The next morning Bailey woke up with the thought of encountering the wolf from the previous night still fresh in her mind. She took a refreshing shower, got dressed and headed down the stairs to help her mom with making breakfast for the family. When breakfast was ready, the current members of the Pickett family gathered around and said grace and then ate their first meal of the day. Clyde, the father, had talked to his daughters about being safe out night before they come inside after doing their chores or going out to do something fun with their friends. Clyde was aided by his wife, Eunice, who also wanted to reinforce Clyde's warning to their four remaining daughters since the other six were married off to a man. All the while that Eunice and Clyde were telling Sally, Lila, Diane and Bailey to stay out of danger, Grammy Pickett had fallen asleep at the dining room table. After the lecture was over, Eunice tapped on Grammy Pickett's shoulder to wake her up and then officially commenced on eating their food.

After breakfast, Grammy Pickett washed the dishes once Bailey and Eunice brought them over from the table. Eunice sent Bailey out to help on the farm while she stayed back to dry the dishes after Grammy washes them. Bailey obeys her mother and goes outside to help her father and sisters to harvest the corn in the morning. When it is time to get ready for school, Bailey and her sisters come back inside to get their school supplies ready and wait for the school bus to arrive. Since they live in such a small town, there is only one school that has all of the grades in it. When the bus arrives, the four Pickett girls board the yellow vehicle and go to school. From eight to three, Eunice, Clyde and Grammy Pickett look after the farm and wait for the four youngest members of the family to return home from school. Sally and Lila do start doing their homework while Diane and Bailey are employed to help out a little bit before they do their homework. When Bailey and Diane are done doing a few chores, they go inside the house to do their homework and Lila and Sally go outside to help pick eggs from the chicken coop and do a few more simple chores. By late afternoon, Bailey, Diane, Lila and Sally were all done with their day chores and with their homework. Eunice allowed her daughters to take a break as they have been quiet busy that day and had gotten more work done than the previous day. Lila and Sally choose to listen to radio during their free time while Diane decides to read a book at the dining room table. Bailey, however, cannot decide on what to do. By luck, her friend, Mary Lou comes over and knocks on the door. Bailey walks over from the kitchen and opens the door to see the red-head girl with green eyes. Mary Lou gives Bailey a wide, closed smile since she doesn't have many teeth to show off. She just has one tooth in the middle of her mouth on the top.

"Hey, Bailey. How have you been?"

"I'm fine, Mary Lou. Thanks for asking. How are you?"

"I'm just dandy. Say, how about you come with me and some other of our friends to a swimming hole and cool off?"

"I don't know, Mary Lou…"

Eunice, overhearing the conversation, walks over to Bailey and Mary Lou.

"Bailey, why don't you go?"

"Are you sure, mama?"

"I'm sure. You deserve a break. Go ahead and put on your swim suit and have fun with your friends. Just remember to come home before dark."

"Okay. I will and thank you, mama."

"You're welcome, Bailey. Now scurry up to your room and put on your swim suit. Your friends are waiting for you, Bailey."

"Okay. I'll be down in a jiff, Mary Lou."

"Aw shucks, Bailey, we got some time to kill."

Bailey was excited. She would be able to cool off after a long day of school and farm work and just when things were still pretty warm for the season. Bailey quickly went up the stairs and went inside her bedroom where she changed into her swim suit. When she had her swim suit on, she threw on some clothes to cover herself and slipped on some shoes to keep her feet protected from the hard ground. She then trotted down the steps and left the house with Mary Lou. As the two teenaged girls walked along a narrow dirt path the meet up with some more of their friends, Mary Lou had a question for Bailey that needed to be answered.

"So, Bailey?"

"Yeah, Mary Lou?"

"What's been going on with you and Moose? Are you two broken up?"

"Yes, we are."

"But why? What happened?"

"Moose and I just grew apart. I didn't feel any sparks between him and I anymore. I didn't connect with him as much as I used to. He's just not the right for me so I broke things off with him."

"But why? What did he do?"

"Mary Lou, please try to understand, I don't see anything special in Moose. He a great guy but he's not for me."

"Then who is the guy for you?"

"I don't know. I think that the only way I would have known who was the right guy for me would require that I left town and have seen the world."

"But do you know what you want in a guy?"

"He needs to be strong enough to work on a farm but also have a good heart and be intelligent. He also has to be honest and be a sensitive, romantic guy."

"Those are all good qualities to look in a guy. But what would you need a smart guy for? Couldn't you just get by with a guy with average intelligence?"

