Lycan Contempt

Chapter Two

“We’re only going to be gone for a week, Henry.

How many bags do you need?” Joey complained for what seemed the twentieth time in the last half hour.

Georgia smiled as she listened to her best friends bicker with one another. The bickering was always good-natured, and never led to nasty fights or insults.

Joey and Henry were in love, and she loved them more for the dedication they had to one another.

“Come on, guys.” Georgia laughed. “I’ve known you two for ten years, and in al that time, why is it that only I have realized Henry would over pack even if we were going to a nudist colony for a week?”

“A nudist colony? Now that is a good suggestion,”

Joey said.

“Wait a minute. That was not a suggestion, and you wel know it.” Georgia put her hands up in surrender.

“Does going to a nudist colony actualy appeal to you?” The shock in Henry’s voice was evident.

Georgia had become accustomed to reading others’ emotions through the tones in their voices and pauses in speech. While she could tel Joey was trying to rile Henry up, as usual, Henry fel for it—as usual.

Lucy shifted beside Georgia, and she reached to pat the dog that had been her companion for the last five years on the head.

“Calm down, love. It was a joke. Although I can’t say it wouldn’t be an interesting place to go.” Joey laughed again when Henry huffed.

“Are you two about ready? I swear you take longer to get ready than any woman I’ve ever known.” Georgia smiled as she teased them.

“Yes. Yes. We’re ready,” Joey said. “Let me help Henry put the bags in the car, and we’l be on our way.”

Georgia nodded and stood. Lucy immediately stood next to her left leg, and she reached for the handle on Lucy’s harness. “Door, Lucy.”

Lucy immediately began walking beside Georgia to the front door of Henry and Joey’s house where she waited patiently for Henry and Joey to finish packing.

Scuffling and rushed trips to grab forgotten things ensued.

“Okay. I think we are ready,” Henry finaly said.

“You sure you’re up for this, Georgia? It’s probably going to be colder than a witch’s ass at the cabin.”

“I’l survive.” Georgia made her way to the vehicle as Lucy guided her around any obstacles. “Besides, we’ve al been talking about doing this for two years now. It’s far past time to quit talking and do it.”

“Yeah. I know. But I can’t help but think if Frank didn’t have this cabin when Cindy married him, we’d never contemplate taking a roughing-it-in-nature trek four hours north. Hel, central Wisconsin is cold enough. North wil be worse.” Henry started the car after they were al situated inside.

“That’s the point. The opportunity arose from Cindy’s new marriage, and we should take it.

Besides, Henry, it isn’t as if Frank is going to get any good use of it any time soon. Cindy would rather die than rough it in a cabin.” Joey chuckled.

“I’m beginning to think she has the right idea on that one,” Henry quietly said.

“Don’t tel me you’re turning into as big of a wuss as your sister, Henry,” Georgia ribbed him good-naturedly.

It was true. Cindy was a sweet, honest-as-the-day-was-long, kind person, but an outdoorswoman she was not. Georgia had always loved nature. The sounds of the crickets, the rustle of leaves in a breeze, a babbling creek had always proved comforting to her. The only thing that she could think of that would be better was if she could see the things she heard.

She didn’t feel sorry for herself because she was blind, but she doubted she’d be human if she didn’t wish now and again for what she’d been born without. She’d adapted wel to her blindness and was able to take care of herself fine. And when she’d been fortunate enough to obtain Lucy, the dog had given her even more independence. She not only viewed Lucy as a coworker, but as a best friend.

“Wuss? Did you actualy cal me a wuss?” Henry said incredulously.

“I believe she did, old boy,” Joey chimed in.

“Actualy, I view it as more of a, shal we say, manly chalenge.” She settled into the comfortable backseat and leaned her head against the headrest.

“Chalenge accepted. But I stil think we are crazy for going during wintertime,” Henry grumbled.

“Until April next year, it’s the only time we could both manage to get off work,” Joey chastised.

“I’m looking forward to getting away for a week, but only if I don’t have to listen to you two hens cackle the whole time.” Georgia barely kept a giggle from escaping.

“Oh no you didn’t, girl. You did not just say that,”

Joey said.

Georgia laughed and soon Henry and Joey joined in. She loved that she could be herself with her friends, and that they never took her jokes seriously because joking was a big part of her life. She’d gotten through many tough times with laughter. It was the best medicine.

A while later, she started dozing off while Henry and Joey bickered over which station to listen to on the radio. She’d never managed to stay awake on a long car ride. Soon nothing but sweet silence engulfed her.

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. We’re here.”

Georgia woke up to Joey poking her in the ribs.

“Hey! You know I’m ticklish. Stop it!”

“Geesh. Change Sleeping Beauty to Grumpy,”

Henry said.

“You both know I’m a little cranky when I first wake up. It’s one of the hazards you have to put up with having me as a friend.” Georgia stretched and yawned.

“Uh-huh.” Joey laughed. “We’re going to unload and take the bags in. Do you need help with anything?”

“Nope. I’m going to take Lucy to do her business, and I’l be in in a couple minutes.”

“See ya in a few then,” Henry caled to her as she gave Lucy the go ahead to take her potty break.

The fresh, cold air hit Georgia in the face as she stood after letting Lucy’s harness go. The mushy ground under her feet told her that it had rained recently, and the breeze made her wonder if they would be getting more inclement weather soon. The air was fresh, but she shivered when a particularly strong gust of wind hit her ful-on. She was glad when Lucy came back and stood beside her shortly afterward.

“Lucy, take me to Henry and Joey.”

