Wolf of the West

9.

Will tensed as he and his companion stared at the mounted walls, feeling as if they had waltzed right into a bear trap; the pastor's son stopped alongside his friend. He wondered if they'd killed all of the animals that lined the hallway. It seemed nearly impossible for a little girl and her brother to be able to do that and, if so, incredibly dangerous to their situation.
"Yeah it is pretty big! It can get kinda lonely when Buddy ain't home for me to— me to—" Kate stopped walking when she realized the two boys had stopped and turned to look at them. "You alright, Mister Rudy?" She broke into a small giggle at the looks on their faces, sheepishly holding her small hands in front of her. "Y'all look like I'm holdin' you at gunpoint already!"
Rudy stood frozen for a moment before he blinked out of his statue-like state. "Oh. Yes. Um, sorry, I just have a little fear of uh," The boy's mind scrambled to come up with something he was afraid of. An animal? Birds? "Of taxidermy." He finally got out as he anxiously stuffed his clawed hands into his pockets. "It's silly but just seein' all those eyes kinda spooked me."
"Oh, well you better get used to it quick! We got mounts everywhere in Idle Dune. You scared of it too, Will Barkley? You look paler than a bled pig." Kate asked, to which Will's face  scrunched up. "Nah, just— I'm a little squeamish is all." He admitted truthfully (though that wasn't the reason he was pale), even the saying about the pig making his stomach churn.
    "Wow. Where in the world are you boys from being scared of mounted animals and being sick from seein' em? You don't sound like you're northern!" Kate teased them playfully.
Rudy tore his eyes off of the stuffed coyote to look down at Kate. He forced out a sheepish laugh, "Nah, we ain't northern. We're from a little town in Arkansas." He admitted. "Our town isn't very big on huntin, it's more of a farming town." He commented, before hearing a small clucking which made him flinch, thinking that one of the stuffed birds was alive. That seemed to change when he looked down at his feet to see his white chicken standing between his legs. He snorted, "Good lord, Henni, you're damn near determined to come with us, huh?" He chuckled as he reached down and tucked the hen into his arms.
Will looked baffled to see that the chicken had managed to follow them yet again, but gave her a small pat. "You didn't notice a whole chicken followin' you? Jeez, you're really funny, Mister Rudy Shepherd." Kate giggled a bit and tucked a strand of her curled, ribboned hair behind one of her small ears.
     "Well are we gonna stand here in this hallway the whole time or what?" Will asked, though it was clearly an irritated rhetorical question aimed at changing the direction of the conversation. Kate glanced at him quietly for a moment but then turned back around and continued to lead them through the house. "Good point! We got the livin' room, kitchen, dinin' room, and the library down on this floor, and then upstairs we got my bedroom and Buddy's bedroom, and then the guest bedroom that used to be Buddy's bedroom but now he's got the big one. So that's where y'all will sleep if Buddy doesn't mind you stayin'! There's only one bed but y'all can squeeze in there." Kate blabbered on about her house and the sleeping arrangements. "Oh, and uh— I don't mean to be rude, Mister Rudy Shepherd, but do you—? Would you like somethin' to wear?"
Rudy listened politely as he softly pet the hen's neck as he trailed along behind the girl. The size of the house was insane to him, but he continued to listen closely. The thought of a library was especially good to hear. It would be rare that they'd have books on folklore, but it was worth a shot in the end. Once he heard his name from the girl, he looked at her before glancing down at his old coat.  His face turned beet red as he forced out an awkward laugh, "Yes please. Uh, that'd be great." He scratched the back of his head. "Anything'll do."
"Alright good! I don't think my bub would fair too kindly with me bringin' an underdressed boy home. I think we got some of his old clothes when he was smaller! Gimme a sec." Kate told him as she held her dress and bolted up the curved staircase and disappeared into one of the many room.
    "Lord, Rudy, I dunno how you can be so kind to everyone all the time." Will sighed a breath of relief to get a break from the girl they'd just met. It'd been a struggle for him to stay nice to the girl who apparently liked to be feisty and dismissive of him. He wondered if he just didn't like kids, but then shook the thought away and decided that it was just this one.
Rudy watched her run upstairs before turning his head to look down at his companion. He sheepishly smiled with a soft laugh, "I mean, she is helpin' us. It's our best choice in a town like this, y'know? We'll be out of here soon enough. They've got a library too. Maybe we can find somethin' out about..." He hesitated as he scratched the back of his neck, feeling self-conscious and disgusted, "What's wrong with me." He finally got out. Rudy knew that he needed to find out how to fix what was wrong with him, or what was wrong with him at the very least.
Will put an arm around the taller boy's shoulders, giving them a comforting shake. "We're gonna figure it out, Ru. Promise." He told him, willing to dig through the entire library if that's what it took to provide his companion with the slightest bit of relief or comfort.
     "Baaack!" Kate sing-songed as she ran out of the room, folded clothes in her arms. Instead of going back down the stairs, she sat on the wooden railing and slid down to them. Hopping off, she ran back up to Rudy and held out the clothes. "Here ya go! Will, take the chicken so Mister Rudy can go change." Will had already planned to take Henrietta, and being told to do so made him not want to. He blinked at her and sighed, reaching to take the hen from Rudy.
The boy took the small bundle of clothes from her with a small 'thank you', before glancing back at Will. He momentarily raised his eyebrows to physically say sorry, before handing off the plump hen to Will. "Where can I go to change?" He asked, not wanting to go anywhere he wasn't supposed to as he looked back down at Kate.
