Wolf Storm

by Dee Garretson

  The blaze was really going for the moment. A table leg that had been carved into the shape of an animal’s foot caught and glowed like a torch, either the varnish or furniture polish on it crackling and sparking blue.

  “We should hold fast to these chairs or dear little Raine will rip them out from under us to burn,” Cecil said. “The girl is quite enthralled with flames.” Raine smiled in their direction as she threw a few shingles on. Stefan was glad to hear Cecil’s voice sounding a little stronger. The man shifted his chair closer to the fire. “I’m glad she appears undaunted by our ordeal. You, however, seem somewhat battered by this unfortunate experience, and you’re clearly favoring your left side. What happened?”

  “I think I cracked a rib when I fell.” Stefan didn’t want to explain about the avalanche, about being buried. He didn’t look at Cecil; he just kept staring into the fire.

  “If I may give advice, you should find something soft to pad that side and then tape the padding on; it will feel better. I suffered a similar injury in my younger days, falling from a balcony during a battle with a werewolf on the set of Wolfman Fangdango. Did you ever see that one?”

  “No, sorry,” Stefan said, wondering where he could find some tape. It would be nice to be wearing dry clothes as well. His jeans were so caked with snow, they were like boards, stiff and frozen. As soon as the fire thawed them, they’d be soaking wet.

  “Some thought that movie was a classic,” Cecil said, “even though the werewolf costumes were on the low-budget side; big clumps of fur fell off every time the actor sneezed.”

  “Costumes.” Stefan stood up. “Maybe we can get at the costumes to put on, or at least find something to wrap around us.” He needed another glove too; his one hand was freezing.

  “Sorry?” Cecil said. “I didn’t follow.”

  “Raine!” Stefan called. “We need to get some of the costumes to use as dry clothes. With all this snow falling, we’re never going to dry out like this.”

  “The costumes were inside the lodge,” she said, twirling Jeremy around.

  “Not the ones with the special effects sewn in,” Stefan said. “There were some in the prop trailers. Remember, Cecil?”

  “I do, but from what I can see, the trailers didn’t fare very well in this event. I don’t know where or if we will find the right ones.”

  “Those trailers were near the end of the row, farther away from the avalanche. Remember Alan told us the monster costumes were in the other trailer, so that means there were two of them. Maybe we can get to at least one. I’m going to look.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Jeremy said. “I’m getting cold again.”

  “Call me if you need any help.” Raine dragged over what looked like another floorboard. “The fire’s dying down some, so I’ll keep it going.” She tossed the wood on.

  “Guard my chair, Cecil, so Raine doesn’t throw it on the fire,” Stefan said, and the old man smiled and put one hand on the arm of it.

  Since Raine had already been in the camera storage trailer, Stefan and Jeremy headed to one that was tipped over and twisted so that a wall was peeled open, like someone had taken a can opener to it.

  Jeremy ran ahead, then started backing up like he was scared. “Stefan, there’s an awful noise in there!” When Stefan reached the trailer, he could hear the sound, a buzzing noise he recognized.

  “It’s one of the ice spiders,” he said. “This is the prop trailer.” Inside he took a step and his foot almost slipped out from under him. A container of nails and screws had spilled, carpeting the side of the trailer that was now the floor. The place was full of plastic and metal bins, some thrown open, others just tipped over. A strong chemical smell stung Stefan’s nose and made his eyes water, but he couldn’t identify it.

  The buzzing sound came from one corner, and when Stefan drew close he could see a pile of ice spiders. One had somehow gotten switched on and was circling a small clear area, the legs on one side so smashed they weren’t functioning. Its sound card was damaged as well, because the buzzing noise sounded like an ordinary wasp. He picked the spider up and shut it off, dropping it back with the rest of them.

  “There’s some weird fabric over here,” Jeremy said.

  Stefan stepped over a tangle of wires to a table that had crashed over.

  “There.” Jeremy pointed to a bit of fabric showing from underneath one corner of the table.

