Chapter 5

Sully had intended to take the dog car for his guiding job this morning because the kids he would take were supposed to come with their bikes. The snow, however, thwarted this plan. That was why he called the school right after Michaela left for the hospital, and to his astonishment he learned that the teacher who would come with the class was his old acquaintance. They discussed how to change the route in order to keep the children's disappointment within limits for they had looked forward to a special adventure. Sully had already met this particular class a few times. They had gotten along with each other just fine, which made things a lot easier.

It wasn't much than an hour later that Sully went to the parking lot at the end of the Spring Canyon Trailhead, leading Wolf on a leash by his side. He was there just in time for the class' arrival. The bus had barely stopped when the children burst through the opening doors, running towards him.

"Mr. Sully!" A blond-haired nine-year-old tugged at his sleeve once he reached him, looking up at him animatedly, "Will ya tell us a story again? Miss Winter said ya will if we ask."

Sully couldn't help but laugh. "It's nice to see ya again, Brian." Giving the small shoulder a friendly pat, he added, "Well, I don't wanna give the lie to your teacher's word, so I guess there will be a story."

"Yeah!" the boy triumphantly threw his fist up into the air, scurrying towards his friends that were standing among his classmates who had formed a half-circle in front of Sully.

The young teacher cast Sully an apologizing gaze, yet he only smiled in return for in his opinion it wasn't wrong to be eager to hear a story. Nothing could damp his high spirits today anyway - he would be an engaged man in the evening! Yet he knew he needed to collect his thoughts; after all, he was responsible for the children's safety. "Ya still remember the rules?" he asked, looking around at the young faces.

"No climbin' the rocks!"

"Not leavin' the trail!"

"No runnin' and chasin' each other!"

"Stayin' with the group!"

The answers came quickly, and Sully nodded satisfied. "Alright, now just don't forget it while you are here. We'll take the trail to the Siamese Twins Rock Formation, and once we are there, I'll tell ya about the eagle. And if we're lucky, we'll even see one gliding above the valley."

The path they were taking was leading upwards, with the ground on its right edge sloping down steeply but going up on the left. The way wasn't paved, and since the sun wasn't strong enough yet to melt the snow that had fallen over night, the white cover hid stones and branches that were laying there. The children, however, were excited to leave the first footprints on the white surface. Sully, leading the group, looked out that no one lost their footing but was careful not to spoil their fun.

As far as the teacher was concerned, she had a hard time following them. Not only because her students were running rather than walking; she also struggled with her emotions. For half a year she had been able to convince herself that she was over him; after all, there had never been anything between them, at least not from his side. Although they had talked about the griefs for their late spouses, Sully had never shown any interest in seeing her in private; they've only met when she took classes to the Garden of Gods and he was the guide. Only once had she managed to make him agree for a picnic after the students had left, and then the woman who held his heart had appeared. The teacher knew it from his reaction when he spotted her, and she realized she had no chance of gaining his love. That was why she had given up, and she'd tried to avoid seeing him. But she had a job to do, and the trips to the park were a part of it. It had already been difficult hearing his voice on the phone in the morning yet seeing him again left her powerless to control her feelings. Thus she used the time trailing behind to regain her composure; otherwise she was certain he could read it on her face that she was still in love with him and always would be.

When she at last joined the group, Sully was already telling the story about a Cheyenne boy that had been adopted by the great birds. The children hung on his every word, and of course it was Brian who posed the first question, "Ya think that's true?"

The boy's tone indicated that he wanted to believe it, and thus Sully replied somewhat cryptically, "Imagination is a powerful thing. There's a lot that can be true if ya only want it."

Seeing the child's eyes lighten up, Sully winked at him while some of the other boys rolled their eyes.

"Alright, everyone," the teacher distracted them, "we'll take a break now. If you want you can take photographs. We will choose at school later which ones we'll take for our report about today's trip. But stay close here so I can keep an eye on you."