Will gave him a half smile, cradling Henrietta and petting her white head as if to tell him it wasn't him that Will was irritated at. "Oh, there's a bedroom you walk in as soon as you get upstairs! Just head right on up. I'm gonna start dinner! Come help me, Will." Kate pointed at the door for Rudy before motioning for the brunet to follow her. "Time starts now, Ru." Will playfully told his friend he was timing him as he followed the small girl in the direction of the kitchen.
The initial panic of being timed sent him running upstairs at the speed of light, before jogging into the bedroom and softly closing the door behind him. Of course he didn't want to leave his friend alone with the girl who loves to antagonize him, so he decided to hurry per usual. He stripped off the coat before turning to grab the bundle of clothes, but in doing so, glanced at the long mirror behind the door. He felt his heart sink as he looked at his reflection, which was covered in faint bruises from his back-to-back transformations and some excess hair still clinging to his body. Even his arm and chest hair was thicker, making him grow more and more self-conscious. He looked different all within a week. He sighed out through his nose as he looked down at the healed gashes on his chest and the bite in his shoulder. It sent chills up his spine as he shook his head. Whatever had bitten him must have gotten what it wanted, if not dreadfully close. Rudy was growing scared of himself and was full of disgust at his changing body. Nonetheless, he put on the fresh clothes. It was a pair of pants, an old button up and a vest with suspenders. He was a little taken back by how nice they looked, pondering if Kate had gotten those clothes for him intentionally. Shooing the thought away with a chuckle and a roll of his eyes, he dusted himself off and overlooked himself one more time. Some bruises were still visible and so were his nails, but he just hoped it wouldn't be questioned. Before he left, he checked the mirror once more as he cringed visibly at his large teeth and the gruesome hole in his ear. Rudy stood there in hesitating doubt to head back down, but soon realized he was still being mentally timed as he opened the door and headed back downstairs.
Will had set Henrietta on the counter in order to help her prepare for dinner. As Rudy came back downstairs, he was in the middle chopping a myriad of vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and greens. Kate, on the other hand, stood preparing a large pot of water and some meat for cooking. "That was the longest one yet." Will called to his friend, trying to blink a teary feeling away as he sliced into an aromatic onion. "I think it was pretty fast!" Kate shrugged her small shoulders as she lugged the heavy pot over to the stove. Will was scared to ask her if she needed help lighting it, but it made him nervous watching the small child try to light the stove.
"Sorry y'all— I was having lil' trouble." He excused himself with an awkward, hesitant smile as he joined the two in the kitchen. Rudy gave the hen a few pats on her back before turning back to the others. "Is there anythin' I can help y'all with?" He offered, though his voice was much softer than before.
"Nope! I just gotta get the water boilin' and just throw everything in! Feel free to take a seat in the dinin' room or walk around. Or whatever you wanna do." Kate gave him a happy grin. Will sensed the change in his voice and wiped his hands on his pants. "Well I finished choppin', so Rudy and I are gonna head to the library for a minute if that's okay. I wanna see what you got in there." He told her as he approached his friend and slipped an arm around his in order to lead him out of the kitchen. "Well alrighty! Just don't get your grimy fingers on any nice books, y'hear?" She teased them as they left.
"We won't!" Rudy hollered back with a small smile which soon faded as he trudged alongside Will toward the library. "Thanks for hanging in there, by the way." He muttered to him, speaking about Kate's attitude toward him. That was all he said as he walked, keeping his blue eyes low and tucking his hands into his pants.
"She ain't unbearable when you do what she tells ya to." Will shrugged. The girl was still annoying to him, but he was supposed to be patient and kind with everybody, so he decided he'd let it go for now. Then he gave Rudy a small nudge. "So what's wrong with you? You got an attitude about'cha, like somethin's gotcha down and upset all of a sudden." He asked as he pushed open one of the swinging double-doors of the library.
"I mean... yeah." He mumbled before letting out a deep sigh, "I just want answers and to be able to fix this. My teeth are huge, my nails are brown and I've got more hair than a barber's floor on my body. I don't wanna turn into that thing again tonight, Will." He sounded legitimately worried as he looked at him, looking rather deflated and exhausted about his situation.
Will frowned a bit, but definitely understood his worry. "I don't want you to either. But that's why we're gonna look for somethin' that'll help us understand better. I'm scared too, Rudy, but I know we're gonna figure somethin' out. You're the most headstrong person I know." Will told him gently, hating that it upset him as much as it did. He'd barely seen Rudy look upset generally, let alone as constantly as he had recently, and he only wished they could find away to make everything go back to normal. Rudy cracked a momentary smile before looking back at the large library. "Thanks, Will. You always know how to cheer me up." He told him softly, before walking ahead to begin the search.
The library was rather large—the walls were all practically shelves and there were wheeled ladders in order to allow people to climb and retrieve books from the higher shelves. "I'm gonna check over here and see if I can find anything. I think they're alphabetical." The freckled boy commented as he ran his clawed finger along the spines of the books, seeing the titles in the order.
Will smiled a bit, even if the smile he'd gotten from Rudy was momentary, he hoped it at least brought him a bit of comfort to know that he wouldn't stop looking until he found something to help his friend. "Alright. I'm gonna start on the other side to cover more ground." He told Rudy as he headed over to another shelf and began to scan the books. "Yeah, they sure look alphabetical—there's, Z, Y, W—" He said as he poured through the shorter letters. The W section seemed to be much longer than the others, however. "Lots of W's. Wisteria trees, wishin' wells, weasels, wolves—" he muttered the topics of the nonfiction books he looked through before pulling one out and cracking it open.
Rudy turned his head at the sound of his friend pulling out a book and hearing the pages flip. He walked over slowly with his hands in his pockets, "You find something?" He asked as he tried to see what the title of the book he took out was. He noticed that he was knelt by the W's, so he could only guess he was looking at something about wolves.
