She Smells the Dead

by E.J. Stevens

  For a moment a look of horror crossed her face but then she answered, “Oh that silly thing? You don’t want to touch that one dear. It’s for constipation.”

  I pulled my hand back, but thoughts were racing though my head. I was also overwhelmed with the smell of vinegar. Emma seemed to get the drift that things had just gone in a weird direction and asked if we could see the hives before leaving. Grace looked relieved to have us out of her garden and on our way. Before walking away though, I bent down pretending to tie my boot laces. I snapped a few photos of the plant with my cell phone and ran to catch up with Emma and a woman who I was beginning to suspect of murder.

  Chapter 17

  Emma and I walked casually back to her car trying not to burst with excitement.

  “Ohmygosh!” Emma blurted as soon as we pulled onto the highway ramp.

  “I second that emotion,” I said trying to calm my rapid heartbeat and shaking hands.

  “I think I just scored the best story for the school paper,” Emma exclaimed.

  “Wait a sec. What?” I asked suddenly wondering if we were on the same page.

  “That woman is the queen bee overlord. It will make the best headline for the school paper,” Emma said obviously excited.

  “So what you’re saying is that you’re just psyched to have scored an interview with a mastermind of bee oppression?” I asked incredulously.

  “Well duh, what were you talking about,” Emma shot back.

  Patience Yuki.

  “I was talking about finding out Grace Green is probably a murderer,” I blurted out defensively. So much for patience.

  “Yeah girl, a murderer of defenseless bees,” Emma said.

  I couldn’t tell if she was teasing me or serious. Probably serious.

  “Emma, do you know much about plants?” I asked hoping she might be able to help me identify the plant from my photos.

  “I know I like to eat them if they’re chemical free,” she said with an evil laugh.

  I sighed in exasperation.

  “What?” asked Emma. “I’m hungry.” Right then Emma’s stomach growled out loud and we couldn’t help but laugh.

  “I’m hiding my African violets when we get to my house,” I said and we laughed again.

  We were silent the rest of the way home. Well, except for Emma’s stomach.

  When we reached my house Emma had decided to go home where her mom already had a dinner ready. I told her I had research to do and would see her tomorrow at school. I went up to my room and downloaded the pictures from the Green farm off my phone onto my laptop. Zooming in I could tell they didn’t look like the herbs I was familiar with like rosemary, oregano, mint, sage, and thyme. My next step was to try searching for the plant on the Internet. I tried “green oval leaves,” “bell shaped purple flowers,” and “poison” for a search. After a few useless searches, I found pictures of a plant that matched the one in Grace Green’s herb garden. It had the same dark, dingy purple bell shaped flowers and deeply veined green oval leaves. Son of a dung beetle. The plant was listed as Atropa Belladonna, what is commonly known as Deadly Nightshade.

  Chapter 18

  I went to bed that night feeling spooked. I knew it was probably silly to worry about Grace Green coming after me in my sleep, but I still felt uneasy. I pulled a box down from the top of my closet and pushed things around until I found the sleigh bells I had used to decorate my room last Christmas. Better than nothing. I grabbed a hair ribbon off my vanity and strung a few of the bells across the ribbon then tied the ribbon across my windows. I grabbed the largest bell and with a piece of string and a bent thumbtack hung it above my door. Similar to the gift shops on Main Street, the bell would jangle if anyone opened the door while I slept. Feeling satisfied that at least no one would be sneaking up on me, I crawled into bed.

  Sleep, however, wasn’t as easy as my new alarm system. Every time I closed my eyes I would picture Calvin leaning in to kiss me. I would force my eyes open and try to think about anything but Calvin, yet questions continued to spin around my head. Where had he gone? What was he not ready for? Why did he have to leave?

  I must have finally fallen asleep because I was standing beneath a full moon on the drought stricken hilltop from my previous dream. You’re not in Kansas anymore Yuki. There was the silhouette of a man standing before me against the light of the moon and a huge silver wolf lay at my feet. Having the wolf with me made me feel safe, though I realized that this wasn’t very logical. He was larger than any dog I had ever seen. His silver fur reflected the moonlight and seemed to dance as a breeze rolled across the hilltop. This land seemed to emanate sadness and I remembered the man’s tears when he had appeared in my previous dream.

