The Legend of the Howling Werewolf Read online

  A sudden howl from outside woke the children. Henry bolted up. Jessie and Violet grabbed each other’s hand. Benny fumbled for his flashlight. They crept down the hall to the kitchen. As quietly as possible, they opened the back door and stepped outside. To their amazement, they saw a silhouette of someone staggering along the ridge. It had the head of a wolf. In the light of the rising moon, they could see its jaws opening with a howl.

  In an excited whisper Benny said, “Just like the website! I knew it. There really is a werewolf!”

  Violet rubbed her arms to keep warm, but more so because she was nervous.

  Henry stared at the silhouette. “It sure looks like one,” he said. “It’s getting harder to believe they’re not real.”

  “Now I’m wondering too,” Jessie whispered.

  Unanswered Questions

  The next day after breakfast the children headed to town. It was a beautiful, crisp morning with an aroma of wood smoke from fireplaces filling the air. Frost on the rooftops sparkled in the sun. When they passed Daniel’s cottage, he was in his garden. They waved to him, but Daniel only scowled. He hurried over to his chicken coop. Without looking at the Aldens, he rolled the cage to a sunny spot in the yard. Hens cackled and flurried as they pecked for worms in their new location.

  “That’s a really smart way to keep chickens safe,” Violet said. “That way they won’t get lost or run into the street. But why is Daniel ignoring us?”

  “I hope he’s okay,” Jessie said.

  “Maybe he’s tired from the howling last night. It sure made me nervous,” Violet said.

  “I can’t wait to tell him about the werewolf,” Benny said.

  Henry said, “Let’s wait. We can say hi another time. It looks like he’s busy.”

  At the park Mrs. Riley greeted the children by the picnic tables. “Good morning, children,” she said. “I’m relieved to say there was no damage last night.” She and Grandfather were pulling a protective blanket off the jack-o’-lanterns. The blanket was woven with bright stripes.

  “That is such a beautiful blanket,” Jessie said. “I’ve never seen one like it.”

  “It was handed down from my great-grandmother,” Mrs. Riley said with pride. “Its thick wool kept away the moisture last night.”

  It was a bright day. The rope of colored flags fluttered in the breeze. “Everything looks so pretty,” Violet said as she took out her camera. “I’ll take some photos for my report. Cheese!” she yelled to her brothers. When Henry and Benny gave goofy smiles, Violet took their picture. She took one of Grandfather then several of Mrs. Riley unfolding her blanket. Finally she took one of Mrs. Riley and Jessie holding up the blanket. It was as tall as Grandfather.

  Jessie took several pictures of the jack-o’-lanterns.

  “When will the judging take place?” Henry asked.

  “Tomorrow,” Mrs. Riley replied. “I’m so please with all the creativity and fun designs.”

  “They certainly are imaginative,” Grandfather said. “I admire how you used pointy pine cones for noses and leaves for hair. Well done. Say, how did you children sleep last night?”

  “Just fine,” Henry said.

  “Well, not me,” a woman interrupted. Her hair was messy, and she wore bedroom slippers. “That howling. Just like the website predicted.” She handed Mrs. Riley her volunteer badge. “My kids heard the werewolf last night. They’re too upset to participate today. I’m sorry, Susan.”

  A group of volunteers were in conversation as they walked from the parking lot. Two women handed Mrs. Riley their badges. One of them said, “The moon was rising. The howl scared the wits out of me. And it’ll be a full harvest moon tomorrow.”

  “I showed my neighbor the website,” another said. “Now he refuses to bring his kids.”

  A man in a grocer’s apron approached. His name tag read, Mitch, Manager, Green Spot Organic Foods. “I realize this Harvest Festival is important,” he said to Mrs. Riley. “But my customers are telling me it should be canceled. Who knows if there will be danger?”

  “Mitch, you’ve been a big supporter of this event,” Mrs. Riley said. “We’ll be serving your fruits and veggies as appetizers for the evening picnic.”

  “I’m sorry, Susan,” said Mitch. He threw up his hands and walked away.

