“Well, you have me now. Lessons are over. Let’s clean up that mud.”
We walked back to the kitchen and retrieved mops and brooms from a broom closet. Morgan helped me carry the supplies into the entrance hall. We made quick work of the mud. It wasn’t such a big deal. The girl had only tracked it on bare wood floors. Next time, I would remind her to wipe her feet.
We put everything back, and I told Morgan to go wash up and get ready for dinner. She ran off happily, clomping up the stairs. I smiled with satisfaction. Maybe I could make this job work after all. Even though my student was either haunted or insane, and I had to work with an absentee father and a hostile maid. The place was lovely and Patty’s cooking was fantastic.
I wandered back into the kitchen and put the cleaning supplies away. Patty sat in the breakfast nook drinking a cup of tea and looked out the window. A massive pot of chili simmered on the stove. I sat down next to her and looked after what had her attention.
Down near the hunters lodge, an open-topped jeep pulled up to the front doors with a black bear draped across the hood. A few men hopped out, and the jeep continued toward the barns.
“They’ll butcher and skin the bear. Clive knows how to tan the hide. It will be a nice trophy. And they’ll probably be wanting bear steaks tonight.”
“They can butcher that bear here?”
“Didn’t Joshua show you the slaughter house?”
“No. I missed that. And it was Daisy who showed me around.”
“Really? Sweet girl that Daisy. Nathanial has told her a hundred times she can bunk up here in the house, but she won’t have it. She says she’s outdoor help and will live out in the bunkhouse with the others.”
“I like her,” I said absently.
“You two are about the same age, aren’t you? Daisy could use a girlfriend, with all the time she spends around those men. I worry about her out there sometimes. But Daisy can take care of herself, I suppose.”
“When do you think I could speak with Mr. Ellis?”
“Well, I don’t know. He didn’t seem to be in a virtual meeting last time I brought him his tea. Why don’t you go speak with him now? His office is right down the hall from your room.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to interrupt.”
“Go on. It’s his daughter you want to talk to him about isn’t it?”
I stood from the table feeling cold, even though it was warm in the house. I walked up the stairs almost in a shiver. Mr. Ellis and I hadn’t gotten off on the right foot last night. Maybe he thought I was incompetent. Questions ran through my mind as I tried to figure out what to tell him. I felt ragged and winded from my day outdoors in the crisp cool air. I approached his door and knocked. My knock sounded quiet and muffled so I knocked again with greater force.
“Come in.”
I pushed open the door and walked inside. He sat at his desk, looking like an upper-class businessman from anywhere in the world except a backwoods ranch. He continued typing at his computer and glanced up at me as I stood in front of his desk.
“Please sit.”
I sat in a straight-backed arm chair facing his modern minimalist desk. The room had a high-rise New York vibe to it. Everything was steel, black and white, and clear glass. Even the artwork on the wall was minimalist black-and-white photographs of architecture. Everything was very masculine and intimidatingly plain.
“What can I help you with Ms. Elder?”
“I wanted to report on my first lesson with Morgan. While the child has some… peculiarities, she doesn’t seem to be behind academically. In fact, she seems to be quite gifted and far ahead of her grade level.”
He took off his reading glasses and sat them on the glass-topped desk in front of his white keyboard. His eyebrows drew together creating a deep crease between them. His expression was not pleased.
“We are talking about the same child, aren’t we? My daughter can barely read.”
“Yes. She told me she doesn’t show anyone she can read, but believe me, her reading level is quite high. She tells me,” I said, taking a deep breath, “that her mother reads to her, and she repeats it.”
“She keeps going on about her mother not being dead or something. I thought she would just grow out of it.”
“I would recommend she see a child psychologist. The level of fantasy and the fact that she connects it with her scholastic aptitude indicates a serious developmental issue.”
“Ms. Elder, that is why I brought you here.”
He picked up his glasses and continued typing. I wasn’t qualified to deal with the child’s psychological problems, but I didn’t want to mention that to Mr. Ellis again. I stood to leave, thinking of ways I could teach the girl while trying to get her to let go of the obsessive connection she had with her mother.