  “Spirit Walker,” said the man though his mouth didn’t appear to move. “Bringer of the dead. There is much to tell you and little time,” he said and his words echoed inside my head.

  I nodded and reached down to sink my hand into the wolf’s fur. I wasn’t sure what the man needed to say, but understood that our time was limited.

  “You must help the lost find their way. You must lead your people to the river of light. Too many walk the in-between worlds. Too many souls are lost,” the man said pausing to look at the wolf at my feet. My wolf.

  “Your path will not be an easy one. You have been granted a guardian and now both of your destinies are bound together. If you lose your way, listen for the howl of the wolf and in all things follow your heart,” the man said as he began to fade.

  “Wait! I don’t understand,” I yelled. The wind was rising creating a roaring dust cloud between us.

  The man reached out, placing his hand on my shoulder, his voice again in my head, “Keep your feet on the path of healing. Help the lost ones find their way. You must be the flame in the darkness.”

  Before the wind tore him from me I looked down at his arm. His bicep was ringed in a black tattoo of a wolf chasing a hawk. I realized as I drifted out of the dream that the hawk was also chasing the wolf. Then there were no thoughts at all.

  Chapter 19

  After a long day of school filled with flitting images of wolves and lost souls, I was exhausted. I sat on the edge of my bed and grabbed an old notebook off my bookcase. It was already half used but there was plenty of room for a dream diary. I tore out the used pages and wrote Dream Diary across the cover. There that’s better. After this last dream, I had to replace my hair dye flyer with something larger. These new dreams were confusing and I was determined to figure out what they meant.

  The black and yellow butterfly in Grace Green’s garden had seemed like more than a coincidence and the man in last night’s dream talked about helping lost souls into the light. That’s what I’m doing right?

  I dialed Cal’s number and it went to voicemail. Again. He still wasn’t answering or returning my calls. Fine, I would just go to him. I grabbed a black scarf and arm warmers and stuffed them into my bag. It was still warm out, but the evenings were starting to get chilly. I lifted my bag and with a shrug tossed the dream diary in too.

  Without a car I had to walk the three miles to Calvin’s house. I could have called Emma for a ride, but I needed time to think and the walk helped to clear my head. When I was about a block away I heard music blasting and as his house came into sight I could tell the garage door was wide open. As I got closer I could see Calvin lifting weights in the open garage. Shirtless. His arms were bulging and for a moment I was dumbstruck. When did you get so hot Calvin Miller?

  Glad he was facing away from me I tried to stop the blood from rushing to my face. Yoga breathing wasn’t working. Maybe I should have paid more attention in class. I could feel my face turning a brighter shade of red with every thrust of the weights. I started walking forward again wondering how I was going to get Calvin’s attention with the music blaring. Just then he stopped. He hadn’t turned around yet but somehow he had known I was there.

  It was then that I saw it. I was still focused on Calvin’s flexed arms, how coul
d I not be, when I saw a tattoo ringed his right bicep. I knew he didn’t have a tattoo earlier this summer which meant the tattoo had to be new. Weird. Cal never seemed interested in tattoos or piercings before. It looked good on him though. Really good.

  Calvin set the weights down slowly and walked to the stereo on the workbench. He turned the music off, but still hadn’t turned around to face me. The silence felt like a wall between us and I was tired of his hiding.

  “Calvin Bartholomew Miller,” I yelled at his back. “You haven’t been to school and I was worried about you. You disappeared and you don’t return my calls,” I said my voice getting shaky. Son of a dung beetle. If he didn’t turn around soon and say something I was going to cry. Don’t make me cry Calvin Miller.

  “I miss you. You’re standing right in front of me and I miss you,” I choked and turned to leave. He hadn’t said anything. I was leaving and he wasn’t trying to stop me. This must be what it feels like when your heart is breaking. My feet felt frozen to the ground and yet all I wanted to do was run. Run as far away as I could and never come back.