  Mrs. Riley stood tall, but the Alden children could see a slight slump to her shoulders. She seemed discouraged. “Please don’t worry,” she told the group. “Hysteria won’t solve anything. I believe the legend of a howling werewolf is just that. A legend.”

  But the volunteers surrounding her in the park seemed nervous. They shifted uneasily on their feet. They looked toward the foothills. They whispered to one another. Hands in pockets, they shook their heads.

  “If we hear howling again tonight,” one of them told Mrs. Riley, “we will call Mayor Chang. We’ll insist that she cancel all activities this weekend.”

  “We can’t take any chances,” another said. “Any kind of wild animal, wolf or whatever, running amok in town would be a disaster. What if it attacked a child?”

  “That’s right,” an angry man said. “It probably has rabies.”

  Just then Ellen jogged through the park with her dog. When Kamu and Watch saw each other, they wagged their tails. They nuzzled each other. The two dogs were good friends now.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Ellen said to the volunteers. Several were her friends. They told her about the frightening events of last night.

  “What?” Ellen asked. “This is the first I’ve heard of any werewolf.” She patted Kamu’s head then cast a worried look toward the foothills. She regarded the yellow flags by the volleyball court marking the fun run. “Are you sure?” she asked the group. “I always thought werewolves were from fairy tales. Like elves and giants. Right, kids?”

  Violet said, “But we saw it last night.”

  “You’re kidding,” a teenage boy said. “You actually saw it?”

  Benny excitedly described the late night, the rising moon, the strange shape, and the eerie howl.

  Henry said, “Actually what we saw was a silhouette. It was weird. It looked exactly like the furry head of a big animal.”

  “Are you sure?” a teenage girl asked.

  “I know what we saw,” Benny insisted.

  “It wasn’t normal, that’s for sure,” Violet said.

  A woman in sneakers and a ball cap walked briskly into the park. She wore a small backpack. She smiled at Mrs. Riley, and they waved to each other. “Oh, good,” Mrs. Riley said. “Here comes Mayor Chang. She lives close by. She doesn’t have a car, so she walks everywhere.”

  “I’ve heard people are upset,” Mayor Chang said to the volunteers. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. We absolutely must have the festival.” Her backpack rustled with her lunch and with papers as she took out a clipboard.

  A volunteer stood with his arms crossed. “Why is the festival so important?” he asked.

  “The City Council and I have a big announcement,” the mayor said. From her clipboard, she passed around some brochures. The pages showed photos of a white farmhouse with a red barn. Cattle grazed near a cornfield. A horse corral had a riding ring. “Good things are coming to Townsend,” Mayor Chang said. “We’d like the whole town to be present when we explain. These pictures are examples of what can be built on the empty acres around here.”

  “And since this is our first Harvest Festival,” Mrs. Riley said, “we want people to feel happy. It will give our community something to look forward to each year.”

  The Alden children and the volunteers listened. They studied the brochures. Finally one of one of the adults said, “All right. Let’s wait and see what happens tonight.”

  But Henry spoke quietly to his sisters and brother. “I think I know why Daniel is upset,” he said.

  Grandfather brought a bag of burgers to the picnic table. Henry spread out some napkins. Benny opened little packs of ketchup and dumped a pile of French fries in the c
enter of the table. Violet poked straws into the drink cups.

  “I’m going to run some errands for Mrs. Riley,” Grandfather told them. “Do you all have enough to keep you busy here?”

  “Oh yes. We’ll be fine, Grandfather,” Jessie said. She took out her notebook. Clicking her pen a few times she said, “We need to solve a few things.”

  Grandfather smiled. “I’ll leave you to it then. See you all at dinner. I’m going to be cooking my specialty.”

  “Do you mean veggie soup with your light, flaky, super-wonderful biscuits?’ Violet asked. “With drops of honey and cinnamon?”

  Grandfather’s familiar grin answered for her. “You’re right,” he said. “Now all of you have fun this afternoon. I’m looking forward to seeing the full moon tonight.”

  “So are we,” Benny said.

  “Who knows what we’ll discover when it rises over the foothills,” Henry said. “See you later, Grandfather.”

