Wolf’s Bane

“He did, huh? Well then, if he saved your life, I’m indebted to him. As a matter of fact, I think we should even meet him and thank him personally. What do you think, Carmel?”

“Why that’s a great idea, Paul. And you said he’s now living at Diwana’s place, right? I’m sure he can manage to walk over after work and meet us. That is, if that’s ok with you, Jack.”

Jack almost choked on the last bit of his beer, but he did manage to take that last swallow without spitting it out.

“You want to meet him?” he asked with a rasping voice.

“Yes, your mom and I. It would be very glad to meet the savior of my son and get to know more about him.”

“We can make him feel even more welcome since you did say that he is a newcomer…”

Jack’s thoughts: Me and my big mouth… and my parents happen to be Maximilian’s fans. Oh boy…

“Uhhh, he’s just fairly new out here, dad. It wouldn’t be good to force him to meet people just because his boss said so.”

“Well, tell him that you mother and I are still the owners of the lumberyard, even if you are running it. I think it’s only right that we get to meet him. Besides, why shouldn’t we honor him even with just dinner with us?”

More of Jack’s thoughts: Well, that’s true. Maybe Eron can charm my parents, too. I mean, he has been able to charm everyone at the camp, except for my lead team leader, since he’s showing signs of liking Di. Besides, Eron is really dependable and hardworking, not to mention he’s starting to become a really good friend… Yeah, why not since we’ll need all the help we can get to make him a part of the village…

“Ok, sure Dad, I’ll invite him over. However, it’s an invitation, ok? I won’t force him to have dinner with us just because we are his employers. That wouldn’t be right.”

“Alright, I understand, son. But if he has nothing to hide, I don’t see why he shouldn’t accept our invitation and our way of personally thanking him, right?”

“True, but still… Also, can we not talk about cursed foreigners in front of him, since he is not a local himself? Besides, he’s now living in Diwana’s place and bringing that topic up may make him feel unwelcome. And I really, REALLY need people like him while we’re expanding our business.”

“Son, don’t worry about that. Just because we’re fairly decent around the two senior town criers of our village, it doesn’t mean we already think like them,” his mother said with a short and amused laugh. “We won’t make him feel uncomfortable just because he’s from the city.”

“Ok, Mom, thanks. I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.”

“But Jack, I need to ask you… why do you need new hires like him? Isn’t Max and the other veterans in our staff enough for our expansion needs?” his father asked from his overstuffed patio chair.

Jack carefully went through what he was about to tell his father, knowing that if he said the wrong thing, this may end up as a pretty bad argument…

And after the dramatic scene that happened with the Miss Tess and Ma’am Nelia just a little while back, he really didn’t need to add to that.

Not for his sake, at least…

“Well, like I said, we’re expanding. We need new blood to bring life back into our company. You know what they say in business, right? If you don’t evolve, you dissolve, and I don’t want that to happen to our business.”

His father nodded sagely at him and then finished his beer before speaking. “Alright, son. You know I trust you when it comes to running our lumberyard. But please remember that you should be loyal to those who have been with you longer because they’ve already proven themselves to be trustworthy. Don’t just exchange new people with the old ones in your life or you might lose a lot more in the process.”

Jack, at this point, just wanted to say what was in his mind: Oh I don’t know Dad… bet if I told you about what Max did with his sawmill, you’d be axing his sorry ass even if he is one of our best and most dependable workers. But then, I bet you’d still ask me for proof and right now, I don’t have any to convince you or anyone of what I think did happen. So yeah, shutting up for now, and hoping things don’t get worse. The thing is, if Max finds out that Eron is going to be invited here for a special dinner, things WILL get worse. What to do… What to do…

“Did you say anything, Jack? Speak up, I don’t like hearing you mumble…”

“I said, don’t worry, Dad… mom… I’ll keep your advice in mind.”

The senior Schneider smiled at his son and stood up, patting Jack’s shoulder. His mother also stood up from the porch sofa and kissed her son’s cheek.

“Good night, son. Lock the door when you come in,” his mother said as she entered the door. “We hope to hear from you about your new hire pretty soon.”

“Ok, mom… goodnight. Goodnight too, dad.”

“Sleep tight, son,” his father answered as he walked into their two-story country house with his wife in one hand and his empty beer bottle in the other.

And Jack was left alone…

As usual.

I really should get used to this by now, the younger Schneider said to himself as he decided to get another beer from the kitchen. I don’t even know why I’m bothered these days by this feeling. Damn, I think I really need to seriously look for a girlfriend.

As he stood up, he happened to hear some movement from a ledge of bushes near their house. He squinted at that area, trying to make out whatever it was that was behind the thick leaves of the ledge.

And there it was again…Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Now that he was sure that it wasn’t a small animal, he heaved his bottle straight into the thick bushes, hoping to scare off whatever was there.

“OW!”

Jack’s eyes opened wide, then narrowed right after. He immediately jumped over their porch’s balustrade then rushed through the bushy, dense foliage and dived straight into a man who was still rubbing the bruise on his head.

“SHIT!” the tall and slim stranger yelled as Jack collided with him full force.

Moments later, the disoriented stranger found himself underneath the big, burly lumberjack who was now sitting on top of his waist with his muscular thighs framing his torso.

“Ok, you… TALK! Who the hell are you and what the fuck are you doing here?” the foreman hissed, one hand on the trespasser’s shirt and his other hand raised, curled into a fist and aimed downward towards the captured man’s face. “Tell me now or you WILL be LOSING TEETH…”

“ALRIGHT SIR! I’ll talk… Just don’t hurt me and I’ll tell you everything…”

+++

Just then, Jack’s deep and intense thoughts about the previous night were cut short by something in the forest.

Actually, it was not something…

It was someone…

And it was someone he knew…

Not caring if the person he saw could see him or not, Jack walked swiftly up to him, dodging underbrush, bushes, and trees along the way. Just at the last moment, he stopped walking and reached out to put a hand on his target’s shoulder, who seemed to be also deep in thought.

The man in black visibly jumped as he felt Jack’s strong grip on his shoulder blade then turned around to face his “captor”…

“SHIT! Motherfucker JACK, you FUCKING SCARED ME!”

“Really? And why is that, Max?”