Midnight Howl

by Clare Hutton

  “Well,” I said, and shrugged. “I like Hailey.”

  “I know,” he said. “It’s nice.” He smiled. “You’re nice.” He squeezed my arm. I felt myself blushing. We stood silently for a moment.

  “Anyway,” he said, “come on. You have to get one of my special raspberry chocolate brownies before they’re gone.”

  Once we were all sitting around the fire, Lily pointed out some constellations and told the ancient Greek myths behind their names.

  Jack was next to me, and I leaned against him just the tiniest bit as I ate my brownie. His arm felt warm and solid, and I couldn’t help glancing at him sideways a little. He glanced back at me and smiled, and my insides jumped with a happy nervousness. The fire was crackling. The brownie was delicious. Life was good.

  After Lily finished talking, Becka from astronomy club got up.

  “Um,” she said, twisting her shaggy black hair in her fingers. “This is a true story my brother told me. It happened to some kids he knew when he was our age, right here at this campground.

  “These three kids were best friends, and they convinced their parents to let them go camping by themselves. They had a great time, fishing and hiking and cooking over a campfire. But when it got dark, they started hearing weird noises in the woods. They heard branches cracking and leaves rustling. It sounded like something big was making its way toward them through the woods, getting closer and closer. Then they started hearing a terrible groaning noise, like this: whoo-hoo-hooooooo.

  “One of the guys got scared, and he wanted to call their parents to pick them up. But his friends laughed, and said the noises were just an owl or something.

  “He finally got mad and went to bed. He was almost asleep when he heard horrible screaming and banging around, so he ran out of the tent. It was just his friends, yelling and hitting a pot with spoons to scare him. So he went back into the tent and zipped it closed.

  “A little later, he was almost asleep when he heard his friends screaming and yelling again and even shaking the tent. He totally wasn’t going to fall for it, so he put his head under his pillow and fell asleep.

  “The next morning, when he woke up, there was no one else in the tent. His friends weren’t in the campsite, but the ground was all torn up around where the fire had been, like something with huge claws had dug at the ground. And when he looked back at the tent, he saw ragged scratches on the sides, as if something with paws as big as his head had tried to claw it open.”

  Becka lowered her voice and walked closer to us listeners. “They never found his friends. The woods were full of park rangers searching, but they didn’t find anything except a few scraps of cloth that might have come from one boy’s shirt.

  “A year later, the boy who was left behind came back to the campsite. He walked into the woods and he saw something terrible.” She paused and looked around at us. I leaned forward to hear. “In the dark of the night … he saw … BOOO!” She suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs.

  We all shrieked. I realized I was gripping Jack’s arm and giggled. “Sorry,” I said sheepishly, letting go. “She scared me!”

  “I’ll protect you,” Jack said mock seriously, patting me on the shoulder.

  Everyone was laughing. It was just a joke story: a scary setup to make us jump.

  But my eyes went back to the moon, so close to full, and a chill swept over me despite the warmth of the fire.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  It was late when Lily, Bonnie, Hailey, and I crowded into our tent, and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep right away.

  It felt much later when I suddenly opened my eyes onto darkness, wide awake. Something was outside the tent. There was a snuffling noise and a scratching against the tent wall.

  “Guys?” I whispered. No one answered. Something brushed against the wall beside my head, and I thought about how thin that tent wall was. “Guys?” I repeated anxiously, not whispering this time. I reached out to shake Bonnie, who was next to me.

  “Mmmph,” she mumbled. “What? It’s the middle of the night!”

  “So why are you talking?” said Lily sleepily. “Shut up.”

  “Listen,” I said. “There’s something outside the tent.” There was a pause while they listened.

  “There’s nothing out there,” said Bonnie grumpily. “You’re just scared because of Becka’s stupid —”

  A horrible snuffly growl came from outside, and we all screamed.

  “What was that?” Bonnie shrieked.

  “You guys?” said Lily suddenly. “Hailey’s not here.”

  My heart plummeted. I couldn’t breathe for a minute. I reached out toward where Hailey had been sleeping and found only her empty sleeping bag. Outside, the snuffling noise came again, along with the clattering of something metallic.

