by Susan Firtik
"Can wolves climb trees?" she whispered but her voice only squeaked, "Or walls?" Slamming her window shut Lina dived for the bed, pulling the covers over her head.
"Oh great! So now if the big bad wolf gets in, he won’t be able to get to you and sink his huge, sharp teeth into your soft tissue…”
Duhhh! She heaved a sigh, quickly threw off the sheets and made a mad dash for the door.
Growl.
She actually felt it before she heard it and she froze with her hand on the doorknob. She felt like one of those bimbos in those low budget movies. Don’t look! Don’t turn around! Yet they always do. They scream bloody murder and are immediately dinner for whatever the monster-de-jour was. So, she turned around. Duhhh. What was wrong with her lately? Want a list?
Two green reflective eyes stared back at her from her window.
"I won’t hurt you, Angel." She swore she just heard a wolf talk. Now she knew she was a goner.
I...c-can't t-trust a wolf! But... I think...maybe...? She thought. Although she felt he wouldn’t hurt her, she was still on guard. She watched him behind the windowpane, realizing if he really wanted to get in, all he would have to do is push on the glass. He was huge and although menacing in appearance, his demeanor seemed friendly. Oh sure Lina, a huge, completely not-normal wolf, who shouldn’t even be in Arkansas, is friendly? Geeesh. Things have been odd lately but they were rapidly spiraling into bizarre. The wolf spoke again and it was just then she realized she heard him in her thoughts!
"We are alike, Angel. Enough so, that my thoughts are easily understood by you. And you are safe with me. Stay inside after dark and beware the Silver. His motives are at times not what they seem.”
She shivered, thinking of how the “Silver” had seemed so sad, and might have been dangerous, but then realized she wasn’t afraid of the dangerous animal at her window. So what was with the Silver?
"I’ve felt the Silver as he ran by earlier. He seemed lost or lonely. Yet, you say he’s dangerous? And now I'm supposed to just believe what you say?” And the wolf closer at hand? She thought. “Are you being honest with me? It's not often I speak with a wolf.”
She should be scared out of her mind; instead she was excited by it. In a sexual, sensual, erotic kind of way! Now that was just weird. She loved animals—but not that way. But this animal had a different feel? It was, after all, talking to her. Okay, talking in her head. Oh, Lina! You are in deep trouble! She saw the wolf as a handsome male? Not a male animal. She wanted to wrap herself in his fur and rub against him. Yikes!
She heard him chuckle, apparently hearing her thoughts.
"I feel your heat, Angel. Your scent drives me to madness, and your light is full of promise.” The wolf thought toward her. She was drawn to him and it frightened her as much as it excited her.
"I don’t understand why I’m even thinking this and I really cannot believe I’m asking this, but if I open the window...you promise you won't hurt me?” And if he said yes, would she? “May I touch you?"
"Sure you can, Angel...I'd like that very much.”
She walked slowly toward the black wolf silhouetted by the moonlight. She opened the window, and immediately stepped back a safe distance. Sure Lina, that safety would be measured in miles! But the wolf dipped his head in a sign of submission and allowed her to touch his head and shoulders.
"Your fur is very soft, just like I imagined. Amazing! Why is it I'm not being wolfed down? Pun intended."
His warm laugh in her head made her shiver and raised goose-bumps over her arms "I don't want to hurt you or anyone else. I'm a protector of sorts so as long as I'm around, you’ll be safe."
"Am I in some sort of danger? Why would I need protection? And from whom?" She absentmindedly petted his shoulder and ran her hand through the fur on his shoulder. He made a growling noise that sounded almost like a purr.
"You’re very warm to the touch. Are there others like you? Why are you here? How is it I can hear you in my thoughts? And you’re huge!" Just then noticing he was a good five feet tall at his shoulder! Yikes!
"So many questions, little one!" She sensed his smile in those words. He then used his rough tongue to lick up the side of her face. She giggled as she buried her hand in his thick fur. She was not afraid nor did she even think of being cautious. She took his head with both her hands and looked directly into his eyes.
