“A bit greasy,” Guy said, licking sauce off his fingers as the barbecue dripped out of the sandwich and onto his hand. “Where’d you say you get these again?”
“Someplace down the road,” I replied. “Sorry if you don’t like it. I was in a hurry.”
“They’re fine.” He finished chewing what was in his mouth. “Wait. Why were you in a hurry? Did something happen?”
“Some girl took an interest in my arm and wouldn’t leave me alone,” I said, tucking my fingers into my armpits. “And when I came out of the store after she left, I saw her being arrested.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Really, it’s no big deal. I got spooked. That’s all.”
“Did either of the cops see you?”
I had no means to reply.
“Shit,” Guy said, shoving a fry into his mouth.
“I’m sorry. It was stupid to go out like that. I thought we’d be safe here.”
“I’m not mad at you. Really. It’s cool.”
I sighed and settled into the seat across from him. “Besides,” I said, lifting my eyes from my food. “I was more concerned with what the checkout clerk in the convenience store told me than anything Missy Sue said.”
Guy froze. “What’d you just say?” he asked.
“I said I was more concerned—”
“No. Her name. What was it?”
“Missy Sue.”
“What’d she look like?”
I described her: short, scraggly blonde hair, pretty in a very natural way and very much like a flower child of the seventies. I then repeated what the clerk had said about something spooking the campers off at the nearby sites, only to turn my head and find Guy’s hands cupping the sides of his head.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “There’s something more you’re not telling me.”
“Missy Sue,” Guy said, “is a regular escapee from the Fredericksburg Home for Girls. She’s known for having a knack of getting out of the tightest situations… especially during the full moon.” He lifted his head. “She’s a Wolf, Jason—a werewolf.”
“How do you know?”
“How wouldn’t I know?” he laughed. “She’s practically been terrorizing the countryside since that bitch Pierre turned her a few months back.”
“How has she been getting away with it for so long?”
“She hasn’t really killed anyone… that they know of… and her simple-mindedness tends to grant her immunity in situations where otherwise there’d be a lot of speculation. She can walk the streets naked and just be taken home. It’s that simple.”
“Does she pose a threat to us?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she caught my scent on you and got distracted by your scar. Maybe she doesn’t even run with Mardulf anymore. All I know is: if people have still been avoiding campsites because of some big animal, it means she’s still running wild. And if she’s running where I think she’s been, she’s in his territory.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “Guy,” I said. “If what I know about Werewolves is true… they turn on the full moon, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
I pointed to the nearby calendar.
Nestled directly beneath today’s date were the words Beginning of Full Moon Phase.
Guy and I looked at each other. “It’s nothing to worry about,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”
Somehow, I had reason to think otherwise.