The Dog People (The Colter Saga Book 4) Page 4

  The Colter dogs ran the first mile at something faster than a trot. They’d learned it was necessary to warm the muscles and sinew, or risk tearing something in the run. As they trotted along, the first wave of rage from Jezebel washed over them in red waves of savageness. Each dog began a deep resonant huffing in unison as they ran. They were themselves beginning to transform. Their eyes became a pale red.

  The dogs warmed and began to run as only the Colter dogs could run. They hugged the earth as each dog tried to surpass all others. They became a black blur, where the distinctive form of any one dog, disappeared into a general black mass, spreading across the forest floor. They passed James and the others on horseback, racing toward the river. They consumed the miles to reach Jezebel. As they approached the river they stopped and looked down on the scene below.

  Jake could tell at once, that Jezebel had fully transformed. It happened only rarely, when one of the dogs was put under severe duress. When the full transformation took place, it was so profound, the dog became another species. Muscle cells and bone, not called into use under normal circumstances, now filled with blood. The muscles expanded increasing the dog’s size by half.

  Jezebel had grown in size, until she surpassed the Alpha wolf in height and girth. Her face became distorted as the gums pulled back from her teeth, increasing their size to twice their normal length. Her eyes were lit with a bright glowing red of demonic possession. For the first time in her life, Jezebel lifted her head to the sky and howled the cry of fiends.

  ***

  Shannon watched, held spell bound by the physical transformation of Jezebel. She recalled the story her mother would tell her about the dogs when she was a little girl.

  Now, Shannon, sweetheart, remember your dog is different from other dogs, Molly had said. A long time ago, some doctors took Jezebel’s family and changed them from other dogs. The doctors tried to make them better, and in many ways they did. But you know what else those doctors did?

  Little Shannon shook her head no.

  Well, those doctors made it so the dogs would keep on changing, Molly said.

  Is that why we can’t tell other people? Shannon had asked.

  Yes it is, Molly said. And Shannon, just remember, no matter how the dogs change, they will always love and protect you.

  ***

  Shannon looked at what Jezebel had become; then out at the semicircle of wolves still surrounding her and Willie. Shannon knew that Willie had also witnessed the transformation, and even now could be heard mumbling something quietly under his breath.

  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now…

  Shannon saw Willie was on his knees praying, and then turned back toward where the wolves crept forward, surrounding them. She covered her ears to shut out the banshee screams from Jezebel. It was then she saw the black shapes, shimmering in the sunlight, a short distance behind the wolves. The Colter dogs stood behind each of the wolves, and began huffing in unison.

  Some of the wolves turned to run, others turned to fight. All died quickly in a shower of blood, fur, and torn flesh. It was a massacre and none could escape. Once the wolves were dead and the danger had passed, Jake approached Jezebel, cautiously from one side. She snarled at him before recognizing who it was. Jezebel shook her head, as if trying to clear her thoughts. She looked up at Shannon, then turned and raced towards the woods. The other dogs followed her away from the river.

  “Will she be alright?” Shannon asked.

  Yes, Jake answered as he ran behind Jezebel. The change rarely happens, and never in front of humans. We’ll run into the woods until she changes back. I will be with her. She may not want to ever come back to the humans. We will see.

  “Tell her we love her,” Shannon said.

  She won’t know what that means, but I‘ll tell her, Jake said.

  When the dogs disappeared into the woods, Dalton followed closely by Molly, Matthew, and James, rode up to where Shannon and Willie stood alone. Dalton flew from the saddle and hugged Shannon tightly. She was still shaking from the close encounter with the wolves.

  After a few minutes, she calmed somewhat, and turned to Willie.

  “Willie, I heard you praying. I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Shannon said.

  I didn’t either, till I saw that dog change. It scared the daylights out of me,” Willie said, walking away. “My momma was Catholic. Some of what she said must have stuck.”

  “Willie?” James asked. “Are you alright?”

  “I was just thinking,” Willie said, wiping at his eyes. “What an old fool I am for leaving camp without my rifle. I’m sorry, Shannon. I almost got us killed.”

  James went over to Willie and put his arm around his shoulder to comfort him.

  “We all make mistakes, Willie,” James said. “There’s no one I would trust more than you, to protect our family.”

  “I never should have come along,” Willie said. “I’ve been nothing but trouble since we left.”

  “True,” James said. “We are all getting tired of dragging you around.”

  Everyone, even Willie, was laughing by the time they were mounted and riding back towards camp.

  Chapter 6

  Shannon kept looking over her shoulder as they rode out of camp headed west. She expected Jezebel and the other dogs to appear at any time. Finally, she resolved herself that it might be some time before she saw Jezebel again. The family talked about the transformation of Jezebel, and wondered what this meant for both the dogs and the family, going forward.

  They had waited two days for the dogs to come back, but they never did. James decided they couldn’t wait any longer and they broke camp. They were sure the dogs could find them. The question was, did they want to find them? Shannon was concerned they might never see them again.

  Crossing over into Oklahoma went by without remark. In fact, they wouldn’t even have known it, except for the sign when they entered the town of Muskogee. The town was small and dirty. It had little to speak for it. James wanted to talk to someone who might know what lay to the west of town.

