Beneath a Winter Moon (39 page)

Thomas kept a wary eye on Jeremiah as he went through Delmar’s backpack and clothing. He found nothing, save a medic bag with emergency supplies…no prescription drugs for the cancer, nothing special at all. Jenny saw his frustration when he returned to help her.

“What’s the matter, now?” she asked.

“I thought that Delmar would have some special medication with him…some drugs or something, but he doesn’t. And I don’t know what to do.”

She began to unlace Delmar’s boots, as Thomas laid a pillow under his head. “I’m sure he’ll be fine, Thomas. It might just be that exhaustion has brought the symptoms to the surface. Maybe once he rests for a while, he will be okay.”

Thomas nodded, but surprised himself when he pounded a fist on the floor. “I’m tired of being helpless!” He gritted his teeth. “I’m sick and tired of watching the people around me…watching them…”

Jenny put a hand on his shoulder. “Me too,” she said softly. “But rescue is coming soon, and we are really safe now. They will get him to a hospital and he will be fine. You’ll see.”

Thomas stayed on the floor and scooted over to the wall by the gun cabinet and next to Jack. He reached over and petted the Husky, then, unabashedly drifted onto one side until his head rested on the dog’s back. Jack swung his head around but could not quite reach Thomas’s face. He managed to lick Thomas’s hair, instead, and Thomas reached over to grasp a furry ear in his hand, scratching back and forth. “Good boy,” he said, as he had so many times before. “You’re a good boy, Jack.”

Jeremiah slapped the table repeatedly, as if applauding. “Now that is so very sweet, Thomas. I have to say that it is so refreshing to see that kind of love for a pet. It’s commendable, as well, I think.”

Thomas knew that the man was probably goading him, but the word “pet” reminded him that there was much to be said about the death’s of Daniel and Steven…and this man was likely the only one who could answer the questions on Thomas’s mind. He jumped up and went to sit opposite of Jeremiah. “So, tell me, Jeremiah….tell me about the animal that you’ve been chaining up out there. And please don’t repeat the nonsense about the diseased bear. I saw the damned thing’s face up close and personal. I’ve got the wounds on my neck to prove it.”

“First,” Jeremiah answered. “Call me Alastair. It’s my real name and I’m more comfortable with it.” He leaned back. “Second, the animal is not my pet and I don’t believe it is fair to say that I have been studying it. At least…not for a long time.” He smiled, seeing the anger manifest itself on Thomas’s face. “It’s certainly not part of any experiment.” He paused. “You said that you have wounds to prove you’ve seen it. Tell me, were you bitten?”

Thomas shook his head. “What is it,
Alastair
? What have you been doing with it if not some wacko genetic alterations…are you studying it?”

Alastair laughed. “Genetic alterations…I’m not a scientist, Thomas. I’m not conducting any experiments, I’m not studying it, and I can’t really say what it is. Not in the strictest sense, I mean. There must be a thousand definitions.”

“Give me just one.”

“Fine. It is a
Rougarou
.”

“A what?”

“You see what I mean? There must be a thousand words for it, and yet it…the animal…that was
your
word, Thomas…is an
unknown
species.” Alastair shook his head. “Goodness, Thomas, I used
Rougarou
because it is what you
Louisiana
natives call it.”

“I’ve never heard of any…how do you know where I am from?”

Alastair laughed and raised his hands from the table to point at Thomas. “I was right.” He chuckled. “Your accent is definitely southern and yet I would be remiss if I couldn’t identify the Cajun rolling off of your tongue. Or do you prefer
Coonass
?”

Thomas felt that even though Alastair was tied to the table, helpless, it was he who had the upper hand. He checked his anger. “Did you know before now that it has killed people? Did you know that it killed two of my friends…one of my best friends and also Jenny’s husband?” He turned to look at Jenny just as she lay back down on the couch. “Sorry, Jen.”

She didn’t reply. She turned her face inward and buried it into the cushions.

Alastair shook his head. “No,” he lied. “I didn’t know that it killed them and I didn’t know it had ever killed anyone.”

“Then, tell me what it is.”

“I just did, Thomas. You must
trust me
in that it is better that I do not describe it to you. You would not believe me anyway…not at first. If you recalled just a bit of your Cajun French you would understand the name.”

Thomas tried a new tack. “Why did you run from us?”

Alastair held his bound hands up for Thomas to see. “Because I feared this.”

“We’d have had no reason to hold you if you had not shut down the generator. Your running away? I couldn’t have cared less…but when you shut down the radio and endangered us all? That is why you are where you are. That, and the fact we saw your contraption.”

Alastair sighed. “I suppose it won’t hurt to tell you that it was not
you
that I feared, and I don’t fear you now…but I do fear being taken off the mountain and ultimately held by the police. Oh, at first it will be only for questioning, but then after you tell then what you have learned, they will send others up here and they will find evidence of the…animal…and then I would be arrested. I cannot be in their custody when they find everything out.”

“If you are not
guilty
of anything, then it shouldn’t bother you.”

Alastair shrugged but said nothing.

