Cooper lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling. He reached over and picked up his pocket watch. It was well after midnight, yet his mind wouldn't let him rest. Try as he might, he couldn't get two words out of the other dinner guests after the rain began to fall. It was as if they wanted to finish their meal and head back to their quarters before it got too late. He sat up. If he wasn't going to sleep, he decided to have a late night snack, hoping it would help him catch some shuteye. Cooper reached down and pulled on his boots. He picked up his tunic and put it on before heading downstairs to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and something to eat. When he pushed the door open, he was surprised to see Maurice sitting at a table polishing a silver candle holder.
"Good evening, sir," said Maurice. "Is there something I can do for you?"
Cooper shook his head. "I'm just nosing around for something to eat."
"There are some leftovers in the pantry. I can make you something, sir."
"Thanks, that sounds great. But if you don't mind, I'll make my own sandwich." Cooper opened up the pantry, grabbed a piece of cooked lamb, and some bread. He found a jug of water and poured a tall glass before taking a seat at Maurice's table.
"I take it you couldn't sleep?" said Maurice.
Cooper took a bite of his sandwich and nodded. "There's too much on my mind to let my body rest."
"Perhaps I can put your mind at ease."
"Sure, why not. At dinner, I couldn't help but notice the mood in the room change the instant it began to rain outside. Why was that?"
Maurice stopped polishing the candle holder and placed it down on the table. "Sir, after Master Andrew and Miss Willow's deaths, a lot of strange things started to happen around here."
"Such as?"
"The men working the fields started to find odd-looking tracks leading from the woods toward the old slave quarters."
"Odd, how?"
"Well, I never saw them but I heard Mister Stone and Cyrus having a heated discussion one day about the tracks. Cyrus kept insisting the prints were identical to the ones they had found the night the two young people were killed. Mister Stone refused to believe what he was being told. He kept insisting it was the Maclean Gang, not some strange animal, that had killed the children."
"Is that all?"
"I wish it were. A few weeks ago, we lost a young married couple on a night just like tonight. They lived in one of the shacks at the far end of the workers' quarters. In the morning, all they found were more of those animal tracks and a lot of blood spilled on the ground."
"Do you know if Mister Stone told the sheriff what had happened?"
Maurice shook his head. "No, sir. He doesn't trust the sheriff to do his job. Mister Stone, Thomas, Cyrus, and a dozen farmhands went looking for the missing couple but came back a day later empty-handed."
"I beginning to see why people here are nervous. Have there been any more sightings of these tracks since that couple went missing?"
"None that I'm aware of, sir."
The crash of thunder above the mansion sounded like a battery of cannons firing just outside the kitchen door.
Cooper stood up. "Thanks, Maurice."
"Are you going to bed now, sir?"
"No. I think I'm going to take a walk around the plantation grounds."
"You'll need a lantern, sir, I'll get you one," said Maurice as he got up from his chair.
A couple of minutes later, Cooper opened the door and looked outside at the pouring rain. He was wearing his cavalry hat and a rubber rain poncho. He had with him his repeating carbine and Maurice's lantern.
"I shan't be long, I hope," said Cooper to the butler. He stepped out into the cold rain and looked toward the back of the mansion where Hawkins would be staying. Cooper decided to see if his compatriot was also having troubles sleeping. He had barely gone ten feet when he saw a tall, dark shape standing silently in the rain, looking out toward the stables. Cooper pulled back on the hammer of his carbine with his thumb.
"Captain, please lower your gun. It's me, Sergeant Hawkins."
Cooper walked to Hawkins' side. The sergeant was dressed just like Cooper, only he looked as if he had been outside for quite some time.
"What are you doing out here?" asked Cooper.
"I was looking out the window in my room and thought I saw something moving around near the stables," replied Hawkins.
"I take it you were told over dinner about the strange things going on around here?"
"I sure was, Captain. The folks living here are scared for their lives."
Cooper held up his lantern, trying to see the tall barns only fifty yards away in the dark. "Sergeant, what did you think you saw?"
"I'm really not sure. I only saw it lit up by the lightning for a brief second or two. It looked to be the same height as a man, but I could have sworn it was covered from head to toe in fur."
"It could have been a man in a long fur coat. Or a bear on its hind feet. Come on let's take a look around the stables and see if we can find it."
They walked through the mud to the closed barn doors. Hawkins tried the doors and found them locked.
"I don't see any tracks other than our own," said Cooper, holding the lantern near the ground. "Why don't we split up. I'll go this way and you the other and we'll meet up behind the stables."
