“We should at least tell Cecil,” Jeremy said.
“No, don’t wake him up,” Raine said. “What can he do? It’s not like he’s going to make us hot chocolate and read us a bedtime story. He’d be more likely to tell us a gruesome horror story, and I’m not in the mood for one.”
“I’m really tired and cold,” Stefan said. “Let’s put the wolves in the library and call it a night. By the time we wake up, the storm will probably be done, and everything will get back to normal.” He didn’t wait for an answer; he just picked up Boris’s leash and led the wolf to the library. He was thankful the others followed, because he didn’t have a plan if they didn’t.
After he shut the door on them, a howl sounded outside.
“Was that the wind?” Raine asked.
“No. If we have all the wolves in here, then what’s howling outside?” Jeremy asked, his voice trembling.
“Wild wolves,” Stefan said. He knew it hadn’t been just a dog behind the craft service truck. “They probably heard our wolves howling.” Jeremy looked scared again, so Stefan tried to reassure him. “But they’re a long way away outside. We’re here inside a lodge. They aren’t going to bother us.”
“Good thing we’re inside.” Raine went over to a window and pushed on the glass. “I hope these are strong. I read this book where wolves threw themselves at the window of a train and broke through to get at the people inside. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Those wolves were vicious. We may have to barricade ourselves in a room.” She looked unusually happy at the idea.
Jeremy wrapped his arms around himself and moved away from the windows.
“It’s just a story. Wolves wouldn’t really do that. They don’t like people.” Stefan tried to get Raine’s attention by nodding his head toward Jeremy, so she would stop saying things to scare the kid, but she wasn’t even looking at him.
“What if they’re starving?” She pushed on the window again. “I think they’d get over their dislike if they were hungry enough.”
Stefan was too tired to reason with her anymore. “Even if they’re starving, they’re not traveling through a blizzard to get to us. We could barely move out there, so I’m betting the storm will protect us from ravenous wolves. Okay, now I’m really going to bed. You go ahead and build a fort or whatever it is you want to do.”
Chapter 10
Spatters
Up in his room, Stefan turned on the television and collapsed on the bed, too exhausted to pull his pajamas out of his suitcase. All the shows on television were fuzzy, and he couldn’t understand a word they were saying, so he settled on a soccer match. Sometime later a chattering voice wove through his brain, but he couldn’t rouse himself up enough to check it out. He thought about getting up to brush his teeth, and then decided it was too much effort.
The next time he woke, he had a mouthful of wolf fur. Gingerly reaching a hand out, he found the rest of the wolf. Boris licked his face.
“Hey, whose bed do you think this is?”
He heard a low growl from the corner. “Okay, you’re here,” he said to Boris. “Who’s over there? I’m guessing from the growl, it’s Natasha.” He couldn’t see anything. It was dark, completely dark. The television was off. He tried to get his eyes adjusted but they wouldn’t cooperate. Stefan had never even imagined such blackness. When the electricity went out at home, there was enough of a glow from outside, but now he could see nothing. He closed his eyes and opened them again. There wasn’t any difference between the two. No city lights in the distance and definitely no glow from the moon or any stars.
Before he could decide if he wanted to go back to sleep until the power came back on, Raine screamed and he bolted upright.
“Stefan! Jeremy!” He heard Raine’s voice. “Did you hear that terrible screeching?”
“What happened?” Jeremy’s sleepy voice called out from the next room over.
“Stay put,” Stefan called. “The power is out.” He stubbed his toe on a table leg but made it to the door. The hallway was just as dark. A tiny glow came from the doorway of another room.
It was Cecil’s pipe and Cecil. “I gather we have lost our electricity,” the man said.
“What was that horrible noise?” Raine came out into the hallway wrapped in a blanket.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Stefan said.
“I heard it,” Cecil said. “Rather frightening, somewhat like one imagines a banshee would shriek.”
Jeremy came out of his room. “I have my flashlight.” He shone it toward Stefan. The light passed over him and then Jeremy screamed. “There are big dark blobs right beside you!”
