He glimpsed at the home. “A house fit for a king, queen, and the entire village, but you invite no one to it. No one is inside.” Jack hung his head and swallowed. “I liked your laughter. It used to be from the belly. I rarely hear it anymore. I understood. I, too, lost a daughter. Ashawa.” Askuwheteau stopped then, and the pain from the past filled the air. Then, he continued, “So, it’s not that you don’t believe in the wolfman spirit, Jack. You forgot how to believe. This visit is to show you how again.”
Askuwheteau climbed one of the porch steps, and then another. Diesel growled.
“Diesel. Shhh. No.” Jack reprimanded.
“He’s growling at me because of you, not because he fears me. He is picking up your energy, Jack. Your resistance. You’ve been carving a lot of wolves lately, haven’t you?” Askuwheteau took another step.
“I have some new ones in the house and garage. I doubt you really care about some wooden animal carvings right now though.”
“I saw them in that store in town. The one Hannah likes… the name escapes me. You’ve been busy. A lot of black wolves, especially.” He took another step. Diesel lifted his head and glared at the man. “Those wolves were there before this wolf was in this house.” Askuwheteau pointed at Diesel. “You’ve been thinking about a black wolf for far too long. Where did you see him, before you brought him into your house, Jack?”
Jack took a long drag of the cigarette and looked towards the sky.
“In a trap. He was on my land.”
“No, no,” Askuwheteau shook his head, as if that was not only the wrong answer, but an insulting one. “Before that. Don’t lie to me.”
“In my dreams.”
Heat coursed through Jack’s body. Askuwheteau was here to take him to church, but he didn’t want to pay his tithes…
“You know it’s not common for wolves to travel in these parts without their pack, Jack. You know this.” His eyes narrowed on him. “And then I hear that this wolfman spirit was alone. On your land. He’s not a lone wolf, Jack. You and I know it. He’s an alpha. He was the head of his pack. We have no proof, we just know. What in the world was he doing here if it wasn’t a sign?”
“Stop it, would you? You’re trying to make nothing into something.”
“He’s a wolf. In your home!”
“Of course he is. Don’t try to make this mystical, Askuwheteau. He was in a trap.”
“In a trap. Alone.”
“That’s not unheard of. The pack probably left when it was evident that he wasn’t getting out!”
“They would have kept watch from a distance! He sent them away. He was going there because it was his instinct. Something was luring him there.”
“Oh, bullshit.” He twisted the cigarette between his fingers, then drew on it again, wishing to be anywhere but there at that moment.
“You saw no footprints, Jack. I know you looked. He sent that pack away long before you found him. He was on his way to your house and had an accident. You’re a tracker. A ranger. A born hunter! You’ve been around wolves your entire life!”
They glared at one another, then Askuwheteau’s eyes drifted back to Diesel.
“I had to see him for myself. What a striking lifeforce he has. A survivor. He was hand selected by a human spirit. He’s special. This is an honor.”
“He’s a wolf, not a wolf spirit, not a wolfman spirit, either. He pisses. He shits. He howls.”
“He is an animal, born from a luna wolf, as in nature. He is flesh, blood, bone and fur. He knows little of his position in life, only that his instinct led him to you. The reason I am telling you that he is a wolf spirit is because something, or someone, is directing him, Jack. Can’t you see it in his eyes?”
“Okay, I know what’s going on here. My girlfriend was probably running her mouth to Martha, and it got back to you that I’ve got this wolf, that I’ve been upset about Chad’s stalled investigation and other things, but I don’t need this right now, Askuwheteau. I just don’t have the bandwidth to shoot the shit about specter wolf spirits and Scooby Doo mysteries. It’s been a crazy week, and—”
“Why are you going to the police station and assaulting people, Jack?”
“Because I felt like it.”
“Jack…” The man chuckled.
“Since when do you care about the wellbeing of law enforcement officers who aren’t doing their damn job and sweeping cases under the rug?”
“I don’t.” He shrugged. “I just find your behavior peculiar, Jack.”
“I really don’t think you’re in any position to talk about someone acting peculiar, considering what you’ve been saying to me during this visit. Look,” he sighed and ran his hand over his forehead, “I go to the police station often, so they can see my face and look me in the eye when they lie. It’s disgusting how they pretend they’re on the case. I’m not relying on them anymore. I want them to know that I am going to make their lives a living hell because of the gross neglect they’ve demonstrated in handling my kid’s case. I never want them to forget what they did. EVER. I never want them to forget me, either, but most importantly, I never want them to forget my boy.” The wind picked up, and the tree branches began to sway. “They know more than they’re telling me. I will spend the rest of my life on their case until the person who killed my son is brought to justice.”