by GA Hauser
Butch put his boots on, then his hat and coat. "I'll go help out clearin' the snow."
Charlie nodded, the mug to his lips.
Butch expected Charlie to offer up, but he didn't. Butch made sure his gloves were in his jacket pocket, then opened the door. He was met with a snow drift that came nearly halfway up the height of the door. He pushed it back and closed the door behind him, making his way to the ranch house to a shed where he knew shovels were kept. Once he began digging out the main path up to the house, and the porch, Butch heard the whine of a snowplow engine. A few minutes later he spotted it clearing out the ranch's long lane, the truck of day workers behind it, loaded with the ranch hands.
Butch rested the shovel at his boots and wiped his forehead of sweat. Men's voices made him look over. JP and Goat had shovels in hands and were removing the deep drifts from their door and the pathway. Butch waved at them and they acknowledged it.
Butch went back to work, heaving the white powder off the paving stones in the bright morning sun.
The door to the ranch house opened behind him and he spotted Suzie, all bundled up, a red scarf around her neck and a red wool hat with a white pompom on her head. She tugged the edges of her gloves and began sweeping the porch of the powdery snow. "Morning, Butch."
"Morning, Suz." He tipped his hat to her.
"Mom's cooking up a nice breakfast for everyone."
Butch checked his watch. "She did say eight, right?"
Suzie walked down the two steps of the porch towards him, smiling as she gazed up at him. "Are you gay too, Butch?"
At the direct question, Butch blinked and stammered.
"I suppose living with those two handsome men, seeing them kissing and enjoying each other…" She grinned a little too knowingly.
"Uh…" Butch hadn't expected the bold comments and was tongue-tied.
"You were such a ladies' man when you worked here. I remember you dating all the waitresses at the tavern." She bumped him with her shoulder playfully.
"I…" Butch had no explanation for her. He was attracted to Roman, and couldn't make excuses about it.
"It's okay, Butch. As a woman I certainly see what's so sexy about those two boys."
JP and Goat shoveled their way closer and Butch didn't want her to keep discussing it. He looked up as the ranch hands climbed out of the truck and entered the barn.
"Connie got the grub on the table?" Goat asked Suzie.
"She's about done. Go and see, Hal." Suzie tilted her head to the house.
Goat trotted up the stairs.
"You coming?" JP asked, appearing slightly uneasy and Butch knew it was from the episode last night.
"Yeah. Let me get Charlie and Roman." Butch leaned his shovel against the house.
"I will. You go and eat, Butch." Suzie tapped the tip of Butch's nose in a tease.
Butch had no idea what to say.
"If I'm lucky," Suzie laughed as she walked down the path, "Maybe I'll catch them in the middle of something!"
Butch's mouth hung open. "I will never understand women," he said to himself. He kicked the snow off his shoes and opened the door to the ranch house. Harley sped right through his legs and yapped at the ranch hands as they let the horses out into the snow-filled pasture.
~
Roman disconnected the call and said, "He'll be up here in an hour."
"Okay," Charlie replied, stepping into his cowboy boots.
A knock came to their door.
Roman reached for his leather jacket as Charlie opened the door. Roman was surprised to see Suzie, expecting JP or Goat.
"Good morning, boys." She smiled, looking adorable in her wool cap and rosy cheeks.
"Hiya, Suzie. Connie got breakfast on the table?" Charlie asked, putting his coat on.
"Most likely." Suzie met Roman's eyes. "My, Agent Burk, you get sexier every day."
Charlie spun around to look at Roman as if to appraise him.
"And you should be Miss Utah in the next beauty contest." Roman put his arm around Suzie and walked her back to the ranch house.
"I suppose it's all your animal magnetism." Suzie laughed.
Charlie said, "Hey. What about me? Ain't I cute?"
Roman reached back for Charlie and kissed his lips. "Hell yeah."
"Oh!" Suzie giggled and put her mitten over her mouth.
"Calm down. Not in front of Ms Norman." Charlie shot him a scolding glance.
"You guys got Butch in heat. And I can see why." She led the way to the porch.
