The Loop (28 page)

18

H
e couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was strolling down beside the stream, talking on the cell phone. She’d taken off her hiking boots and socks and was pointing her toes like a ballet dancer before every step. Moon Eye was down there too, browsing the lusher grass that grew near the water, and she idly ran her hand along his side as she passed. Luke wondered if she had any idea how beautiful she was.

He was sitting on the ground in front of the cabin where they’d eaten the picnic. When they got back from trapping, Helen had spread an old blue blanket on the grass and brought out cheese and fruit, nuts, cookies and chocolate and they’d sat there eating in the sunshine, talking excitedly about what had happened.

The sun had moved around and the shadow cast by the cabin roof was creeping across the blanket, swallowing Luke’s body and legs and soon his boots. Beside him, Buzz lay sprawled on his back in seventh dog-heaven while Luke rubbed his tummy, watching Helen all the while. She was talking with her boss who was obviously teasing her.

‘What do you mean
luck
?’ she said. ‘Luck, my ass. It’s skill, Prior, sheer skill and brilliance. When have you ever caught two wolves in one hit?’

It had happened right after they’d watched the alpha female trot away. Scanning the frequencies again, they’d heard another signal and in a trap they’d set a few hundred yards farther up the same trail, found a second wolf, this time a young male.

‘I tell you, Dan, this place Wrong Creek is like a wolf interstate or something.’

Luke heard the drone of geese and squinted up at the sky. High above, two filigreed arrows of them were following the line of the mountains south. He looked down again at Helen and saw she was watching them too. Several times now, she had caught him staring at her. He found it hard not to. But she didn’t seem to mind, just smiled back at him as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

To begin with, he’d been a little nervous of her and stuttered badly. But she hadn’t seemed to notice and soon he’d managed to relax. She was real easy to be with. She talked a lot, all fast and bubbly, and sometimes when she laughed, she’d toss her head back and put her hands through her hair, making it go all spiky.

The thing he liked best was how she sometimes touched him when she was telling him something, just put a hand on his arm or shoulder, like it was the most natural thing in the world. When they’d heard that second signal and knew they’d caught another wolf, she’d put her arms around him and given him this massive hug. Luke had nearly died of embarrassment. His hat fell off and he started blushing like an idiot. That’s exactly what he was too, because this was a grown woman and he was just a skinny kid with a stutter.

Moon Eye suddenly stopped grazing and lifted his head to look down toward the lake, his ears twitching forward. And the next second Buzz was on his feet and off down the hill barking. Two riders were coming out of the trees down there and Luke’s heart sank when he saw who it was.

He and Helen had agreed they would keep his role in the trapping a secret. She hadn’t even mentioned it to Dan Prior. And now they’d blown it. He looked at her and saw she was thinking the same. She was finishing her phone call. Luke stood up and watched his father and Clyde steer their horses around the water’s edge and up the slope toward them, Buzz barking alongside all the way.

‘Morning,’ Helen said brightly.

She told Buzz to hush. Luke’s father tipped his hat at her and gave her one of those smiles he always used when he knew he had you cornered.

‘Ma’am.’

Clyde didn’t say a thing, just stared at Luke while they reined their horses to a stop in front of the cabin. He saw his father’s eyes travel from the picnic remains to Helen’s bare feet, then all the way up her to her face.

‘Mighty fine life, working for the US Fish and Wildlife.’

‘Oh, it is,’ Helen said. ‘Beats being on vacation anytime.’

‘Picnics by the lake, no boss checking up on you.’

‘You got it. Get up around noon, do a little sunbathing . . .’

‘Sounds a pretty good deal.’

‘And, wow, you should see the size of our paychecks.’

Luke was impressed by her gall but at the same time wanted to warn her how dangerous it was to joke like this. Surely she could see there was no humor in that smile of his and that he was only playing in the way a cat might play with a bird.

He hadn’t so much as glanced Luke’s way so far. He always liked to keep you waiting before he hurt you. But now at last he turned his head and Luke felt the gray eyes fix upon him, cold and critical.

