Dogman 1

Dogman in Minnesota gives birth

North Minnesota after December can be as unforgiving as Northern Canada. The cold winter temperatures blow down from the artic ravaging the land leaving it looking as desolate and unwelcoming as the artic tundra from which it originated. When the cold winds arrive they often stay for extended periods assuring nothing went untouched by its frosty fingers. Two brothers, both teenagers, one fourteen and the other seventeen, found themselves broke down on a back gravel road with the snow reaching a near whiteout conditions. They saw an old milk barn not too far ahead from where their truck was sitting in a puddle of transmission fluid. It was about three-thirty in the afternoon. They had been headed for home after school had been let out early to allow the kids to get home before things got too out of hand. Both boys were on the school basketball team so they had hung around after the dismissal to see if practice was still being held. When upon hearing there would be no practice that day and the school wanted everyone from the principal to the janitor to get home and ride out the winter storm safely, they climbed into their chevy truck and started for home. The ride was slow-going and treacherously slick so by the time the transmission gave out it was almost four-thirty pm. The light is mostly gone by four-thirty in the afternoon in Minnesota during the last couple of weeks of December all the way through to about the end of Febuary. Especially on days when the wind is blowing hard out of the north and there is enough snow swirling around to be termed a blizzard or whiteout. Those words to a Minnesotan though respected, are not feared. So they were not the least worried when the boys found themselves five miles from home and the snow coming down so fast that their tracks were being covered nearly as fast as they were being made. By the time the boys had reached the doorway to the milkhouse they could no longer see their truck The door to the milkhouse resisted their initial attempt to get inside but with a more insistent push the door gave way to a dark room with no windows. On the far end of the rectangle-shaped building was a second door. Presumably one was where the cows came in and the other the exit. The door at the other end was slightly ajar which was apparent because what little light that was left in the day was shining in through the crack. Kerry, the younger of the two brothers, walked toward the other door while looking in the nooks and crannies of the old barn that the limited light allowed him to see. He was rewarded richly when one of them held several old candles and a holder that even had a glass cover to place over it. The glass was so dirty that Kerry wasn’t sure the flame from the candle could be seen through it. He walked on up to the other door and instead of pushing it shut he opened the door further and shoved the dirty glass cover into the snow. He waited long enough for some of the dirt to have time to be effected by the moisture and then jammed his the corner of his coat down into the glass, twisting as it went. After a little bit of elbow work the candle holder was working great. Kenny had a backup plan for providing light if it had come to that but Kerry finding the candles was certainly good luck. Kenny fumbled his way up to where Kerry was standing, holding the candle. “Pretty easy to see why they kept the candles in here. Even on a sunny day this windowless room must have needed artificial light.” Kerry said. “Yeah. Our luck years later I suppose. Any idea who this place belongs?” Kenny replied, while looking the place over more closely. “Seems like I remember it at one time belonged to the family called Lichenstein. I remember they had a daughter that was about a year older than me. Only reason I even knew about her was because we rode the same bus for several years back in elementary. I stopped using the bus when I got into middle school and was able to catch a ride with Mitch Stanson. Speaking of that SOB, I bet he hasn’t made it home yet. If we keep an ear posted we might hear that POS of a Ford coming down the road. Get out there before he gets past and we got our ride.” “The Lichensteins. Are they still the owners you think?” Kerry asked, while using the candle to search the building a little better than before. The place didn’t have a lot to offer. Some lengths of pipe. Probably used in the process of milking. A starting fluid can stood next to its cap which had been turned into a catch-all for a few dirty coins and a 20 gage shotgun shell and two shells which either went in a pistol or perhaps a rifle. Kerry thought more likely a pistol because the shells were short and rounded like the ones you saw in the gun belts of the cowboys on tv. “Seems like there was something weird about the Lichensteins now that I am brought to think on ’em.” Kenny said, then added, “follow down to the door we came in. I want to take a glance outside and see if things have gotten any better.” The two brothers walked down to the door. Kerry held the candle so that Kenny could locate the door knob. “Probably should hold that away from the door. It won’t help me to see out there. At least not far enough for it to matter. I’m hopin’ the whiteness of the storm will be enough illumination to be able to at least see a little ways down the road. If it lets up enough for that then we can walk home.” Kerry nodded in agreement and moved away from the door with the candle. A gush of wind came rushing through the doorway when Kenny pulled it open. For the second time that day Kerry was struck by the weird, moldy odor that seemed to haunt the old barn. It wasn’t overpowering but it also wasn’t overly pleasant. In fact the more he was focusing in on it the more he decided it wasn’t just unpleasant. It smelled like a wet dog took a piss in the corner of the barn. That’s what