Hey my friends, I'm back from my holiday in France. It has been a real blast out there, but of course, the more important thing for you is that I've got a brandnew chapter right here. Please enjoy.

Kind Regards,

Chapter 7. Aftermath

-Humphrey-

The rest of the afternoon Abigail had continued to teach me the fine art of stalking. Unfortunately my second and third attempt had been less successful and we were running out of daylight. Abigail suggested to give me a demonstration on how to catch a prey, but I knew she meant something entirely different.

"You mean, I'm getting hungry and if it's up to you it might take for ages." I remarked with a grin.

She looked embarrassed and as it turned out, she was indeed getting hungry. I admired her honesty.

"I hope you're not insulted?"

I laughed her apology away.

"Please, I'm starving too." I replied.

When we first met I thought her to be an arrogant and surly wolf, however the more time we spent, the more I came to know her as a shy and decent one.

With ease, efficiency and prominent grace she managed to take down a rabbit at the first try. It was small, but enough for the two of us. It made me feel like quite the rookie and I admitted that I had a lot to learn. She reassured me it would take time to master it all. She said it had taken her the necessary training as well, but I still envied her talent. It was nice spending time with her. She gave me something to eat and in exchange I gave her something to laugh.

As the sun was setting, the sky was already littered with stars. This came at a price though. It meant that it would be a very cold night. We had to find us some shelter. Luckily Abigail knew a cave nearby. We reached it right on time, because once we got there, there was not a trace left of the yellow orb that had been shining all day long. The moon was almost full tonight and I halted outside to look at its brilliance. Abigail came back out and sat down next to me. Together we gazed at the white rock in the sky.

"It's magnificent isn't it?" she asked.

I confirmed with a smile. I used the moment to observed her from the corner of my eye. She was far from ugly. Her fur appeared more redish and more clear than it did at day and her emerald eyes glistened in the lunar light. She scared me as she unexpectedly began to howl. The effect of the moon and her voice combined irresistibly led me to follow her example. Our howls filled the air. I felt her soft fur on my side as she leaned against me. At first it was nice and warm, but then it was as if my heart shriveled up. The image of my duet with Kate at the train shot through my mind and before I knew it I cried out in panic and stumbled away from her. I gasped for air as the memory slowly faded again. Clearly my subconscious wasn't willing to forget her just yet.

Abigail looked at me afraid, afraid to have driven me away.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."

"No-no it's my fault... I just... I just can't." I stuttered.

The image of me and Kate singing together had stung me like a dirk. I wasn't over her yet and because of that it felt wrong to howl with someone else. A migraine came up. I winced and placed a paw against my head. It wasn't fair. She had rejected me. Why did I still love her?

She reached out to me, but I rudely pushed her gentle gesture aside.

"Please… Just let me be for now..."

I went into the small cave to escape further questions. Inside it was remarkably warmer, but the comfortable raise in temperature wasn't enough to soothen my sore. I curled up, still suffering from the headache that had arisen. I heard Abigail lay down somewhere behind me. I knew I had hurt her and I regretted doing so, but I was not ready to relinquish my feelings for Kate. Thinking of her enchanting appearance, I wondered if I ever would be.

-Kate-

A high pitched screech echoed over the tracks as the train hit the brakes. The wagon shook precariously and the vibrations that it sent over my body had me open my eyes. I inspected my thigh. The cut had stopped bleeding, however the painful feeling persisted. My head was still a little fuzzy because of my nap and I looked up to determine the time of day. The sky was orange and the sun had almost disappeared behind the mountains. It would be night soon. My nap had clearly been a long one.

We came to a complete halt and I moved to the side to see where we were. Immediately I duck back in. A man with a hunting rifle had stepped out of the engine and was headed my way. I had to get out quickly and I jumped out of the other side of train. To my horror, I miscalculated the amount of weight my afflicted leg could support and I almost collapsed during my landing. I realized that in boarding the train so arduously, I had worsened my injury. In front of me lay a small town. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The only way to go now was under the wagon.

I hid underneath and waited for the man, armed with flashlight and gun, to pass by.

"Hey Joe, long time no see."

A second man arrived from the town to greet the first. It was evident that the two humans knew each other. The engine driver, apparently named Joe, stood in front of me as he replied. I couldn't follow the details of their conversation, I was too tense for that. The trepidation had my heart throb in my head. Joe climbed in and out of the last few wagons, while comfortably conversing with his congener. It felt like it took him years to complete this task.

He decided that everything was fine and walked to his friend. He switched off his light and they started walking to the town. That was close. I heaved a sigh of relief.

