Garden of the Wolf

  "Um, yeah, I guess," I replied. His beautiful eyes had transformed my mind to mush.

  "Would you like me to escort you back?" he offered.

  "What? Oh, um, no, I'll be fine. I'll just follow the cabins back," I assured him.

  I turned and scuttled away without actually dashing. Halfway down the rows of cabins I paused and glanced over my shoulder. He was gone. It was both a relief and a disappointment. The man was much too handsome for his own good, and he had such a way of wrecking my natural confidence that it unnerved me.

  I slunk back into my cabin and shut the door behind myself. Susie still snored softly in her bed and I tiptoed to mine. Just as I pulled the covers over my body I recalled one very important fact: I hadn't found the source of the noise. Hell, I hadn't even asked Scott-er, Mr. Young about the sound. I furrowed my brow and narrowed my eyes. He'd actually done a really good job of distracting me from my purpose. Him and his wondrous blue eyes.

  "Bah," I muttered. I flung the sheets over my head and buried myself into the pillows and mattress.

  Chapter 6

  The night walk must have sapped my energy because I fell into a deep sleep. There were no alarms in the cabin, so the noise that woke me up was a hard, quick knock on our cabin door. "Susie? Abby? It's breakfast time," I heard Linda call for us.

  I sat up and squinted at the light that beamed through the east-facing windows. It must have been eight o'clock, a good two hours after I usually dragged myself out of bed.

  Susie rose like the living dead and her bleary eyes stared at me without recognizing me. "Mommy, I don't want sunny-side eggs. They run everywhere and I can't catch them."

  I snorted and flung aside my covers. "Good news, my little daughter. You can have any type of egg you want today providing it's part of the continental breakfast." I walked over to the door and tapped back. "We'll be right out, Linda," I called to our attendant.

  "All right, I'll get a table for you," she promised, and I heard her feet crunch away on the gravel.

  Susie blinked and most of the vacant look left her eyes. Sometimes I wondered if anyone sane was ever home. "What? Food?"

  "Yes, food," I confirmed as I grabbed some clothes. "You can eat as much as you want, but after you dress."

  Her eyes widened along with her smile. "Breakfast!" She jumped form her bed, grabbed some clothes, and outraced me to the bathroom. The door was shut in my face and I scowled at the entrance.

  "It's just a continental!" I shouted through the door.

  "Yeah, but you haven't had continental until you've tried the stuff they have here!" she shouted back.

  A few minutes later we were dressed and out the cabin door. A dozen of our other fellow guests joined us in a shuffling line for the lodge. Susie jabbed me in the side and nodded at a pair of women ahead of us. They were the vegans from the night before.

  "See how they're walking?" she whispered.

  I scrutinized their gait and didn't find anything wrong. They were a little slow, but so was a lot of the other zombies around us. "Yeah, why?"

  Susie stifled a snort. "They're not going to last up here much longer."

  I frowned at her. "Why?"

  "A guy during my last session tried to avoid eating the meat. Said it didn't agree with him. He ate only the salads and after a few days he was so weak they had to drive him home in his own car," she told me.

  "Did anybody know why he got that weak?" I asked her.

  She shook her head. "Nope, but he didn't get a refund and I heard he was banned from coming back unless he ate the meat."

  "Tough rules," I commented.

  "Tough manager. That Mr. Young runs things like a well-oiled machine," she added. Mentions of oil and Young caught my imagination. I envisioned him wearing only a loincloth and covered in slick sweat. He would grasp me in his strong arms and stare at me with those entrancing blue eyes. It was enough to make my body heat up with desires I shouldn't have experienced for a man I didn't really know. It was also enough to distract me from the world around me. I started back into reality when Susie waved a hand in my face. "Hello? Susie to Abby, is anybody home?"

  "What? Oh, yeah, um, tough rules," I answered.

  "You already said that," she reminded me. She leaned close and we bumped shoulder to shoulder. "You look a little red. You coming down with a fever or something?"

  I pushed her away and scowled at my friend. "I'm just fine, I was just-um, distracted."