“Ms. Elder,” he said. I turned back to look at him. “I will be staying in the settler’s cabin tonight. It is the full moon, and the wolves come down from the mountains each month during the full moon to get into the livestock. It’s been happening for quite some time now. I protect the herd from the wolves, but Morgan hates that I do it. She will be quite agitated tonight. Could you stay with her please?”
“Yes sir,” I said, leaving the room. Why in the world would Mr. Ivy League boss man go out to protect the herd? Didn’t he have peons to do that?
When I reached the door of his office, I rolled my eyes as I walked out. He was probably the most irritating boss I’d ever had. I wished he would take his daughter’s issues more seriously. I wondered if I should quit so he would get the girl the help she needed, or if I should stay to ensure she at least got some help, any help.
I walked down the hall to my bedroom and unpacked my things. I was going to be here for at least two weeks, so I might as well tidy up my room. I folded my clothes into the chest-of-drawers and unpacked my books and other personal items onto the empty shelves. The few dresses and blazers I’d brought, I hung in the closet.
It didn’t take me more than an hour to unpack everything. When I finished, a surge of fatigue pounded my chest. I took off my boots and climbed under my covers, fully clothed. I wondered what Penny would think of me getting under my covers in dusty clothing. She would probably give me the stink eye. I didn’t care. My body felt exhausted. I closed my eyes and found myself quickly slipping into the netherworld of sleep.
All around me, pink petals dripped from blooming branches. I was back in the garden in nothing but lacy pink panties and thigh-high, sheer, white stockings. I sat on a puffy white blanket over thick green grass. I couldn’t see through the falling petals and the bowing branches that hung heavy with flowers to the ground.
I leaned back, feeling the warm breeze blow over my exposed nipples and the flesh of my round stomach. My red hair spilled down my shoulders, framing my breasts and accentuating the pale pink of my areolas and nipples. I felt enlivened and turned on by my own beauty. I giggled as I ran my hand up the inside of my thigh and over the thin fabric of my panties.
Owen stepped out from between the branches. He wore a white Greek toga that barely covered his hips. I could see the shadow of his cock below the pleated fabric. I smiled and raised my hand to him. He fell to me, covering me with kisses. His mouth licked and kissed over my breasts and down my stomach to play delicately over the fabric of my panties. I gasped at the sensation of his touch. He gripped my hips with his hands and buried his face in the soft skin of my thighs.
“Owen,” I breathed. “I know who you are.” I giggled with the last words, and he raised his face to look at me.
“I’ve been waiting so long for you Melody.”
“I’m Jane, silly.”
“Melody. You don’t remember yourself.” He kissed my thighs and tickled at the space between my legs. I leaned back on my elbows and lifted one leg over his muscled shoulder. He hooked a finger in my panties and pulled them aside, revealing the curling red hair below. His tongue flicked at my pink lips, and I tilted my head back.
“You c
an call me whatever you want, Owen,” I said as I lay down and let him pull my panties down my legs.
“Jane!” a voice shouted in my ear.
I shot up from the bed and looked around. It was twilight outside the window. I rubbed my eyes and looked at my assailant. It was Morgan, standing at the side of my bed, arms crossed.
“Patty says come to supper, or you get none.”
“Oh, of course.”
I swung my feet over the side of my bed and shoved them in my boots. Morgan trotted out of the room while I laced them up. My heart still pounded from my encounter with Owen. My body still yearned for his touch. I shook my head. I was making love to a ghost or something. If it didn’t feel so fantastic, and if I didn’t feel so completely comfortable with him in the dream, I might think it was a little strange. Everything in my world had become strange.
I trotted down the stairs with a spring in my step, thinking of Owen, and found my way to the kitchen. Mr. Ellis, Morgan, Patty, and Penny sat at the breakfast nook. A big pot of chili sat on the table next to a plate of crusty homemade bread. I slid in next to Morgan, where a place had been set for me, and I scooped some chili into the bowl.
In the distance, I could see the hunters and outdoor help carousing outside.
“They’re whooping it up over the bear hunt today,” said Patty.