  Though the air was cool, the warm sunshine made it pleasant. While eating lunch, the children discussed the werewolf. “I feel sorry for Mrs. Riley,” Benny said. “She just wants to help her community. Now the whole town is too scared to come to the festival.”

  Jessie put her pen on her notebook. “Then we have to solve this mystery before the festival gets canceled. Where should we begin?” she asked.

  “Let’s start with the suspects,” Henry said. He counted on his fingers. “First there’s Daniel.”

  Jessie wrote, “Daniel, the conservationist.”

  “He seems nice,” Benny said. “But he wasn’t honest. He pretended Mrs. Riley told him about us and the sage grouse.”

  “So if Daniel didn’t do anything,” Henry said, “why did he lie?”

  Violet sat up straight on the bench. She said, “That’s what I wonder. Also, why was Daniel unfriendly when we went by his house this morning? He’s busy, but he could have waved. Do you think he’s uncomfortable seeing us?”

  “Or is he embarrassed for being out late at night, chasing sage grouse?” Benny wondered.

  “These are good questions,” Jessie said. Head down, she wrote neatly in her notebook. “Next?”

  “The strange guy with the beard and hairy arms,” Henry said.

  “He gave me the creeps!” said Violet. “What was he doing with all those bones? Yuck. And the antlers?”

  “We definitely need to figure out more about him,” Jessie said as she wrote. She held up her pen. “Next?”

  “Who smashed the pumpkins and sugar beets?” Violet asked.

  “Right,” Jessie said, writing across the page. “We definitely need to find that person. Next?”

  Benny said, “Add Ellen’s dog, Kamu. He’s big enough to be a werewolf. At least I think he is. Or maybe a werewolf’s best friend.”

  “I’ve never heard any legends of a dog becoming a werewolf,” Henry said, chuckling. “Or being friends with one.”

  “You are right that Kamu has a mysterious background, Benny,” Jessie said. “Since he was a rescue, no one knows why he’s so afraid of getting his paws wet.”

  “Are werewolves afraid of water?” Benny asked.

  Henry smiled. “You’re thinking of the Toothless Trolls, Benny. Another legend,” he said. “They melt if they fall in a river.”

  Violet looked under the picnic table. Watch slept peacefully by their feet. She said, “Watch would play in a creek all day if we let him. He’s not afraid.”

  “We need some more clues in a hurry,” Jessie said. She snapped her notebook shut and returned it to her pack. “Let’s look around.”

  Not Normal Footprints

  When the Alden children finished their burgers and fries, they took their paper trash to the recycling. They put their lids, straws, and ketchup packets in the plastics bin. As they looked around, they realized they were alone in the park. Mrs. Riley wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Grandfather had driven to town. On this beautiful autumn day, there were suddenly no families in the picnic area. No children played on the jungle gym or swings. The volleyball court was empty. Only two teenage girls on rollerblades broke the silence. The girls swooped around the empty parking lot then skated away.

  “Where is everyone?” Benny asked.

  “That’s what I wonder,” Violet said. She twisted one of her pigtails around her finger, as if she was nervous.

  “This is bizarre,” Henry said. He went to the sign that said Harvest Festival This Weekend. Everyone Welcome. It was ripped in half and dangling in the dirt.

  “Hey! I bet the werewolf did this,” Benny said.

  “Or,” Jessie said, “it was someone protesting the event.”

  “Well, however it happened,” Henry said, “it’s not good. This is our third day in Townsend, and the festival is tomorrow. We have to get to the bottom of things. And fast.”

  “I agree,” Jessie said.

  The Aldens looked at one another with questions.

  “Maybe Mrs. Riley is in the barn,” Henry said. “Let’s see if there’s anything we can do for her.”

  Benny and Watch led the way. The barn was cool inside. All the hay had been neatly swept into the horse stalls. There was no further damage to the large crates of pumpkins and sugar beets. “Hello?” Jessie called. “Mrs. Riley?”

  Mrs. Riley’s office in the back of the barn had a Dutch door. The children peered in over the top and looked around. Her woven blanket was folded on a shelf. Photos of horses with blue award ribbons hung on the rough wooden walls. A framed university diploma identified Susan Dawn Riley as a professor of Native American arts.

