New studio

[joseph engraver]

I was barely awake when I heard the toilet flush. Then he came hobbling on his crutches into my room. “Rise and shine James, I have a lot unfinished things to do today. I want to have a good breakfast and get an early start. Is there sausage or bacon in the house and can you make Pancakes?”
With my eyes still closed I said, yes sir.
Good! , now you get up, while I fix coffee and open a can of tuna for Alice.
After I finally was up, dressed, and awake. I went to the kitchen and found a box of Hungry Jack´s old fashion pancake mix, milk and smoked bacon. Following the instructions on the box I soon had a stack of pancakes sitting in front of my uncle. I expected him to eat the whole pile, but he ate only one, along with two pieces of bacon. Then he pushed the plate away.
Eat, eat James, you are going to need the energy. Today, we are going to the city. I want go to the bank, talk to a lawyer, and go to an auction house to get something appraised. Do you have any identification you can bring with you?
Yes I do uncle; I have my library card, a social security card and my learners driving permit, and a savings account card.
Good for you nephew, bring all of them with you, they might come in handy
A bank, lawyer and appraisal from an auction house sounded ominous to me. I asked.
Uncle, is there some kind of financial trouble you are in? He finished his third cup of coffee, called Alice who immediately hopped on his lap. No trouble, I just need to put some personal things in order. Now you call a cab, while I package something that I need to take to town. He petted Alice and she began to purr, then he said,
You Alice; are staying home There are too many oriental restaurants that would like to find a place for a fat cat on their menu. Now I had never seen him without Alice, and this worried me even more
I wondered what he was up to, as I cleaned up the mess I had made fixing pancakes that he hardly touched.
It was one hour before the cab arrived. My uncle was waiting impatiently in his wheel chair outside. He was very agitated. He said,
Leave the chair here. Today we are travelling light and I will be using my crutches .I don´t like to leave Alice home but she will be fine for a few hours. Then he told me to go back into the house and bring out a package he had left on his bed.
On his bed I found a heavy package wrapped in news paper. I picked it up and rushed out to the cab, surprised to find my uncle already seated and waiting for me with the door open. The cabby opened the trunk, I put the package in, and then my uncle said to the driver. Take us down town to 2052 Mission Street.
While we were riding he told me that he intended to have the package appraised, and wanted to see how the appraiser would react when he saw what it contained.
I was dying with curiosity. Uncle; what is in the package?
He laughed, and then put his arm over my shoulder as he said .You will have to wait James, I want you to be surprised. And then the cab pulled up to the curb.
Let’s sit at that bench for a bit James. I am a bit tired and want to just rest and smoke my pipe, and watch the people as they pass by. Once he got his pipe lit and was enjoying puffing on it he said,
James at one time this street was overflowing with America’s best and bravest youth. All of them dressed in Navy, Army, and Marine uniforms. Thousands of them never returned.
I consider myself very fortunate to be able to sit here and thank God for keeping me alive this long. When I returned from Hawaii, my sister Lillian met me in San Diego .Together we returned to San Francisco, rented a small shop with living space in the back. It was on this very same street that we opened a pawn and loan business.
Lillian took care of the accounts and paid the expenses, many of the soldiers had not the funds to even pay their passage home. I made loans to them using the small savings we had to loan money on the souvenirs they brought home with them as collateral. Eventually the shop flourished, we ran that business for almost fifty years. Then this spring Lillian died. I closed the shop and liquidated its inventory, that is when you mother and father decided that I needed to move in with them.
Funny, that for all the years I have known them, it is the first time they have any interest in my welfare.
I am sure it has to do with money, and who I am going to leave it to. That is why I need to go to the bank this afternoon. They may be surprised at how little I have left. But I will make sure they are not disappointed. Now I feel rested. He handed me the mysterious package and said.
It is time we go and get this appraised. Now you hail a cab and we will go to Bonham’s auction house to see what they think this may be worth.
Upon arriving, we went into the Bonham building where met a security guard who asked my uncle what was in the package. I was surprised when uncle Earl said what I had been carrying around all morning was a Japanese sword.
He called the Arms and armor department, and then he directed us to be seated.
We waited for at least a hour before a fat man wearing thick glasses, baggy pants and a tee shirt with large black question marks printed all over it showed up.
Sorry to keep you waiting so long, you have no appointment and I was in a meeting, I would have turned you away but I am very interested in seeing your sword. Let´s take a seat at that table where you will be comfortable-Once we were seated and before seeing it he asked. Where did you find it?
I did not find it I bought it after the war from a returning marine. I have had it for over fifty years and need this appraised... The appraiser asked my uncle to unwrap the bundle. Uncle Earl gave me the package and told me to remove the wrapping. The first thing I saw was a white and blood red silk cloth.
At that moment the appraiser took hold of my arm, looked at the cloth and said.
I think it will be better if I do the unwrapping.
I looked at my uncle not sure what I was to do. He nodded his head saying, Go ahead James, he his more experienced in these things. I watched as the cloth was unwound.
Excited, I said, it’s a flag. I could see that the appraiser was also excited as he said. This is not just a flag; it is the Imperial flag of the Japanese navy.
With the flag removed the sword lay exposed on the table. The appraiser but on a pair of white gloves picked it up and began to study the markings embossed into sheath, he drew the sword from the sheath studied the gold tassels attached to the swords grip, and then he asked the guard to bring him a magnifying glass. While we waited, he said to my uncle, this appears to be a very rare item that belonged to high ranking naval officer, and the flag is most interesting. Do you want to put them up for auction or sell it outright?
Uncle Earl nodded his head saying as he did, he indeed want to sell both the flag and the sword.
Let me complete examining the blades forging, engraving and maker’s proof marks and then I will be able to give you cash price for these items.

[joseph engraver]

As we were walking out of the auction house with the bank draft and appraisal letter, I asked,
Uncle Earl, did you know that your sword was worth thirteen thousand dollars? He did not answer me instead he lit his pipe, and then he said. You must be hungry, let´s find a Chinese restaurant...When we were seated , he finally said.
No James, I did not have any idea of its value, and I am sure that the auction house will sell it for at least fifty percent more. But what is more interesting to me is that I have three just like it put away in a trunk. And, there are more trunks in storage, full of rare things I have collected over the last fifty years. Now I think it is time to have some Chinese food for lunch.
I was very hungry and ate all the Shrimp Chow Mein and Spring roll, but my uncle only ate his rice and drank his tea, then read his fortune cookie. What does yours say uncle? He handed it to me to read. “You will go on a great adventure.”
Now James what does yours tell you? I broke mine in half pulled out the white slip of paper and could not believe my eyes when I read “Good Fortune is near “
I was worried that he was not eating and asked him why he was not hungry?
Don’t you fret, James I am saving my appetite for the right occasion?
He asked the waitress to call for a cab, paid the bill, and we sat in silence until it showed up.
As I helped him into the cab he said, Let´s go to your bank first, I owe you for the day at the park; I want to put this check in your savings account.
I thought he was joking, and did not believe my uncle.
Uncle Earl have you lost your mind, you must be going senile.
He laughed so loudly that the cabby turned to see if he was having a fit. With tears of laughter and a huge smile he said.
No James, I am completely sane. I have precious little time left , and if I don’t give this money away it will end up in my estate and your parents and lawyers will get it, but as long as I am alive I can give it to anyone I care to and I care that you should have it on one condition. That you promise me you will take care of Alice after I die.
I promise you Uncle. Then I began to cry.
Don’t cry James you have nothing to cry over, now let’s put this money in your account .What bank do you have you savings account with? I dried my tears and wiped my dripping nose on my sleeve and said. It is the Bank of The west on Bush Street.
Cabby, Take us there and wait for us. The cabby shrugged his shoulders looked at us in his mirror and said. "The meter on this cab don’t stop running until I shut it off .It ´s your money and I aint got no place I want to be."
As I helped my uncle out of the cab and into the banks lobby. He said.
James it has become a long day for me, I am feeling a bit tired. I will just sit here enjoy the air conditioning. You take the check and have it deposited into your account.
At the tellers window I presented my saving book and gave him the check, then told him that the man sitting by the entrance was my great uncle and he had endorsed the check. He looked over to where he was sitting, then went over to him and asked for his identification. Five minutes later I had a new savings account balance of $ 13, 200 and 68 cents.
Uncle Earl looked very pale as I helped him into the cab.
When we were seated he said to me. Let’s go home nephew. I would like to take Alice back to the park, listen to the birds singing and the children playing.
Alice was watching from the window when we arrived home. I sat my uncle in his wheel chair, opened the door and she came outside and immediately jumped on to his lap. He petted her, let out a long tired sighed and said.
It is good to be home again. Now please take us to the park, I would like a chocolate milk shake. Do you think you can find that for me there? I was relieved to hear that he wanted to eat something and said.
Of course I can uncle; I also know where to find a great ham sandwich with tomatoes, pickles, and lettuce on pumpernickel bread. I was happy to see him smile again, but sad when he answered,
That is good James. If you want one buy one for yourself. I will just sit here and watch Alice chase the squirrels.
The sun was settling into the horizon, the air had turned cool and the fireflies began to glow in the park. He looked at the flowers and said,
I think that amongst those roses will be a nice place to spread my ashes.
When we finished eating, Alice jumped onto his lap, I knew it was time to go home and help him undress and put him to bed. As I pushed him along the walkway he began to ramble about his life.
I never married or had children, but I wish I could have had a son. When I came home from Hawaii I decided that no woman would want a half man, so I stayed a bachelor and lived with my sister, we lived on my pension and the income from the pawn shop.
The sword I sold today I bought for forty dollars in 1947, you can see that it has appreciated in value over the years. I have many things from the Pacific and Europe wars .I also have a large collection from the civil war and the Indian wars out west...I have absolutely no idea of their worth, but I know that they are valuable.
When I die and they become part of my estate and they will go to your parents. And if that happens they will want to get rid of them and call someone from The Salvation Army to take them away. That is why I am going to give them to you as payment for taking such good care of me.
James, I wanted to show you my collection today, but I became too tired. Tomorrow we will have to go back to the city, I want you to see my collection and I still need to go to my bank.
I expect your parents will return soon, and then your job of taking care of me will be done.
I am very tired now please take us home and feed Alice before you retire.

[joseph engraver]

I had to wake him in order to undress him and put him into his bed. With tears flowing down my cheeks I put away his artificial leg, folded his clothes and put them on his dresser and went to feed Alice her tuna fish, then I turned on the TV but found nothing of interest. After she had eaten, she jumped into my lap and stayed there until I turned out the lights and went to bed.
It was impossible for me to sleep. My uncle’s conversation and the thought of his collection kept me awake until I felt Alice jump onto my bed and curl up near my feet.


He was up at sunrise; I could smell his coffee brewing. I found him in the kitchen, dressed in his bath robe and opening a tin of tuna for Alice while she pranced around his crutches. He looked pale and grey, but he smiled when he saw me.
Do you ever feed your cat anything but tuna uncle?
No James, if you read the label on all the different brands of cat food you will see they all have, “Not for human consumption” on them. Now why in the hell would I feed my cat a product that I am not supposed to eat? I am fixing a piece toast with peanut butter and marmalade do want me to fix some for you?
Uncle you need to eat more than a piece of toast, you don’t look well and I am worried about you.
James, I told you that I plan to eat a good meal. I think that I am ready for a rib eye steak, mashed potatoes and maybe green beans in butter, and a glass or two of win tonight. Now you stop worrying and eat what you want, then fix me a bath in that Jacuzzi, then we will be going back to town.
He put the tuna in a bowl and gave it to Alice, and then he ate his toast and finished a second cup of black coffee.
This time he willingly got into the Jacuzzi and soaked for a half hour. When he was finished and I had dried him off and helped him to dress, he again kissed me on both cheeks and said,
Thank you James, I feel much better, now call us a cab and we shall go to town. Today you are going to see my collection after I stop at my bank.
When we were parked in front of the Wells Fargo Bank I got out and opened the door for him, then helped him out of the cab. He adjusted his crutches stood up tall and straight, then told to wait for him. He turned around and walked towards the bank.
As I watched him go I could see that he was having trouble, at one moment I was sure he would collapse. I went to him but he refused my arm.
I am fine, now please wait, I need to do this on my own. I will not be long.
Then he left me and disappeared behind the automated glass doors .I could tell he was determined to go alone and told the cabby to wait. It seemed to take forever, but then I saw him slowly making his way back to where I was standing.
He put a bank bag and some envelopes on the seat and let out a sigh of relief.
There, James, that business here is finished, now we go and see the collection.
I helped him into the cab and he gave directions to our next stop .As we rode, he said.
There is a storage unit where I have put all the things I have collected over the years. The sword is one item that I sold from it. The reason I sold it is so you would have a better understanding of the potential value of my collection. Not because I needed money.
Today, I will make arrangements for all of it to be shipped to your home. These trunks and cases contain memorabilia from the Revolutionary, Civil and the Indian wars, pistols, swords, flags, uniforms, bayonet, medals, photographs and much more. They are very heavy, too heavy for us, but I will arrange for them to be shipped today. I am sure everything will be delivered to your home by this afternoon.
There is so much that I want to explain .But I have saved books on the value of things such as these, and I am sure you can figure it out what to do once you study them. You are a bright boy, and I will be well pleased if these things help fund your education.
When we arrived at the storage company, he stopped at the office and picked up the keys, and then we opened the storage unit. It was not very large, it was dark but I could see four large military style trunks on the floor.
He gave me a set of keys and said. There is two hundred years of history in those trunks. You will find the contents well packed away, safe from mildew, mice, and moths and rust. I have not opened them since I had them brought here after Lillian died.
I was overwhelmed by emotion and I began to sob as I said.
Uncle, I do not want you to die for a long time, I want you to live, I love you and I don’t want these things you have cared for.
I know you love me James, and you must know that I love you.
You are so very young and I am sure you cannot comprehend death.
I want you to understand that every one’s life is a series of steps, each one bringing us to its inevitable end. One of the most enjoyable moments in my life has been meeting you, and finding a person that can be rewarded by my existence on this earth. I could never have told you anything about them, but I know that the storage company would sell them, you parents will give them away to the Salvation Army and they would be scattered everywhere, and my total life would be meaningless. I am not giving you an easy task, you will have to spend many months researching each item if you want to find the rewards they can bring .Do you understand how I feel?
Here are the keys to the trunks and an inventory letter that goes with them; this is not the right place to open them.
Now we go to the office and get these things shipped to your home. With your help tonight I will fix dinner .We need to buy steaks, vegetables, and a bottle of good California wine, cognac, and chocolate ice-cream for desert.
We had been home not long when the delivery truck drove up to the house. Looking very pleased, my uncle told them to take the trunks to his room and deposit them there. After settling the bill he said.
I feel much better. Now we will take Alice to the park, where I can enjoy the fresh air, late afternoon sun and look at the roses. Tonight, we will have a good meal together, and I promise I will eat everything.
That night he did eat everything and drank two glasses of wine. After dinner he gave me the bank bag and two notarized letter´s he had had written for him at his bank.
This, James is all the money I have. This letter confirms that I am giving it to my niece, your mother and her husband as payment for the care they have given me.
And this letter gives you the four trunks as a present for the wonderful time i have spent with you. Now would you open that bottle of brandy for me James? I am tired and want to have a good night’s sleep, and a bit of brandy is just what I need.
I said, I hope sleep well uncle, and then i helped him to bed. I returned to the kitchen, opened a can of tuna for Alice and cleaned the table, and then I went to bed. As I was falling asleep Alice curled up next to me.
In the morning I woke late. Alice was gone and my uncle was still not up.
I went into his room and found Alice sitting next to him. There was a note on his bedside table along with a small navy blue leather case. The note said, Open this up now.
Inside I found The Navy Cross.
I touched his hand and felt his flesh cold as ice. My heart was shattered by a devastating sadness. Five day later I put the Navy Cross around Alice´s neck took her to the park and we spread my Great Uncle´s ashes amoungst the roses.
The End

