Why Was He Running Beside the Truck?

This story comes from a newspaper article, which is no longer available, but it was posted on Reddit by Gilgamesh versus Humbaba. We're going to call him Gil. Gil lives in rural New Mexico just outside of Albuquerque. It's summer time and he is busy one evening stringing corral fence. His Navajo friend Tom is attending a powwow in Albuquerque, so he stops by to visit. Tom watches as Gil hammers away at the corner post when the horses suddenly get spooked. So, Tom asks, "What's got them all stirred up?" Gil tells Tom that every night coyotes run down their road causing the dogs to bark and the horses to go crazy. Suddenly, Tom's mood goes from light to dark and he tells Gil a chilling story that sends shivers down Gil's spine. Tom tells Gil that one night in April about 2:00 in the morning, he's driving along the Crown Point Road in his truck when he hears a noise. At first, it seems to be coming from his engine, a weird sound like a dog panting. He thinks, "Ugh, car trouble." Then he hears footfalls behind him, back over his right shoulder. He looks down at the speedometer and he sees he's traveling at about 55 to 60 miles an hour. He glances into his rearview mirror and the hair on the back of his neck stands up. There is some guy he has never seen, a Navajo, and he is running just in back of the tailgate. Tom can't see his face, just his torso lit by the the truck's tail lights, but he can see his arms and his legs flying up and down incredibly fast. Tom speeds up to round 75 and looks back again. The man has disappeared, but now he hears a breathing sound right by his left ear. He cautiously turns his head to look out the window and there is the man running along keeping pace with the truck. As Tom is looking at him out the window, the man veers off toward Crown Point. And Tom knows that is not a regular dude. Regular dudes don't run that fast. And just before the man disappears into the brush, he changes into a wolf. So, Tom says looking at Gil, "You better watch out. Those coyotes spooking your horses may not be coyotes."