“Wolves,” Cyrus conceded. “So why the theatrics? Send a team of men to root them out and be done with it.”
“Now, wait just a minute,” Gran Fowler said, standing now too. “We all saw that stallion. Those slashes on his side were enormous.” He spread his fingers as wide as they could go. “They were certainly bigger than anything I could cause.”
Cyrus let out a chirp of laughter. “Good news, everyone. Fowler isn’t the murderer.”
The chicken farmer’s eyes narrowed. “I’m just asking, what wolf has paws bigger than a grown man’s hands?”
Papa nodded. “None we’ve seen before. And…” He rubbed the pads of his thumbs over the rest of his fingernails. “Sam and I started burning away the surrounding brush. We didn’t want anything else drawn to the blood, especially with the camp so close to town. As we started lighting the fires, we saw the creatures, just out of range. The fires’ light caught their eyes, making them glow bright and silver. They’d been there the whole time. Watching us.”
He reached up to scratch the back of his neck. It was the first time since taking the floor that he looked nervous.
“I couldn’t make out their exact shape—they blended in with the pines’ shadows—but whatever they were, they were monstrous in size. Well above my height.”
I bit down on the corner of my tongue. Papa was one of the tallest men in the Falls. I tried to picture a wolf bigger than him. I could imagine the scruff of its back, raised with a sinister growl, or the massive paws, with moonlight reflecting off clawed tips, but the pieces wouldn’t go together to create a whole beast. My mind refused to assemble such an abomination.
“That’s impossible,” Cyrus snorted.
Gran looked uneasy. “It does sound rather far-fetched, Gideon. Is there any proof?”
Papa’s eyes flashed, indignant. “Proof? What proof more do you need than my given word? Everyone here knows me to be a man of integrity and honor. I’m not prone to flights of fancy or exaggeration. If I say that’s what I saw, you can be certain it’s exactly what’s out there.”
Looking around the room, I saw several people exchange guilty glances. They weren’t convinced.
Papa evidently caught them as well and sighed. “Samuel saw them too. He’ll tell you the same thing.”
Sam’s story from this morning flitted across my memory. He had admitted that he’d seen giant beasts in the woods.
He’d also said they’d laughed at him.
“Latheton,” Papa said, finding the carpenter in the middle of the room. “You say you’ve seen them too. How big would you guess they are?”
After a moment of urging from his wife, Edmund rose unsteadily to his feet. “I…I couldn’t say for sure…but they are much larger than regular wolves. Faster too. The one we saw…” He glanced back to his wife. She reached up and squeezed his hand. “The one we saw, it was out near my woodshed, on the far side of the property. You know that little spot where the creek cuts in?”
Several people nodded, drawn into his story.
He gulped a big mouthful of air, and I noticed a slight tremble in his hands. “We saw the eyes—just like Gideon said—shining silver. Something must have spooked it. It raced across the field to hide behind the barn. That’s nearly five hundred feet, and it made it in only seconds. I…I’ve never seen anything move like that.”
Prudence stood up. “He’s telling the truth. They both are,” she added, glancing back to affirm Papa.
“So what do you propose we do about these monstrous wolves, Gideon?” Cyrus asked, joining Papa at the front of the room. His stomach jutted over his pin-striped pants like the prow of a ship. “You make it sound as though half the town will be needed to take one down.”
Edmund paled. “I don’t think even that would be enough.”
Papa murmured an agreement, his eyes wary. “I…I believe the monsters our forefathers spoke of have returned.”
Murmurs of disbelief spread through the crowd.
“That’s impossible,” Parson Briard said, jumping to his feet, his brow furrowed into deep lines. “While my family was not here when the town was settled, those stories have always sat wrong with me. Fanciful fairy tales to scare children at bedtime. God would not allow such creatures to exist.”
Matthias frowned. “Sit down, Clemency. You’re making a fool of yourself. There were many documented sightings. They were real. But, Gideon…you know as well as I, there’s not been a sighting since—”
“Since now,” Papa cut off unhappily.
The Elder’s nostrils flared. “Then these devils need to be eradicated.”
Papa shook his head. “I’m not proposing we hunt them. There’re too many and we don’t have nearly enough ammunition…which brings me to our biggest issue today. We must send out another group for supplies.”
There was a snorted scoff in the back of the room. “You can’t be serious. If you really believe those things are real, that they’re back, you can’t expect anyone to volunteer. It’s certain suicide.”
“No more than attempting to make it through winter without a run,” Papa said grimly. “Dr. Ambrose says his stocks are low. That bout of croup in May had children guzzling ipecac by the bottle. Are you confident you’ve got enough meat smoked to last till next spring? We need more bullets. More everything.” His face softened. “We’ll take better precautions. We’ll send more people.”
“More people to die,” the dissenter shot back.
I turned in my seat and spotted Calvin Buhrman. The tavern owner’s dark eyes burned brightly. Jebediah McCleary had been his brother-in-law. I was mildly surprised that Calvin hadn’t remained at home with his grieving sister.
“I see no children here today,” Cyrus said, peering about the crowd. “I take it we’re meant to vote on this foolhardy expedition?”
Papa turned to address the Elders. “Surely we don’t need a Deciding for a supply run? I called the adults here because we need to assemble a group of volunteers.” He looked over his shoulder, offering a small smile to us. “I’ll be the first to do so.”
“Papa, no!” I shouted, leaping to my feet. “What about Mama?”
“His own daughter doesn’t think it’s a good idea,” Calvin said, pouncing. “I vote no. Surely we can rough out one winter. Our forefathers did it all the time. Let the creatures starve. They’ll be gone by spring, off for better hunting grounds. We’ll send a supply train then. Hell, I’ll lead it myself.”