“Is Shannon going somewhere?” Stan looked around.
“Relax Stan, I’m not going anywhere?” She patted him on the shoulder.
“Good, because I like your cooking.”
Stan gave her a grin, and everyone laughed. Stan acted like he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was the smartest one in the group. He was a computer geek. He enlisted when he was caught hacking computers. It was the military, or prison; he chose the Army.
“Gary, I noticed you bought Halloween candy. Do you get trick-or-treaters here?” Shannon asked.
“The local grade school buses the kids over. We give them a tour and let them have a close-up look at the helicopter. When they’re all done, we hand out candy. It will be nice having you here this year, the young girls will have someone to relate to.”
“How come?”
“Are you kidding?”
Gary laughed and pointed at Stan and Kenney.
“Do you really think little girls would find those two interesting?”
“Sure.” Shannon knew they could put the most interested kids to sleep in no time at all.
“I’ll bet at least one or two go home with a crush on the handsome rescue guys.” She was trying to keep a straight face but couldn’t help but laugh.
“Who’s handsome?”
“Never mind, Stan,” Gary told him.
*****
The next couple of days was business as usual. They transported a critically ill woman from Idaho Falls to San Francisco for a kidney transplant and attended to two car accidents.
The afternoon before the school visit, a man fell while hunting and was stranded on a rocky ledge. It was almost midnight by the time the man was rescued and dropped at a hospital. The crew were finally finished and dragged themselves to bed by three in the morning. Shannon was not looking forward to getting up in the morning, none of them were.
Bright and early the next day, Gary was up and preparing for the visitors from the local school. Fourth, fifth, and sixth graders would be all over the place in a couple of hours. Anything they could get hurt on was stashed away. Shannon had Stan help her set up a demonstration using the rescue basket. Everything was ready by the time the bus arrived.
Gary was right, the young girls were fascinated with Shannon. They wanted to know if she got scared when she went down in the basket, if she was afraid of heights, if the sight of blood made her sick. Shannon enjoyed answering all the questions, from the most serious, to the silliest. Some wanted to know how they could be like her.
At the end of the tour, each of the kids got an honorary Air Rescue badge and a bag of candy. The day was a total success.
Shannon was helping to escort the kids back to the bus when she thought she saw a strange man. He was wearing a black jacket, but it was his face, it was hideous. She blinked and looked again; it was just a good-looking man helping escort the children back to the bus. She didn’t remember seeing him before. The man smiled when he looked her way, but something happened to his eyes, they changed.
“I must be overly tired.” Shannon closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked again; the man was gone. She spun around, looking for him but he wasn’t there.
“Wait!’ she yelled. The last chaperone was getting on the bus. Shannon followed and looked at the faces of everyone. “Where is the man in the black jacket?”
“Are you asking about a chaperone?”
“Yes.”
The teacher asked all the chaperones on the bus to stand. There were two mothers, two female teachers and one male teacher. The man in the black jacket wasn’t there.
“You’re sure this is everyone?”
“Yes dear.” The teacher turned to the children. “Everyone, give the nice rescue lady a big thank you.”
Shannon thanked them all for being so well behaved and hoped they enjoyed their visit. She got off the bus and stood there while they drove off. The children all waved as they pulled away. She continued to stand there long after they were gone.
*****
“You don’t remember anything?” echoed in her brain
“Your neighbor found you. If it hadn’t been for her, you would have bled out before the EMT’s got to you. Someone gave you one hell of a beating.”
Shannon tried to remember, but she was drawing a blank. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t remember.
*****
“Shannon, are you alright.” Gary walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped out of sheer fear. “Whoa, it’s me.”
“Sorry!”
“What happened, you’re as white as a sheet.”
“I’m seeing things, scary things.”
“Come on, let’s go to my office. Stan and Kenney can straighten up.”
“No, I don’t want special treatment,” she snapped, a bit louder than she would have liked. She headed for the equipment bay to put the items away that were used for demonstrations. Stan and Kenney gave Gary a questioning look. Gary just shook his head.
It was Kenney’s night to cook. Shannon had kept to herself the rest of the day. When Kenney called everyone to come and eat, Shannon told them she wasn’t hungry.
“What’s going on, Gary?” Kenney asked.
“I don’t know. She claims she saw something; something scary. When I went up to her earlier, she practically jumped out of her skin. She didn’t want to talk about it.”
“Yeah, we heard. She saw something scary. Do you think we had an intruder?”
“It’s been so long since we’ve had any problems, I hadn’t even thought about that. Later tonight, I’ll sniff around and see if I find anything.”
“Gary, we really need to tell Shannon our secret,” Stan told him quietly.
“I know.” Gary Morris, Stan Sullivan and Kenney Fowler, were bear shifters; a grizzly, a black bear, and a kodiak. “How do you suggest we tell her?”
“I don’t know, but she needs to know.” Stan thought for a moment. “When we do tell her, I think we should do it together.”
“I agree, but right now is not the time. I wish she would come and eat.”