  Then his arms were surrounding me. I hadn’t heard him walk up behind me, but suddenly he had his arms wrapped around me and his warm chest pressed against my back. Calvin buried his face into my hair and then his right arm shifted and his tattoo was just inches from my face.

  Then I passed out.

  “Yuki?” a voice called to me.

  I felt like I was sinking deeper and deeper.

  “Yuki?” the voice called again.

  Cal? It couldn’t be Calvin. He was avoiding me and I was here sinking into the nice warm water.

  “Yuki! Wake up,” the voice pleaded.

  Suddenly I remembered going to Calvin’s house and trying to talk to him. Oh why did I say all those corny things to him? I remembered trying to leave and his arms around me. Oh son of a dung beetle, his arm. His arm had a tattoo similar to the one on the man in my dream.

  Suddenly I pushed up from the darkness and was awake. “Cal?” I asked.

  “Yuki, are you alright?” he asked with relief on his face.

  “Cal, show me your arm,” I said trying to sit upright. The world was still moving a little and there were still shadows on the edges of my vision. “Calvin Miller, show me your right arm,” I said more forcefully.

  He looked confused, and a bit embarrassed, but he showed me his right arm. “It’s just a tattoo. No big,” he said trying to make light of it.

  Now that I had a close-up look at his tattoo, I could tell what was different from the one on the man in my dream. In my dream the man had a tattoo of a wolf chasing an eagle, and because of the design, the eagle was chasing the wolf and so on. Calvin’s tattoo was different. Calvin’s tattoo was of a wolf chasing a scarab chasing the wolf.

  “Cal, we need to talk,” I said and for the second time today I passed out.

  This time when I woke up Calvin was making something in the kitchen which gave me a moment to collect myself. I reached for my bag and starting looking for something. When Cal came in with a steaming mug, I handed him my dream diary in exchange.

  “Hot cocoa,” he said, “Are you feeling any better? I can make you something to eat if you’re hungry.”

  “Thanks, I’m good. I think you should read that though. There’s not much there, but it’s only been happening for a few nights,” I said.

  He looked confused, but sat opposite me in the armchair and flipped open the notebook. I was blowing on the cocoa while covertly keeping an eye on Cal over the mug and watched his face blanch as he read.

  “How much do you know?” he asked quietly.

  “Not enough,” I answered.

  “Do you know? Do you know about me?” he asked.

  “No. Not really. I think there were clues in the dreams, but we always ran out of time. I just have a feeling,” I said hoping he’d explain what was going on.

  “It’s going to sound crazy,” he said looking worried.

  “Cal, this is me Yuki. I’m like the queen of crazy,” I said. “I smell dead people. Remember?”

  “O.k., but it’s a long story. I think we’re going to need more cocoa,” he said getting up to put the kettle on the stove.

  “Uh Cal? Is it a really long story?” I asked.

  He looked back at me from the kitchen with one eyebrow raised.

  “Could I take you up on that food after all?” I asked.

  Then we both laughed. I came into the kitchen wrapped in his blanket and we joked like we always did. For the first time in days it was like nothing had changed. I had my friend back.

  “Yuki,” Calvin said as he came up beside me, “Can I kiss you?”

  Well, maybe a few things had changed.

  Chapter 20

  Following a monster sized bagel slathered in cream cheese and a dreamy kiss from Cal, I settled on the couch. We were sitting facing each other, each with our backs against an armrest, my short legs leaning against his longer ones. I knew that what Cal was about to say was important and had the potential to change things between us, but I felt strangely relaxed. Ready. I was about to learn the truth.

  Calvin’s face shifted between worried, excited, happy and scared. I reached for his hand to let him know I was here for him.

  Looking from my hand to my face he smiled. “I guess I should start at the beginning,” he said grinning ruefully. “I’m not like other guys,” he said looking away.

  No you’re not Calvin Miller.