"There's something familiar about you. We...somehow...do we know each other?" She trailed off thinking she probably should precede with caution.
"You are a special woman, Angel and have no idea what you're capable of. You are coming into a time of so many new and wondrous things. However, there are dangerous times coming also. Remember I'll always be near. Rest now, you'll need your strength.”
Ooookaaay. That was a little corny and cliché.
"I don't want to know why I'll need my strength...but for some reason I believe you. And lord help me, even though I know I shouldn't even be this close to you, I trust you. I must be asleep having this wonderful dream. That's it! It's all a dream.” She stood toe to toe with a giant wolf, what else could it be? “Goodnight, dream-wolf. Be careful.”
He pulled his massive head back through the window opening. “Sleep well, my Angel.”
With that final thought in her head, he turned and jumped from the balcony to the ground below then ran out of sight. She shut the window against the night even though she could use a cool breeze to cancel the heat in the house and the heat in her blood.
Safety first. Reluctantly, she turned from the closed window and turned the ceiling fan up to high. Finally crawling beneath the cool sheets she tried to sleep. Yeah right. After tossing, turning and beating her pillow into submission, she did finally drift off and dreamed of wolves with greenish-gold eyes. Like that was a surprise? She soon dreamed that it was not a dream of other wolves, but it was she was running through the swamps with that wolf, feeling free and aware of everything around her. It was amazing.
CHAPTER THREE
Lina was not a morning person. She woke when the sun was fully burning away the swamp mist. Another hot day ahead but at least the rain had stopped. Work could continue on the mansion and she could get some of the garden cleaned. The garden! Where she’d seen the wolves! Not a dream then?
"We shall see!” She jumped out of bed, opened all the windows and put on fresh underwear. Then she dressed in yesterday’s clothing, still a little damp, and headed downstairs for coffee. She sipped the hot, magic liquid and blessed whoever figured out how to brew coffee from beans!
She was making another one of her lists. She needed to remember to buy some plants and seeds for the gardens. Stepping into her boots, grabbing a pair of gloves, she was raking debris from the farthest spot in the garden before she even realized it. She saw wolf paw prints near the fence. Following them she wondered how in the world wolves had ended up here. And then she became curious about how they had had entered into the property. Did they jump over the fence or crawl under? Perhaps there were openings she couldn’t see. The recent rain made it easier to follow the trail since the paw prints were deeper and more clearly defined.
Lina stopped at the fence line, looking up to the top of the eight foot tall wire. That was tall enough to discourage the deer from making a free lunch of her few remaining lilies. She stopped in her musings when she noticed the paw prints stopped suddenly on the outside. From there, backtracking in the direction the wolves had traveled, she saw footprints from rabbits and maybe squirrels but no more wolf prints. Walking further along she found more than she wanted to find. Human prints! Barefoot, human footprints. She squatted for a better look.
She swore they were human, but wanted to make sure before she started spouting off to the sheriff that barefoot humans were skulking around her gardens. Yeah, bad enough people thought the mansion was haunted, but now the current resident is talking to animals and thinks naked people are stalking her? But there were more prints! What the hell?
"Hey, Ms. Lina! Wh
acha' doin?"
The voice startled her from behind. She yelped and stood so fast, she stumbled but grabbed the wobbly fence to steady herself. It was Pete Warren from the work crew.
"Ohhhh, I was weeding and...uhhhh...looking for holes in the fence...ya know...where...uhhhh, rabbits might get in...”
She’d always felt a little creeped out by Pete. Oh, he was nice enough but the way his eyes followed her every move, made her feel naked and dirty and not in a good way.
"Oh yeah, that’s a good idear. Do ya need eny help?"
She shivered as he moved her way and she noticed his blackened teeth and the gaps where there were none. Then she smelled the liquor on his breath and her fright gave way to anger.
"Why aren’t you at the house doing your job and a better question is why have you come to work with booze on your breath?” She stood taller and squared her shoulders, placing her feet a little wider for balance just like Grams had taught her.
