The Howling

high desert just the other side of the mountains, and they got coyotes over there. Why?'

'I've heard something in the woods at night. Howling. You know Lady, our dog, has disappeared. I wondered if something out there could have got her. Maybe even a wolf?'

'Well, I don't know nothing about wolves.' Oriole began dealing the cards, snapping each one firmly down on the table.

'I'd like to find out more,' Karyn persisted. 'Is there a library? Somewhere I could get books?'

'Not in Drago. Nearest library's over in Pinyon. If you want to call them, they'll send your books over with the mail. Tell 'em you know me and it'll be all right.'

'Thanks, Oriole. If I can use your phone, I think I'll do that right now.'

'In the middle of our game?'

'I'll be right back. This business has been on my mind, and I'll feel a lot better about it when I've at least done something.'

'Okay, help yourself. The phone's out on the counter next to the register. I'll heat up the coffee.'

Through the operator, Karyn got the number of the library in Pinyon. The librarian there, a Mr. Upshaw, apparently had little to do to keep him busy, and was eager to help Karyn find the kind of books she was looking for, and he said he'd be glad to send them over. They settled on The Wolf by L. David Mech, Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat, and World of the Wolf by Russell J. Rutter. All were of recent publication, and all dealt with the wolf in its natural state. For good measure, Karyn asked for the National Geographic book on North American mammals.

Karyn and Oriole played gin for another hour, during which Karyn lost another two dollars. Oriole cheerfully accepted an I.O.U. and said she hoped they could make their card game a regular thing. Karyn said she hoped so too — if she could afford it — but really was relieved to get away. Oriole Jolivet was cheerful company but she had hardly anything besides gin rummy to talk about.

Karyn took her time walking back to the house. Rationally she had given up hope of ever seeing Lady again. Still, sometimes she would start at a sudden sound from the woods, thinking it was the bark of a small dog. But it was always something else. Or nothing at all.

Chapter Seven

When Karyn came within sight of the house she was surprised to see the Galaxie already parked in front. She had expected Roy to prolong the trip to Los Angeles at least until dark. She was also surprised at her indifference to seeing him. It had never been like that before. Unconsciously she slowed her steps as she neared the house.

In their year of marriage Karyn had known only pleasure in being with Roy. Now after he had made excuses for leaving her, she found herself wishing he had stayed away longer. She walked on slowly toward the house.

Roy was moody and distant in his greeting. Since Karyn was not anxious to talk either, she did not press him. They ate an early dinner, preoccupied with their own thoughts. After dinner they sat apart in the living room and pretended to read.

They both started at the sudden crunch of automobile tires on the gravel outside. Roy shot Karyn a questioning look. She shook her head.

There was a knock at the door, and Roy crossed the room quickly to answer it.

Out on the small porch stood a woman carrying a shopping bag. She was tall and thin, with a bony, big- featured face. Her gray hair was indifferently cut; she wore a shapeless tweed suit and heavy-rimmed glasses. The woman smiled at Roy. She had a good smile that softened the lines of her face.

'Is this where Mrs. Beatty lives?'

Karyn moved in beside Roy. 'I'm Karyn Beatty.'

The woman's smile took in both of them. 'Pleased to meet you. My name is Inez Polk. I live over in Pinyon and I happened to be in the library today while Al Upshaw was getting the books together for you.'

Roy turned to Karyn. 'What books?'

'I called the library in Pinyon today from the Jolivets',' Karyn explained quickly. She turned back to the thin woman.

'I was intrigued by your selection of books,' said Inez Polk, 'so I offered to drive over here tonight and drop them off.'

'It was kind of you to take the trouble,' Karyn said.

'No trouble at all. I'm glad for the excuse to meet you. The fact is I get bored to death sometimes over in Pinyon. I teach English there to junior high school students who consider it just another dead language. I'll grab any chance I get to talk to somebody new and interesting.'

Inez Polk looked from Karyn to Roy and back again. 'If I'm interrupting something, please say so. I appreciate frankness.'

'You're not interrupting a thing,' Karyn said. 'Please come in. Can I get you a cup of coffee? Or a drink?'

'Have you any wine?'

'Burgundy?'

'A glass of burgundy would be nice.' Inez took the four books Karyn had asked for and stacked them on the low table in front of the sofa.

Roy leaned down and fanned the books so he could read the titles. He looked quizzically at Karyn. 'Wolves?'

Karyn walked past him into the dining alcove, where she poured two glasses of wine from a decanter. 'Yes, wolves,' she said shortly. 'Would you like some wine, Roy?'

'No, thanks, I think I'll get a little exercise. Take a walk before it gets dark.' Roy brushed Karyn's cheek with his lips, said goodbye to Inez, and left the house hastily. Like a man set free, Karyn thought.

She carried the wine back into the living room and sat down on the sofa with Inez. In a very short time the two women were chatting warmly. Inez Polk was intelligent and witty, and shared a surprising number of Karyn's interests and opinions. It had been a long time since Karyn had felt completely relaxed with a stranger. By the time she refilled the wineglasses they were fast friends.

'So what is it with you and the wolves?' Inez said, getting around to her reason for coming.

'You won't laugh?'

'Try me,' Inez said. Her expression was dead serious.

Karyn told her about the howling in the woods; how it was far off at first, and quite close the night Lady had disappeared. She told Inez about Roy's skepticism and the sheriff's explanation that it was coyotes.

'And you think there's a wolf out there?' Inez asked.

'I don't know. It sounded like a wolf to me. If that's what got my dog, it had to be as big as a wolf. Lady was no fighter, but I don't believe a coyote would attack her.'

'And nobody else has mentioned a wolf?'

'No.'

'Mm-hmm. Well, maybe there's a clue in those books?'

Both Karyn and Inez were quick scan-readers. They divided the library books and went through them, and soon they had learned more about wolves than they really wanted to know.

From the several species discussed they chose the gray, or timber wolf, Canis lupus, as the most likely. This wolf, they read, was the largest found in America — as big as five feet long, including eighteen inches of tail. Some huge specimens had been found in Canada weighing 175 pounds.

Wolves were fierce fighters and exceptionally intelligent, with a diet consisting primarily of smaller animals, but when hunting in packs they could pull down prey much larger than themselves.

The most significant fact the women found was that, except for a few hundred hanging on in the forests of northern Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, there were no wild wolves left in the United States.

'What do you think then, Inez? Could it have been a coyote I heard? Or an owl, for God's sake?'

The thin woman was silent for a minute while she appeared to organize her thoughts. Finally she said, 'No, it wasn't any coyote. Or an owl, either.'