Red Hot Wolfie

by Nyx Halliwell

  Leo points to the turret door. “Are we done up there?”

  Belle nods absentmindedly, studying the directions. “For now.”

  “I’ll shut off the lights.” Leo is big and broad like Ren. He squeezes through the door, which was even smaller when we first discovered it beside the fireplace, and the wall switch clicks. “I think I should patrol the woods tonight, just in case,” he says.

  “I’ll go with you,” Finn adds.

  “The two of you will do no such thing.” Cinder dries her brush with a clean rag. “If anything, I want you at Nonni and Poppi's to watch out for them. None of us are going into the woods.”

  “It’s supposed to storm tonight,” Zelle tells us. “Maybe that’ll keep the paranormal idiots away.”

  “Ruby?” Matilda is behind me, and I pivot to face her. “There’s someone here to see you.”

  The person waiting on the showroom floor is Ren. “I didn’t hear the bell. How are you?”

  “Hi there.” His eyes light up when he sees me. “I’m fine. The question is, how are you?”

  I study his face, those serious eyes. “You’ve remembered more about yourself?”

  A shrug. “A little You okay after this afternoon?”

  “I’m…” How can I respond? “I keep wondering if I could’ve saved that man if I’d looked harder this morning.”

  He steps closer and takes my hand. “He’d been dead longer than that, Ruby. I’m sure of it. There was nothing you could have done for him, even if you’d found him earlier.”

  “I hope that’s true.”

  He hands me a bag with an advertisement for heartworm medication stamped on it. “I brought your clothes back. Sorry I didn’t have anything nicer to return them in. I did wash them for you.”

  They’re nicely folded inside and smell of laundry detergent. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I was hoping to buy some of that pine soap.”

  “Right, yes.” I place the bag on a stool, noticing my family, as well as Leo and Finn, have disappeared. All but Matilda, who’s sitting at the worktable watching us with a smile that says she’s enjoying the show. I glare at her and motion for her to scoot. She wiggles her fingers, picks up her unicorn mug and heads upstairs.

  Facing Ren once more, I leave the counter and head for the soap shelves. “How was your first day at the clinic?”

  “Busy. The filing system needs an overhaul, plus the computer…don’t even get me started on that.”

  I lead him to the Frosted Pine section. “I imagine Dr. Frederick was a little antiquated with his paperwork and files.”

  “I have so many plans for that place.” He collects three bars and holds one to his nose, breathing deeply. “I’ve studied both large animals and exotics. I want to bring those services to the clinic. I also plan to help the rescues and do free spay/neuter clinics all over the county.”

  If it weren’t for the body, I’d be enjoying this conversation a whole lot more. “That’s wonderful.” But about turning into a werewolf at the full moon every month?

  Probably not the best topic at the moment.

  He grins from ear to ear. “I’m having a grand opening Saturday from three to seven, so I can get to know the locals and introduce myself. Will you come?”

  The night of the full moon. If he is one, he’ll shift, like it or not.

  But what can I say? At least I can keep an eye on him. “That’d be great. Of course, I’ll come.”

  He leans down and stares hard into my eyes. “Are you really okay, Ruby?”

  I want to be. Thunder rumbles in the distance, and I swear, I feel it in my bones. There’s a storm coming all right, and it’s not just bringing rain.

  He sees my hesitation. “I’m sorry about this morning. I really am. I must’ve blacked out, maybe did some sleepwalking. The move has upset my normal rhythms, I think. I promise not to show up on your doorstep naked again.”

  Well…it wasn’t all bad. At the register, I ring him up, and he makes me promise once more that I’ll attend.

  Upstairs in the kitchen, I find everyone gathered around a large cauldron on the stove. Even our cousin, Snow, has arrived, with her wolf hybrid, Runa.

  “Heard you have a wolf problem.” There’s a teasing glint in her eyes. Her white pet nudges against her leg and she rubs her head. “Thought Runa and I might lend some support. We brought the thistle and wormwood.”

  “Thanks.” I fetch the hair from my cloak. “How will it tell us if he’s a were or shifter?” I ask Belle.

