Unleashed

by Nancy Holder

  “We didn’t have a phone or electricity out here,” he replied. “Drove your grandma crazy.”

  “My friend’s really scared. He says Wolf Springs is like a”—Katelyn had to search for the words he’d used—“a banked fire. I mean, two girls have died.”

  He shook his head sadly. “Normally, wild animals avoid people. But if they’re starving, or feeling threatened, or infected with rabies …”

  Rabies. She thought of the wolf that had attacked her in Trick’s car, the crazy light in its eyes and the blood on its mouth. Could it have been rabid? She shivered.

  “Bad things happen.” He looked at her sadly. “I don’t have to tell you that.”

  “No,” she murmured. “You don’t.”

  They sat together quietly. Then he cleared his throat again. “So, Trick told me about this party he wants to take you to.”

  The topic change caught her off guard. She hesitated. “Yeah,” she said carefully.

  “I don’t want you to go,” he began, but as her lips parted in protest, he went on. “But I reckon you’ve got enough of your father in you that if I forbid you to go, you’ll just find a way to do it anyway.”

  She held her breath.

  “I don’t know how it’s done in Santa Monica, but around here the kids have these all-night, dusk-to-dawn parties. Everyone’s so spread out. Maybe it’s a rural thing. In any case, seems as though this one’s in town, so you should be safe and not out in the woods.”

  She nodded even though she hadn’t known it was an all-night party. That was kind of amazing. She’d never been to anything like that back home, unless it was an all-girl overnight.

  “I know you’re his date, but I’m going to loan you the truck. I want you to meet him there, and if anything happens, you come straight home, make him or someone else follow you along the way if you can so you don’t get lost or stranded.”

  That seemed odd. Didn’t he trust Trick to get her to and from town, just like he always did? Was this what they had been arguing about?

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Make him follow you if it’s still dark out,” he repeated.

  “Yes. Got it,” she assured him.

  He exhaled sharply, as though what he was saying was costing him dearly. “This isn’t a prison, Katelyn.”

  “I know, you just want to keep me safe,” she said. It was the time for agreeing and encouraging, lest he change his mind.

  And maybe if things went well, this was just the first step to freedom.

  “Now, how about we take advantage of all this daylight and do some more sharpshooting?” he asked.

  Katelyn practiced for an hour, until there was a pile of shell casings beside her foot. The rings on the black-and-white bull’s-eye targets were numbered, with one the farthest from the center and nine the bull’s-eye itself. She was hitting the rings numbered one, two, and three fairly often.

  When they finally trudged back to the house, she asked, “How am I coming on those birthday tickets?”

  He raised a steel-colored brow. “I’d say you’ve just about earned ’em. You’re not hitting dead center, but at least you’re not closing your eyes anymore.”

  “You know what they say about proper motivation.” Internally, she danced a jig.

  “Maybe you inherited the McBride eye,” he retorted.

  Suddenly a chorus of howls burst out and Ed spun, assuming a shooting position with a rapid-fire reflex.

  A moment later he lowered the rifle. “Dang fool, having another one of those retreats. I’ll make him howl. In falsetto.” He grunted. “A bunch of city boys think they can come out here for a few days and get in touch with their inner man.”

  “I believe it’s their inner wolf.”

  “Their inner idjit is what it is,” he said.

  “I sat next to a guy on the plane out here. He was really into it,” she said.

  “That moron and his stupid book,” Ed said. He looked like he wanted to spit in the dirt. “He’s like the pied piper of lunatics.”

  She smiled. It was a funny way of looking at it. She just hoped it wasn’t true.

  “I’m reading your copy,” she said.

  He made a face. “I thought I threw it out.”

  “At first I thought we might be able to use it for our history project. It’s about a mine,” she added. “The Madre Vena. Have you heard of it? This creepy monster is supposed to live in it. The Hellhound.”

  He grunted again. “Hellhound. Sounds properly terrifying to scare off claim jumpers.”

  “The Spanish priests who built the church were scared of something that lived in the forest,” she said. “What if it was this same Hellhound?”

