The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 6

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Andre was a fairly well-mannered boy, which made me even more certain in my suspicion that he and his father did, in fact, have a human life somewhere else. He used the fork and knife to eat, with the clumsiness of a child his age and all; but even though he brought pieces of bacon to that animal mouth, with small fangs and sharp teeth, and licked the fork with that long, flexible tongue, I did not feel any rejection toward him. Because he did not make noise when swallowing nor did he lap up the juice, or eat straight from the plate. He was strangely “normal,” even in his unusual appearance.

I don’t know, he made me feel curious and in need of protecting him.

Him and his sister already, the girl who was human in appearance. I had already confirmed that Sasha was like all ordinary babies, with a round face and chubby fists, very white and pristine skin, somewhat rough from the precarious care. Nothing abnormal about her. And she was beautiful, for lack of another word. Just a baby. After the initial shock and once the food was on the table, the boy did not have to ask me for anything: somehow I knew what I had to do for both of them, while their father recovered.

I felt it, very deep inside. The doubt eventually faded.

In the end, I took a cup of coffee, in silence, while holding the baby with one arm close to my chest. She was very comfortable with her face resting against my breast, peeking at me with one little eye. I think I saw her make a gesture similar to a smile. What baby stays so calm with a stranger and smiles at her? Children had never been very kind to me, but neither had I held that many babies in my life to be certain. I sat on the other side of the white, round kitchen table and took a sip from my cup, expectant. I must also admit that I watched Andre with great curiosity as he devoured his third plate of eggs with bacon already, and I was impressed. You don’t see a spectacle like that every day, such a strange creature having breakfast at your own table. He did not seem worried that I was staring at him so fixedly, and he gave all His attention to the food until he was satisfied.

I thought he was going to lick the plate to get the remains of egg and bacon grease, but instead of doing something I expected, he did what any well-behaved child would do: he took a slice of bread and used it to wipe the dish until it was spotless.

I could not help but smile when I saw him; it was a reflex.

“Well, what a polite boy. Do you want more?” I asked him.

“I’m full,” he answered me, lowering his ears a little. It was very good, thank you.”

I smiled a bit more, pleased.

“You use the cutlery very well. How old are you?”

He lifted his eyes and looked at me with certain joy

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Chapter 6

“Seven. I am seven years old,” he answered, in a proud tone. “I will turn eight in May.”

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1 should not have been so impressed, considering had already partially assumed that he was not a small furry being all the time. Of course he knew how to count, he ate by himself and was a polite boy. That made me wonder what kind of person his father would be, and what life they would have in their true home. Who were they? Were they from around here? What did they look like, in their human form? Who had driven them to end up where I found them, and why?

And most importantly, whoever had done that to them, was he still looking for them?

I think that at that hour of the morning I still had not realized what was happening, and that was why I did not fully react coherently to it. Or perhaps was accepting it much better than my subconscious had expected.

“Seven?” I repeated, somewhat unsettled. “Well, at first glance I would have sworn you were a couple of years younger.”

“It’s because I’m short for my age. But my dad says that when I’m older I’ll have a good growth spurt and I’ll be as tall as him.”

He spoke with so much pride. That time, I smiled out of pure tenderness, because his little eyes lit up in a very beautiful way and his voice became more cheerful when he spoke of his father in such good terms. It felt good to think that I was making a change in the boy, that he was no longer trembling from fear or cold, and was not hungry. He was not sad, nor crying. A small part of me swelled with satisfaction at seeing him so happy, because I was doing something right.

It still surprised me how easy it was to talk to him.

What remained was to get some clothes for him to wear; the poor thing could not stay all day in that heavy and uncomfortable coat. Which immediately made me think of the baby as well. I had to buy diapers for her, formula, care accessories, warm clothes to dress her. She would demand food from me again soon, but for the moment the little girl was very quiet and looked at me all the time, intently. And I had nothing ready; I was not exactly planning on having a baby in Wyoming.

I decided to go down to town, urgently. I did not want to delay any longer.

With what face would they look at me in the stores when they saw me buying baby items? Maybe with none. I trusted that almost no one knew me except by sight, and barely anyone even knew my name. The advantage of living so far away and going to town for groceries only once a month. It would not be suspicious.

“Would you stay here with your sister for a while, Andre?” I asked him calmly. “I need to go down to town quickly for a few things. I won’t be long.”

I stood up, leaving the coffee half drunk, and placed the little girl in her brother’s arms again. The baby made a gesture of displeasure and seemed about to start crying, but Andre hushed her with

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“What do you mean, he’s going to congratulate you”

“My dad told me, when my sister was born, that one day I would have to take care of her and see that she was safe. I think with you we will be safe, because you are a kind and good person. You are not scared, you don’t scream. I made a good decision.”

I let out a small laugh, although something hurt very deep inside.

He thought I was “good.” I liked that, and it made me feel sad at the same time. A part of me still wanted to run away and disappear into the forest, or call the police, the park rangers, animal. control, the National Guard, the army, Dr. Dolittle… anyway. I shook my head and opened the door, already ready to leave.

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“Thank you,” the boy’s voice caught me off guard. “My dad will pay you very well, I swear.”

1 stepped out onto the porch and from there, looked at him again.

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I cannot say how many times I thought that it was the craziest dream I had ever had in my life, but I was growing tired of that idea. I went back to get the jeep keys, because I realized I had left them hanging next to the coats, and went out again. As I put the key in the ignition, I gave one last look at my window, and there was Andre again, watching me through the glass. From outside, anyone would think that the family’s pup was very anxious, watching his owner from inside. It was already hard enough not to think of those beings as simple animals.

I tried not to keep doing it; it was an insult to the boy’s intelligence.

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