B.E.N.T. Grams had said: Balls, Ears, Nose, Throat. Lina grinned as she saw Grams in her mind’s eye, going through the moves. Kick in the balls. Slap both ears. Shove the nose up into their head. Chop the throat. B.E.N.T.
"Well...Ms. Lina, whatcha smilin’ fer?” He stepped closer. “You glad to see old Pete after all?”
Lina watched him draw closer; judging his nearness and where her first kick would land if got any closer.
"Not at all, Pete.” she sneered. "I was just wondering how you were going to pick up your last paycheck, when you’re doubled over in pain.”
Still glaring at him, she rocked from one foot to the other and opened her palms out to the side.
“Don’t. Come. Any. Closer!” each word punctuated hard and clear.
Pete was a big guy, although not very tall and he was a good 250 plus pounds, but he was flabby and slow. She knew she could cause him pain, although it would be dulled by his drunkenness. That inebriation and his desire to “have a go” at the boss lady combined into his next move, a stumbling lurch and grab toward her that caught Lina off guard. Her natural instinct was to catch him but to keep him at arm’s length.
Pete clutched at her shirt and tore it down with him, landing at her feet. Lina stepped back but was pinned by him against the fence. Pete looked up and with that ugly grin. He pulled her shirt to his dirty face and sniffed it. Ugh! She was standing there in her bra, half a shirt and gagging at the image of Pete smelling her shirt but as she started to move along the fence Pete caught her ankle. She stopped, knowing he would have her if she fell.
"Pete, I won’t tell you again. Don’t do this!"
She was pleased at how strong she sounded. He looked surprised at her bravado but that was short lived. Even drunk he was formidable. He lunged for her other leg and with a firm grip on them both. H he pulled with more strength than she’d allowed him. She fell hard on her back, lost her breath, but kept her wits.
As soon as he tried to climb onto her prone body, she brought her knee up into his balls.
"B.” she recited.
Right on target, Pete howled. She slapped her hands over his ears.
"E."
She heard a popping noise. He pulled away, grabbing his head and his eyes glared at her through the pain. He leaned over her again and her defense strategy continued with Grams’ letters. She slammed the butt of her hand up against his nose.
"N."
Making him screech over his howls she watched him and as soon as he pulled his head back to stop his bleeding nose, she chopped her hand sideways into his throat.
"T.” she finished.
One of his ears was bleeding, probably a burst eardrum. He rolled on the ground gasping for air. Lina then used her last defense. She suddenly knew who she could ask for help. She didn’t want to waste her gift on Pete, but she had no idea what he might do when and if he got up so she had no choice.
She desperately needed help so she sent out her thoughts to the nearby animals. Packs of dogs came out of the wood and from the fields. Birds of every color and size landed on the fence behind her. Large hawks, nasty eyed crows and even tiny wrens landed on her shoulders and littered the fence. Raccoons were pacing in the shade and visible at a distance, waiting for their chance to help. A few deer appeared and although they were all does with no antlers as weapons, they did have those wicked, sharp hooves. Snakes began slithering toward them, making the tall grass undulate and move as if it were the live creature.
Pete was still on the ground slowly recovering from her beating. He stared wide-eyed as he looked up at Lina, surrounded by animals and birds and now snakes! Nothing moved. Not one twitch from any of them. They sat there, silently watching him. Several mangy dogs sat in a circle around him, not making a sound. Panting and just watching him with glassy, unnerving, dangerous stares. Lina stood over him and looked him in the eye choosing her words carefully.
"You will never come here again. You will never come near me or mine ever again!”
Suddenly the wind picked up. The sun dimmed and the temperatures dropped. Pete was trembling now, reacting in fear not the cooling air. Lina’s eyes took on a green glow bathing them both and the garden in a green light. Pete was whimpering now, crab-walking as fast as his bulk would carry him.
"I’ll leave! I promise I’ll go far way! You’ll never see me again. I swear! Please don’t let them hurt me!!”
He begged and whimpered again. He quickly stood and waddled away. She didn't take her eyes off his retreating back until he was completely out of sight.
