The Longest Winter
Chapter 10
Ruth was up early for the day, washing dishes and listening to the radio. She was in a good mood, humming along with her favorite jazz songs on the old FM station.
Suddenly she heard a knock at the door. It was too loud to be the mare, and Jeremy never knocked. It had been ages since she had any other visitors. Maybe it was a package?
She opened the door to see a short, fat, ugly, bald man standing on her porch holding some sort of canister attached to a spray hose at his side. He grinned, a hideous smile missing most of its teeth. She had only met the man a couple times in town. It was Ralph Donner the town exterminator.
“Donner Exterminates, calling ma’am.” He said with his creepy smile. “I heard you had a fluffy infestation, and I came to offer my services.”
“Well you heard wrong.” Ruth said coldly. “The fluffies aren’t bothering me and it’s hardly an infestation.”
“So it’s true then.” Ralph said, hiking up his filthy overalls. Ruth could smell him through the screen door. A sickly scent of poison and unwashed armpit. “Where are they now?” He asked.
“Didn’t you hear me?” Ruth said with a glare. “I don’t need an exterminator, the fluffies are just fine where they are!”
Ralph’s smile disappeared as he glared back. “It’s not that simple, ma,am.” He said coolly. “You see, there’s a town ordinance passed a couple years ago that says any feral fluffies must be reported and exterminated, or you’ll be fined and possibly jailed.”
“What?” Ruth said, surprised. “What reason could there possibly be for such drastic measures?”
“Plain and simple, ma’am.” Ralph said, his creepy grin returning across his greasy face. “They breed faster than rabbits, and they grow quickly. If left alone, a batch of fluffies could spread like wildfire, spreading shit and disease wherever they go. It’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“You watch your mouth.” Ruth said angrily.
“Pardon ma,am.” He said with a slight bow. “But this is serious business. If you don’t let me take care of these vermin now, I’ll have no choice but to report you.”
“Ha!” Ruth said, unafraid. “The ordinance only applies to feral fluffies, correct?” She asked.
“Technically, yes.” Ralph replied with a strained smile.
“Well then my fluffies are my pets, and are under my care. So you just climb back into that old van of yours and be on your way!” Ruth said as she reached for Debby, still leaning against the wall by the door. “I don’t want to see you again.” She said with narrowed eyes.
Ralph frowned and shook his head. “I’m still going to report this! We’ll just see about these so called pets!” He continued to shout as he walked away towards his van. “Mark my words! No fluffy is safe from me! They’re nothing but disease ridden vermin, I say! VERMIN!!”
“Yeah, so are you.” Ruth muttered to herself, releasing her grip on Debby. “Fat, smelly bastard. Just who the hell does he think he is?”
She decided to give Dr. Thomas Mitchell a call and ask his advice. The old grizzled farm veterinarian answered the phone and listened to her story.
“Yeah that sounds about right.” He said with a sigh. “Ol’ Ralph was the one who got the ordinance passed a couple years back. He petitioned all of his clients to get the signatures he needed to bring it up to city council. His old man is also one of the council members. They used fear tactics to scare everyone in town into thinking fluffies are disease carrying pests that threaten everyone if left unchecked. And since fluffies are quite a problem in larger cities, it wasn’t hard to make their case.”
“I see.” Ruth said, rocking in her chair. “But it’s only wild, feral fluffies, right? What about pets?”
“Pets are fine as long as they’re registered, vaccinated, and spayed or neutered - unless you have a breeding license.” Dr. Tom replied. “So if I were you I’d get those fluffies of yours down to my office pronto so I can take care of all that for you. If you don’t act quickly, old Ralph will have a case against you and you will face a hefty $5,000 fine and up to six months in prison.”
“That’s outrageous!” Ruth exclaimed.
“I agree.” Said Tom. “So round them up and get them down here fast.”
“It’s not that easy, doc.” Ruth said. She explained how the mother didn’t fully trust her yet, and she didn’t have a pet carrier. Even if she did, stuffing the mare into a crate and taking her to get shots could completely destroy what little trust she had so far.
“Well then you’re going to have to work fast to gain her trust. When your pet carrier arrives in the mail, hopefully by then she’ll be ready to make the trip over here.”
“But what if Ralph reports me before then?” Ruth asked with worry in her voice.
“Sheriff Stone won’t come right away. He’ll probably send one of his deputies out to do it. I’d guess you have a couple days to come up with something.”
“Can you make a house call if I get them ready?” Ruth begged.
“It’ll cost you extra, but I suppose I could do that.” Tom replied. “I’m booked solid birthing two cows and a horse today though. And tomorrow I’m running vaccinations all day. I’ll do my best to squeeze you in after that. That gives you three days to gain that mare’s trust before the police come calling. Hopefully that’s enough time.”
