jed's offer. I caught a whiff of an odd odor about the same time Rebel raised his nose in the air, tasting the wind, too.
Unfortunately, while I had been able to keep my stomach contents in place, other workers and volunteers had not. I had opened my sense of smell to wolf mode and the fresh smell of their vomit made me start to gag. Worse, I lost the scent. Reb snuffed, too, so I wasn't the only one.
"People, if you're going to be sick, please get as far away from the site as possible. We're working with scent here. Reb needs a good clear scent of the wolf, not of us."
A lot of the volunteers took the opportunity to head back to their vehicles, saying they'd meet us once we started tracking. I looked around. Too many remained. This wasn't going to work.
"Look. Reb here is half wolf, and I know wolves. If this many people start tracking through the woods, we're not even going to get a glimpse of him. We need to narrow our party done to five people max with Reb to lead the way."
Jed backed me. "She's right. That wolf has a strong lead on us. He may have even gone to ground already, which actually would be a good thing. But if we take this whole party, he'll hear and smell us coming from a mile away. I've tracked wolves before so I'm one, and Taz here comes with the Nose there. Who else?"
"I'm in," Dunwood's voice was firm.
The head DNR guy looked at Jed. "You're the area Special Agent, aren't you? Jed Crowe. I don't know how I got lucky enough to rate you showing up here, but I'm grateful to God you did. My name's Ralph Edwards." They shook hands.
Ralph was on the small side, about five foot seven inches with very little meat on his bones. Still, dressed in red plaid flannel shirt and jeans, he looked at home in the woods and ready to go. He looked me over and started to speak, but I didn't let him.
"I'm goi
ng. I can handle a rifle if you've got a spare, but I'd prefer to let you all be the hunters. I'm a Finder, that's what Reb and I will do. Track. Find. I'd say the four of us would have a better shot at this."
He hesitated, then nodded. "While you let him get the scent, I'll go talk to the others. I'm keeping a skeleton team here, though, in case there is another sighting called in. They'll keep in touch through the walkies. The rest can leave once they get the body bagged."
It wasn't perfect, but it was the best I could hope for. Reb and I walked over to the kill. The smell of blood was strong. I tried to be nonchalant gathering the scent for myself as well. The creature had run downwind, so he would have the advantage of upwind hunters. Easier for him to smell.
I shut my eyes and tried the focusing technique Rose had taught me. When I had centered, I let all the smells filter through my mind. Blood, campfire, grass, peppermint—Jed. Taking a deeper scent, I turned in a circle, my arms spread and my eyes still shut. Just guessing, but the men probably thought I was crazy. Let them. I located Dunwood's scent of cold steel and gun oil and then found the odd smell again. I took two steps forward in that direction.
Opening my eyes, I found Reb beside me pointing the same way. I sat down next to him to get a clearer scent. Blood soaked fur. Wolf-not-wolf. Dog-not-dog. A hint of something or someone I had smelled before...an aftershave, a soap, a laundry detergent, a perfume? I just couldn't place it. Unfortunately, I knew one thing for sure. We weren't after a natural wolf.
It could be the Trickster, but it didn't sound like the godling Rose had described. She had said he wasn't an evil creature, just one that loved to create trouble wherever he went. This was trouble, all right, but it crossed over the line into evil. Way over the line.
"Has he got the scent?" Ralph was back and ready to go.
I nodded, taking the leash off Reb. I glanced at Jed and Dunwood, and they both nodded too. Looking down at Reb, I said, "Find." And for the second time that night, we were running.
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