  “Help me lift it off,” Stefan said. They heaved it to one side, uncovering a pile of what looked like wrinkled walrus skin, just as Alan had described. When Stefan reached down to pick one up, it unfolded and he nearly dropped it. Attached to the skin was a hideous baboon-like head that had a gigantic mouth full of long, sharp teeth. It was more frightening than any real animal Stefan had ever seen. If he ever got the chance to finish the movie, it would be easy to pretend to be terrified of these.

  “Whoa! Those are really creepy!” Jeremy said.

  “I guess if you start with two ugly creatures and morph them together, you’ll end up with something even uglier.” Stefan examined the fabric part of the costume, trying to avoid looking at the teeth and the glittering black eyes. There were only four costumes, but when they were unfastened in the back, the main body part was about the size of an afghan. “At least they’ll make good blankets. We’ll just have to ignore the heads. Let’s get these to Cecil. Without a coat, he must be freezing even by the fire.”

  Stefan took three and gave the other to Jeremy to carry. As they made their way back to Cecil, Stefan spotted Raine up the slope using a small board as a shovel. When she saw them, she yelled, “I’ve almost uncovered a cooler. Maybe it will have something to eat or drink in it. Throw some more wood on the fire, would you?”

  The fire blazed so high, Cecil sitting in his chair was dwarfed by it. He raised his eyebrows at the sight of the monster heads but didn’t say anything as they wrapped the costume skins around him, arranging them so the heads were resting on the ground around him.

  “They aren’t pretty, Cecil, but they’ll keep you warm.” The old actor nodded, not speaking. He still had the gray look to his face. Stefan didn’t know what to do. “Raine,” he yelled. “Have you found anything?”

  “I’ve almost got it uncovered!”

  “Well, if you find some water, bring some to Cecil, okay?” He knew they could eat snow if Raine couldn’t find any water, but after everything that had happened, he didn’t want to think about filling up his mouth with snow again.

  Cecil smiled up at him, but Stefan wasn’t convinced it was a real smile. “We’re going to keep looking for some warm clothes, okay?” Stefan said. “That will make you feel better, right?”

  Cecil nodded and again waved at them to go.

  Boris and Phoebe dashed by, like they had gotten over their concern with the fire, chasing each other around as if they were on some terrific vacation. Running across the snow didn’t bother them. Stefan had never noticed until now how big their feet were. It was as if they had their own built-in snowshoes. It would be hard to win a race with a wolf. Kep came over and sat by Cecil’s feet, and Stefan noticed the little dog was trembling. Maybe the dog sweaters weren’t such a dumb idea.

  Jeremy had noticed too. “Cecil, will you hold Raine’s dog while we look for some costumes for us? He looks cold.” The boy picked up the pug and when Cecil mouthed a “yes,” he put the dog in his lap.

  “Let’s try that other trailer,” Stefan said, pointing past the one they had just explored to one that was only partially buried, tilted on its side, and held at the angle by the snow surrounding it. “The prop trailers were probably right next to each other, so we may be in luck.”

  When they reached it, Stefan thought it looked too crushed for them to find a way in, but Jeremy climbed around and called out, “There’s an opening here. I think I can squeeze in.” Stefan pulled himself up on the top of the trailer beside the boy. One of the ventilation panels had cracked and opened slightly before the snow piled up around it.
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br />   “It’s dark in there though, really dark,” Jeremy said.

  “You don’t happen to still have your flashlight, do you?”

  “No, I left it in the lodge.”

  “Go get Cecil’s lighter then. That should help. Let me see if I can make a bigger opening.” Stefan pulled at the panel, trying to wrench it open. He couldn’t move it more than a few inches. It was still too small for him to get in. The kid would fit and possibly Raine, but he didn’t even want to try.

  When Jeremy came back waving the lighter, he asked, “Does Cecil have asthma too? He’s breathing like he does.”

  “I don’t know,” Stefan said. “He was trapped for a long time. He might just be out of breath from that. He’ll probably feel better once he rests.”

  “I hope so.” Jeremy handed Stefan the lighter. “I don’t know how to work this.”

  Stefan showed him and then pulled on the panel until he thought it was wide enough for Jeremy. “If it’s the prop trailer, there should be some of the costumes like we were wearing yesterday in there. Bring as many as you can find, because we can put them on in layers.”