  Hailey? But the moon’s not full yet, I thought.

  The rest of the campsite was waking up. “What was that?” a voice asked, and I heard some boy start making fake, ghostly oooooooos. “Is it a BEAR?!?” someone shouted.

  Lily switched on her flashlight. “I’m going to look outside,” she said bravely.

  “Yikes,” said Bonnie. “If it eats you, can I have your cute black boots?”

  Lily made a face at her and unzipped the tent. She stepped outside, and after hesitating for a second, I followed her. Bonnie came after me, hovering nervously in the opening of the tent.

  Lily’s flashlight beam darted around the campsite. Everything looked normal. The metallic clatter came again, and Lily trained the flashlight beside our tent. “Oh!” she said.

  I craned my head to look past her and saw a fat raccoon, its head in an aluminum pan. It was eagerly licking the inside, its little paws holding on to each side of the pan.

  Mr. Samuels crawled out of his tent on the other side of the site, a pot in one hand and a spoon in the other. He got to his feet, took a good look at the raccoon, and then started banging on the pot and shouting, “Aaaaaaaaaaah! Go! Go!”

  The raccoon took its head out of the pan and gave Mr. Samuels a long, offended look. Then it turned and unhurriedly shambled its way into the woods.

  By this time, everyone was crawling out of their tents, laughing and talking and trying to figure out what was going on.

  “WHO left food outside of the food locker?” Mr. Samuels shouted accusingly.

  There was a scuffling as everyone looked away from the angry teacher. Then Jack slowly raised his hand. “Me, I think,” he said. “That looks like the pan the brownies were in. I’m really sorry.”

  “Next time, don’t forget,” Mr. Samuels said sternly. “If it had attracted a bear, we would have been in big trouble. Now, everyone, back to bed.”

  Jack nodded sheepishly, and people started to slowly head back to their tents. I was scanning the campsite. “Where’s Hailey?” I whispered to Bonnie and Lily, who looked as anxious as I felt.

  Then, behind us, we heard a voice. “What’s going on?”

  I whipped around to see Hailey, looking cheerful and relaxed. “Why is everyone awake?” she asked innocently.

  “Where have you been?” I demanded.

  Hailey frowned. “I had to go to the bathroom,” she said with a shrug. “What’s the big deal?”

  Bonnie waved her hand dismissively. “Raccoon. Going back to bed.” She disappeared into the tent.

  Hailey pouted. “I missed a raccoon? I love raccoons! They’re so cute.”

  “Everybody freaked out,” Lily said, rolling her eyes. “Good night.”

  As I settled back to sleep, I smiled. See? I told myself. Everything has a perfectly logical explanation.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The next morning, it seemed unusually bright. I groaned and rubbed my eyes. “It’s so early,” I moaned. “I don’t know what time it is, but I can tell it’s very early. And cold. Very, very cold.” When I sat up and my top half came out of my cozy, puffy sleeping bag, it was like I had walked into a giant freezer.

  “Up and at ’em,” Lily sai
d cheerfully. “It’s a beautiful day.” She was already fully dressed and busy brushing her hair.

  Bonnie grunted, snuggling deeper into her bag. Lily went on, “I’ve got something to tempt you out of bed.” She rummaged in her backpack and pulled out a map. “Today we’re going hiking!”

  “If you think the promise of hard physical activity is going to get me leaping out of this sleeping bag, you clearly don’t know me as well as you think you do,” Bonnie said drily.

  Lily rolled her eyes and spread the map out neatly on top of her sleeping bag. “Look, there’s a whole bunch of trails near us. The guidebook says the best trails for groups are probably the ones to Running Eagle Falls, which is an easy hike, or to Scenic Point, which is a little more challenging.”

  “Hmm,” said Hailey, kneeling next to Lily. “What do you think, Marisol?”

  I wriggled out of my sleeping bag and winced as the cold air hit the rest of my body. I had slept in my cozy old sweats, but I was still freezing — I didn’t want to think about how cold I would have been in pajamas. I leaned across the tent to look at Lily’s map.