it smelled like. Kenny stepped back inside and pushed the door shut. Outside the wind howled and then to seemingly drive its point home the door rattled from another gush of cold wind. “Still can’t see more than a foot in front of you.” “Still think Stanson will be coming along?” Kerry wasn’t the optimist that could be claimed about his older brother. “Haven’t heard him go by have we?” Kenny said. “Not so sure we would hear him.” Kerry replied. Kenny sighed and motioned for Kerry to hold the candle closer to him. “Well at least we have enough wax to get us through the night if it comes to that.” Kerry handed his brother the candle and he went over to the door and pulled it open enough to allow him to look outside. Things weren’t as bad as Kenny had let on. He could see the road out in front of the milkhouse. He was squinting in an attempt to see as far down the road as he could. He began to make out a shape that seemed to be moving towards them. A few more seconds staring at the shape and he could now tell it was a human being. A tall one. It was moving closer and another half a minute passed and now it was obvious the person was headed directly towards the milkhouse. “Looks like we’re gonna find out who owns this old dump.” Kenny perked up. “Why’s that?” “Cause he’s walking towards us as we speak.” Kerry replied. He was starting to question his own eyesight. “Shit! I can’t believe I am going to say this but this guy coming toward us … he has a dogs head.” Kenny set the candle down and pulled Kerry away from his viewing perch. He peered out the crack of the door and was shocked to see what looked like a werewolf, a seven foot tall werewolf, walking on two legs directly towards where they were. It didn’t seem phased by the winter storm in the least. Kenny whispered to Kerry to hand him one of the pipes. He proceeded to position it in a manner so that one end of the pipe would be wedged under the handle of the doorknob and the other end was wedged into the dirt floor essentially and efficiently creating a door jamb. Nothing was coming through that door any time soon. The boys didn’t hang around to see how it held up. They grabbed up the candle and another length of pipe and started working their way to the other end of the house. There was also a door on that end and it had to be shored up as well or they would be trapped if the creature came in that door. They wasted no time shoring up the door. It also opened inwards so they had it shored up in no time. Suddenly the door on the other end began to be banged and slammed in an effort to get the door to swing open. The pipe was holding so the boys turned their attention to what they could do to protect themselves if that thing did get inside the barn. They returned to the shelf that had the starting fluid can and more importantly the can’s cap which held a twenty gage shotgun shell and two rifle or pistol bullets. Kenny began picking up the various lengths of pipe that were available. The pipe was in different sizes. Some were quarter inch, some were half inch and there was a couple bigger sized pipes. A five-eighths and a three quarter inch were the most likely sizes. Kenny grabbed the shotgun shell and began trying to slide it into the different sizes of pipe. He found one that should work perfect. The shell fit snuggly and the rim of the shell even caught on the end of the pipe. That was important because if they had to use the improv gun, it would involve striking the shotgun shell on its firing cap and if the shell’s rim didn’t catch on the pipe then the shell might not go off when struck. Instead it possibly would just be pushed through the pipe, sliding out the other end. In other words being completely useless. The door which had began slamming against the jamb stopped as suddenly as it started! The boys became aware of that bad odor only now it was multiplied by a hundred, possibly a thousand! The stench grew! And then it slightly faded, which gave both boys the impression that the animal had given up entering the milkhouse through that door and had then walked up to the other end, to try that door. The stench grew to a paramount when the animal was directly on the other side of the wall that separated them. It started to fade when the animal walked past where they stood inside the barn. Almost immediately the second door began to bang and slam against the door jamb but the pipe held its ground. A low, evil sounding growl outside the doorway promised that if it ever got inside they would be sorry. Kenny worked fast. He was now trying to find a smaller pipe circumference. Something that would accommodate the rifle or pistol bullets. He went with the half inch and placed the bullet into the pipe barrel but this weapon the rim of the shell didn’t catch on the pipe. To get around this Kenny took a dollar bill and rapped it around the back half of the bullet so to have something to catch the bullet on the pipe so that it again, wouldn’t just slide into the pipe and out the other end if the bullet were struck on its firing cap. The two makeshift weapons made ready to fire, or as ready as they were likely to ever be, the next thing Kenny did was to set up a place to fire the weapon from. Kenny took two of the length of pipes which were not being used to fire the bullets, and drove them into the dirt floor so that they formed the shape of an ‘X’. Next he showed Kerry how he should place the end of the pipe where the bullet would come out so that it rested in the ‘X’ and faced directly at the door that the creature would come through. Next he broke the candle into two and lit the new half so that they both now would have a source of light to help them guard the door to which they were assigned. The door which Kenny was guarding began to slam against its jamb. The door was holding and the boys settled in for what was going to certainly be a long, long night. An hour