In the Shadows of Fate

by Rick Jurewicz

  Miranda had found the Wellman House on the Internet when she was looking to find somewhere to stay once she got to Galestone. For a room during the week in the off-season, Bev told her on the phone they would only charge her $35 a night for a small single room with a single bed. It wasn’t even one of the rooms that they normally rented unless they had an overflow of guests, but Miranda readily accepted whatever they could offer for that price.

  She walked up to the steps of the main porch when a man quickly came out of the front door to help her with her bags.

  “Well hello there,” said the tall, thin man. He was dressed in casual blue jeans and a flannel shirt with a black turtle neck beneath it, and had a friendly and upbeat tone in his voice.

  “Hello,” she said back. “I’m Miranda Stratton…I called about a room yesterday and spoke to Bev.”

  “Ah yes. That’s my wife,” he said, extending his free hand to her. “I’m Tom Wellman, owner, operator, and occasional entertainer of sorts. Well, I own it with my wife of course. She’s the one that really makes the place run along smoothly.”

  Tom led her inside and Bev stepped out from another room; a beautiful woman, thin like her husband, with graying hair and a soft smile.

  “You must be Miranda,” said Bev, with her hands clasped in front of her. “Tom can take you up to your room. If you need anything at all, or have any questions, please feel free to come down and find us. If we aren’t around, just ring the bell once. That’s usually enough for us to hear it.”

  “Thank you,” said Miranda. “And thank you for the deal you gave me on the room. I really appreciate it.”

  “Oh, don’t mention it, dear,” said Bev. “It’s nice to see new faces out here. Not to mention we love having people tell others about our little town. Always a chance it’ll bring more back.”

  Tom led her to her room, and even though it was small, it still had the homey appeal the rest of the house had. Tom placed her bags on a small dresser, and left her to settle in. She decided to get in a quick nap before she started exploring the town. It was just after 2 p.m. when she fell asleep, and she woke up around 5:45 p.m. She had slept longer than she had planned. Miranda got herself cleaned up and realized she needed to get something to eat.

  It was a short walk to the Buckshot. She did not notice Tom and Bev on the way out, and had just assumed that they may be out eating dinner themselves. The tavern was a dark stained log building, which at first reminded her of the Creek Ridge back in Native Springs. But that changed after she got inside. After pulling open the door using the deer antler door handle, she stepped into a building with what had to be hundreds of antlers hanging on every wall, as well as several on the ceiling. There was an old Bob Seger song on the jukebox, and a couple of guys were playing at a pool table. There were maybe a dozen actual patrons in the place at that time, and almost all of them stopped for a moment to glance at the newcomer walking through the door. Most of them quickly went back about their business, but Miranda noticed that the glare of one of the two men playing pool lingered a little longer than she felt comfortable with. He was tall, with a light brown beard and a trucker cap on his head, in khaki colored heavy work pants and a red flannel shirt. She looked away, deciding to ignore the man, finding a seat on the side of the tavern farthest away from him.

  A waitress came up to her with a menu and sat it down in front of her on the table.

  “Can I get you anything to drink, sweetheart?” said the waitress, whose nametag had the name 'Mary Ann' printed across it.

  “Can I get a Diet Pepsi?” asked Miranda.

  “Sure can,” said Mary Ann. “I’ll go and get that for you and be right back to get your order.”

  She was dressed casually, and Miranda wondered if perhaps she might be the only person working at the time. She couldn’t imagine a place like this needing a lot of employees, especially this time of year. Galestone was only about 16 miles south on the main highway from Arlo, which was considerably larger than Galestone. It was probably the closest place for full-time residents of the town to get the basic necessities and groceries that couldn't be found in Galestone. There was a gas station just up the road that may have had some convenience items, but that is all that she had seen coming into town.

  When Mary Ann returned to the table, Miranda decided to keep things simple and ordered a grilled chicken breast sandwich from the menu, no mayo.

  "Lettuce and tomato okay on that?"

  "Yes, please. Thank you." Miranda responded.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Miranda noticed the man at the pool table looking at her again. She continued to try and ignore him, and thought that maybe it would help to engage Mary Ann in a little more conversation to perhaps get the man to stop looking in her direction.

  “Here you go. One chicken breast sandwich, no mayo,” said Mary Ann, returning with the order. “Anything else I can get you?”

  “Maybe you can help me,” said Miranda, keeping a friendly smile on her face. “I am in Galestone working on an article for my journalism class. I go to a university in southern Michigan, and a large portion of my grade is based on the article I am working on about Michigan’s iron ore mining history.”

  Mary Ann had a skeptical look in her eyes. Miranda wasn’t sure if it was because she wasn’t interested in helping, or if it could be that Mary Ann had no idea what she was talking about.

  “Well, how can I help you?” asked Mary Ann.

  “The part of the story that I am working on now involved Galestone’s part in the mining history. Do you know much about the Gale family?”

  “Well sure, I would guess. The town is named after them and all. It’s been ages since the Gales have been around this area. Almost 20 years, I think,” said Mary Ann.

  “Did you know any of them personally?” asked Miranda.