  “Oh wow,” Jessie said. “Mrs. Riley is very modest about her accomplishments.”

  Violet noticed some photos showing Mrs. Riley with the mayor and business leaders. “It looks like she has been very involved in Townsend for a long time. I can see why this event is so important to her.”

  “All the more reason to solve this mystery,” Henry said. “Let’s head back to the foothills. We might find the spot where we saw that silhouette last night. There are bound to be prints from whatever that thing was, don’t you think?”

  “Yes!” Benny cried. “I’m ready. Let’s go exploring.”

  The children hurried from the barn. They walked through the park then down Main Street. When they rounded the corner they could see Daniel by his back fence, pruning a rosebush. Once again, he kept his eyes down as the Aldens passed his house. Farther down the road, Benny said, “I still wonder why Daniel isn’t friendly to us.”

  “Maybe he’s busy and embarrassed,” said Jessie. “If I got caught in a lie I would have a hard time being social too.”

  They continued to Mrs. Riley’s house. Her car wasn’t in her driveway. Grandfather’s car was also gone. Henry said, “No one’s home yet, so we have plenty of time to investigate.”

  In the kitchen the children refilled their water bottles. Jessie tore a sheet of paper from her notebook. “Dear Grandfather and Mrs. Riley,” she wrote. “We are on a short hike. Watch is with us, so don’t worry. We’ll be back in time to help with dinner.” She signed her name then handed her pen to Henry. He signed then so did Violet. Benny drew a cat with a smiley face. Then in neat block letters he printed, LOVE, BENNY. They set the message by the bowl of fruit.

  On the way up the twisty trail, the Aldens spotted a runner ahead of them with a big dog beside them. The runner had stopped on the path. She held two poles with yellow flags.

  “Oh, it’s Ellen,” Violet said. “And Kamu. Hi, Ellen!”

  “Hello there,” the woman said. She pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. “Nice to see you all again. I’m marking the starting line for the fun run. It begins tomorrow at noon.”

  “Where will everyone go from here?” Benny asked.

  With a grunt, Ellen planted the poles on either side of the trail. She pointed up hill. “That way,” she said. “Runners will head to the ridge then down the far slope. They’ll circle the duck pond and the community garden on their way down to the park.
The finish line is by the volleyball court. In all, it is about three miles.”

  “Three miles, whew! That’s a long way,” Jessie said.

  “Are you all walking the course this afternoon?” Ellen asked. She gave them a friendly smile. “I’m serious. You kids look strong. You could make it, I’m sure.”

  “Not today,” Henry said. “We’re just going up a bit farther. At the ridge, we’ll turn around and come back this way. Our grandfather would worry if we went on a long hike without telling him.”

  Ellen said, “I understand. See you in a little bit. I’ll still be here. Kamu’s paws are sore from stepping in that awful cheat grass. I removed the thorns, but I think he needs to rest for a while. We could sit here all day. The view of the town and the park is so beautiful.”

  The Aldens continued up hill. Once again, Watch led them off the trail to where they had been yesterday. Out of breath from the climb, the children rested for a moment among the trees. The clearing resembled a low table of black stone, pocked by tiny holes. The edges were rounded where they had flowed onto the cooler earth thousands of years earlier.

  “Look at this lava,” said Henry. “I didn’t notice it yesterday because of all the stuff covering it.”

  “I can’t believe there are old volcanoes around here,” Benny said. “I wish we could go up close to one and look down inside.”

  “Maybe some day, Benny,” said his brother.

  “This will be great for my report,” Violet said. “We’re also studying geology.” She took out her camera to document their surroundings.

  As they looked around, they noticed something different. The bones were gone. The antlers were gone. Skinny lines in the sand looked as if someone had swept the area clean.

  “What happened here?” Henry asked.

  “This feels weird,” Jessie said.

  Benny went over to one of the juniper pines. Leaning against its trunk was a broken limb. He picked up the branch and pulled it through the dirt. Its pine needles acted as a broom. And these pine needles matched the skinny lines in the clearing.