Werewolf Skin

2

“AAAAAIIIII!”

Was that me screaming?

Our van rocked hard. I bounced again. Landed on my knees on the floor.

Uncle Colin swerved onto the grassy shoulder.

I saw a blur of red-and heard the truck roar past. Its horn blared angrily.

Uncle Colin slowed to a stop under the trees. His wrinkled face had turned red. He swept both hands back over his thick gray hair.

“Colin, what happened?” Aunt Marta asked softly.

“Sorry,” he muttered. He took a deep breath. “Guess I just wasn’t concentrating.”

Aunt Marta tsk-tsked. “Nearly got us killed.” She turned in the passenger seat to gaze at me. “Alex-you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine,” I told her. “I didn’t expect it to be so exciting here!” I tried to make a joke. But my voice came out kind of shaky.

My camera case had fallen to the floor. I picked it up, opened it, and checked out the camera. It seemed okay.

Uncle Colin shifted into Drive and pulled the van back onto the road. “Sorry about that,” he murmured. “I’ll be more careful. Promise.”

“You were thinking about the Marlings again-weren’t you?” Aunt Marta accused him. “When Alex said werewolf, you started thinking about them, and-”

“Be quiet, Marta!” Uncle Colin snapped. “Don’t talk about them now. Alex just arrived. Do you want to scare him before we even get home?”

“Huh? Who are the Marlings?” I demanded, leaning to the front.

“Never mind,” Uncle Colin replied sharply. “Sit back.”

“They’re not important,” Aunt Marta said. She turned to the windshield. “Hey-we’re almost home.”

The sky seemed to darken. The old trees grew over the narrow road, their leaves blocking the sunlight.

Watching the blur of red and yellow as the woods swept past, I thought hard. My aunt and uncle were certainly acting a little strange, I decided. I wondered why Uncle Colin had snapped at my aunt so angrily when she’d mentioned the Marlings.

“Why do they call it Wolf Creek?” I asked.

“Because the name Chicago was already taken!” Aunt Marta joked.

“There used to be wolves in the woods,” Uncle Colin explained softly.

“Used to be!” my aunt exclaimed. She lowered her voice to a whisper, but I could still hear her. “Why don’t you tell Alex the truth, Colin?”

“Be quiet!” he repeated through clenched teeth. “Why do you want to scare him?”

Aunt Marta turned to the passenger window. We drove on in silence for a while.

The road curved, and a small circle came into view. Three houses stood nearly side by side on the circle. I could see the woods stretching on behind the houses.

“That’s our house-in the middle,” Uncle Colin announced, pointing.

I gazed out at it. A small, square white house on top of a neat, recently mowed front lawn. A long, low, ranch-style house-gray with black shutters-stood to the right.

The house on the left was nearly hidden by overgrown bushes. Tall weeds rose up over the patchy front yard. A broken tree branch lay in the middle of the driveway.

Uncle Colin pulled the van up the driveway to the middle house. “It’s small-but we’re not here that often,” he said.

Aunt Marta sighed. “Always traveling.”

She turned to me again. “There’s a nice girl who lives next door.” She pointed to the ranch-style house on the right. “She’s twelve. Your age, right?”

I nodded.

“Her name is Hannah. She’s very cute. You should make friends with her so you won’t be lonely.”

Cute?

“Any boys in the neighborhood?” I asked.

“I don’t think so,” my aunt replied. “Sorry.”

My uncle stopped the van at the top of the driveway. We climbed out. I stretched my arms over my head. All my muscles ached. I’d been sitting for over six hours!

I glanced at the gray shingle house on the right. Hannah’s house. I wondered if she and I would become friends.

Uncle Colin unloaded my suitcase from the back of the van.

I turned to the house on the left. What a wreck! The house was totally dark. Some shutters had fallen off. Part of the front porch had caved in.

I crossed the driveway and took a few steps closer to the weird, run-down house. “Who lives there?” I asked my aunt.

“Stay away from there, Alex!” Uncle Colin screamed. “Don’t ask questions about them! Just stay away from that house!”