“Everything will be a drunken mess in the morning,” said Penny.
Mr. Ellis didn’t say anything; he just scooped a spoonful of chili in his mouth and stared at a spreadsheet on his iPad. I took a bite of chili and then another. Patty was a fantastic cook when it came to home-style food. It was three bean chili with some kind of sausage link and ground beef, stewed to perfection.
“This is delicious, Patty,” I said, taking another helping.
Mr. Ellis wiped his mouth and stood. “Thank you for dinner Patty. I have to be going now.” He wore REI yuppie outdoor gear from head to foot. The waterproof coat he swung around his shoulders accentuated his broad shoulders and tapered waist. I chastised myself for noticing his masculine physique. He was not my type, not my type at all.
“Daddy no!” Morgan jumped from the bench and clung to her father’s leg. He glared at me, and I stood to pull the girl back. Why did he have to announce he was leaving right in front of the child? He wasn’t getting points for father of the year.
“It’s going to be fine,” I whispered in her ear as I held her tight to my chest.
Mr. Ellis picked up a shotgun from the corner, slung it over his shoulder and stomped out of the room. I heard the front door slam moments later. Morgan fell into me, and tears poured from her eyes. I patted the girls long tangled black hair and cooed at her. I didn’t know what else to do.
Patty stood from the table and went to the kitchen island. She pulled off the top of a cake tray revealing a perfectly frosted cake.
“It’s devil’s food cake, your favorite, Morgan,” she said in a sing-song voice while holding a long knife. Patty sliced the cake and put a big piece on a plate at the girl’s place at the table. Patty sliced us all pieces, and I sat back down to enjoy it with the other women and Morgan. Penny only picked at hers and excused herself to go to bed.
After dinner, I helped Patty clean up the kitchen and then took Morgan upstairs. The girl told me she could bathe herself, so I let her take her own bath and put herself to bed. I went back to my room, changed into my pajamas, and changed into my fluffy, warm wool socks to keep my feet extra toasty. Outside my window, I could see the moon rising, big and full over the mountain.
The beauty of the landscape made me catch my breath, and I sat under the window gazing at the magnificence before me. A romance novel sat at my knee, and I hoped I would dream of Owen again so that we could finish what we’d started during my afternoon nap. I could hear the sound of the hunters down in the bunkhouse as they drank and smoked whatever they smoked. Daisy’s laughter cracked through the air, and I understood why she preferred to be down in the bunkhouse. It was just more fun. Plain and simple. I wondered if I could sneak down there to get a few drinks and do some flirting.
I sighed. I’d promised to be here for Morgan while her father was out at the cabin. I couldn’t go running out to a party. I turned off my lights and sank into bed and into the blackness of sleep. Owen didn’t come to me. No dreams came, only hazy darkness.
I woke suddenly to the sharp, ungodly howl of what must have been the world’s largest wolf. I jumped from my bed, heart pounding, and ran to the window. It sounded like the thing was right outside.
My door swung open and Morgan ran in to cling to my waist. Her body shook with fear, and I could feel her back drenched with sweat.
“It’s Daddy,” she whispered into my side.
“What? No, it’s just a wolf. Don’t worry. Your daddy will shoot it, and everything will be fine.”
“No he won’t. No it won’t.”
I pulled her into bed with me and stroked her hair, trying to calm her down. My sleep clouded mind tried to catch up with what was happening around me. The howl obviously wasn’t Mr. Ellis. Right?
Chapter 6
The sound of howling intensified below my window. Morgan shivered and clung to me under the blankets, her stuttering whimper muffled in my chest. My entire body was propelled into high alert. Pumping adrenaline pulsated to the rhythm of my heartbeat in my ears. Black tunnels formed around the edges of my vision as my breathing became shallow.
Morgan’s small arms gripped my waist. The feeling of her fragile body next to mine brought me back to reality. The noise outside the window turned to yelping and scratching. I heard a long sickly moan and a crack. A gun shot into the night.
I jumped to the window to see the last glimpse of a massive gray tail flicking over impossibly large forelegs. I stepped back, my hand on my chest, trying to convince myself I hadn’t just seen what I had seen. Morgan cried and sank under the fluffy blankets on my canopy bed.