"I don't really know yet. It's called Werewolf Lore and Legend." Will admitted as he quickly skimmed through the pages. Then he stopped on a page and read over it before putting a finger on a paragraph. "Well this kind of sounds like somethin': 'Lycanthropes (otherwise known as lycans or werewolves) are humans with the ability to transform into wolf-like creatures. Whether it's intentional or not depends on whether the lycan was born a lycan or infected with lycanthropy. Lycans may transfer lycanthropy onto regular humans when bitten.'" He read aloud, glancing at Rudy. "Should I keep goin'?"
Rudy felt his stomach sink into the pits of his stomach as he heard this, beginning to chew on his long thumbnail as he gave a hesitant nod. He hated what he was hearing since it proved that whatever happened to him was real. Of course, he knew it was real when he woke up naked and bloodied the previous two mornings, but this proved that whatever he now was actually existed and that others could know about it, too.
Will felt hesitant about reading on to him, but knew it was necessary. "'All lycans have transformation cycles that seem to correlate with the waxin' and wanin' of the moon. Full moons mark the days of transformation for all lycans, but born-lycans may transform at will at any point during their cycle.'" He paused his reading, "That makes sense—I think it was full last night." The smaller boy speculated before he read on. He skimmed through the rest of the page before pointing to a small paragraph towards the end. "Cures for lycanthropy have been found....however, cures have a high mortality rate due to being made from herbs and materials otherwise considered fatal to lycanthropes. Born-lycans are known to perish as a result of these cures, but infected lycans are more subject to the effects and have the highest mortality rate." Will felt sick from reading the book and glanced at his friend, wondering what his thoughts were. It might have been selfish of him, but risking Rudy dying was the last thing he wanted to do.
Rudy stood there in utter silence as he listened to his companion read the words off of the pages. His blood ran cold at hearing the high risk of death, but a small spark of hope couldn't help but flutter inside of his chest at the thought of a cure, ignoring the thought of perishing. "What cures? We gotta try em— all of em, if we can. There's gotta be something." Rudy stated with stubborn hope as he attempted to look over his shoulder at the pages.
"What?!" Will blurted out, nearly slamming the book shut so Rudy couldn't see the rest of its contents. "Did you not hear any other word I just said? If you try those things, they're gonna kill you. I can't let you do that!" He held the book close to his chest protectively. "Lots of born werewolves die from it, and it's supposed to be even worse for ones like you. I'm sorry Rudy, but I can't just let you kill yourself. Not in a million years, it ain't right."
The freckled boy flinched at the slamming book as he locked eyes with Will. Desperation seemed to glitter in his own blue irises as his his gaze darted back down to the book. "But Will, you know I can't stay like this forever!" He pleaded as his eyes grew teary, "If there's a possible way, we gotta see if it'll work! I'm not supposed to be a werewolf! I'm supposed to be a human like you!" He practically cried to him, unaware of his irises slowly beginning to melt into a golden color around his pupil.
Watching Rudy grow teary and upset made Will grow teary and upset. He noticed his eyes, but didn't want to freak Rudy out, so he tried not to mention it. "I need you to calm down, Rudy. P-please." He tried to blink the tears away as to not get overly emotional and have a fit in Kate's house. "You gotta understand where I'm comin' from. What if it just kills you? I couldn't live with myself if I let you do that. And what if it was the-the other way around, Ru? Would you let me do all that knowing I'd be killin' myself?"
Rudy opened his mouth to respond but found that no words were able to leave his throat. The golden color seemed to fade from his eyes as the tears instead spilled out as he held his freckled face in his hands. "I'm sorry. I'm just," He shook his head, seemingly unable to get his own words out. "I'm desperate. I can't be stuck like this forever, can I? Just look at me, Will." His voice cracked as he held out his arms to show his claws, large teeth and excessive hair on his arms. "I don't even look human anymore. I'm not...," He paused as he shook his head. "I'm not human anymore." He admitted, defeated as he lowered his arms.
Will frowned as he tried to formulate something to say to him. Anything. But his mind only drew blanks. So he did the only thing he could think to do and slipped his arms around Rudy, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Rudy. I'm sorry this all is happenin' to you and I'm sorry I can't let you do anything about it. But no matter what you think about yourself or see in yourself, you're still good ol Rudy Shepherd to me. So—" His voice cracked, "So if you aren't human, I ain't either. I don't wanna be anywhere you ain't, Rudy, and I don't want you to spend the rest of your life hurtin'. So I'll walk the ends of the earth lookin' for somethin' safe that'll turn you back, but I'm not lettin' you die."
Rudy stood still and only glanced down at Will, the tears continuing to flood down his cheeks along with a little bit of snot dripping from his nose. But he just sniffled and wrapped his arms around him into a gentle hug, resting a hand atop of his friend's head. His eyes tightly closed as he stood there in the silence and soft sobs. "Okay. Thank you, Will." Was all he could seem to get out through his broken voice, but it seemed that his stubborn mindset about the cure was defeated by Will's words. "I'm just scared to hurt you, or anybody else ever again."
"I know that. You'd never hurt anybody if you could help it, Rudy." Will told him, letting his thumb rub along his spine to soothe him. "But you know I'm perfectly capable. You've been Curly twice now. I've been around both times and I don't got a scratch on me. If you were gonna hurt me, it would've happened by now." He gently assured his friend. He wished there was more he could do to make Rudy feel any more at ease with the situation, but once again his mind drew blanks.
Rudy knew that he should believe his friend, but it frightened him knowing that a creature that he became on a full moon murdered and ate a person. It could have been Will. Without any control, it scared him to know that his body just went off and did whatever the beast wanted it too. "I'm just afraid. I need to find a way out of this. I think the next full moon is in a month— do you think we have time?" He asked Will softly, honestly a bit afraid to ask the question.
"I dunno, Rudy. I really wish I did, but we only just found out what's happenin' to ya. And we're on the run as of right now." He spoke honestly. He didn't want to make him lose spirit, but he didn't want to get his hopes too high, either. "But we'll figure somethin' out soon as we're safe. I promise. But I need you to promise me not to look at these cures and do anything crazy. Okay?"
He opened his eyes to glance down at him. He only hesitated a moment as he felt the book up against his back in Will's arm. It took a lot of willpower to not break away and ask for the book, but he just softly nodded. "I promise." He practically cringed at his words internally, but knew it wasn't what Will wanted.
"Thanks, Ru. I'm holdin' you to that, y'know." Will told him as he pulled away from the hug. He opened his mouth to say something else to him, but he flinched when the double doors of the library flung open. "Mister Ruuuudy!"  Kate called out to him as she strode into the room. "Supper's almost ready! Will, come help me set the table." She ordered him, to which he only gave a sigh. "Well, if you're feelin' alright, I got chores to do." He glanced up at Rudy before moving to slip the book back into the slot it came from, naturally making sure it was still alphabetical.
"I'm comin', I'm comin'." He chuckled as he shook his head, beginning to follow behind the others toward the kitchen. But his heart hesitated as he turned back to look over his shoulder, eyeing the book and where it sat on the shelf. Two moral sides of himself seemed to clash in a war as to take the book, or let it collect dust on the shelf. Once the others were out of the room, he quickly snuck the book under his arm and into his vest before heading back out of the library.
Kate grabbed Will's sleeve as soon as he was in reach and dragged him out to the dining room to help her finish her chores, to which he complied with only a few complaints. He helped set the large, fancy table for four people, complete with drinking glasses, napkins, and silverware. "I think Buddy's not even gonna notice y'all are here because of how much stuff I got done! Usually I wait til he gets home to actually start cookin', so he's gonna be happy he doesn't gotta do anything." She said as she taught Will how to properly fold napkins. "I think he'll notice— I just hope he doesn't mind too much." Will said, though he wasn't all too worried about it.
"Hopefully  he won't mind. I don't wanna get into too much trouble, Miss Kate." Rudy couldn't help but chuckle a little bit, but felt his stomach growl at the smell of all of the hot, cooking food. It made him realize that their day was pretty short, even realizing that he must have slept in on the train before he woke up. "Y'all mind if I head upstairs so I can go brush out my hair? I don't want to look all frizzled before your brother gets here." He offered.
"You don't look frizzled at all, Mister Rudy! But if it'll make you feel better, feel free!" Kate gave him a smile that was sweeter than honey. Will didn't even have to look at her to roll his eyes as he continued to set the table. "You'd better hurry. I don't wanna be by myself meetin' Buddy Hunnicutt." He told his friend truthfully, knowing Rudy was much more likable and charming.
"Always hurrying me! I swear." Rudy teased his friend as he was already heading up the steps, shaking his head with a faint smile. The smile seemed to fade at the top of the stairs, taking the book out of his vest to glance at the cover. He had promised Will to not look at the cures, and he'd keep that promise. Rudy just had to know the origin of where werewolves came from. It would give him answers and directions to go to find whoever infected him; whoever ruined his life. It would have to wait though. He knew having it would cause problems, so he slid the book behind the dresser for now, not wanting to be caught with it. He stood back up, smoothed his hands through his hair, and soon was walking back down the curved stairs. Simultaneously, the sound of a lock beginning to rattle and attempt to open was heard from the front door.
Kate let out a happy noise at the sound of the doorknob rattling and bolted from the dining room to the front door, quickly shooing Rudy towards the dining room as she did so. "Evenin', bubba! Welcome home!" Kate sing-songed once she unlocked and flung open the door before he could finish doing so himself. She spoke to him with a huge, sweet grin on her face, though it may or may not have been obvious that she was trying to butter him up.
Rudy's eyebrows raised as he backed into the dining room, glancing at Will anxiously before looking back to see Henrietta asleep on the counter. He made a face of panic as he picked the chicken up, "Oh gosh, where do I put Henni?? I don't think he'd be too happy about a chicken in the house." He whispered to Will.
Will gave Rudy a panicked look, not even thinking about that. "I have no idea, Rudy, uh— maybe just stick her under the table? We can't really put her upstairs now." He suggested with a shrug, glancing around for anywhere they could put the sleepy hen.
Rudy glanced over toward the small kitchen table, pursing his lips as he glanced down at the hen who was cuddled up under his arm. He walked over and sat the hen down in an empty seat, where she didn't even seem to notice where she was sat as she continued to snooze.
"Now let's just hope she stays like that til we can get her outside or upstairs." Will sighed, though he knew Henrietta was typically tame anyways.
"I'm counting on ya, Henni." Rudy sighed out as well with a small pat to her feathery back before returning to Will, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. "I'm nervous."
"Me too. But maybe he's not that bad. I mean— his name's Buddy." Will tried to rationalize with his own anxiety as well as Rudy's. "Should we sit down? I don't wanna come off rude." The smaller boy fretted.
"I think we should just stand. I dunno, sitting down with my pet chicken just seems odd." He shrugged his shoulders nervously. "Yeah. It'll be okay. We just need to calm down a little bit is all. We're all nervous right now." He stated to his friend.