[joseph engraver]

I am a content writer for the Manchester Union Leader. When I am on assignment I get to enjoy the New Hampshire country side, eat in every new restaurant that opens, and attend all the fairs, and festivals and write general articles of interest that fill the Leaders pages
When I am not writing and I want solitude to think, I take my camera along and go fishing. This is exactly what I was doing during the hot summer month of August. This time my escape from the heat, the office, my wife Beverly and my 12 year old daughter Sylvia, was on a small lake in Sullivan County named Little Sunapee.
It was there that I found myself standing on a wooden dock next to a shirtless man. He was sitting in a canvas chair wearing only swimming trunks and drinking from a pint bottle of Canadian Club whiskey. He had a long cane pole propped against the railing while he patiently watched a red and white plastic bobber floating on the clear water.
I have learned that it is often better to say excuse me, than may I. Not being shy, I put down my equipment, started assembling my fishing rod and said “How is the fishing”
Without looking or turning around he said. I am not fishing I am thinking, and whoever you are this is private property and you are trespassing.
I have been told many times the same thing, only to find that it was not true. I had walked quite a distance along the shore to find this spot and I was not about to go away without at least knowing If he was telling the truth.
I don’t see a private property; keep out, no trespassing signs .so why should I not fish here?
He turned around to look me. His face was etched in lines of sadness and I was taken by the over whelming look of despair he presented.
I built this dock, and the house you see behind it. I never thought that some stranger would come along and arrogantly park his ass on my land .And then question me about a no trespassing sign.
I turned away and looked at the house he was talking about .It was a very pleasant setting , a small neat cottage and garage built with carefully fitted field stones, the roof was covered with hand split cedar shakes that now were covered with lichen moss. The yard was recently mown and red tulips bordered the paving stone walkway the led to this wooden dock.
I am sorry for intruding. Please accept my apology, then I picked up my tackle and started to leave.
Do you mind if I take a few photos of your home before I leave’ I asked?
If that is what it takes to get you off my dock go ahead, but why do you want to?
I am a writer for the Manchester Union Leader, and your home is just the sort of place that few city folks have ever seen. If I have your permission I will purplish it in the Sunday’s travel and entertainment edition.
In that case you may not take any pictures, and I will be damned if you can write anything about me.
The last thing I want is to have a bunch of nosey people poking and prying into my life again. I cannot take any more of that.
He got up from his chair, came up to me, glared into my eyes and yelled. “Now get to hell out of here before I throw you, your camera and gear into the lake.”
It was very obvious he meant it; I apologized once more and left.
While I was walking back to my car I began thinking about this man and his words. ”The last thing I want is nosey people poking and prying in to my life again.”
My curiosity was aroused and I determined that when I returned to my office to find out what this man was hiding and why he looked so despondent and sad. When I got home I put away my fishing gear and went into the kitchen, gave Beverly a kiss on her neck and a pat on her butt.
No fish today dear, I was thrown out of this man’s property before I could even wet a line. He seems to be a very odd duck and tomorrow I am going to do a bit of detective work and find out more about him. She smiled and said “That´s nice, I am glad you had a good day and there are no fish clean. Now change your cloths and wash up. I fixed something special for supper, stuffed onions, mushroom caps and grilled eggplant with veal chops.
After supper I went out side with Sylvia to play her favorite game of hide and seek .I could not help thinking how fortunate I am to have her and my beautiful wife as my life’s companions.
The next morning I used the county maps and located the lot. Then i called the County Register of Deeds to find out who owned the property on the lake Little Sunapee. I talked to the very helpful clerk and explained I worked for the Union Leader, and then gave her my phone and fax.
She said she would fax me as soon as she found time to look up the title, when it was purchased, and who the present owner is.
I finished the Sunday article about Profile Lake and all of the attractions there, and was going home to my wife when the Fax came in. I took it out of the machine stuck in into my briefcase and left my office. .
In the morning as soon as I was in my office, I took out the fax and found it had all the information I had asked for.
“ Lot # 266 Little Sunapee Lake, Scott Thomas Pinkerton ,Registered as purchaser in 1992 paid $17,400.00 dollars ,received a building permit for a single private dwelling in December 1991, yearly property taxes $600.00 no delinquencies.”
There was something very familiar about the name, while tried to recall where I had heard it, my editor came into my office.
Ralph Shoemaker is the person who knows everything and everyone in Sullivan, Merrimack and Rockingham Counties. He has been working at the Union Leader since the fifties and reads and edits everything that the paper puts into print .He looked over my shoulder at my computer screen. When he saw the name Pinkerton he asked me what I was doing. I told him of my meeting at Sunapee Lake and how he threw me off his property.
Bill, you have met one of the most unfortunate men that I know of. I have often wondered what happened to him after his daughter disappeared. That was the biggest story to hit Rockingham County. It was front page news nationwide. It devastated him, destroyed his marriage and subjected him to a long and painful investigation that I think eventually caused his wife to take her own life.

Now I got to go, just stopped by to tell your next assignment is the hot air balloon show in Deerfield next week.
That explained the melancholy man at the lake, and became the motivation I needed to find out all I could about this man.
The first part as simply a matter of searching the archives of The Union Leader, The first headline I found was dated April 6th 19 96. I looked at the photograph of a smiling girl with blonde hair dressed in a neat school uniform. She was holding a tennis racket and I was struck by her resemblance to my daughter.
Missing Twelve Year Old Girl
A young girl has disappeared from the Auburn boarding school.
Sylvia Pinkerton was last seen walking away from the school on the morning of May 4th.She was going to a tennis match sponsored by the school. She was dressed in a wool plaid blue and white skirt, white blouse, navy blue waist length jacket, black loafers and carrying her tennis racket. If you have seen this girl or know her whereabouts please contact your local police. I looked at the photo again and was struck by the thought of how much she resembled my own daughter, and the coincidence that they had the same first name.
I spent hours researching, and reading the stories surrounding her disappearance.
The last one published 6 weeks later was on page two, and consisted of a recap of the incident and said that no trace of the girl had been found despite many searches of the using cadaver dogs, and extensive interviews with her parents, school mates and administrators. Authorities have concluded that she is to be listed as abduction, or possible runaway who disappeared under suspicious circumstances, the investigation was ongoing.
Determined to find out more, I once again looked up Pinkerton, and then i found an article dated June 20 1996.
Janet Pinkerton, mother of the missing Auburn Boarding School student Sylvia Pinkerton and wife of Scott Pinkerton died in a one car accident on route 4 at 10.00 pm.
Autopsy report shows at the time she was under the influence of alcohol and prescription narcotics. When her husband was finally notified, he was working on an oil drilling platform operated by Brown and Root Company in the Gulf of Mexico-
Memorial service to be held at the Howard Funeral Home in Manchester New Hampshire, on June twenty third at 10, 30 AM.
It was still daylight when I got home, I found Beverly working in her greenhouse.
Well, you are a surprise I did not expect you home till six.
Bev, I have been researching that man I told you I met at the lake, and now I know why he looks so forlorn. In 1996 his daughter disappeared and has never been found, and two months later his wife was killed in an automobile crash.
After thinking about him, and what he said to me about people meddling in his life. I have come to the conclusion that he is going to commit suicide, and he is going to do soon, and I don’t know what to do about it.
Oh Bill this is terrible, if you are sure, we have to do something, At least we need to go and talk to him and see if you are right, or if your imagination is running wild. Can we go visit him, perhaps you are wrong?
I don’t think he takes kindly to anyone, but maybe if we were the go as a family picnic he might not throw us off his land .Did I tell you his daughter is also named Sylvia?
I have to go to the Deerfield hot air balloon festival early Sunday morning. Why don’t we all go? I will make arrangements so we can take a short tethered ride together while I take photos for the Sunday’s paper.
Sunapee Lake is close by; we can fix a picnic lunch and take a swim there. If I introduce him to you, then Sylvia can try to convince him to let us use his dock to swim from.
We got to the fairgrounds just as the sun was rising and I took photos of the men and women who were in the process of unpacking tons of ropes, propane, and oxygen tanks, their wonderfully colored balloons and wicker gondola baskets. By 8 AM five of them were slowly making their assent into cloudless sky. There were two commercial balloon pilots that offered short rides to the tourists. Their balloons were firmly anchored to the ground with ropes that allowed the riders to ascend into the air far enough to provide a wonderful view of the country side, and then lower them back to the point of departure
Wanting to take some aerial photos I arranged to take Sylvia and Beverly with me so they could share the experience... While we were floating high in the air I was amazed at how precise and mysterious the miles of stone walls the farmers of New Hampshire had put up during the seventeenth and eighteenth looked. I wondered if they had been put in place using a surveyor’s transit. I had never noticed them until today even though they are a common sight in New Hampshire.
When we touched back down on the earth, Sylvia wanted to take a real trip, and fly over the whole country of America. I thought about the cost of such an adventure and gave her the only reply that would keep me out of the doghouse. I said, dearest, that sounds exciting. Your mom and I will discuss it later. Now we are planning to go swimming at the lake and have a nice picnic.
Scott Pinkerton was in his usual place staring at the red and white plastic bobber, when he heard a woman’s voice call out “Sylvia don’t go too far out in the water” .The shock of hearing his daughters name brought him instantly out of his chair. At first he could not believe he had heard the name Sylvia.
Then he looked to his left and saw a girl with long blonde hair .She was waving at her mother who was standing knee deep in the lake. Again the woman called “Sylvia come out now the lunch is ready.” Then a man wearing swimming trunks appeared and dove into the water, when he reached the girl a hoisted her onto his shoulders as she laughed and splashed him with water. While they were wading to shore the man turned to him and waved.
Scott instantly recognized him as the man he had thrown off of his dock earlier in the week.
He was tempted to turn his back and ignore him, but when he looked at the girl the only thought that entered his mind was, how much she looked like his own daughter.
Instead he walked off of his dock and went to talk to the intruding picnickers. As he approached he heard the girl say “Look, Daddy that man, is coming over here.”I took Sylvia off my shoulders, set her down, and told her that the man owned the house and dock next to us.
Scott Pinkerton stood staring at the young girl, and her parents. He could not make up his mind whether to say hello, or to tell them to leave. Then the girl smiled at him and said. Mister, can I use your dock to swim from?
The sound of her voice caused such a turmoil in him it took him time to answer her, and when he did. He said. I think that would be ok, I built it for my daughter Sylvia, but no one has used it for a long time.
Mister, your daughter is name Sylvia also, that makes us Name Sisters.
At school if a girl has the same first name we become sisters. We tell each other our secrets, and become lifelong friends. No one has my same first name, so now I have one too. Is she here? Can I meet her?
Scott shook his head and his voice cracked when he said, I cannot introduce you to her, she has gone away. But later after you have had your lunch and you come over to my dock I can show you pictures of her
I chose that moment to stick out my hand in a gesture of friendliness.
“We haven’t introduced ourselves and I owe you an apology for my rudeness last week. I am Bill Joyce, this chatterbox is 12 year old Sylvia, and this is her mother Beverly”. He replied I am Scott Pinkerton. When I shook his hand it was impossible not to notice how calloused by hard work it was.
Beverly said hello, and then surprised me when she invited him to share lunch with us. He stood undecided and finally said, No thank you I have just finished eating.
Sylvia reached into the picnic basket and then gave him a large cookie. Mr. Scott you have to try my special cookie; it is my very own recipe. I invented it for the school bake sale, and everyone loved them. I call them the Smile cookie, because everyone who ate one gave me a big smile, and told me how delicious it was.
Scott reluctantly took the cookie from her hand. Saying as he did. It has been a very long time since I have smiled.
Well, Mr. Scott you take a big bite, and I am sure that it will make you smile again. A hint of smile suddenly formed in the corners of that sad face. He took a bite, smacked his hands together and with a large grin said. Sylvia, this cookie must have a magic ingredient, I am smiling.
Now you eat lunch and I will see you later. Then still smiling he left and returned to his property.
Beverly and I looked at one another, and then she said, Bill you were right that man is suffering inside. We must help him if we can and I think our daughter has the key.
Scott Pinkerton went up the stone walkway, past the tulip beds that his wife and daughter had planted and with a sigh of resignation opened the front door. Every time he did this in the past he was drunk. Today for the first time he was still sober. He went into the living room and took down from the field stone fireplace mantle a large photo album. He held in his work harden hands and thought how his life had been changed since the last photos had been placed in it. Then he slowly shook his head as if to clear the thoughts from his mind, as he carried the album down to his dock.
He had been sitting there for an hour when the girl and her father arrived. The girl walked up to him and asked if it was alright if she jumped in the water.
He started to say yes, when her father Bill said, Sylvia can´t you see that Mr. Pinkerton is fishing, as he pointed to the bobber. Scott put down the album, reached for the fishing rod and lifted the bobber from the water. I never put a baited hook on it. I just watch it and think. Now you may use my dock as much as you like. Instantly she flew of the deck and hit the water with a splash. As they watched Sylvia swimming Bill scratched his head in confusion.
Scott, do you mean to tell me that you never wanted to catch a fish, only sit and watch a hook less bobber. Do even like to fish?
Fish, I do not consider the minnows in this lake fish, when I am at work I use this size fish for bait, to catch tuna, barracuda, red snapper and even marlin.
I wish I had taken my daughter out on this lake to see how she would react if she caught a fish, but I was too busy building this dock and the house and making money. I never got to do it .Now I sit here watching a bobber and think of how much I miss her.
I have to return to my job this week, I work on an offshore deep water oil platform and i will be away for at least five weeks. There is a canoe in the garage. If you want to take your daughter out on the lake so you will never have missed the chance to see her catch a fish, you have my permission to use it any time while I am gone. As a matter of fact, if you want to take her out today, I know a cove where there is several decent size bass. I can get the boat out and we could take her there. I have made up my mind that will never see my daughter again, but it would be nice to see yours catch her first fish...
That is very kind of you Scott, why don’t you ask her? She really likes you and so does her mother, I am not sure that she will go, as she stays close to Beverly...Scott stood the called out “Sylvia would you like to go fishing? Sylvia waved her arms and called back. No thank you Mr. Pinkerton, I am having too much fun here.
From behind them Beverly said. I have never wanted to kill a poor fish either. Why don’t you men go and leave us here. I will enjoy a swim with her. Scott looked at me and said. I need to talk. Help me to get the canoe out and carry it down here, then He gave the album to Beverly. When you finally get your daughter out of the water and dried off, she can look at this.
At the garage he pointed to a key hidden in a crevasse in the stone wall. I will leave it here in case you want to use the canoe while I am away.
The canvas covered twelve foot Grumman canoe was next to a new Toyota pickup. Scott pulled it off tossed into the bed of the truck. From a rack he took two fishing rods, a box of tackle and lures, life jackets, a net and the paddle into the canoe. Then he said. The easy part is done, now all we have to do is carry it all down to the dock.
Once the two men were paddling away, the women found a comfortable place in the sun and opened the album.
Scott was strong, and he silently drove the canoe with determination to a quiet cove on the north side of the lake.
Finally he spoke.
I came here this May. The same day my daughter disappeared two years earlier. I had a pistol, ready to blow my brains out. My daughter had not been found and that drove my wife to the edge of insanity. She started take medications for depression and was drinking too much. Then one night while I was on the oil rig I got a call from the local police, they told me that she had died in a car accident
I flew home and made calls to her mother and father. There was an ugly argument with them. They accused me of not caring and also insinuated that I had been responsible for Sylvia’s disappearance, because I had given the school my permission for her to participate in a tennis match in town. I have been carrying this overwhelming guilt ever since.
While I sat in this canoe trying to find the courage to pull the trigger, a doe walked out of the woods and stepped into the water.
She saw me, but made no move to leave. Instead she came closer. When she was not more than a dozen steps away she looked straight at me. I don’t know how to explain this to you Bill, but I felt as if she was trying to tell me something.
I could sense that she was my daughter saying. Don’t give up Daddy, you must find these killers. They are a vicious pack of wolves that prey on the innocent. Find the ones that are butchering the deer, and you will find the ones who have killed me. Then the doe slowly turned and disappeared into the woods.
I know this is unbelievable. But I am sure that there is somehow a connection. I need you to help me. You have access to do a search on deer that have been killed in the area. Will you please do that for me while I am gone?
Scott, I also have a daughter and it is impossible for me to not help you. I promise you I will, but to be honest, I don’t recall many stories about wolves in this area .I think we need to go back to the dock.
As we headed back to the dock Scott said .I have thought about this every day for months and I think it is human wolves. If it was animals they would have found the remains of Sylvia a long time ago.
And how do you explain the still unidentified woman whose remains they found devoured by animals? Why was her body found in the woods on the other side of a stone wall after the snow melted? Someone had to have put her there, had to throw her body over the wall to conceal her in a ten foot snow drift for the entire winter. I don’t think one person could do that without help.
As we approached the dock Scott said, Bill I am glad you came back here, and brought your family with you. It is getting dark and I know you must go now, so I will put the canoe away later. Thank you so very much for listening to me.
To be continued

