by Mac Flynn
She sighed and straightened. "I guess, but I don't want to be there too long."
"Just a few hours, and we'll be back. I promise," Whinier told her.
I clapped my hands and grinned at the pair. It was time. "So if we're all ready then let's head out."
I led the pair outside. My car keys were in hand. There was no sign of Adam. We approached my car. Ten feet. Five feet. I reached out to unlock my old mobile.
"Where are you going at so early an hour?" a voice called out.
The three of us turned toward the path and watched Adam stroll down toward us. He had a wide, smooth grin on his face and sauntered to us with a stride as wide as his grin. Bunny's eyes widened and she let out a yelp before she dove behind her husband.
Whinier scowled at Adam and then at me. "Get him out of here," he hissed.
I strode up to Adam and put my hands on his chest to arrest his movement. "I think you need to go," I told him.
Adam replied by wrapping one arm over my shoulders and pressing me against his side. He turned me so we both faced the Whinier pair. "I'm sorry to be interrupting, but I couldn't stay away from my darling any longer," he told them.
I cringed. "Now's not the time for lovey-dovey," I whispered to him.
He leaned down and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Now is the perfect time."
Bunny pointed an accusing finger at me and her voice rose to a fevered pitch. "He touched her!"
I blinked at her, then to Adam and back. "So?" I returned.
Bunny ignored me and turned her attention to her husband. She grasped his suit in both hands and nearly yanked it off him. "I don't want to be infected again!"
Whinier grabbed her hands and pulled her off him. He smiled kindly at her as one would a frightened child. "It's all right, honey, we don't have to go with her." He turned his gaze to me and his eyes hardened. "She can stay here while we visit her neighbors."
My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. There was Adam's ingenious plan in a nutshell. He would infect me with the imaginary disease and I would be barred from our outing.
"Let's hurry before I get it on me again. Please?" Bunny pleaded.
"Sure thing." Whinier guided his wife toward their own car, but he glanced over his shoulder and shot us one last parting glare.
"It's the first house on the right," I shouted to them as they slipped into the car. In a moment their vehicle disappeared down the road.
I pulled myself from Adam's grasp and spun around to stare at him with a look fo admiration and doubt. "How were you sure it would work out that way?" I asked him.
He grinned and shrugged. "I wasn't, but I couldn't think of a better plan."
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "What a plan," I murmured.
Adam scrutinized my clothes. "Are you ready for our hike?"
I dropped my hand and nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be. When do we leave?"
"Right now." He returned to the head of the trail and pulled a small backpack from the brush. "I have gloves and scissors to cut the plants, and plastic bags to contain the noxious smell and masks for both of us." He also pulled from the bushes a long, heavy shotgun which he slung over his shoulder.
I pointed at the weapon. "What's that for?"
"In case we meet with trouble. I'm not in a condition to fend off a rabbit, much less anything larger," he explained.
I cringed and swept my hand toward the woods. "Lead on, armed guide."
Chapter 12
Our path was one of the half dozen that lay in front of my cabin. It wound its way a little ways up the incline of the hill between my home and Adam's before it made a straight shot deep into the woods. Well, as straight as a meandering path filled with sharp, pointy bushes and low-hanging tree branches could be. As we made our way through the jungle-like forest I worried about my guide. Adam didn't move with his usual lightness of step. Rather, he plodded along and I was easily able to keep pace with him.
Halfway to the garden spot I grabbed his arm and stopped him. "You don't have to come along. You could go home and rest," I suggested.
Adam turned to me with a small smile. Now that I saw the front of him I realized he panted for breath and his face was flushed. "I wish I could take you up on your suggestion, but I'm afraid we may have a problem ahead."
I frowned. "What's that?"
He nodded to the path ahead of us. There was some nice mud in spots, and one of those spots had a distinct paw print in them. "It seems your bear has made use of my trail."
I cringed. "Recently?"
"Very recently." He shrugged off the weapon and handed it to me. "If he comes don't hesitate to use this."
