Howl of the Heavens ch.06

    She had driven out to the town of Brooksville once she got the fax from their mayor’s office. She is a renowned zoologist and ethnologist on wolves and other canids; she couldn’t help but think how strange the situation must be out there as she read the report the mayor’s office had faxed to her office in San Diego. The report told her that over the last two months their have been numerous sightings of a large black wolf or fox like creature that many locals were calling a werewolf. However the situation is very dire and the mayor’s office is taking the situation seriously and would like a wildlife expert on canines and other large carnivores to come and assess the situation. And to clarify what animal is causing all the loss of livestock in their area.

 

    “I am here to speak to Mayor O’Brian.” said the brown haired woman to the receptionist out side the Brooksville’s mayor’s office.

 

      The little old woman behind the desk gives this attractive young woman a skeptical look as she thinks, “now what does a young attractive brunette in hiker’s gear want with the mayor, not another environmentalist I hope”

 

        “Do you have an appointment?” she says out loud to the young woman,

 

      “Yes, he sent my offices a fax saying that he needed a wild life expert, and well here I am. I called ahead, the name’s Samantha York.”

 

        The receptionist pushes on the intercom, “Mr. Mayor O’Brian there is a young woman here, she says her name is Samantha York and that she has an appointment,”

 

       “Thank you miss Brooks. Send her in please.” comes the reply over the intercom.

 

     “Go on in Miss York” sys the receptionist.

 

    Inside the office Samantha is greeted by the Mayor and the Brooksville Sheriff, The Mayor introduces them, “Hello, Dr. York This is Sheriff Jones he has been handling all the reports of the sightings of this mystery predator.”

 

      Sheriff Jones and Samantha York exchange hand shakes and greetings.  

 

      As Samantha skims through the reports the Sheriff handed her the Mayor continues, “Those reports tell of every reported sighting and where they took place and also what was taken. As you will read in those reports the earliest problems started some distance to the south of here in a small mountain town called Pine Ridge, I my self was born there as was our Sheriff here, but most people who were born their tend to move here.”

 

       Samantha couldn’t help but think how pointless that last bit of information was, when something caught her eye in the reports she was leafing through,

 

     “Excuse me” she says, “but from what I have been reading here only one animal has been sighted at each killing and yet the numbers of animals taken along with how soon the killings are to each other would suggest that their should be more than one animal sighted and they say that people have spotted it carrying off its kills.”

 

     “Well Dr. York that’s why we called you. We are completely stumped and we think that people may be exaggerating the sightings playing off some local legend. So will you help Dr. York? Like we wrote in the fax we will be willing to donate a large sum to your offices in San Diego if you can solve this problem.”

 

      “Legend?” thinks Samantha a bit puzzled,

 

      She snaps back to reality, “oh yes of course I will do what I can. I will need a copy of these reports of course and I will head out at once. It will take awhile first I will need to survey the area…”

 

     She notices a blank look on their face and finished, “Yes, Yes I will help.”

 

     The Mayor answers her after realizing she had asked him something, “Thank you Dr. York and that is your copy of the report.”

 

     “Thank you” she answers back.  

 

     While heading out of the office she is taken aside by the Sheriff. “Dr. York a moment of your time.”

 

     “Yes Sheriff, what is it?”

 

       “Well first you can just call me Peter, no need for the title.” He says with an obviously forced smile, “I just thought you might like to know that there is some one else also looking for what ever it is taking the livestock.”

 

     “Oh?”

 

      “Yah My son came by the other day, A nice kid, his name is Nick he is staying with his grandpa, my dad, down in Pine Ridge just south of here.”

 

     “Yeah that’s where the earliest sightings were right?” asks Samantha a bit annoyed at this point,

 

      “Yep” continues Sheriff Peter Jones, “My son tells me that my dad contacted some so called “Werewolf Hunter” ”

 

     Samantha notices he made the fingers quote gesture when saying werewolf hunter, as he continues, “He has apparently been staying with them in my old room for awhile now. Before that he was at the Brooksville lodge. Apparently he has been going around asking people about their sightings and has the ears of both my dad and the local dairy farmer Mr. Anderson who as you will read in those reports has lost a number of goats and cows to this animal. I think that this hunter just might have information that you could use seeing as he has been after this thing for the last two months.”