  Jeremy disappeared inside, and Stefan heard metal things banging together. “Are you okay?” Stefan called.

  “Wow, there’s a lot of junk in here!” Jeremy’s voice sounded from inside the trailer.

  Stefan shifted so he wouldn’t block what little light there was. “Do you think you’re in the right trailer?”

  “How am I supposed to know?”

  “Just look for costumes or anything else we can use to keep warm.”

  “There’s a metal box and it’s full of tubes labeled “pyrotechnics.” I bet they’re the fireworks for that scene where the spaceship blows up!”

  “Jeremy, get the lighter away from those!”

  “Oh, right, I forgot! There must be a hundred tubes in here!”

  “They’re not going to keep us warm, Jeremy. Would you keep looking?” Stefan hoped Jeremy didn’t trip with the lighter in his hand. They didn’t need an exploding trailer on top of everything else.

  “I’m looking! There’s some gooey stuff spilled on the floor though. I don’t want to step in it.”

  Probably alien intestines. That wouldn’t do them any good either.

  “It smells funny in here . . . I think I found them. No, wait. It’s the inflatable mattresses the stuntmen use for falls. We could use those as blankets too.”

  “Maybe, if we need them. Keep looking for the costumes. That’s what we need most.”

  “I feel something soft. Here they are.”

  Jeremy pushed costumes, both tunics and pants, one after the other out through the opening. “There’s only five that I can see.”

  “Try to find those sweater shirts that go underneath the tunics.” Stefan wanted as many layers as possible.

  He heard a crunching sound on the snow and turned to find Raine coming toward him, holding out a roll of black tape.

  “Cecil told me about taping your ribs and I remembered seeing the gaffer tape in the camera trailer when I climbed in to get the cords. Will it work for them?” She held it out.

  “I don’t know, I’ve never used it, but I’m willing to try anything.” It looked like black duct tape, but when she gave it to him, he could feel the tape was more like cloth. As long as it stuck to him, he didn’t really care what it was made of.

  Jeremy’s head poked out of the opening. He had streaks of blue on his face. “This is fun, like a treasure hunt!”

  “What’s on your face?”

  “Paint. Some spilled and I put my hand down in it accidentally.” He handed out a stack of costume shirts, then a tattered plaid flannel shirt. “What about this? It’s really big and it has some rips in it.”

  Stefan took it. The shirt smelled like varnish. “It must be Alan’s,” he said. “I’ll take it for my ribs.” He folded it into a square, tempted just to wrap his nearly numb hand in the softness of it. “Jeremy, look for gloves too, okay? I’m going to go change in the other prop trailer. Raine, will you stay here and help Jeremy?”

  The other trailer had one small section still blocked on three sides from the wind, so Stefan climbed over some of the equipment to find a clear place to change. He managed to get the pants on, but when it came time to tape his ribs, he fumbled with the whole process. It was almost impossible to hold the padding and tape one-handed. He was also freezing without a shirt on, like he had plunged into an ice-cold lake. The tape kept sticking to his fingers and getting tangled up.

  Raine’s voice called from the other side of the trailer. “You’re taking a long time! Jeremy’s putting on his costume in the other trailer and I want to change too.”

  “I’m still taping my ribs,” he said.

  “Let me help. It’s probably hard to do it yourself.”

  “Yes, but I don’t need . . . ” She was already in front of him taking the tape out of his hand. “Here, you hold the shirt in the right spot and I’ll tape. Jeremy found some work gloves you can put on. They don’t look very warm but they’ll be better than nothing.” She examined his side. “Wow, you have a terrible-looking bruise already. It’s all black with some reddish purple bits. Hmmm . . . it sort of looks like a giant smashed beetle, like those pictures psychiatrists show you of blobs that you’re supposed to identify. The blobs always look like bugs to me.”

