Loups-Garous

Loups-Garous - Norman A. Rubin

"Loups-Garous, mon amis are devilish werewolves as spoken in the French lingo. They are satanic creatures that are in the guise of men that walk under the sun and wolves that bay in the dark of night, explained the guide in the slang of his tongue to a geological team, six in all. "And these mysterious devils are still with us this very day, he continued with a devilish grin to his thin lips. "But their appearance led to an unfortunate, yet tragic incident of the past years...

The guided scientists he spoke to had a busy day scouting the Laurentian Plain north of Quebec in their geological survey and towards the evening they made camp. The night was cool with a slight breeze in the air when they had laid out their sleeping bags and sundry equipment under improvised lean-tos.

Hunger was in their bellies and they helped in gathering wood for the fire, and the capable hands of the guide prepared the evening meal. After they were satiated they gathered around the campfire for a review on their day's work. Then it was followed by a bit of chitchat - when Pierre their guide had opened up with the words 'loups-garous' that gave promise to the telling of an interesting story; it would probably be a cliffhanger, as Pierre was known to pepper his words with rousing phrases.

Not a man stirred. They huddled closer to the fire where the guide was prepared to tell a tale fit for the quiet of the evening hours.

The crackling fire cast a flickering red glow upon the men as they relaxed in various postures upon the ground or was seated comfortably on the wide trunk of a nearby tree. A cigarette or two and a pipe were lit. Then they waited to hear the words to the tale.

Pierre, a half-breed, had been a guide for many years and his lean supple body and hawk-like features were evidence in the hard yet cautious trekking the trails on the plateau and through the nearby forests. Through those years he had seen a thing or two in his colorful life on the trails, some with a serious note and others with an amusing tone. He liked to tell the tales he had experienced and in the quiet of the evening with a nip of the bottled spirits, words would flow.

After moment or two searching out his audience, he tipped his beaver-tailed fur cap, gave a pattern-like scratch to his graying hair. "Now I'm going to spin you the finest of stories with a bit of history, one of mystery and fear. Yup, true it be! And if any among you who have a mind to run into the devilish loups-garous, you better think twice and tread cautiously!

"Before I start my terrifying tale I shall make the sign of the cross to keep them devilish werewolves at bay. I had seen enough of those evil devils in my day...

Then he spat into the fire, cleared his throat and began the story in his rough, nasal voice, which was a mixture of slangy English and Canuck French.

"Did you ever hear of Fort Richelieu?

No answer was forthcoming as the geologists searched their memories for an answer; just a moment or two of silence ensued.

"No, I guessed not! as Pierre searched out the party with his deep-set dark eyes.

His thin creased face course into a slight bit of amusement as he uttered without waiting for an answer, "Nope, none of you folks don't know! Well, I'll you! The wooden fort was built in the middle of the 1600's, if I do recollect; built at the mouth of the Richelieu River, where it flows into the waters, forty-five miles due south of Montreal. T'was one of the forts the French built along the river for the protection of the settlers, the fur trappers and some devoted missionaries.

"Now my tale starts at the days near the Christmas holiday around the year 1707 if I do remember my history. The dreaded Iroquois Indians were on the warpath and their war parties were preying and plundering in the surrounding country. The savages burnt farmhouses, stole cattle, and killed every man, woman, and carried away the children to their villages. Somehow I do not blame them, as it was their land before it was swindled from them by the French for a handful of beads and a treaty not worth its words.

"The waters of the Richelieu River was a natural highway through the Iroquois country during the open season for beaver trapping, but it was also open season for the Iroquois forays upon the French settlers. But, then, in the cold of the winter months the river was ice bound, and it was hard to tell where the attacks from the fierce savages could be expected.

"The commander of the fort issued orders to all people, near and far around the fort, to come to the protection of its stout wooden walls. French trappers from the western lands, hunters, missionaries and inhabitants from the surrounding settlement traipsed to the fort. All the able men shouldered their weapons under the military instruction of the regular company of marine infantry that garrisoned the fort; Indian warriors of the friendly Agenesis tribe served as scouts to warn of impending forays by the Iroquois war parties.

"A sharp lookout was kept outside on the parapets, where four sentries were pacing up and down day and night, calling out repeatedly on the hour the words: "Sentinels! Prenez garde ... vous! Sentries, be on your guard!

"Suddenly on the dark of one cold night before the sainted holy day all hell broke loose ......

"The sergeant of the regulars, a veteran of forty years of military duty in Canada, was quietly sitting in a corner of the guard-room and smoking his Indian calumet pipe when he was suddenly jarred from his reveries by a crack of a musket from outside on one of the battlements. Then two more musket shots were heard and another charge, followed by harsh shouting 'aux armes! ' a call to arms.

