Day 16

***
After a few minutes of haranguing, Hugo asked if Mrs. McGregor would like to come in for some tea. She wore a light blue flowered housecoat over a blouse of indeterminate age and color and a pair of denim plus-fours.
She considered for a moment, then nodded her head. Hugo moved out of the way and let her in. She walked to the kitchen and sat at the table. “I’m glad to see that you finally let your cat in,” she said, stroking the cat down its length.
Hugo put a pan of water on the stove --he didn’t have a tea pot-- and rummaged through the cupboard looking for the tea. “It’s not my cat,” he said.
“That’s neither here nor there,” replied Mrs. McGregor. If Hugo had been looking, he might have seen her wink at the cat, and maybe the cat wink back.
Hugo emerged from the cupboard with two boxes of tea. “Which would you prefer, Lemon, or Earl Grey?” he asked.
“I brought my own,” said Mrs. McGregor, reaching into a pocket in her housecoat, and returning with a packet of tea. “I didn’t think that you probably had any tea.” Her grimace softened and she almost smiled at him.
Hugo found mugs in another cupboard and poured the hot water. He chose Earl Grey for himself. As he turned he looked out the window at the Backyard Neighbors. The father did the dishes, and one of the children sat at the kitchen table doing homework. He put the mug down in front of Mrs. McGregor and took the seat adjacent. “What’s new in the neighborhood, Mrs. McGregor?”
Her lack of frown turned into one. “I’ll tell you what’s new,” she said. She opened the packet of tea and dipped the bag into the water. “You came home awfully late last night. And I don’t think that you listened to what the Shargugh was saying. And... And, that woman is nothing but trouble.” She harrumphed as she got the last phrase out.
Hugo’s eyebrows rose. He looked at her with mild surprise. “Um, I’m sorry Mrs. McGregor. I didn’t mean for Maya and I to disturb you last night.” A memory of seeing someone very much like Mrs. McGregor in the bar came to the forefront of his mind. He opened his mouth to say something about it, when she cut him off.
“That’s not what is important. I will only say one more thing about her right now: she is trouble, and now she has her hooks in you, so you had better watch out.” She looked him straight in the eye. Hugo tried not to blink, but his eyes began to water and he looked at his mug of tea. “What is important is that you pay attention when people are talking to you.”
Hugo looked up at her. “I’m trying to pay attention, Mrs. McGregor,” he said, abashed.
“Not me. Though you should listen to me as well. I’m talking about the Shargugh. Didn’t you hear that something is happening that he can’t control? His land, this land, here, has come under some kind of attack. Some kind of evil is roaming around out there and he can’t do anything about it.”
Hugo stared at her. What is she talking about? He thought. Some evil? “Are you talking about the animals that have been killed?” he asked, clawing his way back into the conversation.
“Of course that is what I’m talking about,” Mrs. McGregor slammed her fist down on the table. Hugo jumped, and the cat jumped to the floor.
Hugo tried to recollect what Shargugh had said when they met outside and the whole city seemed to be swaying. All that he could remember was another person standing in the shadows a little way off. “What does Shargugh have to do with all this?” he asked
“He has everything to do with it, dear.” Mrs. McGregor bent down and scooped the cat onto her lap. It began to purr as she stroked its back. All the while, the cat stared at Hugo. He felt a bit unnerved all this staring going on.
“Josie seems to like you,” he said.
She scoffed. “What kind of name is that, Josie? This cat is a male. Don’t you recognize testicles when you see them?” She turned the cat around. Hugo stared, shocked that Mrs. McGregor had said “testicles”.
“I didn’t know,” he stammered. “I didn’t look. She…he had just come in and I didn’t want to pick him up. I thought that he might be scared…or something.”
“His name is Hermes.”
“Okay.” Hugo reached out his hand and scratched Hermes between the ears. “Wait. Why are you calling him “the” Shargugh? I thought that his name is just Shargugh.”
She stared at him as though he had just appeared in front of her, ignorant as the day he was born. “This is his land,” she said, slowly so as to make her self understood. “He protects it.” She opened her eyes wide, then frowned to make her point more clear.
Hugo nodded like he knew what she was talking about. “Okay,” he said. “He owns the land…”
“Of course he doesn’t own it. If you aren’t going to listen to what I’m saying, then I might as well leave,” she made to stand.
Hugo put his hand on her arm. “Wait. I’m sorry,” he quickly said. “I’m just trying to understand.”
She sat back down. “Sometimes,” she said, “it seems like you are being stupid on purpose.” He looked at his mug again. “You young people don’t know anything these days. All you know is what they teach you in school, and what you see on TV. Though I notice that you don’t have one.” She smiled slightly and continued. “The Shargugh takes care of the land. McLoughlin happens to be inside…” The doorbell rang cutting her off.
“Excuse me,” Hugo said, getting up.
“That’ll be Dr. Bonanza, here with pressing news, no doubt.”
Hugo started down the hall toward the front door. He looked back at Mrs. McGregor, realizing that he didn’t really know her at all.
He opened the door. There stood Bonanza.
“Let’s go,” he said. He turned toward his truck which idled in the street.
“Mrs. McGregor’s here,” Hugo said.
Mrs. McGregor padded up behind him. “I’m just leaving,” she said. She pushed passed Hugo and nodded to Dr. Bonanza. “Mario,” she said
Bonanza nodded back. “Esmeralda,” he said.
Hugo stared from one to the other. Hermes rubbed against his leg and he looked down. Hermes followed Mrs. McGregor with his gaze. Hugo looked up, but only after Mrs. McGregor gave Hermes a look that meant that he should stay. “Thank you for the tea, dear,” she said to Hugo as she walked to her house. Hugo felt confused, and somehow on the outside of all that was going on.
“Get your coat,” Bonanza said.
Hugo looked at him as though seeing him for the first time. “Mario?” he asked.
Bonanza pointed a finger at Hugo, then deflated. “Just get your coat,” he said. “We have to go.”
Hugo went back in and rummaged through his room, looking for a coat. He tried to predict what the weather might do, in the hopes of choosing the correct garment. After a few moments of searching and reflection, he gave it up and took raincoat and a quilted flannel shirt, red and black. Layering, he thought. That should take care of it.
Hermes stood in the doorway looking at him questioningly. “Do you want to go out or stay in?” Hugo asked. “I don’t know if I have anything for cats.” He hurried into the kitchen and rummaged through the pantry. “Tuna!” Hugo exclaimed. He opened the can and put it on the floor. Hermes sat down near the table and looked at him. “Well, go ahead,” Hugo said, pointing at the open can. Hermes looked at him impassively. “What?” Hugo asked. He snapped his fingers. “Water,” he said. He picked up the milk bowl [fix above?], rinsed it and filled it with water. He placed the dish beside the open can of tuna. Hermes walked to the can and began to eat. Hugo scratched him on the neck and walked down the hall to his open doorway.
Bonanza sat in the driver’s seat, looking toward Mrs. McGregor’s house.
Hugo opened the passenger-side door and climbed in. “Where are we off to?” he said.