  She adds a yellow powder and stirs. A bubbling begins. “When you drop the strand in, the liquid will turn gold for shifter and black for a werewolf.”

  From it, a pungent aroma fills the kitchen and Zelle waves a hand under her nose. “Are you sure you mixed that correctly?”

  “Hey, at least I don’t blow things up when I make a potion.”

  Zelle screws up her nose at both the odor and her sister’s jab. “I can’t help it if Eunice liked to experiment with combos that are volatile.”

  Matilda laughs; Cinder rolls her eyes.

  “Is it ready?” I ask.

  Belle gives a final stir then moves aside. “As much as it will ever be.”

  Taking a deep breath, I hold the strand over the concoction, wondering which I hope for—is it better for Ren to be a werewolf or a shifter? Each has its pros and cons.

  Still unsure, I drop it into the bubbling liquid and prepare myself.

  Chapter Nine

  “Is it supposed to do that?” Finn asks, eyeing the potion over Cinder’s shoulder.

  Belle checks the ingredient list and directions, as we all watch the brewing liquid pop and fizz.

  A fine layer of tiny bubbles appears on the surface. “It looks like that seltzer stuff folks use to neutralize acid in the stomach,” Finn says.

  “What do you think, Belle?” Cinder asks.

  “I don’t know.” She stares at it, glances back at the book. “It doesn’t say anything about fizzing or foaming.”

  Leaning closer, I watch a single bubble grow larger and larger. When it fills the top of the cauldron, I have to angle away. “Everyone move. This thing could blow.”

  Belle turns off the burner and we all take several strides backward to a safer distance.

  “Now who’s blowing things up?” Zelle jokes.

  The main bubble continues to expand, rising into the air over the rim of the cauldron. A sheen from the kitchen light reflects on it. Rainbows appear on the surface.

  Belle picks up her spoon, pointing, ready to poke it. “Maybe I shouldn’t have used burdock root in place of the ginger.”

  “Wait!” I hear Eunice’s voice and see her phantom figure hovering half in and half out of the cabinetry to my right.

  “Don’t do that.” I put out a hand to stop Belle’s arm.

  Sure enough, the glistening bubble shimmers and flexes, becoming cloudy in the center. The interior mist begins to roll and undulate.

  “It’s acting like a crystal ball.” I nod at our grandmother’s spirit. “Thank you.”

  “Huh?” Zelle frowns at me and glances to the spot I’m staring at.

  “Eunice is here,” I tell the group.

  Before they can assault me with questions, I see the mist thin inside the bubble. A silvery orb emerges. “Look.” I point. “Does anyone else think that resembles a moon?”

  Murmurs of agreement issue from the others. We wait and watch, the orb growing fuller, brighter.

  Zelle is holding her nose and she sounds like she has a cold. “Is the potion turning colors yet?”

  Cautiously, Belle draws as near as she dares, gazing at the edge, trying to see through the globule. “It’s still pinkish.”

  “So, what does that mean?” Leo asks, towering over most of us. “Is he a were or shifter?”

  Leo has an inner beast and sometimes it comes out, especially if he’s angry or upset. He doesn’t shift, per say, but pretty close, and I wonder if he has a
personal interest in this.

  Uncle Odin opens the refrigerator and takes out a can of ginger ale. “Shifters can change into a wolf or other animal on command. Wolves technically shift just like them, but it’s not controllable and is brought on by a full moon.”

  Cinder and I exchange a look—our uncle is once again blessing us with information that could be helpful but seems odd at the moment.

  “Thank you for the clarification, Odin,” Matilda says.

  The moon in the crystal-like bubble hovers, and the last of the fog clears. If I had any doubt of the meaning, it disappears when I hear a lone howl outside in the woods.

  “He’s a werewolf.” My skin chills. “We’re only days away from the full moon.”

  Uncle Odin pops open the can and enjoys a sip, adjusting his eye patch. “The three nights leading up to it and the three after can trigger a shift as well.”

  Now that is helpful.

