Skinwalker Valley - Chapter Four

FOUR

After some time Glory managed to fall asleep, the warm comfort of her blankets overcoming the worries going around in her head. Her sleep was soon interrupted though by a strange, uneasy feeling she had. The feeling you get when someone is in the room with you, that kind of energy you cannot explain but are aware of, like a rabbit sensing the nearby predator. She slowly opened her eyes. There was someone there. An athletic, young body. It was still too dark to be sure though. Was it the boy?

“What… what are you doing here?” she murmured.

“I heard you scream,” the person said. But the voice sounded way older, gravelly than the boy’s.

Glory sat up in bed, covering her naked body with her sheets. The person in the room was her dad.

“Are you okay?” Caleb asked her.

“Yeah, I guess. Must have had a nightmare I guess.”

“Well, with everything that has happened the last few weeks that isn’t that strange.”

“Yeah, yeah I guess.” Why did she mistake her dad for the boy. It wasn’t like they looked alike. Even in the dark. She must have been still half asleep or something.

“Okay. Sweeter dreams then,” Caleb said and walked out of the room.

*

The next day Glory found the boy cleaning the stables, which basically came down to shoveling shit and dragging around big stacks of hay. His shirt was drenched with sweat but the didn’t show any signs of fatigue. Caleb was standing there, watching the kid with arms crossed. He looked like he approved.

“Hi,” she said. “I think I overslept.”

“You probably needed it then,” Caleb said.

“Good morning,” the boy said, leaning on his shovel for a minute to make eye contact with her.

“Are you doing okay?” Glory asked him.

“Just fine. Your dad told me what to do.”

“Great. Don’t forget to take a break every now and then. We don’t want you to collapse in the manure.”

The boy chuckled. “Thanks, I’ll be okay though.”

“Looks like we’re getting a visitor,” Caleb said, pointing behind Glory.

Glory turned around and through the open door of the stable saw a grey Silverado pickup truck park. A tall man in a beige uniform got out of it and walked towards them.

Glory and Caleb walked outside to greet him. Glory recognized the uniform of a conservation officer. The officer had a tan skin, looking Native American.

“Hi folks,” the officer said. “Michael Blackcrow, Utah Conservation Office.”

Glory and Caleb introduced themselves. “What brings you here?” Glory asked. “One of your colleagues visited us earlier and he said our slaughtered cattle was a job for the sheriff’s office.”

Blackcrow had a deep, warm voice. “Well. I happen to disagree. My father used to work at the Conservation Office as well. Some things about your case reminded me of something he’d worked on. Something that cost him his life.”

“His life? What the fuck are you talking about?” Caleb asked.

“My father thought he was on the trail of an ancient supernatural being called a skinwalker. The skinwalker slaughtered cattle and according to my father was responsible for a few missing persons. He thought he’d killed them. Worse, he even thought he’d killed some and

Caleb ‘s face reddened. “That’s totally batshit crazy! It’s terrible enough I have to suffer all these stupid tales from form employees and fucking tourists… Now even the Law starts to spout them.”

Glory put a hand on her dad’s shoulder. “Wait, let him speak.”

“I know it sounds incredible. Nobody believed my father either. But he was found dead in his car, his throat torn open. They said it was some kind of wild animal. I’m convinced he was killed by the skinwalker because he was getting to close to exposing him.”

“Tell me more about this skinwalker,” Glory said, intrigued. She noticed the boy had joined them. He looked fascinated as well.

“Yeah,” the boy said. “Please, tell us more.”

Skinwalker Valley - Chapter Three

THREE

The room was small but the bed comfortable enough. There was a small desk, a chair and a radio. The Waldorf Astoria it was not, but the boy had slept on park benches and under bridges during his travels, so it was just fine with him.

“Get yourself comfortable. I’ll fix some dinner after my shower,” Glory said.

The boy massaged his stomach. “Sounds great. I have to admit I’m a bit hungry.”

Glory left his room and entered the bathroom. It held a toilet and a shower, nothing more. She took off her clothes and stood under the shower head. She put on the tap and let the warm water run down her body, cleaning her of the sand that clung to her body after a day of hard work outside.

As she washed her body she thought of the boy. For a kid barely allowed to drive a car he seemed pretty smart and strong. And eager to work. She had a good feeling about him. Hopefully he would stay for a long time. Well, of course she was going to have to see him work. She usually was a pretty good judge of character though.

She put some shampoo in her hair, massaging it into her scalp. As she rinsed it out of her long hair she was suddenly startled by a noise. She stopped washing her hair and strained her ears to hear exactly what the noise had been. Was somebody at the door? There was the sound again. It was as if someone was at the door, indeed. She turned off the shower and walked to the door. She opened the door just a little bit, peeking through it. She saw the boy just turning around the corner in the hallway. Had he been at her door? Had he been… watching her shower?

She shuddered. No, she was imagining things. The boy seemed like such a nice kid. She had to be wrong. She didn’t feel like continuing her shower though. She quickly toweled off and got dressed. Time to fix some dinner.