[joseph engraver]

When we arrived the girls were putting away the picnic blanket and packing the rest of the lunch. Sylvia was hugging the album to her breasts.
Even though we were still in the canoe she could not restrain her enthusiasm as she called out; my Name sister is beautiful, mom told me that she disappeared and that we really do look like we are sisters. I will pray every night that you will find her Mr. Pinkerton. And I have made a package of Smile cookies for you. I hope that they help you to smile again.
Scott took the album and the cookies, thanked Sylvia and forced his face into a smile and kissed her on the forehead.
These are the best cookies I have ever eaten; they are so good that I think you need to sell them. I am sure they will be a great success. Then he shook my hand and said to Beverly.
Sylvia dose really look like her name sister, watch her carefully, she is precious. You can bring her to swim any time you wish.
Now I have to pack for my flight to Biloxi Mississippi. The winters are cold and I am alone here, so I spend them there. Here is my business card.
Call me anytime you want to bring your family out here to fish or swim, and I hope you learn something about the Wolves. Then he turned around and walked up the path and entered his home on Little Lake Sunapee.
What did Scott mean when he mentioned Wolves? Beverly asked as we started home.
I said, I don’t think this is the right time to talk about it Bev, it is not important. Once we are home remind me and I will tell you. Then I drove in silence, while Sylvia and her mom excitedly talked about how she was going into the Smile cookie business as soon as we got home.
“I know exactly where I can sell them Mom. I am sure that when I take them to Rosebuds and Misses Gustavo tastes one, she will buy bunches of them.”
I had once done a story about Rosebuds Restaurant.
The name Rosebuds came from the founders Bud and Rosalie Gustavo. They started a restaurant, ice-cream and sweet shop four years after their marriage. Rosalie ran it while Bud worked for the State of New Hampshire Highways road crews.
Rosebuds are located within walking distance from the elementary, junior high and high schools. It was a well chosen location and soon became the most popular place for school kids to hang out. As the years went by they added booths, a jukebox and a selection of burgers and hot dogs.
Bud was 24 and Rosalie17 when they first met at the Polish Club dance and were instantly attracted to one another. She was a hard working, short, stout and rather plain looking, whose family operated a livestock farm near the town of Derry. Bud considered her to be just the kind of woman he could easily control.
As for Rosalie, Bud was the ideal man she wanted to marry. He stood only 5 ft. 4 but he was built like a bull with a powerful and muscular peasant’s body, and he had a good job working for the State of New Hampshire.
After the dance was over, she willingly allowed him to have sex in the front seat of Bud’s truck. Three weeks later they were married, and nine months later on December seventh, Rosalie gave birth to twin identical boys that Bud named Karl and Kevin.
By the time Bud and Rosalie opened Rosebuds the twins had developed an uncanny resemblance to their father, a fact that made Bud very proud...He would take them to work leaving Rosalie to mind the Ice cream shop.
Bud and his two sons traveled the highway of southern New Hampshire and when they were getting ready for their first day of school. He told them about his first day of school, and how his classmates had called him the dwarf, because he was the smallest one. “They would push me, trip me, and laugh when they knocked me down. They even got me in the toilet, held me against the wall, and took turns pissing on me. Laughing and saying that they were fertilizing the dwarf, so I would grow. Now I am never let that happen to you. I am going to teach you how to fight to win. You and your brother are going to stick together defend each other with fists, feet, and even teeth. No one will dare to call you names or piss on you.”
True to his word Bud would take his sons into the woods where no one could see or hear, and have them fight each other until one or the other, was on the ground with a bloody nose begging his brother to stop.
Then he would pull them apart and make them hug and kiss each other, saying as he did so.
“No one will ever be able to hurt either of you when you stick together, because you two will be the wolves they will fear.” And their father was right; it did not take long before the bullies in school to learn to avoid the Gustavo twins.
Once the brothers discovered the power of fear they held over their classmates, they began to use it. They would follow the girls, whistling and laughing behind them and make them run for safety, they would find a bigger student alone and attack. And they did this in elementary and junior high, all of this with Bud’s encouragement and approval. When the twins celebrated their fifteenth birthday Bud bought each of them a single shot 22caliber rifle and took them to the Chester Rod and Gun Club where he taught them to load, aim, and fire their presents, as he told them hunting stories of his youth.
By the time they were sixteen they had become expert marksmen.
It was in the first year of high school that their aggressive behavior caused the science teacher to notice their bulling of the other students. She made a complaint with the principal. And she requested that their parents meet with the school principal. The principal agreed and notified Bud and Rosalie with a letter.
When Rosalie showed Bud the letter he became furious, grabbed from her hand and told he would take care of the matter. And it was none of her concern.
He called his sons to the living room and showed them the letter. “We are going to have to go to the school and straighten this matter out.
Now, I know that you boys are just playing around and are only having fun. But this idiot can’t seem to understand, boys will be boys. We are family and we stick together no matter what.
I will take you to see this principal and tell her that we have had a serious talk. Then you are going to say that you were only playing and you are sorry. I will tell her that you are good boys and you have promised me not to tease the other kids again. Then you two will apologize, and again say how sorry you are.
She will probably punish you by expelling you for a day...If she does we will come home and go on a hunting trip and if she doesn’t we will take the weekend off and go hunting anyway. Now I want you two to be quiet and polite with the principal. Do you understand”? The twins answered in unison.
Yes we do, and thank you for sticking up for us Dad.
“ Okay boys, let go get this matter settled, and remember we are family and we always stick up for each other.”
Miss Lewis had been teaching elementary school for forty years, and had listened to every excuse that parents and adolescents could ever think of. Still she was impressed by the forthright candor when the twin’s father spoke and the sincerity of the two boys. But she had the complaint from the science teacher to consider. She thought the matter over and said. “ Mr. Gustavo, I think that you and the boys are sincere, and I do understand how exuberant boys are at this age. Even so there needs to be discipline and bullying cannot tolerate. I will have to write this meeting into the school report and the boys will be suspended for two days, and you boys must remember that your actions have consequences.”
Bud Gustavo nodded his head in agreement, and told the boys to once again apologize.
When the three of them were sitting in his truck Bud laughed, smiled, and then said. Let’s go on a hunting trip boy´s.
During his travels around the state working on the roads, Bud had found one isolated area that had large woods with many oak nut trees. He had noticed that this place also had a large population of grey and red squirrels, and knew this was the perfect place for his boys to camp out and shoot a few small game animals.
When the three of them got home Rosalie was nervously waiting.
As soon as they walked into Rosebuds, she said. “Well Bud, what has happened to my boys, are they in trouble?”
Rosy, I told you that I would handle this, and I did, and the matter is settled. After the principal heard the boy’s side of this, and they promised not to tease the girls again, she gave them two days suspension. And that is the end of this stupid complaint. “Now I am going to take our boys on a hunting trip
Boys, go get your rifles out of the gun cabinet, bring two boxes of cartridges, the hunting knife and put them in the State Highways truck. Rosy, you can fix us a something to eat and a thermos of coffee, and hurry it up; it will be dark in another hour.
We are going camping at Massabesic Lake for the night. Then tomorrow I am going to teach them how to hunt squirrels. We will be home tomorrow before dark, and stay out of the ice cream, you are getting too fat.”
The lake was only a twenty minute ride from Rosebuds. As soon as they got there, Bud turned off the highway and on to the graveled forest service road. He drove slowly looking for the place he knew there were oak and walnut trees and many squirrels for his boys to hunt. He drove past the Authorized Personal Only Sign, knowing that no one would question the presence of the State Of New Hampshire Highway truck.
He drove along the old stone wall and turned off the road to park a hundred yards into the woods, shut down the engine and climbed out of the cab.
He took a chainsaw from a tool box from the trucks bed, and began to cut down a dozen sapling trees. As the twins watched he said . “Working for the state has advantages .You can ignore stupid laws and do as you damn well please. Now you boys get that tarp out from the tool box. When I trim off the branches you put them on the ground over there. Then spread the tarp over them, find some dry wood for a fire and we will have us a nice cozy camp for tonight.”
By the time they were finished, the sun had set and darkness closed in around them. As they sat around the camp fire, and ate the food Rosalie had fixed for them. Bud told them a story about hunting deer with his father and, cousin Johnny.

“My Dad had always hunted deer.
Every season he would go to an abandoned and overgrown apple orchard, a place he knew the white tail deer came to feed on the fruit that lay on the ground.
The orchard was small; behind it was a long thick triangular wood, with an old logging road on one side and a stone wall on the other. When I was your age I didn’t have a gun and neither did my cousin but we were excited to be going on our first hunting trip.
Early in the morning while it was still dark, my old man took me, and Johnny to the start of the logging road .He told us that as soon as there was enough daylight to see where we were going, we were to follow the logging road and shout, break branches and howl like wolves and coyotes. Then he left us and drove back to the orchard and found a hiding place where he could watch for a deer.
Boys, I cannot tell you how exciting it was for me to go running and howling through those woods, and when Jonny and I saw a deer that was trying to escape us, I started to shake from the excitement.
I wanted to see my old man kill that deer. Jonny told me to keep howling, as we were soon going to see a lot of dead deer. We howled, and screamed like fiends from hell, as we drove the deer towards my old man.
Then I heard the first crack of his rifle, and then there was another. Suddenly four deer came running past us. They came so close that I am sure if I had had a gun I could have killed one...Even today after all those years, I can see them running past me in panic and I regret I did not have a gun to kill one.
When Jonny and I got to the orchard, my old man was cutting the throat of the two deer he had shot. There was a lot of blood still pumping from their bodies onto the ground.
Johnny and I were in high spirits to know we had driven them to my old man. We even put blood on our faces as we danced over the dead deer: I tell you boys it was a great adventure for me... I do not want you boys to ever miss out on that experience, and is why I bought you each a rifle and taught you how to use it. And tomorrow you will get to kill a bunch of squirrels.”
That night, long after Bud had fallen asleep, Karl and Kevin lay under the tarp looking at the stars and whispering to each other about how they were going to scare the girls at school by howling like wolves as they followed behind them.
They decided to call themselves, Brothers of the Wolf.
To be continued

[joseph engraver]

