Red and the Wolf (6 page)

“Hey,” she said.

He jerked as if surprised by her voice. “You’re speaking to me again?” he asked, glancing at her and away again.

“That was horrible this morning,” she said, not answering his question.

He nodded.

“That’s a hard loss for the Johansen’s,” she said into the silence.

“They have insurance,” he said offhandedly, pushing himself away from the pole. She was surprised by his seemingly callous answer. “Walk with me?”

Since she’d approached him, she didn’t feel she could say no, so she nodded. Rafe shoved both hands into his front pockets, which stretched his t-shirt tight against his arms and back, clearly showing how much bigger he’d gotten than she even remembered.

“What happened to your hand?”

Ruby glanced down at the bandaged appendage. “Nothing. I dropped a glass. No biggie.”

“Does it hurt?”

“No. I’d forgotten about it,” she said honestly. He nodded, still clearly distracted.

As they walked, he said, “Ruby, you need to leave town.”

“What?” That was the last thing she’d expected him to say.

“The wolf,” he began, blowing out a breath. “He’s getting worse. It’s getting dangerous. You need to go, just for a while.”

Irrational tears pricked Ruby’s eyes. Not,
I’ll take you away to safety
, but
you need to go
. And what, leave her father here at the mercy of some vengeful creature? Or Rafe?

“No.”

Rafe stopped, turning and grasping her by the shoulders. “Please, Red, you don’t understand. There’s too much danger for you.”

“For me? What about you? What about my father? Or your parents, or Lowell, or Marina, or anyone else in town?”

Rafe shook her as if her obstinacy frustrated him. He let her go, pacing away from her, running his hand through his hair. He turned back.

“What about taking your father to your grandma’s? You can go there for a while.”

Ruby’s grandma lived in Anaia on the other side of the forest, about twenty miles away by foot. It was also accessible by air, or on the river barge. Of course, Ruby would have to travel ninety-five miles to the city to get on the barge to Anaia since the river didn't run through Piera. There were no roads in or out of Anaia because of the steepness of the mountainside village. The risk of avalanche, as well as resistance by environmentalists, prevented access roads being built.

“No, Rafe. Marina needs me. My father needs me, and I’m not taking him to my grandma’s. She doesn’t need to see him like . . . like he is. So I’m staying.” His jaw clenched, and she said, “I’ll lock my doors every night.”

Rafe’s breath exploded out of him. “Are you kidding me? You saw what the wolf did to the lock on that barn.” He bent, yelling in her face now. “You think your house’s piddly little locks will keep him out? C’mon, Red, you’re smarter than that!”

She shoved her face even closer to his, which required her to go up on her toes. “And if you knew me at all, you’d know
I’m
not going to run away like a coward!”

Rafe flinched and backed away, returning to his full height. Ruby blinked, looking away.

“Like me?” he asked quietly. “Is that what you think? That I ran away, like a coward.”

Ruby swallowed. “No, not like . . .” She looked up at him. “Yes, Rafe, I do think that. You ran away. From me.”

He stepped toward her, taking her face between his hands. “There were . . . reasons I had to go, reasons that had nothing to do with you.” He paused. “And everything to do with you.”

“What reasons?” she whispered.

He released her and swung away, pushing his hands through his hair again. “I can’t tell you. I wish I could, Red.” He turned toward her. “I would tell you if I could. I can’t.”

Hurt wound around her heart, constricting. She nodded. “Fine. Okay. No worries.” She turned and walked away.

“Red!” he called. She ignored him.

She stopped at the drug store, made a purchase, and went straight home. Once arriving, she retrieved her purchase from the bag. She set the box on the counter, staring at herself in the mirror over the bathroom sink.

She wasn’t going to be his Red anymore.

* * * * *

“Rubes?”

“Yeah, dad?” she asked, moving to pick up a plate on the floor next to his chair. He reached out shakily and touched her hair. She looked up at him.

“What happened to your hair?”

“I dyed it.”

“It’s black,” he slurred.

“Yes,” she said, standing and walking into the kitchen. She’d decided to skip church today, something she rarely did. Marina had called and told her there were several more animals killed last night, all of them from where they’d been locked into their barns. The residents were in a panic. Ruby didn’t want to face Rafe’s knowing looks, so she was hiding at home.

She cleaned the house from top to bottom, organized drawers and cabinets, paid whatever bills she could with the meager amount of money they had, rehung her shelf in her room, and it was still early in the afternoon.

She sat with her father while he watched TV, reading a book. She read three chapters before realizing she had no idea what she’d read.

“Dad, did you hear about the wolf?” she finally asked. He was half drunk, but still somewhat coherent.

“What wolf?” he asked, his curiosity peaked.

“There’s a wolf that been killing some animals.”

“That’s nothing new,” he said, reaching for his bottle of vodka. “Wolves have been killing dogs and cats in Piera since the first farmer moved in.”

“Not dogs and cats,” she said. “Livestock. Yesterday, it killed Johansen’s bull.”

Her father pulled his hand back from the bottle and sat upright. “A
wolf
killed Bradford?”

