Wolf Knight

Chapter 4

Pulling the knife out of the now dead rabbit, she held it up by the arrow, and then retrieved the first rabbit, walked over to a large rock, and laid out the carcasses. Using her knife, she sliced each rabbit down the length of its belly, cleaned out the b****y guts, and then carefully skinned each one, taking care to remove the arrows intact.

They walked back to camp where Red used some of the contents from her water skin to clean the rabbits, their skins and her hands.

"Is there anything you don't do?" he stammered.

"I don't know," she replied, holding the skinned rabbits for him to see up close. "How about we cook dinner?" She placed the rabbits down on a cloth, took a small packet from her saddle bag, poured some powder onto her palm, and rubbed it into the flesh of the rabbits.

She opened a small tin can and pulled a piece of charred cloth to put under the wood tender she had prepared earlier. Using a small piece of flint and the back of her knife blade, she struck a small shower of sparks, which landed on the cloth. It started a tiny glow, and by gently blowing on it, she lit a small flame, which set the fine shavings and sticks aflame.

She sharpened the ends of two long sticks of green wood, skewered the rabbits and propped them over the fire. With full darkness set, they sat down to relax and watch the rabbits cook.

The Raven came walking out of the woods, carrying his longbow and two arrows. He came over to the campfire, and with a wry grin said, "I see you had good hunting. We have company; a wolf has been shadowing us, walking real light on one of its legs, probably wounded. We'll worry about it later. The rabbit smells good, let's eat."

They ate heartily, using their fingers to pull the meat off the bones. The boy and girl splitting the larger rabbit and the Raven had the smaller one. They finished the meal off with some dried apples, raisins, and hot tea.

After the meal, Red and the Raven entertained Caleb with some tunes, played on their fifes. The Raven then told them a long ghost story about a boy who lost himself in the woods never to be seen again, but he often could be heard crying out for his friends. Caleb did not hear the end of the story, for he had fallen fast asleep where he sat. They gently tucked the boy into Red's bed roll. The Raven went to his own bed roll. Red, having lent her bed roll to the boy, went to find Easy Rider. She lay down next to the horse, using him for warmth.

In the morning Caleb opened his eyes and saw Red and the Raven sitting on a log, staring at him. Stiffness and soreness filled his body. "Why are you staring at me?" he mumbled, still sleepy.

"I was honestly joking yesterday," Red said with a straight face.

"What are you talking about?"

"When I joking about waking up with a wolf in the sack."

"What? So?"

"Well, look," Red pointed at him.

Caleb realized he had his arm draped over something furry. He jerked his arm away. The wolf uncurled itself and silently scrambled to its feet to limp off into the trees, the same wolf he had saved the day before.

The boy struggled out of his bedroll and tried, valiantly, to get to his feet. It took a while, but he finally got his sore legs to work right. Then his eyes opened in sudden realization, "It could have killed me!"

"Not likely," replied the Raven evenly. "He's injured and can't catch food, so he's come here looking for some. He probably didn't have the strength to leave last night, and just lay down beside you. He must like you, besides, wolves just don't eat people."

Caleb not satisfied, pleaded, "But, why me?"

The Raven thought for a moment then shrugged his shoulders, "I've heard of wild wolves befriending people before. Why you? I suspect he just sees you as a friend."

The boy decided, more firmly, to not mention rescuing the wolf from the trap. He might have done the wrong thing in releasing the wolf.

They broke camp and the boy helped Red with the chores. They packed the saddle bags, and cleaned up with Caleb noting everything Red did.

They rode across the small valley in only two hours and started up the slope on foot, leading the horses. During the slow climb and the pack horse balked a lot before they reached the gap in the high pass and found some level ground. They stopped to water the horses and ate a quick lunch.

By this time Caleb's legs were again like rubber, his muscles sore, his ears burning cold, and it felt like his lungs would explode. In the worst pain of his life, he felt complaining would be of no use, the only way down involved more walking. Red surprised him by boosting him up onto Mary, who looked back at him and snorted. She seemed satisfyingly warm and didn't try to bite him. Red also gave him some warm leather mittens, lined on the inside with fur and made from rabbit skins.

The rest of the way downhill went quicker once they had remounted their horses, the boy again on Easy Rider. They quickly reached the valley floor and started across.

When they reached a stream the Raven called a stop to camp for the night. They ate fruit and dried meat, but were unable to find rabbit. With everyone dead tired this camp didn't have the good feeling of the previous night's camp.