“It’s Boris,” Stefan said, “and Natasha, I think. I didn’t get a good look at her. They got out of the library. I don’t know where Phoebe is.”
“I won’t ask for a lengthy explanation of why the wolves were inhabiting the library and now are not until we have some more light. Let’s get some candles.” Cecil held out his lighter. “Stefan, dear boy, could you bring some from the dining room? I do not see well in the dark.”
“What about the screeching?” Raine asked, wrapping the blanket more tightly around her.
They all stood still for a moment listening. The lodge was completely silent.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Jeremy said.
“For the moment, I suggest we worry about light.” Cecil took a puff of his pipe. “If we hear the noise again, we’ll worry about that then.”
“You can take my flashlight, Stefan,” Jeremy said, holding it out.
Stefan couldn’t see much of anything at first as he moved down the hall, but his eyes were adjusting just a little. Jeremy’s tiny flashlight and Cecil’s lighter didn’t do much good. He fumbled his way down the stairs. It was spooky walking through the deserted lodge. There was only dark nothingness outside the window. Once he had two candles lit, everything looked better. It wasn’t a big deal to be without power, he told himself. It happened at least once every winter at home. When he came back into the lobby the others were at the top of the stairs.
“Stefan, if you hold the candles up, we can see enough to come down,” Raine said. She led the way, still wrapped in a blanket, looking like a queen leading a procession. The wolves brought up the rear.
When they had all reached the bottom, Stefan handed one of the candles to Cecil.
“I have been briefed on the events of last night,” Cecil said, “and I’m rather surprised I slept through it all. So here we are, trapped in an empty hotel in the aftermath of a storm. Rather reminiscent of my favorite movie, but let’s hope this particular hotel isn’t haunted.”
“Haunted?” Jeremy whispered.
“I’m only joking, young one. Sorry, I forget not everyone shares my sense of humor.” Cecil looked eerie in the light from the candle, more tired even than the night before. “I know it’s not in our contracts to make do in such circumstances, but we shall be troupers. In my early days as part of a traveling theater group, we often had to cope with various disasters. I suppose we shall manage now until rescued.” Cecil struck a pose like he was taking a stand against an enemy.
“I’m sure people will be back as soon as it’s daylight and they can get across the bridge,” Stefan said. He wanted to point out that they hardly needed to be rescued, since they were just standing around in a hotel, but Cecil appeared to be enjoying himself too much.
“What if they can’t get across the bridge?” Jeremy asked.
“They’ll figure out a way to get here.” Stefan didn’t want Jeremy to get all worried. “It’s not like we really are on an uninhabited planet.”
“There aren’t any other roads,” Raine said. “I have a map with my schoolwork that I was looking at last night. The road here must have been built just for the lodge, because it ends at the parking lot.”
“Well, we can’t do anything about it, so I’m not going to worry.” Stefan yawned. “What time is it?”
“It’s only six a.m.,” Raine said.
; No wonder he was still so tired.
“What should we do?” Jeremy asked.
“We’ll just have to hang out until people get back,” Stefan said. “I’m going to go get a warmer sweater.” Back in his room, he did a quick check under the bed. No Phoebe. It was a little unnerving to think of a wolf roaming around the lodge, but at least it was Phoebe and not Natasha. Phoebe was too timid to do something like leap at him. Natasha he wasn’t so sure about.
Pulling his sweater over his head, he headed downstairs to find Raine and Jeremy stuffing the fireplace so full of logs, they had almost completely filled the opening. Cecil sat in one of the big chairs, smoking his pipe and staring off into space. Boris sat beside him. Natasha was over by the door, standing as if expecting to be let out.
“Why are you blocking up the fireplace?” Stefan asked.
“We’re not.” Raine sat back. “We’re going to need to light a blazing fire so we don’t get hypothermia and die.”
“You’re being a little dramatic here, don’t you think? The power has only been off a few hours, and we’re inside a building. I don’t think we need to worry about hypothermia just yet.”