 

     A few hours later as she is sitting in her room at the Brooksville lodge Samantha thinks over what the Sheriff had told her and looks down at the paper she is holding where she had written down the address Peter Jones had given her to his dad’s house as well as his dad’s name,

 

      “Guess I should give this Mr. Jeff Jones and his resident werewolf hunter a visit. This guy may be the reason all these people think they are seeing werewolves and not giving accurate descriptions. I will head out tomorrow after a good nights sleep.” She says to herself as she turns off the lamp where she is reading the reports and goes to bed.

 

    “Morning Mike.” says Nick.

 

      “Morning”   Mike answers back, who is looking over his new reports from sightings of the black werewolf-ish creature.

 

       He still can’t get the experience he had with that monster a month ago out of his head, the creature disobeying his command in the name of God, and its behavior. He shakes him self out of.

 

      “Got to focus if I’m going to beat this thing.”

 

      There is a knocking at the door, Nick opens the door to a beautiful brunette woman about five feet five inches in height he notes to him self and gorgeous. His adolescent hormone driven thoughts wouldn’t let him think clearly, not allowing him to even properly answer the door,

 

      “Um, is their a Mr. Jeff Jones here?” she asks noticing his wandering eyes.

 

      “Huh?” Nick responds snapping out of his daze, “oh you mean grandpa he is out right now.”

 

     “Oh; then is there a man by the name of Mike here?” she asks.

 

     “Yes he is right over there at the table.” He indicated Mike with a point of his finger.

 

       “Then can I come in?” Samantha asks.

 

     “Okay” was all Nick could say.

 

    Samantha walks over to where Mike is sitting, “You must be the so called werewolf hunter I have been hearing about.” She says in a slightly smug tone with a smile upon her face.

 

      This caught Mike’s attention and a clear sign of worry came over him as he stood to shake Samantha’s hand, “Well yes that’s me, the name is Mike… miss?”

 

      “Dr. Samantha York.” She answers, “I am with California’s Zoological department. I was called in by Mayor O’Brian up in Brooksville to research the problem animal or animals that have been taking livestock lately.”

 

      “And you came here to talk with me?”

 

     “Yes, the reports tell about a man going around raising some hysteria about werewolves, it’s interesting how the reports of a werewolf coincide with your arrival.” She says the last part with a suspicious look in her eyes.

 

      “First of all.” Mike answers angrily, “I was called here because of a sighting of a werewolf, and I didn’t tell any one why I was here only listened to their descriptions and have been trying to solve this problem as you call it.”

 

      “Oh really” she answers, “Well and what pray tell have you learned in your two months staying here?”

 

      Before Mike could answer something hit him; how did she know how long he had been here? Not to mention where to find him. The only person he had given the number to contact him was Mr. Anderson and he hadn’t told any one he was now staying here.

 

    Samantha couldn’t help but feel a little smug at his delay after all she is the expert and he undoubtedly is some nut out shooting dogs and calling them monsters.

 

     “Well?” Samantha asks,

 

     “Did you find anything of this wolf creature?”

 

     “Actually, I have.” He answers, “In fact I had a run in with it, the black werewolf of legend,”

 

     “Actually Mike the legend tells about a grey furred female wolf not a black furred male wolf, remember.”

 

      The interruption came from Jeff Jones, who had just returned home.

 

      He looks to Samantha and says, “Sorry I don’t believe we have met.”  

 

    “I am Dr. Samantha York of California’s Zoological department; I was called in to investigate by Mayor O’Brian in Brooksville.” She answers.

 

       “Well its nice to meet you miss” Jeff answers, “and what brings you to my home this day?”

 

      “The Sheriff in Brooksville told me you had a werewolf hunter here, and I figured I had better take a look into this considering the timing and all of the sightings.”

 

    “Now see here miss,” shoots back Mike, “I already told you I was called in after a sighting; in fact Mr. Jones here is the one that saw it.”

 

     “Now, now Mike no need to get angry.” Jeff says, “Now I can’t vouch for Mike here or any one else but I never saw this black wolf, what I saw was the grey she wolf like in the legend.”

 

     Before she could answer something hit her, what legend? She knew from past experiences that local legends can be helpful in knowing where predator populations are, one just has to take out the myth part and look at the stories objectively so she asks, “What legend? I have been here a little bit now and think that this legend might just be helpful.”

 

     Mike eyes Samantha suspiciously and says to Jeff, “come to think of it I have only heard about this legend, I haven’t heard the legend its self either.”  

 

     “Well” Jeff says to them both, “You two just take a seat here at my table and I will tell you the whole thing from the beginning.”