The Howling (3 page)

They passed two weathered old houses, dark and nearly hidden from the road by the brush. At each Chris looked over at Karyn, who shook her head. They came at last to a small clearing with a white frame cottage trimmed in apple green. A fireplace chimney trailed a ribbon of pale smoke across the slate-gray sky. Lights shone in all the windows, pushing the forest back. Chris pulled onto the clearing and parked behind Roy Beatty's Galaxie.

Karyn clapped her hands delightedly. "What an improvement! You wouldn't believe the dismal brown color the house was when we first came out. And the whole place was strangled with brush and weeds. Roy's done a marvelous job."

Chris got out of the car and walked back to open the trunk. As he brought out Karyn's bags the front door of the little house swung open and Roy Beatty came out. He shielded his eyes against the headlights for a moment, then waved a welcome and hurried toward the car.

Karyn jumped out and ran to his arms. "Roy, it's ... it's beautiful."

"Didn't I tell you it had possibilities?" said Roy. "Wait till you see the inside."

With his arm around Karyn, Roy walked back to the car. "Come on in, Chris, and take a look at how us rural folk live."

"Thanks, but I've got to get back to the city."

"Are you sure? There's steaks in the freezer, and the martini makings are already set out."

"It's tempting, but I'll pass this time."

"Got a date with a live one?"

Chris smiled and gave a noncommittal wave of his hand. "Bring her out some weekend," Roy said. "We've got an extra bed and plenty of blankets."

"Maybe I'll do that."

Roy hefted Karyn's two suitcases, then looked around, puzzled. "Where's Lady?"

"She's been acting funny," Karyn said. "I don't think she knows what to make of the woods."

At that moment, the dog put her nose out for a tentative sniff of the surroundings, then bounded out of the car and frolicked happily around Roy's feet. He knelt and scratched her ear.

While Roy and Karyn watched the dog, Chris slid into his car and pulled the door closed. Roy walked over and reached through the window to shake his hand.

"Thanks for bringing the family out, buddy," he said. "Sorry you can't stay."

"Maybe next time. I hope the place works out for you, Roy."

"It will," Roy assured him.

Karyn came over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Chris backed out onto the narrow lane and drove back the way they had come. Soon the glow of the Camaro's tail lights was lost among the trees.

"I wish Chris had stayed for dinner," she said as they started toward the house. "I think he's lonely."

"Are you kidding? A handsome thirty-year-old bachelor with a good-paying job and an apartment at the marina? You call that lonely?"

"You sound a little jealous, mister."

Roy set down one of her bags, and gave her a swat on the bottom. "That's right, I can hardly wait to dump you so I can grow a mustache, buy a Porsche, load up on stereo equipment, and be a swinging bachelor."

Laughing together, they continued up to the front stoop. Roy stood aside and gestured her into the living room.

Karyn started in, then hesitated. She ran her fingers down the surface of the heavy wooden door. Under the fresh green paint a series of deep vertical grooves like scars slashed the panel at about shoulder height.

"What do you suppose made these?" she said.

"Who knows?" Roy shrugged and went on inside.

Karyn followed, thinking about the marks. Absurd though it was, the angry furrows in the wood suggested only one thing.

Claws.

The small living room and the open dining area were spotlessly clean and lit with colorful new lamps. A blaze crackled over logs in the stone fireplace. The dark old furniture that had come with the house had been cleaned, polished, and recovered in bright hues. The floor was freshly sanded and waxed and covered with new rugs. Vases of fresh-cut flowers were everywhere.

Roy Beatty stood back and let Karyn survey the rooms. "Well, what do you think?"

"Roy, it's lovely. I mean it."

Karyn walked down the short hallway and looked into the bedroom. There was new maple furniture and a bright patchwork quilt on the double bed. Across the hall in the bathroom new wood paneling had replaced the scabrous, peeling wallboard. The fixtures were scoured, the air sweetened. Karyn came back out and walked through the dining area, running her fingers over the satiny finish of the heavy oak table. Out in the kitchen everything fairly sparkled. She came back into the living room where Roy waited, unable to conceal his pride.

