SECRET OF THE WOLF By Susan Krinard

Only if he wanted Johanna, a life with her, enough to change: not from man to wolf, but from drunk to sober, from ne’er-do-well to competent adult, from coward to hero.

He laughed at himself and pressed his forehead to the sun-warmed glass. The heroism was all Johanna’s, if she could deliver him from his demons. But she couldn’t do it alone. He must give up every trace of resistance and let her into his innermost heart, where she could drag his fears into the light. Where he must confront them unflinchingly, even those—especially those—he had never seen except as shadows.

How he hated choices. Easier to run. Easier until you found yourself bound by stronger chains than any in that dark, stinking cellar…

No. That dungeon was far away. Johanna was here, and now. Soon he’d see her, and all they’d shared would become his only reality. Soon he’d be a whole man again, able to love.

He mouthed the word and choked on helpless laughter. Quentin Forster, in love—with a distinctly unglamorous, too-serious woman well past her first youth.

An absurdity. Just like the rest of his life. Why should he be surprised?

Whistling with nonsensical happiness, he washed and dressed with extra care. This late in the morning, Johanna would be busy with the others, but Mrs. Daugherty was bound to have some leftovers from breakfast. He’d bide his time, visit Wilhelm and talk to Harper. He was surprised that May hadn’t come looking for him, but somewhat relieved. May was too young to be aware of what had passed between him and Johanna.

Or was she? His good humor dimmed. May. What was to be done about her?

Trapped in indecision, he walked out the door and found Lewis Andersen waiting in the hallway.

The former minister shrank back as Quentin appeared, holding his gloved hands high like a shield between them.

“Did you do it?” he whispered. “Did you kill that man?”

“What?” His guts knotted. “What did you say?”

“Thou… thou cursed creature of Satan. Did you kill him?”

Quentin backed into the wall and felt blindly for its support. “Kill who?”

“The owner of the Red Star quicksilver mine—Ronald Ketchum. The actress told us about it. He was found dead, torn apart.” He sucked his breath through his teeth. “You did it, didn’t you? You are evil.” His hands trembled. “You will not kill again. I will stop you.”

Even in the midst of his horror, Quentin admired Andersen’s courage. The man was hardly the heroic sort, yet he stood face-to-face with what he believed to be a monster. A killer. He had more grit than anyone knew.

“If this is true,” Quentin said past the constriction in his throat, “you won’t have to stop me.” He took a step forward.

Andersen held his ground. He began to sing in a high-pitched, wavering voice—a hymn, “Soldiers of Christ Arise,” that Quentin remembered hearing in his childhood.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said, taking another step. “I must find Doctor Schell.”

“Stop.” Andersen produced a gun from inside his coat and pointed it at Quentin’s chest. Where he had acquired such a weapon, or how he knew enough to use it, was a subject for wild speculation.

Quentin raised his hands. “Shoot, if you must,” he said, floating within a bizarre calm. “I won’t prevent it.”

“But I will.”

Johanna came up behind Andersen. She set her hand on his shoulder. “Give me the gun, Lewis.”

“But he is a killer, spawn of the devil. I must—”

“You don’t want to hurt anyone, Lewis. Even if what you say is true, he is entitled to representation before the law, is he not?”

Her calm, reasonable voice worked its usual magic on Andersen. The muzzle of the gun tilted down. Johanna pried it from Andersen’s fingers and held the weapon as gingerly as if it were a poisonous snake.

“You would not listen before,” Andersen said, never taking his gaze from Quentin. “You must listen now. He will come after you next.”

“What makes you believe that, Lewis?”

His thin face puckered. “I know.”

“I have never given you cause to distrust my judgment, have I?”

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *