Dawn Redeemed

Realistically, Torr knew this simple fact. Dead was dead. But his mind continued to replay the dream over and over till his frazzled nerves got the better of him and he was in his truck hours before dawn began to creep over the horizon, headed for the white ranch and the two women he would die to protect.

Fallon lay awake most of the night. Her young mind simply would not shut up long enough to let her exhausted body drift off. She had a little girl's good natured curiosity about the man who made her mom smile like a kid in a roomful of birthday presents. For so long, it had just been the two of them. Fallon hadn't stopped to consider what it would be like to have a real dad. Fallon knew very little about her father. Only the bits and pieces her mother had shared. Whenever her mom talked about him, she got this far away look on her face and her eyes clouded over, as if she still missed him, a lot. Maybe, she did. Fallon didn't like to see her mom sad. So she'd quit asking questions. If Torr could replace that look on her mom's face with smiles and happiness, Fallon would learn to share her mother with him, just to see her mom smile like that everyday.

Fallon was excited about going back to Marianne's in the morning. Sometimes, she wished her mom would give up and let her keep going to school with Marianne and the other kids instead of suffering through public school. Nash and the other adults were good teachers. She learned a lot in just one day. More than she ever had in regular classes. She loved the kids and got along with them. No one there made her feel like an outcast. She felt as if she belonged, really and truly belonged.

Fallon heard the soft whisper of nails click against her windowsill. Eagerly, she pulled back the curtains and stared into the face of her wolf through the pane of glass. She stretched out her fingers and traced the puff of white steam that fogged the window from the outside. "You're back!" she whispered excitedly. Sneaking and tiptoeing, she crawled out from under the covers and tugged as hard as she could on the sash. Her skinny arms and tiny body weren't strong enough to pull the window open.

Fumbling in the dark, she found her house slippers and slid her feet into them. She tiptoed through the quiet house, careful not to make any noise. Luckily, her uncle snored loudly, like a buzz saw and she didn't have to worry too much about anybody hearing her. The backdoor tugged open with a noisy shudder that made her wince as if that one sound would wake everyone. She held her breath and when no one stirred, she snuck out into the night.

The wolf wagged his tail excitedly. The little girl was all smiles as she jogged toward him. He rose up on his massive paws and gently padded toward her. Her arms wrapped around his neck tightly and gave him a hard, warm squeeze. Gently, he nuzzled her hair and inhaled her little girl scent of innocence and dreams. Her skin tasted salty-sweet in the tip of his big pink tongue as he slicked it across her cheek in greeting.

Fallon playfully scowled as she wiped away his slobber with the edge of her sleeve. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest and glared at him. "Where have you been?" she scolded. The wolf sank down onto his belly and rested his nose in between its paws, looking up at her with round, golden eyes.

Fallon bit her lip to keep from giggling aloud and sank down onto the dewy grass beside him. It was cool outside and she snuggled up tightly against his big, furry body to keep warm. He made a great blanket, curling up around her. She ran her hands through the thick, warm wooly pile of his brown fur and curled up even tight against his side, resting a cheek on his soft ruff. "I missed you too." Her tiny fingers kneaded the musky smelling, supple pelt as her eyes drifted shut.

The wolf felt the little girl relax into his body. Her tiny fingers were curled up into a ball on his neck. The night was too chilly for a little girl to be out. The wolf shifted his weight and wrapped his body as tightly against her as he could to protect her. His fur made a soft, warm, blanket for her as she slept. The wolf, sighed contentedly and eased his head onto his paws. The human in his head exhaled and settled into a peaceful quiet.

Alexander ran his fingers through his disheveled locks of red hair faded blond with age. Gently, he teased himself for being such an old man. There wasn't as much on top of his head as there used to be back in the day. He sniffed the morning air, expecting the aroma of coffee percolating and was immediately disappointed. Sort of. He snuck out of bed careful not to jar his wife awake. Eager for the opportunity to sneak at least one pot of the good stuff before Leigh woke up and busted him, he tiptoed into the kitchen.

The house was dim, quiet, and still. He was hardly ever the first one awake and the chore of making the first pot of coffee for the day fell on him. And he was not one to take his duty lightly. He dumped out the grounds waiting to be brewed, shuffling the trash in the trashcan to hide his handiwork.