"Captain, if you see something, just make sure it's not me before you shoot."
Cooper patted his colleague on the shoulder, turned about, and began to walk along the front of the barn. Jagged lightning tore across the darkened sky, illuminating the area for a few brief seconds. The way ahead was clear. He gripped his carbine tight in his hand and walked to the end of the barn and turned the corner. Aside from a few tools leaning against the side of the stable, there was nothing there. Cooper was beginning to wonder if all the talk of mysterious happenings had led Hawkins to think he saw something in the shadows.
A terrified scream pierced the night.
Cooper froze in his tracks. Right away, the hair on the back of his neck went up. He looked toward the old slave quarters just as another scream met his ears. He ran for the dirt road leading toward the rows of shacks. Behind him, he could hear Hawkins racing to catch up with him. Cooper headed for a group of people standing in the rain in their undergarments.
"What happened?" asked Cooper as he came to a halt by the frightened people.
"Something horrid looked in my window," said a woman, shaking uncontrollably.
"What did it look like?"
"It wasn't anything I've ever seen before," replied the woman. "It had the eyes of a devil."
"Get her inside," ordered Hawkins, "and put a warm blanket on her right away."
"Did anyone else see anything?" asked Cooper.
A young man pointed toward the animal pens. "I saw something large run off in that direction."
"Alright, everyone back inside and lock your doors," said Hawkins.
Cooper walked away from the group and lowered his lantern so he could see the wet ground. His eyes lit up when he found a set of odd-looking tracks leading to and from the house the woman lived in. He called over his shoulder, "Sergeant, come here."
"Well, I'll be damned, those do look like a cross between a man and a beast," said Hawkins, looking down at the prints.
"Whatever left them went that way," said Cooper, indicating to the pens with his carbine.
Hawkins pulled back the hammer on his pistol. "Let's find out what the hell is going on around here, sir."
"Wait up!" hollered Thomas as he pulled on his jacket and rushed to join the two soldiers.
"Sir, you really should stay with the others," said Cooper.
"I got me one of these," replied Thomas, holding up a shotgun in his hands. "And I know how to use it, too."
"Okay, but stay behind Sergeant Hawkins and only fire if we tell you to,"
The sound of pigs squealing in terror made the men turn their heads and look into the night.
"Let's go," said Cooper, taking off at a jog.
Cooper raised up his lantern and saw the gate leading into the pens had been pushed to one side, allowing all of the pigs to escape.
"There in the mud," said Hawkins, pointing at a set of prints like the ones found outside of the slave quarters.
Thomas looked around with fear in his eyes.
"What is it, Thomas?" asked Cooper.
"Them be the tracks of a Rougarou," said Thomas, his voice quivered as he spoke.
"A what?"
"It's nothing more than a story told to frighten children," said Hawkins. It was clear by the tone in his voice he didn't believe in the legend.
"Well, whatever made these tracks, can't be too far from here. Let's spread put in a line and sweep the pens for any sign of the intruder."
With their weapons at the ready, the three men moved a few yards apart from one another and warily walked through the muck.
A flash of lightning lit up the orchard behind the pig pen. Cooper's heart skipped a beat when he saw something looking at him from the woods. It was tall and looked just like Hawkins had described. Its eyes shone bright like gold in the light for a brief second before the night once more turned black.
"Did you see that?" he asked, not believing his eyes.
Hawkins nodded. "It was the same thing I saw by the stables."
"I done told you it was a Rougarou," said Thomas.
Cooper took off running. "I don't believe in monsters." He jumped over the fence and ran to where he had last seen the creature. He shone his light at his feet and saw more tracks.
"It looks like it went further back into the orchard," said Hawkins.
"We must have scared off whoever it was sneaking around the plantation."
"Or whatever it was," added Thomas.
Cooper bristled at the last remark. He wasn't ready to concede that whatever he saw wasn't a man. "Gents, I think it best if we patrolled the plantation grounds until the sun comes back up. Thomas, you can take the old slave quarters, Sergeant Hawkins the area between the stables and the animal pens, and I'll take the mansion to the road. We'll all meet back here at dawn to see if we can determine where these tracks lead to."
Thomas and Hawkins nodded their concurrence.
"Be sharp and remember to not fire at anything until you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's not friendly."
Cooper walked with Hawkins to the stables before carrying on toward the manor alone. He was tired and soaked to the bone. With the sun not due on the horizon for several more hours, Cooper knew he was in for a long night.
9
Mercy Page 8
