Chapter Five

Surprisingly, I slept like a baby that night; for which I was grateful.  I attributed it to the busy day and strenuous walk I took; added to an already exhausted body. Whatever the reason, I was glad.

I spent the day caring for the horses and daydreaming about what it would be like to meet Kenton when I was looking my best.  Upon my mother’s request, I rode in the ring instead of on the trails.  I didn’t mind. Admittedly, I was a bit shaken by being so close to the tree line when the wolves howled.  

Think me a wimp if you want, but they don’t have wolves in Chicago and that howl was just plain scary.

Mom was a little out of sorts at dinner.   It wasn’t until we’d cleaned up and Josh went to his room to play on his Xbox that she asked me to sit with her on the patio.  She had something disturbing to share with me that she didn’t want Josh to hear.

Even if I was old enough to drink under the law, I never did acquire a taste for it.  Mom knew this, so I was surprised when she poured two glasses of white wine and handed one to me.

When I accepted it with hesitation and a confused look, she said, “Trust me, you’ll want this.  If I had something stronger, it would be in that glass.  Believe me.”

I eased myself back into the patio chair and put the gold tinted liquid to my lips.  I wanted to drill her on what was going on, but, by the look on her face and her behavior at dinner, I knew my wait to find out wouldn’t be long.  I could see that she was working the words in her head before she spoke them, so I simply kept quiet and sipped the wine.   To deal with my impatience in waiting, I focused on the sensations the foreign beverage caused in my body; from the feel of it going down my throat to the sensation of mild euphoria once it had settled.

Seeing that I’d almost finished my glass, mom actually refilled it.  Now I was really curious – and worried- about what she was about to say.

“There has been a tragedy,” she began.  “A young woman was found in the woods behind our house this morning.  Her throat was ripped out.”

I’d noticed the police car at our house, but I thought it was a social call.  The chief of police was an old childhood friend of my mother’s from when she was a ward of my great grandmother.  “I saw Hap’s car here, but I thought he’d just come for coffee.”

“Not this time, honey.  He’s investigating the girl’s murder.”

“Who was she?  Do you know?” I asked; although, I don’t know why, since I didn’t know anyone except the Mastersons and the handsome Kenton from the night before.

“There are camping grounds attached to the reserve on the southeast side,” she explained. “She must have been hiking.”  Her brows knit together.  “Didn’t anyone warn her about the wolves?”

“And bears,” I reminded her.   I thought for a moment.  “When you say that Hap was investigating the girl’s murder, I thought it was a person who murdered her.  It was really an animal attack.”

“Don’t mince words and don’t downplay the animal attack,” she said; emphasizing the words animal attack. “This is serious.  I’m so sorry we moved here.”

“Why?”  I asked as I took another drink of my wine.  It was going down much easier now.  “People were always getting killed in Chicago.”

“Not in our back yards and not by werewolves,” she said. Then, realizing what she’d blurted out, she covered her mouth with her hands.

“Werewolves?” I repeated, incredulously, as I set my glass down and moved to my mother.  Kneeling before her, I said, “Mom, do you hear yourself?”

“Well, I’ve said it now and there’s no taking it back.” She heaved a sigh.  “It was like this when I was growing up too. That’s why I left.  What was wrong with me for not remembering?  According to Hap, they’re becoming a problem,” she moaned.

I studied my mother with concern.  She’d lost it. Perhaps it was the after effect of her lengthy drinking binge. I needed to find a way make her see how ridiculous her fears were. “Mom, listen to yourself.  Are you serious?  Hap’s just messing with you.”

“Was he messing with me about the dead girl up in the back woods?”  she asked.

I looked her, steadily, in the eyes and used as calm a tone as I could muster.  “I was up very early this morning and outside with the horses most of the day, yet I didn’t see an ambulance, or a hearse go up the road to fetch any dead body. What’s wrong with Hap, anyway?  Has he lost his rocker?”

“Hap is a good friend.  He’s telling me the truth,” she insisted. “I don’t know why I forgot about this.  I should have remembered.  Your father….”

At that moment, we were interrupted by a very frustrated Josh Cramby whose Xbox decided to act up right in the middle of Minecraft. I couldn’t have been happier.  I wasn’t sure why my mother was bringing up my father at a time like this and I didn’t want to know. I’d listened to enough lamenting about him during her drunken state to last me a lifetime, so I eagerly offered to help my brother try to figure out what was wrong. 

I left her sitting on the moonlit patio with the bottle of wine in one hand and a glass in the other.  As I followed Josh to his room, I could hear the faint howling of a wolf.

It took about an hour to help Josh figure out what was happening with his gaming device.  Once I was no longer needed, I decided to go to my room, rather than rejoin my  mother.  I know she could have used my support, but I found her craziness overwhelming. 

I stopped on the mezzanine, near the top of the stairs, and listened for her. I figured that she was still on the patio, since all was quiet.   I felt a brief wave of guilt over not returning to her as I continued onto my room.  I pushed it away and justified my actions by telling myself that it was almost bedtime anyway.

As I stared out of my window at the full moon, thoughts of my father flitted about in my head.  I had such mixed emotions.  I missed him, but I was also furious with him. 

I will never forget the morning I woke up to find he’d left in the night. There was no explanation given to me or my brother from him and my mother wasn’t offering anything either. All she kept saying was that it was for the best.

For the best?  For who?  Why?  Why was it for the best?   It wasn’t as if my mother and father fought on a regular basis.  They behaved like a happy couple right up until the time he left.  My memories of my parents while they were together was of them laughing, hugging, and kissing. So, what happened?

Our lives totally changed that day.  Mom went into a tail spin. The laughter turned into tears as she buried herself in self-pity and bourbon. The daily drinking stopped, and the laughter returned when she got the new job and we moved into great grandmother’s estate house.   I had hopes of things getting better. Now, with her crazy talk of werewolves all around us… well, I just didn’t know what to think.  I missed my dad and his level head. He’d know how to handle my mother.