Chapter 23

Bonanza didn’t answer at first. He turned the truck around and headed back out to the highway. As they turned south, he said, “What did Mrs. McGregor have to say?”
Hugo looked at Bonanza, and then back out the windshield. “I’m not really sure,” he said. “She was saying some pretty weird stuff about Shargugh, like he owned the land--” he mentally cringed. “Not that he owned it, but that he took care of it, or something.”
Bonanza nodded faintly. Hugo continued, “And that I should listen better when people are talking. Sorry about last night. I don’t know how I got so drunk. I just needed to go home.” He remembered talking with the night-man at the market. “Say, did you hear something about a horse being killed yesterday?”
Bonanza looked at him, but said nothing.
“I stopped at the market on the way home and was talking with the guy there. He said that some horse got killed and was torn up pretty bad. Is that where we’re going?”
They drove in silence for a few moments, then Bonanza said, “I took a look at the horse last night. They had it hauled to Dean McLosky’s, the vet. It didn’t have a brain, just like my sheep.” Bonanza looked grim. “We’re going to talk with Olaf. I think that he has something that we might need.”
The stopped off at the gas station for more fuel and beer.
“Hello, Dr. Bonanza,” said Joe as they pushed through the door.
Bonanza nodded and headed to the beer cooler.
At the register, Joe said, “Did you hear about that horse? It was out at the Erickson place. They’re just down the road from you, aren’t they?”
Dr. Bonanza grunted assent. “What else have you heard, Joe?”
“Oh, this and that. People say that there’s something funny going on out down south. Out on the flats.”
“Up on the slope a little too,” Bonanza said as he paid the bill. He left the beer for Hugo to carry again.
In the truck, Hugo broke out a beer for himself and one for Bonanza. Hugo pictured where Erickson’s place was located; he had seen the mailbox on the way to the refuge on the previous day. Just down the road from Bonanza’s drive about a mile and a half. Closer toward town, he thought.
“I can see what you are thinking,” Bonanza said. “They found it not that far from where my sheep got killed. It was down there at the south end of his property. He butts up against the national forest instead of the refuge.”
“Did you know that a dead mountain lion was found up by Two Rabbit Lake a few days ago,” Hugo asked.
Bonanza looked at Hugo as he drove. “No,” he said. The drove in silence for a while.