Read Realm of the Wolf Book I: Wolf Dance Online
Authors: Lorraine Kennedy
Sheriff Moss had just raised his hand to knock again when
Laura opened the door. "Ma'am," Paul greeted her with a
smile.
"Hello, sheriff." Laura made a feeble attempt to return his
smile, but her still sleeping body refused to respond.
"May I come in?" His blue eyes danced with humor.
"Yes, of course." Laura blushed. Embarrassed by her own
lack of manners, she stepped aside to allow him entrance.
Laura led him toward the kitchen. "Would you like a cup of
coffee?" she asked while in the process of putting a pot on to
cook.
"Yes, that sounds great. And by the way, my name is
Paul," he told her as he was taking a seat at the kitchen
table.
"Well, Sheriff Paul...." she had turned away from the stove
to face him. "You're out and about early this morning." A
smile touched her lips.
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He caught on to the fact that she wasn't real thrilled about
being woken up at eight o'clock on a Saturday morning.
"Sorry about waking you, Miss Ellison, but this is the first free
moment I've had in the last couple of days. Figured I'd better
get out here and get this taken care of before something else
comes up."
"That's fine, as long as something is being done." Laura
rubbed at her tired eyes. "If you'll excuse me a moment, I
need to dress."
"No problem, and I am sorry."
Laura dressed quickly in a white sundress, and then ran a
brush through her hair. When she was finished, she reached
under her bed and pulled out the mangled briefcase.
Returning to the kitchen, Laura placed it on the table in front
of the sheriff.
His eyes traveled from her to the object in front of him,
and without comment he picked it up to examine it. After a
few moments he looked up at her.
"Where did you say you found this?" he asked.
"About halfway between here and Beaver Creek ... in the
woods."
"And how did you happen to be out there to find it?"
Laura explained how it had happened. When she finished
she noticed that he was eyeing her skeptically.
After a moment he smiled. "I don't think this is anything
significant. It was torn up by an animal, that's clear enough."
Laura wrinkled her forehead. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, too messy to be anything else."
"What about all his clothes?" Laura persisted.
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"Where are they?" he questioned.
"Next to the couch ... in the living room. I boxed them up
so that I could have room for my own clothes." She was
pointing toward the other room.
"Mind if I take a look ... while you are pouring us some of
that coffee?"
"Okay." Laura took two cups from the cupboard and filled
them with the steaming brown liquid. She placed the cups on
the table and waited for his return.
Before long he came back into the kitchen wearing a
baffled expression. After taking a small drink of his coffee, he
told her, "I'll have to agree with you about Mitchell, there
does seem to be something wrong there."
Laura smiled. "What's changed your mind, sheriff?"
"I shouldn't really confide any of the details of our
investigation, but I can tell you this much. Not even his family
in New Mexico has heard from him since his disappearance."
"We already knew that much—that's one of the reasons I
was sent here in the first place," she informed him.
"From here on out, it's strictly police business. You'd be
better off to stay out of it. Safer too—just in case there is foul
play involved." His tone of voice was like that of a parent
lecturing a child.
"In that case, I wish you luck with your investigation."
Laura's smile was strained. His condescending attitude grated
on her nerves. And of course, she had no intention of staying
out of the investigation.
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Realm of the Wolf Book I: Wolf Dance
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Paul finished the last of his coffee and then stood to leave.
"Well, thank you very much, Miss Ellison. I'm sure things will
turn out just fine."
"Yes, I'm sure they will." She was not so much agreeing
with him, as trying to convince herself.
In the living room, he pointed toward the box. "I will have
to take that with me."
"It's all yours."
After he picked up the box, Laura opened the door for him.
On the porch he stopped and turned around. "Another thing,
Miss Ellison. The Wildlife people said that they have had other
reports, so do be careful."
"Yes, I will ... thank you."
Standing at the door, she watched him leave. Though the
man could be quite irritating at times, Laura realized that she
had been glad for the company. Back in the kitchen, she
poured herself another cup of coffee and took it out on the
porch. It was such a beautiful morning and she didn't want to
waste it inside with the gloominess of the cabin.
The sun penetrated the shimmering leaves of the tall
aspens, bathing the purple and red wildflowers in golden
light. A hummingbird flew past, missing her head by mere
inches. Laura sighed, reclining on one of the two chairs that
sat on the cabin's porch. She had to wonder how a place of
such beauty could feel so desolate and lonely.
Laura smiled to herself, realizing that she was still feeling
bad because of the events of last night. Thinking of Justin
brought the scene clearly into focus and with it, bittersweet
pain. Laura shook her head, feeling foolish about the whole
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episode. Every time she found herself in his arms, she turned
to soft putty and seemed to lose her mind.
She was not a woman of the world, but she did have some
idea about how it all worked. Kenny had been her first, and
she his. Together they had experienced the pleasures of the
flesh. Their love had been a sweet, innocent love—a memory
to always treasure.
So why had she reacted so violently to his touch? It was so
different from Kenny, so intense. She could still see the
smoldering passion in his eyes, and she felt her body
responding, even to the memory of his touch.
