Page 26 of Relics of the Wolf

“Such a lack of contentedness. Maybe we should be taking them Prozac instead of salami.” Duncan waved to the recently acquired gift boxes in the seat well at my feet.

The clerk at the farm store now knew my name and that I always paid in cash from the ENTERTAINMENT envelope. That was, alas, now empty. I’d delved into the envelope labeled GROCERIES and planned to put off my next shop until the new month. For now, I’d left my emergency fund alone.

“I don’t have a prescription for that.” With my envelopes in mind, I delved into my purse to extract the last of the gas money.

“I’ve heard it’s a simple matter in this country to acquire prescription drugs.”

“That’s sadly true. Do you think if we tucked antidepressants into the salami logs, it would improve Augustus’s mood?” I envisioned sneaking the pills into the meat, much like my tenants giving medicine to their dogs.

“If you use sedatives, his mood would absolutely improve.”

“Because he’d pass out in the driveway?”

“Nobody is crabby in their sleep.”

“Unfortunately, my surly cousins have all sneered at the man-made salamis. They prefer fresh raw meat.”

Duncan watched as I slid five more dollars onto the growing stack under his bobblehead doll. “You know I’m going to keep all that until I have enough to buy you something, right?”

“What you do with it is your prerogative.”

He’d tried to buy the gift boxes, but I didn’t want anyone paying my way or to depend on a man ever again. I didn’t admit it to people, but Chad’s many betrayals over the years had scarred me. Maybe a Prozac prescription wouldn’t be a bad idea. Or at least a therapist. My son Austin had suggested that. My older son Cameron had too, in his own way. A common refrain at home had been,You’re so damaged, Mom. Maybe that memory shouldn’t have filled me with nostalgia, but I’d been lonely since the boys had moved out.

“Excellent,” Duncan said. “After a few months of driving you around, I’ll have enough to buy you diamonds.”

“Micro diamonds, maybe. My monthly gas budget isn’t that much.”

“Then I might have to drive you around foryears.” Duncan leaned forward, peering upward through the windshield.

Night was a long way off, so he couldn’t have been looking for the moon. Some sunlight perhaps. We’d gotten to the point in the drive where towering firs, pines, and cedars grew close to the sides of the road, and their evergreen boughs kept the pavement mostly in shadow, even on clear days. That was more true when I pointed toward the turn-off that would take us off the main road and onto gravel, only a few sunbeams slipping through to brighten the ground. Before long, the gravel would transition to pot-hole adorned dirt.

“I think you can magnet fish your way through all the bodies of water around Seattle before then,” I said.

“I don’t know. There are alotof bodies here.” Duncan pointed to a pond to the side of the road, the trees leaving it in perpetual shadow. A beaver larger than most people’s pets rolled off a mossy log and into the water.

“I don’t think you’ll find any cell phones in that one.”

“Perhaps not. I…” His gaze returned to the road ahead. “I sense werewolves.”

“We’re about a mile from Mom’s cabin.”

“They’re closer than that.”

“Yeah,” I said, though I didn’t yet sense anything.

Even with the van’s new giant tires, Duncan had to drive slowly as we left the gravel behind, passing a sign that said NOT MAINTAINED BY THE COUNTY, and rolled onto the bumpy dirt road. Several more minutes passed before my instincts plucked at me, warning me of magic. Ofbeingswith magic. My family.

I pointed to a driveway barely visible ahead, thanks to ferns and trees flanking it, and an address sign mounted on a tree.

“After you turn, it’s another hundred yards or so to the cabin. There’s parking…” This time, I trailed off. I’d spotted movement.

Duncan slowed to a stop as four big wolves padded out of the driveway and stopped in the road, fanning out to block access. Their cool eyes regarded us, especially Duncan. They focused on him through the windshield. I recognized the dark-gray wolf that was Augustus and three of my cousins. Two of the three had been on the railroad trestle and helped knock me into the river where those hunters had waited. Hunters, I had no doubt, that Augustus had arranged to be in that spot when we came through. WhenIcame through.

“That I’m guessing I won’t be invited to use,” Duncan said to finish my sentence.

“I haven’t noticed that a lack of an invitation keeps you from parking places.” I smiled at him and reached for the handle, wanting to get out and talk to Augustus before they presumed to attack Duncan. It was hard to talk to a werewolf in lupine form, since our thoughts became that of a wild animal and human concerns grew difficult to grasp, but I knew he would understand me.

“It’s not my fault your parking lot is so alluring.” Duncan turned off the van and reached for his own handle.

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