"Oh, Mary Lou, I wish that you could understand why I want an intelligent guy. One of the reasons being is that I would be able to have nice, long talks about poetry and novels that both of us have read."

"So, you like talking about books and poems?"

"Yes, I do."

"I'm sure you'll find a good feller that's right for you who can talk endlessly about books and poems that you two have read."

"Thanks, Mary Lou. I hope so too. By the way, where are we meeting the others?"

"We'll be seeing them at the swimming hole. They're waiting for us there."

"Who will be there?"

"Joe, Suzy, Bill and Moose."

Bailey thought for a moment. Joe and Bill were best friends. They more like brothers. Bill was two inches shorter than Joe and had brown hair that went halfway down his neck. Both Joe and Bill had green eyes. Suzy had straight, shoulder-length, red hair and blue eyes. But then she remembered what Mary Lou said. Moose was going to be at the swimming hole. Bailey could feel her stomach churn.

"Moose is going to be there?"

"Yep."

"I'd wish that you would have told me sooner, Mary Lou. I don't think that it would be a good idea for Moose and I to be near each so soon after our break-up."

"Don't worry, Bailey. Moose isn't intending to harm you none. He just wants to have some fun. That's all."

"Fine but he tries to get back with me then I'm just going to tell him 'no'. I'm through being with him."

"Bailey, don't worry what Moose does. Just think about how much fun you'll be having."

"You're right, Mary Lou. I will focus on just having a good time at the swimming hole."

"That's the spirit, Bailey. Now come on and quicken our pace. We don't want to waste any more time just walking to the swimming hole."

Mary Lou and Bailey quicken their pace and get to the swimming hole just in time. Upon their arrival, Suzy greets Mary Lou and Bailey with a big hug for both of them. The six teenagers settle down and take off their clothes to expose their bathing suits and jump into the cool water. Everyone gets into the water except for Bailey. She takes her time to take off her clothing to expose a fetching, dark blue two piece swim suit. She didn't mean to put on the two-piece because she didn't want Moose's attention but it was the only swim suit that was around at the time since her one piece swim suit was nowhere to be found. Whenever Bailey has her two-piece swim suit on, she feels very exposed and fears that some guy could walk by and see her and believe that she has an exceptionally busty chest, especially for the kind of area that they live in even though she had average breast size. Bailey meekly walks around the swimming hole to find a good place to enter the water. Bailey sees her friends having fun in the water and decides that she should join them.

Meanwhile, Cody had traveled aimlessly throughout the town from the location that Bailey had found him. After he ran into hiding away from Bailey the previous night, he had continued to tend to his wound. Once he was confident that his wound would get better, Cody then set out to find a place for the night to rest his wary body. He made a nice, little nest to sleep in among the tall grass just a few yards away from a nearby farm. Upon morning, he woke up and stretched his legs. Cody carefully walked around the town for most of the day until he felt thirsty. He walked around the area until he found a source of water to drink from right around late afternoon. The source of water was a swimming hole. He came up to the swimming hole and lapped in some water. As he lapped some water in his mouth, Cody could hear the sound of boisterous teenagers having fun on the other side of the swimming hole with his fine-tuned wolf ears. Cody stopped drinking the water and went toward the sound. He kept a low profile and found a nice spot behind a tree to spy on the group of teens. As he spied on them, he spotted one girl getting in the water with a two piece suit on. He noticed how she acted timid, not wanting to go in the water for some reason. He observed her closely and recognized her as the girl from the previous night. He carefully watched her actions in hopes of finding the reason why she hesitated to go in the water. Cody got his answer soon after for what he saw next gave him a clue.

Moose saw Bailey standing in the water knee high. He saw her swim suit and thought that she was just taunting him because they had a nasty break-up. He wondered if she would eventually want to get back together with him. He would gladly take Bailey back in heartbeat but she didn't seem anywhere ready to take him back. Moose waded through the water and came up to Bailey. She stepped back when he got close enough to her.

"Hey, Bailey. What are you doing out here all on your lonesome? You should be in the water with me and the others."

"No thank you, Moose. I'll come in when I'm good and ready. Please, step back so that I have space to walk into the water."

"Come on, Bailey. There's nothing to be afraid about. It's just water."

Moose takes his left hand and gets a hold of Bailey right wrist. She jerks away from him to release her wrist from his grip.

"Moose, please, give me space. I need my personal space. Remember, we're broken up now. Leave me alone."

"But, Bailey…"

"No, Moose."