  The Scenic Point trail clearly involved some serious uphill hiking, and, from the name, probably led to a pretty amazing view. The Running Eagle Falls trail was a lot shorter. I like waterfalls, but I also like hiking, so why not the longer trail? I was about to say so, when I noticed that the Running Eagle Falls trail crossed several winding blue lines. Water. Running water.

  I looked at Hailey. She would probably choose the same hike I did. Silver hadn’t bothered her, but that wasn’t a real superstition about werewolves, except for silver bullets (and I wasn’t going to shoot her). If she could cross running water, would that prove anything?

  Not entirely. Something as vague as — what had Anderson said? — some cultures say a werewolf can’t cross running water — wasn’t going to make me stop wondering about Hailey. But if she couldn’t cross the water, or if she made an excuse not to cross it, then that would be more evidence that she was a werewolf. The experiment was definitely worth a try.

  “I think I’ll go to Running Eagle Falls,” I said firmly, looking straight at Hailey.

  “Okay,” she said. “Me too.”

  Lily frowned. “Shoot,” she said. “I thought for sure you two would come on the harder trail with me. Bonnie?”

  “Are you kidding?” asked Bonnie. “It’s either the easy trail or staying at the campground and painting my nails.”

  “Fine, then,” said Lily. “I bet Amber and Becka will come with me.”

  Bonnie laughed. “Amber will want to jog it.”

  After breakfast, Amber and Becka did decide to hike to Scenic Point with Lily, along with a few other kids and one of the chaperones. Some of the kids chose to do part of a longer trail, and Jack, Anderson, a bunch of other kids, Mr. Samuels, and one of the other chaperones came with us on the trek to Running Eagle Falls. Good, I thought. I can see if Jack can cross running water, too.

  It had warmed up during breakfast, and it was a beautiful day. The air was clear and fresh. The snow high on the mountain peaks and the scent of the pine trees around us reminded me of Christmas. I realized that when Christmas came in a couple of months, I’d be going back to Austin. For the first time, I felt sad about leaving my friends here and going home.

  “Look,” said Jack, pointing up at the sky. Overhead, a huge bird circled, looking for prey.

  “Is it a hawk?” I said uncertainly.

  “A golden eagle,” he said. “There are almost three hundred species of birds in the park, and October’s still a pretty good time to see them.”

  “And animals,” Hailey added. “Look, there are fox tracks on the side of the trail, and if you watch the mountains, you might see goats.”

  I scanned the peaks, hoping to see a mountain goat climbing, but didn’t see anything. Above us, I could hear squirrels scolding in the trees. Hailey touched my arm and pointed, and I saw a huge white hare hop lazily away from the trail, avoiding us, but not seeming particularly scared.

  I could hear rushing water ahead of us and, as we rounded a bend in the trail, saw a rustic wooden bridge crossing a river. Running water!

  I hung back a little to watch Hailey cross it. Jack strode on ahead of us, but Hailey hesitated. “What’s up?” she said. “Did you want to take a picture?”

  “Oh … yeah,” I said. I had forgotten about my camera, but I fished it out of my jacket pocket and snapped a picture of the bridge and the mountain rising behind it.

  Hailey stayed standing next to me. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, trying to tell if she was steeling herself to cross the bridge. “Are you coming?” she asked, a little impatiently.

  “Sure,” I said, and started walking, trying to be subtle about watching her.

  As we walked over the bridge, nothing happened until we were almost across. Then Hailey’s foot skidded, and she fell backward.

  “Hailey!” I said. “Are you okay?” She was just sitting there. I looked up the path to see if anyone was coming back, but no one had noticed. “Hailey!” I said again.

  Hailey pulled herself up, laughing. “What a klutz!” she said. “The wood is wet here.”

  “You’re not hurt?” I asked, and she shook her head.

  We walked on over the bridge, my mind buzzing. Had she fallen because of the running water, or had she just slipped? She’d gone over the bridge, but was that even what crossing running water meant? Maybe she couldn’t walk through a stream, and crossing a bridge was hard but not impossible.

  I was driving myself crazy. It wasn’t even like this “not being able to cross water” was a definite thing. I sighed.

