Chapter 98 Part 98
Asher
“Sean!” he yelled, and stepped into the woods. He let the flashlight scan over the area before he started walking further. He followed the destruction and trampled plants deeper into the darkness, stopping every few feet to scan the area with his flashlight.
He kept walking for another 40 minutes before a growl made him halt. Asher went down on one knee, and slowly lifted his rifle, the flashlight moving higher and higher, until it hit the wolf’s chest.
His mouth opened as he looked at the wolf’s face. A flash of yellow next to him held Asher’s attention. He’d seen that wolf before. In another life, one that had never existed, yet the wolf was here.
“Thank you, for watching over him. I’ve got it from here,” Asher said.
The wolf moved quickly, trotting over to Asher, and sniffing him. He held his breath, awe filling his entire being. He’d never been so close to a wolf before, and this one seemed to understand his words. The wolf looked into his eyes, and Asher swore he could feel a connection to the animal.
“I’ll keep him safe now,” Asher said, softly.
The wolf turned and ran into the dense darkness that surrounded them. From afar, he heard the wolf’s howl, and he quickly moved toward the boy. He seemed unharmed, and when Asher picked him up, his eyes snapped open, and he started wheezing.
“I’ve got your inhaler, buddy.” He took the inhaler out, and pressed the mouthpiece against his lips. “Take big breaths.” Asher pumped the inhaler twice, the little boy inhaling deeply.
He coughed and Asher held his hand on the child’s back. He gulped air a few more times before he looked up at Asher. “I want my mommy.”
“My name’s Asher. Get on my back so we can get you back to her.” Asher picked him up, and slid him onto his back. “Hold on tight, okay?”
“Okay.”
Asher removed the tape and flashlight and slung the rifle over his shoulder. With one hand on the boy’s leg, and his other holding the flashlight up, they started the journey back to the bridge. It took Asher almost an hour to reach the edge of the woods.
“Almost there, buddy.”
People were milling around the wreckage and near the bridge, but nobody saw them coming. The little boy’s arms pressed against his throat, and Asher put the flashlight in his pocket. He slid the boy around and had him on his hip as they walked over the open field.
“There he is!” Finn’s voice was loud, then a woman yelled the child’s name. “Sean! Sean!”
An ambulance stood on the other side of the flooded bridge, and two paramedics rushed down to where he was. Finn and the woman reached them, and Asher handed the boy over to her.
She clutched him against her and cried. “Thank you, thank you so much for finding him.”
“No problem, ma’am.”
“I knew you’d find him,” Finn said, as they started walking back to his truck.
“Good thing I had his inhaler. Little guy was wheezing when I found him.”
They reached Finn’s truck and Asher took his jacket off before climbing in. He was basically soaked right through but he didn’t care. The adrenaline from his encounter with the wolf had faded, but somehow, he could still feel it.
“It was the damndest thing, Finn. When I found the boy, a wolf was guarding him,” Asher said.
“A wolf?” Finn’s voice sounded skeptical.
“Yeah, when I talked to him, he came right up to me, and sniffed my face. Then it felt like he realized I was there to help the kid, and he ran off into the woods.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that happening,” Finn said.
“It didn’t even occur to me to shoot the wolf when I found him with the kid.”
“Maybe you can whisper to wolves, too,” Finn said, and Asher laughed.
Finn dropped Asher off at his house, and Asher watched him drive away. He took his clothes off on the porch and picked up his boots. He unlocked the front door and quietly closed it behind him.
Emerson lay on the couch, huddled under the blanket, sleeping like the dead. He smiled, and headed to the kitchen, placed his boots in the mudroom to dry, and put his wet clothes in the machine.
Back in the living room, he knelt next to the couch. “Emerson.” She stirred slightly and said something but the words were mumbled. “Emerson.” He shook her shoulder lightly, and her eyes snapped open.
“You found him?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want you to wake up tomorrow morning, and think I hadn’t come back,” he said.
She sat up straight, and looked at him. “This isn’t really how you wake someone up for a booty call.”
Asher chuckled. “My clothes were soaked. I’ve been gone for 3 hours, and now you need to tell me about this booty call business.”
Emerson laughed, and shook her head. “No, why don’t you go take a shower and get dressed, and I’ll heat up your food.”
“I’d warm up faster if you were in the shower with me,” he said, with a grin.
“Where has this guy been hiding the whole time?”
Asher laughed, and got to his feet. “So, are you coming or not?”
She smiled, and nodded her head. “I think a shower sounds like a very good idea right about now.”
An hour later, Asher sat at the kitchen table, and ate the lasagna Emerson had warmed up for him. She made coffee as he ate, then she sat down across from him and stared at him.
“You’re going to make me feel self-conscious,” he said in between bites.
“You’re a real-life hero, Asher. Taking in women in hiding, saving lost kids in the woods. Is there anything you can’t do?”
“I can’t knit,” he said, and Emerson laughed.
“Neither can I. Do people around here knit?”
“Yeah, I guess you should learn how to knit then. Eden can teach you.”
“I bet I’ll be great at knitting,” she said.