Charlie and Roman exchanged glances. "Did he say somethin' to y'all?" Charlie asked her as she opened the door of the house.
"He doesn't have to." She grinned wickedly and kicked the snow off her boots before she stepped inside.
The aroma of bacon and homemade biscuits hit Roman instantly. He stood in the threshold of the house, taking off his jacket, seeing a crowd had formed at the dining table.
Goat yelled, "Mornin', fellas. You end up sleepin' okay?"
Vernon entered the room and asked, "Why wouldn't they?"
"No reason," Charlie said, sitting at the table after taking off his coat and hat.
"Eat up. There's a lot of snow what needs clearin'." Connie placed a platter of bacon and sausage on the table.
Roman took the same spot next to Charlie as he had last night. Butch came in from the kitchen, wiping his hands on his jeans as if he had just washed them at the sink.
Sherlane walked around the table pouring coffee for everyone. "Did any of you boys hear shots last night?"
Not answering, Roman picked up a few slices of bacon and sausage links to put on his plate.
"Uh, hear what?" Butch said, trying to sound innocent.
"Did you say shots, Sherlane?" Vernon asked, taking the seat at the head of the table and sipping his coffee.
"I didn't," Suzie replied, "But Harley was barking so much I was about to kill him."
"Connie?" Vernon asked, taking two biscuits to his plate. "Did you hear anything?"
"I didn't." She began serving fried eggs, two at a time to each plate.
Holding a tureen, Suzie offered the sauce to go over the biscuits.
Roman declined on adding the creamy goo and blew on his coffee before he sipped it. He glanced at Goat and JP to see if they were going to keep their promise.
They didn't reply, eating their breakfast.
"Vernon," Roman said, getting everyone's attention.
"Yes, Roman?"
"Agent Dean is coming up this way. He and I are going to check out the area near the wire fence to see if we can find the group doing the killing."
"I assume it's the same one as last time. You want me to get Dale up here?" Vernon picked up a slice of bacon and ate it.
"Yes. I do." Roman was handed hash-brown potatoes and took a big helping.
Vernon nodded.
"I'm goin'." Butch wiped his mouth on the napkin.
"I assume we all are." Charlie chewed his food.
Roman watched the women finally stop fussing with the serving and join them at the table. The roles in this household were traditional. But both of Vernon's daughters were enrolled in college, and the Norman family was not narrow-minded. On the contrary.
"If it's the same group," Suzie asked, "Why haven't they been caught yet?"
Goat said, "If the ATF are comin' they will be."
Roman ate his breakfast fighting a sense of dread and apprehension. Envisioning an army of wolves? Maybe that worked for Charlie. All Roman wanted was a battalion of armed men in black SWAT gear.
As he became more intent on his food, he heard the thoughts of those around him begin to enter his mind. One in particular caught his attention. He glanced up at Suzie. She was staring at him. When they met gazes she looked back at her plate quickly, as if embarrassed.
He answered her unspoken question. "Charlie does."
"Huh?" Charlie woke out of a daydream.
Suzie shifted in her seat, but Roman could see her smirk.
/> "Charlie does what?" JP asked.
"Never mind," Roman said. Suzie had asked a typically straight person question, 'Who plays the woman?'
Suzie's blue eyes met Roman's and she smiled. Her next silent message to Roman was, I knew you'd play the man in the family.
He chuckled and continued to eat, trying not to listen to the internal comments of the people around him.
Chapter 14
Charlie could hear loud voices outside the ranch house. All that was left of the morning meal was empty plates and half-filled coffee mugs. JP and Goat stood up from the table first to get back to their chores.
He began stacking plates when Suzie stopped him. "We got it, Charlie. Go on and get those assholes who are killing animals on our property."
Charlie nodded at her, and both Butch and Roman stood from the table, followed by Vernon.
Vernon said, "Let me call Dale," and left the room.
"Thank you, ma'am," Charlie said to Connie, "always a good meal at this table."
Sherlane said, "Wait until you see Christmas dinner, Charlie. We're going to be cooking up a storm and making at least a dozen kinds of cookies."
