Sheridan

                                                SHERIDAN
         
         “Let’s see your wallet. Now!”
         “Alright man. Here.” Trying to appear calm the young college boy  handed it to the man. In the darkness of night, surrounded by four men, there was little the boy could do.
         “Hey, this is a nice wallet.” The man said turning it around in his hands. He took out the ID card. “Roland Jamica. My gosh, that’s embarrassing.” The other men laughed as their leader continued to dig through the wallet. “Looks like me got a rich one here fellas. Your parents give you all this money? You a mommas boy?”
         Roland’s gaze fell but he remained silent.
         “I’m talking to you, boy!” The man yelled. “And you better listen. The punch that came next caught Roland by surprise and slammed him against the wall. Two of the muggers held him in place as a punch to the stomach buckled his knees, another to the face disoriented him.
          His head dropped; blood trickled from his mouth.
         The boy’s attacker drew a large knife from his waistband and placed it under the boys chin, lifting his head as blood covered his blond bangs. The boy looked into the mans eyes, but his attention was quickly drawn over his shoulder.
         Roland watched as a white blur disappeared with the mugger standing behind them. The two muggers holding him up dropped his arms and the leader turned around quickly, nicking his neck with the knife. The boy fell to the ground.
         The remaining men looked down the dark alley as the leader took a step towards the blackness.
         “Come out! Who the hell do you think you are. Come out you chicken sh-”
         The men backed up as a creature stepped out of the darkness. He stood look like a man, but with features of a large white wolf. With a deep and threatening growl his seven foot frame towered over the frightened muggers.
         The leader threw his knife, catching the wolf in the shoulder. Drawing back, the wolf glanced at the knife and then turned his attention to the men. Growling, he ripped the knife out and threw it to the ground and advanced toward them.
         The men took another step backward but didn’t turn their backs to the great wolf. In an instant the wolf was upon them, slamming them with his massive paws, throwing them against the ground and wall.
         The wolf stepped over the unconscious men and checked on the boy. Roland’s eyes were half open, blood tricked from a small incision on his neck and from the corner of his lip. Dark bruises covered his swollen eye and cheek.
         The wolf lifted the boy in his arms and turned towards the lit street. Leaving the boy at edge of the alley, he crept back to the darkness. A middle aged couple saw the boy and hurried to him,  the woman hailed a passing car as the man knelt over the boy.
         The wolf turned and ran down the dark alley. 

                                                 Forty Years Later
         Roland walked down the crowded city street, holding hands with his 5 year old granddaughter, Shirley. Her long curly blonde hair accented her blues eyes. Her Elmo backpack was pulled tight against her back.
         “I drew a picture for you today Grandpa,” she said.
         “That’s very nice of you Shirley, I’ll take a look at it when we get home.”
         “Alright.”
         They passed a bakery and the girl stared in at all the tasty pastries. A man smoking a cigarette against the next building caught her eye.
         He was young, in his early or mid twenties. He stood six feet wearing a dark business suit. His hair was dark brown, sunglasses covered his eyes. He saw the girl staring at him and smiled. She smiled back.

         That night the old man tucked the girl into her bed. He snapped on the nightlight and turned off her lamp.
         “Good night Grandpa,” she said.
         “Goodnight honey, see you in the morning.”
         The girl rolled over in her bed and closed her eyes.
         A man stood in the alley below her third floor window. He leaned against the opposing wall. The end of his cigarette lit up as he took a drag.

         An old man walked down the empty city street. Streetlights lit his path. He made his way into an alley way, dimly lit by the moon. He walked carefully through the alley and sidestepped through the trash and rats.
         He stopped when he was out of sight from the street.
         “Hello?” He called down the dark alley. He continued to call as he walked down the alley. He unknowingly passed an open doorway.
         “You shouldn’t be back here alone old man, especially at night.” A deep voice growled. The man swung around and looked into the black doorway.
         “I’ve come to ask your help,” the old man said.
         “My help?”
         “Yes.”
         “How do you know me?!” The deep voice grew angry.
         “I-I saw you. Many years ago. I saw you, in this very alley. I don‘t know you by name only by appearance.”
         Only silence came from the doorway. “How do you know me,” the voice finally replied.
         “You saved me. I was being mugged. The men pulled a knife on me and you saved me. And now I return to you, to plead for your allegiance.”
         “What is it you want of me?”
         “My granddaughter Shirley, sir. She was taken from me, in the night. I do not know who has her, or where they have taken her.”
         “I am not a detective, I do not find missing people. You should go to the police.”
         “No! I can not go to the police. I have nothing to tell them. They will not find my granddaughter. That is why I came to you. You helped me many years ago, and now I ask for it again. Please.” The man took a picture from his pocket and held it out towards the doorway.
         He held it up for a moment before a large white paw appeared from the darkness and grabbed the picture.
         “I can pay you, sir. Not much, but something.”
         A deep smirk came from the darkness. “Money? Why would I need money. And stop calling me sir! My name is Sheridan”
         The man stood in silence, not knowing what to say he just waited for a final answer from the wolf. Finally, he stepped from the darkness. He was just as the man remembered him, a beautifully colored white wolf, standing seven feet and large in physique.
         “Alright,” he said. “I’ll help you.”
         “I knew you would! Here…” he rummaged through a bag he carried. “I have the shirt she was wearing last night. You could track her with it.”
         “I am not a dog!” The wolf snatched the shirt from the old man.
         “Oh, I’m sorry. I did not mean to offend…”
         “It doesn’t matter. Take me to your home. I want to see it.”
         “Alright,” the old man began walking towards the alleys corner to get to the street. A paw landed on his shoulder.
         “Ah…do you think there’s a way to get there…you know. Where other people won’t see me.”
         “Oh yes! Of course.” The man turned around and walked farther through the alley, wolf in tow.

