Rockport, Texas - Joshua Harrisburg had fallen madly in love with Rosita Trujillo the moment he met her.

In spite of her somewhat strange manner, the dark-eyed beauty with, what Joshua called ‘dark-as-midnight’ raven hair, had captured his heart and they were soon wed.

In the autumn of 1839, Joshua Harrisburg brought his new bride home to the cabin he’d built for her.

That was the same night the black wolves came to the small settlement of Mud Lake, Texas.

Their guests were celebrating with music and dancing when some of the children rushed in from outside to say they had seen wolves - hundreds of them.

Joshua snatched a rifle from the wall, but was stopped in his tracks when Rosita braced herself against the door.

She told her husband, before he killed any of the wolves, she must go and talk to them first.

From outside the cabin, the guests first heard the clapping of hands. They then heard Rosita’s voice saying, “You have done wrong! You must never annoy us on a feast night! Go away at once!”

The wolves turned and fled into the deep forest and, although several men rushed outside and began to shoot at them before they were out of sight, no carcasses were ever found.

This incident weighed heavily on Joshua Harrisburg’s heart as he felt there may be a connection to the strange stories which had recently started circulating in the area.

Hunters had reported seeing packs of black wolves, and in their midst, a different kind of predator - a black-haired giant, fully seven feet long, and who led the wolves like a queen in command of her troops.

That winter, a hard freeze settled on Mud Lake, and the black wolves in the forest became bolder in their search for food.

Three miles south of Harrisburg’s homestead, two settlers, and 23 head of cattle, were slain in a carnival of blood.

The next day Joshua told Rosita that all the settlers were taking their silver to the schoolhouse, to be melted down for bullets. Many people had come to believe the black, four-legged killers were werewolves, and silver bullets were the only things that could be used to kill them.

That night, Joshua took what silver he had and went to the schoolhouse. Everyone in the village was there and the one-room structure was ablaze with activity.

Suddenly, outside the school, someone screamed, “The wolves!”

The wolves were milling and snarling around the building, anxious for the attack signal from their leader.

Joshua rushed out of the schoolhouse, unarmed, and ran in the direction of the wolves. Quickly the black-haired queen moved towards him, snarling - her huge fangs exposed.

One of the other settlers, Virgil Black, had just gotten his rifle loaded and ran outside when he saw Joshua confronting the savage she-wolf.

Black swears he heard Joshua speaking to the wolf, saying: “If it is you Rosita, go back! Oh, God, go back to our home!”

As the huge beast leaped at Joshua’s throat, Virgil Black fired his rifle. The wolf spun in mid-air, and collapsed in a spray of scarlet.

As more men poured out of the schoolhouse, rifles loaded with bullets made of silver, the howling wolves were shot down in droves.

After the shooting stopped, and the smoke from the gun powder finally cleared, Joshua looked down at where the dead she-wolf lay.

As he slowly bent over and began brushing back the matted, dark-as-midnight hair, the face of Rosita emerged.

It seemed to him that the dead face pleaded for forgiveness and understanding.

Joshua Harrisburg forgave, but he could never understand.

He died a lonely, haunted man a few months later.

Dean Terry for Our Strange World