The next morning, Bud had the twins get their rifles out of the truck as he poured the morning coffee into plastic cups. While they drank, he told them how to hunt Squirrels.
Squirrels are much smarter than most folks think. They gather the nuts for the winter and hide them in the stone walls. They can hear you before you see them, and as soon as they do they head for the nearest tree to hide in. Then when you show up, they move to the opposite side of the tree where you can’t see them.
But you can fool them if one of you stands still, and the other slowly walks circles around the base of the tree. When you do this, the squirrel will move to the side where it is exposed and is an easy target to kill.
Now one of you gets to kill the first squirrel as your brother walks around the tree. So who gets the first shot? I think the best way to decide is a shooting match...He took the empty plastic cup, walked 50 paces, and stuck it in the crotch of an oak tree. That´s your target men, He said as he pointed to the small white circle that was the cups bottom. The one who put a bullet closest to the center gets to shoot first.
Both Karl and Kevin loved to compete with each other, and were already taking their rifle out of gun cases. Then they began to argue who was going to shoot first.
Bud immediate put an end to the squabble between the twins when he said. Karl you were the first out of your mother’s womb that makes you the oldest. Do you want to shoot first or second?
Karl said. My younger brother can decide, and he hugged him. Kevin laughed, then smiled and pointed at his brother. You are the oldest brother, you should go first. That was the moment that the twins bonded into one person and the moment the Brothers of the Wolf truly became a pack. Each one took their shot and both hit the center of the target. Bud was amazed and started to tell them to shoot again. Then the twins spoke in unison.
We have decided that the one who sees the first squirrel will have the first kill. They asked for the hunting knife, took the box of cartridges, and left their father standing there open mouth, as they turned and walked arm in arm into the woods.
Bud finished the coffee and started to fold the tarp when he heard two shots, then two more, followed by eerie howls and wild maniacal laughter. He froze, trying to find a logical reason for the sounds coming from the woods.
When the twins came running into the camp, each one held a gutted bloody squirrel’s body, and they had smeared its blood over their faces and arms. Then they showed their father the severed tails.
Dad!! We got our first trophies. That was the frightening moment when Bud realized that he had taught his sons not about hunting squirrels, but to kill for the pleasure of it.
Not knowing what else to do. He yelled at the both of them.
What in the hell have you done? I took you here to hunt not to butcher. You take those squirrels with you. Go to the lake, and wash off that blood then throw their bodies away. I will put the guns away. Then we are going home.
Bud reminded them. We will never mention this to your mother. You are her joy and she loves you with all of her heart. If she found out what you two did today it would destroy her completely. Do you understand me? We are family and we stick together no matter what. They both spoke at the same time. OK dad, we were only having fun. We are sorry, but we are keeping the tails.
Once they were in the truck Bud said, I am glad you two understand how much hurt you will cause to your mother. You can keep the tails and I will forget this ever happened. But, I want you to promise me to keep this a secret from her and help her in the shop.
When they arrived at Rosebuds, Rosalie Gustavo was in the kitchen. There were dozens of cookies baking. Fresh apple pies and muffins sat on racks cooling and a pile of pots and pans in the sink. The twins took their bloody trophies and guns down to their basement room, put them in the closet and then returned to the kitchen. They kissed their mother then began to clean up the sink.
Rosalie beaming with pride looked at Bud and said. We have raised two wonderful boys .I am so proud of them. Then she went over to where they stood smiling in all their innocence, and smothered them in her motherly love.
All summer and into the Christmas season Karl and Kevin helped her in the restaurant. They took orders, cooked burgers, washed floors, and dishes, took out the garbage and stole her money from the cash register.
After New Year’s Rosebuds closed for a much needed vacation. Bud and Rosalie told them that they were going to Florida for ten days of sunshine, rest, and a visit to Disney World.
Bud gave Karl the keys to the Buick and asked him to drive them to the Manchester airport. With Kevin sitting in front next to his brother, Rosalie and Bud held hands and admired how well their sons had grown into such nice and polite men. When the Buick stopped in front of the departure gate, Bud gave them four hundred dollars to tide them over until they returned. The twins thanked him, then opened their doors and took their luggage out of the trunk.
Rosalie hugged each of them, and told them how much she loved them, and made them promise not to stay out too late. As Bud carried their luggage to be checked in, Rosalie blew her boys a last kiss.
When the twins drove away she did not hear them howl like the wolves they had become.
Marsha Callahan was one the school girls who frequented Rosebuds and the twins found her sexually arousing...They tried flirting with her every time she came there with her friends.
She was six feet tall and the top student in her class. She was also leader of the girl’s basket ball team, and the best runner on the girls track team. At school she found the twins to be repulsive and was not afraid to tell them so in front of her friends. She humiliated them to the point that the twins decided to terrorize her.
They began to follow her, and soon knew where she lived and her daily routine of jogging along the river each evening before sunset. They would wait for her to pass. Then run behind her barking, howling and whistling. Their plan failed miserably. Marsha was not intimidated in the least.
She would stop, turn around and laugh at them, stick her index finger high into the air and shout; you two morons need to grow up. Then she would turn and run so fast that the twins were left behind in angry muted silence.
She was however, concerned that if she told her very protective father about the twins he might stop her from jogging each evening. So she said nothing to him about it. Besides she was very sure that she could easily control them.
The next evening Marsha jogged, but there were no howls behind her. Satisfied that she had put an end to their nonsense she ran every evening. What she did not know was.
The Brothers of the Wolf had gone to hunt elsewhere.

[joseph engraver]

Having no parental restraints the twins decided that evening to take, a fifth of vodka from the restaurant, their parents Buick Riviera and the hunting knife, and then go to Boston to watch the porno movies and see the burlesque shows in Scully Square.
Eliza Gomez Sanchez was an illegal immigrant new to Boston.
She had come all the way from Honduras´, through Mexico and up to the border city of Piedras Negras. She was going to join her brother Ernesto and her sister Modesty. They had promised her work with them at the Holliday Inn and sent her enough money to make the trip.
Then in Piedras Negras she was robbed of all her money and identification. In desperation she started trading sex for food and rides from the truckers to come to this Sanctuary City of Boston.
The day she arrived she found that her two siblings had been arrested by Immigration and Custom Enforcement authorities, and she had no idea how to find them .She went to the Honduran consulate for help, only to find that the office was closed over the weekend.
Now she was out in the bitter cold, begging on the streets, trying to earn enough money to keep alive until the consulate opened Monday in the morning. And she was afraid of dying from the cold and hunger that Boston provides its Illegal’s.

That is when she saw Karl and Kevin walked out of the Burlesque and head for a sedan parked nearby. She hurried across the litter filled street and intercepted them.
She held out her shivering hand and begged them for money.
As she stood in front of them, Kevin reached into his jacket and withdrew a very fat wallet; he waved it in front of her.
What will you do for one hundred dollars? Will you take a ride with my brother and me in the back seat of that car over there?
The very thought of that money ,money enough to eat and sleep somewhere warm, was enough for Eliza say to yes .
Once they were seated in the Buick with Kevin and the girl in the back seat. Karl pushed a switch, locked all the doors and started the engine. Then he put the car into gear and drove onto the highway that took them back to New Hampshire.
Eliza was not at all concerned .She had done this more times than she could remember. But when Kevin put his hand under her dress she pushed it away and demanded her money. Kevin put his hand back, as Karl said.
“Don’t worry, I promise we will pay you even more. We want to go somewhere where we will not be disturbed. And I know the perfect place. Now you two drink some Vodka and get nice and friendly. We are going to a beautiful spot where we have been before.”
She drank the vodka and felt better, then she drank even more and she felt warm.
By the time they crossed the state line the vodka had made Eliza very drunk. Kevin had thrown her clothes out onto the highway, and now he was on top of her grunting like a wolf in heat.
Karl drove through the spitting snowflakes onto the back road along the stone wall and pulled into the same spot where their father had taken them hunting. It was the exact place that they had become Brother of the Wolf.
He shut down the engine and took his brothers place in the back seat. When he was done with the unconscious girl, they dragged her out of the car, gutted her from pelvic bone to sternum, and then again took turns raping her lifeless body. They cut off her long black hair for a souvenir, carried her body to the stone wall and threw her over it into the fallen leaves-
As they drove back onto the graveled road, the snow storm began to cover the road, the blood on the ground, and the mutilated body of Eliza Gomez Sanchez, they threw the empty vodka bottle out the window into the snow
The storm began with power full winds and a blizzard of snow falling.
It was as if nature had become a conspirator to The Brothers of the Wolf. They howled and talked of how little of her corpus would remain in the spring once the predators were done with it.
At Dunkin Doughnuts they stopped and washed the blood from their hands in the bathroom, and then ordered coffee and doughnuts to go. They laughed and howled all the way back to Rosebuds. They look their new souvenir down to the basement, tied a red ribbon around it and put it in the cabinet with the Squirrels tails, the rifles and hunting knife. Then without a bit of remorse they had a good night’s sleep.
All that night and throughout the next two days the winter storm raged.
It seemed as if God wanted to entomb Eliza´s mutilated body in a casket of pure white snow
The next day they awoke late. Showered together, changed clothes and put the night be fore’s bloody ones in the washer, and then went up to the kitchen, where Karl fixed steak and eggs for their breakfast. When they looked out the window and saw the amount of snow that had fallen, that they danced, and sang, with joy.
They stayed inside, and washed the restaurants floors, scrubbed the counter tops, organized the dishes and glassware. Even the refrigerators shelves, stove and grill were spotless when the snow abated and the sun came out again.
As they worked; they schemed daily on what they were going to do to take revenge on Marsha Callahan. Both the twins hated her and wanted to kill her. They wanted to rape her and cut her throat, take her hair and put it with their trophies. But, they also knew she was never going to be in any situation they could think of where they could.
To be continued

[joseph engraver]

The most famous ski lodge in the state is Cannon Mountain; where on a clear day one can see four states and Canada. It was the one I picked to begin my glowing and boring review. I had written this same article every winter for the last six years and my mind and heart was not in it. Nor was I enthusiastic when I finished articles on Mountain Club of the Loon, Breton Woods or Tuckerman’s Ravine. It took me twelve hours to write basically the same uninspired drivel about all ten lodges that I had written last year, but they paid the paper and it paid my salary.
My moral improved as I put the first draft into a folder, then I put the newspaper in my briefcase, and thought of all the fine Hotels, and restaurants that I would enjoy on the Manchester Union Leader´s expense account, while I was photographing the lodges, lifts, ski and gift shops, and interviewing the tourists with broken legs and arms during the next week.
When I opened the door the bouquet of cinnamon, brown sugar toasted hazel nuts coming from the kitchen made my mouth water. I knew instantly that Sylvia and her mother were baking Smile Cookies. I stopped in the hall, took off my mackinaw, boots and scarf and. put my briefcase down.
I hope you girls are baking those for me to take to the mountains tonight.
Sylvia ran up to me and gave me a warm welcome home hug.
No daddy. These are the samples that I am taking to Rosebuds tomorrow. Mom has fixed a nice stew for tonight and I will let you have one cookie for dessert.
After supper and a cookie, I said, Bev I have a story to tell you while our daughter package´s her cookies. Will you come into the den; I have something I want you to read. And then I want your opinion.
When we were settled on the sofa I said. You remember when you ask me what Scott meant when he asked me about wolves. Well I think now it the time to tell you. I told her about my conversation with Scott on the lake and how he was going to commit suicide. And that he believes his daughter’s spirit intervened, and that she was murdered by human wolves that prey on humans and deer. Then I gave her the newspaper and waited for her comment. And I was not surprised when she said.
Well Bill, this is all very interesting. But I don’t think it proves anything, two teenage boys frightening a girl is not unusual. I do think that they were wearing wolf like masks is a strange coincidence .but is not enough to call for their indictment in the case of a school girl that has vanished and not been seen since she left her school to go to a tennis match. Besides there are no deer involved. I do think that you should send a copy of this to Scott as you promised him you would keep him informed.
Now you need to pack for your trip to ski country. And I need to help Sylvia make Smile coolies. Tomorrow is her big day and she is so excited, we are taking the first two dozen over to Rosebuds. Wish her luck before you leave, Drive carefully, stay away from all those snow bunnies and don’t eat too much gourmet food.
It was 10mpm when I checked into The Mountain Club on the Loon Resort Hotel.

With their father’s advice, his twin boys were soon driving a two ton dump truck, salting and plowing New Hampshire’s narrow back roads. It did not take them long to notice how many deer came out of the woods to lick salt and eat the uncovered grass and willow twigs.
They took Karl’s rifle, hid it behind the trucks seat and put the hunting knife in the glove box. By the end of their first month’s employment they had poached three deer, cut off the tails, left the carcass to rot and hung the tails in their trophy cabinet.
Chris Callahan decided that he wanted to join law enforcement a year after his cousin joined the State Police.
He was a devoted husband, father to two beautiful girls that he adored, and he loved the outdoor life. He decided to study for a position with the New Hampshire Fish and Game. He excelled in biological science and game management and after his training he became a game warden who did not tolerate law breakers and he despised poachers. In the ten years he has dedicated to enforcing the game laws he has caught hundreds of violators, most of them minor infractions, Fishing or hunting without a license the most common. Many deer poachers were out of work men who were in need of meat to feed their families, and there had been a few cases he had failed to report them. Now he was determined to find the one who had been killing for no other reason, but to cut off the tails. All the deer had been killed by an expert marksman, and a 22 caliber bullet fired into their brain.
He had been on look out near Lake Massabesic from three A.M till sunrise for two weeks. From his vantage point he had a good view of both Loon Island and the roads that encircled the entire lake. When he saw headlights across the lake, he examined the slow moving vehicle with his binoculars, and recognized it was a State Highway truck. What he found unusual was that it had its spotlight on and seemed to be examining the nearby woods. He decided to investigate,
In the truck the twins had made plans to kill the first deer they saw .Karl sat next to the open window with the rifle, as Kevin drove and searched with the spotlight. When they reached the intersection of route four and the highway back to Manchester, they had not found a victim and gave up the hunt.
They turned around, shut off the spot light and were heading home when Chris Callahan fell in behind them and turned on his blue lights. Karl told his brother to slow down as he put the rifle behind the seat. Once it was out of sight they pulled over, and stopped, rolled down the window and turned on the dome light and waited.
Callahan got out of a new Jeep Cherokee and walked up to the truck where he was greeted by a smiling teenager.
The reason I stopped you is your spotlighting. May I see your driving license, and can you explain why you were using a spotlight.
Kevin answered. Not a problem sir and he handed him his license. It is part of our job. We were looking for pot holes and fallen trees to take care of...
Still suspicious, Callahan asked if he could look in the back of the truck. Kevin laughed as he said, help yourself; there is nothing to see but tools and a pile of roadside trash.
Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he returned to the truck’s cab to return the drivers license. When he handed it to Kevin, he realized the passenger was his exact double. He could not keep the surprise out of his voice when he said. Are you two twins?
Both Karl and Kevin spoke in unison. Yes sir. We are the only identical twins working for the State of New Hampshire Highway Department.
When they drove away they howled with insane laughter and glee, and talked about how lucky they were to be brothers, and decided that it was too risky to kill another deer for a while.