‘Well, son, I’m glad we’ve found you at last. I was starting to think that old wolf had got you.’

‘No, sir, I w-w-was—’

‘Because, you know, we were all supposed to be helping the Hardings gather their herd this morning. Like I told you. Clyde and I rode up to the allotment to find you and you weren’t there.’

Luke had clean forgotten.

‘I w-w-was there. You m-must have just—’

‘Oh, so you were?’

‘Y-yes, sir.’

‘So how come Abe saw you with this young lady here, in her truck, driving up Wrong Creek?’

‘I w-w-w—’

Luke’s tongue was nailed to the roof of his mouth, which was maybe just as well because he didn’t know what to say anyway. His chest hurt like it was being squeezed in a vise and his cheeks were starting to burn. A few moments ago, alone with Helen, he’d felt for once almost like a man. Now he was a stupid, tongue-tied kid again.

He glanced at Helen, just to confirm this was how she now saw him too. Instead, she took his look as a call for help.

‘He was with me because I asked him for help,’ she said.

Luke’s father looked at her. He was still smiling but his eyes were like frozen stone.

‘And, thanks to him, you’ll be pleased to know, this morning we caught and collared two wolves.’

His father lowered his head a little and raised his eyebrows at her. ‘You caught two wolves?’

‘That’s right. Thanks to Luke, here. He helped me find them.’

Luke’s father was silent for a moment, while he considered this. Clyde was watching him carefully for a lead on how to react. His father’s horse pawed the ground a couple of times.

‘So where are they?’

‘Well, as I said, we put radio collars on them.’

‘Then what?’

Helen frowned. ‘Sorry, what do you mean?’

He gave an arid little laugh and looked at Clyde.

‘Well, have you already shipped them out or what?’

‘Mr Calder, I think you know what the intention is here. We—’

‘You just turned them loose again.’

‘Yes, but—’

‘Let me get this straight, young lady. I’ve just been with a good friend and neighbor of mine, Abe Harding, gathering his herd. And this man, who, unlike your bosses back in Washington DC, doesn’t have a bottomless barrel of tax dollars to burn, finds six of his calves have gone missing. That’s a loss to Abe of, what, three thousand dollars? And you tell me you’ve just caught two of the varmints responsible and then let them go again? And I should be
pleased
?’

Luke could see Helen was angry. But scared too. There was nobody, in the end, who his father wasn’t able to scare. Luke saw her swallow.

‘Mr Calder, the whole idea—’

‘The whole idea, so you and Mr Prior told us, was that we had a lone wolf here. What was it you called it, a “disperser” or something? Now it turns out there’s - how many?’

Helen hesitated.

‘You don’t want to tell me?’

‘I believe there’s a pack.’

‘Oh, so it’s a pack now. How many exactly?’

‘Perhaps nine. But five of them only pups and—’

‘
Nine?
And you caught two and just let them go again? So they can go on killing our cattle and ruining good men like Abe Harding?’

‘Mr Calder—’

‘Thank you, ma’am. I’ve heard enough.’

He gathered his reins and sharply hoisted his horse’s head, turning him in front of them, then looking back over his shoulder.

‘Luke?’

‘Y-yes, sir?’

‘When you’ve finished whatever your business is here, I’d appreciate it if you’d come down to the house. There’s one or two things you and I need to clear up.’

Luke nodded. His father touched his hat at Helen.

‘Miss Ross.’

He jabbed his heels into the sides of his horse and loped away down toward the lake, with Clyde at his heels. Luke started to gather up his gear. He felt too small and shamed even to look at Helen. As he was picking up his bag, she put her hand on his shoulder.

‘Luke?’

He straightened up, but still couldn’t meet her eyes.

‘It’s my fault. I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to help me.’

‘It’s no b-big deal.’

And when he’d gotten all his things together, without another word being spoken, he walked to the stream to collect Moon Eye and swung himself into the saddle. And he rode off down the slope, without once looking back, but feeling her eyes upon him all the way.

 

Helen spent the rest of the afternoon radio tracking the two collared wolves. Mercifully, the signals stayed high up Wrong Creek and well away from any livestock.