"It's not Hermosa Terrace," she said, "but cozy, don't you think?"

"Very cozy," she agreed.

"How about a martini to toast our new home?"

"Lovely idea."

Roy went into the kitchen and brought back a bowl of ice, which he set before her on a low table in front of the fireplace. The green hydrant bottle of Tanqueray and the vermouth were already there. As he stirred the cocktails in a tall pitcher Lady began to whine softly and scratch at the baseboard near the front door.

"I think it's time she took a trip outside," Roy said. He crossed the room and held the door open. "Come on, Lady, out."

The dog looked up at him uncertainly, then at Karyn.

"Do you think she'll be all right?" Karyn said.

"Sure. There's no traffic out here, and she won't go far enough from the house to get lost."

Lady crouched lower to the floor, her eyes on Roy.

"Come on, you,
out
," he said again, in a more commanding tone.

The little dog obeyed at last, moving in a cautious sidling manner. Roy closed the door after her. He then selected two hefty logs from the pile on the hearth and laid them on the dwindling fire. They caught immediately. The flames snapped at the pockets of pitch and leaped up the chimney.

Roy sat down again and finished stirring the martinis. He brought out two iced glasses and filled them at the low table. They touched glasses, sipped at the cocktails, and smiled at each other.

"Did you get everything worked out at the office?" Karyn asked.

"It's all taken care of. I've got next year's publication list to go over. When I go into town I'll bring back whatever raw copy there is for editing. There's no reason why technical manuals can't be edited up here in the woods as well as on Wilshire Boulevard. I shouldn't have to make the trip into L.A. more than a couple of times a week, if that often."

Karyn leaned back on the sofa. "Are you
sure
you don't mind being cooped up here away from the city and all our friends?"

"Mind? What's to mind? You think I miss battling through the smog and the freeway traffic twice a day? Listen, this is as much a vacation for me as it is therapy for you."

Karyn squeezed his hand. "You're pretty sweet, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know, but tell me anyway."

"What about some dinner? I'm starved."

"Right. I'll get the steaks going while you build a salad."

"Do we have everything we need?"

"We should have. I stocked up this afternoon at the Safeway over in Pinyon."

"Pinyon?"

"That's the nearest town of any size. It's about twelve miles from here at the tip of Castaic Lake."

"Why didn't you do the shopping in Drago?"

"I guess you didn't get too good a look at the town. There's one general store that's about the size of the cheese section in most supermarkets. They had a few canned goods, a few boxes of cereal, a tiny meat counter, and that was it. Oh, yes, the place doubles as a post office."

"At least we do have a post office."

"Not exactly," Roy said with an apologetic grin. "The nearest post office is in Pinyon, but they do bring the Drago mail over once a day to the store."

"And that's where we go to pick up our mail," Karyn said.

"That's it. There's a funny little old lady running the place. You'll have to meet her."

"I hope she's funnier than the sheriff."

"You met Anton Gadak?"

"On the way in. He didn't exactly welcome us with open arms."

"Yeah, well, it probably takes these people a while to warm up to strangers."

"I suppose so." Karyn leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "You were saying something about steaks?"

They ate together at the big oak dining table while shadows cast by the fire danced across the walls. After dinner they relaxed on the sofa, drinking rich burgundy out of big tulip glasses.

"It seems like a strange little town," Karyn remarked. "What kind of a name is Drago, anyway?"

"I don't know. It's not Spanish or Indian. Has a European sound. Hungarian or something. Tomorrow we can ask in the village. It will give us a chance to meet some of the local people. And we can get some candles to go with this romantic setting."

After she had rinsed off the dinner dishes and stacked them in the sink, she joined Roy back in the living room.

"I wonder what the last people were like," Karyn said, sitting down and lighting a cigarette.

"Who?"

"The people who lived in this house before us. The Fennos."

"The man who handled the lease didn't know much about them," Roy said. "Apparently they were an older couple. Moved out here from somewhere in the East to retire. Weren't here long when they died in some kind of an accident. I didn't get any details."

They both started at the sound of something scraping at the front door.

