Primrose & Brimstone

by Mueller, Jason

  There were too many wolves it seemed like they were everywhere. Cows were screaming in pain as they were torn apart and lay dying in the snow staining it red with their blood.

  How many fucking wolves are there? He thought as he took satisfaction as one wolf fell under his fire and then another. As if by some unseen, unheard signal the wolves faded back into the night. They left behind them dead and dying cows ripped apart and left to suffer so it seemed.

  He walked over to Ginger she was gone there would be no chance to say goodbye. In the moonlit distance, Cody saw the wolves slinking away he holstered his pistol and pulled the rifle from his shoulder. He wasn’t done with them yet. He sighted in on one and squeezed the trigger feeling the kick as the flat shooting .270 deer round exploded from the barrel.

  Cody watched with cold revenge as the wolf dropped and he sighted in on another wolf and the bullet hit its mark as the rest of the pack went over the ridge and out of sight.

  Cody was unaware of the dark hatred filled eyes watching him as he walked through the carnage putting the dying cows out of their misery. A Few of them he thought might pull through if given a chance and he walked on continuing his grisly task. When he was done, he placed Ginger’s torn body in the sled and headed for the house.

  Cold fear had taken over Jessi as the sun set in the mountains leaving dark shadows that may or may not have had wolves lurking in them. The events of the last twenty-four hours had taken their toll on the usually unflappable wife. What made it worse was that young Becca was sensing her mother’s fear and was getting frantic also about her daddy. Besides her grandpa, her father was the kindest the sweetest man she’d ever met, and she prayed that she would meet someone like him someday. She loved how sweet he was with her mother even though he was shy. She couldn’t imagine life without him.

  Jessi stood at the door with the truck keys in hand debating within herself if she should go looking for Cody or not. She didn’t want Cody to think she’d lost faith in him he was very resourceful and tough. She had full confidence in him but this situation with these damned wolves had her unhinged. It wasn’t natural wolves didn’t act this way.

  Just as she was deciding to go look for him she could see a single head light over the rise.

  It was Cody!

  “Becca your dad's here!” She called her voice cracking with emotion as relief flooded her.

  Cody pulled into the yard. He was so shocked and dismayed by the events he sat there in the freezing cold unable to muster the energy to move. Jessi and Becca came out on the porch their warm breath steamy in the cold Montana winter.

  “Honey come inside don’t just sit there,” Jessi called wondering why he acted that way.

  Becca looked around for Ginger and not seeing her asked. “Daddy where’s Ginger?” There was a tinge of fear in her voice as if she already knew.

  “She’s gone baby, the wolves…” His voice trailed off as sadness took over.

  Becca ran back into the house in tears at the loss of her beloved pet. She and Cody had gone together to get a puppy, and he had let her pick which pup they brought home. Ginger had been Becca’s constant companion ever since.

  Jessi took Cody’s hand and led him into the house and upstairs to their bedroom. He set his pistol on the dresser and his rifle in the corner and would put them in the gun safe later but for now, they were fine there. Cody sat on the bed defeated mentally and emotionally for the moment but he knew he wasn’t done. Somehow he would figure this out and keep going that’s what he did but, for the moment he just wanted to cry.

  How did over ten thousand dollars’ worth of livestock get shredded by wolves in a few minutes? Again his mind screamed. “This is not what wolves do!” But yet he had seen it with his own eyes now. Everything he knew about wolves, the mountains, nature and ranching could not make sense of it all and that left him feeling hopeless.

  In desperation, Cody picked up the phone. He punched in a number and waited while it rang. An older woman answered the phone. Cody asked for Billy. The woman slammed the phone down without a word. Cody paid none attention the scene had played out many times over the years when he called Billy Running Elk.

  Billy had been one of his father’s closest friends for many years and Cody knew Billy was someone he could trust and wouldn’t think him crazy. Billy was also the tribal medicine man over on the reservation and had an uncanny understanding of nature and the spiritual world.