or more passed but the slamming against the doors had stopped. It sounded like the wind had died down some and the boys wondered if the snow had let up? More time slid by and curiosity began to grow in both boys. Finally even the foul odor that had been so strong, began to fade a little. Kenny devised a plan. If the creature was waiting out there for them to make a mistake and open one of the doors. His plan should be sufficient to allow them to safely open one of the doors long enough to see how the storm was acting. It involved both of them. Kerry was to go to the door he had been guarding and was to make a little noise, not a lot, but a little like he was trying to be quiet but was failing. If the creature was still out there it should race to that end of the building thinking they were going to come out that door. Meantime Kenny would have enough time to open the door and get a view of the storm and then slam it and get the pipe back into place before the werewolf could get back to that spot. The downside to this plan was that if the creature stayed outside the door that Kenny was going to open. It could use its superior size and strength to force the door open effectively trapping both boys in there with it. Kenny took Kerry aside and whispered that if the worst case scenario happened and the creature got inside that he was to immediately step to the other side of the door and then was to take his belt and use it to strap the pipe to the doorknob and then position the pipe so it was across the door frame. In short it would lock the creature in or at least make it so the thing couldn’t come out that door. If Kenny was unable to do the same on his end then shit hits the fan. The odds Kenny would be able to complete the latter part of the plan were very unlikely. They needed for the first part of the plan to work. Kenny tried to judge where the creature was at based on the stench coming through the cinderblock wall. Best guess was that the thing was staying at the halfway point. Smart dog. It could cover both doors while only giving up a small amount of time. The boys agreed it was time to put the plan into play. This was simple plan, and simple plans were the best. That’s what their dad always thought them. Kerry quietly stepped to his assigned door and gently shook the door jamb like he was trying to get it out of the way. At the next second Kenny did remove his door jamb and he quickly opened the door wide enough to allow him to take in the current weather condition and then he slammed the door back shut and replaced the door jamb in a manner that was intentionally slowed down a half a step so to ensure that the jamb would actually hold once in place. Kenny completed his mission and was a step backwards towards his weaponized pipe when the door began to slam against the jamb again. “Its let up.” He said across the room to his brother. “If we decide to leave this place we can do so without worry of getting lost in a whiteout.” Then he left his post for the chance to speak with Kerry. “Damn I would love to have that thing’s stamina. Listen to it. Its been slamming on those doors for probably better than an hour and it doesn’t sound any less spent than when it started. Incredible!” “Would you mind being a little less star-struck and a little more … on getting our asses out of this mess!” Kerry whispered excitedly. Kenny thought he noted a hint of anger mixed in as well. He let it go as its understandable to lose patience when under such stress for such an extended period of time. “I think we’ve done all that we can. Place that starting fluid can on the floor just in front of the door. So that if the door did swing open it wouldn’t knock the starting fluid can over, but do place it so the door will just miss it. The point being that if you don’t kill the thing with that twenty gage shell then maybe you will hit the starting fluid and the explosion from that might get the wolfman.” Kenny waited a couple of seconds and then said, “Being practical for a second I would say we have about a sixty-forty chance of success if the only factors coming into play are the ones for which we planned.” Kerry nodded. This was one time he hoped his brother’s optimism was right and he sure wasn’t going to jinx it by saying something negative. They waited in the cold darkness with only a single candle to keep each of them comforted. An hour passed and Kerry became aware of that wet dog and urine odor as it had become considerably stronger. Eventually the stench made its way to Kenny’s end of the milk barn. The banging on the doors began again and this time it seemed more urgent than before, if that was possible. The boys stayed in position, each one stationed in front of one of the doors. Just as Kenny was getting ready to say to Kerry that they needed to do another search of the barn because the odor had become so strong, there came a single, small yelp of pain from the darkness in the corner of the barn. They both began to move in the direction of that yelp. The two boys came together from opposite direction to stand in front of an old tarp that had been left half laying, half hanging on a nail, and when they held their candles up to it, they saw movement under the tarp. Apparently whatever was under the tarp had become aware that the boys were standing just outside. A low, guttural growl announced that if they insisted on delving further that they would be met with fierce and savage response. Then another small yelp could be heard. The two boys didn’t know what to make of all this but it was clear that they had locked themselves in a barn with what was most likely to be another werewolf. No wonder the one outside wouldn’t go away. Kenny couldn’t help but wonder whether the one on the outside had hung around to get in on the feast after the kill was done or if it was genuinely concerned about its friend or mate’s welfare. The answer