Pierre sat up on his spare body, his sinewy arms waved about, and his excited voice was raised in the tempo of the story. Not one of the geologists stirred as they waited with baited breath the continuation of the story.

"The guard upon the sound of the reports, hurried out in haste, followed by all the able bodied men of the fort; all had taken up their arms, ready for an attack by the feared Iroquois warriors. All assembled on the grounds of the fort and waited the orders of the commandant.

"The officer of the guard was already on the spot on the ramparts when the sergeant arrived to inquire the cause of all the ruckus. The sentries were called to the attention of the officer and they gave their report.

"It appeared that one of the four sentries on duty had apparently fired his musket as some enemy or enemies. The second, third, and forth shots had been successively fired by the other sentries, who had not seen any signs of the Indians, but who let off their round of musket shot with the intention of calling the guard to the spot, and scaring away the marauders who might be prowling around.

"'But, where are the Indians now?' inquired the officer as he questioned the sentry who fired the first shot.

"'The savages seemed to have disappeared as if by sorcery, sir!' answered the puzzled sentry, 'but, I swear that that they were around the fort a few moments ago, when I fired my musket at them.'

"'Well we'll see!' and turning to the sergeant and ordered him to take six of his best men with an Indian scout and search around the area where the sentry spotted the Indians. 'Be careful sergeant! We will cover you from the battlements.' The officer then saw the men descend the parapets and make their way to the gate of the fort, now open to their departure.

Pierre's eyes were wide open, his breath came in short breathless intakes and he hushed his words a tone lower. The he spread his hands slowly that added to the tension of the excited phrases...

"The night was bright with full moon above, and any dark object or tracks of men could plainly be seen on the white snow, in the clearing that surrounded the fort. Still the small patrol traced their steps cautiously, as they were ever watchful for marauding Indian warriors.

"The party of men disappeared for a short time, but were soon seen again, coming back in the same order, and by the same route, which they left, returned to the fort.

"The gate to the fort was secured and the sergeant dismissed his patrol. Then he returned to the battlements and reported to his commanding officer.

"'Nothing sir! said the sergeant as he saluted the officer, 'Nary a sign, not a trace! Searched all about the clearing and not a mark of a moccasin in the snow, not a one. Mighty strange, if I do say so, with all the ruckus in the call to arms to stand read for a foray of the Indians.'

"The officer frowned at the words and he added his opinion to the incident. 'Well the sentry must be either drunk or a plain fool to raise such an alarm. See to it that he to be relieved from his post immediately and confined in the guardhouse until he appears before the fort commandant in the morning. And call the rest of the men to stand down.'

"What happened next? asked one of restive listeners.

"Be patient mon ami!

"The sentry, off course, was duly relieved, and an uneasy calm was restored through the garrison of the fort. But talk continued and it naturally centered on that peculiar incident that had taken place; it was mainly on the tongues some of the soldiers and trappers alike as they sat and imbibed in the fort's makeshift tavern..

"An elderly weather-beaten trapper who had returned from trapping around the nearby lakes, volunteered the remark that, for his part, he was not so very sure that the sentry didn't act correctly. 'Probably the soldier had been deceived by a band of loups-garous ' fierce werewolves that danced in the full of the moon. They came into the sight of the sentry, and disappeared just as they pleased.'

"'Tis' true, so help me!' continued the trapper in the roughness of his words, 'and only a couple of months ago I had the pleasure of meeting such devils when we were was trapping for beavers, up on the Ottowa River. Sure put a fright on me and me companions!'

"'Tell us about it', clamored the curious and superstitious gathering of soldiers, trappers and a settlers or two. Their curiosity had been piqued the trapper's words. And those daring adventurers gathered around the trapper waiting to hear his somewhat true story, which would appeal to their interest of the supernatural.

"'Do tell!' called out two of the tavern's habitués.

"'If ye be quiet a bit I'll explain!'

"'Wal, It was like this! uttered the trapper, 'we went down the swift Ottowa River, twenty-four of us in war canoes, bound for the Upper Lakes, good beaver country; and in four day days we reached the portage around the Grand-Chaudiers. There we made camp for a few days to renew our dwindling stock of meat.

'Then six of us left the camp-site on the early morn and followed some deer track till we spotted the beast; t'was such a splendid animal with wide antlers.

"'We succeeded in killing the big fellow after a bit of a chase. It took a while to cut the meat and scrape the skin, but with an hour or two the job was done and we divided up the load to carry back to the camp. Darkness was getting on toward nightfall and since we heavily burdened, we needed to rest and to have a pipe smoke, which we took under a clump of maple trees along the river.'