  She snorted. "You never get distracted."

  "Well, maybe it's the mountain air," I defended myself.

  "Uh-huh, or maybe it's a certain manager I was just speaking about," she teased.

  I was saved by the lodge as we reached the doors and Linda met us just inside. She smiled and gestured to the stairs to the far left of the room. They led up to the open second floor. "This way, please."

  Linda led us upstairs to the morning eating area. Round tables like the ball room below were positioned around the area and at the far back were long tables loaded with food. Delicious smells wafted from an open door to the left of the tables, and I caught a glimpse of a stairway that led down to the kitchen. There was no wall that separated the second floor from a view of the lobby below, and Linda led us to a two-seat table beside the thick wood railing that wrapped around the eating area. The second floor wove around two sides of the lobby as wide catwalks, and the very front was the exterior balcony which we could see through the glass walls. Not a shabby place, especially with the food that loaded the tables.

  I knew now why Susie so looked forward to the meal. This wasn't your hotel-chain continental breakfast. There was every type of egg, cereal, bread, and drink. Susie abandoned us and raced for a place in line, though there was only a half dozen guests ahead of us.

  "I'm glad she enjoys the food here," Linda commented.

  "Yeah, but I hope she saves some for everyone else," I added as we watched Susie pile her plate full of goodies.

  Linda smiled. "There's much more in the kitchen, so feel free to have as much as you like."

  I raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were supposed to lose years here, not gain pounds."

  Our attendant chuckled. "So long as you eat what's offered during the lunches and dinners you won't have any trouble with weight or those pesky years."

  "How can you be so sure?" I persisted.

  "Because that's Mr. Young's guarantee, and his word is as good as a contract," she assured me.

  I frowned, but time was of the essence in getting food before Susie took what was available. I stepped over to the tables and grabbed what remained, and from the kitchen door came a stream of fresh, warm food to fix the devastation caused by my eager friend. My plate was dutifully filled and I returned to our table to find only Susie scarfing her face.

  "Where's Linda?" I asked my friend as I took my seat opposite her.

  "Said she had to go get something for us, but she'll be right back," Susie told me.

  I picked up a croissant and tapped it against my lips. My eyes wandered over the dining balcony and I watched the other guests wearily shuffle up the stairs and to the buffet table. "You ever get the feeling something isn't quite right here?" I mused.

  "Yeah, they need more jelly in their jelly-filled donuts," Susie replied as she scarfed said donut in a few bites.

  I rolled my eyes and glared across the table at her. "No, I mean with the Gardens itself. The way it's run and the promise they make. I mean, who can promise youth when they let us stuff our faces most any meal?"

  "They can," Susie replied.

  "There's just something not right with it. It's too good to be true," I insisted.

  Susie paused in her scarfing, set her bread down, and sighed. "Abby, listen. I've been here before and it was pretty unbelievable to me, too, but I'm telling you it happened. I felt like a teenager when I left this place last time, but after six months it kind of wore off, or maybe life wore it off. Either way I'm really hoping to get that feeling back when I leave this time."
r />   "But how do you know it really worked? I mean, what do they do that nobody else can do?" I questioned her.

  She shrugged and clasped her hands together. "Maybe it's the air, maybe it's the water, or maybe it's the food. I don't know. What I do know is that they're not lying, and I'm not going to miss out on this chance to feel like a kid again." She stared me straight in the eyes and her usually goofy demeanor vanished, replaced by pursed lips and tense jaws. "Stop worrying about everything, Abby. These guys aren't out to get us, there's no conspiracy, they just want to help us feel younger and make a tidy profit from it. Now could you please stop being so suspicious and enjoy yourself?"

  "But-"

  "Please? For me?" She leaned toward me and batted her brown eyes at me. "Pretty please?"

  I scowled at her. "Don't pull that on me. I won't fall for your puppy-dog eyes anymore. Last time you got me into that mess with the neighbors when you pleaded with me to go skinny-dipping in the pool we could see in their backyard."

  "But we weren't caught, and this time it's for your own good, so pretty please?" She inched closer.