I held the heavy weapon in both hands and the color drained from my face. "I-I don't know if I can. I haven't really fired a gun before," I admitted.
Adam slipped off his bag and lifted my hands so the weapon sat in front of my face. He pointed out each of the areas he described as he described them. "I've already loaded the bullets into both chambers. You only need to pull back the safety catch here and pull the trigger. I have to warn you the weapon has a wide spray pattern and a-" He stiffened and his head whipped to the left side of the path.
I looked past him in the direction he looked, but didn't see anything. "What is-" He dropped his hold on the gun and pressed his hand against my mouth.
We listened for a moment, and a sound came to my ears. It was something heavy that trudged through the brush like a small bulldozer. In a few moments I caught sight of brown fur. The bear. It pushed its way through the brush straight to the path on which we stood. Adam pushed me backwards away from the bear, and the movement caught the beast's attention.
It paused and stood on its hind legs to get a good look at us. I'd read somewhere that the sight of a bear wasn't that great. This bear was an exception. It saw us and its face seemed to twist with anger. The beast opened its mouth and let out a roar that echoed up and down the path. It dropped to the ground and charged like a heavy freight train onto the path and towards us.
Adam rushed the beast and the two collided five yards ahead of us. The pair wrestled with legs and arms, and in the mix of fur and clothes I noticed Adam slowly transform into his werewolf self. Unfortunately, this time the change was different. He was slower to transform, and patches of his body changed faster than others so that half his arms were covered in hair and others showed human skin. The bear sensed the changes and roared again. It pummeled its body into Adam and knocked him to the ground. The bear climbed on top of him and bit and scratched at him. Adam held his arms over his head to protect his face, but he couldn't find the strength to fend the beast off.
I was merely a feeble human, but this feeble human was armed. I aimed the two barrels of the shotgun at the creature, but realized that with a wide spray pattern the pellets would also hit Adam. The angle was all wrong, so I pushed into the trees and brush until I had a side view of the pair. I swung the barrels so they pointed just behind the rear of the bear, and then I pulled the trigger. Did I mention that the butt of the gun was pressed hard against my shoulder, and that shotguns have a hell of a kick? I yelped when the butt of the weapon slammed into my shoulder. Nothing was broken or dislocated, but it would leave a hell of a bruise. Still, my mission was successful.
The pellets hit the bear in the ass. The beast yelped and scrambled off Adam. It crashed through the brush the way it came, leaving behind bits of fur and the echoes of its whimpers and whines. I dropped the heavy gun and raced over to kneel beside Adam. He inched his way up to a sitting position and held his arms in a stiff manner. His clothes were torn from his transformation and the bear's efforts to assist with the removal of his attire. Blood poured freely from the countless scratches, but none were so deep that he would need stitches.
Adam smiled up at me. "Not a bad shot," he hoarsely whispered.
I grinned, but winced when my shoulder pounded with pain. "You forgot to tell me about the kick," I scolded him.
"The bear didn't give me
a chance, and I'm glad you gave him the same courtesy with the gun," he replied.
"Yeah. I was kind of hoping I would make him bald-butted, but I think he's just going to be pulling those pellets out for a while," I replied. I looked Adam over and nothing but the arms appeared very injured. "Can you stand or do you need to teach me how to make a stretcher?"
"I can stand." He proved this by rising to his shaky feet. I pulled one of his arms over my shoulder and steadied him.
"You sure you can make it the rest of the way?" I asked him.
He nodded. "I can feel my wounds healing already. Let's fetch the bag and gun, and be on our way."
The articles were fetched and we limped along the remaining mile to the resting spot of Adam's private garden. It was a large, natural clearing that stretched for a hundred yards in all directions. There was a circular garden in the middle filled with the pretty and deadly wolf's bane. Wire around the round perimeter kept the woodland creatures from suicide. There was a small hatch with a hook that allowed someone to reach inside and cut the plants.
