THE PASSAGE

Jamie meets the Rougarou

Chapter 13

"You didn't see Lou again for forty years? So, how old were you when you, um, died?"

"Sixty-seven, child. And I see from the look on your face that you already put two and two together. You see, since all that took place way back then, I quit aging. Now it took me several years to figure that out. Actually, the town people notice it before I do. And other things about me changed, too. I could sense some things that were going to happen before they happen. And my reflexes, they was like, super-fast."

I glance down at the walking cane between her knees, and she catches me. Interpreting my thoughts, she holds it up, stares at it, and laughs softly.

"I falls off the roof when I was a young woman. I was up there helping Daddy work on it. I hurt my leg, and Daddy didn't have the money to take me to the doctor, so he get me this cane so I could get around." She chuckles to herself, shaking her head. "That leg never did heal properly, and this cane come to be a part of me, but I don't really need it no more."

It was all beginning to make sense to me now, how Pop doesn't age anymore, how he already knew who I was, and my reason for coming here.

"The townspeople of Frenier start to become suspicious of me when I buy a new house, and some land with some of the money Mr. Harley left me. They want to know how I afford that, but I just let them wonder. Over the years, I buy more land around my place. The whole town, they jealous of me now, because I come into money, and I can afford things.

"Through the few friends I had, a rumor quickly spread about my ability to see things before they happen. So, when people wanted to know something, they would come to see me. Will they have a good crop this year, should they buy more land, is their husbands cheating on them?

"And I don't turn them away. Instead, I try to help them by answering their questions. But when bad things happen, they start to blame it on me. They say I'm into voodoo, and I put a curse on them. Some say Jim left me and took the two kids with him because I was evil. Some say I killed Jim and the kids and buried them in the swamp. I don't try to defend myself. I just let them think what they like.

"But there was a few people who were good to me and helped me. One of them was Mr. LeBlanc. Not this Mr. LeBlanc here, but his grandfather. He would often come around to check on me, him, and his son. They would help me around the place, even though I never ask them to. If I was fixing fence, they would stay and help. If my house needed fixing, they would do it for me. And they never one time ask for payment. I even try to pay them, but they never accept it. Over the years that I know them, I come to love them like my own children. They was so good to me.

"Then, in 1915, it seemed like many bad things start to happen to the town of Frenier. Things like drought, disease among livestock, much sickness among the people. I think it was the people's own fault and that the Lord had punished them because it seem like the whole town had turn greedy and sinful. They was looking for something to blame all their misfortune on back then. Instead of looking to themselves and their evil ways, they blame me. They think I put an evil spell on them to cause all their problems. I tell you, child, I should have left that place after I lost my husband and kids.

"On one particular evening in September 1915, I hear the chickens making a racket in the henhouse. I thought maybe a raccoon or a possum was after them. So, I gets my lantern and Jim's shotgun and go outside to see what going on. When I gets by the henhouse, I shine my lantern around but don't see anything. I look inside but still don't see anything unusual. But the chickens, they was scared about something. So, I shut the door and was turning to leave when I walk right into this big wolf. Child, I jump back and drop that shotgun right out of my hands. Let me tell you, he scared me good. At first, I thought it was a real wolf, you know, I thought I was dead for sure. But a few seconds later, I think that it must be Lou.