Chapter 4 Missing wolves

Mrs Isaacs, Gillian's mother, opened the gate for Mishka with the remote control device after peeping through the window to see who was pushing the buzzer at the gate.

It seemed as if the clouds burst just above her head when Mishka stepped onto the porch at Gillian's home. The rain came pouring down then.

Mrs Isaacs opened the front door while Mishka looked around her at the lush garden with new flowers blossoming beautifully everywhere. They were now being pelted by raindrops.

"Oh, I see you're still brave enough to dare the storms," Joan Isaacs declared with a chuckle as she observed Mishka.

"Hi, Aunt Joan," Mishka responded. "I was actually just going to walk halfway and then turn back, but I was carried away by the beauty of the day," she added as she gave Joan a quick hug before going into the house.

"Yes, that happens with our unpredictable weather," Joan agreed with a warm smile.

It was raining hard now and Mishka went to stand in front of the window to look out at the spectacle outside.

"I saw a wolf just now," Mishka announced without turning around.

"Are you sure?" Joan asked as she resumed cutting flowers on the table to arrange into a vase.

"Yes, I actually saw it staring at me," Mishka responded.

"Wow! They're very rare these days," Joan remarked.

"Yes, but why is that?"

"Oh, I think most animals become extinct because of some people taking them captive and others shooting at them," Joan explained.

"But there were so many of them. Can they really be wiped out so easily?" Mishka asked as she continued to look out at the rain.

"Yes they can. Especially when they eat up the farmers' chickens," Joan replied.

"Some still shoot wolves because they suspect them to be werewolves. Would you believe that?"

"In this day and age?" Mishka asked with a bewildered look on her face as she turned around. "Who still does such things?" she asked.

"Some people just don't lay down old fables and fears, especially when they have certain fears or experience calamities in their lives," Joan responded.

"You mean they make things up to make themselves feel comfortable?" Mishka asked.

"Yes, it's the adult form of make-believe or escapism, I think," Joan replied.

"But, you've never believed such things ever before yourself?" Mishka asked.

"When I was a child, of course," Joan responded with a smile. "But, we all grow up at some point. At least, some of us," she added with a shrug.

"I suppose that I was too busy paying attention to my career to notice things like animals becoming rare in our very own woods," Mishka remarked.

"Oh, you don't have to feel bad about carrying on with your life," Joan remarked. "You didn't study Zoology, so you would not be involved with tracking the existence of animals in our woods. You and Gillian have reached the stage in your lives where you have to pay attention to your careers," she continued.

"Yes, I suppose we're enjoying the forest for different purposes from when we were kids," Mishka remarked with a serious look in her eyes.

"When we were kids we went to the forest to explore. Nowadays, we go to the forest to escape from the pressures of life," she continued.

"Oh, but you shouldn't take life too seriously at this point. You should still focus on having fun, even if it's the concrete jungle where you go to dance and be entertained," Joan responded in a firm tone of voice.

"I think that if I lived in the city lately I would be less stressed because Grandma is stressing me more than ever at home. I have to escape either to the office or the forest if I want some peace," Mishka remarked with a serious frown between her shapely dark brown eyebrows which contrasted beautifully against her long, wavy, pale blond hair.

Her hair was very pale since she had bleached it for the sake of a music video a while ago. She was not a brunette anymore. Her father and her grandmother both resented this.

"Oh, I didn't know that your grandma's becoming more difficult," Joan responded with a look of concern on her face.

"But, then, when things get too much for you, you're always welcome to hop into your car and head over here. You can even sleep over if you like," Joan suggested. She was smiling, but Mishka knew that she was sincere.

"Anyway, let's go and get some coffee while we wait for Gillian to come back," Joan suggested.

"That would be nice because it's suddenly getting cold," Mishka agreed, rubbing her bare arms.

"Thank you for your offer. It will help to have an alternative option for where I spend the night sometimes without having to be out with a boyfriend," she continued.

"So, your Grandma still wants you to find a boyfriend quickly and get married?" Joan asked as they went up the passage which led to the kitchen.

"Yes and Grandma doesn't realize that such things can't be manufactured artificially," Mishka responded.

"You see, rich people are a lot like tribal people. They want to keep their money intact by forming relationships with people who are also wealthy, otherwise they feel that they are selling out," Joan remarked as she put the kettle on in her warm, comfortable farmhouse kitchen.

"That's not always practical, though," Mishka responded.

"By the way, do you know about the handsome new guy who's moved into a house near the forest?" she asked next.

"You mean the guy who lives in a mansion on this side of the lake?" Joan asked.

"Oh, do you know him already?" Mishka asked with her eyes stretched wide in surprise.

"I hear how Gillian carries on about him. And she says he seems to be very elusive, but handsome.

He's also rich if he's living in that mansion," Joan responded.

"So, Gillian didn't tell me about this latest craze in the woods?" Mishka wondered out loud with her eyes wide and a big smile on her face.

"I suppose we have work to do with checking him out together then," she continued with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Do you want to investigate him?" Joan asked with her eyebrows raised high in surprise. "Shouldn't we respect his privacy, especially if he's being shy?" she asked again.

"Oh no, I don't want to pry into his life. I just want us to visit him and find out what made him come here of all places," Mishka replied.

"You mean he could have lived somewhere else, but why?" Joan asked.

"Well, with him being a successful fashion designer, he should be living in a more fashionable place, I think," Mishka responded.

"He's a fashion designer?" Joan asked in surprise.

"Yes. He's from England," Mishka replied.

"Oh, so you spoke to him?" Joan asked in surprise.

"Yes. We chatted for a short while," Mishka replied.

"And he said that he was from England?" Joan asked again, pausing while she made the coffee.

"He said so, yes," Mishka replied.

"I don't think you guys should involve yourselves with him if he wants to be so private," Joan remarked with a serious look on her face.

"But why are you so serious about this guy suddenly? He looks quite harmless," Mishka responded.

"You never know someone from the outside, especially after a brief chat," Joan responded with a worried look in her eyes as she frowned at the coffee.

"But, you're not usually so over-cautious. Do you perhaps know something more about him?" Mishka asked curiously now.

"I just think that he sounds too good to be true. He might be hiding from something," Joan responded. She was not looking as happy and carefree as when Mishka had arrived anymore.

Mishka felt an uneasy knot begin to form in the middle of her stomach.