Edging toward the basement door, he snuck down and pulled out a can of Folger's best from behind a box of empty canning jars. Today was a double scoop kind of morning. He inhaled the smell of coffee and added two heaping scoops to the filter before replacing the canister and the box where they belonged. Before summer, he'd have to find a new hiding place for his coffee. Leigh canned like the end was coming any minute once the tomatoes and green beans he planted in the garden every year ripened. Maybe, he'd move his stash to the boxes of Christmas decorations she wouldn't touch until October.

Pleased with his handiwork and drooling at the thought of a hot mug of coffee. He stared out through the kitchen window as he filled the coffee pot with tap water. The world was shrouded with soft, gently creeping morning mists. He blamed his fuzzy view of the backyard on the mists and pale light. Denial was so much easier to believe than the truth. He was fucking old and needed his glasses to see clearly. He saw clear enough to make out the shape curled up beneath the tall pine he'd planted as a sapling when Alex was just a baby.

He approached quietly and slowly, not to startle the wolf or wake Fallon. He held a finger to his lips as the wolf watched him approach with wary eyes. To an outsider it might seem like an odd gesture to make to a dangerous wild animal. Alexander knew this was no ordinary wild animal and he wasn't dangerous, at least not to Fallon. The wolves around here, especially this one, understood him with perfect clarity. The wolf silently barred his teeth as Alexander crouched beside Fallon. "Brother Wolf, its time for Fallon to wake up now." He wrapped his hands around Fallon's sleeping body, gently lifting her into his arms with a grunt. Alexander rested her head on his shoulder. "Shoo," he said softly to the wolf as he carried Fallon to the backdoor.

Fallon yawned and wrapped her legs around her uncle's waist. She sleepily rested her head on his shoulder, looking down at the wolf behind them. Smiling, she waved and blew her wolf a kiss. She felt safe curled up against the bunch and release of her uncle's muscles. "Morning."

Alexander balanced Fallon as he opened the backdoor and carried her inside. He bent his face close to her ear and whispered, "I won't tell your mother about what I just saw if you don't. The wolf, he's our secret, ok?"

Fallon lifted her head from her uncle's shoulder and smiled. "Ok." She shivered as he set her feet down on the tile floor and pulled off his battered robe to wrap over her shoulders. The robe smelled good, like her uncle, of sleep, Old Spice aftershave, freshly brewed coffee, and her aunt's Downy dryer sheets.

She almost giggled at the sight of her uncle's whiskered jaw, sleep disheveled hair, and knobby knees poking out from the hem of his boxers. A few long strands of gray chest hairs peeked out from the neckline of his undershirt. He was a little thick in the waistline and his belly rounded. His arms were muscular, but they jiggled a little as he reached for a mug from the cabinet.

"You want some hot chocolate?" He asked as he ruffled Fallon's sleep tangled curls playfully. Alexander retrieved a saucepan from out of the cabinet and set it on the stove. He fished a gallon of milk out of the fridge and poured it into the pan. Fallon looked pale, chilled to the bone, but no worse for wear. He wouldn't try to keep her and the wolf apart. No matter what happened, there was not one being on earth, who could truly separate her from the wolf. No matter how hard they tried, the wolf was in her and a part of her.

"Sure." Her uncle wasn't going to tell on her. He understood about her and the wolf. She sat down at the kitchen table, quietly waiting while he warmed a pan of milk on the stove and added a generous dollop of chocolate into the mix.

Torr awoke face down in a pile of last years autumn leaves. After a rapid shift, it always took his human senses a minute to come back on line. Groaning with the effort, he rolled onto his back and stared up into the leafy canopy above him. Gauging by the warm yellow flooding the sky, it was time to cut the call of nature short and get dressed. Pretend to be human for another day.

"Could that be my daughter up this early?" Erica yawned and cinched the robe tighter around her waist. "And Uncle Alexander too? Who are you people and what have you done to my daughter and my uncle?" She asked jovially as she made her way past the two people in question to the coffee pot. This morning, she needed every bit of energy she could muster out of the black, stout brew. Last night, she'd slept so well and the annoying buzz of the alarm clock came way too early.

She ripped off a piece of paper towel and handed it to Fallon, motioning to her upper lip with a finger. "You've got a marshmallow mustache."

