A corrupt sheriff sends a young Cajun deputy on a deadly hunt for the Loup Garou—the shapeshifting werewolf of Louisiana’s bayous. A classic piece of Cajun folklore full of trickery, romance, and revenge.

Many years ago, before your grandmeres and grandperes were even born, the most powerful man in Acadia Parish was Le Grande Sheriff – the Big Sheriff. His gold badge showed everyone that he was the law of the land. And he kept the peace – for a price!

Now you would think a man with that much power and that much wealth could have anything he wanted. But this Sheriff could not have the one thing he truly desired. And that was the love of une tres jolie femme – a very beautiful woman named Imogene.

You see, Imogene was already taken by the handsome young Robert. Well, it just so happened that Robert worked for the Sheriff. He worked in the Sheriff’s stables. But he made it no secret that he, too, wanted to be a lawman one day. 

Well, every day the Sheriff would watch that beautiful woman come to the stables to bring Robert his noon meal. And every day his heart broke a little more and got a little darker. Until one day he could take the torture no more, and he came up with an evil plan to get rid of Robert.

He went into the stables where Robert was sweeping one day, and he began to talk out loud as if he was talking to himself. And he said, “Oh, I don’t know what I’m going to do, how I’m going to handle this problem. It is too big! There is no man on my force who can do this job.

“If I could find one man in the parish – just one man that’s strong enough and brave enough to complete this mission I would make him a deputy on the spot!”

Well, of course, Robert heard this, and he could hold his tongue no more.

“Pardon-moi, mon Sheriff! I wasn’t meaning to eavesdrop, but I know that you are looking for a strong and brave man. And, well, I am that man!” exclaimed Robert.

The Sheriff scoffed, “Robert?  Hah, you are just a stable hand.”

“Oh no, mon Sheriff, I am stronger than three of your deputies put together, and I’m probably the bravest man in the parish, after you, of course,” Robert replied.

“Aw, Robert, if you truly want to be a deputy you know you have to take an oath of loyalty,” the Sheriff explained with a sly smile.

“I would do anything you ask me to do. Anything! Give me an assignment,” Robert begged.

The Sheriff sighed and said, “Then I will make you my deputy. The people down in the Yellow Swamp, they are crying out to me for help. They are being terrorized! I need someone to go down there and give them relief.”

“You being my deputy, I need you to go to the Yellow Swamp this evening and capture and kill the Loup Garou!”

Robert’s hair stood on end! “Capture the Loup Garou,” he thought to himself. “Can you even kill a werewolf?”

Robert knew what the old people would say: the Loup Garou is more than just a werewolf. It is really an evil spirit covered with fur with long fangs and sharp claws that could shred a man to ribbons in seconds. They say when the Loup Garou is finished with you all that will be left is your boots.

Robert had already given his oath, so he said “I… I will take the special assignment.”

He went straight to the blacksmith’s shop to get his knife sharpened. And while he was there, he asked the blacksmith, “Would you have a sack that’s big enough and strong enough to hold, say, five bobcats?”

The blacksmith looked at him and said, “I got a sack that’s strong enough to hold a Loup Garou!”

Robert saw it was perfect! It was made of heavy leather and covered in chains.

He took his knife and the sack and went home to tell his Imogene about his special assignment and to kiss her goodbye. 

When Imogene heard about this mission, she got very suspicious because she was as smart as she was beautiful.  She knew something was fishy because for number one, she don’t believe in no Loup Garou, and number two: she knew that the Sheriff had been making some sweet eyes at her for a long time. So, she saw right through his plan.

And right there, on the spot, she came up with a plan of her own.

She said, “Robert, I am so proud of you! You can’t imagine how happy I am! And I know that you will have a gold star one day too!

“But I need to tell you what I hear from our neighbors. They are saying that the Loup Garou is even coming into this village at night, and that he’s supposed to be here tonight!”

She said, “Maybe you should go and wait in the woods at the edge of town. And when you see or hear it you can capture it.”

To Robert the only thing that matched Imogene’s beauty were her brains. 

“I am so glad you told me, ma cherie.” And that’s exactly what he did after he kissed her goodbye. 

