34 - FOOTPRINTS IN THE PASTURE

 

34 - FOOTPRINTS IN THE PASTURE

Jack was worried. The marks he found on the ground were like nothing he had ever seen. He walked slowly, pulling his horse by the reins and trying to understand what was in front of him. It looked like the mark of an animal's paw, but at the same time it wasn't... He wondered if it wouldn't be better to call Mr. Zacarias, but in the end he came to the conclusion that it was better to investigate what was going on first...

After some time, the marks simply disappeared. He searched carefully, trying to see if they hadn't erased the signs of the passage, but indeed the signs disappeared, as if whatever had been walking through it had suddenly evaporated. Juca tied his horse to a bush and went back to examining the ground. He couldn't have the marks disappear like that... the ground wasn't stony, in fact, the earth was quite soft in that spot. That is, there was no logical explanation for the marks disappearing like that. One more mystery to think about. Yeah, there was no way... the thing was to call Seu Zacarias, really. Surely he could find an explanation for that...

In fact, Juca had discovered the marks by chance. There was nothing on the field to denounce any alteration... but, out of nowhere, the signs appeared on the ground. As abruptly as they had disappeared. As the day was still high, he decided to walk through the pastures, looking for any more strange signs. He passed close to the fence, then through the fields, and nothing. The only signs he really found were those. There were no others anywhere. He decided to do a cattle count. It would be a superficial count, just to remove the doubt that hovered in his head ... he would not like to discover that there was a lack of cattle in the pasture, again ...

The sun was sinking into the horizon when Juca arrived at Zacarias's door. It was clear that the boy was very worried. He didn't find anything out of the ordinary, the cattle count didn't show any cattle missing... but those marks couldn't get out of his head... what the hell could that be? He had to talk to someone, and the only person he could do that with was his boss and mentor... after all, everything Juca knew about the field had been taught to him by Zacarias. The boy considered him almost like a father. Whenever he had doubts about something, he would go straight to the "old man" as he affectionately called him. Yes, at that moment the doubt really haunted him... he wanted to understand what the hell was that thing there in the pastures... it wasn't a horse, a dog, much less an ox... if I could risk a guess, I'd say it was a human trail mixed with dog... but how could that happen?

- What happened, Juca?

- Nothing, boss... just something I couldn't understand...

- And what was it?

- It's no use talking... I needed to show you...

- Where, boy?

- In the north pasture...

- At this time? By the time you get there, it's already dark...

- No, not now... better tomorrow morning...

- That's right... get off, boy. Come eat with us...

- Don't bother?

- No way... and since you seem really worried, sleep here at home, today... tomorrow we're going to see these pastures...

- Thank you, Mr. Zacarias...

And the boy dismounted, and entered the house talking to his friend... they talked about amenities, everyday things, the boy asked how his partner's shoulder was doing... and finally he got to where he really wanted to go... the strange marks that he had noticed in the field. Zechariah just replied that there was no cause for concern. Nothing serious had happened in the field and none of the cattle would disappear... not because of the tracks the boy had located. This one did not understand, but as Zacarias seemed to know what he was talking about, he decided to simply accept it. To reassure him, Zacarias confirmed that in the morning the two would check for such signs...

It is not possible to say that Juca's night was peaceful. Spent the whole night varying and, although he slept, the feeling he had is that he hadn't closed his eyes all night. Finally it was dawn... I mean, the night was still deep, it was four o'clock in the morning... and off they went towards the pastures, so that the boy could finally breathe a sigh of relief. After about an hour of riding, they finally arrived at the place where the boy had noticed the signs on the ground. The two dismounted and began to survey the terrain. When he spotted the first trail, Zacarias laughed.... Juca didn't quite understand his friend's laugh, and kept looking at him, with an unspoken question stamped on his face. After some time laughing, Zacarias decided to explain himself...

- It's like I told you, boy... you don't have to worry about these tracks... it's just a werewolf...

Juca almost jumped back when he heard that from his friend's mouth. A werewolf... what do you mean? And what do you mean... not worry? Of course, that worried him...

- I know you're scared, boy... but of all the enchanted , one that doesn't offer us any danger is precisely the werewolf... it's clear that this has a lot to do with the nature of the possessed... but, in general, it's nothing compared to other fantastic beings...

- I don't understand...

- Unlike the witch, which has almost the same origin, the werewolf is harmless to humans. He doesn't attack us or harm us... he doesn't attack animals either... I'd say he's the terror of chicken coops, but not chickens in general...

- I didn't understand...

- Never mind... some things, it's better not to understand, really. All you need to know is that you have nothing to fear...

And so Zacarias ended the conversation. It's not to say that his pupil was relieved by the werewolf's story, but since the boss assured him that he had nothing to be afraid of, the thing was to believe... well, as long as he didn't cross his path, he had nothing to fear. , it is not? Although now that he knew there was a fantastic animal walking among them, it made Juca rethink his wanderings through the countryside at night, especially when there was a full moon ....