It didn't take long and the children were occupied by eating their sandwiches, chattering or trying their cameras. Knowing that Wolf didn't like to be on a leash Sully bent down to take it off, ordering the dog with a few words and gestures not to run around.

As Sully straightened again, he turned to the teacher whose cheeks were hot from the exertion of climbing upwards. Once again he noticed how lovely she looked, and he wondered whether she had found love again like he had. "So, Catherine, how are ya?" he eventually asked, "Back on track?"

Hearing her name spoken by him, Catherine beamed. "I'm fine," she lied. Nothing had changed for her. She was still a widow, and the man she had fallen in love with after her husband had been killed in an accident didn't know it.

"Smiling becomes ya," Sully told her, "Ya should do it more often." The way she blushed reminded him of Michaela, and as soon as her name entered his mind, his own smile grew wider.

Thinking it was meant for her, the young woman forgot where she was. Thus she reacted somewhat unnerved as a girl came running toward her calling already from the distance, "Miss Winter, Brian is…"

"Mandy," Catherine, wanting to return to her conversation with Sully as quickly as possible, scolded her student gazing at her sternly, "how often have I already told you that it's not nice to tell on your classmates? Now go and…"

Yet Sully recognized the urgency in the child's tone and laid his hand on Catherine's arm, stopping her. Squatting down so as to be at eye level with the girl, he asked gently, "Somethin' wrong with Brian?"

Too frightened to talk because of her teachers reproach, Mandy timidly moved her head up and down.

"What is it? Tell me," Sully probed further, encouragingly nodding. If it was something serious, they were losing precious time.

"He's climbin' up the tree down there," the girl whispered to him, pointing at a large pine standing forty yards downwards the path.

In a dangerous situation people often have the feeling that things are proceeding in slow motion whilst others see everything particularly clear. For Sully it was neither the one nor the other. He was totally focused on the boy who waved at him excitedly, calling, "Hey Sully, ya think I'm high enough to be like an eagle?"

"Hold on tight," Sully yelled back, already running. He didn't spend attention to the way, he didn't even notice that he was running at full speed for all he saw were Brian's hands that were losing their grip on the branch above his head whilst his feet already dangled over the ground. The boy would fall and all Sully knew was that he had to be there before that happened. With a last, wide stride he reached the tree, not even noticing that his right food didn't connect with the ground properly but slipped away, and it was him who fell. He caught Brian on top of him in the exact moment when he himself landed on his back. He was only able to ask the boy, "Ya alright?" before everything went black.

xxx

Although Sully had tried his best to chase Michaela's sense of foreboding away, he hadn't succeeded. In the contrary, the unsettling feeling had rather increased. Although she did her job thoroughly and reliably as always, the disturbing knowledge that something terrible would happen remained lingering in the back of her mind. Sometime in the middle of the morning, her troubled emotions even turned into physical pain. Fortunately, she sat in her tiny office when a sudden cramp made her double over. She couldn't even tell whether it was her back that hurt or her stomach. All she could do was clutch the edge of the top of her desk trying to take in deep breaths. However, as suddenly as the pain had appeared it also vanished. Ruffled by the strange experience, Michaela couldn't wait for the end of her shift. She needed to see Sully.

After work, she hurried home as fast as possible, yet neither Wolf greeted her nor Sully's van was parked in the yard. She called their names through the empty house nevertheless, yet all she got in response was silence. Attempting to calm down she told herself that this wasn't the first time that Sully stayed longer than planned at the park, but usually he called in such a case. She had checked her cell phone before she left the hospital without finding any message. Hoping she had missed his call on her way home, she fished for the cell phone in her coat pocket. Tears of relief welled up in her eyes when the tiny screen told her that a text message was waiting for her.

Sinking onto the couch, she pushed a few buttons and then she stared at the words Could I talk to you? trying in vain to grasp them for they weren't what she'd anticipated. Only after eventually checking the sender she realized that Myra had decided to ask for help. A couple of days ago Michaela had offered it after she noticed that something was deeply troubling Hank's wife.