         Sheridan stood in the alley under Shirley’s window. A soft glow was hidden behind purple curtains. He stared up towards the room for a moment, fiddling with the fabric in his paw.
         He sighed. “This is so humiliating.” He lifted the little girls shirt to his nose and inhaled deeply. He took a moment to focus all his energy into the scent before pulling the shirt away.
         He walked to the fire escape leading up to the girls room and smelled the iron. He waited until he found her scent, and then followed it across the ground. He followed the trail further into the alley, it disappeared at the other end when the alley opened up into a dark street. Sheridan noticed fresh skid marks and smelled them, finding the tires scent.
         He galloped on all fours after the car’s trail careful not to be seen by anyone. He reached city limits and stopped. Ahead of him was open fields with few trees. Few places to hide. He took a hesitant step forward, and paused. He shook his head.
         “I don’t need to do this. I work in the city, I save people in the city. My boundary ends here.” But still he did not turn back, he stared ahead. He could see house lights on the horizon, not far from the city. He sighed, shook his head and bounded towards the lights.
         At his speed it wasn’t long before he reach the house. He crept towards a window and peered inside. A young girl with blonde curls and blue eyes sat frozen on a leather couch. A man paced across the room. He was tall with dark hair and a dark business suit. He was talking angrily on a phone.
         “That’s not the price we agreed on! No, you tell them if they want her they pay what we said or they can make their own kid!” He listened impatiently to the person on the other line. “Too expensive? Well tell them, Welcome to the black market! Pay or leave.” He hung up the phone and placed it in his shirt pocket.
         The man crouched down in front of the girl.
         “If these folks pay up you’re gonna love it with them. They have a swimming pool, a house, a nice backyard. You’ll love it!”
         The little girl said nothing and kept her face down. The man stood up and left the room. He came back a moment later with a bottle of beer. He sat down on a large armchair placed next to the couch.
         Sheridan crept along the side of the house towards the back. He found the fuse box and tore the cords out. The lights in the house flickered off. Sheridan ripped the backdoors doorknob out and the door creaked open. Sheridan stepped into the house and walked slowly towards the front of the house.
         He was nearing the end of the dark hallway when he saw the man holding the girl in his arms, gun pointed towards him. He froze.
         “Who’s there? Who the hell is it?” The man yelled, shaking the gun. “Come out!”
         Sheridan smiled, “Alright.”
         Sheridan could see the mans eyes widen as he stepped out of the hallway. The man emptied the gun at Sheridan, who buckled back as bullets hit him. The girl struggled and screamed in the mans arms. The man turned and fled out the front door, fumbling in his pocket.
         He pulled out keys and hurried to his car. He tossed open the driver’s door and laid the girl in the passenger seat. He slammed the door shut and started the engine. Sheridan broke down the front door as the man sped away from the house. He sprung off the porch, charging the car on all fours. The distance between him and the car lessened and he was soon able to jump on the roof.
         He crashed his hand threw the driver side window and grabbed the door frame, ripping the door off its hinges. Then grabbing the mans shoulder, he threw him from the car. The girl screamed and pressed herself against her door. Sheridan reached out his hand.
         “Take my hand, don’t be afraid. You’re Grandfather sent me.”
         The girls eyes widened. “You’re the great white wolf?”
         “I must be!”
         The girl grabbed his hand and he swung her around on his back. She squeezed his neck as he jumped from the car. It crashed into a nearby tree, the hood erupted into flames. Sheridan hurried to the car and pulled off its rear bumper.
         He walked to the man, who struggled to sit up. Sheridan sat him up roughly and wrapped the metal around the mans body.
         “Ah, what the hell!” The man exclaimed.
         Sheridan looked at the girl. “Would you reach into his shirt pocket and give m his phone please. Dial 911 first.”
         She slid off his back and did as she was asked. She then held the phone out to Sheridan.
         “Hello police? I am reporting a fire just North outside the city. A car crashed into a tree. The man you will find near the scene kidnapped a small child. I am returning her to her legal guarding, you can deal with the man. No I will not be here when your officers arrive. Good bye.”
         Sheridan smashed the phone between his paws, pieces crumbled to the ground. Sheridan looked at the girl, “let’s get you home.” He helped her back onto his back and turned to leave.
         “Oh!” He said, turning back to the man. “Be sure to tell them a big white wolf did all this.” Laughing, he ran towards the city.

         Sheridan stood on the fire escape just outside the little girls window and watched the old man take her in his arms. She hugged his neck tightly and cried. He turned towards Sheridan and waved. Sheridan smiled then turned and jumped down to the alley below.
         He walked through the darkness, enjoying the nights cool breeze.
         A loud scream developed through the darkness. Sheridan listened intently and ran towards the distress.