by A. M. Flynn
“Put them on, it’s cold out here.” Sophie went into her bedroom and climbed into the bed. “Come on. Help me warm it up.”
Wolf walked as far as the end of the bed and stopped.
“We’ll just talk. We’ll just snuggle.” She patted the quilt Erica had made for her years ago. Made of tiny pieces of fabric, carefully fit together as if comprised of a painting thousands of brushstrokes, it was full of flowers and sun and a stream running along the bottom edge.
She clicked off her flashlight.
Wolf clicked his off and the room was completely dark. He got into bed beside her.
“That’s better.”
“I wanted this moment to be so much better than this. I wanted it to be special.”
“It is. Here we are where we belong.”
“Do you believe that?”
“With all my heart.” Sophie put her head on his chest. “Tell me when you’re ready.”
Wolf stared into the darkness. An owl hooted in the woods beyond the sculpture field then the night was still again.
“We had to go over to the lake. In separate trucks. You don’t need to know why.”
“Okay.”
“And the Russells have been looking for us ever since the incident with Donnie. There was pushing, shoving and some hitting. We thought we ended it but when I looked it the rearview mirror, I saw we were being followed.”
“Oh God.”
“They must not have recognized my truck because they sped past me and got onto Reilly’s bumper. We were driving on the back roads fifty, sixty, seventy miles an hour. I knew where Reilly was going to try to lose them. It’s an old lumbering road. I didn’t see it happen.” Wolf paused.
“What happened.”
“He lost control or one of their trucks hit his. He hit a tree at speed. They took off. I got there and the whole front end was folded in on him. There was nothing I could do.”
“How terrible. You couldn’t go for help?”
“There’s no help. Every hospital around Owl Head closed. Doc Doremus couldn’t do anything. We both knew that. Reilly was pinned in such a way that the truck was holding him together...acting like a metal tourniquet. If he had lived, he would have been paralyzed, lost his legs, lost more than that. So he begged me to end it.”
Sophie stroked his hand.
“Reilly was a friend for my entire life. I hesitated. Trying to think of a way to make this right, to help him. My mind went blank. There was only the one way. So I put the barrel of my gun to his head and just before pulled the trigger, he said thank you.”
“Wolf–”
“A part of me died with him.”
“I’m so sorry. I know you loved him like a brother. I know it’s a loss you will never forget.” Sophie kissed him and twined her fingers through his. “But you’re here for a reason.”
“What if the reason is you?” Wolf asked, pulling Sophie onto his chest.
“Your father trained you to be a warrior, Wolf. You have a fight meant for you.”
“I can’t do this without you. You were meant for me.”
“Show me.”
Wolf did.
Chapter 7
It had stopped snowing overnight. The light was gray and thin coming in her window when Wolf woke. He hadn’t slept more than a couple hours and when he did, Reilly came to him. For the longest time, he lay as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb Sophie who had managed to fall asleep after they had shared their hidden secrets, deepest fears, and private treasures.
Wolf had felt like getting up and going outside to walk but knew he couldn’t leave her.
She stirred as she surfaced from sleep then pressed her head against his chest. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“How are you?”
“Will I ever stop feeling guilty?”
“You didn’t have a choice. Reilly knew. He asked you to do one last thing for him and you did.”
“That’s what you do to a dog.”
“That’s what you do out of compassion.”
Wolf didn’t feel compassionate; he felt loss only slightly less rending than when his father had been taken. “I have to go tell the others.” He pushed back the covers and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Do you want something for breakfast?”
“No.” He didn’t feel like he’d want to eat for days. “No, thank you.” Wolf stood and walked out of the room. “Do you want me to ask Annie to come over and visit you for a while if she has time?” He called to her from the bathroom.
“Sure. I could make some cookies and we could have tea. But I’m fine. You don’t have to send anyone to keep me company.”
When Wolf returned to the bedroom, he was wearing his clothes from last night. There was blood everywhere.
“I wish I had something for you to change into.”
“It’s okay.” He looked down at his shirt stained red. “I shouldn’t have come here last night. I’m sorry I put this on you.”
Sophie got out of bed and pulled on her jeans. “If the same thing had happened to your father, if he had given his friend a way out of unimaginable pain, where would he have gone?”
“Home to my mother.”
Sophie nodded.
LATER IN THE DAY, SOPHIE was drawing in the studio when she heard a truck pull into the yard. She didn’t need to look because by the sound of it, she knew it wasn’t Wolf.
There was a tap on the door. “It’s me, Annie.”
“Come in.”
“Hi. I saw Wolf and he said to come over.”
“Does he ever stop worrying about the welfare of others?”
Annie thought for a moment. “No.” She walked over to the drawing board to see what Sophie was working on. “That’s beautiful. Two pheasants. They would have been delicious.”
“You’re awful. This is the husband, this is the wife.” Sophie pointed to the two birds.
“You’re really committed to Wolf now?”
Sophie nodded. “For a while. Not the first day we met. That was a pretty bad day, but maybe the next day when he brought some wood for me. Or the day he brought a book and read to me. I knew then.”
“I grew up with Wolf and I love him. We all love him. Would you love him if we weren’t at bottom and the world had righted itself and you had the choice of anyone you wanted?”
“Those are a lot of ifs. I’ll try to use my imagination. Wolf is so unique in every way that I would have to say I would always choose him. Maybe he wouldn’t choose me if we weren’t at bottom!” Sophie grinned and picked up her dip pen.
