Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:46:33 -0600 From: Jakob Daly Subject: Lucky in Montana 11 This work is copyrighted by the author and may not be reproduced in any form without the specific written permission of the author. The story is one from a time long, long, ago in a land far, far, away. Any resemblance to your experience or those living or dead from those experiences is purely unintentional and completely coincidental. This is meant as fiction. All feedback is appreciated. Drop a line to: shakes003@hotmail.com or check out all of my work at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shakes-stories/ and leave a message. I will get back to you ASAP. ... The old man was rounding up the cattle when I got back from town. It was cold with another winter ahead of us; the wind kicking up leaves and dust, the final remnants of my second summer with Dodge. He'd taken me in under his wing when I lost everything. It took me a long time to adjust, but Dodge was now as good as family to me. Hell, I loved him more than my own father and he quickly filled that position in my life. In the years spent with Dodge, we'd managed to rebuild his farm with our bare hands. It wasn't anywhere near the caliber of some of the bigger ranches and farms nearby, but it was enough that the old man and I could make a living. What used to be almost non-existent numbers of livestock, quadrupled in size. Chickens were in abundance as were their eggs. It was still a small farm, but it put food on the table. The barn was repaired and soon the shack was too. A new room had been built on the house for me. The windows had all been replaced; the wood treated to protect it from the harsh climate. It was home to me now. I felt safe and comfortable, never forgetting my past, but moving further away from it. There was still a hunger, however. I was still a starving man; longing for something I would never have again, even with somebody else. There would never, or could never be anyone else. I never spoke his name again, but still thought about him in a yearning that was eventually going to kill me. "We're gonna get snowed in tonight," Dodge commented as I dismounted my horse and passed him to settle the stallion in the barn for the night. If we were going to face a bad stretch of weather, I needed to make sure the horses were taken care of. I led the stallion into his stall and rid him of his leads and saddle. He nudged at my shoulder affectionately. We were old friends now. I checked his supplies, making sure he had enough feed to eat, and water to drink. When I was satisfied, I closed the stall door and proceeded to check on Dodge's horse. As I was nearing his stall, two gunshots ripped through the grey sky outside of the barn. I jumped about a foot in the air before I took off to where I could hear Dodge yelling. "You son of a bitch! Arrrg!" The old man grumbled to himself as I skidded to a halt beside him. "What the hell is going on? You tryin' to give me a heart attack?" I asked in a panic. Dodge was struggling with his rifle. "That son of a bitch! Look at him!" Dodge raised his rifle and took aim. Slowly my eyes focused on his target maybe 50 some-odd yards ahead. "What are you doing?" I yelled as my hand reached up to the gun; urging Dodge to lower it. "What am I doing? What are you doing? That beast will eat us out of this farm if I don't take care of him now." "No!" I slapped his rifle and watched as it fell to the ground, only angering the old man further. "God dammit, Lucky! What are you thinking, boy? This ain't no coyote we're looking at. That's a goddam wolf. That thing is a menace!" "I know," I commented as I stared at the wolf. "It's okay. Lookit, he's just watching," and he was. He sat calmly and serenely taking sight of us as we were of him. "God, he's beautiful!" I knelt down to the earth and admired the wolf as he then started to pace between the trees. He was as black as night; his yellow eyes seemed to glow as his head cocked slightly to the right. I'd never seen a wolf before and was impressed not only by his beauty, but the size of him. He was monstrous, and I wondered quickly if I should heed more to what Dodge was trying to tell me. "Get on your feet, son. You're liable to get eaten. Where there's one, there's many." I rolled my eyes but laughed at Dodge. I straightened up, picking up Dodge's rifle from the ground in the process, and handed it to him. "Go on inside. I'll lock up the animals and make sure they're safe. Don't worry so much." Dodge shook his head unbelievingly at me, but didn't argue. I watched as he sauntered inside the house and grinned. As I turned back to survey our supposed threat, the wolf was gone. The sky had clouded over almost two weeks previous, and the wind was becoming colder and colder with each passing day. It was that time of year again; the animals kept near shelter for another long and cold winter. As I predicted, our new friend stayed forever curious, but left the farm untouched. No others had shown up; he kept alone. Many nights, Dodge and I would sit in front of the stove with a stiff drink in hand, and hear his lonely howl into the night. I wanted to get closer to him, but Dodge threatened to throw me out on my ear if I so much as smiled at it. He still feared the wolf, calling him a menace even though weeks had passed and he never showed any indication of going after us or the animals. "He's suckin' us in, boy," Dodge assured me one evening as we were gathering wood for the stove. "That's all part of his game; gets us to trust him and then BAM!" Dodge startled me to attention when he clapped his hands suddenly in front of my face. "He'll attack. Lookit him. The menace." "Bad experiences with wolves there, Dodge?" I chuckled and watched the wolf as he was again, watching us. "He's bad news, Lucky. They're all bad news." "So what you're saying is that you don't much care for wolves." I snickered sarcastically. "Poke fun if you want, boy." Dodge then paused, deep in thought. "He seems quite taken by you. Only comes around when you're here. Maybe it's you he's after." Dodge teased. "Hardy-har," I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, pop. Let's go inside, I'm freezing." We settled in for the night. As I lay in bed that night, I looked up to the light that cast through the window from the moon's glow. Without warning, Montana drifted to the forefront of my mind. It was something that was happening less frequently these days, but once in a while it would sneak up on me and catch me off guard. I absently wondered if he was somehow still watching over me from heaven. Maybe because of me and what I put him through he was watching over me from hell. I suddenly heard the black wolf crying out, as if in reply. I felt the chill run up my spine and the hair on my neck stand on end. I shivered that night a long time before I was able to fall asleep.