The Forgotten Wolf

Chapter 3

I woke up and my entire body was sore. I felt like I all of my muscles were stretched too tightly over my body. The pain thankfully had faded while I slept but there was now this nagging feeling inside me that something was wrong. I was missing a part of me and it was something important. I figured it had to be something to do with the information Margaret had given me last night. Maybe that little town of Haven would hold the answers I was desperately looking for.

I got up and stretched in hopes of loosening some of the tension inside of me. I went down the hall to Margaret’s room to see if she was awake yet, but there was no answer at her door. I didn’t see her in the kitchen or out in the garden. Her station wagon was still parked out in front of the house. “Strange” I thought to myself as I walked back to her room. Margaret was always an early riser, waking when the sun would kiss the earth. Most mornings I found her in the garden pruning or gathering different plants for her teas. Some mornings she would be knitting out on the front porch or writing her in her journal at the kitchen table. There hasn’t been a morning though where I woke before her. I definitely was not a morning person.

Knocking quietly on her door again, there was still no answer. I opened the door slightly and Margaret was still in bed exactly as I had seen her the night before. Something was off though, it took me a moment or two to figure it out. Her chest was still, there was no soft rise and fall. No breath escaping her lungs.

I ran over to her, checking for pulses, hoping to see her take a breath. Her skin was cold, her nail beds had turned slightly blue- it was unnatural. The more I looked at Margaret the more it sunk it that she was truly gone. Her tea remained untouched on the night stand. My legs could no longer hold my body and I collapsed on the floor, crying and mourning the loss of the one person in the world that cared about me.

I could feel the pain starting up again in my stomach, fanning itself out to the other corners of my body. I crawled to the kitchen and made myself a cup of tea. Margaret would brew herself, a tension reliever, she called it. She told me it wasn’t for a headache or a stress reliever. It was to just calm her body and ‘calm her inner self’. At this point I didn’t know what to do. Shortly after finishing the tea, the pain slowly receded and I could once again think clearly.

Today was my eighteenth birthday, and according to the great state of Colorado I was now an adult. Child services would not be placing me with another family. They were no longer responsible for my welfare; I was truly alone once again.

I called for an ambulance, and the paramedics came out and confirmed what I already knew. Margaret Millstone was no longer on this earth. They said it was a heart attack – ruling her death accidental. I couldn’t understand it, besides that cough Margaret was as healthy as the day I moved in with her.

Margaret didn’t have any family in the area, and it seems she left me to care for her final wishes. I choose to have her cremated and then spread her ashes in her garden. That was her favorite place to be and I can’t think of a happier place for her.  The house is so quiet living here alone. I miss Mrs. M more than I even thought possible. Living here in her home this past two weeks without her has been creepy. I am jumping at every little sound. I have never been alone before, not like this.

‘BRIIIINNNNNGGGG’, the phone in the kitchen starts to ring breaking the silence that had enveloped the little house.

“Hello, Mrs. M’s house….” my voice faded away, sounding odd to my ears. It had been so long since I had spoken, the world has since turned on its axis. It wasn’t Mrs. M’s house anymore…. There wasn’t a Mrs. M anymore.

“Good Afternoon, my name is Joshua Smithfield, from Smithfield, Johnson, and Everett. Am I speaking with Ms, Jane Doe” The phone felt heavy in my hand, a pit was growing in my stomach.

“How…. How can I help you Mr. Smithfield?”

“Please, call me Josh!” His voice seemed calm, yet highly excitable. Maybe he had just finished his third cup of coffee….. “My firm is representing Mr. Jackson Ferris. Mr. Ferris has just learned of his great Aunt Margaret’s passing, and he wishes to come set her affairs in order.”

“Wha….” I am stunned. Granted I haven’t even known Mrs. M for six months but she never mentioned any family. Her walls are lacking any type of family photos. In her bedroom was just a single photo of her late husband. I even had a message printed in the local papers. No one showed up to her memorial service. Where did this long lost nephew even come from?

“Now I understand that you were a ward in Mrs. Millestone’s care at the time of her passing. I have informed Mr. Ferris of the situation. He seemed amenable and has agreed to meet you at his great Aunt’s home later this week. From my understanding he is interested in selling the property – but is willing to work something out during the interim.” Joshua rambled on. He kept talking for at least another ten minutes but I could no longer make sense of his words. Mrs. M had a family…. I was losing her all over again. I mean I didn’t know what I was going to do moving forward. I know bills would soon be due, and I needed to find some sort of job. I didn’t this this would be happening so fast though. I have no idea what my next step is going to be.

“Do you understand, Ms. Doe?”

          I nodded my head, realizing a little late that he couldn’t see me. “Yes Mr. Smithfield, I understand.”  In that moment, the pain started creeping back into my stomach, branching out to the rest of my body. “I… I… I gotta go.” I quickly replaced the phone back on the wall, before collapsing from the pain.