The sun slowly came back out. The animals sauntered back to their respective places in nature. Lina suddenly fell to her knees gasping for air, her eyes shut tight. She heard a faint whisper on the wind:
Welcome home, Green.
CHAPTER FOUR
Keaton examined the litter of kittens handed to him by a serious doe-eyed six-year-old child. Her long blond curls surrounded a worried face almost completely filled by those big blue eyes. Huge eyes on such a tiny creature, and they were brimming with unshed tears. Clothed as she was, he knew she couldn’t pay for this vet visit. The shirt she wore as a little dress was many times too big for her boney frame. Probably one of her older brothers cast offs. She was the only girl, and the youngest of a brood of kids, nine at last count. Her mom wore a mask of hope over her tired features. She was a mother out of luck and funds, but with a deep love for her little girl. The child stood tall next to her mom.
“I’m Kim, and these are mine.”
"Well...let’s see what you have here, Kim.” He lifted the basket of solid white fur balls, counted five and looked her in the eye. “Hey! These are really special kitties!”
The little girls face brightened a little, but she still appeared doubtful. “Really?" She whispered.
"Sure they are! They’re the first kittens we’ve had all day and that wins the prize!” he smiled.
"They do?" She was finally smiling a little and seemed somewhat interested.
"Yup, that means they all get a new home with me—except for one.” He waited to gauge her reaction.
She lost her tentative smile and looked panicked. "NO! These are my kitties!
Her mother looked lost but tried to soothe her baby.
"Honey, Dr. Keaton is right.” She hugged her little girl, looking over her head at him for help.
Keaton knelt down to the girl’s level. "Kim, you don’t understand, you’ll get to keep one kitty and it will get free visits forever. You can come to the new office at the mansion which is closer to your home and visit the other kitties we have, any time you want to."
He felt the mother stiffen. "We can’t come out there…" she whispered to Keaton, "that place is...just not right. Maybe cursed. Maybe not. But I can’t take chances. Not with my little girl.”
Keaton nodded at her, watching Kim stroking the kittens, oblivious to the adults. He understood the people in this area, so near the Bayous of Louisiana and New Orleans with all the Cajun influence. They believed what they'd been told was true, and it
took a whole hell of a lot of convincing to change their minds. Kim had apparently decided to agree to Keaton’s deal. He prompted her.
"Pick the one you really, really love the best." Her mother pointed to only one with some black on it body. "You named this one today, remember?” she nudged. "Now what was that perfect name? Pepper?"
Kim shook her head, her lower lip jutting out, but the tears had stopped.
"Pocket? No? Hmmm? What was that name? Ponder? Powder? Poncho? No, those don’t sound right...”
The child shook her head at each guess, beginning to smirk at each attempt.
"I know...it must be Pickles!" Keaton joined into the game.
Kim smiled her toothless best. "Patches." She whispered as she stroked the tiny feline.
Keaton smiled and lifted Patches out of the basket situating himself between Kim and the other kittens, then nodded to his assistant who quietly took the basket and kittens out of the exam room. Kim held Patches while Keaton performed the exam. After the shots and the initial exam, instructions were given on how to care for Patches and just a short while later, a smiling mother and happy child thanked him and promised to try and come to visit. Kim walked out the front talking animatedly to Patches.
He and his assistant cleaned up the exam room and talked for a while about where she was moving for her new job. It was nearing lunch and quiet in the front area, so he decided to get some much needed paperwork done during the lull. Keaton suddenly seized and dropped to his knees.
PANIC—FRIGHT—ANGER. They all hit him in the gut all at the same time. It hit him so quickly and so hard he doubled over and had difficulty breathing. Lina! He scrambled for his cell phone and dialed Jason hoping he was working at the mansion today, praying he wasn’t too late.
"Yo! What’s up cuz?”
"Lina! Where is she?" Keaton growled into the phone. "She’s in trouble! I can feel it!"
"Hold on, K, I haven’t seen boss lady but I can ask around and see if anyone...”
"NO! Go to the…go…the back garden—hurry! Call me back, I’m on my way."