After five days of taking photos, and conducting interviews, I returned from the White Mountain lodges. I found my daughter and wife in a state of delirious enthusiasm. The kitchen counters were covered with Smile Cookies, mixing bowls, baking sheets, and the Kitchen Aid mixer was whipping out another batch of dough. My return was definitely of secondary importance. Hoping to gain attention I went over and kissed my wife and daughter, and announced.
I am home girls, and boy did I have a great time. I met the most interesting and sexy snow bunny.
We spent hours getting to know each other, while we dined on Maine lobster and drank pink champagne. They both stopped for a brief moment to finally look at me.
Then Beverly said .That’s nice dear, would you please give me the vanilla extract and then stay out of our way. Misses Gustavo has just ordered eight dozen cookies for this Saturday and as we have finished our supper, you will have to fix something for yourself. I think there may be some bread, bologna, cheese, and beer in the fridge, and stay away from these cookies.
To be continued

[joseph engraver]

I scraped to morning frost from the windshield as I waited for my car to warm up. Then I drove to MacDonald’s and ordered two egg Mac muffins and coffee to go.
As soon as I sat down to my desk, Ralph Shoemaker walked in. He looked at my Mac muffins, picked one up and took a bite, and then he said. Thanks Bill, this is very good.
How was your trip, did you meet any interesting people, and did you get some interesting photos? I picked up my remaining breakfast and placed it out of Ralph´s reach before I answered him.
Hi boss, the trip was cold, II am coming down with the flue, but I have taken some excellent photos. I handed him one of a group of skiers suspended on a chair lift that had broken down.
Here is some I am sure you will like, how about this one of a young man with a broken collar bone on a stretcher? If these are not what you are looking for, then I have ones of pink faced children tobogganing, a couple of excellent figure skaters on Lake Winnipesaukee. Here is a bunch I took of the lodges interiors and a hundred or so of the snow covered mountains some with bright cobalt blue skies and others barely visible in a blizzard like snow storm. I think that is when I caught the flue.
And I think these might be my masterpieces. They are of me, sitting next to a roaring fire, wrapped in beautifully Pendleton wool blanket, woven with a snowflake and ski design. And, isn’t that a large, magnificent granite fireplace with the stuffed moose heads on each side for decoration? Notice the double shot of single malt whiskey in my shivering, frost bitten hands. I will leave you to decide which one is the most artistic. If you decide to publish one, I think it should be captioned.
To tell you the truth, Ralph´s answer took me by surprise when he said.
Bill you need a well deserved break. I think that it is time that I found younger blood to take you place on winter expeditions to snow country next year. You take two weeks off with pay, and then when you return, you can begin writing a series on New Hampshire´s stone walls.
The only answer I could come up with was. Have another egg and bacon sandwich boss.
I was home relaxing and watching the Boston Patriots on TV, Beverly and Sylvia were busy in the kitchen baking more cookies for Rosebuds, and it was still snowing. I was pleased to see that my daughter’s cookie idea had become a great success for her.
When my review and photos appeared in the Sunday edition, I was even more surprised to see that the first one featured was captioned. "After a day of fun at the lodges."
I took the article into to show them and I said. Look at these girls, you are now in the company of a very famous person, they stopped for a minute to look, and then Sylvia said.
But daddy, I can’t tell if that´s you. Your face is covered up by the blanket.


Chris and Clarence Callahan were two cousins who enjoyed each another’s company. Twice a month on Sunday after mass with their wives and children at Saint Anthony Catholic Church, the two families would get together for a late lunch. Then in the afternoon they would put a six pack of beer in the refrigerator, clear the dining room table. Covered it with a blanket, and the whole family would spend the afternoon playing penny anti poker as they told jokes and stories.
Naturally a major part of the conversation concerned the harassment that Marsha had experienced.
When she told her uncle Chris what had happened. How the Gustavo twins had followed her in the park and then frightened her with their grotesque wolf masks.
That was the second; the alarm bell went off in his mind. He said to Clarence.
I stopped the same pair early one morning on the suspicion that they were spotlighting deer; someone in my district has been killing deer with one shot into the brain with a 22 caliber rifle, then cutting off the tail, slicing them open and leaving the intestines and carcass.
They work for the highway department and had a valid excuse for using a spotlight but there was something that did not ring true in their answers. I even checked in the truck´s bed, I was so sure they were lying, but it was clean so I let them go on their way.
Clarence, I know in my gut that this pair is the deer killers I have been trying for weeks to catch. But I have absolutely no proof, only my instincts.
After hearing this, Clarence Callahan sat in silence, while he thought of what could have happened to his daughter if he had not been home that night.
Then he replied, I think that you and I need to do some serious police work and find a way to put some pressure on these creeps before they kill another deer, or worse yet hurt my daughter. Let’s first find out if they own a twenty two rifle, then we can proceed from there.
It took one call from Chris to the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms office in Concord to find out that two Mossberg twenty two caliber single shot rifles had been purchased on December seventh by Bud Gustavo from Reilly’s Sporting Goods in Hudson New Hampshire five years earlier.
Chris wrote down the make, model, and serial numbers and handed them to his cousin and said .They must have gotten them as birthday presents from their father, but this doesn’t prove anything, we still need more information.
From the kitchen they heard Cathleen say. OK guys, time to clear the table and help set it for supper. We women have fixed Roasted chicken with leeks, baked yams, green beans, and baking powder biscuits, and it will be ready in ten minutes.
After the meal was over Chris, his wife Julia and their two children said goodnight as they left to return home. Clarence took the information and wrote into his notebook and said, let me work on this for a few days and see what I can do. I will stay in touch and keep you informed.
The weather over the Easter holidays was beautiful. The sun shone, the snow began to melt, and the frozen body of Eliza Sanchez was found by the ravens, magpies and crows, foxes and coyotes.
A young couple hiking around Lake Massabesic in September found what little of her remained. The police were called in to investigate.
The twins had been right. So little remained that after two weeks of trying to determine who she had been, and how she died, the case was filed as an open investigation, and she was interned as Jane Doe at the State of New Hampshire´s expense.
Clarence Callahan wanted to know if the twins were expert enough with a rifle to be able to kill a deer with a single round from twenty two caliber rifle. He decided that someone had to have trained them. And logic told him that it must be their father. When he was off duty he began visiting the entire local gun clubs and talking to the members. But no one could remember the Gustavo twins, or their father. Frustrated, but determined, he expanded his search to Merrimac County.
At the Chester Rod and Gun club he found Kenny Nelson. He was someone who vaguely remembered the Gustavo´s and he told Callahan that he had not seen them in several years.
Sergeant, I keep the records and targets for the shooting events. Let me see if I can find theirs.
They went into the clubhouse where after a long search through piles of targets he found Kevin and Karl’s for the fifty yard running deer event. When he handed them to Sergeant Callahan he said. Now I remember them. They both won a trophy with these. They had single shot twenty two rifles and they put a bullet in the same spot, right into where the brain would be. If they are important to you, keep them, just remember not to give me a ticket if you ever stop me for speeding.
As he took the targets he shook Kenny´s hand and said. We have a deal.
To be continued

[joseph engraver]

When Sylvie Pinkerton left The Auburn School for girls, she decided to walk to her tennis match. The sun was out and the hope of early spring filled the air. She was confident and full of life, and wanted to use the walk to strengthen her legs for the match.
As she was walking a breeze across her young cheeks caused strands of her long hair to fall across her face. She pushed them back into place and worried that her hair would not look perfect when she arrived at the tennis court.
Then she felt the first drops of rain, and she regretted not taking her umbrella. Panic set in as more raindrops began to fall while she hurried along. In front of her she saw a white State of New Hampshire department of highway truck. Then two men wearing construction helmets and yellow work coats got into the truck.
The rain started to come down in big cold drops as she reached the truck. One of them opened the cab´s door and said. Get in before you are soaking wet. Sylvia hesitated, until she realized she had seen him before, when her dad had taken her mother and her to Rosebuds on her tenth birthday for Ice cream Sundays and chocolate cake.
He got out of the truck and offered her his hand to help her up into the cab.
You get in here where in is warm, before you catch pneumonia and die of cold.
She thanked him, and got into the truck’s cab where the heater was blasting out warm air. Now tell us where you are going, and we will take you there.
Sylvia thanked the twins for their kindness and explained that she was going to a tennis match at the Chester Middle School and she did not want to be late, and she was so happy that they had saved her from the pouring rain.
Kevin said to his brother, do you think we have time to drive her there? Karl grinned and nodded his head.
“If we take the short cut around the lake we can be there in ten minutes...” He put the truck in gear as he said. “Don’t you worry sweet thing. We are on the way. We don’t want you to be late.”
When the truck stopped, Sylvia realized that they were on a deserted forest road and nowhere near the school. She panicked and tried to crawl over Karl and out of the truck.
Karl took the knife out of the glove box put it to her throat. He was about to use it, when Kevin stopped him.
Not in the truck, we can’t have her blood in the truck
Karl hit her in the face and then pushed her out of the truck. He took the hunting knife, and jumped down next to her. As the terrified girl started to scream, he again put the knife to her throat. And then he drove it in. Her silenced cry was turned into a gusher of blood.
The Gustavo twins stripped her naked as they tore away her school uniform. After they had taken turns violating the warm body of the twelve year old girl, they ripped her open smeared her hot blood on their faces and howled:
They removed the stones from the ancient stonewall, dug a trench and dumped her abused body, blood soaked clothes and the tennis racket into it. As Kevin tossed the first shovel of dirt on her body he saw the silver and turquoise barrette and said to his brother. “Look at that, help me down so I can get our newest souvenir.”
He tore it away from her hair, showed to his brother to admire, said now we have another trophy, and then put in his shirt pocket.
Two hours later, Sylvia Pinkerton had vanished from the face of the earth. Buried in dirt and covered with stones, not more than one hundred feet from where Eliza Sanchez’s had been found.
The twins went down to the lake stripped and washed of the blood, and then they returned to the highway project they had been working on.
When the twins walked into their home, Rosalie was in a state of panic.
Thank God, you are here. You are going to be late for your last meeting with the juvenile probation officer, please change those muddy clothes and put on something nice. Then I want you to go and see him right away.
While they drove to the meeting, Rosalie picked up their work cloths and began to put them in the washing machine.
That is when she found the silver and jade barrette. She admired it, then put it away and went back to work in the kitchen, and forgot about it.
To be continued

[joseph engraver]

Clarence Callahan now was sure that the Gustavo twins were the ones that had slaughtered the deer.
He called his cousin and they decided to meet on Sunday after church, to try and find a way to prove it. When they were seated in Clarence´s office he unfolded the targets, pointed to the bullet holes and said. There is no doubt these two can kill a deer with one shot to the head. Is there any chance that the bullets can be recovered and analyzed Chris?
Chris slowly shook his head as he said .Not a chance, the bodies were cremated months ago, however let´s look at the bright side. At least I now know who I am looking for. What they look like, where they live, work, and what they drive. And we have their finger prints on file.
They will want to kill again, and when they do I will be able nail them. The only thing we can do now is be patient and wait.

Bud Gustavo lay in the intensive care unit.
He had an oxygen mask on and was breathing much better. The pain and shortness of breath he was feeling had subsided. As the nurse took his blood pressure she spoke in a calming voice, and told him that he was going to be fine. That he would recover with time and rest.
When the twins arrived, they were told that they could see their father after his doctor consulted with them.
Doctor Janus Redding entered the waiting room, and she could not keep the surprised look from showing. Never had she seen two humans that looked exactly alike. And when they said hello, even their voices were the same.
She explained that their father had suffered coronary blockage from the plaque that had built up the artery that allows blood to flow to his heart. Suddenly the twins began to cry.
Doctor Redding waited until they regained their composure .Then she explained that their father was asleep and going into surgery where she would perform a bypass operation to repair the blocked artery. Then he will need time for his heart muscles to recover. He will have to be cared for when he goes home. But in four months he will be fine. Is there anything else that I can do for you?
Karl asked if she would call their mother and explain to her their father’s condition, and reassure her that their father would be fine. And that they would soon be home, after getting a leave of absence from work. Then they looked in on their sleeping father. As they were about to leave, Doctor Redding said. You two are wonderful kind caring sons and your Dad is so lucky to have you.


I was writing a story about the horse races at Rockingham Park, when Scott Pinkerton called to thank me for sending him the article about Wolves in Manchester. I told him that Beverly did not think it had anything to do with his daughter´s disappearance as it had nothing to do with deer. Still, I wanted him to know that we thought about him, that my daughter´s Smile cookies were a success, and she prayed every day for her name sister.
I asked him how he was doing. He told me that he had stopped drinking, and had met someone he was seeing on a regular basis and when he returned to New Hampshire she would be accompanying him.
I congratulated him, and then hung up the phone and went back to writing.

Rosalie thought she was going to have a nervous breakdown while she waited for her boys to come home. The call from the hospital and Doctor Redding did little to calm her. The only thing that would do that was to have her beautiful children home with her .She was sitting in her kitchen weeping when they finally walked in.
They went to her and put their arms around her, and kissed her as they both said. Don’t cry mama. Dad is going to be fine .We are taking a leave of absence and we will stay home and help you take care of him, and help you run the restaurant for as long as you need us.
After Rosalie calmed down and her tears stopped, she remembered the barrette and showed to her sons. “This is so beautiful. Where did you get it?”
Karl took it from her; he looked at it as if he had never seen it before. Then Kevin said.” I completely forgot about that. I found it by a ditch we were cleaning and I thought you would like to have it Mom..”.
A smile appeared on Rosalie´s broad face as she hugged Kevin and told him how wonderful and thoughtful he was.

I was home editing the photos of the many unusual stone structures that I had taken. Beverly and Sylvia were out delivering another order of Smile Cookies to Rosebuds, when Scott Pinkerton called to tell me that he was back in New Hampshire with Pamela his lady friend.
He invited us to come out to the lake Saturday afternoon for lunch and a swim.
Then I remembered that Sylvia´s thirteenth birthday was this Friday, and I mentioned it to him.
He was silent for a moment, then he said, that’s great Bill, when you come out Saturday we can have a surprise birthday party for her. I am sure that Pamela knows how to bake and decorate a birthday cake.
She is from Biloxi Mississippi with a distinct accent. A very southern woman, and her heart is made of pure gold, Sylvia will love her.
I had just thanked Scott and said. We will see you on Saturday.
When my wife and daughter entered the house, Sylvia gave me a huge smile as she showed me the check Misses Gustavo had written in payment for the cookies they had delivered.
Then she showed me the barrette that she also gave her as a special gift. “Daddy look what Misses gave me, just because it is the first day of summer and I reminded her of a beautiful flower , Isn’t it beautiful?”
Isn’t she such a nice lady dad? She told me that her son Kevin had found it in a ditch, and she wanted me to have it because she never would wear it.
Oh daddy! Today I feel so very rich. Look at the amount I was paid for my Smile Cookies. And it is all because Mr. Scott said that they were so good, I hope that I can thank him one day."
I could only wonder how the Fates conspire, as I said .We are going to see him this Saturday, daughter dearest, you can thank him then.
When we arrived at Scott´s home, we found him sitting on the dock holding hands with a slender fair skinned blonde, dressed in blue jeans and a bright blue pullover sweater and with her bare feet dangling in the water. I said, Well Scott, it looks like you finally put a hook on your line and have caught a beauty.
As they got up, I held out my hand and shook hers .I am Bill Joyce, and this is my wife Beverly and my daughter Sylvia. Welcome to New Hampshire.
She said. " I am Pamela Claudel, thank you for coming out to visit."
It only took a minute before the women were chatting as if they had known each other for years. Sylvia gave Scott a box of her cookies, thanked him for his inspiration and then told him how big a success they were. It was when she turned to follow her mother that he saw the barrette, and his heart skipped a beat. He calmly asked. Sylvia, may I see your barrette, and where did you get it?
Sylvia said, Isn´t it beautiful? Misses Gustavo gave it to me… She put her hand up to the hair and touched the Silver and turquoise barrette then removed it, and gave it to Scott.
Scott looked carefully at it. He turned it over, and when he saw the maker’s name
J. Cortez, Taxco MX.
He was positive that it was the one he had given his daughter the Christmas before she vanished.
He pressed it to his lips, sat down and felt the tears form in his sad eyes.
Sylvia immediately sensed that something was terribly wrong. She asked, Mr. Scott what is the matter? He could not answer her, so strong was the grief he felt that he was mute.
She cried, Mom Please come here, something is wrong with Mr. Scott!!
Pamela came to his side and sat next to him. She put her arms around his shaking body and whispered to him. "Scott what is wrong? Can you please tell me why you are crying darling?"
Finally, he took a deep ragged breath, handed her the barrette and said. This was my daughters, I had it made for her when I went to Taxco with a friend. I gave it to her the Christmas before she disappeared.
I am going to Manchester and confront this woman, and demand she explain how she got it. Then he got up and started to leave the dock.
Sylvia took his hand, as she told him that Misses Gustavo had explained to her that her son found if by a ditch he was cleaning, and had given it to her.

