“Trail’s too narrow for the horses and wagon,” Harth said. “We walk from here.” He pulled the body from the wagon and hefted it onto his ample shoulder. “But don’t you worry. Everybody else from the village is afraid to walk on this trail, but not me. I’ve made the trip many times.”
With the horses tied to a tree at the edge of the woods, Harth started up the mountain. It was one thing traveling with a body in the back of the wagon, but quite another traveling with it on his shoulder. He felt the coldness of death.
“You know, Mr. Fropp, I never have agreed with these harsh punishments. I didn’t think they should hang ya for cheating the tax collector. Matter of fact, I thought it rather funny that you got away with it as long as you did. Rather cunning, I’d say.”
Harth laughed. “I’ve been tricken the townsfolk for years, myself. I knew they wouldn’t want the bodies of criminals buried with the good townsfolk, so I volunteered to dispose of them. What they don’t know is that I know a fella, a witchdoctor, and he sorta corrects things.”
Just then, Harth thought he heard something. He twisted a full circle and looked in all directions. He touched the pistol at his side.
“Now, don’t you go worrying, Mr. Fropp. I’ll get you there.”
He didn’t like the broken sound of his own voice. He picked up the pace. It was about half an hour’s hike to the witchdoctor’s house. He was halfway there, when he heard a loud rustling of branches.
He stopped walking. “It takes something of substantial size to make a noise that big.”
He noted that his heart was beating like it hadn’t since the first time he’d made this trip. He got back on the move. A few minutes later, he heard rustling again, closer. He had no doubt that he was being tracked.
With great relief, he finally arrived at the old shack. After he knocked on the front door, a weary voice said, “Come in.”
Harth entered and shut the door behind him.
The witchdoctor, a tall, frail, and graying man, was never one for pleasantries. He looked at Harth as if awaiting his spiel.
“This here’s Mr. Fropp,” Harth offered. “He’s a smart man who tricked the tax collector for years and then was caught and hung.”
The witchdoctor nodded. He always spoke as little as possible. Harth suspected that speaking hurt his throat.
“Ah,” Harth said. “Okay then. Is his spirit with me? I mean, I hope it is, since I’ve been talking to it.”
The witchdoctor nodded again. His answer didn’t surprise Harth. He had come to learn that spirits stayed close to their body for many days after death.
Harth said, “Well, Mr. Witchdoctor, sir, then, do you have an animal suitable of his characteristics?”
The old man didn’t nod this time. Instead, he went into another room, a place that Harth had never been invited to enter. Seconds later, he came back with a dead fox pup, which he sat on the floor. Harth sat Mr. Fropp beside it. The witchdoctor produced a beautiful golden wire, which he used to tie Mr. Fropp’s forearms to one of the pup’s legs. He made a knot and then motioned for Harth to pull it tight. This was not Harth’s first time, so he knew just how tight to make it. Both man and beast ended up bleeding. The beast started coming to life.
“Well then, Mr. Witchdoctor, will you be needing payment this time?”
The old man shook his head and kind of waved Harth off. He never wanted to be paid. Harth just thought it polite to ask.
“Okay,” Harth said. “I’ll be leaving you then.”
Harth didn’t want to leave, but from past experience, he knew the witchdoctor didn’t want him to stay past this point.
“Harth?” the old man said in his pained voice.
“Yes, witchdoctor, sir.”
“Do be careful. There are many of those I’ve helped in the woods lately. Some come from a pack of outlaws, and they’re very dangerous.”
Harth hesitated and then asked, “Well, do you think they are out to harm me?”
The witchdoctor seemed to think for a few seconds and then said, “It is much harder for me to understand spirits when they are in the flesh, so I am not sure, but I do get the impression they’ve been waiting for you. Now, hurry on.”
Harth almost said something more, but he was afraid he would upset the witchdoctor.
He left, hurrying down the trail as quickly as he could without falling. He kept his hand on his gun.
He’d not moved far when he heard something. It was behind him, in the woods. He thought he might be able to outrun it. Then he heard something else, on the other side and ahead. Still, he hoped he’d be back to the wagon before it or they came out of the woods.
A little later, he heard rustling from several different places. Fear had caused him to lose track of time and distance. He moved without knowing how much further he had to go. He felt as if his body would give. He wasn’t exactly old, but he was too old and too big to be running this hard for this long.
He heard one of them growl and heard another bark. He considered stopping and waiting for them to come out and fight, but then he saw the road ahead.
He was relieved. He was going to make it. The trail ended, and he went to untie the horses. But the horses and the wagon were gone. Something had split the tree he’d tied them to. It wasn’t a clean break either, meaning it wasn’t done with an ax, but by beast. He could think of only one creature in these woods strong enough to damage a tree like that.
He was inspecting the tracks to see which way the wagon had gone, when a gray wolf jumped out onto the road in front of him. It revealed fangs that looked like they could rip right into the bone of a man’s arm.
Harth pulled his gun. He shot it in the air.
“Go on! I have no quarrel with you.”
The wolf did not leave, but another wolf rushed from the woods and then a third. There was barking all over and more wolves came out. They surrounded him.
“You’re the outlaws.”
The wolves were closing in on all sides.
“Listen up, outlaws. I’m friends with the witchdoctor that gave you new life, and I’m no one that ever harmed you.”
The look in their eyes was a mixture of anger and hunger. All told he thought there were more over twenty of them, and more kept coming from the woods.
He considered using the pistol on himself. That seemed like it would be better than being eaten alive. Maybe the witchdoctor would find him and put him in something nice, like an eagle or a very fast jackrabbit. He stuck the pistol under his chin.
There was an incredible roar that caused many of the wolves to cringe. Then there was the groaning of trees as something massive moved through them. A Kodiak bear came from the woods to the road. It stood outside the circle of wolves. The wolves all just kind of stood there, staring at the new arrival.
“I know you!” shouted Harth. “You were a man when you died and a baby when you were reborn. Now you’re a man again.”
The massive head stared, and Harth hoped he wasn’t being evaluated for food purposes.
“You knew I never thought they had the evidence on you, Mr. Reef. You were such a big and scary-looking man that they were afraid you’d get mad and kill one of them. That’s why they falsely accused you of killing that Baker kid, when everyone knew that Baker kid had been talking about running off.”
The wolves cleared a path. It was a strange thing to see, as if the bear controlled them somehow. The bear pummeled toward him. It stopped a few feet away.
“I told the witchdoctor your characteristics. I told him you were a hunter and a tracker. He could see how big you were. I never told him you were a cold-blooded murderer, because I knew it wasn’t true.”
The bear moved around in a circle as it growled. At this, the wolves ran off, all in the same direction.
“My God! They’re headed into town!”
Harth started that way, walking past the bear. The bear growled.
Harth turned to him. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to try to catch them. I’d never be able to on foot. It’s just that it seems like such a harsh punishment you’re giving to the town. I’d like to see how many bodies I can bring back to the witchdoctor.”
The bear let him go.

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