The Ghost

The sleigh runner hit the rock and busted loose immediately. I pulled the horse to a stop in deep snow. The runner was too damaged to fix. Damn. I patted the horse and unhooked him, I would ride the rest of the way. It was snowing. Everything was eerily silent.

The attack came suddenly, violently. Not even the horse knew the creature was there. The wolf was white like snow and huge. I was on the ground instantly and couldn’t breathe. Dazed, I saw my horse running away. It was then I felt the hot breath, smelled the stench of rotting flesh. The wolf stood menacingly above me. My knife out of reach, I was finished.

The wolf’s jaws opened impossibly wide. I was going to be torn apart. As I covered my face, a loud crack pierced the air. Something warm splattered my arms and face. I opened my eyes and looked up. The wolf was gone and I was covered in blood. Shaking, I eased up on an elbow. Ten feet away the wolf lay dead, half of it’s head missing.

A bearded man stood over me. “Help you up?”, he asked. He carried a rifle which he placed against a tree and pulled me up with powerful arms. “Been hunting this ghost for weeks. Was at the bend back yonder when he hit you. Good thing or you’d been murdered, just like my Jenny. Come back to the cabin, warm up. I’ll skin this devil later.”

Dumbfounded, still scared, I managed, “Thank you.”

The stranger who had just saved my life smiled, tears in his eyes, grabbed his rifle, patted me heartily on the shoulder and said, “Gladly. Gladly.” He looked up into the trees, his voice breaking, “I got the ghost Jenny. I got the bastard.”