The Stroke of Winter(17)

The crew gathered up their various tools and were about to climb the back stairs, Tess and Storm following behind, when Wyatt turned around and stopped her.

“You might want to stay down here with him,” Wyatt said, scratching Storm on the top of the head. “We’ll get the door off and assess the situation. Hunter will do whatever he does to discern if an animal is living back there, and if so, what kind of animal. He’ll find where it goes in and out. It’s best that you keep Storm down here in a room where you can shut the doors. The last thing you want is this dog to be on the scene when an angry, scared raccoon bolts out of there. He’s a tough guy, but I’ve seen raccoons fighting, and it’s not a pretty situation.”

Good point, Tess thought, imagining the chaos that would occur if Storm started chasing, or much worse, cornered, a raccoon. “Okay,” she said. “I can stay right here with him in the kitchen. I’ll wait until you tell me it’s safe to come upstairs.”

He smiled at her and raised his eyebrows. “Are you anxious to see what’s behind the door?”

She nodded. “Weirdly, yes. I mean, I can do without a full-on animal infestation, but I’m very curious to find out what’s back there.”

“I’ll do my best not to damage the door in any way,” he said. “I know you want to be able to close and lock it.”

“Godspeed,” she said, chuckling. He might need it.

Tess closed the stairway door behind Wyatt, and she heard them tromping their way down the hall, toolboxes, animal trap, and all. She crossed the room and closed the door into the dining room, too, just to be safe.

And now, more waiting. Tess sank into a chair with a sigh. Storm seemed to sigh, too, perhaps wishing he were part of the action. But his ears were alert, listening to what was happening just one flight away.

For the next hour or so, Tess could hear banging and muffled voices. Her stomach was in a tight knot as she wondered what was happening up there. Did they get the door off? Did they find an animal?

Storm, who had been lying in front of the fire, got to his feet, ears perked. He began to pace around the kitchen, patrolling from door to door to door.

A loud bang from upstairs reverberated through the house, and Storm stopped in his tracks. The fur on his back stood up. His lip curled to expose his fangs. The dog was staring at the back stairs, snarling like a wolf. A serious, deadly warning.

There it was again. Bang, bang, bang.

Tess pushed her chair back from the table and stood up, too, slowly, watching Storm all the while. His intensity took her breath away. He was on point to attack. She realized she didn’t know this dog, not really. He had been with her for only a couple of days. Would he turn on her? But as soon as the thought went through her mind, she dismissed it. Somehow, some way, she knew he was protecting her. She felt it, deep inside.

“What is it?” she managed to squeak out.

It seemed obvious that Hunter must have found whatever it was that had been scratching. Tess hoped he had it trapped by now. She also hoped the animal hadn’t done too much damage. She could only imagine the level of cleaning she’d have to do if it had been trapped in there for any length of time. Her stomach tightened. Then, footsteps on the stairs. Someone hurrying down.

The door opened and Wyatt came through it just as Storm blew by him, barking furiously as he raced up the stairs.

“Whoa!” Wyatt said, nearly bowled over by the dog.

Tess gasped and locked eyes with Wyatt for a moment before she hurried up the stairs after the dog, Wyatt following close behind.

They ran down the hallway toward the door, which Tess could now see was open. Storm roared through it, barking deep and low.

“Hey, big fella. Easy now.” It was Hunter, talking to Storm. Tess stopped in the doorway to see the dog respond to the man, take it down a notch, and scan the room.

“Did you trap the animal that was in here?” she asked, wincing. “Or is it still on the loose?” As she said it, she caught a glimpse of the trap. It was empty. Her stomach dropped.

“Storm,” she called into the darkness. And sure enough, the dog appeared, trotting to her side. But his ears were perked, the fur on his back standing straight up. He may not be stalking anything right now, but he’s ready, Tess thought.

“There’s no animal,” Hunter said. “I’ve checked all throughout the room. There’s no way anything could’ve gotten in or out. Come and take a look for yourself. I’ll show you.”

Tess exchanged a glance with Wyatt. He nodded, as if to say, It’s okay.

She took in a deep breath and walked over the threshold of the door that had been closed to her for her whole life.

“As you can see,” Hunter began, shining a flashlight into the corners and onto the ceiling, “there is no entranceway . . .”

He continued his explanation, but Tess wasn’t really listening. She was entranced by what she was seeing for the first time.

It was one big room, spacious, uncluttered, surrounded by windows on three sides, all but one window shuttered. Tess noticed what seemed to be an added room or an alcove of some kind, in one corner—a bathroom, perhaps? A dressing room?

A shaft of dusty light streamed in from the one exposed window, but the rest of the room was dark and gray. Shapes stood here and there, but Tess couldn’t quite tell what they were.

Sure enough, there was the one open window. Tess saw the shutter, a wood panel the size of the window it had covered, placed neatly on the floor beneath it. How in the world had it gotten there? Who had opened that shutter? It certainly hadn’t been pulled off by a raccoon. Maybe she had been mistaken, she thought. Maybe it had been open all the while.