"'Suddenly, without a warning sign of any kind, we saw a bright log fire on a small island in the middle of the river. Ten or twelve savages looking devils, half human and half beasts, with heads and tails like wolves, arms, legs and bodies like men. Their eyes were glaring fiercely like burning embers as they danced around the blazing fire; all time barking out an odd chant in some sort of gibberish, followed by evil laughter.'

There was a hushed silence as Pierre caught his breath. Then with hearty pull to the bottle of liquor he continued in telling the tense story as told by the old hunter.

"Then the trapper spoke in a near whisper. 'When we searched the cursed scene with our eyes we noticed a naked man lying on ground that two of the savages were cutting up, probably for feasting after their corrupt ceremonial whoop-de-do. Although we were sitting under cover of low-hanging boughs, the wolf-like creatures beckoned us to join them in their disgusting feasting. We knew that them creatures to be loups-garous liable to change into wolves. That only good righteous Christians drawing blood from them with the blade of a sword sprinkled with holy water could face them and could eliminate them forthwith.

"Bitter laughter for a moment or two from the fur trapper followed. 'But we were a blaspheming and whoring crowd that we forgot the sacraments of Church, and our first impulse was to drop everything and make for the deep woods. We were about to skit and skedaddle away, when I gave a thought to give these cursed renegades parting shots with our muskets.

"'One of our party had taken the holy rights before we went on the trail and we waited when for him to etch a cross on his bullet. Then we hefted our muskets, took careful aim and let off our charges in one blast. Wal, I never in me whole heard such howling and yelling at that moment or since that night.

"'We couldn't say if we killed any of the creatures, but the burning fire on island instantly disappeared and it was left in darkness, while the devilish cries of the loups-garous grew fainter as they scampered away in the distance. The next morning after a sleepless night we returned to our camp, where our companions were anxious for our return. After all anything could have happened to us as we were in Indian country at that time..

"'We found out a bit later that one man, a roughneck who boasted of his misdeeds, had disappeared during the day when we were absent from the campsite. Out companions never knew the reason why he left the area or why he never returned; nor did they ever hear from him afterwards even though a search was made.

"'In paddling our canoes, once again on the river, we passed close to the island where our small hunting party had seen the horrible ceremony of the loups-garous. We landed and searched around a bit, but we couldn't find neither the traces of the fire nor of signs of the beasts nor of any other any other animal. T'was a strange mystery in our eyes, sure was.

"'Wal' I knew it to be' uttered the grizzly trapper to the gathered crowd.' He cleared his throat and continued, 'my honest opinion was then, and never changed to this day, that the chap who strayed for the camp and never returned was taken by the loups-garous and was feasted upon by them that horrible night.

"A paused ensued. Silence reigned throughout the room for a few seconds.

"Well, is that all? bellowed a grumpy trader.

"Yup, thet's all! But it is nuff' to make one think that the sentry, who is now locked in the guard-house, had been tricked by a band of loups-garous who were at that spot getting ready for their evil feast, when they found out that they were spotted. And....

"Before he was able to utter another word, cries echoed through the fort ' aux armes, aux armes!

"Within a second the men grabbed their muskets and rushed from the tavern. Horror reached their eyes as they saw burning arrows dropping from the air causing fires to burn all about; along the stout wooden walls of the fort flames spurted forth. Added horrors were about when they saw a sentry hanging from the ramparts with an arrow in his chest, and the commanding officer was on hard earth screaming in agony as an arrow that was true in its mark.

"The marine detachment came quickly on the call to arms and they ran on the double to man the battlements. The whole settlement, both women and men were also jarred awake and they came running from their quarters and milled about the fort.

"The veteran sergeant, ready and able, quickly gave orders to the all the other armed men to help man the ramparts and for the women, older folk, and even to two missionaries to form a bucket brigade and to douse the fires...

------

The breeze lessened in the cool of the evening , the fires of the burning wood slowly turned into burning embers when the tragic tale ended in a somber tone. And in the dark of the night the figment of the loups-garous danced...

***

Note: In the winter of the year of 1646, a band of 300 Iroquois warriors attacked Fort Richelieu with forays and burning arrows, but the forty odd defenders managed to withstand the initial attack and succeeded in repealing the Indians, despite heavy losses.

Sections of the wooden stockade were burnt near the ground despite all efforts by a bucket brigade to douse the flames. The defenders weighed the odds and it was decided to abandon the fort at the following morning....

The following year 1647, the deserted fort was burned down by the Iroquois...