Will opened his mouth to agree with his friend, but quickly shut it when he heard Kate and her brother approach the dining room. However, the mutually feeling from Rudy helped him feel a bit better and less uncomfortable and anxious.
Meanwhile, walking with his sister was Buddy Hunnicutt, wearing his heavy, leather coat, hat, and his signature gloves he wore every day to work. His stature was intimidating, standing at a good six foot four with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He appeared tired and rather unamused as he glanced down at his younger sister, lazily cocking and eyebrow as he revealed a small, almost nonexistent smile. "Whadd'ja do, Kate? Bring home a new puppy?" He asked, slightly teasing as he put his large hand in on her head to give her a pat, walking further inside the house and setting down his satchel.
Kate practically clung to his side as he walked into the house and tried to settle down. "Well I made ya some stew for dinner—the good kind that you like—and I set the table and I invited these real nice boys to stay in the empty room for a few days and I cleaned up a bit! Oh oh, and I did good in class today! What about you, what did you do today, bubba?" She casually told him the news in hopes that he'd overlook it or take it as casually as she'd said it.
Buddy took off his hat and hung it on the antler coatrack, taking off his gloves and setting them on the mantle. He casually listened to his sister's rambling as he cracked his tired back, pausing as he heard the mention of two boys. His thick eyebrows furrowed, "Boys? Now, slow your roll there, little missy. You're tellin' me they're inside right now?" He sighed as he looked at her.
     "Ummm! I think that depends on how mad you're gonna get at me if I say yes. Sooo....?" Kate answered cautiously, though it answered his question clearly. But she at least wanted to know how he was gonna react to it so she could find the best way to beg him to let her have her way.
The man let out a grumbled sigh as he pinched the bridge of his crooked nose. Buddy was always being confronted by men trying to get their inherited fortune or women trying to marry into it, being constantly flirted with. This was no different in his case. "Let me meet 'em." He sighed, not wanting to upset his sister but knew that there was a good chance they just wanted the money.
Kate squinted at him and gently kicked at the floor, but then she gave a small sigh and held onto his jacket sleeve to lead him into the dining room. "Please pleaaase don't be mean, bubba. They're real nice. They helped me make dinner and Will cut the vegetables for me because onions make my eyes hurt and Rudy is sooo sweet! So promise you'll be nice."
At the fact that they'd been there long enough to help with dinner, Buddy's nose scrunched up suspiciously before he let out a groggy sigh. "Kate, okay. I'll be nice. For now." He stated to her with a glance.
     Kate let out a whine at his answer, but said nothing else as they rounded the corner into their fancy dining room. At the sight of Buddy, Will's anxiety not only skyrocketed, but made him feel nauseous. Will doubted that the man standing in front of him would even need a gun to kill him if he really wanted to. "Buddy, this is Will Barkley and Rudy Shepherd. Will, Rudy, my brother, Buddy." She introduced them. Will gave a tiny wave, and tried not to look terrified as he felt, trying to work up the nerve to talk to him.
Buddy was a bit surprised as he saw the two boys who were much younger than he expected. Nonetheless, he still appeared as intimidating ever. The tall man gave a curt nod to the boys. "Pleasure." He seemed to state gruffly. Rudy practically felt his soul leave his body as he felt a sudden panic shoot through himself, his hands sweating as he suddenly felt a pop in his joint. The anxiety was enough to spark a small transformation in his hand, to which he winced and hid it behind his back. "T-to you, too. Sir." He practically spat out, hoping his hand would revert.
Will gave a nod in agreement, feeling as if he'd throw up or pass out if he talked to this man. Kate thought it was pretty funny how the two seemed to shrivel up at the sight of her brother, but she didn't want Buddy to dislike them. "There, you met em, bubba. If you haven't decided if they can stay yet, can they at least eat supper with us? Pleaaase because you love me so much and because you're my favorite?"
Buddy seemed to hesitate as his green eyes darted back and forth at the two, noticing their frightened behavior. He let out a sigh through his broad nose, "Alright. They can stay for supper." He agreed to his sister before turning back and heading out of the dining room to return to his room to get into some clean clothes, which weren't covered in soot and ash.
As soon as the man left, Rudy let out the tense breath he was holding in and glanced down at his hand which had reverted back to normal, making him hold it and massage the now-sore tendons. "Wow, your brother is uh... very hospitable." Rudy still tried to keep positive as he looked back at Kate.
Kate smiled at them and nodded. "Yeah he's a real sweetheart! He just loves me a lot and doesn't like me inviting' random boys over. But he'll get over it I think! I'm gonna go make his bowl for him just in case though. Feel free to make yours too!" She told them as she ran into the kitchen to make her brother's supper.
Rudy uttered a small 'thank you' before she left. turning back to Will, clearly panicked. He held onto his head with his clawed hands.
     Will had barely recovered from meeting the large man by the time she left. "Good lord, Rudy, what are we gonna do?" He asked aloud, only praying they didn't get shot. Even if Buddy yelled at him, felt he'd probably die of a heart attack.
"I don't know— That is one of the scariest men I've ever seen and my curly pelt is going to be used for a rug," He rambled out, panicked as he felt his hands start to pop and shift all over again, making him gasp as he looked down at them.
"Shut up shut up, you're freakin' yourself out too much!" Will told him with a small cringe when he heard his fingers popping. "Curly's the one way ticket to gettin' us mounted on a wall right now so breathe and use all your might to calm down." Will told him as he tried to control his own panicky tone and keep himself from going into a fit of hyperventilation. Rudy frantically nodded as he closed his eyes, trying to suppress the anxiety that made his heart thud and race inside of his chest.