However, the short distraction from her own worries was quickly gone. After dialing Sully's number and again being told that he had turned his phone off, Michaela seriously considered calling the Garden of Gods and ask whether Sully was still there. Yet as soon as this thought entered her mind she dismissed it. She didn't want Sully's colleagues to think he had a jealous, controlling girlfriend that always wanted to be informed about his whereabouts. Thus she decided to rather go to the Golden Nugget and see what she could do for Myra.

Not even fifteen minutes later, Michaela tried the back door to the hotel, but it was locked. Not having another choice, she rounded the building, using the main entrance instead. She hoped to find Myra standing behind the reception desk, yet it was Hank, supporting himself with his elbows on the counter, who greeted her with a wave of his cigar, "Michaela, just the right person we might need in this time of great danger!"

A burst of laughter from some men standing around followed these words, and Michaela frowned at the hotel owner, "The only danger I can see here is that some of you might develop a fatty liver if you go on drinking the way you are."

Before she could ask for Myra, Hank explained, pointing with his head towards his companion, "Jake just told us that a wolf was running through town at noon. What if it had rabies? We all might need a shot from you!"

"Loren told me," Jake defended himself, exasperated that no one believed this exciting story. "Just ask him! They even called Animal Control to catch it, and they did!"

At this, the teasing died somewhat. Although Loren Bray was known as a storyteller as well, an official institution being involved cast a different light on the event. Not familiar yet with the wildlife in the area, Michaela admitted, "I didn't even know there are still wolfs around here."

"They ain't," came a deep voice from an old man, sitting at the table next to the flight of stairs that led up to the hotel rooms. "I bet it was just some kinda dog they caught."

The smirk on Hank's face was wiped away as he heard Michaela ask with an desperate urgency in her voice, "Does anyone have Loren's number here?" She had it, of course, but not with her. It was written in her notebook which was lying on her desk at home.

"What's wrong?" Hank wondered, straightening behind the counter, ready to help if need be.

"I have the sinking feeling that you might be talking about Wolf. And if you do, something has happened to Sully," Michaela replied, her complexion ashen.

xxx

Wolf had done as he had been told: he'd stayed close. He had been there when Sully fell onto the ground, softening the child's fall with his body although it had obviously caused him pain. The dog recognized the tone of the groan. This action, however, taught Wolf that the boy was important to his master, and so he only listened to Brian when, after a while, more people arrived. They tried to push him out of their way, but he only obeyed once Brian threw his small arms around his neck, telling him to let the strangers help Sully.

However, once his master was carried away on a stretcher, Wolf followed him again. When the woman who was with the children tried to hold him back, tugging at his collar, he had growled at her and she'd immediately let go. Yet once Sully was put into a large car, the men didn't allow Wolf to jump in. The only thing the dog could do was run after the car. He didn't pay attention to the way, he only tried not to lose sight of the vehicle. When he couldn't see it anymore he followed the sound, but after a while that was gone, too.

Only then did Wolf become aware of his surroundings again and was totally bewildered. He didn't recognize anything. No sight, no smell, no sound. For a moment he sat down, stretching his head towards the sky and gave a long, desperate howl. He was lost and had no idea where to go since not one single thing was familiar to him. That was why he was kind of thankful when a man approached him, talking in a calming tone. He pointed to a car, and Wolf connected it with the one that had taken his master away. However, he noticed that he'd made a terrible mistake when he was brought inside of a building where every sound and smell spoke of anger and fear. He knew both feelings which had only been a faint memory till this moment. Yet now they surfaced again, and when he was shoved into a place that was surrounded by iron bars, he turned into the trembling pup that was tied to a tree again. Pressing his stomach against the concrete floor, he buried his nose between his front paws, attempting to blind out the furious barking as well as the nervous whining of the other dogs next to his cell.

Wolf didn't know how long he had lain this way when a sound reached his ears he would recognize everywhere and every time. It was the voice of the woman he already adored and owed his soul from now on for she would save him again.