Wolf’s Bane

It was evidently thrashed since, obviously, Eron was never this messy. The camp looked like someone violently went through The Charmer’s tent and belongings with a fine-toothed comb to look for something of value, or maybe a large wild animal was just passing through and decided to destroy everything that wasn’t related to the forest.

But the worst scene the lumberyard owner saw was the beautiful motorcycle that he didn’t know Eron had. It was completely destroyed, dismantled and was half-buried among the other debris.

Near the scattered motorcycle parts, under one of the tent flaps, Jack saw something very familiar, and couldn’t believe what his eyes were showing him. He took a closer look…

“Is it possible that you went that far, boy?” the foreman asked himself, as he looked down at the small, hand-held hatchet which he perfectly recognized. He personally requested this custom-made tool to be made in bulk, since it’s supposed to be an appreciation gift to all lumberyard workers who passed from contractual to permanent position in his family business.

While Jack was contemplating the crime weapon, Diwa, Eron and Macky arrived at the camp. He heard them quickly approach upon seeing the area all ravaged and in shambles.

Eron was the most worried of all and immediately started looking for his beloved “friend” …

“Scorpia!” the city boy yelled as if the motorbike could answer him. “No! Baby, what have they done to you…”

Jack lowered his eyes as a sign of understanding and even condolences. He was already anticipating the fits of anger that Eron would let out because of what had just happened…

And he was right to do so…

Also, he really wanted to continue checking the hatchet. That thing, definitely, was there, not without reason.

Eron was not a full-timer, so the hatchet was not his, for sure…

But there was a very, very small number of permanent workers in the lumberyard, and of those very few individuals, only one had been behaving strangely towards Eron.

And it was the same person that put that stone in the sawmill which almost carelessly and uncaringly killed people… him included.

Jack was getting seriously worried at the Lyonel this issue was escalating to…

“Oh no… Scorpia…” Diwana gasped, looking at Scorpia while bringing her hands to her open mouth. “Eron, I’m so sorry…”

Eron was evidently furious, his face completely red, his jaw tight and his hands tightly clasped into fists. He had already knelt in front of what used to be his lovely ride and was just staring at the demolished parts with narrowed livid eyes.

Jack said nothing about his suspicions but took note of all he saw. After all, he didn’t have enough to prove his theory since it was all supposition.

The foreman’s thoughts: “But yeah, things are accumulating against the Mad one, and at some point, not very far, he would be unmasked if it really was him.”

Meanwhile, Diwana got closer to the remains of Scorpia and looked at them carefully, taking in every gory detail. Eron was suddenly intrigued by her intense look and wondered what it was for.

“I’m not an expert, but you know… I believe with some time, love, and the right tools, you could put her back together, Eron” she stated with surety.

He kept looking in her direction, waiting for her to explain what she meant, but she never took her eyes off the motorbike… or what was left of it. So, he had to finally ask…

“What do you mean, Miss Diwa?” Eron said, not sure of what she would say next.

“Well, you remember me saying about Mason being a handyman for the entire village? In the villa’s garage, we have all the tools to fix machines and vehicles, maybe even some parts you could use… I do know that my departed husband had fixed up and refurbished two or more motorcycles down there, so you lose nothing if we check what he left there, right?”

Now her eyes turned to his, which showed strength and encouragement. Eron almost felt hope and assurance returning to his enraged mind.

“I can also help, bro. I know a thing or two about bikes, as well. Let’s go pick up your things and bring them all to the Oro house,” Jack suggested, slapping Eron’s shoulder. “The faster we get there, the faster we can get started with putting your beautiful bike together again.”

Macky, on the other hand, still looked stunned. The tears in his eyes were about to fall as he wondered how anyone could do such a horrible thing to such a majestic vintage vehicle.

Eron saw the kid’s face and got up to walk to him…

“I’m sorry Mack, I hoped the first time you saw her was… well… she would be wonderful and whole… sigh… but you’ll help us put her back together, right? And don’t worry, if I ever do anything to hurt your mama, I’ll still give you a motorbike,” Eron whispered as he softly smiled, trying to cheer up the young man who seemed more devastated than he was.

“Oh… I’m just… shocked about how people can be so… why… who would be so crazy to destroy what other people worked hard for and cared a lot about?” Macky whined, looking back at Eron who stood by his side. “I really don’t get it…”

“I didn’t make the bike, you know, just refurbished it. Also, I know how to fix it, but I didn’t put it together…” Eron said, scratching his neck.

“I know, but you had to work hard to upgrade it, didn’t you? And worked hard to keep it looking new and it really looks expensive, too. Nobody has the right to ruin what another person has worked so hard on, that’s what I believe…” the boy huffed angrily.

Macky stood quietly for a moment, still looking at the scattered pieces of motorbike parts and the messed-up camp, too distracted to notice the three adults around him, who stopped what they were doing to pay attention to what he was saying. All of them had pride in their eyes, and even in the middle of that mess, soft smiles did finally appear on their faces.

During that long silence, Macky finally looked up and around, slightly confused. “What? What did I say?”

“Nothing, really, but yeah, let’s go.” Eron put his arm around the youth’s shoulders and slapped him on his left arm in a friendly and almost brotherly way. “Let’s get to work, I’m sure we’ll be able to put it back together.”

All the while, the group was still being watched, and that someone stayed behind the trees, from what he thought was a safe distance. He took out his mobile to make a phone call, and in a whisper, reported everything he saw.

“Follow them… but… stay way far from them… I’m starting to believe that Pretty Boy is not just what we think he is…” the voice on the other line said.

When the call ended, the spy got ready to do as instructed, having in mind the precautions he was just warned about. Soon he was expertly shadowing the four and making mental notes about everything he was observing.

Eron, Jack, Macky and Diwana managed to pick up all the mess and items in the camp and all walked back to the village with Eron’s belongings before darkness had settled in. They then dropped Scorpia inside the villa’s garage then they all went up to the second floor with the rest of his belongings.

Inside Eron’s room, where the girls were just chatting animatedly as they sat waiting, Macky ran into it and started telling them what they found. His sisters reacted accordingly to everything he said, going from shocked to sad, to motivated and then ending as encouraging.

The three adults looked at them amused and smiling, as they placed Eron’s things in one corner of the room for the new hire to fix later. For now, they would rather just watch Macky become the storyteller for his siblings.

All the three grownups could only wonder at how much an innocent kid, or three of them actually, could change the mood even in the most adverse of situations…

“You’ll stay for dinner, Jack. And that’s not a suggestion,” said Diwana with a smile. “It’s the least we could do to help my new renter out.”

“Wow, you make it sound like a punishment though,” the foreman said with a short guffaw.

Eron looked at Diwa with approval and gratitude in his eyes, but his mind was going in the opposite direction.

“Yes, punishment indeed. I’ll find you for sure, whoever you are, and squeeze the truth out of you. It doesn’t matter that you masked your scent with gasoline from my very own Scorpia, I’ll still manage to find you. You just wait and see, The Right Hand’s reach is long and wide, while his grip is fast and strong.”