“It’s better to prepare.” Raine’s eyes were shining, and she looked excited, like she was on her way to a party. “To survive a disaster, we have to use everything we can.”
“Raine, the power is out. That doesn’t qualify as a disaster.”
“The cell phones aren’t working! We tried them.”
“So the storm caused a cell tower problem. That can’t really be put in the same category as a disaster.”
“But the storm is like a disaster. We may have to break up the furniture and burn it to keep warm.” Raine moved a lamp off an end table and then dragged the table closer to the fire. She tipped it on one side and started wrenching on one of the legs. “They do this in stories all the time.”
“Let’s not start with the furniture right away,” Stefan said. “There’s way too much wood in the fireplace right now. When that burns down, there’s probably more outside. You know, in a woodpile, where people keep wood.”
“Okay, but if there isn’t, I think I can get this leg off.” She gave another pull.
Raine’s energy and her strange enthusiasms were wearing him out. What he really wanted was to go back to bed, but instead he said, “We’ll light the fire, but we need to take some of the logs out.” He knelt down and pulled out enough so there was room for some air.
“So you really know how to build a fire?” Raine asked.
“Sure, it’s not that hard. Don’t you?”
“No, it’s not like I was ever a Girl Scout. We have gas fireplaces at home and we just turn on a switch. Is he doing it right, Cecil?”
“Don’t ask me, my dear. I know what you are thinking, given my advanced age, but I am not old enough nor of the right nationality to have been a pioneer. And I’ve never enjoyed rustic holidays where one huddles around a fire.” He took a puff on his pipe and blew out a smoke ring. “However, I do believe one simply puts the logs in the fireplace, lights them, and occasionally prods at them with the appropriate implement. My lighter is on the table if you need it.”
At first the fire was smoky, but Stefan finally got it to draft, all too aware he had an audience watching his every move.
“Now what?” Jeremy asked.
“I’m going to bring another blanket down here and wait until the power goes back on. I’m already freezing.” Raine held out her hand. “My fingers are turning blue. I think I might have frostbite.”
“Your fingers would turn white if you had frostbite,” Stefan said. “And since it’s at least sixty degrees in here, you’re not in any danger yet.”
“Not yet,” she said darkly. “But I am cold. I’m not used to it.” She moved over to the fire and held her hands in front of it.
“I wonder when the cook will wake up,” Jeremy said. “I’m hungry.”
“I don’t think the woman is staying here,” Cecil said, “though it would be nice if she were. I am in dire need of coffee.”
“I’m sure there’s plenty of leftover desserts,” Stefan said.
“Awesome!” Jeremy said. “Do you think we can just go get some?”
“Why not? The kitchen isn’t locked up.”
“Yes, I suppose we could raid the kitchen,” Cecil said. “I am a bit peckish myself.”
The kitchen was enormous, with a big fireplace at one end and a huge table in the middle that was bigger than most dining rooms. The space hadn’t been fixed up much, except for one restaurant-sized refrigerator. The wolves had followed them in and they began padding around sniffing at things, no doubt looking for food.
Cecil fiddled with the knobs on the stove. “Ah ha! As I hoped, a gas stove, electricity not needed. Jeremy, look in the refrigerator for some milk and I’ll try to find some chocolate to melt in it. I shall join you in some hot chocolate.”
Stefan went over to a counter along one wall that had several plates covered in foil sitting on it. He was about to uncover one when Raine grabbed his sleeve. She pulled him toward the door, a finger to her lips, so he followed her out into the dining room.
“Did you see them?” she whispered.
“What?”
“Ssshhh!! I don’t want Cecil to hear. When you go back in the kitchen, look on the floor. There are drops of blood there! Something terrible happened in the kitchen last night! That’s why I heard shrieking!”
Chapter 11
Missing
“You’re imagining things!” Stefan said. “Are you always like this?”
“Like what? Oh, never mind, that’s not important. Where did the blood come from? Where is the cook?”
“Maybe it isn’t blood. Maybe the cook spilled something.”