  “But it’s difficult to explain,” he said squeezing my hand, “are you sure you want to know?” Cal looked up at me through his shaggy bangs and his blue eyes were questioning.

  “Yes,” I whispered. Just one word but it seemed to be enough.

  Calvin sat up straighter and began. “I’m connected to the wolf that you saw in your dream. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. You wrote in your dream journal that you saw a man and a wolf and a countryside ravaged by drought,” he said. “Do you remember what it looked like?” he asked.

  “It was horrible,” I said closing my eyes for a moment. “There was so much pain there. It was like the land was crying but it was too dry for tears.” Embarrassed I opened my eyes to see Calvin looking at me intently.

  “What you saw in your dream was true,” he said, “hundreds of years ago that place existed. There was a group of people and a pack of wolves that lived off the land in harmony. They weren’t friends exactly, but they respected each other. Then came the drought that killed the plants and the trees and dried up the lakes and rivers. Animals began to die and the birds stopped their singing. The ground dried up and was carried away on the wind. After many months of drought the humans had depleted their food stores of berries and dried meats and the wolves had ranged far to find prey. It was then, beneath a full moon, that the leader of the humans and the alpha wolf met on the hill where they could look out and see the suffering of their people.”

  Cal cleared his throat and sipped from his mug of cocoa. One tear rolled down his cheek before he breathed deeply and began again. “The wolves of this place were old and pure. They were the great Silver Wolves who had long ago been touched by the Creator. These wolves had never left this place and so had not mixed with the other wolves of the world. Their blood still flowed with old magic. What the alpha wolf proposed that night was a pact. To save both of their peoples the wolves would give up their bodies so that the humans would continue to have children and survive. The humans in turn would carry the spirits of the wolves so that they would live on forever.” Calvin closed his eyes as though trying to recall the story and whispered, “The humans did survive and the Silver Wolves live on inside their children. When a child descended from these people reaches maturity the wolf spirit within begins to awaken.” Opening his eyes Cal looked at me sadly. “I am one of those people Yuki,” he said in a small voice so unlike him, “I thought I was going crazy, but it’s true. My dad finally told me. It follows his bloodline.” “Yuki,” he said, “I’m scared.”<
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  I sat there stunned. Calvin was still holding my hand and I wanted to reach out and hold him and tell him everything would be alright, but I sat there rooted to the couch. Questions were racing through my head and I had no idea what to ask first. Without meaning to I blurted out the one that kept dancing through my mind like crazy. “Does that make you a werewolf?” I asked, then wished I hadn’t. It sounded silly when I said it out loud.

  Calvin laughed, but he didn’t sound happy. “That’s kind of hard to answer,” he said looking sullen. “If you’re asking if I change into a wolf around the full moon, then I guess the answer is yes. I’m a werewolf,” he said with disgust. “It’s not like in the movies though,” he said and shuddered. You’re a werewolf Calvin Miller.

  I suddenly wished that I hadn’t had that bagel and all those cups of cocoa. I had kissed him. I had kissed a werewolf. Did that mean I was, like, infected? If we had kids would they be little furballs? Yuki, get a grip, get a grip, get a grip. First, ixnay on the furballsay. Calvin had been a normal kid, so obviously he wasn’t born a baby wolf cub. Second, he had said the wolf spirit lived in the people of the old bloodline. It was a lot to process, but it seemed like I wasn’t going to sprout claws or fur anytime soon. No Yuki, you just get to smell dead people.

  Suddenly a thought occurred to me. “Cal, is that why you missed school and didn’t come over this weekend?” I asked. I realized that I hadn’t just seen a full moon in my dreams. The nights had been really bright all weekend.

  “Yeah, things have been weird for a while now, but my dad could tell that it was finally going to happen this time,” he said, “so just before the full moon my parents brought me out into the woods. It’s, um, easier there.”

  He looked embarrassed again and I wondered what it must have been like. Trying to think of something that would make him feel better I said, “He’s beautiful you know. Your wolf.” You’re beautiful Calvin Miller.