Jarvis took her old, leathery fingers from Jack's temples and looked at him, thoughtfully. 'The Shipapi knew of Zubbe, Jack. When the first Dutch colonies were founded in America in 1624, they brought with them the word of wolves at work in Europe. Shipapi missionaries were dispatched there to bring those wolves to heel.'
'So what went wrong?' Jack murmured.
'The missionaries failed.' She laughed mirthlessly. 'They saw Zubbe executed, but his followers eluded them. If, indeed, they ever seriously tried to fulfill their sacred duty, for it would seem they were not strong men.'
Jack looked at the old medicine woman. 'How'd you know so much about this?'
'I am descended directly from one of those missionaries,' said Jarvis. 'And I too have been guilty of neglecting my sacred trust, of letting werewolf evil fester and grow.'
'You've made up for it since I've known you,' Jack assured her. 'You stopped Maski in New York, you cured those poor people he turned 'wolf…'