to the question was vitally important because obviously they had a limited amount of time before that thing got tired of hiding under the tarp. Kenny and Kerry thought that if they could ONLY be caught between a rock and a hard place how lucky they would be. Instead they were waiting just outside the tarp with their makeshift guns trying to decide if they should go on the offensive and try to shoot the thing while it remained under the tarp, or what they should do? During their time waiting just outside the tarp the two boys had another surprise which might have been the biggest one of all. Out from under the tarp came a newborn pup. Its eyes weren’t yet open but somehow it had wondered away from … mom! That was the female mate to the creature outside the barn. She was in the process of giving birth when they stumbled into the biggest situation possible. If the pups were moving around then it wouldn’t be long before she would be joining them. “Kerry have you figured out what we walked in on? Do you realize what is under that tarp?” Kerry nodded. He looked at Kenny asking without saying it, “what should we do?” Kenny shrugged and said in a whisper, “Whatever it is we need to do it soon.” Kerry again nodded agreement. Both young men thought hard for a way to make this work. Although not coming up with a solution, Kerry did entertain a thought. It dawned on him that despite how cold the night was proving, that he hadn’t felt the slightest bit of cold since they saw that shadow figure walking towards the milkhouse so many hours ago. Then Kerry thought about how cold the male must be, stuck outside the structure this whole time. On top of that worrying about his mate and he hadn’t even got to see his kids yet. “We should let him in. Then we should go. Let this family be.” Kerry said, shocking his brother. “We should what? Are you freaking crazy? What guarantee do we have that thing won’t rip us to pieces and feed us to the pups?” Kenny said, making an excellent point. “I know, its a crazy thought. Shit odds are good this or rather these things are creatures that live on the flesh of humans.” Kerry said. “But it just seems like the right thing to do. Plus we are still a long ways from being out of here in any sort of health.” “What makes you think that if we did open the door up, that the creature or rather creatures … wouldn’t try to kill us?” Kenny asked. The slamming on the doors continued. There was more movement under the tarp. She was getting her strength back. “I don’t know.” Kerry said. “It just seems right.” Kenny didn’t say anything out loud but deep down he felt the same way. Feeling like you don’t want any trouble with another animal is good and all that but there still remained the question. What will it do if they did let it in? Then Kenny got an idea. “Rip your shirt into strips. Tie them together into one long strip. It has to reach ideally all the way from one door to the other. I guess if we can’t accomplish that then we will have to make due with what we have to work with.” Kenny did the same with his shirt and when he had the strips tied together he took the section that Kerry had made and tied them into one long length of cloth. Next he tied the cloth to the pipe that was acting as the door jamb. He let out the length of cloth to reveal it reached short of three fourths of the way. “That’ll have to be good enough.” “I feel good about this.” Kerry encouraged. Kenny prepared to pull the jamb away from the door. The creature had stopped beating on the door like it was waiting to see what the boys would do next. Kenny had one last thing to say before he opened the door. “Mam. Mrs. Lady? I’m not sure how to address you. I don’t even know if you can understand me or my agenda. But I’m here telling you now that we have firearms. We could have shot you while under the tarp. We could have opted to beat you to death with these pipes. I won’t insult your intelligence by pointing out what could have happened to the babies. Now I need you to understand that we don’t want to harm you, or your mate. Or any of your babies. Much like yourself, we just want to survive to another day. Now we are going to open the door and reunite you and your mate. I very much hope you can communicate what I have said to your mate. As I said, we have firearms. We do not want to kill anything, but we will protect ourselves with extreme prejudice. Starting the new year with half your family dead is no way to start things. Now here goes. Oh, by the way, cute little guy, the one who visited us. if I were you I would move into the further north where there are less people. Good luck.” Kenny took hold of the strip of cloth and gave his brother a nod. Kerry was standing by the other door ready to open it as soon as he saw the wolfman enter the door which Kenny was about to open. Just as Kenny gave a yank on the cloth strip the tarp was pulled down revealing the mother and her pups. At that same time the door burst open and the seven foot wolfman entered the barn by ducking under the doorsill. It was a tense moment. The creature’s eyes darted from his mate to his babies to looking Kenny in the eyes. Kenny backed up towards the door that Kerry had by then opened and exited through. He stood outside the door waiting his brother to come out. Meantime the creature had moved over and joined its mate. There seemed to be no further aggression from the dogman. It wasn’t a Kodak moment. There was no exchange of nice words. No handshake. But on that cold, blizzardy late December morning perhaps something was shared. Even if it was only a respect for the arrival of new life into a world where often times killing is necessary for others to live. Or perhaps those animals could appreciate the spirit of the season or perhaps divine intervention came into play? The reasons likely will never be known but isn’t it enough to know that such an instance happened?