  When Cody’s mother had passed away Billy had come and chanted and said prayers up on the hillside where she had been buried and when his father had passed away Billy honored his father in the same way. Cody had always been grateful for what Billy had done for his family and had kept in contact with the now old man throughout the years.

  Billy came on the phone. “Hello?”

  “Billy, I got something going on here that I don’t understand and I need to run it by you if you have time?” Cody asked knowing Billy would make time for him.

  Cody spent the next ten minutes recounting all that had happened to him and with the wolves.

  In typical Billy fashion, the old man said little only grunting now and then as he listened.

  Cody finished up. “It’s just strange. Wolves don’t act this way. What do you think Billy?”

  Billy didn’t answer right away. He sat quietly digesting all that Cody had told him and other facts that he did not share with Cody and he didn’t like the conclusion he had come up with.

  “Billy?”

  “I’m here.” The old man said with a sigh.

  “It isn’t natural is it?” Cody pressed.

  “No, it’s not natural.” Billy said above a whisper.

  “Then what is it?” Cody was getting frustrated by Billy’s cryptic ways. He needed answers.

  “It’s spiritual, and it’s an Indian problem. I’ll see you soon.” Billy hung up suddenly which was much the usual way with him. It wasn’t rude it was just his way, the Indian way.

  Cody sat staring at the phone. What the hell did all that mean? Its spiritual and an Indian problem? Why the hell would he be seeing Billy soon? Cody sighed. He still had no answers.

  He undressed and headed for the shower in the master bath they had added on to the house he had grown up in. Cody hoped that the hot water would not only warm his flesh but wash away the fear and grief he felt from the events in the last twenty-four hours.

  He felt better after his shower and wasn’t shivering anymore his mind had calmed somewhat. In the privacy of the shower, he had shed tears for his beloved dog letting the water wash away some of his sorrow at her loss. He would miss her but knew that in a month or two he and Becca would choose a new puppy to add to the family and life would go on as it always does. But for now, they would grieve.

  Cody dressed in clean jeans, flannel shirt, and heavy work boots and headed down the hall. He stopped halfway and went back to the bedroom and strapped the pistol from the dresser back on his hip and stuffed extra magazines in his pockets. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need but he’d learned to trust his instincts and just felt reassured knowing that he was armed.

  Cody headed back down the hallway and stopped to look in on Becca she had cried herself to sleep. His heart ached for her as any father's would. Ginger had been her constant companion for the last five years even more so that Becca’s older sister had left for college. The downside to farm life was that it could be lonely sometimes for kids.

  He made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Jessi was stirring a pot of chili. The smell of onions, garlic, and the other seasonings made his mouth water and his stomach growl.

  “Hey, baby.” He wrapped his arms around her. She sat the spoon down and leaned back into his embrace.

  “You feel any better?” She turned around to face him and return his embrace.

  “I’m fine.” He answered hoping she would not push the issue.

  Her eyes said she didn’t believe him but thankfully she let it go. She looked at the clock. “I can’t believe i
t’s only 6:15 and so dark out at least the moon is out. Ugh, I can’t wait for spring to get here!” She turned away to stir the chili. Cody agreed and went about setting the table.

  They ate in silence after giving up trying to force small talk. It was worse than the heavy silence. Becca ate little just pushed her food around the bowl with her spoon mostly. Quickly she asked to be excused and went back up to her room. Cody and Jessi exchanged glances but what could they say.

  After dinner, Cody left Jessi to clean up dinner and headed out to the barn to start the backhoe. One perk of having a ranch was the machinery one needed to keep on hand. Tonight it would dig a grave for Ginger in the frozen rocky soil a task that would be difficult in the summer but in the frozen temps of winter was impossible. He started the old backhoe and let it warm up. When the temperature had come up, he drove out and around the barn to the yard behind the house. When he was satisfied with the hole, he put the tractor away and closed up the shop.