“Yes.” Her father looked stunned, as well he should. “That’s not all.” He looked at her, and she could swear there was a bit of clarity in his eyes. “Bradford was locked up in the barn. The wolf got in, killed the bull, but left the other animals alone.”

He ran a hand agitatedly across his face. “How long has this been going on?”

“Not long. But it’s getting worse. This morning there were several more.”

“All locked in their barns?”

“Yes.”

“Ruby, we need to leave Piera until this problem is taken care of.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. He sounded like Rafe. “I’m not going anywhere, Dad. I have a life here. I can’t just walk away. Who knows how long it’ll take for them to find the wolf?”

“We should go anyway. You don’t understand.”

“Argh!” Ruby grumbled. “That seems to be the favorite phrase of all men these days.”

Her father’s gaze cut to her. “Ruby, is Rafe back? I thought I saw him, but . . .”

“Yes, Dad, he’s back. He was here a few nights ago.”

Her father’s head dropped in shame. Ruby could guess he knew exactly when it had been.

“Did he tell you to go?” he asked quietly, lifting his head.

“Yes.”

“You should listen, Rubes. We should go.”

“Where, Dad? Where would we go? Grandma’s?”

He was shaking his head before she finished. “No, not Grandma’s. You know I can’t go there.”

“Then where?” When he didn’t answer, Ruby said, “There’s only one place for you to go, Dad. Until you go there, we can’t go anywhere.”

He dropped his head into his hands. “I can’t, Rubes. I can’t do it.”

Ruby left her chair and crouched on the floor in front of him. “Don’t you think it’s time, Dad? She’s been gone nine years now. She’s not coming back. That doesn’t mean you get to check out of life, too. What about me?”

Her father glanced up at her. “Do you know how she died, Rubes?”

She nodded. “Of course I do. She was killed in a car accident.”

He shook his head. “No, Rubes, she didn’t. That’s what you were told because you were twelve. Someone else told you that, and I let you believe it because it was easier.”

Ruby dropped from her squat to sitting on the floor. “She wasn’t in a car accident?”

Her father leaned forward, urgently. “It was the wolf.
That’s
what killed your mother.”

“No!” The word was exhaled on a breath. “Dad, that’s not true. It was a car—”

“It was the wolf, Rubes. But then it went away. Or they killed it. Or something. I don’t know. I just know that after it killed her, it was gone, and I was left without my beloved wife.”

Ruby’s mouth quivered as she looked at her dad. She’d known his alcoholism was bad, but had no idea it had completely turn his brain to mush. “Please, daddy, please go get help.”

Her grandma had promised to pay the exorbitant fee for rehab if he’d go. That was two years ago. Ruby had been trying to convince him since.

“Rubes, I can’t. Especially not now.”

Ruby had an idea. “What if I leave too, dad?”

His eyes locked on hers. “If I go to . . . that place, you’ll go away?”

Ruby hated lying to her father, but she’d say anything to get him the help he needed. She nodded.

“Where will you go?”

“I’ll go to Grandma’s,” she said.

“That’s too close. You need to go far away, so that you’re nowhere near the forest.”

Ruby quickly agreed. “Yes, okay, I will. I’ll talk to Rafe and see if he knows someone I can stay with in New York for a while.”

She saw the fear and hesitancy in her dad’s eyes. She knew he was terrified of getting sober and facing his personal demons. She got up on her knees and wrapped her arms around him.

“It’s going to be okay, Dad.”

He held her tightly, his tears warming her shoulder.

* * * * *

Ulric Wolfe drove her father to rehab. It would take him two days to make the trip. Once Ulric and her father had been close friends, but after the death of her mom, their friendship died. He told Ruby he felt this was the least he could do.

Ruby packed as her father did. She told him she’d leave the next day. Because he’d spent the entire previous night completely drunk, and was now suffering the consequences, he didn’t question her. As soon as he left, she quickly unpacked. Marina had given her the day off so that she could tell her father goodbye. She spent the rest of the day dumping all of his alcohol down the drain and carrying empty bottles out to the trash can.

The following day when she left the shop, she found a pacing, angry Rafe waiting for her out front. Deciding to pretend she didn’t see him, she turned for home. He strode up to her, stepping in front so that she couldn’t continue her progress. Glaring down at her, his anger was momentarily stumped by her hair. He lifted a strand from her shoulder.

“What did you do to your hair?”

“I dyed it.”

“But . . . why?”

“I was tired of red,” she answered, moving around him to continue toward home. As if her action called his anger to remembrance, he stalked after her.

“You lied to your father.”

Ruby glared at him. “That’s none of your business, Rafe.”

“It’s my business when you tell him I’m arranging for you to go away.”

She tightened her lips. She couldn’t really argue with that.

“So that’s what I’m doing, I’m arranging for you to go away, Red.”

Ruby stopped and swung toward him, shoving against his shoulder. It didn’t even move him an inch. “I’m not going anywhere, Rafe! And stop calling me Red!”

His eyes flicked to her hair once again. “Shall I call you ‘Black’?” he growled. “That’s the color of your soul, you stubborn, lying, pig headed—”