Hunger of the Wolf (8 page)

“Oh,” said Amber, relieved that it was something
so simple that had offended them.
”Just because he writes horror doesn’t make him a bad person. A lot of people…..”

He raised
his hand to silence her.
“I h
aven’t finished yet.
It’s
not just your run of the mill horror
he writes.
We like scary st
ories as much as the next people
,
but
this is real
twisted stuff.
Makes you feel sick just reading it.
Of course that raised a few eyebrows, but each to their own
,
as they say. Nothing would have come of it until the young girl went missing about six months ago.
She was walking home from a party one night
,
and she just vanished into thin air.”

“I saw a poster in the main street,” said Amber, wondering what
Jesse
could
possibly
have to do with the girl’s disappearance. “Surely he isn’t a suspect?”

“He’
s the only
suspect
”, broke in
Sharon
before Bob silenced her with a look
.

“It’s true what she says.
His car was spotted in town at the time she disappeared
,
and his dog was also seen in the ar
ea. You can’t miss that dog, it’s a
weird looking animal
, has always given me the willies. Anyway
,
t
here was no one else passing through town that night so it had to be a local and
nearly
everyone around here believes it was him.”

“And he’s always had a fondness for the young girls too,” sai
d
Sharon
, unable to stop herself butting in.
“Even before this happened people used to talk about the
way he
came into town just as school got out, driving his car
around slowly, watching them. Sometimes he
even
got out of his car and hung out wit
h the kids
on the basketball courts and o
n the street corners
. Very inappropriate behaviour for a man of his age
,
but he wasn’t breaking any laws and there was nothing that could be done about it.”

“
That is a bit strange.
Does he have any kind of alibi
for the
night
the girl disappeared
?”

“Nope, and it turns out he wrote a story about
a young woman who disappe
ared and was murdered i
n
circumst
ances that are almost identical to the disappearance of Tehya 
Gordon
.
I’m telling you
,
that boy is bad news,” said Bob.

“Re
ally, that is quite a coincidence
.” Amber had thought they were being overly paranoid but now she was
beginning to get a little
concerned.

“In the story she was attacked
by a were
wolf who
feast
ed on human flesh
,
and there are
some people around here who think….
”

Bob interrupted her.
“
Sharon
, we’re not going to
go into that
nonsense are we?”

             
“I didn’t say I believe
it. If we’re going to tell her about
Jesse
Davidson
we
might as well tell her everything.”
She turned
back to Amber. “There are some
people a
round here who think
he’s one of them. That his story is true
and
he is a werewolf who preys on
women.
T
hey
said the same thing about his grandfather
. Two young girls
went m
issing
back then
,
and he was a major suspect. Some kids out hunting in the
woods one day said
they saw a wolf go into his cabin
,
and then he came out
. B
ut
Bob is right, it’s all rubbish
,
and nothing has been proven. I just thought you needed
to know so you can be careful and
not put yourself in a risky situation. It’
s best to stay away from him
.
”

             
“Thanks for the advice,
”
said Amber suddenly feeling very nervous about the prospect of going back to the cabin that night.
The werewolf story was clearly nonsense, but it was harder to brush off the fact that he was a suspect in the disappearance of a young girl. She had found him a bit strange the first time they met, and their encounter today had only confirmed this impression.
Sharon
noticed
her anxiety.

             
“I’
m so sorry
,
sweetie, what are we thinking filling your head with all this whe
n you’re out there on your own?
Would you like to stay here with us tonight?”

             
“Thank y
ou so much.” Amber felt
her shoulders drop with relief. At least for tonight she didn’t have to worry about anything, and tomorrow she would probably make plans to
head back to the city. H
er time at the cabin was not proving to be as calming or restful as she’d hoped. Her experience in the
woods that afternoon had
shaken her
up
,
and
t
he las
t thing she needed was to spend her
remaining
time
here
worrying
that
her neighbour
was a murderer
.

             
“G
ood, then that’s settled.
Bob can take you home tomorrow morning.”

             
“That’s right,” chimed in
Bob. “But I have to warn you I
get up at the crack of dawn
,
so it will be very early.”