  “I’ve been in this town for almost my whole life. That family was a huge part of this town. They did some pretty wonderful things to make this town what it once was. When the mines closed down, so did pretty much the rest of the town. They were the lifeblood of Galestone. After that, the Gales kept to themselves pretty much. I would see the two girls and the young boy from time to time, more so than the parents,” said Mary Ann. “Shouldn’t you be taking notes or something? Isn’t that what you writer types do?”

  “I have a very good memory,” said Miranda with a quick smile. “I understand that there was a fire at the Gale home not long before they left the area. What do you remember about that?”

  “Oh, the fire was a terrible thing. A sad day for the town. That night was a nightmare for everyone. I remember Sam Hesselburg banging on the door in the middle of the night for my husband Ken. That’s Ken over there behind the bar cleaning up.” Mary Ann pointed to a robust looking man in his mid-fifties with salt and pepper hair and a thick mustache. He had a serious look about him, yet still looked as if he could be warm and welcoming.

  “He’s a good looking man. You must be very proud,” said Miranda, carefully trying to gain more of Mary Ann’s favor. “So what happened then?”

  “Ken ran outside and I followed. You could see from here the bright glow up the hill road through the trees. The place was in a rage of a fire. Since there hadn’t been enough people living in the town anymore to be able to afford a fire department, the firefighters from Arlo had been called, but they were still 15 minutes out. So, as many of the men and women still living here in town grabbed whatever they could carry water with and rushed to the house,” she said. Leaning in closer, she whispered, “I suppose it made them feel like they were actually doing something to help, God bless them. But so much of that house was in flames, there really wasn’t anything anyone could do. It’s a miracle that Mrs. Gale and her son and granddaughter survived at all.”

  “That is such a horrible thing,” Miranda said, her eyelids half-closed looking down at the table.

  “It was that, yes. I remember young Suzanne – that was Mr. and Mrs. Gale’s daughter - coming into town pushing a
stroller with that sweet little girl inside. She was like an angel, with the darkest hair and the brightest blue eyes. And Suzanne was such a vibrant and beautiful girl herself. A real sweetheart of a person. It is such a shame that little girl of hers didn’t get the chance to grow up knowing her mother,” said Mary Ann.

  Miranda sat silently for a moment as if she was lost in thought, and then regained her composure and looked again at Mary Ann, who seemed as if she was waiting for Miranda to answer a question.

  “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how it must be like, never knowing who your parents were,” Miranda responded.

  “Well, I can’t say I ever knew for certain who the father was. You know how small towns are though. There were rumors,” she said.

  “What rumors? If you don’t mind me asking. I won’t use them in the story, I am just curious, now that you brought it up,” said Miranda.

  “Well, there was this handyman sort that worked for the Gales. What was his name?" She tapped her chin as she thought for a moment. "Gabe. That was it. I'm surprised that I actually remembered it after all these years. Well, sort of surprised, I suppose. He was quite a handsome man. Hard to forget. I never heard his last name though. He lived right there on the grounds in a guest house, and not long after Suzanne became pregnant, he just vanished,” said Mary Ann.

  “Vanished?” asked Miranda.

  “Vanished. Poof. Gone!” said Mary Ann. “Some people thought that maybe Tom Gale paid him off to leave town. Some others thought it might be something more. You know...” Mary Ann leaned forward and made a slow slashing gesture across her throat.

  “Really?” said Miranda, looking more intrigued by the sudden theatric notion. “What do you think happened?”

  Mary Ann let out a short burst of laughter. "I don't believe the Gales were like that. I think he just up and left. I think he’s a fool if he did, leaving behind those two beautiful girls. You never know. Maybe if he had stayed, what happened to Suzanne could have gone a totally different way. Who can tell…only God knows for sure,” said Mary Ann. “Hey, that sandwich is gonna get cold sitting on that plate. My cooking is too good to get cold and go to waste!” she blurted out. Mary Ann prided herself in her homestyle cooking, and it was praised by almost all who found their way through the town of Galestone.

  “I’m sure it is. I just got too caught up in your story. You have been very helpful to my article,” said Miranda. “Do you think it’s possible for me to actually visit the Gale house?”

  “The grounds and property are gated up, and there really isn’t much left to see at the house. It was pretty badly burned. The papers from back then really under reported the extent of the damage, anyhow, there isn’t much to see,” said Mary Ann.

  “I’ve come so far to work on this story. It almost would seem shameful to not visit and take a few pictures of the remains of the home for the article. Is there any way I could get in there that you know of?” she asked.

  Mary Ann thought for a moment, and held up a finger as if to tell her to wait, and walked to the bar and spoke to her husband. Miranda watched as the man glanced over towards her, and then looked at his wife and shook his head in apparent disagreement. She held her hands out as if she was pleading with him, and he raised both hands and came out from around the bar, and both approached her table.

  “My wife here says you are writing a story on the Gales?” said Ken in a deep, powerful voice.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Miranda said, getting up from her chair to reach out and shake Ken’s hand, which caught him slightly off guard. “I’m Miranda Stratton.”

  Ken shook her hand in return, and then continued. “She also told you there really isn’t much to see up there?”

