The Wolves of Glacier Falls

One: Ellery Corbin

One

Ellery Corbin

Snow in October. Ellery Corbin shivered, pulling her jacket around her tighter as a light sprinkling of snow started. It wasn’t anything to worry about, but she did think maybe it was a dumb idea to drive out to the cemetery alone. It had been exactly one year to the day though since her dad died, and she hadn’t been able to get him off her mind. Her mom, Julia Corbin, would have come with her but three calves had gotten lost in the meadow, so she had to go find them. She could have waited for her, and gone a different day, but if it weren’t for the dream…

The first few months, Elle hadn’t even been able to sleep. Now, she slept, but it was restless, with the same dream playing on a loop. Every night, she found herself in the forest of Glacier Falls where her dad had been killed. He’d been torn to shreds by a wolf. In the dream, it was always the same. She was back where he died, in the middle of the snowy woods, with blood splattering the ground and trees. A whistle would draw her attention, the one her dad would do to bring in the cows or the dogs.

Then, she would turn her head to see him there. Tom Corbin stood there wearing the same thing he’d worn when he died: jeans, a black and red flannel, cowboy boots, a jean bomber jacket, and a white cowboy hat. He was in one piece too. Not shredded to pieces as he had been found, with barely anything left to bury. “Dad?” Elle would call, and he would smile broadly at her. As he started to walk towards her, a low, wolf's growl filled the forest then.

The hair on the back of Elle’s neck stood on end. She locked eyes with her dad. Terror filled his eyes, he opened his mouth, shouting, “Go! Run!” Elle tried to run, but her legs wouldn’t move. She stayed there frozen; her feet trapped in the deep snow. The wolf came out of the woods then, snarling, and would give chase. Elle would stand there, screaming, as the wolf tore her dad to shreds. It was the same thing over, and over again. This time, the dream had been different though. This time, her grandma had come at the end.

Grandma, with her long white hair braided back, had come from the trees. She walked past her dad’s dead body then placed a hand in Elle’s. When she removed her hand, Elle found that something gold and sharp had been placed in her hand. It was an arrowhead. “Les loups arrivant,” she whispered in French, locking her brown eyes directly with Elle’s. “Les loups arrivant.” 

Elle’s French was rudimentary at best, and she could barely understand what her grandma was telling her. Grandma pressed the arrow down hard, into her hand, and Elle cried out in pain as it cut into her hand.

It was always the pain and her screaming that woke her up. When she realized what day, it was, Elle knew she had to go to the cemetery. 

Dad's body wasn’t really buried there. There hadn’t been enough of him left for them to bury. The wolf that had attacked him had torn him to shreds, leaving almost nothing behind, not even his bones. The only way they had known that the wolf was responsible was the pawprints in her dad’s blood, and the only thing they’d found had been her dad's white cowboy hat. A sad, small reminder.

It wasn’t so unusual that her dad had died getting attacked by a wolf. Her dad worked as a Fish and Game officer. He dealt with hunters and animals all the time. There was always the risk of being attacked by something in his line of work. What was unusual was the wolf tearing him to shreds, so much that there had been nothing left for anyone to find. Elle tried not to think about it too much. She spent most of her time working at the Blue Moon bar in town or helping her mom with the ranch. So, there was always something to do. It wasn’t as if she had a lot of time to dwell on things.

Today though, with it being the anniversary, it had made her ache in a way she couldn’t quite get rid of. So, she drove out to the town’s graveyard, behind the local church. Now, she was bent down before her dad’s grave. She was now crouched down in front of it tracing the letters of her dad’s name. Nothing more than a tombstone now. Her stomach twisted. “Dad,” she whispered, to no one but the tombstone there.

She hadn’t had any plans beyond sitting there for a little while. Elle had a backpack with her, she sat down on the hard ground and took out a book. She had a thermos filled with coffee to keep her warm, and she sat down to read.

Elle hadn’t been there too long when a shadow fell over her. “Hello, Elle.” 

A deep voice spoke, startling her.

She looked up to see Landry Thayer standing there. Landry was twenty-five, a few years older than her. The Thayer’s were one of the richest families in Glacier Falls, and Landry had spent his time at a fancy boarding school, only coming home for summer and the holidays. He was a little over six foot, with long blond hair that fell in his face, and blue eyes that were looking at her hard. He was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket with his hands buried into them.

“Hi, Landry,” said Elle, drawing her legs up to her knees, self-conscious suddenly, “what are you doing here?”

“Just walking,” he said, “I didn’t want to disturb you---but I found this in the snow on the way up here, and I thought it might be yours.”

He held something out to her in his hands. It was a golden necklace, complete with a tiny, little arrow charm dangling from it.

Elle looked from the necklace to Landry, her brows furrowed. “I’ve never seen it before. Definitely not mine.”

“Hmmm.” Landry smiled at her. “Well, you should keep it. It suits you.”

“Er, I don’t think----”

“Turn around, I’ll put it on you.”

Before Elle could stop him, he’d already held out his hand to help her up. Carefully, Elle turned around and Landry draped the necklace over her then clasped it on. His rough, large fingers gently grazed her neck, and Elle blushed at his touch. 

“Thanks, Landry,” Elle said with a soft smile.

Landry turned her around so that she was facing him. “Looks perfect.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “I don’t know about that, but it's pretty.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to your reading. I didn’t want to interrupt. But I did have to say hi.”

“Thanks,” she said softly, “um…. I’m going to get back to my book now.”

“I’ll let you. Have a good afternoon, Elle.”

“You too, Landry.”

He walked off, leaves crunching underfoot as he left the graveyard.

Elle picked up the charm in her hand. How strange, she thought. She dreamed about her grandma giving her an arrow and the next, Landry Thayer appeared in the graveyard giving her a golden arrow necklace.

Her cell phone buzzed then, and she saw Deacon flash across the screen. Deacon Foy was their neighbor, and their ranch hand, who was out helping her mom search for the lost calves then. Worried, Elle answered the phone, 

“Deacon? What’s wrong?”

“Elle? Sorry to interrupt you. But you’d better come quick. Your mama’s having a fit, and I think you’d better get home to take care of her.”

“What kind of fit?” Elle asked.

“She…she fainted, and she keeps on talking about the wolf. The wolf that attacked your Daddy. She thinks it's out there, Elle. She thinks it's coming for you.”