Laura closed her eyes, trying to bring her feelings under
control. It was lust, and that's all. She tried to reassure
herself. The one thing she was certain of—she wouldn't let
herself come under Justin Gray Eagle's spell again. Laura
could only hope that there wouldn't be a situation where her
new resolve would be tested.
Draining the last of her coffee, it dawned on her that she
had been sitting out here for nearly an hour and still had no
idea of what to do with her time today. She finally decided
that she would take a look at the logging camp and maybe do
some exploring.
Laura went inside to pack a picnic, thinking it would be
nice to stop somewhere for lunch.
She made up her mind to start in Brantic City. Exploring
on foot would give her a chance to get a closer look at some
of the interesting old buildings. Laura started walking down
the main road, but before long the road ended at a cemetery.
Curiosity drew her through the wrought-iron gates. She noted
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the overgrown weeds and thought of how sad it was that no
caretaker kept the place nice for those who had passed on.
Many of the headstones were weather beaten and in different
stages of decay.
Stepping carefully through the thick weeds, Laura tried to
read as many of the headstones as she could. For some
reason, an odd sense of discomfort settled over her.
Unexpectedly, she was hit with the certainty that she was
being watched. A shiver traveled up her spine. This was all it
took to persuade Laura that the time had definitely come to
leave.
While walking back to her car, Laura tried to pinpoint what
exactly it had been about the graves that had iced her
nerves. It was not until she had gotten in and started the
engine that it hit her.
The dates on the headstones! Most of the people had died
so young. She thought about it for a moment, and then
smiled when another realization came to her. Dying young
was not so unusual in the Old West. It could have been small
pox, Indians, any number of things.
Laura laughed out loud. She had spooked herself again
with her overactive imagination.
She made a u-turn and headed north. Just before coming
to the saloon she spotted a sign pointing north in the
direction of the Sweet Water Mine. Taking the road, she was
determined to find out as much as she could about the area.
The road began a sharp incline, but she soon came to a turn-
off that led to the mine.
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From the car, she could make out an array of mining
equipment scattered through the gulch. Deciding to walk the
steep road that led to the mine, Laura's eyes searched the
gulch. There seemed to be no one in sight. Though it
appeared to be a working mine, it was completely deserted.
"Hello! Anyone here?" she called out.
Nothing ... The only answer she received was the eerie
sound of the wind.
Nearing the mine's entrance, she again called into the
darkness. "Is anyone here?" Her words echoed through the
endless tunnels.
A voice boomed from behind her. "Hey there, little gal.
Don't you know you're trespassing?"
His yelling caught her off guard, startling her. Laura cut
short a scream when she recognized who it was. The old
miner who she'd met on the day of her arrival stood close
behind her.
"Oh Lord! You scared me nearly to death." Laura laughed
nervously.
His stare was hard and full of suspicion.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't see a sign posted," she tried to
explain.
"Makes no difference. You go snooping around someone's
mine, you're liable to get shot."
"I said I was sorry," Laura apologized once again.
"You'd be that gal that works for those clear-cut fools."
Laura nodded an affirmation.
"Well, you'd best be getting on your way." He turned away
from her and spit a wad of tobacco into the dry dirt.
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"Excuse me, sir, but what is your name?"
"Name's Hughes ... Dewey Hughes." The old man's voice
was as rough as sandpaper.
"Is there any way I can ask you a few questions?"
"Nope." He made no attempt to hide his obvious distrust.
"One of our employees by the name of Dan Mitchell has
disappeared. Do you have any idea what might have
happened to him?" Her voice remained polite, in spite of his
rude behavior.
"Lady, you don't listen very well do you? I done told you I
don't have anything to say."
"Mr. Hughes, I'm sorry to intrude on you like this, but
there is something very wrong around here. There is a man
missing. Doesn't that mean anything to you people?" Laura
was unable to keep her irritation from coming through in her
voice.
"Miss, it isn't any of my affair, and if you had any smarts
you'd skin on out of here yourself," he warned.
Thinking it best to change the subject for now, she pushed
on. "I was looking around the graveyard in Brantic City today
and I noticed a lot of people around here died at a young age.
Do you know why?"
"Well ... I'm not all that old Missy, but it's been said that a
lot of those people that lay in that cemetery were put there
by the Indians."
That is when it dawned on her what else had troubled her
about the graves. "It seems to me that several of those
graves are Twentieth-century. That couldn't have been the
Indians. When you walk through that cemetery, you get the
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idea that Brantic City became a ghost town as a result of its
residence dying rather than relocating."
His eyes held the mischievous gleam of someone who is
keeping a secret that they find very amusing. "I'll bet your
Mr. Mitchell could answer your questions, and if you keep
going the way you are . . . you just might get the chance to
ask him about it." His cackling laughter followed him as he
started toward some outbuildings.
"Hey, if you know anything about his disappearance it
would be best if you talk to me about it. If you don't tell me,
you'll just have to talk to the police," Laura yelled after him.
He made no effort to respond, but kept walking. The old
fart was probably just a nut, she concluded. Laura started
back to her car, thinking it would be best to let the police
handle it anyway. As soon as they got the cutting well
underway she was going home.