  “The full moon is Saturday,” Snow reminds us. “He shifted last night and that was only Tuesday.”

  “Five days,” Finn states. “That’s outside the norm.”

  Eunice disappears. Another rumble of thunder, this one closer, echoes through the house. My legs grow shaky, like when I found the body, and I crumple in a kitchen chair. “We need to talk to him. He’s dangerous.”

  Matilda pats my shoulder. “Why don’t you invite him for dinner? We can break it to him gently.”

  I’m tempted to take the easy way out and accept her offer, but it’d be better if we don’t ambush him. “It’s a good idea, but I think I should do it.”

  I leave them and go to find my phone.

  Chapter Ten

  Ren doesn’t answer the clinic phone, and I don’t have his personal number. The storm kicks into high gear, rain pounding the windows.

  The electricity flickers and the lights go out. Next the phone and cell towers start having issues, leaving us with no reception.

  Cinder’s wish list for the remodel includes a generator, but she hasn’t found one suitable yet. She grouses about not having it and Finn tries to lighten her spirits by promising they’ll head to the nearest home improvement chain store first thing the next day to buy one.

  Matilda and Uncle Odin gather us around the fireplace downstairs, and the animals join us. The flue is sticky and the chimney needs a good sweep, Cinder reminds them, but soon a small fire is crackling and sending off warmth. Zelle brings me a blanket and Lenore perches on the back of my chair. I stare into the flames, but my mind is elsewhere. “I should have insisted he stay earlier.”

  Everyone knows who I’m talking about.

  “Don’t beat yourself up,” Zelle insists. “Even if he shifts and runs around in the woods tonight, no one will be out there in this storm.”

  I hope that’s true.

  “Here.” Belle hands me a pack of envelopes, tied with a faded ribbon. “You’ll like these.”

  Dust comes off onto my fingers as I accept the stack. “What are they?”

  “I didn’t look through all of them, but some are from great-grandpa Ezra. I think they might be love letters.”

  I have to admit, this does cheer me up. We know quite a bit about Eunice, but not much about her husband.

  “Where did you find those?” Matilda asks.

  “Hidden in a compartment in Eunice’s desk.” Belle beams with pride at discovering this treasure. “I think our great-grandmother liked her secrets.”

  “I want to read them when you’re done,” Zelle says. “Meantime, I’m going to tackle my project.”

  She heads for my work kitchen, and I refrain from asking her not to. The power is out, but she can still use the gas stove.

  Matilda sees me cringe, and she pats my hand. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

  After she disappears into the other room, I murmur, “How is that better?”

  The group laughs.

  They play a board game, and I read by candlelight, becoming totally absorbed in the letters.

  Ezra was a man of polite, but passionate, expression. He definitely loved Eunice, and the two kept up a long-distance relationship while he traveled the coast, buying and selling wares for the general store he planned to establish here in town. It later morphed into the Enchanted Candle and Soap Company when Ezra passed and Eunice took over.

  “We are transforming this land forever,” he wrote in bold, flowing script. “What an amazing time to be alive!”

  Eunice must’ve encountered some resistance from her family about her plans to marry him. She was Episcopalian and he was Methodist.

  I wonder if he knew she was also a closet witch. Did she use religion to hide that fact, or did she view her potions and spells as simply part of her spirituality? It was definitely a different time, and knowing how to use herbs and plants was a more important area of life.

  Eventually, the storm relents and the lights return. As soon as they do, I try calling the clinic once more.

  No answer.

  Belle, Leo, Zelle, and I file into the van and drive there. I told them I’d go alone, but they refused to leave me unsupported.

  I pull around to the gravel lot behind the clinic and park. “I should’ve made him spend the night with me.”

  “You didn’t know for sure, and you’re being too hard on yourself,” Belle tells me in a chiding voice.

  The clinic is dark. Dr. Frederick and his wife lived outside town, but there is an apartment above the clinic. No lights there either.

  I cut off the engine. “Maybe he went to bed early. I’ll knock and see if I can raise him.”