  “Or maybe they just said that to keep their parishioners from running away. Enslaved Indians and gullible Spanish soldiers. Now, as for what your friend told you, let me know if you hear anything else, okay? And I’ll do the same. Could be useful for your history project.”

  “I will,” she promised. She didn’t tell him that it was way off topic for the project.

  Katelyn tried to do homework the rest of the day, but her thoughts kept drifting. There was Trick and the party. There was the strangeness of Cordelia’s family. And sitting there on her desk was the Jack Bronson book. She finally gave up and flipped it open.

  No man knows what he is capable of until he is pushed. The wolf is a naturally elusive creature that melts into shadows. But let that wolf or his pack or cub be threatened and the beast is unleashed and is capable of great and terrible things. The key is to find a way to harness that power when there is no danger, even when you are alone in your room at night and the darkness comes and your own demons mock you.

  “Nice,” she drawled, but it scared her a little, and as she finally tried to go to sleep, her demons came to mock her: her thoughts turned to Becky and rabid wolves, and the things in the dark that could kill you. And with branches scratching at her skylight, she finally drifted to sleep. Her dreams chased her the whole night long.

  The wind. And the howls.

  The wind. And the screams.

  Fangs, and fur,

  flashing in fury and madness,

  charging through the forest.

  Relentless, a killing machine, a demon.

  It is screeching; it is raging; it is shrieking:

  Vengeance is mine.

  Click. Click. Click.

  The sound of claws on hardwood echoed through it all.

  9

  The next morning, the sign mounted on the roof of Wolf Springs High read BECKY JENSEN IN MEMORY. Stuffed animals, bouquets of flowers, and pictures of Becky lay on the floor in front of a locker very close to Katelyn’s. Katelyn recognized Becky from English class—brown hair cut in a bob, freckles, like her.

  There were more tributes scattered in clusters throughout the building. Girls were hugging each other, crying. Teachers were grim-faced. A boy in a black knit cap was passing out flyers. Katelyn took one. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR CHILDREN? DEMAND ACTION! TOWN HALL MEETING TOMORROW NIGHT 7 PM.

  Cordelia cornered Katelyn on her way to history class. “Sorry again for everything,” she said. Cordelia looked even more tired than she had before, and Katelyn felt closer to her, knowing that she had so much strangeness to deal with outside school.

  Katelyn shrugged like it was no big deal. “Who won?” And what did they win at? she wanted to add.

  “Arial,” Cordelia said, sounding disgusted.

  “Do you even care?” Katelyn asked, surprised.

  “It’s complicated.” She bit her lip. “So, what did you tell Trick?”

  “Just that you were involved in family time and I needed a ride home.”

  “I’d appreciate you not telling people how strange … well, anything about my family, actually,” she said, looking relieved.

  Yeah, no kidding, Katelyn thought. “Of course I won’t.”

  There was an awkward pause. Katelyn wanted to make things better. She cleared her throat. “On an unrelate
d topic, I think Trick’s taking me to this party. If they still have it. What should I wear?”

  Cordelia brightened a little. “Oooh, party! Whose?”

  Katelyn wanted to kick herself. Because obviously, Cordelia hadn’t heard about the party and wasn’t invited. Katelyn had just assumed she would be.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “If you want, I can drive you home today and help you pick something out.”

  Her clothes had been destroyed in the fire and she didn’t have much. But maybe that wasn’t the real reason Cordelia wanted to come home with her. Maybe she just needed a place to go.

  “Make you a deal,” Katelyn said. “I don’t have anything to wear. Maybe we could go shopping tomorrow afternoon, then after, you can come over for dinner. Then we’ll do some work on our project.”

  A smile twisted Cordelia’s lips. “Are you implying that I’m a slacker?”

  “My lips are sealed,” Katelyn said, smiling back.

  Their lighthearted moment faded as they walked down the hall. The Timberwolves looked shell-shocked. When the two girls made it to gym class, Mike and his group seemed meaner than usual. Katelyn did her best to ignore them, chalking up the hostility to fear. He really rubbed her the wrong way, but she was afraid of what he’d do if she said anything, so she kept her mouth shut.

