Peter noticed the three burly men eyeing him as soon as he walked into the Red Fox pub, the village's only tavern. Peter had never seen these men before; the village was so small everyone pretty much knew each other. Their gazes weren't menacing. In fact they were open and friendly and to his surprise, one waved him over to join them. He automatically glanced behind him; surely they were waving to someone else, but there was no one else near him. It was still early on a Saturday and the pub was quiet except for the trio and a couple of other lone men seated at the bar hunched over an ale. Why not, Peter figured, curiosity getting the best of him. He changed directions heading over to where the three were seated.
"I'm Elias," the waver stated offering his hand. And this is my mates, Levi and Henry. We're new to these parts, but it's always easy to spot a fellow woodsmen."
"Peter," he responded shaking Elias's outstretched ham sized hand. It closed around Peter's making him feel almost frail in comparison.
They were all big men as was Peter himself, but Elias was such a hulk he looked like he could haul a log around on each shoulder with ease. Peter wasn't thrilled seeing these other lumberjacks in his territory. He felled enough trees to keep some of his closest neighbors in firewood and hunted and farmed in the warmer months when the trees were too sappy to chop. They could hurt his little business even if he wasn't making a fortune. But what he did eke out was plenty enough to provide comfortably for his small family. There was no room for more woodsmen to work the area.
"So, what are you all doing in these parts?" Peter asked.
"Just passing through. Headed to work further south. We're staying at the inn across the road for few days taking a bit of leisure till our next job. But like I said, we spotted a kindred spirit and thought you might like to join us for a drink."
Peter felt a mental sigh of relief. "Sure."
As he worked through his first pint, Peter noticed that other than the initial greeting and handshake, neither Levi or Henry had much to say. It was Elias who did all the talking. He also wondered if they were all brothers with the same strange pale yellow closely set almond shaped eyes that slanted up a bit on the outer edges. He'd never noticed anyone with eyes like theirs before. They also all had super thick heads of bushy hair and abundantly hairy forearms exposed by half rolled sleeves. Ever the backs of their hands were furry.
"Peter." Elias said. "I asked if you had a family. You seem to be woolgathering on us."
"Sorry," Peter replied. "Yes. My wife Enid and two young sons." He didn't tell them though Enid was quite the pretty woman with cheery blues eyes, and a sweet disposition, he had no real passion for her. Actually, he'd never had passion for any woman he'd ever met, but he needed a wife and she was easy to be around. Now why in the world did he think of that, he wondered? Being with these men had shaken something loose inside him. To his horror, he felt an attraction toward Elias.
"I'm sorry," he said suddenly jumping out of his chair. It is getting along toward supper time and I shouldn't be late. A pleasure meeting you all and best of luck." He turned leaving most of his ale and hustled out of the pub.
The three men watched him go, feral grins lighting their faces.
"He's perfect, Elias said. "You can smell it all over him. Even if he doesn't realize it. Levi and Henry smirked and nodded in agreement.
Peter was doing his best to get ahead of his work that day. He had been out chopping wood since sun up and was ready to pack it in for the night. The time had gotten away from him and now that he'd stopped working, the late autumn evening chill was setting in fast as the sun dropped behind the western ridge of mountains. The leaves had all about dropped off the trees and he knew it was going to be an especially cold one this year. He needed to make sure the family had enough firewood to make it and he had a stockpile to sell off.
He grabbed his jacket off the ground and slipped into it pulling it closed against the cold. He needed to get home fast before it grew any darker. It was heading into mating season also and some of the wild animals weren't so docile even before that.