It was late when Grace returned back home as the winter winds gathered more flakes to spread through the air. The sun was now setting earlier upon the lands bringing a cold that one could feel deep in their bones. She felt how tired and sore she was from working with the horses all day as her body reminded her she needed rest. She set down her bag, pulled off her jacket, but instead of hanging it she dropped it to the floor. There, her notebook sat open, yet she was sure she closed it. She was frozen in fear as the feeling of not being alone swept over her. She made her way over to the desk to slowly pull open the drawer. There she found her revolver, grabbed it, checked if it was loaded, then began to explore her house. It was a good sized house which she had split into working and living spaces.
Slowly she went from room to room, yet found nothing. She finally made her way back to the entrance where she locked the door tight. She returned to her desk to see the notes opened to the page she was working on. Did she leave it open? She was sure she had closed it and cleaned up everything. Although there was no one here, she could not shake the uncomfortable feeling of violation. That someone had been here, so she decided to sleep with her revolver by her side. Tomorrow she would close shop to take the day off. It was not comfortable here now and if the hour wasn't so late she would go to Walter's house. Her heart was racing so she decided to use the energy to prepare for tomorrow's visit with Walter. She eventually wore herself down enough to feel tired again so she grabbed her revolver and went to bed.
She did not get many hours sleep and arose before dawn making herself some coffee then washing up from the day before. She made sure she carried her samples and her notes on her now as she waited for enough light to travel to Walter's house. She would now carry her gun at all times.
Walter had already brought his guests their daily supplies which he wondered if they needed as much since they were now out hunting mice. He was so pleased to see the wolf recovering and he could not wait to share all the news he had about them with Grace. He began to feel like a fool running off from society to hide away from his pain. He not only isolated himself from the bad people, but good people like Grace as well. As the winds of winter blew across the land, he sat there daydreaming of better things only to have that silence broken by Grace's voice.
He looked over to see her running through the fields towards him and when she reached him she dropped her bags so that she could throw her arms around him for comfort. She began sobbing.
"I think someone was in my house yesterday," she told him.
"What?! Who? Are you alright?" he replied holding her so she could let it all out.
"I'm not sure. I couldn't think. My notebook was open."
"Was anything missing? Why the notebook? Are you sure you did not leave it open?" He tried to get answers from her, yet he also wanted her to feel safe.
"Well, I am sure I closed it. I didn't see anything missing, I was just scared, it felt like someone was there, I just don't know who…" she paused, looking like she had discovered something.
"What is it, Grace?"
"Bill, he delivered my photos and he seemed a bit too curious about the animals."
"Bill? The rich boy with too much time on his hands? Why would he be interested in your notes?"
"I needed him to develop my photos, he is the only one in town who can. When he delivered them he started asking too many questions, so I sent him away because I had an appointment, but when I returned my notes were open. I was sure I had closed them, it just felt off like someone had been there."
"I can pay him a visit if you would like me to?" Walter, like the wolf, was quick to come to his friend's defense.
She released him and ran her hand across the revolver by her side. "I will carry this from now on as well as my notes and samples. No need to visit him, but I am staying away from him in the future."
"OK, if that's how you want to play it. It's too cold out here, let's get you inside to warm up." He led her out of the field and into his house to sit down. He gave her a cup of coffee as they sat down together at his table.
"Sorry for the outburst, last night was stressful and when I saw you I just broke. Thanks for listening." She sipped her coffee. Walter made a great cup of coffee.
"Well anything you need, you let me know. My place is always open to you. What were you saying about a photo?"
"Oh, my, yes." she replied, digging into her bag to pull out the photo. She handed it to Walter. "What do you think?"
He moved over to the window with it to get more light. "Amazing, Grace. This is just amazing. It turned out so nice."
"Well that one is yours, mine is back at my place."
"Really? Thank you, Grace." He moved over to the wall near his bed to stand it up on the small table there. "The miracle photo. They look beautiful together. What a photo."
"By the bedside to watch over you. How are they doing?"
"Oh, you have to see this," he reached under his bed pulling out a small container, revealing its contents as he sat back down at the table with Grace. "They brought me this."
Grace looked in the container to see the dead mouse. "Walter, they trust you. This is wonderful."
"The fox even licked my hand, it was an incredible moment."
Grace had had the same moment with the fox as well. "It really is like a dream at times, isn't it? Oh, the fox, I discovered something," she pulled out her notebook. "Based on my examination of the hair on the fox there are two types of hair. The stripe on her back appears to be wolf, yet her red fur appears to be fox. I even compared it with the wolf's hair."
Walter could not believe this. "Is this something new? How can a fox have wolf hair?"
"I am just as confused as you are, none of it makes sense."
"So it's a wolf fox?"
"No, that just can't be. At least from my understanding. I am going to send a letter to a professor at my old university to get his opinion I will include copies of my notes…" she stopped to piece things together in her mind. "Bill. He has seen the photo, if he was in my notes then we may have a problem. He is too bored and curious for this to end well."
"I don't trust him, I will keep a watchful eye on our guests."
"And I will be more careful and watch out for Bill. He was asking where the animals were, I lied and sent him in the opposite direction. If he becomes a problem I may need your help with my lie."
"Lying is my profession," he joked to relieve her concerns. "I could just shoot him."
She laughed and felt a bit lighter in her heart. She pointed at the mouse, "You know any other woman would have reacted differently to your mouse.
"Well you aren't any other woman, you're great the way you are and I can not thank you enough for your help. The wolf is really on the mend, out walking every day, even hunting mice."
"I see that, it really is amazing. Do you think they will stay the winter?"
"I think they will, they even let me get close. Oh.." Walter remembered the day before. "Have I got a story for you. So I went out yesterday as they were out prowling around to fill their bowls with food. They were on the other side of the house, so I quickly went out and got it done and when I turned around they were directly behind me."
"What did you do?"
"Like a fool I fell backwards and sat there with my jaw open. They just lowered their heads and walked by me to lie down."
"They probably were afraid of you, yet did not know what to do since they wanted to lie down, so they just stood there."
Walter thought about it. "Maybe, they did lower their heads and whined a little bit. I got out of there then later they brought me the mouse."
"They wanted to share their food. That's really beautiful, Walter. They really do trust you, you are giving them a good home to recover in, just don't be heart broken when they leave."
"I won't be. They really are their own masters and it would be a sin to tame them. I just hope they don't become trusting of all humans."
Grace thought about the stories she had heard about wolves being helped by people. "I don't think they will. I know of two stories where people helped wolves. They had trust for that one person, but no one else. In both cases the wolves returned to their packs without issue. I one of the stories the person who helped the wolf was out in the wilderness a year later when he saw a wolf pack watching him. A wolf that looked just like the one he helped came out from the pack with a few small wolves following it. It howled at him, then rejoined the pack as they left."
"Do you think it was the same wolf?"
"He was certain it was. He was also sure it was female and she brought her young out to see him."
"She remembered him! Nature is so amazing, Grace. Do you think this wolf will remember us?"
"Based on what I have heard? He will never forget us. I don't know about the fox though."
"If it is a fox"
Grace thought about it sipping her coffee. "That really is a mystery. I would love to solve it. I will mail my professor soon, but it will be months before I get a reply." She leaned back into the chair and yawned. "Is it possible to take a short nap, I did not get much sleep last night?"
"Yes, of course. Just lie down and don't worry about anything. I have some chores to take care of outside." He moved to the window to close the curtains, put on his heavy jacket, grabbed his rifle and headed out the front door. "Enjoy your rest, I will be back later."
"Thanks, Walter. You are a good friend." She moved to the bed, laid down and quickly was in another world.