  “Yes. I understand. But it would mean a lot to me if I could get a look at the place. It helps writers like myself to get a feel for the people that she is writing about. To touch where and how people lived…” she said.

  “And where people died,” he said, almost cutting her off.

  “Yes. That’s true. And how they died. I can assure you, I am not trying to exploit a tragedy. I am trying to share more of what they did for Galestone and its people,” said Miranda. She watched Ken’s eyes narrow, as Mary Ann looked up at him.

  “Well, I personally don’t think that it’s a good idea, but unfortunately you have my wife convinced, and when she has something made up in her mind, it's a mind hard to change. Harry Thornton is a lawyer that lives over in Arlo. He oversees the properties that the Gales once owned. I will give him a call in the morning. You give Mary Ann your phone number, and if he can come down and meet with you, then maybe he can give you the quick tour. But no guarantees.”

  “Thank you. That’s all I can ask. I really appreciate it,” Miranda told him.

  Ken nodded his head, and Mary Ann smiled again at Miranda. Miranda took a white paper napkin from the table and wrote her cell phone number on it, and handed it to Mary Ann.

  “Thank you for everything,” she told Mary Ann once more. Mary Ann smiled and sat by as Miranda had finished eating her now cold sandwich.

  “That was the best chicken sandwich I think I have ever tasted.”

  “Well thank you, sweetie!” said Mary Ann, as Miranda paid her bill and left a tip almost as much as the price of the entire meal.

  Miranda left the Buckshot, and started back up to the Wellman House. It had gotten dark quick, and the night was quiet except for the sounds of crickets in the bushes and the occasional whippoorwill call from somewhere out in the darkness. She picked up the pace and saw the light from the porch of the bed and breakfast. There were no other lights on the road, and Miranda noticed a silhouette of something in the road ahead of her. She slowed down a bit, and tried to squint her eyes and get a better look at whatever it was in the darkness. She stopped then completely as she noticed the shape moving closer to her, until finally the lights from the tavern behind her reflected in two eyes looking in her direction.

  She thought it was a dog, and then she heard the low growl as the creature took a few more steps closer to her. Miranda froze in fear as she realized that this was much larger than a dog. She had never seen a wolf before, in captivity or any other way except on TV, but she was fairly certain that at that moment she was face to face with one. She had no idea what to do. Should she run? Stay still? Play dead? She wasn’t sure she could even move. Her heart was racing.

  As the creature came closer, she could make out its form and face more clearly; its white teeth fully visible now, a low snarl breaking through the silence in the darkness. She stared forward; her eyes met the wolf's eyes directly on. In that moment as the gaze of the animal met her gaze, it immediately dropped its head and Miranda could hear the whimpering sound coming from the beast.

  From behind Miranda there came a thunderous bang, and the wolf dropped the rest of the way to the ground, laying motionless. Miranda whipped herself around, startled by the loud noise that was now ringing in her ears. Standing in front of her was the man from the tavern that had been watching her. He stood several feet away, and lowered the pistol in his hand while several other people from the tavern, including Mary Ann and Ken, with a shotgun in hand, came running out to see what the gun shot was about.

  “What the hell’s going on, Dean?” yelled Ken.

  “God damn wolves are coming right into town now,” said the man, whom Miranda now knew was named Dean.

  Ken looked and saw the corpse of the wolf. “Jesus Christ! That’s the biggest wolf I’ve even seen near town! What do you suppose brought it up here?”

  Mary Ann broke in, speaking to Miranda. “Are you all right, honey?”

  Miranda still looked a little shaken. “Yes. I’m okay. I guess your friend Dean here just saved my life.” She looked at Dean suspiciously, not completely convinced that the fact that he had been there in the darkness so near to her had been for her benefit at all.

  “Are you staying at the Wellman House?” Mary Ann asked Miranda.

  “Yes. It’s n
ot that much further. I’ll be alright,” she said.

  “I’m sure you would be, but you’re not gonna take any chances. Ken, walk this girl the rest of the way, would you?” said Mary Ann.

  Ken nodded, and Miranda thanked him. He walked her down the road the rest of the way to the Wellman House, while Dean pulled the wolf corpse off the main roadway. Miranda walked into the house and made her way up to the room, still a little unnerved by what had just happened. She kept thinking about the eyes of the wolf as it looked at her. She knew what had just happened, but she didn’t know why. It made no sense to her.

  The moment just before the shot rang out, when the large wolf lowered its head and broke its gaze from her, it froze in terror of the girl standing only a few yards away...and Miranda knew its fear.

  Dawn seemed to come quickly after the events from the night before. Miranda was awakened by the ring of her cell phone, and at first couldn’t remember where she had left it. She hadn’t even undressed fully to sleep, just pulling off her jeans and crawling into the bed. The ringing was coming from her back pants pocket, and she scrambled over and retrieved it.

  “Hello?” she answered, hoping she didn’t sound like a zombie on the phone.

  “Miss Stratton?” asked the voice on the phone. It was a man’s voice, with a very businesslike tone to it.

  “Yes, this is,” she responded.

  “Harry Thornton. I received a call from Ken Carlson over at the Buckshot Tavern. He said you were interested in visiting the Gale property?” asked Harry.