Crissa's Mate

Chapter Seven

That evening the group reconvened as planned in the hotel dining room. The dinner menu was pre-planned and offered little choice, but it turned out to be filling and delicious. All the ingredients were locally grown and the roasted game birds were provided by a resident hunter, Horst told the group. Crissa sat next to Julie, and tried to not make her frequent gazes across the table at David too obvious.

Dr. Dekker, half way through the meal raised his beer mug and offered a toast.

"To the chef of this wonderful hotel, and the lovely service we have seen his family provide," he said.

Helga, who was bringing out a platter of freshly cut fruit to the table, smiled alongside her husband who nodded in appreciation of the group leader's sentiment. Just then, the couple's daughter, Lara, carried out with both hands a heavy, fresh pitcher of beer to the table. As before, she avoided the eyes of the young attendants at the table and quickly left to return to the kitchen. The girl wore a simple peasant's blouse and a light green skirt, far from exhibiting any current fashion statement.

"Team, I have asked, Horst," Professor Dekker added, "once he is finished with his duties as our cook this evening, to share his observations and feelings about the recent phenomenon of the wolf migration into this region."

It wasn't long after the group had finished their fruit dessert that the rugged man came to the table once more, followed by his son, Jannik.

"I am please you have enjoyed your dinner," he said cordially, still drying his hands on a towel.

The group nodded and held their glasses up in a show of hearty agreement.

"I will tell you now our thoughts about the wolves we have here as neighbors."

The group sat back in their chairs and prepared for their proprietor's statements. The young Jannik looked down at the floor, signaling some possibly gripping information.

"When I was a boy here . . . like Jannik, yah? I heard stories about the wolves. But they were far to the east. Living in great numbers in Poland. Mostly in forests far from any villages. Only once I remember hearing them calling out at night near our village of Erlighthof. The children were of course very frightened by this sound. We all heard many tales of the large wolves. How they killed deer in packs. Breaking their necks and backs with their strong jaws. And we all heard the stories of them in former times. Taking children of the forest people in winter when food was not found."

Crissa saw Mary and Josh make instant eye contact.

"And then . . . two years now . . . we began to hear the howling of these wolves almost every night. And very close to our village, yah?"

Brad and David had put down their beer mugs and were listening intently.

"The farmers here had to make high fences, you know. Because their animals were taken in the night. Many times now, we hear shots of guns. People try to frighten these wolves when they are close to houses. In the last month, a large male was shot when he came into a family's house. It broke down the back door and tried to steal a child. Each night for a week it's mate, the female, came back to the house. She howled until the sun came. When she tried to enter the house, too, the owner shot her dead also."

Everyone at the able showed discomfort with the gruesome story, as they were ardent conservationists. The killing of these animals was not what they came to hear about. Yet, at the same time, they recognized the threat to the families their and particularly children.

"Now many are here in the village," Horst continued. "The old ones like my father Martin, have said these wolves . . . are not the same. Not like the wolves of the forests they remember as young men. They are stronger. Braver. And they have little fear of us. We do not know why this is. Or why they have come to live so close to people. Only the old stories, a thousand years before tell about such wolves. Wolves who lived with people. They shared their ways. And people who lived with them. Even having their children in such legends."

Everyone was stunned by this last comment. A chill ran down Crissa's back as she heard the frightening remarks. David and Brad stared up at the speaker, obviously unexpecting such a chilling report.

All quickly looked to Dr. Dekker for his reaction. But there was none. It was as if he was also aware these facts—the legends and recent revelations. He seemed content to be hearing them from an eye-witness and authority in the area. And it was obvious he wanted his team assembled to hear of these unprecidented developments.

"Well then. We thank you for your remarks, Horst," the professor finally said. He spoke now more directly to the group. "And it will be our objective of this study to try and discern what differences there may be with these species and those canis lupus  we know. Indeed, to also explore how such . . . legends have come down through time."

The group was unmoving and silent.

"We must discern in the short time we are here if there are any connections to those ancient stories."

Once again, Mary and Josh were looking surreptitiously at one another. The young Jannik was still looking nervously down at the floor, obviously aware of the undercurrent of tension and concern now in the room.

At that moment, Helga and her daughter Lara, entered from the kitchen with trays of coffee, cream and sugar for the guests. All eyes were on Lara as she quietly placed the cups in front of each of them. And as she quietly began to pick up their dishes and place them on the tray for collection, once again the mystery of her loss of language came into the minds of Julie, Crissa, Brad and David. For there was now obviously more mystery and intrigue to this village, so far out from civilization than they had all bargained for.

As the Wiltmire family disappeared back into the recesses of the dining room, Dr. Dekker stood and addressed the group more officially with concluding remarks.

"Tomorrow, at 7:00 AM we will go on a trek with a local hunter here. His name is Svend. He has offered to be our guide on a cursory walkabout, covering the parameters of the village and a significant distance into the adjacent forest where the subject of our study has been significantly observed. I will meet with you all in front of the hotel at that hour to connect with our guide and commence with our first incursion into these wilds. Please be prepared with your necessary gear."

Jannik appeared once more from the kitchen and went over to one of the large fireplaces. He proceded to go about the labors of building a warm and comforting fire. It was obviously indended  to take off the evening chill which the mountains outside presented. In the rustic, lodge atmosphere, with their coffees in hand, the guests were encouraged to move over to the large floor pillows strewn before the warm fireplace and enjoy the comforting atmosphere for the remainder of the evening.

Though their conversation was light and mirthful that night, reminiscent of childhood vacations and isolated locales, the youthful five in the absence of Dr. Dekker could not hide their anxieties. For their thoughts were now unavoidably a kaleidoscopic mixture of emotions about this constantly developing mission. It would surely be, Crissa thought, a dangerous incursion into an unknown environment—and one which she was now irreversibly a part of.

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