That is when I said ."Scott that is one of the boys I sent you the article about Wolves in Manchester. I think we need to talk to Detective Sergeant Callahan of the State police before you do anything. Let me call him first and tell him about the barrette and see what he has to say."
Clarence Callahan was at his usual place, filling out accident reports and cursing the stupidity of intoxicated drivers when I called him.
He listened with interest when I told him that my call was about Sylvia Pinkerton and the barrette that one of the Gustavo twins had found, and that her father was positive that it was hers. He asked me to put Scott Pinkerton on the line.
When he questioned him .He wanted to know how he could be sure that the barrette was his daughters. Scott explained that he had had it made in Taxco and it was a one of a kind handmade piece, and it has the makers name stamped on it.
Then the Sergeant Callahan told him .You must not get involved. We have been investigating these twins for months. I personally want to find a way to put them away for a very long time and I want to do it by the book. I understand how frustrated you must feel. But if you become involved you will jeopardize our investigation. Please have confidence in me. It will take time, but they will be caught and punished to the full extent of the law. This I can promise you.
Now you try to relax and get on with your life, and leave this to me and the police. Remember that these SOB´s tried to hurt my daughter also, and I want to see them caught as badly as you do.
Scott decided to tell him about his attempt to commit suicide and the appearance of the doe next to him. And how he felt that it was his daughter telling him to look for the ones who were slaughtering deer and he would find the ones who murdered her.
"Sergeant, I know this is most likely my imagination and caused by stress. But have there been deer killed for no reason?"
Although Callahan knew the answer he said.” I have no idea, but I will find out.”
After he hung up the phone he called Chris.

[Big-Un]

Ok Joseph, now you have me hooked on this story. Gotta see it to the end.

[joseph engraver]

Scott handed the barrette to my daughter and said. “ I am sure that your Name Sister wants you to have this. Now I feel much better.”
The day was turning out to be perfect for a lunch out outdoors, as I lit the charcoal in the grill.
Beverly and Pamela were in the kitchen fixing the potato salad, preparing the hotdogs and the hamburger patties, lemonade and put the candles on the cake. When Beverly asked how she and Scott met.
She put the last candle on the cake and then said.
“I was leaving the Biloxi General Hospital where I work as one of the dietitians
I started to make my way past the crowd to the bus stop when i was violently pushed from behind, I lost my balance, and then my purse was torn from my grip
I was confused at first, and then I realized that the man running away had stolen it. I senselessly yelled at him to stop, but I knew he was going to get away.
Scott was sitting outside a café when he saw this happen. He waited until the thief was almost in front of him then he tipped over his table, the thief stumbled over it and fell headfirst to the sidewalk, He calmly walked over and picked up my purse, and the purse snatcher ran off.
He was waiting for me when I arrived. He handed it to me and before I could say thank you, he said. You are welcome. And you owe me a cup of coffee.”
Well, that was the beginning. He invited me to share coffee. While we sat and I regained my breath, we introduced each other.
When I looked at him I could see the sadness in his eyes, and I wanted to know more about him.
So I invited him to have dinner at the cafe as a reward for rescuing my purse. He accepted and we have been seeing each other since that day.
It was when he told me that he lived in New Hampshire, and he needed to return to close his house and put it on the real estate market next year .I knew that I wanted to be with him. I told him that I was born in Biloxi, graduated from Mississippi University., and had never in my life seen real snow. He asked me to take time off and come up here and spend some time with him.
He is a very caring and painfully honest man, and has had more than his share of sorrow. To tell you the truth Beverly I am in love with him. I wish there was something I could do to help him find peace. But I don’t think that is possible until he finds a way to put his daughter to rest. And I think that will take a miracle...

Chris Callahan was outside washing the mud off the Jeep when his cell phone rang. As soon as he answered his cousin said.
“Do not, I repeat do not allow the twins to know you are observing them, There is more to this than just poaching deer. I will see you after church tomorrow, and explain everything then. Have a nice day.” And then he disconnected. Leaving his cousin wondering what in the hell was going on.

Scott said. “Sylvia, let me put on some bathing trunks, and then we should go swimming while your mom and Pamela fix our lunch. I will teach you how to do the Cannon Ball, Jackknife, and a Swan dive. I will meet you on the dock in two minutes.”
I was next to the grill toasting buns and roasting hot dogs and hamburgers while I photographed my daughter cannon ball Scott. She hit the water sending a shower of water into the air and over Scott. When she surfaced, Scott ran the length of the dock and launch into the air, and then hit the water with a perfect swan dive over her.
At that moment, I could think of nothing more beautiful than watching the two of them playing, and hoped my photos were able to record them laughing and splashing each other. Behind me the two women were also laughing.
Then I heard Beverly say.” Don’t give up. There is still hope Pamela, miracles do happen.”
Having no idea what they were talking about. I said, "The only miracle I want to see is the table set and food on my plate, I am starving.”
It was after we brought out the birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday that Scott told us that he was thinking of selling his home.
“When I built this place it was my intention to give it to my daughter as a wedding gift. Now I know that will never happen. I see no reason to keep it. Pamela wants to see snow, and I want to take her skiing and ice skating, and then after she knows what winters in New Hampshire are like I will decide.”
He took Pamela´s hand and said to me. “Bill, if you want you can take all the photos of this place you care to and I give you permission to do an article on it for The Manchester Leader, but don’t mention where it is located, just in case I find a good reason not to put it on the market.”
Sylvia took this news badly. She blurted out, “You cannot sell this house. If you do my Name Sister won’t have a place to visit. She loves this home, I love this house too. And so do you Mr. Scott. I can tell by the way you take care of the flowers and fill the bird feeder, I can tell by the way you played with me on the dock. The only reason you want to go away from here is you miss her. I am positive that she will be found. I know this, because i pray every day that it will happen, and when she is found you will be happy again. “
Pamela could not hide her emotion when she said.” Well Scott, if those are not a good enough reasons. I will give you one more. I love you, and I want to be with you always, and I love this home also.”
Scott got up from the table, went to Pamela put his arms around her waist, and said, I love you, and then he kissed her with passion.
He looked at Sylvia and said.” Those are very wise and good reasons. Thank you. And now I think we all need to have one of you delicious Smile Cookies to celebrate you thirteenth birthday .”As we were leaving, Scott invited us to come to the lake At the end of the month..
He said.” If you take me upon the offer, Sylvia can take her last swim for the year, while we cut, spilt, and stack fire wood. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is predicting an early winter and I want Pamela to have the experience of preparing for the snow and cold here. Just in case she changes her mind and wants to go back to Biloxi.”
Then I heard Pamela say.” I know how to split wood."Not wanting to miss out on Scott´s offer, I took my camera and went out the door...

Sunday after church services the two Callahan men went into the den, closed the door behind them to discuss the Gustavo twins, and the unusual conversation with Scott Pinkerton.
“Chris, I don’t have much faith in dead spirits, but I do believe in too many circumstances pointing in the same direction. That is why I am sure that the Gustavo twins are responsible for the disappearance of Pinkerton´s daughter. If you catch them poaching, most likely the charges will only result in a fine and loss of their hunting licenses...If I question them about the Barrette they will lie, and nothing will come of it. Then I am sure they will be put on alert and we will never be able to prove a damned thing. What I intend to do is have their movements watched as soon as their father has recovered .They are not the brightest individuals, eventually they will make a mistake that will give us the right opportunity to question them. Then we can to put enough pressure on them to cause them to panic. That is when they will make mistakes and give us the leverage we need to separate and question them. Individually they will fall apart. Then I am sure that what circumstantial proof we have is enough to convince my chief to at least give me a man to follow their movements. Do you agree Chris?”
“I agree with you, but there is no need for a tail at this time. Their father is not well after his heart attack and they are sticking close to him and their mother’s side. They are not going anywhere until he has recovered, and I don’t think that will be until late fall. So for now we wait, have a nice poker game and an excellent supper with our family.”
The matter settled they opened the door and got out the cards and pennies. While Chris was raking in a pile of pennies he had won playing deuces wild, when he was struck with an Idea.
“Clarence!!! We know that the twins will lie and most probably the father will back them up. But their mother believes her sons walk on water. We need find a way to talk to her alone, she we will know the day they gave the barrette to her. If we can tie them to the time Pinkerton´s daughter disappearance we will have enough proof to get a warrant.”
While Chris was stacking his winnings, Clarence picked up the phone and called me. When he asked if my daughter was still seeing Rosalie Gustavo, I told him that she saw her twice a month to deliver cookies to Rosebuds.
He said, “Do a favor Bill. When she sees Misses Gustavo again, have her ask about the barrette and if she can remember what day it was when her son gave it to her.”
I told him that I would, but I wanted to know why, and is my daughter in danger?
“It is just a hunch Bill, just a hunch. You can be sure there is no danger for your daughter. When will she deliver her cookies? “
“I don’t know Clarence, but she is in the kitchen with her mother baking. Give me a minute and I will find out for you.”
As I am not allowed to enter when they are baking, I went to the kitchen door and asked.
Sylvia said. “Daddy, we always deliver my cookies on Tuesday and tomorrow it Tuesday. Now please do not interfere, your two master bakers, we are making money.”
I could not resist the chance to say. “I hope that you two will be able to reimburse me the money I am owed for the ingredients and electricity that I pay for.” Then I ducked before they could throw something at me.
When I returned to tell Clarence, he was laughing. He said I overheard the entire conversation.” Bill, I will call you at your office on Tuesday, tomorrow is Tuesday isn’t it?” Then he disconnected.
Tuesday morning, Beverly and my daughter arrived at Rosebuds to deliver her cookies, where they found the twins minding the shop. When Karl took the box of cookies from Sylvia, He explained that she would not need to deliver more cookies until October after school started again. “My father has been released by his doctor, and mom has gone to bring him home. Then we are closing Rosebuds until their father had time to completely recover.”
Sylvia gave him the bill for her cookies and even though she was disappointed she said. “I understand, and your daddy is so lucky to have you to take care of him. When he comes home please tell him that I will pray he gets well soon.”
As Karl handed her the check he said. “Thank you, and that is a beautiful barrette my mom gave you, be careful you don’t lose it.”

[joseph engraver]

Big Un,Thank you for the interest in my story. I hope you will be pleased with it´s ending. Here is a drawing for the books cover.

[Big-Un]

That's an appropriate book cover. The story is interesting and I'm anticipating an honorable ending.

[joseph engraver]

I was going over the photos I had taken of Scott´s home and was more than pleased to see the ones of him playing with my daughter had turned out so well. I was trying to decide which one was the best when my editor came in with coffee. He looked at the pile of photos and picked one of them up and said.” Bill these are exceptional, where did you take them?”
It is not often that Ralph gives me compliments and brings me coffee at the same time, but it is nice when he does.
When I told him that I took them at Little Lake Sunapee and they were of the Scott Pinkerton home to be possibly used for a real-estate ads. He picked up the whole pile and went through it one by one, when he finished he said. “This is exactly the kind of a place I want to live in when I retire, when you know for sure he is going to put it on the market let me know. By the way how is he doing?” I said he was better and was not sure if he would sell, but I would let him know.

Sergeant Callahan called me at three P.M. When I answered his call the first thing he said was. “Today is Tuesday and I always deliver on Tuesday. How did thing go With Rosalie Gustavo?”
I explained that she was not there, and that her husband was now recovering at home and the twins had told my daughter Rosebuds was closing until October.
“Well, Bill as I said it was just a hunch. Thanks, and tell Scott to be patience and not to lose faith.”
When we arrived at Scott´s home, he and Pamela were stacking fire wood. Sylvia ran to him and said.” I have another reason for you to stay here. Last night I had a dream, and my Name Sister told me that she was now an angel and she needs you to have this home so she can visit you always.”
Then she began picking up wood and putting on the neatly stacked pile. He took off his gloves, picked her up, kissed her on both cheeks and said. “And anytime you come here to visit there will be two angels in my house.
The next time you dream of her, tell her that I love her, and I am never going to sell this house. Why don’t you go inside now and leave us men do the hard work, then if the sunshine warms the water we will practice more diving.”
He handed me a pair of gloves, returned to the wood pile and picked up the axe as he said,” I split and you stack. Pamela is going to fix lunch Biloxi style, you better be hungry when it is ready.”
I am not a very physically active man and was sweating and out of energy, when Sylvia finally came to tell us that lunch was ready to eat.
As Pamela set the plates on the table she said. “There is a saying in Mississippi every good wife knows. A well fed dog never strays far from his kennel, and always returns home when it is time to eat. I believe it to be true, as proof, I have fixed a lunch of fried Maine oysters with melted Brie, Corn bread biscuits, Spinach greens with carrots, and for dessert Mississippi mud pie with chicory coffee.”
As we ate Scott told us that he was taking Pamela on a two weeks tour of northern New England.
“I want her to see how beautiful the fall colors are. Walk in snow, feel cold, go snowmobiling, ice skating and skiing and hike in the mountains. Then I will ask her to marry me.”
I wish I had a photo of the shocked look on Scotts face when Pamela said. “I can’t Scott; I don’t have any warm clothing to wear.”
Beverly and Sylvia in unison laughed and declared. “We need to go Kittery; it is only forty mile away, and they have over thirty clothing outlets. We women will go shopping while the men stack fire wood and wash dishes.”
It took fifteen minutes before they were on the way. Scott shrugged his shoulders and said. “Do want to do dishes or split wood?”
By the time I had washed, dried and put them away the air was colder, and the sun was gone, hidden in a mass of grey arctic clouds.
When I started stacking wood I said to Scott. “The Old Farmer’s Almanac was right, winter is on the way.” He looked up and said.” Perfect timing, in ten days the lake will be frozen over and ready for me to teach Pamela how to ice-skate.”
It was late; Scott and I had finished the wood pile, when the women returned from Kittery with high spirits and the trunk full of bags and boxes of winter wear, soaps, candles and perfume that had no doubt been debited to our credit cards. As we said goodnight, I had never seen Scott as pleased when he said; “Thank you Bill, you, your wife and daughter have saved my life. I will see you in a couple of weeks.”
The women were not the only ones who had been shopping, so were the Gustavo twins and their father.
To be continued

[joseph engraver]

When Clarence Callahan answered the phone, Kenny Nelson introduced himself and asked if he remembered him... “Of course I do Kenny, don’t tell me you need a speeding ticket fixed?”
“No sir, I am calling about the twins. I thought you would like to know that they were here this morning target practicing with their father, and they weren’t shooting 22 rifles. They said that they were going out to Massabesic and look for a deer. They bought two boxes of ammo, some targets, and they had two brand new stainless steel 357 magnum Blackhawk revolvers in shoulder holsters. I tell you sir, those twins are spooky, but they know how to shoot; i never seen anything like it. I saved the targets for you, if you want them you need to come out here today. This weather is getting too damned nasty and I am closing the club tonight.”
Callahan said, “Thank you Kenny, I will be out to see you as soon as I can get there.” Then he called his cousin Chris.
When he answered he said. “Chris, Bud Gustavo has recovered, and the twins are now armed with 357 magnum revolvers. Something is about to happen. I want you to be very careful if you should stop them. I am going out to the Chester Rod and Gun Club, meet me there at noon.”
Chris was already in the clubhouse looking at the targets and talking to Kenny Nelson when Clarence stepped out of his car. The targets he was looking at were of two human silhouette figures with the word Marsha written in pencil across them.
There were six holes in each. Five placed where the heart would be, and one in the center of the forehead.

