Free Howl of the Wolf by N.J. Walters

she found was orange hard plastic and obviously dated from the late sixties or early seventies. She pulled the chair close enough so their knees were almost touching.
    His face was troubled, the lines around his eyes deeper than usual. “Esme was telling me that the wolf belonged to you. She was also worried about you, girl.”
    Sabrina swallowed back emotion. She missed her granny so much and wished she could talk to her. She was also jealous of Jules’ dream. Why couldn’t she dream about her granny instead of mysterious lovers and scary, disembodied voices? “Did she say why she was worried?”
    Others might scoff, but she was a big believer in the power of dreams. Some people believed they could carry messages from those who’d passed beyond the earthly plane. Sabrina wasn’t about to discount the possibility.
    Jules reached out and took her hands in his. They were big hands, strong from years of hard work. He rubbed his thumbs over her palms. “She didn’t say, or if she did I couldn’t understand her. But I do know I’ve never seen her so worked up over something.” He gave her fingers a squeeze and released them. “All I know is she wanted you to have that there wolf.”
    He shook his head. “Maybe I’m just an old man with an active imagination, but my grandson is coming to help me load him up and bring him to your place as soon as I close shop. I already called him.”
    Sabrina wanted to jump up and do a fist-pump. The wolf was hers. But another part of her was worried this was another part of whatever madness had entered her life over the past few weeks. Although that concern was tempered by Jules’ dream about her granny. If Granny was in the dream then it was a positive, powerful one and it behooved her to pay attention to it.
    If Granny Esmeralda thought the wolf belonged to her then Sabrina wasn’t about to argue, but there was no way she could take the wolf for free. She’d never feel as though he really belonged to her. “I have to give you something for him, Jules.”
    The old man shook his head. “I told Esme you’d say that.” He chuckled at her concerned expression. “Oh, I know the difference between dreams and reality, missy.” He pushed out of his chair and extended his hand to help her up. “But I like to believe I’m able to talk to my old friend from time to time.”
    “And what did she say?” Sabrina liked the idea of him being able to talk to her granny too. Didn’t matter if it was real or not as long as it made them both feel better.
    “She said to charge you three hundred dollars. Any more would be too much. Any less and you’d feel as though you were fleecing an old man.”
    Sabrina snorted. “Old man, my foot. You’ll outlive us all.”
    Jules’ booming laughter echoed around the dim room. “That’s the plan, missy.”
    She glanced over her shoulder and met the dark-eyed stare of the wolf. She really wanted to see him better, to clean off the layer of dust that covered him. “Three hundred?”
    Jules nodded and led the way back toward the shop. “And Marcel and I will deliver him in about an hour.”
    There really was no decision to be made. Sabrina hurried back to the front of the store, went behind the counter and grabbed her purse. Thanks to the extra sales today she had more than enough in her wallet to pay cash.
    Transaction completed, she reluctantly left the shop. If it were anyone else but Jules, she wouldn’t have been able to leave her wolf behind. Her wolf . If anyone else could hear her thoughts, they’d be worried about the state of her mental health. Heck, she was worried too. But there was something about that wolf that called to her.
    As she dragged herself and her belongings up the stairs to her apartment, she found herself wondering what other animals had been on the carousel with the wolf. What a wonder it would have been to see the carousel brand new, to maybe even have the opportunity to ride it.
    Maybe she’d do some research online.