“
That’s fine. I’m an early riser too, and I have a lot to organize tomorrow. I’
ll pro
bably be leaving in day or two
.”

“I’m sorry to hear that
,
but
I can’t say that I blame you. I
t’s better to be safe than sorry.
If you do decide to stay I’d advise you to get a gun for protection.
You c
an pick one up at the pawn shop
in town and take it home on the same day. All that have to do nowadays is call a hotline to make sure you have no criminal history.
Now
,
I’ll make us all another cup of tea,” said
Sharon
getting up from the table.

“Oh no, I don’t like guns and refuse to have one in the house. I think I’ll just go home.”

“I hope you’re happy with yourself woman for scaring away another tourist. The business council are going to crucify
you
,” said Bob.

“My conscience is mor
e important to me than those grumblers
on the business council. Now
,
let’s talk about something else.
Did you know poor old Mrs Samuels
wa
s caught shoplifting at the grocery store
yesterday?
Poor old dear, she
’s really growing senile, but her husband is in total denial.
” Bob rolled his eyes at Amber,
and she couldn’t help laughing as
Sharon
prattled on oblivious
ly
.

L
ater
,
l
ying in
Sharon
and Bob’
s floral
guest bedroom
,
Amber
felt very safe and se
cure. They were such kind
people
,
and they had taken very good care of her after her scare
in the woods
. As much as she loved her mother she had always wishe
d she’d grown up in an
affectionate home
with two parents
just
like Bob and Sharon
doting on
her. S
he drifted off imagining what it would
have
be
en
like to
have the
happy family
life
she’d
lacked as a child. Maybe if she’d had experienced these things
in childhood
she would not have been so quick to
fall for Dominic’s charms or to
jump at the life of security and warmth
he
offered.

Chapter 6

When Bob pulled up in front of the cabin the following morning both he and Amber saw
Jesse
Davidson
on the jetty at the same time.

             
“Looks like you have a visitor,” said Bob, raising his hand slightly in acknowledgement.
Jesse
waved back.
“Would you like me to stick around for a while
till he leaves?”

             
“
No, I’ll be fine
.
I’ll just go straight inside.
Thanks for a great dinner last night, I really enjoyed myself.”

             
“Me too.
Sharon
loves getting to know new people in town. It’s a shame you’ll probably be leaving so soon or we could have done it again.”

             
“I know, but I’
ll
probably
be ba
ck here with my friends before long
and I’ll be sure to pop in and say hello.”

             
“We’d like that.”

             
Amber ha
d turned down his offer
to stay
out of habit
,
and as he drov
e away she regretted not taking him up on it
. She had not realized how disturbed she
was about being alone with
Jesse
Davidson
until it was too late
. To her dismay he was walking up the path towards her.
She waved before turning towards the house, hoping he’d take the hint
and leave her alone
, but he
began walking faster
.

             
“You’re up and about early today. Have you been out walking again?”

             
“No, I had dinner with the
Crow
’
s last night and I stayed at their place
in town
.
Sharon
got Bob to pick me up because she didn’t want me out driving the mountain roads at night.” His express
ion changed immediately
,
and Amber
realized her mistake. She had told him she intended to keep to hers
elf
when she turned down his
invitation
earlier in the week
. N
ow he knew she
just
did not want to have dinner with him.

             
“I’m glad you’re not spending all your time working. I’ll leave you to it.” He turned and walked back down the path.

             
“
Jesse
,” called Amber after him, trying to think up some kind of excuse that might appease his hurt feelings, but he kep
t walking as if he had not heard her
. With a shrug she
went inside the house. She did not owe him any explanations
,
and after what she had found out from
Sharon
and Bob
,
the less she had to do with him the better.

The rest of Amber’s
day was very productive and she got a lot of work completed.
She became so caught up in her book
she forgo
t all about her plans to head back home as soon as possible.
Spending time with a happy married couple was exactly what she needed to overcome her writer’
s block.  What the
Crow
’s
had was a true partnership. It was very obvious how much they loved and respected each other. Underneath their gentle teasing was true devotion to building a life together.