Adam lowered himself to a tree trunk that sat at the edge of the clearing and pulled the items from the bag. He handed me the gloves, clippers, a mask, and a sealable plastic bag. "These should work to protect you, but remember not to let the plant touch any of your skin. When you're done cutting the plant place the scissors in this second plastic bag," he advised.
"No problem." I snapped on the tight latex gloves, donned the mask, and carried the rest of the equipment over to the hatch.
I knelt in front of the dangerous plants and opened the hatch. With the clippers I cut off a bouquet as large as the one I destroyed and stuffed it in the bag without any juices or leaves touching the exterior. When the work was done I shut the hatch and returned to Adam where I stuffed the equipment into the backpack. Our work there was done, and we made our way back to our homes.
Adam was now strong enough to haul himself around, and my shoulders were grateful for the loss of weight. A half mile short of my cabin he turned onto a side path. "I have the drier ready for the plant and then I can mix it with the rest of the ingredients, but you will have to be the one to administer the antidote," he told me.
"Does it have much of a flavor?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "No. It needs only a drop to cure the curse."
I grinned. "Then I know just the way to give it to her."
Chapter 13
We hurried to Adam's cabin where he changed his clothes and carefully put the poisonous plant in an electric drier outside his home. It was commercial strength, and in a few minutes we had a slightly charred bouquet of slightly dangerous wolf's bane. Well, slightly dangerous to humans. For Adam he was still forced to wear a mask and gloves to handle the plant, but in a pinch he mixed a half dried leaf with the other ingredients and handed me a small vial with a liquid substance at the very bottom.
"Administer this as soon as possible. She will be physically ill for a few days, but there should be no lasting harm," he assured me.
I took the vial and looked at the ground. "You know, I've been thinking to myself how much trouble you've been for me, but I think after this fiasco I'm the one who's more trouble."
Adam clasped my chin in one hand and raised my eyes so I looked into his smiling face. His eyes shimmered with love and affection. I still couldn't believe those emotions were directed at me. "I've led a rather boring life the last fifty years. It's time I had some excitement, and I wouldn't want to have it with anyone else more than you." He leaned down and captured my lips in a kiss that held all those warm, beautiful emotions.
By the time we separated I gasped for air and my cheeks were red. My whole body was flush with emotions and a physical need that I quickly tamped down. There wasn't time to be horny. Maybe later. I leaned away from him and coyly smiled at him. "You know, if you keep this up you're going to be stuck with me for a long time," I warned him.
"That's my plan," he replied.
I sighed and raised the vial. "And speaking of plans, I should get mine in action before they get back, if they aren't already."
"Do I need to wish you good luck?" he wondered.
I snorted and shook my head. "No, more like 'bottoms up.' This liquid's got a date with a glass of whiskey and Bunny's mouth."
Adam chuckled. "Then I wish Bunny good luck in her illness. I've only seen a few humans through the process, and it isn't pleasant."
I cringed. "She isn't going to die from this, is she?" I wondered.
He shook his head. "No, but her stomach won't react well to food and she will be restless as the curse is pushed from her body."
"And nobody will ever know that she was almost a werewolf?"
"No. Once the drink is in her system the blood of the werewolf will immediately begin to be replaced by human blood. Only those who know what to look for would find the problem," he assured me.
I sighed and pocketed the vial. "All right, here I go. I'll call you when I've succeeded."
"I'll stay near my phone," he promised.
I strode out of his cabin and down the path. Our little adventure had taken almost three hours, and I wondered if my guests had returned. I got my answer when I neared the end of the path and heard the sound of car doors opening. There wasn't the sound of closed doors as I expected, and I slunk to the bottom and peeked out from behind one of the last bushes. My boss and Bunny were nowhere in sight, but their car was parked next to the porch and all four doors were open.