While behind the tree, Cody didn't like how the human boy was encroaching on his potential mate and how he made her uncomfortable. Cody didn't like the human boy invading the human girl's personal space. He had to do something to stop the human boy from advancing toward the girl any further. Cody growled loud. The group of six friends stopped what they were doing and turned in the direction of where they thought that they heard a growl. Suzy stood up from underneath the water.

"What was that?"

Joe mumbled "I don't know."

Bill hysterically jumped up out of the water.

"Do you think that it might be the wolf that ate Mr. Johnson from last night?"

Bill's friend, Joe, who had short brown hair and freckles on his cheeks, gave him his opinion.

"I don't think so, Bill. It was just one noise. We would know if it was the wolf."

"How do you know, Joe?"

"I just think that we need proof before we go running off back to our ma's and pa's."

Mary Lou waded over to Joe and looked at Bill. "Joe's right, Bill. It probably was just some critter."

"Okay. But if I hear another growl, I'm outta here."

Cody sees that they haven't ran off yet nor has the human boy near his preferred human girl has stepped away from her. Cody growls again. Bill, Joe and Suzy jump in fear. Bill looks over at Moose and Bailey.

"Do you guys think that we ought to leave?"

Moose turns away from Bailey to face Bill.

"I don't think so."

Cody got very frustrated and made his presence known. He walks around the front of the tree and shows himself off to the group of teenagers. He brandishes his fangs and barks at them to get their attention. Everyone screams as they spot Cody walking toward them. He curves around and gets near Bailey. She walks back away from him but he pins her in a corner. Moose goes over to Cody to help Bailey but Cody barks at Moose and he backs off. Cody then begins to circle around Bailey. The others watch in fear to see what will happen to Bailey. Mary Lou doesn't like that they won't do something to help her.

"Why doesn't someone get help? Bailey's in danger and we're just standing her like a bunch of dandelions."

Moose turns toward Mary Lou.

"Well, what you suppose we do?"

"One or two of us should go back to town to get help."

"Oh right. Joe, come with me."

Joe leaves the swimming hole with Moose while Mary Lou, Suzy and Bill stay behind to look after Bailey. Cody continues to circle Bailey but then growls at the others. Bill freaks out and runs away like a chicken. Suzy and Mary Lou cling to each other in fear. Cody approaches them and loudly growls at them. They also run away and try to catch up with Bill. Bailey almost had the chance to escape but Cody catches her by surprise. Bailey is startled by Cody's sharp eye as he turns back to stare her down. Bailey steps back a little too much and slips and falls into the water. She falls down in the water and then swims up to the surface. Bailey tries to swim away from Cody but her left foot gets caught in between two rocks in the water. She tries to break free but struggles to move her foot from in between the two rocks. With so much energy in freeing herself, Bailey becomes tired and lets her body float in the water. Cody enters the water and paddles toward Bailey. He dives down into the water and pushes a paw on a rock and makes it roll away against the soil at the bottom. With Bailey's being free, Cody swims back up and bites onto one of Bailey's straps from her swim suit and drags her unconscious body back on the solid ground. He places her body underneath a tree and looks at her ankle. It is bleeding just a bit. He walks over next to Bailey's left ankle and lays down. He then begins to lick away the blood that has covered a portion of her ankle. As Cody licks Bailey's wound, she wakes up from the tickling sensation. Her eyes flutter open. She sees Cody licking her ankle. Her first reaction is to scream and freak out but then Bailey quickly rethinks on how she should react. She looks at the wolf before her and is confused. It doesn't seem to be the same wolf as before, but it is. Bailey sits up and leans in close to Cody.

"You're the same wolf from last night, aren't you?"

Cody stops licking Bailey's wound and looks at her. Bailey sees the wound on his left front leg and knows that it is him. Bailey curls her legs up to her chest and leans over toward Cody. She then notices some sort of collar around his neck and what seems to be a tracking device around his left paw. Bailey's heart starts to melt for the wolf. She begins to slowly believe that the wolf is just misunderstood and is treated like a monster and thus causes it to act in such a way. Bailey extends her right hand out for Cody to sniff it. He looks at her hand and takes in her scent.

"You know, you're not such a bad wolf…even if you did eat Mr. Johnson. But you probably don't have much of an option when it comes to food."

Cody, feeling that Bailey seems to understands his situation, playfully licks her hand. Bailey laughs as she is ticklish on her hand.

"You poor thing. It's a shame on how people misjudge wolves. I'm sure that not many of them are as friendly as you are but that doesn't mean that all wolves are equally bad. You must be one of those really rare, friendly wolves who only acts as people believe to be so or else you wouldn't feel to have much worth as a living creature."