“The kitchen is spotless except for those blotches. Do you think she would spill something and not clean it up?” Raine paced back and forth, scanning the dining-room floor like she was looking for blood spots there, too.
“I don’t know.” Stefan sighed. “Maybe she got tired and planned to clean it up this morning when she got back.”
“Did she ever really leave?” Raine said. “I don’t think she did. It was Cecil. I knew I should never have agreed to do this movie. It’s cursed and it’s all because of Cecil. First the blizzard and then the cook missing and probably murdered. I wonder what he did with her body?”
“Raine, you’re crazy! You see some spots on the floor and then you leap to a murdered cook, just because of some silly stories about a curse! You can’t really believe that old man killed the woman. Why would he do that?”
“He might be a homicidal maniac.”
“That’s ridiculous! I want to see this so-called blood.”
He pushed open the door to find Cecil, wearing an absurdly small ruffled apron, humming away as he stirred a pot on the stove. The two wolves sat next to him, observing his every move. “Everything all right?” Cecil asked.
“Fine,” Stefan said, trying to stroll casually over by the sink, taking quick glances at the floor without being obvious. In the dim light he could make out some dark splotches, but he couldn’t really tell what they were. Probably just jam. Raine was too dramatic for her own good. “Jeremy, did you find anything good?” he asked, determined to ignore the crazy girl.
“I found some sort of cake, vanilla I think. Should we eat it?”
“Cake works for me,” Stefan said. “People eat coffee cake for breakfast, so why not real cake?” Raine could just eat cold lentil soup if she didn’t want too much sugar.
“I’ll bring the hot chocolate,” Cecil said. “Gather up some plates and forks, will you? I do not eat without utensils.”
Boris came over to Stefan and barked at him.
“What about the wolves? They’re hungry too.” Jeremy opened some drawers until he found the silverware. “What are we going to feed them?”
“After we eat, we can go get them some food from their motor home,” Stefan said. “They’ll jus
t have to wait a little bit.” Raine kept trying to get his attention, but he did his best to pretend he didn’t notice. She’d just drag him off again, and he wanted his hot chocolate first.
Cecil led the way back to the main room, putting the tray down on a table near the fire. “This is rather cozy, I must say. Reminds me of my childhood and my dear old gran. Help yourselves.”
“Where’s Kep?” Jeremy asked, cutting a giant slice of cake. Boris and Natasha sat down in front of him like they were expecting a piece too.
“Who’s Kep?” Cecil asked. “Exactly how many wolves did you bring inside?”
Raine had followed them but was keeping her distance from Cecil. “We’re calling Mr. Snuggums Kep now,” she said coolly.
“Oh,” Cecil raised an eyebrow. “Fine choice. I believe Beatrix Potter had a beloved dog named Kep. She made him a character in The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck.”
Raine flushed bright red. “Kep’s in his dog bed, I guess. I’d better check on him. Stefan, will you help me?”
“I’d like to eat.”
“No! We need to find Kep right now!”
Stefan glanced at Cecil and Jeremy. They didn’t seem to notice Raine was acting strangely, but he decided he’d better go with her before she got any stranger.
Upstairs in her room, she shut the door and leaned against it like she expected Cecil to break in. “So did you see the blood?”
“Did you see Cecil in that apron?” Stefan countered. “Does he look like a homicidal maniac?”
“Well, no,” Raine admitted, “but the cook is still missing. And one of the wolves. Maybe the wolf did it. Hunted her down in the night and dragged her off.”
Stefan thought his head would explode. “Even though the cook is not a very big person, I don’t think Phoebe could drag her away. Besides, wouldn’t there be way more blood?” He stopped himself. What was he saying? The cook must be at her own house making some fantastic breakfast for herself, glad the storm gave her an excuse not to go to work.
“I don’t know! Something strange is going on.”
“I’m not going to argue with you. Will you just see if your dog is here? The hot chocolate is getting cold fast.” Not surprisingly, Kep had the most ornate dog bed Stefan had ever seen. It was a fabric gingerbread cottage complete with curtains on the windows and dog-bone–shaped window boxes beneath them.
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