“I’ll make her a plate and keep it warm, maybe she’ll eat later,” Kenney offered.
“Thanks Kenney,” Gary finished his meal and put his plate in the sink. “Whose night is it to do dishes?”
“It’s mine,” Shannon stated quietly as she walked into the kitchen.
“I have a plate in the oven for you.”
“Thanks Kenney, maybe later. I’m not very hungry. Don’t worry about the dishes, I’ll do them.”
“You don’t have to,” Stan told her, “I don’t mind doing them.”
“Fine, maybe you should do my next shift for me as well.” She stormed out of the room. Stan looked at Gary.
“I’d better see what this is all about.”
Gary got up and followed Shannon. He found her in her room.
“Shannon, we need to talk.”
“I’m sorry, Gary.”
“Shannon, what did you see today?”
“A man. He had a hideous face. I thought it was due to being over tired. I closed my eyes and when I looked again, he was just a nice-looking man.”
“There, you’re probably right.”
“No, something happened. When the man looked at me, he smiled and then his eyes changed.”
“What do you mean by changed?”
“They were like animal eyes. I looked around to see if anyone else had seen him. When I looked back, the man was gone. He was nowhere. I even got on the bus, but he wasn’t there. It was like he disappeared into thin air.”
“What did this man look like, besides his eyes?”
“He was tall and slender. He was wearing a black jacket. It happened so fast, that’s all I remember.”
“When you said he looked hideous, what did you mean?”
“He looked like a wolf. I don’t know, maybe it was someone wearing a mask, pulling a Halloween prank. If it was Stan, I’ll make him do the dis
hes for a month.”
“No, I don’t think it was Stan. We’ve had some teenagers pull stuff like that in the past. I thought they had given up on that shit, but maybe not. I’ll talk to the sheriff tomorrow and see if there have been any other reports.”
“Thanks, Gary. Tell Stan I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped at him like that.”
“Why don’t you go and get your dinner, you can tell him yourself.”
“Yeah, I think I will. Thanks.”
Chapter 5
Gary watched Shannon as she walked back to the kitchen. Having someone scare her like that wasn’t helping her fragile state of mind. The doctor said her memory could return at any time, and when it did, all the memories would come flooding back; unimaginable memories. He had no idea what would cause it. It could be something traumatic, or as simple as a sneeze. She could wake up one morning and remember everything. As far as doing her job, Gary wasn’t concerned, so far, she was solid as a rock when it came to that.
This was the perfect opportunity for him to start sniffing around the shop while she was with Stan. He walked around where Shannon had given a demonstration on how the Stokes basket was used to pick up an injured patient. The basket was set up on a zip line, so the kids could experience what it was like. The kids loved it.
He didn’t find anything suspicious. He walked around the whole area before going outside. As he walked around the corner, outside the hangar, he got a whiff of something. He instantly stopped where he was.
“Son-of-a-bitch!”
Gary smelled a wolf shifter. It wasn’t a strong scent, but it was enough for him to pick it up. He continued to walk around the hangar but didn’t find the scent anywhere else. He couldn’t understand it.
“What the hell? What did he do, sprout wings and fly?”
He went back inside.
Stan and Shannon were doing the dishes, while Kenney gave pointers on the proper way to dry a dish. He no sooner walked into the kitchen; the alarm blared. Gary checked to see what they had while everyone else went for their gear.
“Listen up, everyone. There has been an explosion on the other side of town. Several minor injuries and a burn victim.”
Dirty dishes and scary people forgotten; everyone went to work.
*****
It took no time at all to reach the explosion sight. A farmhouse was totally destroyed, and several outbuildings were damaged or burning.
“What the hell happened? It looks like a bomb went off,” Stan remarked as he looked for a place to land. “Off to the right, boss. Looks like a corn field.”
Gary saw the field; the corn had already been harvested.
“Got it.”
As soon as the chopper touched down, Shannon, Kenney, and Stan, hit the ground running. They knew all the members of the local fire department and looked for the Fire Chief.
“Captain Webster, what do we have?”
“Gas leak. We can’t go in until we’re sure the gas has been shut off.”
The captain got a call on his com-line.
“Fire squad one, all clear. Let’s get in there.” He turned to the rescue team. “We have a few injuries; you’ll find them over by engine one. We don’t know if anyone else was in there.”
Shannon and Stan headed for the group of people huddled together by one of the fire trucks. Kenney stayed with the Chief just in case other victims were found. Gary joined them, and they filled him in.
Shannon found a young couple with their two children. She and Stan checked everyone. A few cuts and scrapes.
“Was there anyone else?” Stan asked.
“We have two farmhands, I haven’t seen either one of them,” the farmer told him.
“The Chief will let us know if they find anyone.”
Stan checked him for burns.
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure. Milly, that’s my wife, thought she smelled gas. We got out of the house just before it blew.”
Shannon went to check on the little boy; he was crying and holding his dog.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” the boy sniffled, “but I think Lucky is hurt, he ran through the fire.”
“What’s your name?”