Roman laughed and shook his head. "Love it here."
"Wish you'd stay," Suzie said softly and finished clearing the table.
Charlie kissed Connie's cheek in gratitude and the men walked to the front door to get their coats and hats on.
Butch said to Roman, "Your pack is growing."
Roman's warm smile faded and he turned to look at the women, busy in the kitchen. "Anything happens to those ladies I will kill."
"Calm down." Charlie touched Roman's arm and handed him his jacket.
"Just sayin'." Butch shrugged and opened the door. "It feels like that to me."
Once outside, Charlie immediately spotted the rugged black ATF SUV and Agent Phil Dean chatting to one of the ranch hands.
The three men made their way over to Phil, and Charlie looked at the clear sky, bright sun, and piles of plowed snow.
Phil nodded his head in greeting and then asked, "How are we getting up there?"
"Horse?" Butch asked.
A dog barking interrupted their conversation. Harley nipped at both Charlie and Roman's legs.
Phil asked flippantly, "An admirer?"
"Git lost, Harley." Charlie nudged the dog with his boot.
Roman ignored the obnoxious dog. "The horses are reluctant to let me and Charlie on them."
"Gee, I wonder why?" Phil rolled his eyes.
"Let me get my gun." Roman walked off.
Butch yelled, "I thought you said a gun didn't work!"
Roman kept walking, not looking back.
Charlie blew out a breath and the vapor from the cold day made a misty cloud, but it vanished quickly in the wind. "How about your SUV? Ya got four-wheel drive. Or we can try my pickup truck."
Phil shielded his eyes as he looked up the trail. "It's more than two feet of snow."
"And?" Charlie asked.
"Sure. Whatever." Phil walked back to the SUV.
Butch said to Charlie, "I'll saddle up one of the horses."
"Okay, Butch." Charlie patted his arm and headed to the passenger's side of the SUV. He sat beside Phil as Phil started the engine, the heat turned up high, and put on a pair of dark sunglasses.
Charlie noticed his gun in a holster under his open jacket and a shiny badge attached to the strap. He also spotted a folder. "May I?" Charlie pointed to it.
"Sure. It's the same information I gave to Roman last night."
Charlie picked up the folder and opened it. "I didn't get to read it."
"Why not? Too busy having sex?" Phil snickered.
"We were attacked by that Alpha." Charlie flipped the pages.
"What?" Phil moaned in frustration. "Jesus, come on, Charlie. When's this going to end? I have real work to do."
"I hear ya. I do. I have no idea why this fuckin' beast is hauntin' us." Charlie read the names of the suspects from the incident two years ago. They meant nothing to him. And most had moved out of the state.
The back door of the SUV opened and Roman climbed in. "You think this rig is going to get us up the trail?"
"I'm about to find out." Phil shifted the gears, putting it into four-wheel drive, and slowly made his way passed the barn.
Butch had saddled up a buckskin mare and trotted ahead of them.
"That's the way to go," Charlie said, stuffing the report back between the seats where he found it. "Four legs, not four wheels."
"If you can get one to take me, I'd ride." Roman leaned between them against the seat.
"Burk, why didn't you tell me you had a visitor last night?" Phil looked into his rearview mirror.
Charlie rubbed his forehead under his cowboy hat.
"What good would it do?" Roman leaned his chin on his hand on the top of the seat. "Butch shot at the thing and it was useless."
"Shots fire. Hmm." The SUV slid on the trail but they kept making progress. "I take it you didn't file a report with the local sheriff."
"Shut up." Roman sat back in the seat.
Charlie kept his gaze on Butch as the horse bounded over the snowy landscape effortlessly, getting a lead on them.
They were silent for a moment, then Phil said, "Well, the fresh snow did us a favor. If anything came or went, there will be tracks."
"Or it will cover the ones that were made," Charlie said.
Nothing more was communicated verbally in the SUV, but Charlie could hear Phil saying in his head, 'you two better not turn wolf on me.'
Charlie looked back at Roman. Roman had obviously heard Phil's thoughts too, and gave Phil the finger behind his back, making a face of annoyance at Charlie.