  “Just tape, please.” The bug talk confused him, and he didn’t have the energy to ask her to explain. It was easier just to suffer in silent embarrassment by looking at a spot over the top of her head. She wound the tape around him once, pulling it so hard it felt like it was cutting into the skin of his back. “Ow! Does it have to be that tight?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never had a role where I had to pretend to do first aid, but in the movies I’ve seen like this, the wounded one is supposed to suffer in silence. Then the camera moves in for a close-up of how stoic you are.” She wrapped another section around him and tightened that, too. “There, that should hold,” she said, ripping off the end of the tape.

  “Ow! Very funny! I’m not feeling stoic, and those actors aren’t really hurt, so it’s not much of an effort to bite your lip and grimace.”

  “Like this?” Raine did a perfect imitation of an actor in pain, but in the process of striking a pose, she bumped into the wall of the trailer and a shower of snow fell on her.

  “That wasn’t bad,” he said, reaching out to brush the snow off her face. Her cheek was so warm, he didn’t want to take his hand away.

  Jeremy stumbled in, tripping over a toolbox. “Stefan! Raine! Cecil’s really sick!”

  Chapter 16

  Shelter

  Stefan grabbed the shirt and the tunic and pulled them on as he followed Raine and Jeremy. He realized the tape was working because he felt much better. “What’s wrong with Cecil?”

  “He’s sweating and he’s talking about stuff that doesn’t make sense, like he’s reciting lines from another movie. Hurry!”

  They slogged back through the snow toward the fire and Cecil. Even from several feet away, Stefan could see the sheen of sweat on the old man’s face. He sat staring at a bottle of pink-colored juice in his shaking hand like he was fascinated with the sloshing movement inside it. His other arm was around Kep, who was crouched in his lap.

  “Cecil, are you okay?” Raine asked.

  At the sound of her voice, he raised his head, his eyebrows furrowed as if he was surprised she had spoken. “‘Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!’” he mumbled. He turned to Stefan and said, “‘Dost thou not laugh?’”

  “Um, I don’t know, Cecil.” Stefan fell back a step, the alarm bells going off in his head.

  Raine knelt down so her face was level with Cecil’s and pointed at the bottle of juice. “Can you take a drink? It might make you feel better.”

  “Is he trying to tell us something?” Jeremy asked.

  “I don’t think so,” R
aine said. “He’s quoting Shakespeare. It’s some of Romeo’s lines about love.”

  Cecil shifted the bottle into his other hand but didn’t drink. “‘Now is the winter of our discontent.’” He cackled a crazy laugh, then held up his arm like he was giving a toast.

  “Okay, I don’t like this,” Stefan said. Cecil’s confusion was making him seriously nervous.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Jeremy took hold of Stefan’s sleeve. “Why isn’t anyone here to help us? Aren’t they worried we aren’t answering our phones?” His voice was pleading, like he expected Stefan to have answers.

  Stefan didn’t want to tell him what he thought. If the storm had disrupted cell phone service in the area by damaging a tower, no one would realize they weren’t answering theirs because of the avalanche. They might be on their own for hours, maybe even overnight. The thought of facing cold and darkness was awful, especially with Cecil acting so strange.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but it’s too cold even by the fire,” Stefan said, taking a stick and poking at it. “If you get too close, it’s too hot, but then if you move away, not enough of you stays warm. If we had some shelter for Cecil, he’d feel better.” The fire only flared briefly, then died back down. Stefan felt a moment of uneasiness. The bonfire had already consumed most of the wood that was easy to retrieve. If they ran out of wood, they were in big trouble, unless they managed to dig more out.

  Raine adjusted the costume skins around Cecil. “We could try to help him climb down into the camera trailer. I don’t know if he could get back out though, without a lot of help. I had to pull myself up by my arms and balance on one of the tipped over cameras.”

  Stefan didn’t like the thought of getting Cecil down into a dark trailer partway buried in the snow. He didn’t like the thought of going in it himself. The snow had picked up again and the trailer was probably already filling with snow anyway, because they hadn’t done anything to cover the opening. The prop trailer wasn’t really a choice either, unless they figured out some way to make the opening big enough for Cecil. They couldn’t light a fire inside it either. He remembered the chemical odor he had smelled earlier. Whatever that had been, it was probably flammable.