Hunger of the Wolf (19 page)

Chapter 12

             
“Amber, are you awake?” It was Kat’s voice. “Open your eyes
,
sweetie
.” The hospital room was flooded with light
and there were flowers in a vase beside
her bed.
“Thank G
od. I
was beginning to think you’d
never wake up.”

             
Her head throbbed painfully
,
and
when
sh
e put her hand to her forehead
she
felt a thick bandage
there
. The events of the night
came flooding back.  “What’s going on?
How did I get here? Are you
okay?”

             
“So many questions! First I
have to let the nurse know you’re awake and then there’s someone who will be
able to tell you everything.
”
She pressed the
buzzer nea
r the bed and a
nurse came bustling in. 

             
“I’m glad
you’ve decided to join us in the land of the living. We were getting a bit concerned.” 
Sh
e checked the bandage and too
k Amber’s blood pressure. “That was quite a blow to the head you took. W
e will have to keep y
ou here for at least a few
days. The doctor will be doing rounds this afternoon
,
and she can
give you a better idea
of when you will be able to go hom
e.”
While
the nurse
was fussing around her
,
Kat stood up.

             
“I’ll be back soon,” she promised as she walked out the door.
I
t
wasn’
t Kat
who returne
d a few moments later
,
but
Jesse
Davidson
carrying a bunch of flowers in h
is hand. Amber looked from him
to the nurse
,
but
s
he didn’t see
m
in the least perturbed
by his presence
.

             
“How are you holding up?”
the nurse
asked
Jesse
. “From what I’ve heard it was a pretty traumatic night for everyone involved.”

             
“It sure was. It looks like everything is going to be okay. I’m just glad it’s all over.”

             
“I know you’re probably going to cop a fair bit of grief from some sections of the community. For what it’s worth
,
I know you were only trying to do the right thing.”

             
“Thanks.”  Amber had absolutely no idea what t
hey were talking about
,
and
Jesse
saw the confusion on her face.

“Don’t worry
,
Amber, I’m here to explain everything.”
He sat on the chair next to her bed and the nurse left the room. “I hope you don’t mind but I asked Kat if I could be the one t
o talk to you first about
what happened last night. It’s the least I can do.”

Amber could only nod her head. 

“I guess I should start at the begi
nning.” He took a deep breath.
“When I told you I had nothing
to do with Tehya
Gordon
’s
disappearance
,
I lied.
I w
as the one responsible.” Amber was
now
con
vinced that she was dreaming because
it was the only thing that could explain this bizarre turn of events.
Jesse
continued to talk.

“
Tehya
came to me for help a c
ouple of days before
the party. S
he had just found out she was
three
months pregnant. Her family had always told her that
if
s
he got pregnant when she was too young
she would have to give the baby up for adoption or be disowned by them. She was des
perate and asked me to take her
somewhere she could have the baby. I refused because I knew it was not a good idea to get involved
,
but I told her I would go with her to tell her family if she wanted me to. I saw her again at the party and she was in a bad way.
Is this making sense?”

Amber nodded again.

“
Tehya
still had
n’t told her family.
She was drinking
quite a bit
,
and w
hen she left I followed her because I was worried about what she was going to do. She was walking towards the woods when I caught up with her and she said she couldn’t handle the pain any longer and she was going to kill herself. That’s when I made the snap decision to take her back to my place for a while so we could work out what to do. It was o
nly meant to be for a day or two,
but she refused to leave. Then
the police became involved
and I was stuck between a rock and a hard place
.”

“
In hindsight I
should have just called the police an
d told them everything, but Tehya
seemed so
happy at my place and I
knew
while she was with me
she was eating we
l
l and taking care of the baby.
That was my main concern and
I
decided to
just
wait it
out
. The plan was to
tell people
she’d been staying with a friend and leave me out of it.  She was going to return to town when she’d had the baby and hope ever
ything would be forgiven
.  I had been taking
her to
a clinic
in the city
for people without medical insurance
under a fake name
.
I was going to drop
her
at
the hospital there jus
t before the baby was due, but t
he baby
had other ideas
and
decided
to come
early. T
hat’s where you come into it.”