Lucy immediately turned and walked to the left of Georgia as she led her to Henry and Joey.

Georgia folowed Lucy’s signals and made her way up three steps across a smal span of what she figured was a wooden porch by the thumping sound under her shoes, and through an open door.

“Got everything from the SUV inside. Your room is down the hal to the right, Georgia,” Joey said.

“I’m going to get a fire lit,” Henry piped up to her left. “Thank God there is a mountain of wood beside the cabin. I don’t think I’d fare wel playing a lumberjack.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Henry Bunyon has a ring to it.

You think we could find you a blue ox to carry al the lumber for you after chopping it?” Joey laughed.

“You’re so hilarious. Ha. Ha. Ha.” Henry didn’t sound amused in the least.

While Henry and Joey continued their playful banter, Georgia let Lucy lead her around the room so she could get a feel for the layout and where the furniture was situated. After this initial familiarizing, she’d be able to find her way around the cabin with ease by herself. The room was surprisingly big and had leather furniture that was soft and creamy to the touch and stil gave off a rich, welcoming scent. She’d always liked the smel of leather.

The kitchen was quite large as wel. She took things more slowly in that room, opening drawers and cabinets before carefuly feeling the contents so she didn’t get cut by a stray knife or other gadget. After coming across a coffeemaker, she filed it with water and reached for a container that she thought was coffee sitting on the counter. A quick smel of the contents proved she was correct, and she spooned some into the filter, replaced the lid, and turned on the machine. It started gurgling and popping immediately.

She smiled as the coffee’s aroma became richer as it grew hotter with the brewing.

“Coffee’s on, guys.”

“Oh. You are an angel, Georgia,” Joey lamented.

They al enjoyed a good cup of coffee, but Joey was the addict of the three.

“I don’t know about angel, but I try my best. I’m going to find my room and get unpacked. You two need help with anything?”

“Nope. I think we can manage,” Henry said. “The fire is going, and the only thing left is to assess the food situation. Joey and I wil make a list of what’s needed then you can add anything else you’d like. If luck is with us, there wil be enough staples to get us through until morning because the last grocery store I saw on our way here was at least an hour away.”

“I had a look around in the kitchen. I think we should be fine until morning. We can manage, I’m sure. There are plenty of canned goods stocked in the pantry.” Georgia folowed Lucy down the hal.

If she stretched her arms out from side to side, she could almost touch the wals down the narrow halway. The thumping under her feet told her the wood floors continued on. The first door on the left led to a nice-sized bathroom. While she figured no girl would be al that happy about sharing a bathroom with two men for a week, fortunately for her, Joey and Henry were quite the neat freaks. In fact, they probably picked up after themselves better than she did, not that she was a slob.

There was another door on the left, which she assumed to be Henry and Joey’s room, and a door at the end of the hal, which turned out to be a linen closet, and finaly a door on the right, which led to her bedroom. It smeled clean, and she couldn’t find an ounce of dust on anything she touched. It was surprisingly large, and the bed was huge.

“Looks like you get to sleep with me this week, Lucy.” She patted the dog on the head before releasing the handle from her harness. She gave her the off-duty command to let her know she was free to do as she pleased for the time being.

Lucy usualy slept in a cushy bed on the floor beside Georgia’s ful-size bed at home. Lucy wasn’t huge, but Georgia’s bed wasn’t big enough to accommodate them both comfortably. She was not against Lucy sleeping at the foot of her bed and smiled when she thought about how nice it would be to have a foot warmer this week.

She found a dresser against the wal and unpacked her clothes then felt around for an outlet to plug her cel phone charger into. Although, she didn’t have high hopes of getting a great signal, if any, out in the middle of the sticks.

“Let’s go find Henry and Joey. Shal we, Lucy? I bet you’d like some water too.”

She’d have to ask where they’d put Lucy’s bag of food when they unloaded the car as wel. There were many times Georgia would have loved to give Lucy a treat or people food, but it wasn’t a good idea to give a guide dog treats. Treats were not something a guide dog was ever trained on. A guide dog had to learn to do its job with praise as a reward. True guide dogs loved their jobs. Lucy was always up and eager to go to work in the mornings.

Most people didn’t realize the lengthy training process of a guide dog or the countless dogs that didn’t make it through the training because of simple undesirable behavior traits that might cause the dog to harm its charge. Being aware of the extensive training, Georgia would never intentionaly do anything that might compromise Lucy.

Georgia had laid her walking stick—which conveniently folded up to fit in her bag—on the bed and got it before leaving her room to find her way back to the boys. She was looking forward to spending the week with Henry and Joey. She couldn’t wait for the long nights of reminiscing by the fire. While they were al close, they rarely got to spend an abundance of time al together at once because of conflicting work schedules.

While she didn’t hold down a job, she did some volunteer work at a nearby blind school several days a week. She kept herself busy on the off days by running errands, cleaning, or simply enjoying her time reading or tending to her smal garden of herbs. She felt extremely fortunate because her parents had set a trust fund up for her when she was a baby. By the time she was twenty, she’d lost them both and had found out that she was also the benefactor of quite a large life insurance policy.

She wasn’t by any means filthy rich, but she had the means to live a quaint, comfortable life, which she was grateful for every single day. She’d be able to hold down a job if she had to, but it wasn’t easy for a blind person to find a position. She was definitely fortunate and tried to return that good fortune with her volunteer work.

She smiled when she heard Henry and Joey in the kitchen. They seemed to be rummaging through the cabinets and making a list of staples they’d need for the week. Yes. This was going to be a fun week indeed.