The Secret of the Wolfs

Chapter 2

City Hall in the small town of Ringrove was usually a quiet place. Actually, the entire existence of the place seemed to be more of a formality than a necessity. 

Most of the days George just sat there on his own, behind his desk. The big green doors all the way across the room from him hardly ever opened. Those people who wandered in occasionally he would tell the same story. 

This was the very same story that he was about to tell the young lady that entered through those big green doors...

The second he heard the doors move he looked up. The stranger walked into the building and started looking around. He knew that from the entrance she could not directly see him. He could have called out to her and told her that he was over there, but something withheld him from doing so...

Curiosity got the best of him when he realized, he had never seen that girl before in his life. Now Ringrove is and has always been a very small town, an unfamiliar face is not something you see every day. 

George listened as he heard her shoes moving on the tiles, slowly finding her way towards him. It was only when the brunette stood before him that he noticed the black heeled boots on her feet that were making the noise. 

"How may I help you?" George asked her, adjusting his glasses slightly. 

"I'm looking for a," The girl trailed off as she looked at the piece of paper that she held in her hands. "Mr. Charles Kingston."

"And may I ask you why?" The man said looking surprised and curious. 

"All I know is that I am supposed to ask for that man, and give him this key," The woman held up an old looking key, "And ask him to open drawer 46."

George was puzzled for a moment. Why would a woman whom he had never seen before ask for his father? And most of all, why on earth would she have the key that opens the one drawer that he hadn't been able to open up for years.

"I am sorry to inform you that Mr. Charles Kingston has passed away. I am, however, the one to take up his function."

He watched as the eyebrows of the girl furrowed for a moment. She looked down at the piece of paper before looking back at George again. 

"Alright, in that case, could you open the drawer for me?" She said holding up the key. 

"I... I... can." He said not quite sure how to respond and taking the key from her hand. 

"Follow me please." He indicated for the girl to follow him. Everything about this was strange, from the stranger in the city hall of Ringrove, to a key of a drawer that had been closed for years. 

In all honesty, George did not think that the key would fit. I mean why would it? They never gave out keys, and they most certainly would not give them to an out of towner. 

He, however, didn't have to look to know that the woman was in fact following him, for behind him, he heard the sound of her shoes clicking on the tiles. 

The two of them went down a hallway and to the right, all the way to a red door at the end of the hallway. Stopping right in front of it, he grabbed the key from his pocket and opened the lock. 

"After you." He said holding the door open for the woman. "Thank you." She said as she entered the room. 

He watched carefully as she looked around the room, curiosity filling her eyes. "It's right over there," George said pointing to her left. There a few meters away from them, on the bottom drawer, wore the number, 46. 

He together with the woman he walked over to it. He crouched down and inserted the key he held in his hand. He took a deep breath and turned it. Surprise filled him as he felt the subtle click of the lock and he could finally pull open the drawer. 

Even more, surprise filled him as he saw the content of the drawer. A small stack of paper, with a contract lying on top of it. 

"What's this?" He said picking it up from the drawer and examining it. 

The contract looked quite old fashioned and a bit worn. It was at first glance that he knew what this meant. Everything from the way it looked to the paw print on the bottom left, next to a man's signature. 

"I actually have a copy of that one." The woman said breaking the silence. George turned his head away from the piece of paper and looked at her. 

"My grandmother gave it to me," she fumbled around in her bag, "She said something about it not falling into the wrong hands, and how I inherited it." 

She handed George a copy of the contract, this document, however, was laminated. "I'm not sure about the falling into the wrong hands part, but other than that..."

George, however, didn't say a thing. This was something big, something bigger than that woman could ever imagine. 

"I need to make a phone call, wait here." 

Without waiting for the woman to respond to him he nearly ran out of the room, to his office.