     Soon enough, Kate returned with a large bowl of stew. The smell of the food was intoxicating and it immediately made Will's empty stomach do a flip. The girl then gently set the bowl down in Buddy's spot at the table. "Alright, do better at butterin' him up this time! Don't let him scare ya." She ordered them.
When Kate had entered the room, Rudy quickly hid his hands behind his back, pursing his lips before smiling. "Will do!" He nodded at her before going to head toward the kitchen to fix his bowl and to calm down before a new anxiety induced transformation began, hoping Will would follow.
Naturally, he did. Following Rudy into the kitchen, Will grabbed bowls for the both of them and moved to the pot to dish them up some stew. It smelled wonderful—so wonderful that it made his mouth water after not eating for the whole day. "We're gonna be okay, it's gonna be just fine." He repeated quietly as if he were steadying himself before glancing at Rudy. "Can you hold your bowl or, uh—" He asked, referring to his hands. Will wasn't going to make Rudy hold his bowl if his hands hurt.
Luckily while Rudy was waiting on Will to fix their bowls, he had calmed down and taken deep breaths to hopefully revert his hands. With some pain and discomfort, they once again returned back to normal. They were only a little sore, so he commented, "I can hold it. I just got em fixed." He told him quietly, massaging the palms of his hands with his fingers.
"Alright, then I'm makin' Kate's bowl too." Will explained, handing Rudy his food before setting his own bowl down. He then grabbed a third bowl and filled it a little less than he had their own, figuring that the small girl had a smaller appetite. "Alright, let's go get a seat." He said, holding his own bowl as well as Kates and heading back into the dining room.
    In the dining room, Kate fixed up their seats and made the table settings neat and finished, especially in Buddy's spot. "Aw, didja make my bowl? Thanks y'all, you didn't have'ta do that!" She said, trotting over to retrieve her dinner from Will before taking her seat. "Sit where you want, but that one's Buddy's." She explained, motioning to her brother's spot at the end of the table.
Rudy's eyes fixated on the oh-so intimidating spot at the end of the table before looking at the other chairs to pinpoint where to sit. He didn't want to seem rude for sitting so far away, but then again, he was extremely scared to be a werewolf sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with a game hunter. So, he took a seat one seat away from Buddy and placed his bowl down on the placemat.
Seeing as Kate took the seat between Rudy and her brother, Will, by default, felt obligated to sit in the empty seat by the large man opposite to them as to not come off as rude. "Is he— y'know?" Will asked the girl that sat directly across from him. "Oh, he's fine! He'll be down in a minute." Kate answered, clearly misreading what the question meant. Will sighed and waited for the man to return to start eating.
It didn't take long for the man to return, now wearing a clean button up and jeans as to not dirty the table with soot. Buddy took a seat at the head of the table, not seeming to apologize for his holdup due to him thinking it was for the table's benefit.
  Rudy awkwardly sat in his seat, looking down at the hot stew in the bowl as he felt his stomach growl. He then gave a short glance down at Kate, then back to Will. "This looks really good, Kate." He broke the silence, to which surprisingly, Buddy nodded in silent agreement.
"Aw thank ya! It's our momma's recipe. And thanks for helpin' out, Will! I didn't expect ya to know how to cut vegetables properly, but you did alright for someone like yourself!" She gave him a backhanded compliment. Will had his hands chest-level, fingers interlocked and eyes closed as he said his own silent grace before dinner. When his name was said, his eyes shot open and his cheeks dusted pink, but he decided not to take the rude compliment offensively. "That's alright, it wasn't any trouble or nothin'." He said quietly, having to clear his throat to force a voice crack away.
Rudy would have joined him in saying grace, but with finding out his new condition, he didn't find himself worthy to. Nonetheless, he cracked a small smile at the two. He raised his cup to take a small drink of water as he listened to Buddy, eyeing the bowl of stew as he readied himself to dig in. The man already had his spoon in hand, taking a few bites of the stew before speaking, "Where did you boys come from?" Was all he asked before going back and taking a few more bites.
As soon as Buddy started eating, Kate dug in too, and clearly enjoyed herself as she did so. So Will figured he'd be the one to answer. "We're from a smaller town in Arkansas, s-sir. I don't think it's that far away from here." He explained to the man the best he could as he picked up his spoon and stirred his stew, not entirely sure how much he should give away.
With an unspoken understanding, he took a small drink of water. "Mhm. What brings you boys to town?" He asked as he used his spoon to stir the meal, not even minding to look at them.
Rudy picked up his spoon eagerly as he went to go take a bite of his stew. Suddenly, he felt a sharp burning pulse through his fingers and hand which made him yelp out a cry as he threw the spoon down onto the counter, shaking his hand as he sucked in air through his teeth. "AGH—! Damn silverware!" He cursed as he held his hand.
Buddy glanced at the boy with furrowed brows, his spoon raised up to his mouth frozen in midair as he watched him shake out his hand.
Will gritted his teeth and flinched a bit at the sudden outburst. He didn't even think to tell him that silver was one of the things he shouldn't be messing with. Kate broke into a giggle over the usage of bad words at the table. "What's wrong with the silverware?" She asked, finding it silly.
    Will quickly picked up a napkin and held his spoon with it. "It's just— Custom to use your napkin to pick up other people's silverware to where we're from. He gets upset when he feels he's been rude." Will tried to explain the odd behavior, eyeing Rudy before glancing down at his napkin as if to tell him to hold his spoon with it. Kate had a confused look on her face, but shrugged it off. "Anyway— What brings us into town? I guess if I had to put it simply, my uh— my pa kinda kicked us out. So we hopped a train and ended up at the train station down south of here. We haven't been away long."
