xp_logs | Dogs of War: Looks can be deceiving

Before this log, Sarah goes to the Fredericks public library to find out what she can about the werewolf problem, and makes a new "friend".

Esther Graves was having a wonderful time. She'd met the nicest young woman in the Fredericks library, asking some questions about the town. And Esther loved to do nothing more than talk. It didn't even matter that she'd misplaced her glasses again and couldn't make her new friend beyond a sort of coloured blur.

"...the sweetest little dog called Taffy. He used to beg me for candy all the time, only of course, I couldn't give them to him, they'd make him sick." She trailed off, losing her thread and blinked at her companion. "But that wasn't the sort of thing you were asking me about, was it dear? Not dogs... wolves?"

"Yes Ma'am," Sarah replied dutifully, hoping to get out of here fairly quickly. The crazy lady was more than happy to talk to her. How difficult could it be? "Strange happenings, werewolves maybe?"

"Wolves? Oh no, dear, we haven't had wolves in these parts for almost a hundred years. Although it's strange you should mention it. Only yesterday Price Dougan, he has a farm just out of town? He was saying something had attacked his sheep. Killed the entire flock, fifty of them torn to shreds, can you imagine it?"

"Torn to shreds? Call me crazy, but that sounds an awful lot like wolves to me..." This lady obviously has no clue, Sarah thought dryly, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. Not that Mrs. Squint-a-lot would have noticed. Still, it was impolite to mock the interviewee, unless they were being morons. Or something. "And nobody saw anything?"

"That was the strangest thing - with all this rain, you would have thought there were tracks or something, but the State Trooper said there was nothing..." Esther tut-tutted at the strangeness of it. "Of course, there's that whole silly story about there being some sort of werewolf... There's people saying that those missing children were taken by one, but that's just ridiculous. Young people today, they're so flighty, they probably just ran away." Shaking her head, she fixed Sarah with a near-sighted look. "Not like you, dear. You seem very stable to me. Just like my Mary. Of course, she got married to that nice Pickering boy and moved away to Savannah..."

Sarah nearly choked on her soda, swallowing the laughter that threatened to burst out at Esther's suggestion that she was a nice, stable young girl. If she only knew. "These kids who are missing. There's been no sign of them?"

"Oh no dear, not a sign. Do you want a lozenge for that cough? This time of year, colds and flu are so nasty..."

Sarah shook her head quickly, mumbling something about being allergic to over the counter medicines. She added more clearly, regaining her composure,"So that's been the only strange wolf-like happening recently? Besides the disappearances?"

"Well, I overheard at the grocery store one of those Dawson boys saying he and his brother had been hunting and they'd seen.. something. Like a dog, only it was silver?" She shook her head. "That can't be. There's no such thing as a silver dog. Unless it's a very old one. My Taffy lived until he was 18, that's over a hundred in dog years, can you imagine that?"

"A silver dog? It does sound like maybe a trick of the light. Did they say anything else about it? Bigger than a normal dog? Wolf-like?" Vicious as all fuck? Not of this world? Yeah. There were some questions that just didn't get asked. "It's terribly curious."

"As big as a small pony, I believe he said. And silver, like mercury flowing. Of course, Tommy Dawson always was on the poetic side. He has a cousin who's gay, so it runs in the family."

"Something the size of a small pony could probably tear apart a whole flock pretty well, wouldn't you think?" Sarah tipped her head back, finishing what was left in her soda can. "I wonder if anybody got any pictures of it."

"Pictures? Oh no, dear. At least, I don't think so. Maybe those newspaper people have? Such a pretty girl, with that red hair. Foreign too, by all accounts." Esther tutted again. "All this werewolf nonsense, it's attracting all sorts."

"Well, if I find out what these werewolves really are, I'll be sure to let you know." Sarah gathered up her bag, (-not- a purse, thank you very much) and grinned back at Esther. "Thanks for your help."

"Oh, going so soon?" Esther looked disappointed. "And I was going to invite you home for dinner. You need a good meal." She patted Sarah's shoulder. "All skin and bones, that's what you are."