“It’s Daddy. It’s Daddy!” she shouted uncontrollably.
“Nonsense,” I said, jumping into the bed with her. I placed my arms around her shoulders and drew her into me under the covers. We sank down into the soft warmth, but Morgan jerked and shuddered with fear.
“Why would you say that?” I asked.
“Because it’s him. It’s the bad thing. Mommy told me.”
“What bad thing?”
“Daddy!” Her voice was high-strung and hysterical. Nothing she said made any sense. How could Mr. Ellis be that wolf? I stroked her back until she grew still. When I glanced down, her eyes fluttered closed. I could see the steady rise and fall of her chest. The girl was dreaming.
I couldn’t sleep for a long time, holding Morgan in my bed. I’d had a massive shot of adrenaline, and I couldn’t calm down. I lay there, thoughts reeling through my mind about what that animal could be and why the child would claim it was her father. My first day on the ranch had been anything but what I expected.
Finally, blackness overtook my mind, and I descended into a halfhearted slumber. Somewhere between dreaming and waking, I saw Owen. It wasn’t the garden this time. He looked distant. An undulating layer of green film wavered between us. I reached out to him. Black circles hung under his eyes, his face pale and his lips blue. “Owen” I screamed in the heaviness of dreaming. He looked up at me; his blue eyes were dark, black, hollow. “Owen,” I whimpered again. He fell away from me, deep into the green blackness. The tide of my dream drifted, and I slowly washed ashore into wakefulness.
I blinked and found Morgan still sleeping beside me. Outside, the gray, dim predawn clung to the world. I gently pulled my numb arm from under the sleeping girl. My head pounded as I slipped into my hiking boots and flung my coat over my shoulders.
Curiosity pushed me out. I wanted coffee, but I wanted answers even more. I padded down the stairs, careful to avoid the creaky steps and slowly opened the front door. I glided outside and shut the door behind me. From the porch, I stepped onto the gravel path and moved toward the place bel
ow my window. It was on the other side of the house, facing the lake.
I turned around to the back of the house to see the most gruesome thing I’d ever encountered. An entire adult cow lay disemboweled under my window. The poor beast’s neck was snapped sideways, brutally bitten open and bleeding into the grass. The side of the house had deep scratch marks running vertically down the side.
I stepped closer, covering my nose with my hand. Even in the cool morning air, flies buzzed around the rotting carcass. I leaned in to inspect the scratch marks. Whatever had made them had claws the size of a child’s hand.
A shiver ran down my spine, and I turned to hurry back to the house. I couldn’t breathe. The smell of blood clung to my nose. As I came around the side of the house, I ran headlong into the solid figure of a man. I hadn’t been looking and didn’t see who it was until I gathered my composure and pulled away. The man’s arms steadied me and held my shoulders while I looked up into his face.
Mr. Ellis looked down at me. Dark bristle covered his chin, and his unkempt black hair blew around his face. He wore the clothes from the night before, but they were dirty and ripped. There was a wild look in his dark eyes. He gripped my shoulders, not speaking. His stern expression bore down on me as if I’d done something terribly wrong.
I pulled away from the biting grip of his fingers. We stared at each other. My heart thumped in my ears as loudly as it had the night before. I wanted to run, but I felt transfixed by his stare. He held me like a fawn in the gaze of a predator. I cleared my throat and tried to remember myself.
“You shouldn’t be out here,” he said, in a deep, gritty voice.
“What happened?” I asked, sounding small and weak.
“It was the wolves. They got away again.”
“These don’t seem like normal wolves.”
“They aren’t. Now go inside and stay out of the way. This isn’t your affair. Do you want to make it worse?”
“No, I…”
His lip curled at me dangerously. I hadn’t seen this side of him before, and fear trickled over my shoulders. There was nothing else to say, so I scurried inside and let the door click closed behind me. Inside the warm confines of the house, I could smell coffee brewing all the way down the hall in the kitchen. I thought of going to check on Morgan, but the promise of coffee won out, and I shuffled down the hall.