Red Rider's Hood

'Makes sense,' Grandma said. 'The earth is quick to con­sume the flesh of things that ain't natural.'

'Anyway,' continued Marissa, 'he began to do what he came there to do, moving the bones and all, and then the moon rose. At that moment, right before his eyes, the bones began to change. Every single human bone transformed into the bone of a wolf. It scared him half out of his mind?he thought the bones themselves would reassemble and attack him. But they didn't.'

'So not even the bones of a werewolf can resist the call of a full moon,' Grandma said with a shiver. 'That's more than I ever wanted to know.'

'Before he closed the coffin and filled in the grave, he took the skull. He's kept it locked in a chest ever since, afraid to take it out, but afraid to get rid of it, too.'

'Where's your uncle now?' I asked. 'Maybe he can lead us to the hunters.'

Marissa shook her head. 'Once he realized that Xavier's grandson was also a werewolf and was gathering a new gang, he left town. He gave me the skull before he left to warn me. The first time I saw the change myself, it scared me half out of my mind, but pretty soon I realized I could use the skull kind of like a wolf clock. All I have to do is look at that skull to know when the werewolves are out. And of course, I can use it to put people like Red here to the test.'

'Very clever,' Grandma said, but before Marissa could feel too proud of herself, she added, 'but you're a fool for carry­ing it around so people can see. All it takes is one member of the pack to report back to Cedric, and they won't even wait for the full moon to put you on the menu.'

Marissa was a little hurt by the reprimand. 'My brother looks out for me.'

Grandma tossed a sour look toward her. 'Marvin? He's one of them! He was right there next to Cedric when he threw me in the basement.'

'And stole the money from me,' I added.

'No. If he was one of them, I'm sure I'd know. He's gotten in over his head maybe, but I'm sure he hasn't been 'made' yet.'

''Made'?' I asked.

'When you join the Wolves, you don't become a werewolf right away,' Marissa explained. 'You've got to show your loy­alty, and when Cedric thinks you're ready, he bites you, and once he does, there's no turning back. You're a werewolf.'

'Does Marvin know about the skull?' I asked.

'I never showed it to him.' Marissa began to pace as she thought about her brother. 'Marvin has never liked Cedric?it doesn't make sense that he'd want to join the Wolves. He's got to be working some angle?trying to trick them into telling him their secrets, or trying to expose them, or something. Whatever it is, he can't really be one of them.' I could see that the more she talked, the more she convinced herself she was right. 'I know he helped steal your money . . . but I also know in my heart that I can trust him.'

Well, I wasn't about to tell her any different?after all, she loved her brother, whether he deserved that love or not.

Grandma, on the other hand, spoke her mind plain and clear. 'I don't trust him as far as I could kick him, and neither should you. Trust doesn't help you survive at a time like this.'

But Marissa shook her head. 'Trust is the only thing that helps you survive,' she said. The two of them stared each other down.

'You're a foolish girl.'

'And you're a suspicious old woman!' Marissa said.

'So, we've got a little trust and a little suspicion,' I said, trying to referee before they got too angry at each other. 'Maybe having both is a good thing.' I turned to Marissa. 'Marvin doesn't have to know everything you do, does he?'

Marissa sighed and shook her head. That seemed to settle Grandma a bit. 'The only ones I'll trust are those hunters,' Grandma said.

'Will you trust me, Grandma?' I asked.

I couldn't see her eyes behind her glasses, which had fogged up from the steam rising from her mug. 'Of course, Red. Of course.'

We stayed over at Grandma's that night, since the moon was still full. Marissa told her parents she was staying with a friend, and mine were thrilled when I called to tell them I was spend­ing some quality time with Grandma. When the sun rose, Marissa and I took the Avenue C bus, sitting silently together in the back. Only after she rang the bell for her stop did she turn to me. 'Last night was the third night of the full moon, so we won't have to face any wolves until next month.'

But I shook my head. 'We'll still have to face wolves,' I told her. 'They'll just be human ones.'

'True enough.'

I pounded my fist into my hand with such force my palm stung. A sudden fury raged in me that I couldn't put down. 'I could take on Cedric right now.'

'You gotta be patient,' Marissa said. 'Being reckless right now will get you killed.'

I opened my mouth to argue, but before I could, she closed her hand gently over my fist. Then she thought for a moment. 'Live by your impulses, and you'll be just like them. You're bet­ter than that, aren't you, Red?'

I couldn't answer her. Partly because I couldn't stop staring at her hand on mine, but also because I didn't know.

When I got home, Dad was gone?he was on one of his twelve-hour shifts?but Mom was still getting ready to leave for the day.

'It was nice of you to stay over with Grandma last night,' she said. 'She gets lonely in that house all by herself. You're a good grandson, Red.'

The biggest problem with my mom is she can read me like a TV Guide. All she's gotta do is look at me to know whether it's drama or comedy. Today, I guess the Guide told her I was tuned into a horror marathon. She pursed her lips, read me a bit fur­ther, and said, 'All right, what's wrong?'

I sighed, and tried to figure out what I could get away with telling her. For a second split finer than a neck hair, I thought of telling her everything. That the gang that called themselves the Wolves really were, and they were feeding on innocent townsfolk every full moon. But my parents weren't exactly the type of people I could talk to about this. My dad was a para­medic; he saw life and death every day, and nothing in between. To him there were neither curses nor miracles, only timing and triage. As for Mom, she was getting a degree in architecture. Her world was all lines and angles on a blueprint. Even in her religious beliefs she went straight by the book. For her there was no thinking outside of the lines. No, I couldn't let them know, but I couldn't lie either. I couldn't tell her Saturday- morning cartoons, when the TV Guide on my face said Creature Feature.

'My Mustang got stolen,' I said. It was true, and it was hor­rific, at least to me.

'Oh, Red,' she said. 'And you just finished working on it!'

'I never should have left it parked on the street,' I said, my anger real. 'I should have put it in Grandma's garage.'

'We'll go to the police,' she told me. 'We'll make a report.'

'I already did,' I told her. 'With Grandma.'

I knew she'd call Grandma to talk about it, but I also knew that Grandma was quick enough to play along and not give away the truth.

'You'll get it back,' Mom said. 'I know you will.'

'So do I,' I told her. She hugged me, gave me some bus fare, then left. Once she was gone, I took a few sprigs of wolfs­bane from my pocket, made myself a cup of tea just like Grandma taught me, and drank it down to the bitter, weedy dregs. Then I went out looking for Cedric Soames.

Cedric's little sister was at her usual spot, jumping rope with her friends, doing it so well, you'd think double Dutch should be an Olympic sport. When she saw me signal to her, she hopped out of the spinning circle of ropes and skipped over to me.

'Cedric said you'd be coming by,' she said, flashing me her ugly smile. 'He said to warn you not to look for