And then she got busy. She sat down and wrote a letter and gave it to the little boy next door to bring to the Sheriff. 

And when the Sheriff opened the letter it read, “Oh, mon Sheriff, I understand that my husband is on a special mission, and I am so afraid that I will be alone. Would it be possible for you to send one of your men to my house to keep me company for a few hours? And I would gladly pay them a good supper.”

Then she went to the smokehouse and got the biggest pork chop she had.

Then she took a chili pepper, a tabasco pepper, and a jalapeño pepper and smashed them all up into a ball. She slit open that big pork chop and stuffed that pepper ball all the way in against the bone.  Then she put a pot of coffee on the stove to boil. And in the pantry, she got a burlap sack and a piece of twine and put them on a chair under the table.

No sooner had the evening church bells rang that she heard footsteps on her front porch, then a knock on the door.

The first thing she saw when she opened the door was a bright gold star! It was the Sheriff himself, just like she knew it would be. 

But still she feigned surprise, “Oh, mon Sheriff! You came yourself! I am so honored! Oh, please come into my house, make yourself at home. Give me your hat. Take off your boots. Make yourself comfortable. Sit in the big chair here.”

She took his boots and placed them in front of the sofa. And then she handed him a big mug of muscadine wine. She sat on the floor, and they talked. And he was in heaven because this is what he always wanted – the beautiful Imogene to be worshipping him at his feet. 

Then she asked, “Are you hungry?”

And before she knew it, he was at the table. 

She brought out the pork chops and the rice and gravy. And she watched that big man eating that pork chop like a cave man – with his hands!

And he ate and ate and ate until he finally bit into that last piece of pork chop against the bone. He swallowed and then stopped.

His eyes started watering. His throat started to shrink. And from somewhere way down there came a fireball! And it just blew up in his head.

He screamed, “Water! Water! I need some water!”

She ran, grabbed his empty mug and filled it up. He poured it down his throat.

But it was full of the coffee that had been boiling on the stove all afternoon!

The scream was so loud it woke everyone in the village!

He grabbed his throat. He fell to the floor. And that’s when Imogene took that burlap sack and put it over his head. Then tied that twine around his neck!

He screamed. He yelled. 

She said, “There’s a water well right outside!”

And she ran and threw the front door open. Outside all the villagers had gathered wondering what all the noise was about.

And when the Sheriff ran out on the porch, Imogene yelled, “Help me! The Loup Garou is here!”

The villagers started screaming “The Loup Garou! The Loup Garou!”

And sure enough, Robert on the edge of town with his sack and his knife heard those cries. 

And he said to himself, “Aw, that beautiful woman was right!”

He had barely taken a step when he saw a creature running from the village.

“Oh my God, it’s the Loup Garou!”

He ran up behind the creature and surprised it by throwing the sack on top of it, tightening that leather strap until it closed. It growled and fought, but the creature could not get out. 

Then he ran toward the crowd and saw they were in front of his house. He ran through the open doorway, and there was Imogene standing in the living room. She pointed to the sofa.

Robert looked, and there was the Sheriff’s hat and his boots.

Imogene said, “the Loup Garou.”

Robert grimaced and said, “Then this creature must die.” And he drew his knife.

She pleaded, “No, Robert. Bring that creature back to the Yellow Swamp where it comes from and set it free.”

“I cannot do that! If I open that sack, it will kill me!”

“No. Robert,” she replied. “This creature will not kill you. I swear to you that this creature will know that it has been defeated, and it will never hurt us again.”

And that’s what Robert did. He dragged that creature down to the Yellow Swamp with all the villagers applauding him and going back to their homes.

And as Imogene turned to go back inside, she saw a movement from the corner of her eye. 

She looked. There was a creature coming around the side of her house on all fours. 

She saw its face, and her heart was filled with fear and dread.

The creature with the gold star looked up at her and said hoarsely, “Water! I said – I need water!”

-THE END-

Story Credits

Written and told by Tom Coleman

Recorded at KRVS Radio Acadie, Lafayette, Louisiana

Loup Garou artwork courtesy of Robert and Talbot Trudeau

Additional audio production: Henry Howard