  He carefully scooped Ginger up and wrapped her in an old piece of tarp and carried her to the grave. When he had her placed in the hole, he went back to the house to get Jessi and Becca. Together they trudged out to the site. Cody carried a shovel over his shoulder.

  Becca arranged Ginger's placement to her liking and wept as she did so. Cody couldn’t see any real difference but figured it was more to take care of her one last time. Jessi held her as Cody filled the hole. As the last shovel full was finished, the three of them stood there shivering yet not wanting to walk away from their beloved pet.

  The sounds of wolves howling and barking nearby shattered the silence of the big sky night.

  “Oh shit, run!” Cody pushed the women forward toward the house. He pulled his pistol but knew it would offer them little protection in the dark against a pack. The three of them took off at a dead run. Becca being younger sprinted ahead of them with Cody and Jessi behind. Cody drug Jessi with his free hand as fast as they could run.

  Becca ran up the steps and threw open the door. Cody and Jessi followed her. The growls and barks of the wolves right behind them. They slammed the door and locked it as the wolves reached the porch.

  Outside they could hear the wolves in the yard and on the porch scratching at the door. Cody pushed Jessi and Becca toward the stairs ahead of him. Cody didn’t think the wolves could get through the old solid wooden door but the sliding glass door on the deck off of the kitchen was another matter. The large plates of glass were the weakest point of the house.

  They bolted for the master bedroom locking the door behind them. Cody grabbed his rifle he had left earlier and the extra ammo out of the jacket he wore when he’d moved the cows. He opened the window there were more sets of glowing eyes than he could count. He took aim at a fleeting shape and fired. It dropped with a yelp. He sighted in again. This time a shadow that stood next to the big Tamarack in the side yard. He fired and missed. He ejected the spent casing then slammed the bolt home. Cody fired again. A hit!

  For what seemed like hours Cody fired round after round. The yard was littered with dead and dying wolves. With only a few rounds for the rifle left the wolves slunk out of the yard. Cody and the girls could only hope they would stay gone.

  Cody turned from the window. Jessi and Becca looked at him with fear evident in their eyes.

  “Is it over daddy?” Becca’s tear stained face hoping he would say yes.

  “I don’t know baby, I think so but were safe. OK?” He said this glancing at Jessi with a “who knows,” look.

  “Becca I want you to sleep in here tonight OK?” Becca nodded in agreement. Being alone tonight was the last thing on her mind. He left the women in the bedroom and made his way downstairs. Everything was intact the wolves had not gotten in. He was thankful for that at least. He stepped out onto the porch and counted twelve carcasses in the yard. For a second he considered putting the wounded ones out of their misery but the words “fuck them” popped into his mind.

  He went back into the house and grabbed two .20 gauge shotguns from the gun cabinet and boxes of ammo. Cody wanted to make sure the girls had something to use if the wolves would come back and somehow get passed him and into the house. He took the guns up to Jessi and Becca and brought the rifle down with him. He went back to the gun cabinet and grabbed more rounds for the rifle and the pistol and his short-barreled .12 Gauge in case the wolves made it inside. It would drop them in a hurry.

  He made his way to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee and heated it up in the microwave. He sat wearily at the table looking out the sliding glass doors in the dark. What should have been a tranquil scene was now a backdrop of fear and suspicion. Every shadow was suspect. Every glint of moonlight off an object made his heart skip imagining it was the reflection from the wolves’ eyes. It made him anxious. He got up to check the rest of the house.

  It slunk into the yard. The remaining wolves following it as it went but staying back. They were afraid of it but had no choice than to obey the alpha male. It stopped to sniff the bodies of its dead brothers and sisters and raged inside at the deaths of its kind. It would destroy the man with the gun. He’d been lucky so far getting away from their attacks only losing his dog and cattle. The cattle had only been a sacrifice to him; the lord of the wolves.

  It had roamed the earth for thousands of years devouring at will, waiting to find a willing vessel. This mortal would not stand in its way.