“Thank you, Thomas.” Ruth said with a sigh. “Guess I’ll see you soon.”
She hung up the phone and stared at the fire, chewing on her thumbnail nervously.
Meanwhile, Ralph slid into his van and closed the driver door. The old van creaked under his weight as the worn leather seat squeaked against his denim overalls. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and glared into his rear view mirror.
“That stupid old bitch doesn’t know who she’s dealing with.” He said to himself.
Bark! His scruffy old German Shepherd sat next to him in the passenger seat. His name was Hunter, and he was just as dirty and mean as his owner. Ralph gave him a pet.
“Don’t worry boy.” He said. “We’ll get those damn vermin, and that old crow will pay us to do it whether she likes it or not.”
He started the van and it slowly sputtered off back into town. He got to thinking as he was driving, thinking about how he despised cute pets. It was his dark secret; he enjoyed killing small animals more than anything else. Something about their cute little faces just made him want to rip them in half. He gripped the steering wheel, imagining it was a fluffy’s neck. Kittens, bunnies, small rodents, and puppies were bad enough, and he had killed plenty in his day. Sometimes he poisoned their food when it was too difficult to steal them away, other times he found strays and lured them into his van so he could take them home and torture them, or feed them to his collection of exotic predators.
“Ah those were some fun times!” He chuckled to himself.
But stomping on even the cutest kitten was nothing compared to the euphoria he felt when killing fluffies. Back when they first spread around town he spent countless hours rounding them up during they day and brutally toying with them at night. It was all in the name of safety, according to him and his father, who helped him make unregistered fluffies enemy number one in the extermination game. Not only was he now legally allowed to round them up and “euthanize” them, but he made good money doing it. All that extra cash fed his exotic pet collection, from his albino boa to his black caiman. All of them ate well thanks to his breeding cages. He bred everything; gerbils, rabbits, cats, dogs. If it was cute, it was food.
However after killing most of the fluffies in town they were becoming harder to find. He spent so much time having fun murdering them that he failed to save a few for breeding. But that was about to change. Once he captured the ones at Ruth’s cottage he would be able to breed them and feed his sick desires. He grinned at the thought as his rusty old van pulled up to the police station. He slid his obese frame out of the driver’s door and waddled up the concrete steps, wheezing and sweating as he climbed. He pulled open the old wooden doors and stepped inside.
Denise, the police secretary looked up from her paperwork and sighed in disgust.
“We don’t need another bug spray, Ralph.” She said curtly. “Don’t come stinking up my hall again until next month when we’re scheduled for sprayin’.”
“I ain’t here about that.” Ralph said as he approached the desk. “I’m here to make a report about someone harboring feral fluffies.”
Denise looked up from her work and sighed again. She pulled out a fresh report form from her desk and began writing.
“Who’s harboring them?” She asked, annoyed.
“That old lady on the outskirts of town.” Said Ralph. “Ruth Saint James.”
“The old cottage?” Denise said, surprised. “You’re up there bothering that poor old war widow?”
“She’s breakin’ the law.” Ralph responded with a serious tone as his finger tapped the desk. “I was up there and she admitted it. She claims they’re pets but I know she’s lying.”
“Got any proof?” Denise said with a sneer. “A witness, a picture, something?”
“Heard it at the hardware store.” Ralph replied. “Jeremy Howard said he was taking supplies up to her place for some fluffies she found.”
“Sounds like pets to me.” Denise said, tapping her pen. “If they were wild ferals she would’ve called you to get rid of them, right?”
“There unregistered.” Ralph said coldly. “Unvaccinated, not spayed or neutered, vermin that are probably up there breeding like rats because she’s not following the law!”
Denise sighed, finishing the form and placing it in the box on her desk. “Anything else?”
“Well, send someone up there!” Ralph exclaimed. “We need to act fast so I can round em up - nip it in the bud!”
“Your report will be processed in the order that it was received.” Denise said with a dry tone, returning to her paperwork. “Now beat it, you’re stinking up my hall.”
Ralph muttered under his breath as he walked out, pushing his way through the doors. “It’s just one bitch after another today.” He said as he climbed into his van. He looked over at his dog and gave him a scratch. “We might have to take care of this one ourselves, boy.” He said menacingly.
The old rusty van started up, spewing exhaust clouds into the cold morning air. It slowly pulled away from the station and headed toward the other side of town to the other outskirts. In the shadows of the mountains, nestled in dark woods, was Ralph’s farm.
It was an old farmhouse with a huge old barn next to it. What once had been crops were now overgrown with dead trees and unkempt lawn. The entire property was littered with junk, parts, and various scrap. It looked more like a junkyard than a farm. The old van creaked to a stop and Ralph stepped out, Hunter jumped out behind him.
“Come on, boy.” He said as he marched towards the barn. “We’ve got work to do.”