“So, you fear that your role in
what
…that you took care of the creature? That they will learn that you are
its
caretaker? Is it that, Alastair, or are you
even now
protecting it? Maybe it’s not that you fear for yourself…
maybe you don’t want it found
.”

Alastair smiled. “I
don’t
want it found, Thomas…but I am afraid it is too late.”

“Tell me about the animal. Will it return? Will it come here?”

“Oh yes, there is no doubt about it. If you are not out of here by tonight, it will definitely come.”

“Are we safe in here? If it comes, will it obey you?” He sighed. “Do you have some kind of hold over it?”

Alastair laughed. “It’s not a pet, I already told you. No, I won’t be able to stop it from attacking, and
no
, you are
not
safe here.” Alastair waited, but Thomas didn’t take the bait. “The only possibility you have for your safety and the safety of your friends lies with two possibilities. You either let me go right now, or gather up your gear and leave…head for the lake as fast as you can.”

Thomas felt a slight shiver as Alastair finished. The man’s face was solid stone and he had not so much as twitched. Try as he might, Thomas could not shake the feeling that Alastair spoke the truth…or at the very least the man believed his own words. “Even if we could leave now, that thing out there could easily attack us…pick us off one by one. Even if one of us gets a good shot at it, it would only be because the damned thing ambushed another of us.” He paused. “By the time one of us gets off a shot, it will probably have killed the other. Besides, Delmar is sick and I can’t take a chance on moving him.”

“Then let me go. It is the
only way
.”

Thomas shook his head. “I wish we’d never seen your trail out at the generator. I wish you had gotten too far ahead of us…and I wish we hadn’t seen your contraption out there. But that’s not what happened. You’re here because you are involved with the attacks and because you’ve tipped your hand in that you have a lot more to hide.” He straightened. “I won’t let you go.”

“Then say your prayers, for what good it will do.”

Thomas glanced over at the gun cabinet. “We have an arsenal in here, and besides… your door and that huge bolt look like they would hold up to a battering ram. If that thing comes calling, we will kill it before it ever gets inside the cabin.”

Alastair leaned forward and looked deep into Thomas’s eyes. “You are wrong, lad. You are dead wrong.”

Thomas steeled himself and refused to give an inch to the fear that clawed at his shirttails. “You just stay put and don’t do anything…stupid. You wouldn’t be the first man I’ve shot, and if I think you are a threat, believe me…I
will
kill you.”

Alastair chuckled and held up his hands, gesturing at the zip ties and rope. “What harm can I possibly do?”

Thomas took the rocking chair from in front of the fire and placed it so that it was opposite Delmar’s sleeping form. Jenny still lay on the couch and Thomas could not tell if she was sleeping, but he hoped that she had been. He hoped she hadn’t heard his conversation with Alastair. Jack came over to lie down between the rocker and Delmar, and Thomas leaned over to lay a hand on the dog. As he stroked the soft fur, he replayed Alastair’s words in his mind. Alastair’s voice broke the silence.

“Was it the military…that you shot someone?” he called out. “I see the luminous tape sewn into the back of your backpack. They are called cat-eyes are they not? I’ve only seen them on military uniforms and gear.”

Thomas stopped rocking the chair, but did not answer.

“I have to tell you, lad…combat is nothing like what you will face if you don’t let me leave. You can’t begin to imagine how much you and your friends will suffer.”

Thomas began rocking again. He didn’t turn to look at Alastair, but he heard Jenny suck in a breath and he realized she was not asleep, and had likely heard everything. “Alastair, if you say anything else that might scare Jenny, I’ll gag you. If that doesn’t work, the butt of my rifle
will
.”

Alastair did not reply, but the low chuckle was enough for Thomas. He jumped up from the chair and commanded Jack to stay. He went to the kitchen and began furiously looking through places he hadn’t searched before. “Once again,” he said when he found what he was looking for. “Everyone has some.” He took the silver roll of duct tape and tore a strip about as long as his forearm. Alastair started to protest but Thomas shoved the tape over his mouth and around his face. Just to be sure, he placed another strip over the first.

He pulled hard on Alastair’s ponytail until the man’s head was snapped back as far as it would go. “I’m beginning not to like you….and I swear to you if you don’t keep your mouth closed, you won’t be in any shape to get onto a helicopter, much less to hold in a cell.” He slammed Alastair’s face into the table and heard the soft crack of cartilage as the man’s nose impacted. He yanked the head back, surprisingly pleased at the blood that he saw on the man’s face. “Oops. I’m sorry about that.” Tears rolled down Alastair’s face as he clenched his eyes shut in pain. Thomas saw the man’s pain, and again was a little pleased…but the look also calmed him. He shoved Alastair’s head to the side, but not with much force. “Not a word,” he growled, then walked back to the rocking chair.

The next two hours passed without incident. Alastair had fallen asleep, his bloody face pressed against the table. Jenny had slept as well, and it took all of Thomas’s bearing to keep himself from dosing. Delmar’s condition had not changed, and Thomas did not even pretend that he knew what to do, other than to keep the man as comfortable as he could. He let Jack outside long enough for the dog to relieve himself, and upon opening the door he had hoped to see that the weather had cleared. The gusts of stinging snow dashed those hopes.