Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:46:33 -0600
From: Jakob Daly <shakes003@hotmail.com>
Subject: Lucky in Montana 11

This work is copyrighted by the author and may not be reproduced in any
form without the specific written permission of the author. The story is
one from a time long, long, ago in a land far, far, away. Any resemblance
to your experience or those living or dead from those experiences is purely
unintentional and completely coincidental. This is meant as fiction. All
feedback is appreciated. Drop a line to: shakes003@hotmail.com or check out
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...

The old man was rounding up the cattle when I got back from town. It was
cold with another winter ahead of us; the wind kicking up leaves and dust,
the final remnants of my second summer with Dodge. He'd taken me in under
his wing when I lost everything. It took me a long time to adjust, but
Dodge was now as good as family to me. Hell, I loved him more than my own
father and he quickly filled that position in my life.

In the years spent with Dodge, we'd managed to rebuild his farm with our
bare hands. It wasn't anywhere near the caliber of some of the bigger
ranches and farms nearby, but it was enough that the old man and I could
make a living. What used to be almost non-existent numbers of livestock,
quadrupled in size. Chickens were in abundance as were their eggs. It was
still a small farm, but it put food on the table.

The barn was repaired and soon the shack was too. A new room had been built
on the house for me. The windows had all been replaced; the wood treated to
protect it from the harsh climate. It was home to me now. I felt safe and
comfortable, never forgetting my past, but moving further away from
it. There was still a hunger, however. I was still a starving man; longing
for something I would never have again, even with somebody else. There
would never, or could never be anyone else. I never spoke his name again,
but still thought about him in a yearning that was eventually going to kill
me.

"We're gonna get snowed in tonight," Dodge commented as I dismounted my
horse and passed him to settle the stallion in the barn for the night.

If we were going to face a bad stretch of weather, I needed to make sure
the horses were taken care of. I led the stallion into his stall and rid
him of his leads and saddle. He nudged at my shoulder affectionately. We
were old friends now. I checked his supplies, making sure he had enough
feed to eat, and water to drink. When I was satisfied, I closed the stall
door and proceeded to check on Dodge's horse. As I was nearing his stall,
two gunshots ripped through the grey sky outside of the barn. I jumped
about a foot in the air before I took off to where I could hear Dodge
yelling.

"You son of a bitch! Arrrg!" The old man grumbled to himself as I skidded
to a halt beside him.

"What the hell is going on? You tryin' to give me a heart attack?" I asked
in a panic. Dodge was struggling with his rifle.

"That son of a bitch! Look at him!"

Dodge raised his rifle and took aim. Slowly my eyes focused on his target
maybe 50 some-odd yards ahead.

"What are you doing?" I yelled as my hand reached up to the gun; urging
Dodge to lower it.

"What am I doing? What are you doing? That beast will eat us out of this
farm if I don't take care of him now."

"No!" I slapped his rifle and watched as it fell to the ground, only
angering the old man further.

"God dammit, Lucky! What are you thinking, boy? This ain't no coyote we're
looking at. That's a goddam wolf. That thing is a menace!"

"I know," I commented as I stared at the wolf. "It's okay. Lookit, he's
just watching," and he was. He sat calmly and serenely taking sight of us
as we were of him.

"God, he's beautiful!"

I knelt down to the earth and admired the wolf as he then started to pace
between the trees. He was as black as night; his yellow eyes seemed to glow
as his head cocked slightly to the right. I'd never seen a wolf before and
was impressed not only by his beauty, but the size of him. He was
monstrous, and I wondered quickly if I should heed more to what Dodge was
trying to tell me.

"Get on your feet, son. You're liable to get eaten. Where there's one,
there's many."

I rolled my eyes but laughed at Dodge. I straightened up, picking up
Dodge's rifle from the ground in the process, and handed it to him.

"Go on inside. I'll lock up the animals and make sure they're safe. Don't
worry so much."

Dodge shook his head unbelievingly at me, but didn't argue. I watched as he
sauntered inside the house and grinned. As I turned back to survey our
supposed threat, the wolf was gone.



The sky had clouded over almost two weeks previous, and the wind was
becoming colder and colder with each passing day. It was that time of year
again; the animals kept near shelter for another long and cold winter.

As I predicted, our new friend stayed forever curious, but left the farm
untouched. No others had shown up; he kept alone. Many nights, Dodge and I
would sit in front of the stove with a stiff drink in hand, and hear his
lonely howl into the night. I wanted to get closer to him, but Dodge
threatened to throw me out on my ear if I so much as smiled at it. He still
feared the wolf, calling him a menace even though weeks had passed and he
never showed any indication of going after us or the animals.

"He's suckin' us in, boy," Dodge assured me one evening as we were
gathering wood for the stove.

"That's all part of his game; gets us to trust him and then BAM!" Dodge
startled me to attention when he clapped his hands suddenly in front of my
face.

"He'll attack. Lookit him. The menace."

"Bad experiences with wolves there, Dodge?" I chuckled and watched the wolf
as he was again, watching us.

"He's bad news, Lucky. They're all bad news."

"So what you're saying is that you don't much care for wolves." I snickered
sarcastically.

"Poke fun if you want, boy." Dodge then paused, deep in thought.

"He seems quite taken by you. Only comes around when you're here. Maybe
it's you he's after." Dodge teased.

"Hardy-har," I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, pop. Let's go inside, I'm freezing."

We settled in for the night. As I lay in bed that night, I looked up to the
light that cast through the window from the moon's glow. Without warning,
Montana drifted to the forefront of my mind. It was something that was
happening less frequently these days, but once in a while it would sneak up
on me and catch me off guard.

I absently wondered if he was somehow still watching over me from heaven.
Maybe because of me and what I put him through he was watching over me from
hell. I suddenly heard the black wolf crying out, as if in reply. I felt
the chill run up my spine and the hair on my neck stand on end. I shivered
that night a long time before I was able to fall asleep.