Hunger of the Wolf (7 page)

Amber did not
kn
ow how long she ran
through
the woo
ds
a
s the s
hadowy figure stayed just behind her
, but eventually she
grew too winded t
o go any further.  The
sound of
heavy bre
at
hing still filled her ears
,
and whatever it was seemed to be almost on top of
her
now
. S
he looked around for something to defend herself with and seized on a large piec
e of wood
. 
She was
prepared to fight it off
with every ounce of strength she could muster,
but
then
,
inexplicably
,
the sound
faded away and
there was nothing to be seen
, just the trees moving in the gentle b
reeze.

An eerie silence
settled over the woods
,
and s
he leaned against a tree
and tried to catch her breath. Was it possi
ble
she had imagined the whole thing? But the breathing seemed so loud and she had definitely seen something moving through the trees.

The sky was
beginning to darken
overhead, and Amber
knew she didn’t have much time to find her way
back before nig
ht set in. If it had been
a wolf
pursuing her
it might return with some of its pack mates for an easy dinner. T
he tho
ught spurred her back onto her feet
,
but she
still
had no idea which way to go. H
er sense of direction was b
ad enough in normal circum
stances
,
but now
, overcome with fear and exhaustion,
she didn’t stand a chance.
She just had to pick a direction randomly and hope for the best. She cursed herself for not bringing her cell phone with her because even if it
didn’t have reception its compass
would have come in very handy right now
.

Dusk
was falling
rapidly as she continue
d walking through the woods.
Amber was almost ready to give into total despair when she
heard a familiar rumbling
in the distance.
It was the unmistakable sound of a
car
.
Pushing her
way through the trees,
she walked
in the direction she had heard it co
ming from
,
and
the sound grew louder. When the trees grew thinner
she broke into a run
,
and
to her relief
she came out onto a
road
.

H
er heart dropped
back down
into her stomach when she saw that the
truck had already passed
. She waved her arms wildly
and yelled
,
hoping the driver would glance in the rear view m
irror and spot her,
and to her
intense joy
the truck
stopped
about two hundred yards ahead of her
.

The driver did not get out but waited for her to walk to the truck, and as she made her way towards it
,
A
mber could just make out the silhouette
of a heavy-
set man
in the driver’s seat
. In n
ormal
circumstances she would not
dream of getting into a car with a total stranger on an isolated mountain road, but now she really had no choice. It was either the wolves or this stranger, an
d
she would rather take her chances with him.

She walked up the driver’s window and the man in the cabin looked at her in surprise. She must be a real sight
,
she realized
,
with her
torn clothes and dishevelled hair
.

“My G
od woman, what happened to you? Are you alright?”

“I got lost in the woods and something chased me, I think it was a wolf. I need a lift back to my cabin. Do you mind?”

“Please
,
get in.
Of course I’ll drive you home. I can’t very well leave you out here on your own.”

“Thank you very much.” As they drove Amber introduced
herself
and told
him a little more about what had happened. He didn’t say
much in response
,
and
when
she looked out the window she
recognised the road they were on as the one she took into town. They weren’t very
far from the cabin at all.

T
hey neared the turn-
off
,
and
she gave the man directions
to get there
,
but to her surprise
he kept
going
.

“Excuse me,” she repeated, “that was the turn to my cabin, but you can just drop me here if you like an
d I’ll
walk back
.
” Her panic rose when
she tried the door and discovered the truck
had central locking. She could not
even jump out. S
he was completely at his mercy
, and then she remembered the poster of the missing teenager
she had seen in town
.
Her blood froze
in her veins
.

“That won’t
be necessary
, you’re coming with me
,
”
said the man.
T
hey drove
in silence for a few seconds
as Amber tried to
stay calm and
work out what she should do
next
.

“I really think you should let me out here. I’m grateful for the lift but I
want to get out now
,
and
you’d better do as I ask otherwise you
could get into a lot of trouble.”
H
e turned to smile
at
her
,
and she
tried to read
his face. He had looked normal enough when she first got into his truck
,
but now she
could see that he had a strange
glint in his eye
and a shudder of pure fear went through her
.