  “Tomorrow I’m taking you to Babette’s,” Cordelia vowed.

  Katelyn recalled Trick mentioning that name. “What’s Babette’s?”

  “You’ll see,” Cordelia said enigmatically.

  “Cool. Now let’s talk about Xavier Cazador,” Katelyn said.

  “Oh.” Cordelia’s face fell. “I—I wanted to talk to you about that,” she said. “The mine thing. I’m really just not loving it, you know? Maybe we could pick something else.”

  Katelyn was baffled. “But you told me you wanted to do it. And your dad knows about it. And you know, maybe this Hellhound is the same thing that the priests were talking about. And it could be linked to the attacks. We could really do some digging and …”

  She trailed off, taken aback. Cordelia looked positively green. Katelyn cocked her head. Cordelia was afraid.

  Of the Hellhound?

  “It’s just kind of bogus,” Cordelia said unconvincingly. “Let’s go to Mr. Henderson and ask if we can switch topics.”

  “Okay,” Katelyn said. “Sure.”

  But Mr. Henderson said no at lunch. They were too far into their research to start over, he insisted.

  Katelyn was secretly glad, and Cordelia seemed to take his refusal pretty well. She muttered something about how her father would be happy about it, and Katelyn wondered if Cordelia’s original one-eighty about picking the mine had been an attempt to please her father in the first place. The twisted dynamics of the Fenner family had really done a job on poor Cordelia. But wanting to quit because there was a monster in the story? Katelyn was disbelieving. On the other hand, everyone in Wolf Springs was upset. Two girls were dead. But it wasn’t as if a real, live Hellhound had done it.

  She didn’t share any of her thoughts with Cordelia, and the next afternoon as they were driving through town, Cordelia seemed pleased and more lighthearted as Katelyn took it all in. It was Katelyn’s first trip to Wolf Springs proper, and she marveled at the gables, cupolas, and widow’s walks on the beautifully preserved buildings.

  The only downer was the flyers for the town meeting that night hung in every store window. Katelyn had forgotten to ask her grandfather if he was going.

  They had to park a couple of blocks away from the store and walk down the cobbled paths of the extremely quaint, old-timey town. They passed one structure with a small white metal sign on the wall that read WOLF SPRINGS TAVERN, EST. 1859, A HISTORIC SITE.

  “That might be where Xavier Cazador got his free drinks,” Katelyn said excitedly.

  “I still say he never found the mine,” Cordelia insisted. “I think he made it all up. After all, he was the town drunk.”

  “Then why did Jubal DeAndrew disappear two days later?”

  “His daughter killed him.”

  “Nice,” Katelyn drawled.

  “No. This is nice,” Cordelia announced, gesturing to Babette’s.

  The tiny storefront window of Babette’s Vintage featured mannequins dressed in clothes from different time periods; one wore a cute Katy Perry 1950s dress, and a male figure stood in embroidered bell-bottom jeans and a baggy Indian-print top with wide sleeves. In the far right corner hung the flyer for the meeting, beside a poster that read WE LOVE YOU, HALEY AND BECKY. LOVE, BABETTE & CO.

  A little bell tinkled over the door as they walked in. An attractive middle-aged woman seated behind a counter looked up from a book and gave them a wave.

  “Hi, Babette,” Cordelia said.

  “Help yourselves, girls.” The woman flashed a smile and went back to her book.

  Katelyn walked slowly down one of the aisles, marveling at the variety of the clothes. It was almost as good as any place on Melrose Avenue.

  And then she saw it—the perfect dress. It was a short floral print in creams and burnished golds with a faint sheen to the fabric. Cream lace cap sleeves fluttered on it. The neck was a rounded scoop. A cream belt complemented the sleeves.

  “Ooh la la,” Cordelia gushed as Katelyn modeled it for her. “Even I want you.”

  Katelyn fluttered her lashes with a pleased laugh.

  Katelyn paid for the dress and took the bag from Babette.

  “This must be for a special occasion,” Babette said.

  “Party,” Cordelia said, winking.

  “The one at Sam’s?” Babette asked, and Cordelia nodded a little too brightly. Katelyn wished she could invite her along, but as the new girl, she didn’t have the power to include other people. “Guess they’re not canceling after all. There was talk about it.”

  Then Babette nodded at Katelyn. “You’re the new girl. Kat McBride.”

  “Yes,” Katelyn said, surprised.

  “Babette is gossip central,” Cordelia told Katelyn. “She knows everything that’s going on.”

  Katelyn took a deep breath. “Do you know anything about … what happened to Haley and Becky?”

  Babette exhaled slowly and let her smile fall, as if she no longer had to pretend that everything was all right.

  “Oh, girls, I don’t know what to think.” She scanned the room, as if making sure no one else could hear her. “I was one of the people who really pushed to let Jack Bronson purchase the old hot springs. He’s been buying my little wolf figurines for his gift shop.” She gestured to a display of ceramic statues—a wolf standing on its hind legs, wearing a Superman costume; another one doing kung fu. “And I’ve got some of my nicer pieces on consignment in his gift shop.”

  She chewed her lower lip. “But I can’t remember the last time an animal attacked a human being around here. And hunting season’s right around the corner. The bears are going to be even more jittery.”

  “Is that what you think it was? A bear?” Cordelia asked.

  Babette picked up the figurine of the wolf in the Superman uniform. “Well, I don’t think it was a wolf. Wolves are shy.”

  “A wolf attacked me,” Katelyn said, but Cordelia nudged her to be silent.

  “What? When?” Babette’s eyes widened.

  “It was my first week here; there was a dead deer in the road,” Katelyn said hastily.

  The bell on the door tinkled, signaling the arrival of another customer.

  “We should go,” Cordelia announced.

  “I’m going to be getting some pretty winter formals,” Babette said in a stage whisper. “I’ll set aside some dresses for the two of you.” She eyed Katelyn. “I’m thinking something in an ice blue to set off that gorgeous hair of yours.”

  “Thanks,” Katelyn said sincerely, warming to the woman.

  “Enjoy the party,” Babette replied, waving goodbye.

  Katelyn and Cordelia turned to go, then nearly ran into an elderly woman wal
king with a cane. She wore a heavy black coat and a broad hat trimmed with black feathers.

  “Terrible business, terrible,” she said. She frowned at Katelyn and Cordelia. “You two girls shouldn’t be out. You should be home, where it’s safe.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Cordelia said sweetly, then pulled Katelyn past the woman.

  “Listen, Kat,” Cordelia said as soon as they were outside. “Don’t tell Babette anything about anything. She’ll broadcast it all over town.”

  “But why should I hide what happened?” Katelyn asked.

  “Do you want Mike Wright shooting around your cabin?” Cordelia pressed. “Shooting out the windows?”

  “You have a point,” Katelyn said. “But is there some kind of investigation going on? Do you get the news?” It seemed like a luxury to be connected to the outside world.

  “Satellite,” Cordelia told her. “Maybe we can watch sometime.” Her voice trailed off, as if simply having someone over to watch TV was a luxury to her.

  “There’s a sort of coffee house up the block that way,” Cordelia said, changing the subject. “You want to get something to drink?”

  “Sure,” Katelyn said, eager to extend the afternoon excursion.

  “Cool.” Cordelia patted her jacket pockets. She looked stricken. “Oh, great. I forgot my cell in the car. My dad wants me to stay in contact. I’ll be right back.”

  “Take my dress?” Katelyn asked.

  “And such a dress.” Cordelia smiled and trotted off with Katelyn’s purchase.

  The wind began to pick up. Katelyn wrapped her arms around herself. It was getting chilly. Leaves fluttered down, obscuring her line of vision as Cordelia disappeared around the corner.

  “Ooorooo!”

  Katelyn jumped. Someone—and it was definitely a someone, not a something—was howling close behind her. She spun around and a man in a destroyed gray INNER WOLF sweatshirt leered at her. His hair was matted and both sleeves of his sweatshirt were torn off at the shoulders. The bottoms of his jeans hung in tatters.

  She took a couple of hasty steps back. The guy looked crazy.

  “What have we here?” he asked.