  I leaned back. "I'm not-"

  "Please?"

  "Don't-"

  "Pretty please?"

  Will you-"

  "Pretty please with sugar on top?"

  "Gah!" My shout echoed around the balcony and the other diners stared at us. I sunk into my chair and sighed. "Fine, you win. I'll take your word for it and stop doubting this place. Happy?"

  Susie leaned away from me and beamed. "Yep. Now you have to try these jelly-filled donuts. They're great!"

  I was a woman of my word and set aside my doubts. For the rest of the meal, that is. We ate our breakfast, and Susie leaned backed in her chair and patted her stomach. "I couldn't eat another bite," she groaned.

  My eyes swept over the carnage of empty plates and glasses. I pointed at a slim slice of bread on a corner. "You missed a spot."

  She plucked the slice from her plate, popped it into her mouth and sighed. "Now I couldn't eat another bite."

  Linda returned and smiled at our empty plates. "Did you enjoy your meals?" she asked us.

  "Yeah, but you really need to fire your cook. He's too good," Susie commented. Linda laughed and took our plates. Tucked beneath her arm were two brochures. Susie nodded at them. "Those the schedules?" she guessed.

  "Yep, it's what I went to get." Linda handed them both to Susie and hefted her hands full of plates. "I'll be right back to answer any questions." She hurried to the kitchen and I looked between my friend and the papers in her hands.

  "Schedules?" I asked her.

  "Yep. These babies tell us what we're going to do and when," she explained as she opened hers.

  I took the spare and browsed the contents. There were dates and times for swimming lessons, hot spring sessions, and when food was available and a small list of menus. I couldn't complain about this unexpected scheduling because there was ample free time to do whatever we wanted in between the activities. "No gym?" I commented.

  Susie grinned over her brochure and shook her head. "Nope. Just swimming and some hiking."

  I raised an eyebrow, but tamped down my doubts. Swimming and hiking were good sources of exercise, and the meals were balanced. Nothing suspicious at all here. Nope, nothing at all.

  I would learn later how wrong I was.

  Chapter 7

  For now I glanced over our schedule. "So we don't have anything to do until tomorrow?" I mused.

  "Nope. This is the free day to go wandering around," Susie explained to me. She pulled out another slip of paper from the brochure and unfolded it to reveal a map of the resort. There was the lake, the hot springs, and the lodge with its little cabin children. She tapped her finger on the hot spring to the south of the lake. "How about we go there first? If we hurry we could beat all the old people shuffling up there."

  My eyes were on the lake. "I'd rather go see that again," I told her.

  She frowned. "But we already saw that and the water's a lot colder," she whined.

  "Well, how about you go to the hot springs and I go to the lake?" I suggested.

  "It's hot springs or bust," she insisted.

  "Then I'll take bust and go to the lake. See you later." I stood and sauntered toward the stairs.

  "Hey! Wait! I'm not done complaining!" Susie shouted. She scrambled from her chair and hurried after me. An evil grin slipped onto my lips and I quickened my step. "I saw that!" she yelled.

  "Not for long," I quipped.

  I broke into a dash and raced down the stairs. Susie's feet pounded after me and I hit the lobby running. In a moment I burst through the front doors and down the gravel road with Susie at my heels. Our laughter hampered our speed and by the time we reached our cabin we were both winded. I bent over and put my hands on my knees. Susie collapsed on our porch.

  "Now. . .do you. . .believe me?" she wheezed.

  "About. . .what?" I choked out.

  "About. . .the place. . .making. . .you feel. . .younger," she reminded me.

  I gathered my breath and straightened. I winced when a few bones in my back cracked. "Not quite."

  "Well, you'd better believe it because I haven't seen you run that fast since you and I shopped for apartments two years ago and the realtor guy showed us a really expensive one," Susie persisted.

  "It was expensive, and I'll see you later," I replied. I walked toward the rear of our cabin toward the trails.

  "Aren't you going to put on a swim suit?" Susie called to me.

  "Not going swimming," I answered.

  "Then what's the point of going to the lake?" she yelled.