  “He lives here?” Leo asks. His bulk takes up the more significant part of the back seat.

  “Yes.”

  Zelle leans over to look up at the second floor. “I haven’t heard any gossip about him buying or renting another place, so I’m sure that’s true.”

  She hears all the good stuff from her clients. Some not so good as well. Small towns—everyone knows everything.

  I hop out and knock on the back door. Overhead the waxing moon watches me. “Ren?” I call. “It’s Ruby. Are you in there?”

  There’s no response and I put my ear to the door, trying to pick up interior sounds. Hearing nothing that sounds like Ren moving around, I wrangle my way around a set of dense boxwoods to peer in a window. A nightlight illuminates the area behind the receptionist’s counter, but the waiting room is dark. I go to the front entrance and knock some more, but he’s not here.

  Leo gets out and jiggles the doorknob, heaving a shoulder against the wood.

  “What are you doing?” Belle calls, and at that moment, it pops open.

  Leo grins. “He could be sick or something.”

  We go inside, seeing the usual clinic furniture and supplies. Upstairs, we barge into the apartment.

  He’s definitely living here, but he’s not home. Only a parrot in a cage in one corner greets us. “Intruder! Intruder!” it trills.

  Downstairs, I know we have no choice but to go to the woods and look for him. Leo seems to read my mind. He grabs a large kennel from the back room that’s filled with assorted dog and cat food products for people to purchase.

  “We may need it,” is the only thing he says before he drags it out to put in the van. Eyeing the bags and cans, I take a small sample of dog food, telling myself, I’ll pay for it later.

  Inside the vehicle, Belle squeezes my shoulder. “We can drive around town,” she says. “See if we find him.”

  I know where he is, and it’s not anywhere in town. “We have to go to the woods.”

  Zelle yawns. “Cinder said—”

  “I’ll drop you guys at the shop and go myself. I’ll be fine.”

  “Cinder doesn’t scare me.” Leo winks at me in the rearview mirror. “I’m going with you.”

  “Me, too.” Belle squeezes once more. “We all are.”

  Zelle grins. “You know I’m in. Do you want to round up Matilda?”

  “No,” the rest of us say in unison.

&
nbsp; I have to take a circuitous route, passing Snow’s farm, in order to be out of sight from Nonni and Poppi's place. We’re not far from the park on the north end and the path that leads to the stream. From there, it’s north all the way to the beautiful National Park that stretches for miles and miles. Robyn loves to ride her bike there on weekends.

  “Okay, look.” I point to where the kennel is. Cinder has assorted tools and flashlights stored there. “Everybody take a weapon. Not only could Ren be running around in wolf form, but there are actual wolves out here.”

  “You could freeze them,” Zelle says.

  “I haven’t done that spell in years, and it was weak then.”

  Leo easily removes the wire kennel and places it on the ground. I open the dog food, putting several handfuls in the pocket of my cape after I whisper an incantation over them. My sisters grab flashlights and Zelle helps herself to a crowbar.

  The forest seems slippery with shadows and more daunting than I usually find it, even at night. Everything is muddy and the trees drip from the rain, our moon mostly hidden behind a curtain of thin clouds.

  “The paranormal investigators may be here now, too,” I remind them. “They have fans in town as well. Any or all of them could be dangerous, but I’m more worried they might be filming stuff. The last thing we need is to run into them, got it?”

  They all nod. I lift a heavy wrench out of its place, holding it close to my leg. “We stay together as much as possible. If you see anything, raise the alarm.”

  “What are we going to do if we find him?” Leo asks. “In wolf form, I mean? It’s one thing to have the kennel, but how do we get him into it?”

  I show him the kibble. “I hope this will work, but we can’t approach him and scare him away until I’m sure it’s him. I’ll handle it from there.”

  We head in, sticking to the path. The kennel is heavy, and although Leo has the strength of two men, it’s also awkward to carry and he leaves it near a tree that marks the edge of the park.

  My beam lights the trail, sliding over boulders, as well as trunks. As we search, I realize we could spend the whole night here and never find him.