“It’s said that old man alligator has lived forever. He’s huge now, growing fat with his kills and more wily and cunning than anything else in the bayou. He claims his territory, and the other gators give him wide berth. They say he kills any alligator stupid enough to wander into his territory, young or old alike, male or female. Trappers have disappeared in that area from time to time and old man alligator gets the blame.”
Beau allowed the boat to stop, so that they bobbed gently in the water. “It’s funny you should ask about that particular tale. The man who gave me the tickets for your concert was very interested in that alligator. We used to come out here at night together, gathering herbs and bark, and we poked around looking for the monster. We never did find it, though.”
“Who gave you tickets to Savannah’s show?” Gregori asked softly, already knowing the answer.
“A man named Selvaggio, Julian Selvaggio. His family has been in New Orleans almost from the first founding. I met him years ago. We’re good friends”—he grinned engagingly—”despite the fact that he’s Italian.”
Gregori’s eyebrows shot up. Julian was born and raised in the Carpathian Mountains. He was no more Italian than Gregori was French. Julian had spent considerable time in Italy, just as Gregori had in France, but both were Carpathian through and through.
“I know Julian,” Gregori volunteered, his white teeth gleaming in the darkness. Water lapped at the boat, making a peculiar slapping sound. The rocking was more soothing and peaceful than disturbing.
Beau looked smug. “I thought you might You both have a connection to Savannah, you both ask the same questions about natural medicine, and you both look as intimidating as hell.”
“I am nicer man he is,” Gregori said, straight-faced.
Savannah’s head brushed his chest Her laughter was sweet music in the stifling heat of the swamp. “So you never found the alligator. Is it true he eats large dogs?”
“Well, the fact is, a great number of hounds have been lost in the bayou along a particular trail. It’s in the old man’s supposed territory. A couple of hunters say they saw him lying in wait to bushwhack the dogs. They couldn’t nail him, though. No one can. He’s been around so long, he knows all the ways of the bayou. One small warning and he’s gone.” The captain rubbed his forehead as if it was pounding.
“You are talking as if you believe he is real,” Gregori pointed out gently. “Yet you say you and Julian did not find him. Julian is a hunter without equal. If there was such a creature, he would find it.” He was reading the captain’s mind, baiting him. Beside him, Savannah stirred as if to contradict his statement, but Gregori silenced her with an upraised palm.
“Julian knew he was there. He felt him.”
“But you saw him.” Gregori pushed the man a little harder, suddenly interested in this beast that could survive when so many others had not.
Beau glanced around the canal, uncomfortable in the dark of night. He was superstitious, and he had seen things, unexplainable things, and he didn’t like to speak of them without light of the sun. “Maybe. Maybe I have seen the old man,” he admitted, his voice low. “But out here, if you admit such a thing, the newcomers think you’re loco.”
“Tell us about it,” Gregori urged, his voice velvet, mesmerizing, impossible to resist.
* * *
Chapter Sixteen
For a moment the wind ceased to blow, and the insects in the bayou were silent. A dark shadow seemed to pass overhead. Gregori looked at Savannah. Beau pulled a can of beer out of a cooler, offering drinks to the couple. When they declined, he downed a third of the contents in a single gulp.
“My father was a trapper,” Beau told them. “I spent a lot of time in the bayou with him, trapping. When I was about sixteen, we were camped out at the old cabin, the one I pointed out to you earlier. There were some kids partying on a boat, kids from the city. They had a real nice boat, not like the old thing we took to school. I was jealous, you know. The girls were beautiful, and the boys dressed just right. When they saw me and my father, they laughed and pointed at us in our old skiff. I felt ashamed.”