  I lifted my arm and waved to her without turning around. In a moment the trees swallowed me and I walked in the valley of the wilderness without fear. The traffic was light with only a few other guests who meandered their way to the hot springs. I moved with the traffic flow and left them behind when I turned onto the lake path.

  First, though, I paused for a moment at the intersection of spa and lake. The broken sign from yesterday was repaired. Gone were the claw marks and askew post, and in its place was a freshly hewn and painted sign. Recalling those deep marks reminded me of my little adventure the previous evening with the dark lodge and Mr. Young. The loud howl I heard might have been the same creature who destroyed the sign. The howl was certainly loud and deep enough to come from an animal with large enough claws.

  I continued my walk down the lake path and ruminated over what beast could be so large as to destroy a thick sign such as stood at the intersection. The howl implied a wolf, but nobody had warned us yet of any dangerous creature like that in the area. There was always a cougar, but again no warnings, and cougars didn't howl. Maybe it was a wolf and we weren't warned about the danger because Young and everyone else didn't want to scare the customers. Maybe they kept things a secret to avoid bad publicity and possibly a police investigation. Maybe-

  "-maybe you need to stop over-thinking these things," I muttered to myself. I promised Susie I wouldn't be so suspicious, and I was a woman of my word.

  All this time I had my head bent down and watched my step on this relatively unfamiliar path. I heard a branch break behind me and glanced over my shoulder. My inattentiveness caused my foot to catch on a root, and I gave a small yelp as I fell forward. The fall wouldn't have been catastrophic, but still rather uncomfortable. Fortunately, a pair of strong, steady arms caught me, but my face bumped into their chest and the shirt that covered them. I tilted my head back and found myself staring into the blue eyes of Young.

  "We seem to stumble into each other quite often," he teased.

  "Y-yeah, must be my luck," I returned. I wasn't sure whether it was good or bad. What was definitely bad was when my stupid cheeks blushed. I really had to learn how to apply a pale makeup.

  He chuckled. "More fever?" he mused.

  "No, nothing like that," I replied. I pressed my hands against his thin white shirt to push away, but I was amazed at the warmth that
emanated from beneath the cloth.

  "I hope you're enjoying yourself," he commented.

  "What?" I glanced at our positions and noticed I practically leaned my whole body against him. I was comfortable, but if anyone caught us the situation would be difficult to explain. "Sorry!" I stepped from his grasp and smoothed my clothes.

  Young chuckled. "I was referring to your stay here," he added.

  "O-oh, that! Um, yeah, it's great here. Nice people, nice food, nice bodies-um, bodies of water. The lake, I mean." I couldn't have been any more flustered.

  "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself so far. Linda tells me you've been very kind to her," he commented.

  I shrugged. "It's nothing. We're just treating her like a little sister," I countered.

  "Some of our guests are not so kind, and your kindness is especially gratifying since this is Linda's first session," he replied.

  "That's what she told us, but I wish she'd tell us how the guarantee about this whole Fountain of Youth thing works," I commented. That opened a hole in a conversation I'd be meaning to have with someone of higher rank at the resort. "How does that work, anyway?"

  "You mean how is it done?" he wondered.

  I gave a nod. "Yeah. I'm guessing it's through the food because you were pretty insistent last night about everyone eating the meals."

  Young paused for a moment and his crystal-clear blue eyes scrutinized me. I felt like they were x-rays that examined not only my body but my very soul. "You're right to guess it's in the food because it is," he admitted.

  I raised an eyebrow. "So is it the cut of the meat or something?"

  He shook his head. "No, it's a special herb sauce in which the meat is soaked before cooking."

  I raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Just an herb?"

  Young nodded over his shoulder in the direction of the lake. "The herb is grown on the other side of the lake in the employee garden. That's how the resort received it's name."

  "So is this just any old herb you can get at the store?" I wondered.

  He chuckled. "If it was we would be out of business very quickly. This is a rare herb that I discovered on my property many years ago."

  I swept my eyes over his young appearance and snorted. He couldn't have been older than thirty. "You look pretty good for speaking about many years ago."