  They pulled up in front of what appeared to be a either a hotel or brothel. From the lobby it was hard to tell what it was. Dalton walked up to the counter, as James turned in a circle, looking up at the walls and ceiling.

  The man behind the counter was a thin, little man, with an oversized head. Dalton wondered how the man’s skinny neck could support such a massive globe. The clerk seemed preoccupied, until Dalton laid his rifle on the counter. He looked up at Dalton over the rims to his glasses.

  “Can I help you gentlemen?” the man asked.

  Dalton looked around the room and back to the balding clerk before speaking.

  “What is this place?” Dalton asked. “What’s with all the red velvet?”

  The walls, ceilings, curtains, and most of the furniture were covered in red velvet. The clerk looked over as Willie came banging through the doors.

  “You two better get out of here,” Willie said. “If Molly and Shannon catch you in this whorehouse, they’ll skin you both.”

  “This isn’t a whorehouse,” the man behind the counter said. “My name is Cyril Finch and I am the owner of this boarding house.”

  Molly and Shannon came through the front doors while the man was talking. They stood for a moment, gazing around the lobby.

  “Are you kidding me?” Shannon asked. “This place is unbelievable.”

  “It’s like standing inside a tomato,” Molly said looking around. “Are all the rooms like this?”

  “No,” the man said. “I only changed the lobby. I had a long term tenant that moved out in the middle of the night. His room was full of big rolls of the red material. So when I decided to spruce the place up a bit, I thought what the heck.”

  “Well, sir, I think it was a bold and brave attempt,” Molly said.

  “My name is Finch,” the clerk said. “Cyril Finch. Will you want a room for the night?”

  “Yes, Mr. Finch,” Molly said.
“We’ll need three rooms actually.”

  “How would you be paying for those rooms?” Cyril asked, now with a wide smile.

  “That depends,” Dalton said. “What do you need?”

  “We’ve got some shotgun shells we’ll trade,” James said. “Also some rifle cartridges we’d be willing to part with. Do you need any venison?”

  “Let’s see what you got to trade,” Cyril said now all business.

  James put what they had to trade on the counter. Cyril wasn’t impressed until Willie laid a knife with a deer antler handle into the stack.

  “I think we have an arrangement,” Cyril said, smiling.

  “We expect a bathtub and hot water with the rooms,” Molly said.

  Cyril was going to say something, but the look on Molly’s face pulled him up short.

  “A bathtub it is,” Cyril said. “Here are your keys.”

  Everyone turned as they heard stomping on the front porch and a huge, heavily muscled man came through the front door. He removed his hat and stood quietly looking around the room. He was the color of dark rich mahogany, and seemed carved from granite, with chiseled features.

  James noticed the way the man stood and surveyed the room. He seemed dangerous somehow, even though he carried no visible weapons. The man was completely bald with a long scar down the left side of his face, and a large gold earring in his ear.

  “Jonas,” the clerk said. “These people were just admiring the décor of my establishment.”

  “I doubt that very much, Cyril,” Jonas said. “More likely, they were wondering how long it would take them to get out of this place.”

  Jonas took several more steps into the room. He saw Dalton slip the loop off the pistol hammer in his holster, but pretended not to see.

  “What brings you people here to our little town?” Jonas asked.

  “Why?” Dalton asked.

  “Oh, I was just wondering,” Jonas said. “We don‘t get many visitors here in Muskogee. Besides, I’m the law around here and it’s kind of my job. My name is Jonas Larue.”

  “Well, Jonas Larue,” James said. “We’re just traveling through and thought it would be nice to spend the night indoors for a change.”

  “No problem,” Jonas said. “We do welcome visitors. For dinner, I recommend the little eating place three doors down. The old woman, who runs it, is a widow. She’s such a good cook, it’s said her late husband ate himself to death.”

  “Listen, Jonas,” James said. “We’re headed west and wondered if you know anything about that part of the country?”

  “Just Comanche’s, if you go west,” Jonas said. “If you head north, you get Cheyenne, and south you get Apaches. There’s lots of buffalo, but only a few white people. Why do you want to go out there?”

  “Dalton here is married to my daughter and is half Crow,” James said. “We thought it was time to meet the in-laws.”

  Jonas thought that was hilarious. He threw his head back as he roared with laughter. He began to leave and headed to the door. He stopped at the door and turned back toward the James, his size blocking out the sunlight.

  “See me before you leave,” Jonas said. “I have something you might be able to use on your way west.”

  Jonas nodded his head toward Dalton.

  “Son,” Jonas said. “Put that loop back on that pistol before I take it away from you.”

  Dalton watched as Jonas left through the door. He slipped the loop back over the hammer of his gun. Something told him, Jonas meant what he said and might be able back it up.

  ***

  The rooms were much nicer than either Shannon or Molly expected. They were reasonably clean and spacious. The beds were larger than any they’d seen in some time. Both were pleased to find the bathtub was finally provided, and hot water hauled up to the room by bucket. While the women soaked, the men decided to look around town.