After another silence he
spoke.
“I guess it would be a good idea if I introduced myself before you have a heart attack,
or try to kick the door out
. M
y name is Bob. I’m
Sharon
’s husband
,
and I was on my way to collect you for dinner. Sorry for not taking you back to the cabin
,
but
Sharon
is the best person to look at those scratches. She has just the right ointment for them
,
and she’ll f
ix you right
.” Amber almost fainted
with relief as she
sank back into the seat and closed
her eyes.

“How could you do that to her?” said
Sharon
, giving Bob a swat on the arm. “That was so cruel of you. No wonder the poor girl looked such a fright when she arrived.”

“I was just trying to te
ach her a lesson,” replied Bob.
“
I could have been anyone out there on that road
,
and she just got in the car with me
as easy as you please, no questions asked.
”

“I didn’t think I had m
uch choice,” protested Amber, “I
t was either that or stay lost in the woods f
or the night with the wolves.
”

“You don’t
l
isten to a word he says.” Sharon
adjusted
the blanket
around her shoulders and dabbed
at one of the scratche
s on Amber’s
arm
with ointment
.  “Y
ou do need to be more careful
,
dear, but the last thing you need right now is a lecture after what you’ve been through
.”
They were sitting at the table in
Sharon
and Bob’s
cosy kitchen
,
and Amber was beginning to feel a little silly about the whole thing.
She had always had an
overactive imagination
, and the more she thought about
it,
the more it seemed she had just panicked and dreamt the whole thing up.
She had
only seen
a
faint
shadow
flickering through the trees a
nd the sound of heavy breathing, but that
could easily have been t
he wind
.

“You know what, I really think I’ve
overreacted and made a mountain out of a molehill. I have a bad habit of doing this. Just before I got lost I accidentally wandered up the path to
Jesse
Davidson
’s
cabin and he told me h
is dog was in the woods
,
so that’s probably what I saw.
”
She noticed
Sharon
and Bob exchange a glance, and she again got the feeling
Sharon
was holding back. 

“Drink up that tea
,
dear, it will help warm you up.”

“What is the story with
Jesse
Davidson
anyway,” she asked, not willing to let it drop this time. Another look passed between them.

“I don’t know what you mean, there’s no story,” replied
Sharon
unconvincingly. 

“Come on, you don’t expect me to buy that after the way you two just looked at each other. He told me he’s a writer of some sort, but that’s all I really know about him. I’m sure you can tell me a bit more.”

“I won’t deny there are some rumours about him, but you know how people like to talk, and I wouldn’t want to bore you with
silly
gossip.”

Bob gave a derisive snort. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. She’
s
been dying to tell you all about him
since you set foot in the bakery. She’s already scared off a couple of tourists with her stories
,
and she’s under strict instructions from
the business council
not to breath a word
to anyone new in town about
Jesse
Davidson
.
I made her promise tonight that she wouldn’t say anything.”

“She asked.
I didn’t bring it up
,
and she has a right to know
,
being out there all by herself.” Now Amber was really intrigued.

Bob sighed. “I guess you’re right, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to go back to that cabin again after you’ve finished with her. At least let me tell her
because I won’t hear the end of it if the business council find out you’ve been shooting your mouth off again.
”

“I don’t care who tells me, one of you needs to spill the beans before I explode.”

“
Alright, if you insist
,
you tell
,
”
said
Sharon
.
Amber could see
she was disappointed.

“
Okay
,
but I’ll have to give you bit of history
so you get the full gist of it.
”

“That’s alright, I’ve got plenty of time.”

“
Jesse
Davidson
’s grandfather built the
cabin on the lake
many years ago
. He
was
a
reclusive loner type and no o
ne ever saw much of him in town. His wife left him fairly early on and raised the family on her own
in another town
,
and I don’t think he saw much of them
.  His children were all grown up by the time he died
,
and
Jesse
’s father
started
using the cabin
regularly
for holidays
with his own family
.
Jesse
’
s
parents
are
lovely people
,
and his brother
is
as well, but
Jesse
’s
always been a bit of an odd one
. A few years ago he started coming out here on his own, and now he practically lives here. We never thought that much
about it, and then we discovered
he’s a well
-
known writer. A
t first we were quite proud to have him in o
ur community till we found out what he writes.
It’s horror.
”