I was watching the local weather report when my phone rang. Expecting it was Ralph Shoemaker, I said. "Sorry Ralph the weather is too cold and I feel terrible; I am not coming to the office today. " Then a woman laughed and said. “At least it is sunny and not snowing.”
It was one of those rare embarrassing moment when I make a fool of myself, and to make matters worse I had no idea who I was talking to.
Then she introduced herself and asked to speak with Sylvia. I told her that she was in the kitchen trying out a new recipe and asked her to please wait and I will tell her you want to speak with her.
Sylvia had the Kitchen Aid on, busily whipping egg whites. I had to shout for her to hear me.
"Rosalie Gustavo is on the phone and wants to talk to you; do you want to call her back?"
"No Daddy, you talk to her and I will be finished soon."
Making small talk to women I hardly know is not my favorite thing to do. I returned to the phone and said that the master pastry chef would be with her as soon as she was done whipping up eggs.
I asked how her husband was feeling. It must have been the right question. She proceeded to tell me about the heart attack, the operation, Bud´s convalescence and how wonderful her boys had been in taking care of their father. By the time Sylvia came to the phone I knew that Bud was going back to work at the Highway Department, he was taking a desk job. Rosebuds were going to open in a week, and her boys had gone target shooting and hunting with their father to Massabesic Lake.
I said goodbye, it was nice talking to you misses Gustavo, and gave the phone to my daughter.
Misses Gustavo and my daughter had been talking for several minutes. Sylvia promised to deliver three dozen cookies to her just before Rosebuds opened, and she would bring her a sample of Rye Happy cookies to try.
I was very surprised to hear her say.
“Misses Gustavo, I have sad news. There is a girl at school who wants me to give her the barrette because it belongs to her. When she asked me about it, I told her that your son found it, and you had given it to me as a present for the first day of summer. She and her friend say that they were playing together when she lost it earlier that week. They want me to give it back .I do not want to keep something that belongs to her. What do you think i should I do?”
Not knowing what her answer was, I waited until Sylvia said, “Thank you Misses Gustavo, I will tell them exactly that”, and then she hung up the phone. As soon as she did, I said. “Sylvia, please tell me what was her answer?”
“Daddy, she told me that the girls were lying. That her son Kevin found the barrette on the fourth of April and I should tell them they could go to hell for trying to cheat me.”
“Daughter dearest, you just confirmed what I have known all along, my genius has been passed on to you. “

[joseph engraver]

Detective Callahan was saying goodbye to Kenny and Chris was still looking at the targets when I called. I could hardly contain my excitement as I told him that Rosalie Gustavo had just told my daughter that her son gave her the barrette on May 4th.

Bud parked his Buick under the oaks; his two sons jumped out and began looking for places to put up their targets, while he took the time to enjoy the freezing Canadian air that had engulfed the New England states. Feeling better than he had in over a year, he walked down to the snow covered ice on the lake shore; he loved being in the woods with his boys again. He raised his arms high and inhaled the scent of the forest deep into his lungs and exhaled his frosted breath into the afternoon air.
As he stood there, his sons came to stand beside him. He put his arms around their shoulders and told them he loved them, and was pleased to have bought them each a new pistol as a present for their help at Rosebuds and loving care during his convalescence.
It was at that moment he saw a magnificent buck walk out of the willows on Loon Island.
He whispered to his sons. “Look at the rack of horns on that buck .I have never seen one with so many points, I will bet you it might be a New Hampshire Boone and Crocket record. It is trapped on that small island and with this new snow it will be easy to track and find. What a trophy those horns would make mounted on the wall in your room.”
Karl looked at his brother and said, “Let’s kill him.”
Kevin embraced his brother, laughed and said.”Let´s cut of its head.” They raised their heads towards the sky and Bud saw for the first time his sons howl like wolves. When they started across the ice, the buck disappeared into the willows along the shore. They howled again, the eerie sound echoed across the frozen water sent a shiver of foreboding down their father’s spine. Then he saw how thin the ice was when he stepped onto it. In panic he yelled at his boys to come back.
But the Brothers of the Wolf did not listen. For that was the moment the buck stepped out of the willow branches to stare at them. As they stood transfixed at the sight of the buck they heard the crystal eggshell of ice around them begin to crack and then shatter. When they fell together into the water they clawed at the edge of the ice in hopeless desperation as the weight of their new revolvers pulled them down. As they sank into the lake, they screamed for God to save them.
But God did not hear them, for he was listening to the prayers of a thirteen year old girl asking that her Name Sister be found.
When both Callahan’s arrived at the lake the first thing they saw was Bud Gustavo slumped on the ground next to his Buick .Tears were streaming down his face and his features were contorted in pain. Clarence knelt down next to him and felt his pulse.
His heart was beating wildly, and it looked like he was going into shock. He said Chris. “Call for paramedics and get a blanket out of my car.” And then he asked Bud. “Where are you sons, I need to speak to them.”
His answer was. “You can’t, they are at the bottom of the lake. They are dead now. If I had not seen that damned deer on the island they would have never gotten out on the lake. It is my fault, they were everything to me, and now they are gone, all gone.” Then his body went into convulsions and his heart stopped beating.
When the medics were loading Bud’s body into the ambulance; Chris noticed how the stones in part of the wall had been moved and poorly replaced.
He said; “Clarence these stones have been moved, some don’t have moss on them and the ones that do are upside down. This has to be where they buried Sylvia Pinkerton, her grave must be here.”
It was when the grave site was being examined by a team of forensic experts that the vodka bottle was found and so were Karl and Kevin’s fingerprints, mixed with the blood of Eliza Sanchez.
When the search and rescue team were recovering the twins bodies, Chris and Clarence searched Loon Island. They never found hair or a hoof print.
The snow has gone; spring finally arrived and the tulips in front of the home on Little Sunapee Lake are the perfect setting for Pamela and Scotts wedding.
Rosalie has sold Rosebuds and retired to West Palm Beach a now very wealthy widow. Sylvia and her mother Beverly are in the kitchen getting ready to deliver the Smile Cookies and the wedding cake. And I am finishing the final editing of my new book, The Mysteries of New Hampshire’s Stone walls.
THE END
Thank you for reading; I hope you liked this fictional story.
Joseph Engraver

[joseph engraver]

The old man´s tricycle
My ability to get out and about has been limited. I have depended on Franca driving me everywhere I want to go. The other day, I started thinking about a battery powered tricycle as a way to achieve a bit of independence. I discussed the idea with Franca and she took me to a bike shop where I looked at what was available, and found exactly what I need. The only drawback is the price of $ 1,700 Euro´s.
Last night I thought that if I could sell my newly printed books:
The Hermit and the Boy, Josephine, or The Purple Heart, along with the limited number of intaglio prints I have left, I could raise enough money to help pay for this old man´s tricycle.
The prints are a limited edition and the number after the title of the print shows how many prints are left for sale.
If you are interested in an autographed book and a print for $25.00 (postage paid), please let me know by a private message at this site or on Facebook.com, along with your mailing address. I will mail them to you and you can pay for them when you receive them. I will provide you with the routing number to my Wells Fargo bank.

[joseph engraver]

these are the prints

[joseph engraver]

Each book is in English with an additional Italian translation.

[joseph engraver]

The Christmas that became a very bad dream.
I wanted to write about my Christmas experience with the “ ITALIAN FAMILY”.
It all started out so well, Franca was cooking and we were singing as I pealed veggies “The Family is coming hurray, hurray, the sun is shining and it´s a wonderful day.”
We were laughing as we wrapped the presents and the kitchen was redolent with the smell of baking bread, grilled shrimp and apple pie. The phone began to buzz, Franca answered i. (I never answer the phone.)
The family was on the way and would arrive about 7 P: M: and we should set the table for 6 as The “Older Sister Terri was coming “I don’t know if I have ever mentioned her but if you imagine the witch in the movie Oz, 6 ft tall, weighing 200 lbs with the eating habits of a wild boar and you will have a general idea of how much she is welcome here. In addition to that, she was diagnosed with moderate dementia and needs constant supervision when she is in a place she is not familiar with.
It seems that when she shows up the peace I normally have heads out the door and pandemonium takes over.
However, this particular holiday season I told Franca that I would take extra pains to have a cheerful family get together as I set the table for the feast that Franca had been working on for several days.
It was 7:15 when my dog Jack began barking and the phone buzzed. I went to the window and saw the “Family” pulling into the yard, and said to Franca “Merry Christmas my dear, it looks like your family is finally here.”She looked into my eyes and said.” It is Our Family, remember.”
Soon everyone was greeting us with hugs and kisses as they unloaded my nephew Alex´s almost new car. and helped Maria Teresa (Terri) “ The other Sister” out of the car, who as soon as she saw the dog began yelling at him “ Go away, shoo, go away “
I knew this was going to happen and had put him on his leash; I pulled him into my studio and shut the door until ever one was up the stairs and into our apartment. Of Course Terri needed to go pee immediately, but she was afraid of falling down the stairs. So greetings were postponed until her nephew Yvi helped her up and down the stairs and natures call had been answered. By that time Franca and Julie were discussing Terrie´s mental health which had been deteriorating and as far as I was concerned had turned into stage two senility .Alex had already devoured half a loaf of fresh bread and was now eating all the cashews and walnuts, his brother Yvi was texting a girlfriend he had met that summer at a disco here. And there was Terri was sitting on my favorite spot on the sofa watching her favorite program, something called Marco Polo.
“How long before we eat? “ I asked Franca. She looked at me and whispered “Remember it is Christmas and you must have patience.” Fine, I replied. “Call me when it is time, I am going down to my studio with my dog.”
My patience paid off and it wasn’t long before we were all sitting around the table loaded with great food, champagne and cheer.
I usually sit at the head of the table, or the end of it depending on one’s point of view. Dinner that night was different. The Sister was sitting in my spot and was already drinking my wine, but she was FAMILY so I took a place next to her and asked if she liked the wine. “Very good” she replied as she finished the glass and reached for the bottle to replenish it .I usually eat in small bites and like to take my time, but this was Christmas eve and the nephews were working on the last of the bread, and I knew that I needed to hurry if there was any chance of getting my share of lasagna.
When the meal was over one nephew went back to texting. My other nephew asked to borrow his brother car and left, Terri returned to my spot on the sofa while she waited for Franca and her sister Giuliana to fix her coffee and apple pie a la mode as I helped clear the dishes off the table. All in all the arrival and meal with The Family went as well as I could hope for and about midnight I said good night and went to bed. Giuliana and Maria Teresa walked over to their hotel room. We have always booked a hotel room for her as she doesn’t like my dog., but this time because of her mental instability she could not be trusted to be alone and Giuliana was staying with her
Christmas Morning, 3AM and all is not well.
My bladder woke me up and I got to the toilet did my thing and was headed back to dreamland when I realized that every light in the house was on and there was a blue light flashing in front of my home. I look out the window and see my two nephews walking up and down in front of a flat bed towing truck with Alex´s car on it. I step out onto the balcony and yell “What’s happened?” Alex looks up sees me and calls back “Yves has had an accident, someone hit him and left without stopping and my car is wrecked.
Where can we put my car? My first thought was has he been hurt, but then I could see that he was not. How bad is the car damaged I shouted down to the distraught Alex, at that moment I felt sad that his first car had been badly damaged. Then I remembered it was not my problem or responsibility and they had ruined my sleep and now I had to wake Franca .I muttered to myself “How in the hell should I know where to put it”. Then went to wake Franca and go back to bed. Fortunately there is a garage next to us that does body repair, so that is where the car ended up for the night. Of course no one got any sleep that night and in the morning no one opened any gifts because Franca had to take Yves to the police station to file a report. There he was told that as no one could be charged because no one had been arrested and no proof that he was not responsible, the insurance coverage would not cover the damages unless of course he could find the responsible party
Franca had booked Christmas lunch at a nice restaurant for that afternoon. It was a twelve course meal w champagne wine and dessert, for 40 Euros a person. The food was excellent and I enjoyed it even though I had to look at the sad face of Alex and the guilty look on Yves’s. The older sister Terri was oblivious to the problems as she had spent the night in a nearby hotel. She ate and ate and drank, and drank to the point where she was very tipsy. As I watched her she reminded me of a food disposal machine, but it was Christmas day and I felt it better to keep my mouth shut, smile and fill her glass when it was empty. Three hours into the feast I was stuffed, Alex was feeling not so sad, Yvi was wisely keeping quiet, Franca and Giuliana were happy and Terri was very drunk. I decided that a walk would be good for me so I skipped coffee and walked home where I went down to my studio to read the news on the computer .I had just settled down to read when Franca came in to tell me that she was taking Yves to the police station to see if they had found any photos on a surveillance camera.
The Sister At first I was confused ,I did not know why she was in my house as I was under the impression she had gone to the hotel to take a nap .When Alex came rushing into my studio.”You need to come up stairs Uncle. Aunt Terri had fallen down and can’t get up and there is blood coming from her mouth I think she has knocked some of her front teeth out. In the living room I saw her on the floor at the foot of the stairs, blood running down her chin and she was unable to get to her feet. Alex also looked confused and shocked. I got an icepack from the freezer, wrapped it in a dinner napkin and gave it to her to put it on her mouth. Then my vow to have a nice Christmas holiday with the “Family fell apart. I yelled.” What is she doing here? She is supposed to be at the hotel taking a nap. How did she get here?” Alex answered “Aunt Franca and mom brought her here so Mom could get some rest. I left her on the sofa watching TV and was upstairs when she decided to come up stairs to go to the toilet and she fell; now she won’t get up.” Together we got her up off the floor and onto the sofa, once we had her seated my headache began as I told Alex to call Franca who was at the police headquarters with Yves filling out accident forms at that moment ,and then the ambulance for Terri . Then found the rum, poured a shot and went down stairs to the sanctuary of my studio. It wasn’t long before more flashing blue lights lit up the Christmas night sky in front of my home. THE SISTER was strapped into a stretcher, loaded into the ambulance and taken to the emergency room in La Spezia. That was the time I said to hell with it all and went to bed.
It was around 5AM when Franca came into the bedroom, told me that “The Sister” was back at the hotel and we settled down for a long winter’s nap that lasted for about one hour. Then it was decided to send them home by train. That it would be done in two trips, one with Alex, his brother and The SISTER. Then a second trip with Giuliana and the luggage. I offered to stay home and keep the dog company:
As they were packing they discovered that everyone would fit and only one trip was needed if The SISTER sat in front and everyone else squeezed into the back seat. That was two weeks ago and since then The Sister has been operated on for a fractured jaw. She got out of surgery today and the car has been put on a trailer and transported back to Brescia this morning. Tonight I am taking Franca out to a nice quiet restaurant. Jan. 15, 2020