Annie watched Sophie draw and then paint for many minutes.
“You do understand that the war with the Russells isn’t over. It’s not enough to have taken Reilly out of the equation. They have to cut off the head of their adversary. That’s Wolf.”
Sophie nodded.
“HI. I’M SOPHIE AND we’re going to do art.”
There were eleven students in the class and they stared back at her. Why had the town council agreed to this? They had met with her, talked about her beliefs far more than her knowledge of art, and decided she was capable of instructing children.
“I know I’m just a little bit older than you are.”
“A lot,” someone in the back replied.
“I’m not an adult and I haven’t gone to school to learn how to teach so I need you to help me.”
“What do you want us to do?” A small girl asked uncertainly.
“The principal will be disappointed with me if we don’t complete a project,” Sophie said in a conspiratorial whisper. “I have to prove that I can do this so you have to go along with me.”
“I don’t like art,” a boy replied. “It’s for sissies. I should be home helping on the farm.”
Sophie sat on the edge of the desk. “I know how you feel...”
“You don’t”
“Being educated is important to the community, too. We need people who can read and write and contribute whateve
r their talents. Isn’t that true?”
“Yeah...”
“What does art have to do with it?”
“Art can be an expression of who we are or how we feel. It can be a representation of the beauty we see around us or our beliefs.”
“What good is that?”
“You can bring enjoyment and understanding into other people’s lives.”
“It’s a waste of time when we have real work to do.”
“For an hour today this is your work. If you prefer to sit on the sidelines, that’s your choice. Who isn’t going to help?”
Not one hand was raised.
“Okay. We have a holiday coming up soon. What is it?”
“Christmas?”
“That’s right. What’s Christmas?”
“A day when you give presents.”
“That’s true but you’re celebrating the birth of Christ.”
The small girl in front nodded.
Sophie picked up the book she had brought with her and opened it to the first bookmark.
“This is a famous painting. Who is this?” Sophie pointed to the mother.
“A mother,” the little girl in front said.
“It’s Mary. What’s the baby’s name?”
“Jesus?”
“That’s right. Good girl. We’re going to talk about all the images painted of Jesus and Mary and then we’re going to create a Nativity scene.”
The eleven students stared at her.
This was going to be more difficult than Sophie had thought.
And it wasn’t as if she had ever created a manger scene before. This wasn’t her religion.
SOPHIE WAS MAKING DINNER when Wolf walked in.
“You walk in without knocking now?” She smiled.
“Since we shared spit,” he said taking off his jacket, “there’s not much in the way of barriers between us.”
“No, there’s not.”
“I looked in on you at school. Everyone says you’re doing real well.”
Sophie laughed. “You have to ask the kids. They don’t trust me.”
“They will. Everyone will.” He sat at the table. “Have you heard from your mother?”
“No. There was a line from Camus I think it was ‘We must imagine her happy’. I’m paraphrasing a little.”
“Are you happy?”
“Ecstatic.”
“Even under these conditions?”
“You’re sitting at my table, we’ll have dinner together, and then we’ll go up to bed. Yes, it’s very hard to be happy under those conditions but I’ll soldier on.”
“Do you want to celebrate Chanukah?”
“I’ll light some candles. I think it’s good to keep up with the traditions. It's our anchor.”
Sophie gave him a plate of salad made from the lettuce grown at the greenhouse across the valley.
“You don’t mind doing the manger for the children?”
“Of course not, I’m not my mother. She was not only offended by Christianity but by Judaism as well. People have the ultimate control of their lives. Since she has no control over her life, that reality hasn’t occurred to her yet.”
“It probably never will.”
“And that’s why she’s better off in the city with people just like her.”
“I wish it was different,” Wolf said as he picked up the fork.
“I don’t.”
“She’s your family.”
“Your mother is my family now. You’re my family. The future holds beautiful promises, Wolf.”
He motioned me over and kissed me.
“Dinner then a surprise for dessert,” Sophie said with a kiss to his cheek.
Wolf nodded.
There was a bang on the door and Annie entered. “Sorry. You have to go, Wolf. The Russells ratted you out and the government guys are looking for you.”
Wolf nodded then looked at Sophie.
“I’ll be okay.”
“Go to the farm. Nedward is waiting with everything you need to go to ground.”
Wolf put his arms around her. “This is not the time I’m not coming back.”
“I know. Go.”
He stepped away. “I love you.”
“I love you,” Sophie could only mouth the words.
Wolf grabbed Sophie then kissed her and she kissed him back to make it last for however long it would be until they were together again.
“GO!” Annie shouted. “They were seen in town!”
Wolf grabbed his coat and ran out the door.
Sophie went out and watched him get in his truck and tear off down the hill.
Annie put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
She nodded. “Someday we’ll have a family.”
“When he gets back, you will.”
“No, in about eight months. Doc Doremus told me today when I saw him.”
Annie couldn’t speak for a moment and they returned to the house. "Are you having the baby?”
“Of course. He or she will be named Phin.”
Annie smiled. “Wolf will love that. What do you want to do now?”
“Someone has to take over for Wolf, and I guess it’ll be me. But I’m going to need lots of help in the beginning.”
Annie hugged her. “You’ve got it.”
“The fight doesn’t end because one of us leaves.” Sophie said, "the fight ends when we're a free people again and not until."
The End