  We rounded a bend in the trail, and there were the falls. They were amazing, coming from high among the rocks. It was, I saw, actually two falls: a narrow trickle coming down to meet a larger spume of water.

  “In the summer, when the water levels are higher, the top falls are stronger and hide the lower falls,” Hailey told me. “Some people call it Trick Falls instead of Running Eagle Falls.”

  Trick Falls. I thought about the waterfall concealed all summer beneath the stronger fall, and how you could see it without realizing there was another level underneath. Was Hailey that way, too? Was the girl who shared her house with me, who rode horses and teased her brother, the real Hailey — but with another, hidden level beneath? Did the full moon reveal Hailey’s second level the same way winter revealed the hidden waterfall?

  I glanced over at Hailey quietly looking up at the falls. I wasn’t sure if I would ever find out the truth about my new friend.

  CHAPTFR SEVENTEEN

  After the hike, I spent the rest of the day hanging out with Hailey, Jack, and my other friends. First, there was a fun scavenger hunt, followed by a picnic dinner and an evening singing songs and making s’mores around the campfire. I was having such a good time it was easy to put my werewolf worries out of my mind.

  But once we were in our tent, lying in our sleeping bags in the dark, I started obsessing about it again. I didn’t think Hailey was going to bite me or suddenly turn into a wolf, so why couldn’t I just let it go? I felt like a little kid again, lying awake in bed, afraid of monsters in the dark.

  It took me a long time to doze off, and when I did, my dreams were confused. Quick images flashed through my mind: tree branches like skeleton hands against the full moon; the rattle of the wind sweeping through dried leaves; a gleam of teeth. I didn’t sleep well.

  In the morning, I felt spacey and anxious.

  Bonnie nudged me at breakfast. “Are you okay?”

  “Mmm,” I said, taking a bite of granola. Hailey was across the clearing, talking to Jack.

  “Yeah, I’m just distracted.”

  She followed my eyes to Hailey and Jack. “Oh, I see,” she said, giggling.

  After lunch, it was time to head back home. I squeezed into the back of a minivan between Lily and Hailey. Bonnie turned around in front of us and whispered to them.

  �
��Marisol likes Jack, but she won’t admit it.”

  I could feel myself turning red. Lily looked at Bonnie coolly and shrugged. “Everybody likes Jack,” she said. “Isn’t that right, Hailey?”

  Hailey, straight-faced, nodded. “My brother’s very likable.”

  Bonnie snorted and rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

  “Seat belts on, kids, and face forward,” said the teacher driving our van. Bonnie turned back around, flipping her curly red hair over her shoulders.

  Lily turned toward me. “So?” she whispered. “Do you?” Hailey raised her eyebrows at me.

  I squirmed in my seat. “I don’t know,” I muttered. “I mean, of course I like him. Like you said … everybody likes Jack. What’s not to like?”

  Lily nodded calmly. “True. And I think he likes you.”

  “He’s my friend,” I decided. “I don’t know if I like him like him, but he’s my friend and I like that.”

  This time, both Lily and Hailey nodded. “Friends are good,” Lily said, and smiled.

  Hailey said, “He definitely likes you, too. He was saying how cool you are.”

  “Oh,” I said, blushing. “That’s nice.” Hailey grinned at me and turned toward the window.

  We were all quiet for a bit, while the noise of the other kids in the van and the radio playing country music made a comfortable babble around us. On either side of me, Hailey and Lily relaxed, and I saw Hailey’s eyes flutter shut as she dozed off.

  Like mine, her hair and clothes smelled of wood smoke and pine. I liked Hailey. Couldn’t I just let this go? Couldn’t I just decide that there was no such thing as a werewolf and forget about these crazy suspicions?

  For some reason, I felt confident Jack wasn’t a werewolf. The horses hadn’t been afraid of him near the full moon. He hadn’t had any trouble crossing water, and I hadn’t seen any evidence that he’d been outside at the full moon either. The only thing that had made me suspect him was that he was Hailey’s twin. And I prided myself on being scientific; I knew fraternal twins didn’t share all their genes.