A series of howls rose from the woods and the neighborhood around the ranch style house she now owned and offered to her through the company she'd gained employment with. It startled Deirdre from her thoughts of frustration over bodily functions and the rather distant and mistrusting nature of the people in the town and was something that even frightened her to a degree. While it was true that she preferred the open spaces that Alpha Productions had offered in Lupine Falls to the smog filled and supposedly "fast paced" life in LA, that didn't mean that Deirdre was really the sort to deal well with wild animals. She'd seen a few news stories on bikers and hikers getting attacked and killed by Mountain Lions in mountains east of LA and that was in a general area that had a much higher human population than Lupine Falls' small 400 person population.
And the views and layout of the town reflected that sort of remote layout. The town was practically in the middle of the Rocky Mountains along Montana's western edge and was noted for having Lupine creek run through the town before going over a spectacular set of falls in the part of the mountains west of town. "John" had even taken her to see the falls as part of the job interview process. It made for a rugged and beautiful area to look at in a gift card, and the pine scent was nice. In fact Deirdre did like the pine scent that themed to naturally drift down into the town and her home from the mountains around Lupine falls, but this isolated sort of wilderness was also the sort of thing that Deirdre also knew made things safe for wildlife that could be just as dangerous, if not more dangerous than some lone Mountain Lion. There were Grizzlies and Black Bears in Montana and if the sound that Deirdre had just heard was true, wolves as well.
"Great," Deirdre grumbled as she looked out the back window to her home as the sun went down and the moon rose, "Great... not only are all the people here antisocial to some degree... the entire area is swarming with wolves."
The calls seemed to echo through the woods, and in some places were even answered and came back down to her home as Deirdre moved away from the window and decided to set about getting dinner ready. As there wasn't much else she could do about it right now. If there were wolves out there howling at... whatever wolves howled at... it wouldn't be wise to go out and try and chase them off. Deirdre had known enough that wolves probably wouldn't just attack her for no reason, but that didn't make running off into the woods a night a good idea. It also didn't mean that there wasn't the one wolf that was sick or injured out there that might be more aggressive to her than other wolves would be.
"But then... should they be running around town?" Deirdre wondered to herself as she made her way to the refrigerator and noted a small notepad that was held on the refrigerator by a magnet, "most wolves don't run around towns... at least not for long."
Her mind soon also went back over things that "John" had told her during the interview in which he'd said that Lupine Falls. He'd commented that they'd never had any problems with wild animals in the town, which at the time sounded okay to Deirdre, but now things didn't sound right. For if they had no problems with wild animals, there wouldn't be all the howling that she could presently hear going on. It was dying down now, but it had been close and repetitive for a few moments and Deirdre was smart enough to know what a wolf's howl sounded like when compared to most dogs. At the same time, over the past week, she'd also found that most of the people in Lupine Falls didn't seem to own a dog, and she also assumed that some of the residents had farms or ranches, which would also have interest in keeping the populations of wolves, bears, and mountain lions down to protect their livestock. For while Alpha Productions was the largest employer in the region, it wasn't the only employer. This again only served to make Deirdre worry about all the howling she'd heard.
She then approached the plain white refrigerator, and instead of opening the doors to see what was inside to cook, she pulled on the small notepad and moved the magnet away in order to look at a series of notes that she'd taken when she'd moved in. Lupine Falls had a small clinic, but it wasn't good for much more than getting flu vaccinations and getting references scheduled at a bigger town that was twenty miles away, and things like 911 would also go to that town that was further away. Thus they gave her listed numbers for the town's fire and police departments. Both were small, with the fire department only having two men on a full time paid status with a small group of volunteers that were to be ready in case of an emergency. The police force only had a maximum of 15 officers that largely worked in shifts with only the commissioner working during normal working hours, and they had their own number. As she looked down on the note pad, she could see the two numbers written there, one was for the police and the other for the fire department. With nothing presently burning and with no "animal control" or "Game, Fish, and Parks" office nearby, Deirdre looked to the numbers and focused on the police number before carrying the note bad away from the kitchen.
Gathering her cellphone from her dining table, she then moved into her living room while dialing the Lupine Falls Police Department number on her cellphone. After a few moments, she got an answer. It was a female voice, though it also sounded a bit gruffer than what what Deirdre expected. Almost like it had a bit of a growling edge to it, despite sounding calm and respectful.
"Lupine Falls Police Department, Officer Jenny Walsh, speaking, what would you need to report?" came the voice at the other end of the call.
"This is Deirdre Collins of 122 Timber Lane," Deirdre answered, "I'm not sure if this is something I'm supposed to call you for or if there's someone else to call... but I'm hearing a LOT of howling up in my area... and maybe other areas."
"Howling, ma'am?" was the reply.
"Yes," Deirdre answered, "Like a chorus of wolves coming from around my home and the areas around it. I've only recently moved to town... so I know people may be a bit irritated with a newbie getting jumpy at things... but when John Starwind hired me to work for Alpha Productions, he said there really wasn't anything like that in the area... wolves, I mean."
"Wolves?" was the response from Jenny Walsh.
"That's what it sounded like... with all the howling in the area," Deirdre answered.
"Did you see any of these wolves around your home?" Jenny Walsh asked sounding concerned, though this is where that deeper and slightly growling tone to her voice almost sounded territorially protective to Deirdre.
"No," Deirdre answered, "the sun went down and the moon came up... and then a few moments later all this howling started. It's sounded like it's been all around my house and closer to my neighbors houses, though I haven't gone out. I'm... I'm a bit scared by how close they are to my home."
"Can you hear any aggressive growling, ma'am?" Jenny Walsh then questioned.
"Not right now," Deirdre answered, "It's quieted down a bit now... but I still heard a lot of howling. And I'm pretty sure it was wolves. What should I do? I mean... I don't want to be attacked..." Deirdre paused for a moment and then decided to include her neighbors as well, the Thompsons and the Davidsons. Meeting people and making friends in Lupine Falls had been difficult, but her neighbors had been reasonably decent and had at least talked to her from time to time. Most of that was because they were also Alpha Productions families. "And I wouldn't want my neighbors to be attacked, either."
"Did you see them get attacked, ma'am?" Jenny Walsh asked.
"No... but when the howling started it came from around their homes first," Deirdre explained, "the other howls then answered. Maybe these wolves came in and then got talkative."
"I see," came the answer, "well, I would advise you stay indoors, ma'am. If some wolves have wandered into town, you wouldn't want to interfere with them, and they'll likely move on by morning as they generally wouldn't want to be around here for long. I can send an officer to drive by your neighborhood. He'll make sure there are no wolves in the area, and if there are, he can chase them off into the woods with no problem. And don't worry. You're perfectly safe."
"Thank you," Deirdre managed, and the phone went dead soon after as Jenny Walsh hung up.
By now things outside had seemed to quiet down and Deirdre could relax a bit, though she did still feel nervous about all the howling that had erupted. The only consoling thing was that it could only be mundane wolves...