I stepped from the brush and tiptoed to the front door which I found also to be open. There were noises coming from inside and I heard Snookums yapping his head off. I reached the entrance only to collide with Whinier as he rushed out. In one hand was his suitcase, and in the other was Snookums in a dog carrier. The collision caused me to stumble back, but I caught one of the porch posts and saved myself from a fall.
Whinier turned his narrowed eyes on me and the downward curl of his lips told me he wasn't happy. "Where the hell have you been?" he growled at me.
I slapped a wide grin on my face that strained the muscles. "Oh, just watching the trees grow. It's one of my new hobbies." I glanced from the open car to Whinier's suitcase. "Going somewhere?"
"Yeah, out of here. Bunny had an episode at the Vandersnoot house when one of your other neighbors brought their shih tzu mutts there," Whinier explained.
I cringed. The Rodneys had visited. "I'm sorry, Mr. Whinier, I didn't know-"
"I know you didn't. Those Vandersnoot people were surprised, but I've had enough of this nonsense with dogs and neighbors. You're not fired, but we're not going to be coming back for a while." He made that as a threat, but inwardly I couldn't have been happier. "You're also not getting that bonus." I could live with that.
Bunny came up behind him with a few of her bags in her hand. Both hands were now bandaged and she was pale. I couldn't tell if the pallor was from the curse or being attacked by a small herd of mops with legs. "Honey-Buns, can we please leave soon?" she insisted.
"All right, all right. Monet, help us pack these bags," Whinier barked at me.
"Sure thing, but why don't we have a parting drink first? You know, for the long drive back," I suggested.
"I'm not thirsty," Whinier grumbled, and he made his way to the car.
"I could use something. It might calm my nerves," Bunny spoke up.
"All right, one drink coming up." I slipped inside and in a pinch gathered the whiskey bottle and a glass. The contents of the vial were poured into the glass, and then the chaser of whiskey was added, and enough for good measure just in case the taste was noticeable. I hurried out and presented her with the drink. "This should fix up your nerves." And a few other things.
Bunny tipped back her head and downed the entire glass in a few gulps. She gasped from the strength, but calmly handed back the glass. "You don't think that stuff was too old, do you?" she asked me.
"Nah." I didn't have the heart to tell her the bottle was pre-opened and there'd been dust
on the cap.
Whinier returned from the other side of the car sans bag and dog. "Stop dawdling, Monet, and grab some bags," he ordered as he passed us.
"Yes, sir!"
Never was a car-loading of so much luggage ever done so quickly by so few. In two minutes the car was packed, the passengers were buckled in their seats, and I stood on the porch with my heart in elation. Whinier spun the car around my newly graveled driveway and tore out of there.
I waved goodbye to them until they were out of sight. Then my shoulders slumped and I pulled out my phone. A quick dial and Adam answered. "They're gone," I told him.
"Gone?" he repeated.
"Yep. Left."
"Was the antidote given?" he asked me.
"Yep. She drank it like a thirsty fish. How long does it take for that stuff to start working?"
"An hour."
"Then they've got a long three hour drive ahead of them."
"What made them leave?"
"A run-in with the Rodney's dogs at the Vandersnoot house. There were no casualties, but that was the final hair that broke my boss' back," I told him.
"I see. Do you still have your job?"
"Yeah, and he promised not to come back for a while. I'll call that a bonus. Now what do we do?"
"I don't understand you."
"What trouble do we get into?" I rephrased.
He chuckled. "An interesting question. What trouble do you want to get into?"
"Well, I've got a nice, cheerful fireplace that needs a good pair of hands to light, and a couple of movies we could watch," I suggested.
"That sounds like a romantic evening," he teased.
"Yep, and if you don't get your butt down here it's going to be a romantic evening for one." I shut off the phone and stared out on my land.
Everything was calm and peaceful once again, but it wasn't going to last, nor had we had the last of our neighbor problems, but those problems were for later. Tonight I would enjoy the evening with my boyfriend, and maybe some night soon he would stay over. This time, though, he wouldn't be sleeping on the couch.