Suddenly the two men stopped and I knew I had made a stupid, perhaps fatal mistake.

"Did you hear that?"

I watched with bated breath as Joe slowly walked back to my wagon. My eyes got bigger with each footstep closer to my hiding place. He stopped in front of the cart and inspected the cargo within. I cringed and squished myself in between the sleepers. My last shred of hope evaporated as he bend over. I saw his eyes only metre away from me, although the darkness ensured that he couldn't see me yet. As he raised his flashlight I knew he was going to find me. I also knew that when he did, I wouldn't be able to get out of range of his rifle in time, not in my deteriorated state.

Automatically my thoughts went to Humphrey. I would never be able to tell him how I really felt about him, that I loved him back, that I would rather die than live without him. Instead he would continue to believe that I never cared and bear the emotional scar I gave him for the rest of his life. He didn't deserve the pain I had put him through. Still, the most terrible thing of dying here was that I would never see him again. A tear rolled down my face, leaving a warm trail on my cheek. If only I could see him on last time...

"What're you doing Joe? You think a grizzly's hangin' underneath your train now? C'mon let's get inside 'n grab a beer."

As it turned out, fate had provided me with a chance to redeem myself with Humphrey. A fraction of a second before the engine driver was going to light his torch, the other man called him off, unintentionally saving my life. I watched astonished as Joe lowered the flashlight, stood up and walked back to his buddy. Subsequently, they went inside one of the houses. This time I was smart enough to sigh once they were out of hearing distance.

I shivered. This was far too close in my opinion. I had been more than lucky here. I crawled out of my shelter and headed into the forest. It would definitely be safer to spent the night somewhere else than here.

-Humphrey-

Despite the sorrow with which I had gone to sleep, I had had a fairly steady night's rest. As I recollected the events, it was not Kate that made me feel troubled, but the way I left Abigail. I had to apologize to her for acting so bearish towards her. She had never had any bad intentions and probably felt rejected due to my hurtful behaviour.

When I turned around I noticed she was not in the cave anymore. I went outside and took in the details of my environment. I remembered how we got her and where we had briefly howled together, but there was no Abigail here either.

"Abigail?!" I called out.

There was no reply. I was alone. I bit my lip as I realized that I had not just hurt, but completely scared off my new friend. I tasted blood and I found myself biting so hard that my lip began to bleed.

"Hey, you're up."

The abrupt voice spooked me and I automatically growled at its source. Abigail stood behind me and raised an eyebrow to underscore the oddity of my reaction.

"Easy, it's only me. Look, I brought breakfast." she said, putting down a fat rabbit.

"Abigail! I thought you were gone!" I cried out relieved.

She blushed.

"I'm glad you missed me." she said.

Although that wasn't entirely the truth, I saw no harm in letting her believe it if only to comfort her a little. I did had something to make up after all. As we ate together, she carefully brought up yesterday's unfortunate turn of events.

"I'm sorry for last night. I was just-.."

"Don't be." I replied. "It is I who should apologize."

"Why did you react like that, if I may ask?"

I hesitated. Should I tell her? Maybe it would be a relief to talk about my heartache with someone. She caught notion of my pondering.

"If you don't want to, I'm not forcing you." she added quickly.

I laughed. She really was more decent than she had made me believe at first sight.

"It's okay. Perhaps it is good for me to talk about it."

Abigail listened with interest as I broadly narrated my adventure with Kate. I also elaborated on the role Marcel and Paddy had had in this undertaking. She sympathized with me, especially when I reached the conclusion of my tale.

"Wow, she ditched you like that?"

Having said it, she became aware of the bluntness of her way of stating it, but I reassured her that it didn't matter. She was right, no matter how you put it, Kate had dumped me in quite unmannerly fashion. Strangely, it hadn't made me love her any less, but I chose not to share this last detail with Abigail.

"Anyway, that memory made me scared last night. You were never to blame."

She smiled compassionately and shook her head.

"Don't be sorry. I would probably act the same way in your shoes."

Although I had planned not to address the matter anymore, my curiosity got the better of me again.

"Abigail?"

"Hmm?"

"I don't mean to be obtrusive, but what happened to you exactly before you left your home? When I asked before I noticed that I upset you by asking and I have no intention to do that again, but I'm very curious to know."

She gave me a brief smile, then looked at me tentatively. Her green eyes were quite pretty. It was clear she didn't like recollecting those events and for a moment I thought she was going to ask me to mind my own business. She sighed instead.

"Okay then."

End of chapter 7.