Fallon took the paper towel and dabbed at her upper lip. "Thanks." She drained the rest of her mug and set it in the sink with the rest of the mugs to be washed. "I'd better get dressed," she said, dismissing herself from the bleary eyed adults crouched over their coffee. The secret was rolling on the tip of her tongue about to burst out of her mouth. There was fur from her wolf embedded in the fabric of her nightgown. Luckily, she was still wearing Uncle Alexander's robe so her mom wouldn't see. Fallon hightailed it for the bathroom to shower, brush her teeth, and change her clothes. She'd love to tell her mom about the wolf. But, her mom would have kittens if she knew. Keeping a secret wasn't lying. She had to remind herself of that. Otherwise everybody would be in big trouble.

"Well?" Erica said eying her uncle carefully. "What did you think of Torr?"

Alexander studied the mug in his hands, avoiding Erica's question. "You're old enough that my opinion doesn't matter," he said, telling the truth.

"Uncle, your opinion will always matter to me. So what did you think?" Erica had never seen her uncle so closed lipped about anything before. Usually Uncle Alexander was free with his opinions, either good or bad. Not this morning. Fort Knox wasn't as carefully guarded as his comments.

"How much do you really know about him?" Alexander asked.

"We've only just met. I haven't really had time to ask him his life's history or anything, why?" Erica asked, looking over the rim of her cup at her uncle.

"Just curious, is all. I think I'll reserve my opinion of him until you get to know him better," Alexander said as he stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the chair, staring at Erica.

"I'd really value some input," Erica said in the voice that usually got her anything she wanted from her uncle and had since she was a little girl.

Alexander shook his head, holding his ground with the stubbornness of a bull terrier. "Not this time, Erica. I know how you women work," he said accusingly pointing a finger at her. "If I say I like him, you'll dump him. If I say I don't like him, you'll run off and marry him and name your first born after me. Nooooo way, little girl, this is all on YOU."

Erica's jaw hung wide as she sputtered in disbelief, "Us women? US WOMEN? We do not operate that way." Inwardly she blushed as soon as the words left her mouth. She did so operate that way. Maybe that's why she was secretly hoping for her uncle's opinion to help her make her mind up about Torr. Maybe she was looking for an out, or a reason to keep Torr around. She clamped her lips shut and glared at her uncle across the table over her coffee mug.

"Mom! There's a truck coming up the driveway. I think its your boyfriend!" Fallon said as she bounded into the kitchen.

"Torr? Already? He's early," Erica said. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. The clock, like most of the house's décor had been the same one she'd been glancing up at since she was a little girl. The time on the face registered in her mind. Torr was right on time to the very second. She was the one off schedule. "Crap! I'm late!" She ignored Fallon's jovial giggles as she jumped up from the table. Erica skidded to a stop at the kitchen door. Uncle Alexander wanted to play hardball and not say a thing about his opinion of Torr. Well, she could play too. "Oh, by the way, Uncle Alexander." She looked over her shoulder at him. "Aunt Leigh has been sneaking decaf into your coffee canister for months." She snickered as she saw the smug look on his face melt into a frown. Turning on her heel, she rushed off to get dressed.

"Leigh!" Alexander bellowed as he inspected the dark grounds in the coffee filter with scrutiny. Decaf? Really?

Torr raised his fist to knock on the screen door when he saw Fallon's red curls peek through the glass in the front door. He waited while she turned the lock and tugged the ancient door open. "Good morning, Fallon. I see you're ready to start the day."

Fallon smiled up at Torr and stepped aside to let him in. "C'mon in. Mom's not ready yet. She's not a morning person."

"You are?" Torr asked.

Fallon smiled and nodded in response.

"Me too. I like mornings best of all," Torr said as he followed the pint sized combination of Erica and himself down the hall to the kitchen.

Alexander stared dismally down at the mug in his hands. "I'd offer you some coffee, Torr. But, I'm afraid my wife of nearly forty years has deceived me. Decaf, can you believe it?" he said, shaking his head.

"Oh Alexander, you're being a big baby over nothing. It's still coffee. Coffee is coffee," Leigh said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Good morning, Torr. Please ignore my husband's pouting and pull up a chair." She fished a mug from the cabinet and poured it to the brim with coffee. "Morning people like us don't need caffeine to get going, do we Torr?" she asked, giving him a wink.

"No ma'am," Torr said, taking the cup from Leigh's hand. "Thanks." He preferred something stronger than colored water loosely called coffee, personally. But, there was no way he was speaking up and taking sides in this family feud.