Cody stops licking Bailey's hand and comes up close to her face. He leans in a sniffs her hair. Bailey brings her right hand up and pets the wolf's head. Cody feels Bailey pet him and in return, he nuzzles his head under her hand and arm and rubs his furry face against her bare shoulder. Bailey lets her arm limply crane around Cody's fur covered body. As Cody rubs his faces against Bailey's bare skin, she contemplates the true nature of the wolf.

"You know, wolf, if you a human boy that's my age, I would be tempted to want to date you and kiss you but you're a wolf and labeled as a killer so there's nothing that can happen. If only you were a boy my age then I would have liked you even more."

Cody hears the sweet words that come from Bailey's mouth and stops rubbing his face against her shoulder. He brings up his head toward her cheek and licks her face. He then trails his licks down to the right side of her neck and then looks straight into her eyes. Bailey feels as though the wolf shouldn't even be wolf in the first place. She wonders if a soul of another living being, perhaps a human, was placed in the wrong body. She closed her eyes half way and focused at the wolf's eyes. She brings both of arms around her knees to bring her legs closer to her chest.

"Are you really supposed to be a wolf?"

Cody couldn't say anything because he was in his wolf form. He wanted to tell Bailey who he was but he felt that it would be too soon to expose his true nature to her. Before Cody could give Bailey some sort of sign, both he and Bailey heard footsteps coming towards them. Cody looked over at Bailey and she looked at him. Cody lightly pawed at Bailey's right arm and then pawed at the dirt. He flicked some loose dirt onto Bailey's arm and then lightly scratched her. Bailey flinched a little bit in pain and then watched Cody walk away from her. Before he was completely out of sight, Cody turned his head back at Bailey and had a sad expression etched across his face. Bailey saw what was going on in his mind and gave him a sad smile. Cody turned his head back to the path in front of him, howled and then sprinted off in the distance. Bailey watched him run off. Just then, Mary Lou came back for Bailey and got her attention.

"Bailey! Are you okay? Did that vile creature didn't hurt you none, did he?"

Bailey stood up in anger but knew her place in the situation so she stayed quiet. Mary Lou saw the cuts on Bailey's right arm and ankle and saw that she had some dirt on her arm.

"Oh no, Bailey! The wolf hurt you! Why, we'll make sure that he won't live much longer."

Bailey wanted to tell Mary Lou that the wolf did save her from being stuck in the water even though he had scared her in falling into it in the first place. Bailey didn't know how to respond, she just stayed quiet and was still very confused about everything that had to do with the wolf. Bailey did wonder why the wolf didn't attack her or her friends or why he became less tense once Moose left. She had no idea how the wolf's brain worked but she was secretly glad that she had an excuse not to talk to Moose. She finally thought of something to say to Mary Lou when she saw her gather their belongings and ask her how she was.

"Bailey, are you okay? Do you need the cuts to be taken care of right away? Do you suppose that the wolf had rabies?"

"No. I don't think that the wolf had rabies because he didn't show any tell-tale signs of having rabies. But I am okay. The cuts aren't as bad as I thought that they would be though."

"Maybe we should still get you to a doctor and have those wounds checked out."

"Sure, Mary Lou. I'll get my wounds checked out."

"Good because I don't want to lose you, Bailey. You're a very good friend of mine."

"Aw, thanks, Mary Lou."

"It's no problem, Bailey. Now, let's get you back to your folks and get out of here before that wolf comes back."

Bailey grabs her clothes just as Mary Lou had done and they walk from the watering hole. As they travel back to the Pickett farm, Mary Lou and Bailey stop to put on their clothes over their swim suits and then continue on their way.

When they arrive back at the Pickett farm, Mary Lou walks with Bailey up to the front of her house and knocks on the door. Eunice opens the door to see Mary Lou and Bailey back earlier than she expected.

"Bailey, Mary Lou, you two are back early."

"Mrs. Pickett, Bailey got hurt. It's possible that her wounds might need to get checked because the wolf came over to the watering hole and got Bailey."

"Oh, no. Bailey come on inside, dear. Thank you, Mary Lou for bring Bailey back home safely. You're such a good friend to Bailey."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Pickett. I just hope that we soon get the darn wolf and do away with him somehow soon. He's infringing our safety in this small town."

"I know. Something will be done about the wolf. Sheriff Bob has called for some back-up from another county."

"Good. Well, I'd best be getting back home to my folks."

"Okay. Stay safe, Mary Lou."

"Thank you, Mrs. Pickett, and I will. Bye, Bailey."

"Bye, Mary Lou."