"It's gonna be a long week." Charlie adjusted his hat and stared at Butch as he led the way.
~
Butch let the buckskin walk through the deep snow, since it was winded from the effort and blowing out two blasts of steam through its nostrils. Though it had been two years since he lived and worked on this ranch, he knew it so well, every tree, every boulder.
Behind him the SUV ground its heavily treaded tires to maneuver the powdery snow, following the horse trail he was making.
Ahead, the tree line was a picture postcard; evergreen branches loaded with snow, sagging from the weight, with icicles forming at the tips. The sun was so bright on the white landscape Butch lowered the brim of his hat to be able to see in the glare.
The Wasatch Mountains loomed in the background, white-capped and glorious. It was as if this were a landscape painting, and not the stalking grounds for ritual killers.
Seeing he had a large lead on Phil's truck, Butch stopped the horse and had a look around. Just to the left was where the property fence line was cut, several times two years ago, and dead deer left near it. Movement from behind him caught his attention, then Harley poked his snout up and yipped, his tail standing high, as if this adventure was fun and games. The dog passed Butch and headed right for the area Butch was aiming for. Seeing the dog knew the way, Butch gently urged the big horse to continue, the SUV whining as it plowed through the deep snow.
The horse rounded a bend in the trail, between tall evergreen trees and it halted, shifting uneasily. Frantic barking came next.
"Oh no." Butch tried to get the horse to keep going, but it refused, rearing up. Harley was going out of his mind, yapping and snarling.
"Fuck!" Butch looked back at the SUV, trying to wave to Phil, to get him to hurry up, but it was too far, and the terrain was very rough.
Butch hopped off the horse, removed the shotgun he had attached to the saddle and followed the sound of Harley's barking.
The first thing Butch saw as he approached was blood. The white snow had been desecrated with a vile red color that made him instantly sick to his stomach. Step by step, Butch moved closer. It was then he saw the white tailed doe, lying on its side, eviscerated.
Harley yelped and took off running back to the ranch and Butch cocked
the shotgun and held it up to his eye level. "Who's there?" he shouted, beginning to shake from fear.
A low snarl made his skin crawl and he tried to see where the animal was…if it was an animal.
He spun around in a circle, the gun pressed against his shoulder, his finger on the trigger. Then something hit his back, hard, and he fell on his face in the snow, the gun flying out of his hand.
~
Roman sat up in the back seat. The buckskin horse galloped in the opposite direction they were headed, back to the barn, riderless. "What the fuck?"
Charlie panicked. "Butch was on that horse!"
"I know!" Roman opened the SUV door as Charlie climbed out as well.
Phil yelled, "Are we abandoning the truck?"
Roman and Charlie navigated the deep snow, sinking into the horse's tracks. "Butch!" Roman called, his hands around his mouth.
"Butch!" Charlie echoed, "Where are you?"
The panic was making Roman's teeth ache and then his gut.
"Butch!" Charlie battled through the deep snow. "Goddamn it! Butch Crowell! You answer me!"
Roman gasped for air, his skin crawling, his body beginning to tighten. "No…God no…" Roman sank to his knees in the snow.
"Butch! Answer me!" Charlie kept moving towards the bend in the trail, trudging in the knee high snow.
Roman writhed on the ground, screaming in pain as he morphed into something else.
"Roman?" Phil called. "Oh shit, no!"
Roman shook off his clothing and the holstered gun, and stood on all fours. He spotted Phil, between him and the truck, one hand on his duty weapon, and one held out in defense.
Roman leapt over the snow after Charlie, his senses going haywire; blood, wolf, death…
"Butch!" Charlie screamed at the top of his lungs, calling out for him.
Roman watched Charlie grab his stomach and hit the ground. The emotions were too much for him as well, and Charlie roared from the pain.
Roman stood over him as he changed, sniffing the air for Butch but the scent of blood was overwhelming. As Charlie shook out his fur, licking his nose, Roman trotted over to a dead deer. He stood tall, ears perked high and listened.