  With vengeance on its mind, it made its way toward the back of the house.

  Cody made his way back to the kitchen. He was tired and emotionally drained by the last couple of days. Yet he was too tired to sleep, and he was too anxious. He could feel it in his gut something was coming. He hadn’t shared his feelings with Jessi and Becca. They were already scared enough he didn’t want to add to it and then have his feelings turn out to be nothing. Maybe he was just losing his mind he really didn’t know but a heavy ominous feeling clung to him.

  He poured another cup of coffee and set it in the microwave. It would be a long night and there was no way he would risk falling asleep. Not with the wolves coming to the house earlier and the gut instinct he had learned to listen to years ago. No, he would stand guard and protect his family. If he died doing so, then so be it.

  It made its way around the house. The wolves still keeping their respectful distance behind. Each of them desperate to run away back into the hills not intruding where humans dwell. It stopped. There was the hated one inside. He could see the human standing behind the glass in the dark; his feeble attempt to hide amused the alpha. It took off at a run sending a message to the others to stay away the interloper was his. He would be the one to tear the flesh from his bones.

  It bolted across the yard and up the stairs and leaped. It hit the glass doors with deadly determination. Cody had still been staring at the coffee cup spinning in the microwave lost in his thoughts. The sound of the glass exploding inward shocked him into action but it was too late the beast was already upon him.

  It slammed into Cody releasing its fury slashing with its claws. Its fangs seeking flesh to tear. Cody struggled against the creature desperately trying to make sense of it all. The beast had the body of a man and the head of a wolf. Its claws tearing at him were real enough though. The only thing saving him from them was the heavy shirt he wore. While

  the mouth full of teeth snapped at him so hard that Cody could not believe its teeth were not breaking. Cody could hear Jessi screaming she must have come down when she heard the glass shatter. He had to stop this thing before it went after her or Becca. He let go with his right hand which left him exposed. Blows rained down on his face as he used his left hand to keep the teeth at bay. He clawed at the pistol on his hip but the ferocity of the attack kept him from manipulating the strap that held the gun in place.

  Jessi watched the scene unfold before her eyes. She held her shotgun to her shoulder but could not take a shot for fear of hitting Cody. She stepped into the kitchen setting the gun on the counter. Unplugging the cord to
the toaster from the wall she swung the appliance hitting the wolf man and momentarily addling him. The moment was all that Cody needed to reach the gun.

  Cody pulled the pistol. He stuck it to the side of the creature and pulled the trigger twice. One slug shattered its heart killing it instantly. It collapsed on top of him. Its blood soaking through his shirt. The second slug when through the creature and slammed into Jessi’s head snapping her head back. She was dead before she hit the floor but Cody was unaware of this in all the commotion.

  He pushed the body off him and stood up. Staring down at the corpse he could see that it was only a man with the skin of a wolf on its head. Outside a chorus of howls erupted from the wolves in the yard. Their master was dead, and they were free. As a pack, they ran back to their mountains to roam free as they should.

  Cody couldn’t believe the creature was only a man. A naked Indian man at that. It was all surreal. The jaws that had been snapping at him moments before had seemed to be that of a wolf, and why would anyone be running around out in the below freezing temperatures naked? How could they survive? People died in this area from exposure every year. He was still confused that the face that had tried to kill him was a man’s face and not the face of a wolf.

  Then he saw her. He rushed to her. Her face was a bloody mess. He cradled her in his arms. He could feel the brokenness of her skull. She was gone. He held her sobbing. Becca hearing the gunshots had crept down the stairs to check on her parents. She walked into the kitchen never expecting what awaited her.

  “Mama!” She screamed and ran over to her father and knelt down beside them and wept.

  Headlights pulled into the yard. Billy Running Elk and three tribal elders got out of the Suburban. They looked around the yard noting the carcasses that littered the ground.

  “Looks like we’re too late.” One elder sadly stated.

  Billy sighed and walked toward the porch. “Let’s see how bad it is.”