*

The boy had just put on another shirt, this one sporting the Thrasher logo. He always traveled light, alternating between three shirts and two pairs of pants. That made sure his backpack was light so it was easy to travel and nobody would mind him hitching a ride because he had to much with him. He felt he should look clean for dinner. Especially to a lady as nice as Glory.

There was a knock on his door. He opened it and Glory was standing there. Her hair was a bit damp and she was wearing a dress and cowboy boots. She looked good in a dress.

“Dinner is ready,” she said.

“Awesome!”

“Did you maybe want to take a shower?” Glory asked.

“After dinner that would be great, thanks.”

“So not just now. Half an hour ago?”

“Half an hour? No, I was still resting on the bed.”

“Oh, that’s strange.”

“Strange?”

Glory shook her head. “Never mind, let’s have dinner.”

*

Glory turned out to be not only a beautiful woman but a great cook as well. The chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables were great. The boy had a big glass of iced tea to go with it. The table was shared with Caleb and Glory. During dinner Caleb explained him what he was expected to do tomorrow. It sounded like a day of very hard work. He noticed Glory was a bit absent-minded though. He wondered what was bothering her. He decided to ask, no fear of course.

“Are you okay, Glory?”

The young woman blushed. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“You seem… Preoccupied by something.”

“My mind just wanders sometimes, never mind,” Glory said.

“Preoccupied. You use fancy words for a kid,” Caleb noted.

The boy shrugged. “I read a lot when travelling.”

“Well, fancy words won’t get any work done. You’d better go to sleep right after dinner. There’s a day of hard work waiting for you tomorrow.”

“I will,” the boy agreed. He was also pretty sure something was bothering Glory, even if she said it wasn’t the case.

Skinwalker Valley - Chapter Two

TWO

The boy declined the coffee Glory first offered to him in the ranch’s kitchen. Unfortunately she didn’t stock Cherry Coke so he settled on a Diet one. Glory had one herself.

“Your father was pretty jumpy,” the boy told her.

“We’ve had a very unfortunate incident recently. A lot of cattle was slaughtered.”

The boy enjoyed the sound the can made when he opened it. He always did. “Slaughtered? How?”

“We’re not sure. It must have been a coyote. But I’ve never heard of any coyote with that much of an appetite an viciousness.”

“Sounds like a scary predator,” the boy thought, unable to curb his enthusiasm.

Glory shivered. “Yeah. I still have nightmares of discovering the slaughtered remains.”

“Oh, you were the one to discover them? I’m sorry about that!” The boy might be devoid of fear, he understood it could be quite upsetting to come upon a whole bunch of maimed animals. He loved animals.

“It was pretty… Distressing, yeah.”

“I guess I can imagine your dad getting a bit careful after something like that.”

Glory lowered her Coke after a sip. “Exactly.”

The boy took a long drink of Coke, thirsty after the long drive over to the ranch. “I guess I’d better cleaned up. I must reek after being cooped up in that truck for so long.”

“Truck? I didn’t see any car with you?”

“I hitchhiked. I don’t own a car.”

“Oh, really? You hitchhike a lot?”

“Most of the time, really. Cheapest way to travel.”

“Doesn’t that get scary sometimes?”

The boy smiled a wry smile. “Never.”

“You go ahead and drink your Coke and I’ll show you to your room. The shower is near that. You’ll have to share it with me and dad though.”

The boy couldn’t help but think sharing a shower with Glory wouldn’t be all that bad. Of course he understood he wouldn’t be sharing it at the same time. And that she was too old for him. He had a feeling he was going to have to repeat that a few times to himself in the days to come.

“Is there anything being done to find out what killed the cattle?”

“We had the sheriff come over but he figured this would be more of a job for the local conservation officer.”

“Conservation officer?”

“The game warden. It’s his job to investigate poaching and track wildlife. The conservation officer thought it was more of a job for the sheriff’s department. Figured the deed would have to be done by some person who bares ill will to us.”

“Anyone have a reason to?”

Glory raised an eyebrow. “You’re curious kid, aren’t you?”

The boy shrugged. “I guess.”

“Dad suggested there might be some guys who wouldn’t take my no for an answer that could be behind it. I can’t imagine though.”

The way Glory said it showed the boy how unaware of her beauty she was. “There’s some crazy folks out there. You never know.”

Glory gave the boy a playful push. “Aren’t you the wise old man?”

The boy blushed. “I’ve traveled a lot. But the conservation officer didn’t really investigate?”

“Let me say I didn’t think his heart was in it. He just went through the motions.”

“What about those talks of UFO’s and ghosts hanging around here?”

Glory rolled her eyes. “That thing again… Believe nothing of it. Just tales of farmhands that couldn’t stay off their liquor. I hope we’re not going to have that kind of issues with you.”

“I’m not even allowed to drink,” the boy chuckled.

“Right. Another good reason to hire you,” Glory said. “Come on then, let me show you your room.”