The Werewolf of Fever Swamp

15

When I opened my eyes, the hideous pile of feathers and blood-covered flesh was still at my feet.

"Wh-what is it?" Will stammered.

It took me a long while to realize we were staring at a bird. A large heron.

It was hard to recognize because it had been torn apart.

Long, white feathers were scattered over the soft ground. The poor bird's chest had been torn wide open.

"The swamp hermit!" Will cried.

"Huh?" I cried. I turned away from the hideous sight and tried to force the image from my mind.

"That's why he had blood all over his shirt!" Will declared.

"But why would he rip a bird apart?" I asked weakly.

"Because… because he's a monster!" Will exclaimed.

"He's just a weird old guy who lives alone in the swamp," I said. "He didn't do this, Will. Some kind of animal did it. Look!" I pointed to the ground.

There were paw prints in the soft ground. All around the dead bird.

"They look like dog's paws," I said, thinking out loud.

"Dogs don't rip apart birds," Will replied quietly.

At that moment, Wolf came bounding up to us through the weeds. He came to a stop in front of the dead bird and started to sniff it.

"Get away from there, Wolf," I ordered. "Come on. Get away." I tugged him back, pulling him with both hands around his thick neck.

"Let's get home," Will said. "Let's get away from this thing. I'm going to have bad dreams. I really will."

I pulled Wolf with both hands. We stepped carefully around the dead heron and then hurried toward the swamp edge. Neither of us said a word. I guess we were both still picturing what we had seen.

As we reached the flat grass behind our houses, I said good-bye to Will. I watched him hurry to his house. Wolf scampered after him for part of the way. Then he turned and hurried back to me.

The late afternoon sun burned its way through the clouds. I shielded my eyes from the sudden brightness, and saw my dad working in the deer pen behind the house.

"Hey, Dad — " I ran toward him over the grass.

He glanced up when I called to him. He was wearing denim cutoffs and a sleeveless yellow T-shirt. He had an Orlando Magic cap pulled down over his forehead. "What's up, Grady?"

"Will and I — we saw a dead heron," I told him breathlessly.

"Where? In the swamp?" he asked casually. He pulled off the cap, wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, and replaced the cap.

"Dad, it — it was torn apart!" I cried.

He didn't react. "That's part of life in the wild," he said, pulling up one of the deer's hooves to examine the bottom. "You know that, Grady. It can get pretty violent out there. We've talked about survival of the fittest and stuff like that."

"No, Dad. This is different," I insisted. "The heron — it was ripped in two. I mean, like someone took it, and — "

"Another bird, maybe," Dad said, concentrating on the deer hoof. "A larger bird of prey. It could have been — "

"We saw the swamp hermit," I interrupted. "He had blood all over his shirt. Then we saw paw prints in the ground. All around the dead bird."

"Grady, calm down," Dad said, setting down the deer's leg. "If you go exploring in the swamp, you're going to see a lot of frightening-looking things. But don't let your imagination run away with you."

"Will said it was done by a monster!" I exclaimed.

Dad frowned and scratched his head through the cap. "I see your new friend has a good imagination, too," he said quietly.

That night, I was glad my parents agreed to let Wolf sleep in my room. I felt a lot safer with the big dog curled up on the rug beside my bed.

I hadn't been able to shake the ugly picture of the dead heron from my mind. I watched some TV until dinnertime. Then after dinner, I played a long chess game with Emily.

But no matter what I did, I kept seeing the white feathers scattered over the ground, the torn-apart bird lying crumpled on the path.

So now I felt a little comforted with Wolf sleeping in the room. "You'll protect me, won't you, boy?" I whispered from my bed.

He uttered a low snort. Light from the full moon spilled over him through the window. I saw that he was sleeping with his head resting on his two front paws.

Then I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

I don't know how long I slept.

I was awakened some time later by a horrifying crash.

I sat straight up with a startled gasp.

The crash had come from the living room, I realized.

Someone was breaking in!