"Humph," Alexander huffed and noisily scooted his chair across the kitchen floor. He shoved his feet into his work boots and tugged on his jacket defiantly. Thrusting out his chin in an act of defiance, he snatched the keys to his truck off the peg by the back door.

"Alexander? Where are you going?" Leigh asked, amused by her husband's childish temper tantrum.

"To get a decent cup of coffee," Alexander growled, stomping toward the back door.

"You can't go to town in your boxers," Leigh said with the patience one would use to speak to a grumpy child.

"Watch me," Alexander said as he stormed out the door.

Fallon rested her chin on the tops of her hands and blinked up at her aunt. "Is Uncle Alexander really going to town in his underwear?"

"I suppose he is, dear," Leigh answered in equal parts resignation and humor. Here, eat your breakfast." She scooped a both Fallon and Alexander's helping of eggs onto a plate, added some toast, and handed the plate to Fallon.

"Aunt Leigh," Fallon said.

"Yes, Fallon."

"Is Uncle Alexander really mad?" Fallon winced at the sound of the ancient, rusty truck engine rattling to life. Gravel crunched under the truck's tires as Uncle Alexander backed out of the drive. She shoveled scrambled eggs into her mouth as if they were the best thing she'd ever tasted. And while Aunt Leigh's eggs were good. They weren't that good.

"He'll get over it," Leigh answered passively as she sipped the decaf and smiled at Fallon. She chuckled lightly to herself. Alexander's wallet sat on the countertop next to the canister of decaf. Maybe someone would be nice enough to ignore his plaid boxer shorts and buy him a cup of coffee. If not, and someone reported him for running around town begging a cup of coffee in his underwear, Mack, the county sheriff, always kept a pot on at the station.

"Aunt Leigh, did I just see Uncle Alexander climb into the truck in his boxers?" Erica asked as she fished out her lightweight summer jacket from the pile on the coat rack behind the back door.

"Yes, you did," Leigh answered pleasantly.

"I guess I should have kept my mouth shut about the decaf. I'm sorry, Aunt Leigh." Erica bit her lip and frowned at her aunt as she pulled on her jacket. She hadn't meant to raise a fuss. If she'd known that her uncle was going to react so badly, she really wouldn't have said anything at all. He just irked her when he made that left handed comment about women. At least now, she knew which side of the family Fallon and she got their tempers from.

"He's just having a moment. He'll get over it. It's just Alexander being Alexander." Leigh smiled casually. An hour from now, Alexander would come back with his tail between his legs begging for forgiveness. That was part of loving someone, loving both their good parts and their flaws. Alexander was far from perfect and so was she. "You guys better get going. You don't want to be late."

"Absolutely." Erica slung her purse over her shoulder and herded Fallon toward the door. Torr was tight on their heels.

Torr pulled open the passenger side door and held it wide as he helped Fallon scramble across to the middle of the bench seat. "Where are we headed?" he asked, extending a hand to Erica. She wore a pair of snug fitting pale green linen Capri pants and a matching off white sweater with tiny flower shaped buttons down the front. The Capri pants stretched over her bottom, cupping her curves as she lifted a sandaled foot to climb inside.

Once Torr settled behind the wheel and Fallon was snugly buckled in, Erica gave Torr directions to Nash's house. She saw recognition on his face as he drove each curve and bumpy country lane as if he'd driven them a hundred times. "Do you know Nash and Eloise?"

"Yes. You remember I told you that I came here because I had friends that moved into the area?"

"Nash and Eloise?"

"Yes. Eloise is the closest thing to family I've got left." Torr didn't offer any further explanation. He knew the time would come when he'd have to discuss his family with Erica. But, today wasn't the day. Erica didn't ask any questions either. She stared out at the springtime scenery and watched the trees roll past the window. Torr pulled into the lane that led up to the big house and guided his truck into a parking space at the edge of the drive.

"Oh look, there's Marianne!" Fallon interrupted any hopes of a conversation between Erica and Torr. Erica dodged Fallon's hand as she waved furiously at the girl standing on the porch waiting for her. She barely had time to unhook her seatbelt before Fallon was out of hers and scrambling to climb over her.

Erica waited till Torr slid the truck into park before she opened the door and unceremoniously dropped out of the passenger side, releasing her daughter. She smiled and waved at Nash who was standing on the porch with his granddaughter, sidestepping the fray of giggles and hugs. "Good morning, Nash."