Buddy's expression didn't seem to change as he watched the boy blow on his hand. Rudy glanced down at his spoon suspiciously as he picked up the napkin, made sure it was bundled up enough to not touch his skin, and picked up the spoon once again.
  "Mmh. Makes sense. It's clear y'all ain't from around here." Buddy grumbled through a small mouthful, "How old are you boys?" He asked, still eyeing Rudy as he hesitantly began to eat the stew.
  "I'm seventeen." The ginger commented softly, still recovering from his burning hand as he tried to pour the stew out of the spoon into his mouth, so that the silverware wouldn't touch his lips or tongue.
Will gave a small nod. "I, uh, I turned sixteen last month, sir." He admitted, awkwardly glancing between Buddy and his best friend. It was painful watching Rudy eat like that, but he begrudgingly matched his cautious eating style, tilting his head back to catch stew in his mouth to keep up the lie. "We aren't that far apart in age, though." He noted, to which Kate snickered. "You look a lot younger. I thought you were twelve." She giggled, to which Will forced an awkward chuckle then pursed his lips at the comment.
Rudy continued to shovel the stew into his mouth at a moderate pace, wanting to eat normally but was unable to due to the silver. But he tried his hardest to appear normal, letting go of the napkin-wrapped spoon to take a drink of water.
  "Don't be rude, Kate." Buddy lightly scolded his sister as he took another bite. "Most fellas around here try to get our money. You two wouldn't do that, unless you were bein' payed." He suspiciously glanced at them. He let out a sigh before wiping his mouth with his napkin. "I don't know if I can fully trust you, but I can tell that y'all are shakin' in your boots. I'll let you two stay, as odd as y'all are, but I'm going to keep an eye on you." He told them as he scooted his chair back and stood, finished with his dinner.
Kate broke into a huge grin and glanced at the boys to see their reactions. Will nodded in understanding. "T-thank you, sir.  You got my word that we'll be on our best behavior." He promised, before Kate spoke up. "I didn't know you were worried about the money thing, bub! They didn't even know we had money til we got to the house, anyway." She defended them forward, knowing they hadn't even thought about it upon meeting her.
Buddy gave a glance down at Kate before back to the boys, "Hm. I'll take your word for it, Kate." He agreed softly with her, taking a few more bites from his bowl. "But I do expect the best behavior— *especially* 'round my little sister. Y'hear?"
"Yes, sir." Rudy gave a small nod, glancing down at his still rather full bowl. He even contemplated picking it up and just eating from the bowl itself, but knew it would look gross. "Thank you— we really appreciate it."
Buddy just gave a small nod, taking the last bite from his bowl as he stood up with it to bring to the kitchen. "If y'all will excuse me, I've gotta hit the hay early. Mr. Fischer is countin' on me to be on the anvil tomorrow before dawn."
"Yaaaaay! Yay yay yay yay, thank you, Bubba! You're the best in the world!" Kate cheered happily, setting her spoon down to give an excited clap before picking it up and shoveling more stew into her mouth. "Goodnight, I love ya!" She told her brother with a mouthful of dinner.
    "Night, sir. Thank you again." Will gave him a polite little wave, incredibly grateful for how successful the dinner had gone despite the small issues caused by the real silverware.
Buddy couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his sister, walking back and ruffling her hair. "Goodnight." He told her, "Love ya." With that, he walked back to the kitchen to put away his dishes.
  Rudy, alongside Will, wished him a goodnight and said one last thank you. Once Buddy was out of the room, he gave in and sat the spoon down to lift the bowl up with his two hands, tilting his head back and eat whatever was left in the bowl.
Will went ahead and ate normally, finishing the rest of his stew without minding touching the silverware. Kate gave them a weird look but chuckled. "Y'all are real strange. But I do the same thing!" Kate admitted sheepishly, lifting her bowl to drink from it as Rudy did. She managed to finish her bowl quicker than Will could and then stood up to collect his empty bowl, earning a small 'thank you' from him. "You done too, Mister Rudy?" She asked as she held her arms out to get his bowl too. "Y'all can go up to your room whenever you're ready. I've gotta go do my homework so I'll be in my room if you need me. Don't wake Buddy up, obviously, he's got work in the mornin' like he said."
Rudy sat down his bowl and wiped his mouth, some of the stew still on his lips. He gave a small nod and held out the bowl, "Thank you kindly." He thanked her, taking a few smalls sips of his water before standing up, wiping off his mouth. "Sounds like a good plan. We're probably gonna head up now. It's been a long day." Rudy stated as he checked his previously burning hand, seeing how red it was from the momentary contact.
"Alrighty! Sleep good you two, I'll see you in the mornin'." She waved to them as she grabbed the bowl and waddled off to put the dishes away.
     Will gave a small sigh in relief and wiped his eyes as she stood up and dusted his pants off. "I hope you weren't fibbin' cause I'm ready to hit the hay. If that's hurtin' bad, we should run it under some water first, though." He informed him, having read that genuine silver left burns on the skin of lycanthropes.
"That'd be good. We can go outside to the water pump." Rudy mumbled as he held his wrist, flexing his palm as he winced. "So, silver hurts me?" He sighed as he glanced at Will, heading out of the dining room. "Did you see anything else that hurts?"
"Yeah, it burns ya. Sorry, I was too freaked out to think about tellin' ya, Ru. I guess silver's more common than I thought, too." Will admitted apologetically, scratching the back of his head sheepishly as he followed his best friend to the door. "But no, I didn't see nothin' else that hurts when you touch it I don't think. Rest of it ya eat."