Mary Lou hugs Bailey goodbye and then leaves the farm. Eunice ushers Bailey inside the house and takes her straight to the kitchen.

"Honestly, Bailey, you're like a magnet to that darn wolf. He must fancy you something terrible, but he won't have you. I won't let that wolf leave another scratch on my baby."

"Mama, I'm fine."

"But you have cuts on your right arm and ankle. What did that wolf try to do you?"

"He didn't try to do much. He was drinking some water and was startled by us swimming around."

"Bailey, I know that you love animals but you don't have to defend the wolf. You know, not all animals are equally good."

"But mama…."

"Oh, hush now. Come over here to the kitchen counter and sit up on it. I'll dampen a wash cloth and clean out your wounds."

Bailey sighed and sat up on the kitchen counter as her mom had instructed her to do. Eunice took out a wash cloth and dampened it with warm water and then mixed in some soap to kill bad bacteria that could have formed around the open wound on her arm. Bailey flinches in pain when the soapy watered down cloth comes into contact with her torn skin. Eunice dabs at Bailey's skin and then rinses the cloth to dab on fresh, cool water to rinse out unnecessary soap that might collect around the open skin. After Eunice finishes tending to Bailey's arm, she repeats the process with her ankle. Once Eunice has cleaned out Bailey's wounds, she fetches some bandages and has Bailey put them on over her wounds. The moment Bailey has bandages over her cuts, Eunice instructs Bailey to hop off the counter and to rest on the couch. Bailey moves over to the couch as Eunice picks up the house phone and makes a call to the doctor.

During the course of a few hours, a few significant events take place. The doctor comes over to make a house visit to the Pickett farm to check up on Bailey's wounds and confirms that she'll be just fine and then leaves. The next thing that happens is that Clyde comes in the house to talk to Eunice and they talk about safeguarding their home. They forbid Bailey to go outside until the wolf situation has been taken care of.

Later that night, Bailey is sent to bed along with her sisters after having nothing to do. When Bailey was in her pajamas and in bed, she looked out her bedroom window and sees the full moon. The stars twinkle brilliantly beside the moon and illuminate the night sky. The sky itself is painted over with two thick coatings of navy blue with a small hint of black. Bailey sighs to herself, thinking of what will become of the misfortunate wolf. Just then, Bailey hears a long and delicate howl that comes from the depths of the night. Bailey leans in over her sheets and listens to the haunting yet beautiful howl. She listens to it until it ends. Bailey knows by that howl that the wolf must be around somewhere close. Bailey settles back into her bed and is about to turn off the light when out of the blue, the wolf comes up to her bedroom window. Bailey is taken by surprise to see the wolf. She gets out of her bed and opens the window. The wolf leaps through the window and lands on the wooden floor of her bedroom. It approaches her with caution. Bailey takes half a step back.

"What do you want from me? You'll only cause me trouble. Go somewhere else and bother some other girl."

The wolf tilts its head at her. Bailey looks at the wolf with sincere eyes.

"Can you understand anything what I'm saying?"

Cody decides to communicate with Bailey in a nonverbal way. He nods his head 'yes'. Bailey is astonished to see that he nodded his head at her.

"You can understand what I'm saying just perfectly fine?"

Cody gives Bailey another nod to the head.

"Then why don't you go and leave me alone? Why can't you make up your mind? Either kill me off or leave me alone."

Cody gets a little frustrated with Bailey's attitude. He transforms into his werewolf form and stands on his hind legs. Bailey steps backward in fear.

"You're not just a wolf, you're a…a werewolf!"

Cody growls at Bailey as he approaches her. Bailey clambers backwards onto her bed but Cody just corners her against her headboard. At once when Cody has Bailey cornered, he leans in near her face. H speaks with a voice that doesn't seem human at all.

"Your blood."

Bailey shakes in fear and shuts her eyes. Cody finishes what he was saying.

"Is not for drinking."

Cody pulls away from Bailey, turns back into his wolf form and leaps out of the bedroom window. Bailey opens her eyes in surprise. She gets off her bed and walks back to her bedroom window. She looks out to see if she can spot the wolf but doesn't see him at all. She closes the window and then returns to her bed. She gets back under her covers and thinks to herself as to what the werewolf meant. She repeats his message out loud.

"Your blood is not for drinking. Hmm…I wonder what the werewolf meant by that. Is he trying to tell me something important? Oh well. I can figure it out later tomorrow. I should go to sleep now."

Bailey turns out the light and lays down in her bed. She nuzzles her head into her pillow and falls asleep.

To Be Continued…