Page 2 of Recipe for a Curse

“I wanted to let you know where I’m going,” I told my boss. “In case I’m not back till late or something. It sounds like it’s a bit of a walk.”

“There’s a storm coming,” Zach said, sounding worried. “Ten inches of snow predicted. This far north you know it’s more likely we’ll get over a foot.”

“I’ve got my coat and stuff,” I said. “It’s not far. Just seven or so miles from the manor.”

“Call if there’s trouble. I’ve put the plow on my truck and can tow a car out of a ditch if necessary.”

“I will,” I promised and hung up. My plan was to send him the coordinates as soon as I arrived. I accidentally drove by the outlet twice before finding a small break in the snow. It almost looked like someone had partially shoveled the edge of the road where the trail began. I pulled off, parking out of the way, and sent a text off to Zach. I only had one bar on my phone, so hopefully it went through. Jim hadn’t been kidding about the trail. It was literally nothing more than a thin hiking trail etching through the trees. I couldn’t see anything but a dark overlay of woods.

When I opened the back of the car I cursed, realizing that I had no real way to carry pounds of food to a cabin that was a mile or so away through the snow. I stared at the cooler. It was a giant thing with wheels and a handle. That would have to do. I pulled out the cooler, which only had five pounds of bacon and a pack of steaks in it, loaded it with as much as I could, then stacked what I was able to on top before locking up the car. There was more he could have, but I’d have to make another trip back.

I tugged on the thick winter coat I almost never wore, a hat, and some gloves, then pulled the cooler to the trail. The wheels were almost useless. The snow on the path was shoveled, but not sturdy enough to roll on, so it was like pulling a lead weight. It wasn’t until I hit a dozen or so yards into the trees that the cooler seemed to find ice and begin to slide.

Thank god.

There were tracks along the edge of the trail. I examined them as I walked. Rabbit I thought, since they were small and sort of looked like a dick dragging through the snow. It made me laugh a little. A wild dick running through the woods, a meme I’d seen a few times but could actually fit it to factual life. City boy like me wouldn’t normally know much about wildlife, but Zach had arranged for a local hunter to come in and give mini tours of the woods, and how to identify critters. I admit I took it because the forest surrounding the manor was endless and very intimidating. I’d had lots of nightmares since starting the job about being snatched by mountain lions or bears. The hunter assured us that both were rare even in the manor’s huge stretch of woods. He’d given us a little e-guide of footprints to keep saved on our phone. Birds, squirrels, and rabbits were easy. The bigger stuff we were to avoid if we saw a hint of a handful of things. The class had helped ease some worries, but I kept my eyes peeled.

After several yards there were a scattering of bigger tracks. Okay well, they were huge. I paused to look at them, holding my hand beside one to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing. Yeah, bigger than my hand. Wolf, maybe? Nature queen I was not. But it looked sort of like a dog print. Big ass dog, or wolf. Should I go back?

I looked around, wary of the woods now, though the tracks disappeared into the trees heading away from the trail. No sign of movement. Hopefully that wolf was napping somewhere far away after its little rabbit chase.

Turning back to the supplies, I tugged it and we rolled along for a while, me just following the trail and hoping it would lead me somewhere. The cold was more intense out here. Wind not as strong as the trees acted as a good break, but the temperature almost seemed to drop. I tugged my jacket up and hat down, leaving little more than my eyes clear. Could eyes freeze? They sort of felt like it.