"Lady," Roy said, relaxing with a little laugh. "We forgot all about her."

He walked over and opened the door. The little dog dashed into the room and across the rug to the couch. There she jumped up and pressed close to Karyn, peering back toward the door with wide brown eyes.

"She looks frightened," Karyn said.

Roy stepped outside and looked both ways in the darkness. "Nothing out here."

He came back inside and closed the door. Lady stayed close to Karyn on the sofa.

They talked for a while about nothing important while the logs in the fireplace burned down to a dusky red, finally collapsing in a shower of sparks.

Roy stretched his arms up over his head and yawned generously. "I don't know about you, but I'm beat. Ready to go to bed?"

Karyn felt her muscles tighten. "Maybe I'll have a nice cup of coffee first. Everything tastes so good up here in the mountains." Even in her own ears the light tone of voice rang false.

Karyn took as long as she could with the coffee. She made herself smile at Roy who sat beside her waiting patiently. "Suddenly I'm tired too. Let's go to bed," she said.

They went into the bedroom and Roy turned back the quilt and the snowy top sheet. Karyn's nerves crawled beneath her skin.

She undressed quickly, feeling sure Roy's eyes were fastened on the bite scar - broken red parentheses on the white skin of her inner thigh. She slipped into bed beside her husband and pulled up the covers. Maybe this time it would be all right.

But it was not all right. As soon as they were together in the big comfortable bed and she felt Roy's hand on her - Roy's gentle, familiar hand - a chill spread from her crotch up and throughout her body. Karyn squeezed her eyes shut and ran through all the mental tricks the doctor had given her to blot out the hateful memory of the rape. She clasped her arms about Roy's well-muscled back and pulled him down on top of her. She kissed him passionately and whispered their special love words in his ear.

She felt his body grow tense against hers. Gently he pulled away.

"Oh, Roy, what's the matter with me?"

"Nothing is the matter with you, except that you keep thinking something's the matter with you."

"I'm so sorry."

"Cut it out. Everything will be fine as long as we don't force it."

She trailed her fingers slowly across his flat stomach. "Can I do something, you know, for you?"

He shifted his body a fraction of an inch away from her. "Never mind, honey. Get some sleep. Everything will work out."

After that they lay together, their bodies touching, their minds miles apart.

Many hours later, in the cold, empty darkness before the dawn, Karyn heard the howling.

Morning came slowly to the valley. The blackness of the bedroom lightened imperceptibly through the shades of gray, and at last a finger of sunlight jabbed through a gap in the curtains. Karyn lay wakeful for a long time waiting for Roy to stir. At last his eyes opened. He looked over at Karyn and smiled.

"Good morning," she said, rolling on her side to kiss him lightly on the mouth. "Sleep well?"

"Sure, I guess so. You?"

"Fine. Except for ..." She hesitated, not wanting to start the day by complaining.

"Except for what?"

"Did you hear anything last night?"

"Hear what?"

"Something ... like howling."

"No, I didn't hear a thing."

"Maybe it was the wind," she said.

"That was probably it. Blowing over the chimney."

"Probably."

Roy reached over and patted her hip. "Let's have some breakfast. Afterward we can go in and take a look at the town."

Karyn swung lightly out of bed. "You go ahead and take your shower and I'll start getting things set up in the kitchen."

Together they prepared and ate a breakfast of plump country sausages, eggs over easy, muffins, home-fried potatoes, and coffee. Back in the city they seldom had more than plain toast. The food along with the crisp, piny morning air put them in an excellent mood.

Lady was given a helping of canned dogfood with a fresh egg beaten into it. She ate as hungrily as the two people, and afterward dashed eagerly outside.

"I'll get the car," Roy said.

"Couldn't we walk into town?" Karyn said. "It can't be more than two miles, and it's such a beautiful day."

Roy grinned at her, his old warm grin, and Karyn felt a rush of affection for her husband. "I keep forgetting you lived in Manhattan," he said. "I've never seen people walk as much as New Yorkers."

"You wouldn't, being a Southern California boy," Karyn replied. "People here take the car to go to the mailbox."