Beneath the Texas Moon

The horses plodded along steadily, the tattoo of their hooves a soothing rhythm to Mac’s heightened senses.

“It just doesn’t add up.” He stared out across the brush land.

“What?”

“Leider lost a couple lambs less than a week ago. Huckabee’s missing a two-month-old Hereford calf. You’d think they’d at least find the carcasses.”

“Yeah. Kinda hard to lose an entire calf without finding a carcass.” Dan removed his straw hat and combed his fingers through his hair. “At least with a body, you have half a chance of figuring out what ate it. Hard to protect your livestock when you don’t know what’s stalking them.”

“We lose the young all the time. But we’re looking for a full-grown goat. You’d think we’d have found her by now.”

“Don’t look now, but I think we have.” Daniel nodded ahead.

Molly bounded to a spot a few hundred yards in front of them, barking wildly, scattering a half-dozen buzzards clustered on the ground. She sniffed the pile of skin and bones, and then tipped her nose skyward and howled, a long, eerie sound, shattering the stillness of the day.

The clumsy birds flapped their wings, heaving themselves from the ground into the air. Once aloft, they rose gracefully to circle and wait for the humans to move on.

With a sharp tug on his reins, Mac stopped his horse several feet from the picked-over carcass and swung to the ground. The smell of blood and dust assailed his senses, rendering useless his ability to block the memories of other bloody bodies strewn in the sandy streets of Fallujah. Mac’s gut clenched and churned, lifting the bile to his throat.

“What a waste.” Daniel’s words cut through Mac’s thoughts. “She was a good producer.”

With the toe of his boot, Mac nudged at something in the dirt. It was a yellow plastic ear tag with the number twenty-one on it. Mac studied the rocky ground around the goat, but the birds had disturbed any loose dirt. He couldn’t discern animal prints in the dust.

“What do you suppose got her?” Daniel asked.

Mac shook his head and widened his search in a growing circle. Nothing. Not a footprint, pawprint, disturbed grass or droppings from anything other than the greedy birds and Molly.

“I heard Mr. Largey say they’d seen a cougar around these parts last year,” Daniel said as he scanned the surrounding hills. “I hadn’t heard any more about it this year. I know they can have a pretty wide range.”

“You think a cougar did this?” Mac asked.

“Who knows? Could be anything. Been a rumor about some kind of cult in the county sacrificing animals and all. Suppose they got hold of her?”

“No.” Mac shook his head. “An animal did this.” Maybe a cougar. His gut clenched. Or maybe a dog. A big dog.

With her nose to the ground, Molly trotted away from the carcass.

Mac followed the dog until they reached the crest of the hill overlooking the little town. Molly paused and stared down the steep incline. Then she looked back at him and whined.

Spirit Canyon sprawled quietly in the meager, late-afternoon light, a few cars ambling along Main Street toward the Community Center. Addie had mentioned something about today being the annual Harvest Festival planning committee meeting. Should be a lot of people crowded into the Community Center. Mac could see Eve’s house, the old tire swing hanging from a tree in the backyard.

“Damn.” Mac frowned.

“Did you find anything?” Daniel joined Mac and followed his gaze. “Damn.”

“No kidding.”

Daniel shook his head. “Awful close to town.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t suppose whatever animal did this would attack during the daylight?”

“Most predatory animals are nocturnal,” Mac said. But he knew animals with rabies would attack day or night.

A movement caught his eye. Eve and Joey left the house and were walking down the street toward the Community Center.

“Whatever it was took out a pretty big goat. Almost as big as a man,” Daniel said.

Definitely larger than a child Joey’s size.

Mac looped the reins over the saddle horn and swung up into the seat. “Better warn the neighbors.”

Chapter Three

Exhausted from a full day of scrubbing floors and windows, Eve hung up her cleaning rag. With Joey in tow, she left the house and walked to the Community Center, only four blocks away.

With her head tilted toward the troubled sky, Eve ignored the oppressive cloud cover and let the ambiance of the small Texas town wash over her. What a wonderful feeling to be in a place where she could walk anywhere she wanted or needed to go. To belong to a community where she could get to know everyone on a first-name basis. How different from Houston where she didn’t even know her next-door neighbor.

Yet, after the discovery of animal prints in her front yard, she wasn’t foolhardy enough to go without some protection. She tapped the end of the long walking stick on the ground with each right footstep. If something were to attack her, she’d come out swinging with enough ferocity to scare it back into the hills.

Halfway to the Community Center, she passed a five-foot-tall wooden fence. Behind it, an animal sniffed the base as they walked by. A gap at her level revealed a large black and tan rottweiler. Eve didn’t make a big deal about it, afraid Joey would freak out if he suspected a dog lurked behind the wooden slats.

Still, she couldn’t help wondering if this dog had left the pawprints in her yard, assuming the owners let him loose. She’d ask Addie.

Before reaching the door to the concrete block building painted the color of white limestone, she could hear the hum of voices from within. Excitement and nerves tweaked her stomach.

Joey dropped her hand and hooked his arm around her knee.

With a pat to her son’s head and a deep breath, Eve pushed through the screen door and stepped into the crowded building. She scanned the room for a familiar face and was about to give up when she spotted Addie.

The older woman smiled and waved. “Howdy, neighbor!” Addie weaved through the men and women to reach Eve’s side. “Glad you decided to join us.”

“I’m not so sure this was a good idea.” Eve tipped her head toward Joey.

“Give it a chance.” Addie patted her arm and drew her farther into the large room.

Walking was difficult with Joey clinging to her leg, but she managed to maneuver to the back of the building near a large serving counter. Men and women stood or sat in the available chairs, smiling and chatting in the way old friends do.

Like an outsider looking in, Eve wondered if she’d ever be this comfortable with the locals. She hadn’t grown up here, why should they accept her? Her mother and stepfather had moved every three or four years while Eve was growing up. She’d never felt like she belonged anywhere.

The same young man she’d seen yesterday in the General Store sat on the counter with the same teenage girl trapped between his knees. Today, he wore a muscle shirt exposing his broad shoulders. Tattooed on one was the face of a fanged wolf.

Eve fought a shiver. The guy was just creepy.

Without slowing her pace, Addie said, “Get off the counter, Toby Rice.”

Toby sneered. “You gonna make me?”