as they walked into that forbidden cave . . . it always rang through him. She had been so alive that night it had caught him off guard; she’d hidden her true essence, her energy at first. Slowly it came forth and ripened into a sweet nectarine that he had yet to take a bite of. He gripped her hand tighter and watched her chest move up and down.
“Mumbo jumbo, if you ask me,” interrupted Betty, giving her devilish smile, as she knew she was only toying.
“Stop it,” Doc snapped. “Don’t be cruel to the young doves.”
Betty laughed wickedly, as if to cover her jealousy or lack of manners.
“That’s enough. We don’t know what’s going to happen here, okay? She’s had contact with the Great Spirit—the wolf.”
Betty just shook her head in disbelief. “Uh. . . I’ve heard you go on before after a few, but I didn’t think you were serious about it. Come on, Doc. You practice medicine here, not voodoo.”
“It happened years ago to another young woman. In those days, the sky was clear, the salmon ran freely, and the spirit hid in the woods. We had a very small church, and we didn’t mix with the Indians well, even though we tried to push our religion on them. That old bastard preacher wouldn’t quit on them.”
Ahanu lowered his head.
“The wolf came one clear, hot night like this one,” Doc said somberly. “He stood back in the grass, hiding, but I saw him there, powerful and present. I wish I’d said something.
“Anyway, I got a call from a young clueless lad, whose sister had fallen ill suddenly from something—we didn’t know what at the time. She had a fever and she’d moan occasionally, mumble something about the moon, and she would fade in and out. On her third night, as I sat there with her, I heard his call. The spirit called out, and she died right there and then. He took her spirit away with him, though we knew it was really gone before. We could feel that she was absent and her mumblings were just his echoes or messages. He’s been awakened again by something.”
“I can’t hear this.” Ahanu put his hands over his ears.
“You need to hear it. This is your history, your people, your wolf.”
“My wolf . . . what are talking about? You’re crazy,” said Ahanu. “This is the first time I’ve seen him.”
“Yes, and he’ll come again. He’ll take and take till it stops.”
“Till what stops?” Betty was fascinated by now and had lost sight of her musings.
“Many died that summer, mysteriously, all random, all ages. You think this is just a fluke? It’s not. It never stopped till we stopped. The church, you see, was encroaching on the natives. We all thought we lived in peace and harmony with the natives, but we didn’t. They didn’t want our God, and we didn’t want theirs.”
“I thought you were an atheist,” said Betty.
“Shhhhh. I was. Not this week.”
Ahanu scrunched his face in confusion.
“You see, I bet it’s the dam, all those strange folks in town, all this bad energy here. He’s back. The old curse. That’s it, till it stops. Till he gets his fill.”
Betty spoke, hands on her hips, pacing. “Too late to change any of that.” She chuckled. “It’s already halfway built. Millions of dollars have been spent on it, decreed by the president himself. Millions of drops of sweat and blood have been poured into that concrete prison. Men have died. There’s nothing you can do about it now. Anyway, it is just an old wives’ tale.”
“It isn’t a tale. I lived it. I saw it,” the old man said gravely, staring at Coreen.
“Doc, are you sure you don’t want a drink? I just got a new bottle of premier Russian vodka in. It goes down so smooth. You’ll die for it.”
“I can’t believe prohibition is over,” he said.
“I bet you complained when it went in too.”
He grinned. “Yeah.”
“So—” Ahanu started.
“What? You want some too?” Betty asked.
“No.” Ahanu stood, angry now. “I don’t get it all. What did she do to deserve this? A wolf? Come on. What am I supposed to do now?”
“There’s nothing you can do, Daniel,” snorted the queen of the female dark side. “Weren’t you listening to the story? They all died.”
Ahanu was furious now, all his fear dissipated. “I’m telling you both right now—she is not going to die, and I am going to do whatever it takes to ensure it. I can’t stand