"Okay. No worries, Will, I just didn't wanna go doin' anything that'd end up with my head exploding or anything." He softly teased as he stepped outside, circling around to the side of the house to where the water pump was. "I'm just glad he didn't think it was too weird. Nice recovery, by the way."
Will couldn't help but give a small laugh at the teasing, but shook his head. "Hardly. He thinks we're both loons now. And I don't like how much I gotta lie all the time now. Scares me how easy it's gettin'." He admitted with a shrug as they approached the water pump.
The boy knelt down and began to lift up the handle, pumping it down until water flowed out onto his burning hand. He let out a deep sigh of relief as he flexed his palm. "It's necessary out here, Will. I don't like it either, but we'd be dead." He stated softly as he continued to let the cold water flow onto his hand. "I wonder how long we're gonna have to keep this up."
"I do too. It's scary. And— and I don't even know how we're supposed to get out of it. I mean, my pa shot you, Rudy. He's known ya since you were born. How are we gonna go home with that?" Will asked the question, though it wasn't necessarily directed at Rudy. He stood anxiously fumbling with his hands, hazel eyes landing on the ground as his friend soothed his burn. "How is it supposed to go back to bein' normal?"
Rudy sat there, kneeling as he thought about the question as it made laps around his brain. He let out a sigh through his nose and shook his head. "Maybe it won't go back to normal," He stated, the previously optimistic point of view beginning to fade in his tone. "Either that werewolf bit me accidentally and is in the same situation as me, or I was a target." He bluntly stated as he turned off the flowing water, "Now I'm one of 'em and all of the potential cures will kill me. My own pa is probably with yours trying to hunt me down, your pa saw  Curly and now I'm not even human anymore. I just don't think things'll be the same again, Will, as much as I hate to say it."
Will stayed silent, staring at the ground. Something about hearing Rudy sound so pessimistic seemed to punch him in the face with realization and made him hurt. "Well," He finally spoke up, tone changing from one of worry to one of assurance for a change, "If that's comin' from you, I believe it. But that's just what God gave us, so I have no doubt in my mind it's what we're supposed to be doin'. And, if I'm honest with ya, I-I don't think this is bottom of the barrel. Because— because you're alive and I'm here with ya. And I think that's all I can really bring myself to care about right now." He admitted, trying his hardest to adopt Rudy's optimism, knowing the ginger needed it more than he did.
Rudy turned his head to look at Will, still flexing his clawed hand as the relief settled into his skin. His friend's words surprised him, but it was a nice change to hear. He smiled softly, "You've got a point there. Sorry for bein' so down— it's just a lotta stress." He apologized as he scratched the back of his curly head. "I'm just relived that you're still here. You didn't have to jump on that train with me, but'cha did." He stated with soft amusement as he put his hands on his hips.
Will's cheeks grew a little warm at Rudy's amusement and he gave his friend a soft smile. "But I did," He sighed, "And I don't got a regret in the world about it. How are we supposed to have cobbler sarsaparilla Tuesdays if you're off somewhere havin' an adventure, huh?" He joked in hopes that it'd raise both of their spirits.
"You'd call this an adventure?" He chuckled before hesitated, "Well, I guess you ain't wrong." He laughed softly as he gave his friend a playful elbow to his shoulder before putting his arm around him and heading back toward the porch. "Just not the adventure I expected."
Will grinned a bit and put an arm around his waist since he was rather short in comparison. "You better not've been expectin' it! I'd want ya to tell me first at least." He chuckled as they stepped back inside together. "Anyway, I guess we ought to figure out the sleepin' arrangements. If the bed's big enough for both of us, I call the left side." He said, wondering if they were gonna be able to share it. He didn't want to sleep on the floor, but he didn't want Rudy to have to either.
"I've been up there to change. It's a pretty big bed, so we could fit on there. If you don't mind, I guess. But I've gotta ask. Why the left side?" He snorted as he gave a glance down at him, thinking the claiming of that side was pretty funny, cocking his eyebrow with a teasing look.
Will's cheeks dusted pink with embarrassment as he realized liking the left side of the bed apparently wasn't common knowledge, but he squinted up at his friend. "I ain't tellin' you if you're just gonna make fun." He said firmly as they ascended the stairs to their room. The boys couldn't help but chuckle at seeing how Henrietta was now fluffed up and nesting on the bed, independently finding her own way upstairs and to a more comfortable bed. Once they entered, Will let him go to get ready for bed. He usually  had a routine, but he was pretty tired, so he simply took his shoes, his vest, and his belt off and untucked his dress shirt.
"I'm just playin' with you." He laughed softly as he rolled his eyes, entering the room behind him and closing the door as to not be loud and wake Buddy. When inside, he slipped the vest off and hung it on the bedpost along with his suspenders. He let out yawn as he sat down on the edge of the bed, realizing how beat he really was.
"Uh huh. Every time I tell you somethin' embarassin' about myself, you end up playin' with me about it forever." Will simply shot him a playful look and crawled into bed, making sure to take the left side as he'd called. He let out a sigh of relief as he relaxed into what felt like the most comfortable bed he'd ever been in, curling up under the nice, thick covers. "But if you gotta know, the left side's always warmer." He muttered in admittance, eyes closed as he waited for Rudy to get situated, growing rather sleepy as he got more comfortable.
Picking up Henrietta and letting her cuddle up by his side, Rudy let out a soft sigh as he reclined into the pillow, closing his eyes as he took in a deep breath through his nose. It was nice to learn that the transformations didn't occur every night and that he could finally get some peace. He curled up into the thick blankets alongside Will, "Nah, that ain't embarrassing. I radiate more damn heat than the frontier, anyways." He mumbled sleepily as he didn't even notice his body slipping off into a deep, dark sleep.