“Peter. Peter Huckabee.”
“Well Peter, let’s take a look.”
Shannon knew that the little boy’s dog was just as important as anyone else, especially to the little boy.
“You called him Lucky, is that his name? “
“Yes ma'am.”
Shannon carefully took the dog from his arms.
“Okay Lucky let me take a look. He’s a very brave dog to run through fire.”
His hair was singed in a few places and he had some second degree burns on his paws. Shannon carefully cleaned his paws and applied burn-ease before wrapping them in gauze. She handed Lucky back.
“I think that will make him feel better. Try to keep his paws clean for a couple of days.”
“Yes ma’am, thank you.” Peter hugged his dog and returned to his parents.
Shannon joined Stan and told the couple about Lucky's burns.
“Have they found anyone else?” Shannon asked Stan quietly.
“Not yet. There are two missing farmhands.”
“Do they know what caused the explosion?”
“The parents smelled gas just before the house blew.”
“Wow,” Shannon exclaimed, “they were lucky.”
“No kidding.”
Suddenly everyone was rushing around.
“What’s happened?” the young farmer asked.
“I’m not sure, Mr. Huckabee. You stay put, we’ll let you know as soon as we know what is going on.”
“Thank you.” He went back to sit with his family.
*****
Shannon and Stan ran back to where all the activity was taking place. Just as they caught up with Gary and Kenney, the firemen were placing two men on the ground. One man was obviously dead, and the other was unconscious.
Gary covered the dead man before Shannon could see him, while Kenney gave the other man oxygen. Shannon wanted to see the dead man, but Gary stopped her.
“You don’t want to see that.”
“What? Between the ER and Iraq, I’ve seen just about everything, I’m not squeamish.”
“Help Kenney take care of the other man.”
Shannon was about to protest.
“That’s an order, Stevens.” Gary took Stan aside. “We have a problem. As soon as you can, get that body out of here. I’ll let Kenney know to keep Shannon busy.”
“Got it.” Stan knew not to question the boss; he and the fire chief removed the body.
After helping the EMT’s get the injured man into the ambulance, Shannon looked around. The fire was out, and the fire fighters were cleaning up. She saw Gary talking to the farmer and his wife. Peter was sitting next to his sister on the tailgate of a pickup truck, holding Lucky.
“Let’s wrap this up,” Gary announced, he saw Shannon heading his way. “Time to head home.”
Stan and Kenney were already walking toward the helicopter.
“Did they figure out what happened?” Shannon asked as she joined the others.
“Gas leak. The two farmhands were entering the house when it blew,” Kenney told her.
“Where did they take the body? I’m surprised they were allowed to move it before the coroner got here.”
“The Fire Chief reported it was obvious, he died in the explosion. It wasn’t necessary to hold the body here.”
“Kenney, what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“First, Gary won’t let me see the body, and now it’s whisked away. What is everyone hiding?” Shannon was getting pissed off.
“Look, this is a small town, maybe we do things a bit different.”
“Hiding a body is definitely different.”
“Hiding,” Kenney laughed, “what in the world are you talking about? Look, if you want to see the body,
I’ll take you over to the mortuary myself after we get cleaned up.”
“Fine.” Shannon climbed into the helicopter and didn’t say another word.
“Everyone aboard?” Gary asked.
Kenney gave him the signal to go ahead and take off. They were back home, on the ground, fifteen minutes later.
Shannon grabbed her gear and jumped to the ground. She did what was required after a rescue, no more and no less. She had been with them a year. If they didn’t trust her enough to include her as part of the crew by now, they never would. The next morning, Shannon started searching for a new job.
Several days went by without any rescues. Shannon had kept to herself. Every time her teammates tried to strike up a conversation, she would be polite and go somewhere else. She kept her distance.
Shannon’s one-year anniversary had finally arrived. The team wanted to take her out to celebrate, but she turned them down
“No thanks. You guys go ahead, I’d rather stay home.”
“Shannon, what’s going on?” Stan asked.
“Absolutely nothing, what makes you think there was something going on?” She replied with such distain; Stan didn’t bother to reply. Shannon’s attitude was getting so bad, they were glad she decided to stay home.
Chapter 6
“What’s going on with Shannon?” Stan asked Gary as they walked over to the Runway Bar. “Is it the body thing?”
“I think so. I couldn’t let her see that guy; he had his throat torn out. I didn’t tell you before, but the day we had the tour, Shannon claimed she saw a stranger, he looked like a wolf. Scared the hell out of her. We wrote it off as a Halloween prank. When you two were in the kitchen, I went outside. I smelled a wolf, but the scent didn’t go anywhere.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was there and then it was gone. There was nothing to follow.”
“Could he have gotten into a car?”
“I think we would have seen him,” Gary replied.
“Not necessarily. We were all busy inside and the way the bus was parked, it could have blocked our view. Do you think that, and the explosion at the farm, are connected?”
“They might be. The fire could have been set to cover up the killing.”
Haunted by the Wolf- Shannon Page 3