  It didn’t take long. There was a blacksmith at the end of the street, hard at it. They noticed a large stack of old car tires stacked next to his forge. Curious, James went over and struck up a conversation with the blacksmith.

  “Where did you get all the tires?” James asked.

  “People still come across them buried in the ground and such,” the blacksmith said. “Who are you people, anyway?”

  My name’s James Colter,” James answered. “This is my son Matthew, and my son-in-law Dalton Cooper. The older gentleman is Willie Anderson. I was just curious. I haven’t seen this many old tires in one place, for a long time.”

  “I take them in trade for services from people around here”, the blacksmith said. “My name is Jacob Smith.”

  “What do you use them for, Jacob?” Willie asked.

  “I use them to shoe horses,” Jacob said.

  “How do you do that?” Dalton asked.

  “It’s not that hard, really,” Jacob said. “Let me show you.”

  Jacob picked up a tire. It looked to James like it was ruined. The sides of the tire were almost completely rotted away. The flat part of the tire with treads was still intact.

  “First you cut away the sides,” Jacob said grabbing a large sharp knife. “Then you cut the tread into small squares and lay them on the ground, grooved side down.”

  Just a second,” Dalton said. “My horse needs to be shod. I’ll bring him right back.”

  “What you got to trade?” Jacob asked.

  “I’ve got a twelve gauge shotgun shell,” Dalton said.

  “Three sounds better,” Jacob countered.

  “Two?” Dalton asked.

  “Agreed,” Jacob said. “Now, go get your horse.”

  Dalton led his horse into the front of the Blacksmith shed, and stood holding the bridle while Jacob removed the old horse shoes. He then made sure the squares were large enough to cover the horse’s hoof.

  “Do you see those thin wires in the tire tread?” Jacob asked.

  The men all nodded yes.

  “Well, that’s what they called a radial tire,” Jacob said. “The wires made the tire last a real long time. I use regular tires to shoe work animals. If you’re traveling around, you can’t beat an old radial tire.”

  “How do you get them to stay on the hoof?” Willie asked.

  “I got these special nails I made for that purpose,” Jacob said. “See? They got these big oblong heads that fit right between the treads. By the time the nail heads start to wear, your tread’s all gone anyway.”

  “What would you take for a bag of those nails?” James asked.

  ***

  They spent the rest of the afternoon getting their horses shod. The women were waiting in the lobby when they got back to the rooming house. Everyone was hungry and they headed over to the widow Blackwell’s eatery for supper.

  The widow had converted her living room into a fairly large sitting area. The aroma of food was breathtaking as you entered. It smelled of bread baking and meat roasting. Molly thought she smelled bacon frying. Shannon thought she might pass out from hunger.

  A large painting of Mrs. Blackwell late husband, hung over the fireplace. The man was rotund, and could well have eaten himself to death.

  Jonas came in shortly after the Colters, and they asked him to join them at their table. The widow was bringing bowls of food from the kitchen and they ate family style. With Jonas at the table, the food went quickly, and was replenished by the widow, just as fast.

  James told Jonas about their new horseshoes, and Jonas assured them they lasted much longer than metal horseshoes. He said they also protected the horse’s hooves, and gave them better traction.

  “When will you be headed west?” Jonas asked.

  “Probably in a day or two,” James said.

  “Maybe three days,” Molly said. “We can use the rest, and I’ve bathed in enough streams for a while. I want another soak or two in a bathtub.”

  “See, Jonas?” James asked. “That’s what happens when you spoil your wife, and let her live a life of luxury.”

  The b
iscuits Molly threw hit James in the forehead and bounced all over the room. It took a while before things settled down.

  “Why did you want to know, Jonas?” James asked.

  “I may have a favor to ask,” Jonas said. “If you’d stop by my place before you leave, I’d really appreciate it.”

  “We’ll be happy to stop by,” James said.

  “Good,” Jonas said. “Is it okay if I leave now? I just want to make sure nobody was going to throw anything at me as I walk out. I know your wife is deadly accurate with a biscuit.”

  Everyone had a good laugh, as Molly turned red.

  Chapter 7

  The next morning, Matthew and Dalton decided to ride out from town to see if they could find any sign of the dogs. It had been a week since the incident with the wolves, and the dogs had failed to make an appearance.

  Matthew reached out to Jake and Jezebel every couple of hours or so. But so far, he had not received a response from either of them. It could be that they were simply out of range. Matthew didn’t want to think about the possibility they were intentionally not answering. He worried they might be gone for good.

  As the sun began to sink in the west, they decided to make camp. It was a warm, even after the sun dropped below the horizon.

  “Do you know where we are?” Matthew asked.

  “I think so,” Dalton said. “We headed northeast from Muskogee, so we have to be close to Tulsa. I think we should turn back in the morning.”

  “Why not take a look around tomorrow?” Matthew asked. “Tulsa may still have some people living around there.”

  “That’s a real possibility,” Dalton said. “But if people are around here, I’d bet they’re Osage.”

  “Who or what are Osage?” Matthew asked.

  “The Osage is a tribe that is a part of the Sioux nation,” Dalton said. “But they don’t have much to do with them.”