The Stone of Blood (14 page)

Mama scowled and shook her head at me as she looked up from my plate. My dad laughed.

“What?” Dad asked as he looked at Mama and shrugged his shoulders.

Mama knew what I had done, but I had my ‘
puppy dog
’ face on. It was second only to my ‘
innocent
’ face, which was nearly fool proof but could only be used when I was asking for somethin’ like at Christmas time. I couldn’t use it when I was trying to get out of stuff; or it would lose its power.

I watched my mama as she looked up at the ceilin’. She looked up as if she about half way expected to see a bolt of lightnin’ come out from up there and strike me down right where I sat!

“All right then.” she sighed as she ushered me up from the table and gestured me towards the door.

I looked up at the ceilin’ myself as I got up from the table. But all I could see were some dumb old cracks. So I just went on back outside and sat down on our front porch swing

***

If I had to pick a time and place for when it happened, I’d pick that time. Cause it was then and in
those
moments
that life changed for me; sitting there upon that porch swing; those moments as I saw Cricket
ridin’ her horse out through the fields. For reasons unknown to me, she was different somehow; no longer
just
a girl who lived down the road. She was beautiful, with clear blue eyes and legs kissed by the sun.

Cricket seemed as free to me as the wind blowin’ through her hair …as she rode her horse out across the way; a free spirit ridin’ by the woods and through the meadows of grassy green.

And then she smiled at me and raised her hand as I waved.

***

May 1864

Twilight had all but fallen as he worked alone by lantern’s light, stoking the burning embers to raise the temperature of the ash; t
he melting point of the metal, at over seventeen hundred degrees
. He saw it in his mind’s eye before the work had begun, the finished product shining brightly in his hand.

Special tools had been created to handle the heat as he placed the metal into the melting pot, and returned it once again into the fires. Lead had a lower melting point; it could be heated over an open campfire. That’s how it was done in the field. Soldiers didn’t always come equipped with enough ammunition to complete their tasks and keep them alive, so they would have to improvise. Expended bullets, metal toys and other objects could be melted down and recast into new rounded bullets. But this metal required special tools and conditions.

He reached into the fires again with a pair of long pincers and retrieved the molten metal in its pot. The mold had handles similar to a pair of pliers but with a small hole at the far end to pour the metals through. He poured the shiney liquid into the mold just before it cooled, and squeezed the handles once the metal had hardened enough, revealing a newly formed ball of silver that popped out upon the wooden table.

There was but one thing known that could kill a werewolf instantly. He knew of this personally, it had been done it before. One might be thought mad having to develop a weapon capable of driving one’s own species and way of life to the brink of extinction. But sometimes in order to preserve life; one must also be prepared to take it.

“Pappaw, I’ve rounded up the cows and all my chores are done.” Jeremiah said as he came into the barn; his Sheppard Collie at his feet wagging her tail.

The barn door swung closed behind him.

“Thank you Son.” His grandfather said smiling, motioning for him to come in further. “Come in for a minute, boy. Stand here by the fires and let me show you something.”

Jeremiah came in and stood close to the forge as his grandfather requested and watched him repeat his metal works. He listened attentively as he was instructed in the fine art of the smelting of the ore and in the creation of silver bullets.

“These are not as accurate as lead bullets.” Obadiah explained as he placed three cold round balls of silver into Jeremiah’s hands. “A projectile requires ‘spin’ when it is fired through the barrel of a gun. When a lead bullet is fired the barrel cuts grooves into the surface of the metal and forces it to spin. Silver is a harder metal and the barrel cannot cut the grooves into them. So it doesn’t fire as straight or as accurate, making it wobble through the air at its target.”

“So, you must be in close proximity to your target when you fire a silver bullet.” he said.

“But Pappaw?” Jeremiah questioned. “What animal would we hunt with a silver bullet?”

Obadiah took off his leather gloves then and ruffled his young grandson’s hair. “They’re used for protection only, not for hunting.” Obadiah answered. “Silver is a pure,
white and lustrous metal.
With a silver bullet…,” he said as he lowered his voice to that of a whisper. “With a silver bullet we kill ‘werewolves’.”

Jeremiahs eyes grew wide.

“We have to protect ourselves from all kinds Jeremiah, even from our own.” Obadiah continued. “A chemical reaction occurs when the silver metal enters a werewolf’s bloodstream.” he said as he placed his hand upon his chest, “Stopping the heart.”

He smiled then at his grandson and said, “Now, you go on inside and get yourself cleaned up. I’ll be along in a bit and we’ll all sit down and have some food.”

Jeremiah exited the barn and ran along to the house with his dog barking happily beside him.

Obadiah stayed behind and put away his tools, and filled his ammunition pouch with his newly made silver bullets.

“Even …from our own kind.” Obadiah whispered to himself as he shook off the memories that inevitably would return to him; centuries old memories from the town of
Valais
.

Obadiah
got down on his knees then, in the stillness of the barn.

And he prayed

.

Part Two

Awakenings

Isaiah 11:6

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,

And the leopard shall lie down with the kid;

And the calf, and the lion, and the fat beast together,

And a little child shall lead them.

Ten

That Unforgiving Sky

M
e and Colby were cousins; more than that though really. It wasn’t like we were brothers or nothin’ cause if we got mad at one another, we’d just send the other one home! With brothers you were just kinda stuck. I didn’t have any brothers, but I knew that’s how it was with sisters so I just figured it was the same way and all.

Me and Colby hung out alot and did stuff that nobody else wanted to do; like playin’ soldiers out in the woods and things like that. I was the oldest. I was twelve years old! And Colby, well he was just a little younger than me, but we were both older than most of the other kids we knew.

We mounted knives to the end of our pellet guns like bayonets, usin’ black electrical tape to match the color. And we dressed in camouflage with makeshift shoulder straps to carry our gear!

…On a top secret mission deep inside enemy territory, me and Colby sought refuge amidst the jungle underbrush. Many good men had been lost in our imaginations durin’ that mornin’ barrage of machine gun fire! Good men whose lives had been suddenly ceased while fulfillin’ their calls of duty. These fallen comrades deserved better! But now was not the time to grieve.

Satellite images pinpointed the enemy’s base as south by south east of their current location. Orders had been transmitted and received. Get in close, sabotage defenses and destroy all avenues of escape!

This was our area of expertise. Chaos was our specialty and we knew it well! What we didn’t know was that our mission had been compromised…

“Hey Colby …let’s move over the hill towards the pond.” I whispered.

There was no reply.

“Colby?” I whispered again.

This time only the wind could be heard as it rustled through the trees. The silence became deafening; for every tree limb that crackled …every fallin’ leaf that touched the ground and every creature that walked upon it became thunderously louder!

“Colby!” this time I shouted.

Without answer the message had been delivered. There had been a mutiny! The war had been escalated! My friend was now my enemy!

As the camouflage shielded him from view, Colby disappeared into the wooded background. He had become a chameleon; lyin’ in wait, a predator stalkin’ its prey. And I was
now
that prey!

Concealin’ the trail as I moved, I disappeared behind fallen brushes, limbs and trees as I attempted to regain my fortitude. I scoured the horizon as I lie there in wait without sight or sound of enemy movement.