She came back around seven and took a shower. Now that the fall was settling in, the water was so cold it gave her a headache. Soon she’d have to wash herself indoors.

She found herself watching over the shower door, hoping to see Luke’s horse appear across the lake. But she knew he wouldn’t come, not after what had happened that morning. She wanted to celebrate their success, but there was only Buzz to do it with and, bright as they were, dogs didn’t seem to grasp the concept.

Shivering, she ran back to the cabin and quickly dried herself and dressed. Then, after checking her messages (none), she lit a celebratory cigarette (her first in three days) and put on some Sheryl Crow. But she made the mistake of listening to the lyrics and when Sheryl started going on about being a stranger in her own life, Helen dived for the off-button. She wanted to celebrate, for heavensake, not slit her wrists.

She thought of writing to Joel. Another bad idea. And why the hell should she? It was
his
turn. Then, since for once there was a good signal on the cell phone, she decided to call her mother in Chicago. All she got was an answering machine. It was the same with Celia in Boston. And with Dan Prior. Where the hell was everyone?

As if in answer, the phone, still in her hand, rang.

It was Bill Rimmer. He congratulated her on trapping the wolves and said it sounded as if she had won the bet they’d had over who’d catch the first one. He was heading up to the Hardings’ to talk about those missing calves, he said. Did Helen want to come along?

‘Thanks Bill, but not without full body armor.’

‘Then, I tell you what. When I’m through up there, I’ll buy you a drink in town.’

They arranged to meet in an hour’s time at The Last Resort. Helen figured it might be good public relations to put in an appearance there anyhow. Rumors of the Hardings losses were sure to be flying thick and fast.

It was almost dark when she drove into Hope and saw the red neon sign of The Last Resort glowing halfway along Main Street. She drove slowly by on the other side of the road, checking out the cars parked there and hoping to see Bill Rimmer’s among them. It wasn’t.

She didn’t much fancy the idea of waiting for him inside, so she drove a little farther along the street, and parked by the laundromat. Two young cowboys were in there, clowning around while they loaded wet clothes into one of the dryers. Helen had used the place herself a couple of times, once to wash clothes and once to wash wolf scat.

It was a method Dan had taught her in Minnesota to find out what a wolf had been feeding on. You tied each scat inside a labeled piece of pantyhose, knotted at each end, then put them in the wash. When they come out all you have left is hair and bits of bone. Other laundromat users aren’t too keen on this process, so you had to be a little discreet. The hair in every scat Helen had washed the other night was mixed: some deer, some elk, but a lot of cattle hair too, which didn’t mean the wolves had actually
killed
cattle; they might simply have found a carcass and fed on it.

Fifteen minutes later, Bill Rimmer still hadn’t arrived. Helen was becoming embarrassed at the looks she was getting from passing cars and especially from the two young cowboys in the laundromat. Maybe Rimmer had parked somewhere, else, she thought. Or maybe he’d phoned the bar to leave a message. She got out and headed across the street.

She regretted it as soon as she stepped through the door. Below the antlered trophies on the walls, a dozen pairs of living eyes swiveled and locked onto her, none of them friendly and none Bill Rimmer’s.

She nearly turned around and ran back out to her truck. But then the stubborn streak in her, the one that always landed her in trouble, said why on earth shouldn’t she come and have a drink if she wanted? So she took a breath and walked right up to the bar.

She ordered a margarita, settled herself on a stool and lit a cigarette.

Apart from the barmaid, she was the only woman in the entire room. The place was crowded, although the only faces she recognized were Ethan Harding and those two loggers she and Luke had seen up Wrong Creek. She guessed these were the ones Doug Millward had mentioned. The three of them were talking at the far end of the bar. Occasionally they looked her way, but Helen was damned if she was going to smile and give them another chance to cut her dead, so she ignored them, along with all the sidelong looks from those she didn’t know.

She felt like a scandalous outcast or a stranger who’d just ridden into town in some corny western. She wanted to flee but didn’t want to give them the pleasure of knowing they’d driven her away. She imagined the place erupting in laughter after she left.