Diary
What Inga knew, she had learnt from Ewa, whose sister, Sonja, Inga’s mother, had inherited a diary from her own grand mother, Marlene, Hans’ wife. Hans had come back from the war, a near miracle, given that a majority of his comrades had died in the fighting, or were made prisoners and disappeared in the Far East. He was a sick man, and was reluctant to talk much about what had happened in the Caucasus. Slowly, his wife pieced the story together, some of it being also guesswork. None of his former comrades in his company had survived.
Ambush
A small troop of experienced mountaineers, they had been sent, at the beginning of the winter of 1942/43, in reconnaissance, ahead of their regiment. They had been ambushed, had lost many men, and most of their weapons. A handful of them had escaped the partisans, and sought safety in the already snow-covered peaks. The temperature had dropped to -30 C, and it was snowing. They had very little provision of food and water. Several men died, from cold, hunger, or sniper fire. Soon Hans was left alone with one wounded comrade. They were trapped, and starving. In the night they could hear a band of wolves roaming not far from them, on the slope, howling.
Pact
Hans’ comrade died in the night. Hans had hardly enough strength to consolidate the shelter he and the other soldier had started to build, on the rocks. It was hopeless. He had only his side weapon left, a Mauser, and a handful of ammunitions. If the wolves came for him he would have to shoot himself. Inga did not know how long he waited. The legend was, that a great wolf came to see him, and that Hans and him made a pact: Hans would have to defend the tribe, wherever he was, and never, ever, kill a wolf; in turn the wolf would show him the way to escape, and give him enough food to survive.
Escape
However incredible this was, Hans escaped, hunger, frost, the partisans. He joined back the army, then in retreat, and four years later would come back home. He had left a young man full of illusions, and had come back an old man, without hope. Yet he married the girl he had left behind before going East. Inga said that they had loved each other much, in their own way.
Hans never hunted again, and kept clear of farmers who wanted him to join them and kill wolves. There was a spell on his family, he had told his wife. If he failed to fulfil his part in the pact, the wolf had said, some of his descendants would die in a fire, a violent death, and a child of them would become a werewolf, a human monster condemned to drink human blood.
Legend
Inga said that her mother, Hans’ grand-daughter, had indeed died in a fire with her husband, and that she, Inga, wasn’t sure when and how Hans had failed to abide by the pact. Ewa had thought that he had not, but since his neighbours still organised wolf hunts he had been probably guilty of not protecting the tribe. We decided to start writing notes of what she knew, and later discuss the story with Ewa and Marco. Inga said then, that it was a legend, the only sure fact was that Hans had survived, and had come back home. The story of the wolf had no witness. Only the fire was real.
In silence I thought: and what about the werewolf? But I never asked Inga about it.
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