[joseph engraver]

THE TEEPEE RING
It was nearly forty years ago while I was living in the remote mountain town named Joseph, which is located in the north east corner of Oregon that I came to meet a full blooded Indian.
I had recently been commissioned to engrave a Winchester rifle for the Wallowa county Chamber of Commerce .And, while doing the research for the engraving I had developed a great empathy for the Indians that had lived in Oregon. Especially for the Nez Pierce who had inhabited the area where I was l was living, and their tragic history under the heavy and cruel treatment that they had endured in their fight with the US soldiers led by General Howard.
It is a legend in Joseph that Chief Joseph had placed a curse on the town named for him. He had said. “Let no white man who comes here live in peace and prosperity.” I later found this was true.
The locals have also a saying, “Once you get to Joseph you can never leave, because you will never have enough money to move away.”This I also later found to be true, but that is another story which I call “Escape from Joseph”
Every July twenty ninth there is a celebration in the town. It is called The Chief Joseph Days and has a parade, with cowboys, horses, a band, a rodeo, and a small gathering of Indians from many parts of the West. It was my habit at that time to take a sketch pad, pen, and a pipe full of marijuana and go for daily hikes along the lake and mountainside.
One day, while sitting on a knoll overlooking Wallowa Lake. While I was drawing a patch of wild flowers I noticed several groups of rocks far below me that appeared to have been placed in two large circles, and it occurred to me that they might have once been used by Indians to make Tepee rings. I decided to hike down to them and have a closer look .As I stood outside the ring of rocks and studied them, I saw that two were spaced father apart and looked like they could have been the entrance. Then I saw that a large flat rock next to them was stained by fire and might have been where meals were cooked.
Curious, I started to enter the ring of rocks. Suddenly, I heard a voice tell me to take off my boots, which I did without hesitation. Once inside I could see a dozen smaller flat stones placed in a semicircle around the fire stone. Now I was positive that I was standing inside of a teepee ring. I went to one of the flat stones and sat down and found it to be comfortable, so I tried sitting on them all.
Then I noticed that the one rock near the entrance was set with its very sharp edge turned up. I went over to it and sat down .It took me five minutes before the pain to my spine was unbearable.
When I stood up I decided that I was wrong, and the whole idea of this being a teepee ring was my imagination. I walked out of the rock ring and started to put on my boots. When again a voice says “That rock was for the white men to sit on”.
In my pocket I had a Buck folding knife that was engraved with simple scrolls...I took it out, went back into the ring of rocks and dug a hole next to the fire rock and buried it as a gift. Then I put on my boots and went home to tell my wife of the extraordinary experience.
Her reply was “Have you been smoking that stuff “When I said yes, she replied “Well that explains it.”Maybe it did, but I wasn’t sure.

It was a week later that the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo started and I was very anxious to meet some Indians. I was hoping to find someone who would be willing to go with me and look at the site where the ring of rocks was and get the opinion of a real Indian. That is where I met Charley Horse Capture.
He was about thirty years old, dressed in jeans and a western cut shirt. He was also very tall, slim, dark skinned, with black hair worn in a ponytail, he was selling belts and buckles displayed on a folding card table set up in front of a brand new pickup truck, a horse trailer and a small camping trailer. Though it was not even noon he was a bit intoxicated.
As I stood in front of his display he noticed my fishing vest and asked me where I went fishing, and that he liked also to fish. So, I told him about the lake, the ring of rocks and that I had buried my pocket knife there as a gift to honor his ancestors, the people who had once lived there. His response was not what I had expected. He said that he did not believe me and that I was a liar.
Offended, I told him that I never lie and, if he had enough ambition I would take him to the lake and show him where the knife was buried.
He agreed to go, and we set off to walk the four miles back to the lake. As we walked he told me that he was a member of the Lakota tribe and was proud that he was a great horseman and was at the rodeo to ride in the bucking horse completion. I told him that I was an artist and made my living engraving guns and knives and not a very good horse rider, and after we returned to town, I would invite him to my home to meet my wife, and show him my shop. When we got to the lake I showed him where the knife was buried and told him that I had no intension of removing it.
But he wanted to see it, and without asking me, he proceeded to dig it up. At first I started to object, but then I decided that he was an Indian and I had put it there for his ancestors and if he was fine with them, then I certainly should have no problem. Besides, I thought it better for him to have it, then leave it to rust away for some archeologist to maybe find one day, so I shrugged my shoulders and said,” Go ahead and dig.” When he found it the first thing he said was, “I want to keep it.”There was nothing I could say but, “It’s yours, take good care of it.”
When we got to my home I took him into the kitchen, introduced him to my wife, and then showed him my shop, when he saw my fishing rod he asked my where I went fishing .I said my favorite places to fish are Big Sheep Creek for rainbow trout and on the Imnaha River for steelhead, and bull trout and said we could go tomorrow morning if he wanted. He agreed to go, so I asked him what time did he want to leave? He said, “When the sun rises.
”I had absolutely no idea what time the sun rose, but I was pleased to go for I thought I would learn how a real Indian fished. So I cheerfully agreed, showed him to the door and we said goodbye.
I could not sleep that night. I was very excited to be going fishing with a true full blooded Indian and I hope to learn something from him .I was also worried that I would oversleep.
I was up and dressed by four AM. I fixed sandwiches, packed some fruit, made a thermos full of coffee, and then after I ate my breakfast I went outside to see if the sun was starting to rise. To the East I could see a very faint shade of violet behind the mountain. I packed my gear and the food into my seven year old Plymouth, and then sat down to wait for my new fishing friend to show up.
There is a precise moment when you know that it is sunrise. That morning it happened at 5.31 am and I stared down the street expecting Billy Horse Capture to appear as we had agreed. About an hour later I knew he had stood me up. At first I was disappointed then the disappointment turned into anger and I decided to find him and demand an explanation.
I found Billy at the rodeo grounds, drunk and staggering on his feet. “I thought we were going fishing, and you were to meet me at sunrise. Do you want to go or are you too drunk? He looked at me and said, “Am not drunk, I just had a couple of beers and I want to go fishing” He got into my car and we headed out of town and the Imnaha river .Do you have beer? He asked me. “No I don’t but I have coffee and sandwiches.” He nodded then said, OK, then I will look for a sign.
Stupid me, I thought he was looking for an omen that would tell us how the fishing would be .Maybe a raven , fox, coyote or even a deer. Then, when he said; I don’t see a sign. And you have no beer, I and am getting a headache-That is when I realized he was looking for a bar or a shop where i could buy him beer. I pulled over and made a u turn and headed back to Joseph. “I was wondering Billy, do you have the knife with you, and what did your friends think of it?” His answer was the final end of my relation with a real Indian.
He said, “No, I had an accident and wrecked my truck last night and left it in the glove box of my truck and someone stole it.”
I dropped Billy Horse Capture at the rodeo grounds, and then went home to get some much needed sleep
THE END OF A TRUE STORY

[joseph engraver]

I seems as though I dream more often now than I did when I was young. The strange thing is, I dream of people I have never known and places I have never been. And, I more often than not I dream in color. This is what I remember of last nights dream.
Joseph Engraver
IN COLD BLOOD
Although the sun had risen but an hour earlier, the heat was strong and the old man accompanied with his servant were standing in the shade of a giant Fichus tree that grew in the yard of his hut on the edge of the desert. It was his custom to take a walk there every morning to visit his wife’s grave, as and he had done so since she died more than thirty years ago. He did not see the snake until the servant threw his machete into the sand just a footstep behind him. He leaned on his cane and turned to stare at the rusted blade which had severed the spine of the green eyed cobra that was hidden in the fallen leaves of the Fichus tree. With the agility of a man fifty year younger than he was, the servant pulled the blade from the ground and deftly cut of the head of the two meter s long reptile. “Your eyes have become lazy boss”, as he gave the old man a shake of disapproval with his boney fingers .and a smile. As he knew that the man would now buy him a nice meal of turtle eggs, with anchovies, along with a pint of cold dark beer.
He took out of his worn cotton vest a glass flask and removed its stopper. Then he picked up the head and forced the flask under the fangs, and then pressed his thumbs into the sides of the head next to the green eyes and watched the stream of poison flow into the flask. When the last drop fell into the flask he replaced the stopper and threw the head into the nearby brush where the colony of red fire ants would soon find it and turn it into a bit of harmless bit of skin and bones. Then he returned the flask to his vest pocket.
As wiped the cobra´s blood from his machete he smiled, knowing that the venom would bring him enough money to buy a liter of mescal and a woman to sleep with tonight. Yes, it had turned out to be a very prosperous morning indeed, he thought, as he took the old man’s arm to help him home.
THE END

[joseph engraver]

December 17 2020
Snow in Apache Creek and The people without shoes
I was not quite asleep and I could hear the radio. A man telling about the heavy snowfall that came to Apache Creek that night and unrest now taking place in my home town. He described the mass of citizens protesting the new regulation that was about to be put in place to prevent them from leaving their homes because of the weather and plague that was affecting everyone’s life here and around the world.
He went on to read a transcript of this edict from the newly elected president. “All persons who work for wages and have not contributed to the new political power now in office. Shall be restricted to their homes for their own well being .To make sure this new ruling is followed, all the working class individuals are forbidden from wearing shoes and must go about their daily lives only in Government provided yellow rubber sandals or bare feet. People who work in companies that are government approved and wear suits and ties can wear shoes. Owners of small independent business that have paid all the taxes and permits and also wear suits are allowed to wear one shoe and a yellow sandal and stocking on the other foot. The new government has established a special branch of observers and overseers to make sure that these rules and the mandatory, wearing masks are enforced. We are very sorry to tell you that Christmas is to be canceled until next year. Naturally these are temporary restriction and are only for the safety and welfare of our citizens and will be amended once we are all safe from this dark winter that is upon us.”

That is when I remembered that I did not own a radio and I was in America not China. Then I heard my wife tell me that it was snowing and I should get up to see how beautiful the town of Apache looked all covered with pure white snow.
To hell with it, I must be having a bad dream I thought, and went back to sleep.
Merry Christmas to everyone

[joseph engraver]

December 17 2020
Snow in Apache Creek and The people without shoes
I was not quite asleep and I could hear the radio. A man telling about the heavy snowfall that came to Apache Creek that night and unrest now taking place in my home town. He described the mass of citizens protesting the new regulation that was about to be put in place to prevent them from leaving their homes because of the weather and plague that was affecting everyone’s life here and around the world.
He went on to read a transcript of this edict from the newly elected president. “All persons who work for wages and have not contributed to the new political power now in office. Shall be restricted to their homes for their own well being .To make sure this new ruling is followed, all the working class individuals are forbidden from wearing shoes and must go about their daily lives only in Government provided yellow rubber sandals or bare feet. People who work in companies that are government approved and wear suits and ties can wear shoes. Owners of small independent business that have paid all the taxes and permits and also wear suits are allowed to wear one shoe and a yellow sandal and stocking on the other foot. The new government has established a special branch of observers and overseers to make sure that these rules and the mandatory, wearing masks are enforced. We are very sorry to tell you that Christmas is to be canceled until next year. Naturally these are temporary restriction and are only for the safety and welfare of our citizens and will be amended once we are all safe from this dark winter that is upon us.”
That is when I remembered that I did not own a radio and I was in America not China. Then I heard my wife tell me that it was snowing and I should get up to see how beautiful the town of Apache looked all covered with pure white snow.
To hell with it, I must be having a bad dream I thought, and went back to sleep.

[joseph engraver]

Preview of coming attractions, and the accessories of old age.
September fourth.
At 85 years of age, I find it is interesting how many new things I have acquired and experienced in the last twelve months.
For example, I now have a battery powered tricycle to compensate for my lack of balance, which I cannot ride because it puts too much stress on my heart, a walking stick, and a cane and wide variety of new pills for my heart and pain in my hips and spine. It has also been recommended I wear a back brace to help keep me from falling over when walking my dog because of the deterioration and for the surprise urine drip.
while playing Scrabble I had my first warning that my heart was not functioning well. I fainted while combing my thinning hair. (24th Sept) Franca called emergency service and I am now confined to a hospitable under intensive care here in Italy, and it doesn’t look promising that I will recover.

Nov.21, out of hospital and home again with a new heart valve and bypass surgery .I have added a new walker and a large assortment of new pills to help me with pain and mental confusion.
Writing this has been difficult as my attention span is not what it used to be, but it is very good to say hello again and not good bye
Joseph 23/11/21

[Big-Un]

It has been a long time since posting here and finish reading your short stories, but I'm glad to see the ending of the Wolf Brothers was appropriate.

Upon reading your last post its good you're signing back on and, although a little worse for the wear, you're upright and mobile. The things we accumulate during aging sometimes become a burden, but where would we be without them? Like you, my past year has been difficult, and I've endured nine knee surgeries, multiple serious infections and trying rehabilitation but I'm pressing on with life as I know that whatever the outcome, my Saviour is waiting for me when my duty here on earth is done. At 10 years your junior I almost know what you're experiencing and pray for you and yours during these times.

Merry Christmas Joseph and I'm hoping to visit Italy, particularly Brescia, before I pass.

Bill Moody (Big-Un)