Curse of the Wolf: A Readers' Choice Adventure! Part 3

[mad_docs_of_lit]

You find Tovey Avenue without much trouble, and, books stowed in your bag, set off along it. It's quite lovely even from the beginning, winding among wide farmer's fields and small stands of trees. Cows low at you from some of the fields, and you resist the urge to moo back.

Further on you see a pair of little girls leaning against one of the wooden fences. You briefly wonder if these are some of the infamous trouble-making kids the librarian mentioned--but they look harmless enough, a matched pair with wild, dark hair and freckles all over their faces.

"Hi," says the taller one, as you pass; the other girl just watches, staring without any embarrassment. You catch yourself thinking "kids these days," and kick yourself.

"Hello," you say, slowing down a little but not stopping. "How are you?"

Both girls titter and then run away. There are horses in the field beyond them, and the girls have gone to play with them, teasing them through the fence with handfuls of grass they tear from the ground. At least, you tell yourself, you can be fairly sure there are no rampaging wild dogs, no matter what rumor might say; if there were, you don't think the girls' parents would let them run around recklessly without any adult supervision.

Past the field where you saw the girls is a little park, all woods, the occasional park bench and a small running stream. It's so beautiful, with the sun through the trees dappling the ground, that you wonder that there aren't more people out here. You take a break on one of the benches in a small clearing. It's a good place to read, and before you know it, you're a third of the way through your first book and the sun is beginning to set. The sky is beginning to turn pink, and near the tops of the trees, you can see the ghostly globe of an early moon.

You decide you'd better walk back-- a quick glance at your watch tells you you've missed supper at the B+B--and you are feeling a bit hungry. Just as you put away your book, however, you hear something far away, low and long.

Then you hear it again. This time, there's no mistaking what you hear: howling!


[Poll #1729619]

Voting is open until 11:59 pm Friday 14 April, Pacific time.