             
Amber was still
dazed from the blow to the head
,
and it took her a while to digest what he was saying. “So when I looked in your window and saw you covered in blood it was because you were delivering a baby
,
not murdering someone
?” He nodded. “But what about that short story
Hunger of the Wolf
, in the book you leant me? How could it describe the young girl’s disappearance so closely?”

             
“Remember
when
I told you
about the
rumours that my grandfather was
a werewolf
?
He was blamed
when a couple of girls
went missing from Fernvale years ago
,
and t
hat’s
what my story was based on.
That’s why I gave you that book
.”

             
“Oh.
I forgot all about that.
”

             
“So I guess I should continue with the story of last
night if you’re up to it.”

“Yes, please tell me everything.”
S
he had barely
had time to wonder
what had happened to
Chris
,
but now she
urgently
needed to know.

“I had just finished delivering the baby when I
heard Shadow barking outside. H
e normally doesn’t bark much at all so I thought it was very surpri
sing and went to have a look. He had blood on his coat and
h
e was acting very strangely. He
kept running towards the pa
th leading to your cabin as if
he wanted me to follo
w him
,
so I did
. The first thing I noticed were
the smashed windows,
then I saw you lying on the path bleeding badly. I picked you up and took you back to my ca
bin and called the police. T
he rest is history
,
as they say.”

             
“What about
Chris
?”

             
“He didn’
t get very far. He was caught
by the police before he even got off the mountain. At first he tried to deny ev
erything
,
but
even he realized it was pointless when he had your blood on him and
Shadow’s teeth
marks around his neck. He made a full confession this morning.”

“
So it really is all over?”

“That’s right.
I’ll let you get some rest now.” He got up to leave.

“
Wait
,
Jesse
,
” she called before he could step out the door.
“
T
hank you, you saved my life.”

“Anytime. As I told you
before I’m always happy to help a damsel in distress.”
He certainly was, thought Amber after he’d left. He’d gone above and beyond the call of duty
to help Tehy
a G
ordon and her baby when most people would have turned their backs. She knew many
would disagree with his actions, but
she admired him for having the courage
to do what he bel
ieved was right, even if it could have landed him in a great deal of trouble.
He had put the welfare of Tehya and her unborn child ahead of his own, and in her books that made him pretty special.

****

             
A
mber slept for a few hours
,
and then
she was kept awake by
a
stream of visitors. First t
here was Kat
who anxiously hovered ove
r her
and
kept asking if she needed anything
until she was called away by the police to give a statement
.
The reality of what had taken place still had not re
ally sunk in for her friend, and
Amber knew when it did, it would hit her hard. She would need every ounce of strength she possessed to pull through it, and Amber was determined to be
there for her each
step of the way. She
had been surprised
when Kat
asked her
if she would stay a
t the cabin with her
for a while after
she was released from hospital
so
she could
pull herself together. She agreed to it immediately because she knew the mountains would help her friend heal and give her courage to face what lay ahead.

Then there was Tehya
Gordon
who brough
t the baby in fo
r Amber to hold
after the doctor finished doing rounds
.
She talked ex
citedly about her and the baby’s
future
,
and s
he was full of praise for
Jesse
.
Amber
could hardly belie
ve she had given birth
twelve hours
ago.

             
“Mom and Dad
were too happy
to see me safe
to stay
angry
for long
. When they saw the baby they couldn’t resist him
,
and they’ve
told me we can live with them while I finish school
.”

             
“I’m so glad to
hear that. And what about
Jesse
, is he in
trouble with the police?”

             
Her smile faded.
“Well
, yes and no. T
hey have to charge him for hiding me out there when they were looking for me, but they are going to try to find some way to get out of it. I would hate it if he ended up with a criminal rec
ord because of me.”
While Tehya
was visiting in Amber’s ro
o
m her
Uncle Tom and Aunt Bonita
drop
ped in
to see the baby.
They als
o came bearing flowers
for Amber
.