He took the offered hand. “I’m happy to help. We’ll take care of it, don’t you worry.” He leaned down toward the children. “Who are these little ones?”
The two children squirmed behind their mother, and Rook couldn’t blame them. What child wouldn’t be scared of an unknown stranger who towered over their mother and had a face marked by bruises and cuts? Anni said, “Children, please say hi to Stanislav.”
Rook stopped leaning down and laughed. “It’s OK.”
He sensed another figure behind him and had to resist the instinct to whirl with the Desert Eagle drawn. It was better safe than sorry in the field, but he didn’t expect any threat here to come from someone on the street. He did turn, and he saw two men stop a few feet away as soon as he did. They looked to be in their fifties, both with the light hair and features common to northern Europe.
One of them cleared his throat. “Ah, hello. We wanted to thank you.”
The other man nodded. Rook took a step toward them and reached out his hand, “You’re welcome. I’m Stanislav. And you are?”
The first man took his hand, hesitating as if unaccustomed to the gesture. “I am Baldur, and this is Roald.”
“Well, nice to meet you both. I’m actually heading to see Eirek right now.”
Rook turned back to find Anni and the children back at the door of the building in which Rook and Peder had met her that first day, but still watching him. Several more doors had opened on both sides of the street, with individuals watching him from doorways. He figured this was progress after yesterday’s experience with faces pressed to the glass of windows.
Shortly before he reached Fossen’s house, a man came out of a doorway and didn’t stop at a distance like the others. Rook recognized him as Thorsen, Peder’s old friend who had just lost his wife to the beast. The white hair flowed behind him as he hurried toward Rook, and tears flowed down his cheeks. He grasped Rook’s right hand in both of his.
“Stanislav, you must kill whatever took my Greta.”
Rook put his left hand over Thorsen’s arthritic digits. “Don’t worry, I plan to do just that.”
Thorsen looked up at him, then embraced him. “God bless you, son. God bless you.”
For one of the few times in his life, Rook was unsure what to do. Especially compared with the reserve exhibited by the others in town, this show of emotion with everyone watching made Rook uncomfortable. Well, I guess the man did just lose his wife…
Then he heard a whisper from Thorsen, words that didn’t register until several seconds after Thorsen uttered them. “Pay attention to the victims.”
A moment later, Thorsen disengaged himself. He met Rook’s gaze for a moment, and his eyes told Rook that his message had been deliberate and the emotional display at least partially an act. Then Thorsen shuffled back to his doorway.
Rook breathed in, trying to keep himself focused. The message clearly was something Thorsen felt he couldn’t come right out and say. Therefore, Rook wouldn’t mention it to Fossen. But he pondered the words as he reached Fossen’s doorstep.
He must mean victims of the beast. But they’re dead, right?
Fossen opened the door, one of his arms in a sling. “Stanislav, how are you recovering from last night?”
Entering the house, Rook answered. “Nothing to recover from, just a few bruises. Looks like you weren’t so lucky.”
Fossen barked a laugh. “Apparently I am not as young as I once was. I woke up this morning with severe pain in my shoulder. The creature didn’t get me, but I landed wrong when I dove out of the way. Have a seat, Stanislav. So, what’s next?”
“I’m gonna go explore the area where the bastard disappeared last night. I don’t know what I’ll find, maybe nothing, but he’s got to have been losing blood, so I can look for some kind of trail.”
Fossen didn’t say anything right away, and Rook could almost see his mind calculating. Finally, he said, “I do not believe there is anything out there, but of course I agree that it makes sense for you to have a look around now. What about tonight? Do you want to give it another try?”
“Hell yes. Maybe I’ll discover something now that can help us, but even if I don’t, we’ll hunt again tonight. A thought occurred to me, though. Does your tracking data show any situations where the wolves tend to return to the same place at the same time on multiple nights?”
“Hmm, I have noticed that they roam in big circles, but I had not checked that specifically. I can look into it and let you know tonight.”
Rook stood up. “Sounds good. Ten o’clock at the barn again?”
Fossen nodded, “Ten o’clock it is. And Stanislav?”
“What?”
“Be careful.”
“Fossen, it’s the middle of the day and I won’t be that far from town. What is there to be careful of?” Rook’s sarcasm was impossible to miss. He didn’t need a babysitter.