After everyone went to sleep a wet tongue again licked Caleb's nose and face. He instantly opened his eyes jerking his hand up to fend off the wolf. The animal backed up and he crawled out of his bedroll. He couldn't believe it was happening again. He stood and started running, desperately trying to escape the man and girl, but most of all, and the wolf. He looked back and saw the wolf running behind him. He tried running harder, but the wolf kept pace with him.

His lungs about to burst, Caleb broke through an opening in the trees. The short man with the big nose and g*n stood in front of him. The boy looked back one more time, and saw the wolf leaping at him. He felt its paws on his back, and he slammed to the ground. c***k, blasted the big g*n.

Caleb tried moving, but the wolf snarled angrily. Feeling the weight of the wolf let up, he stole a glance back at the animal. He saw the wolf bound forward to viciously attack the short man who screamed, but then vanish. The wolf returned to the boy and licked his face. Blood dripped from its side; it had taken the bullet meant for him.

Caleb's eyes jerked open to stare at the glowing remains of the campfire.

In the morning when Caleb awoke, the wolf lay curled up next to his bedroll. As soon as the boy stirred, the wolf stood up, trotted off into the brush at the edge of the woods, and disappeared.

Red and the Raven were already packing up their saddlebags, ignoring the wolf. They broke camp, saddled the horses as fast as they could, and started to ride west across the valley. After an hour the sun arose and the woods started to look different; the undergrowth and the ground had been cleared of deadwood.

They came to a large clearing, planted with a vegetable garden, behind which stood a small cabin with a giant of a woman at the doorway. The Raven rode right up to the cabin, dismounted, and gave the large woman a warm hug.

"It's about time you arrived; I've listened to you clump across the valley for the last hour," she scolded while still smiling, "and you're late."

"We had a little diversion," the man replied, pointing at the boy. "He had a bit of trouble. So we took our time getting here."

The woman beckoned to the boy who dismounted and walked over to her. Her weathered face smiled at him and with a hoarse voice, she said, "You're new to horses, Caleb. It'll get better, the soreness I mean. You will get used to them soon enough. Be good to them, one is going to save your life." She laughed, and then bent over to give the boy a tight bear hug. "Hello, my name is Maud."

How did she know my name?

Maud turned to give Red a bear hug, and she looked to be just as crushed as the boy had been.

"What can we do for you Maud?" asked the Raven, while un-strapping the largest load on the packhorse.

Her eyes twinkled, "Well, since you're volunteering, I could use some roof repairs. I've made some tea and cookies for you."

The Raven puffed up his chest and said, "Well, we had better get to work." The man told Red to set up the ladder while he fetched the tools, shingles, and nails from the shed behind the cabin. He ordered the boy to help Maud with the supplies.

Caleb helped the woman finish unloading her supplies from the packhorse. They carried the bundles into the one-room cottage and placed them on the bed, and then invited the boy to go for a walk with her to fetch wood for the stove.

She said, "You haven't been to this school before, have you?"

The boy still didn't know what to think about this large woman and said, "No, Ma'am."

She said, "They're the nicest bunch of people you'll ever meet; always helping out."

Caleb stopped and looked up at her, "You've been to this school?"

She threw her head back and laughed. "Nah, they just come by here every once and a while, bringing me my supplies, just like the Raven's done here. Let's talk about you."

"Me, why me?" asked the surprised boy.

"You have a big future in front of you. Grab it all. Take everything they give you and make it work for you. The Raven is a great guy. Listen to him. They don't come any better."

"Who is he?" Caleb asked somewhat miffed that he still didn't know anything about the man.

"He is a teacher," she paused, and then said, "and he once saved my life."

"Oh," said the boy as he looked at the man working on the roof.

Maud continued, "As I said, you are destined for great things. You will save lives; if you make it through your youth alive."

Caleb's head jerked up, his eyes opened wide, and he gulped, "How's that?"

"You just are. You aren't out of trouble yet. I feel it in my bones. Trouble will come at you from the strangest places and try to hurt you bad. You have to learn to trust your gut; it will help you make the right decisions. Also, watch out for Red; protect her, she needs your help. But, enough of that, things are looking up for you, and you've already made one good friend."

He looked over at the cabin, "Who? Red?"

She responded by pointing up to the top of a low hill. He followed her finger and saw the wolf sitting there, looking down at them.

All of a sudden Caleb felt a desperate urge to talk. "Ma'am, can I tell you a secret?"

She spits in her palm and offered it to the boy. He stared at it a moment, then he realized what he had to do. He spits in his palm and grabbed her hand. As they shook she said, "I would give you my very life to keep your secret."

Caleb described his encounter with the wolf and the trap, his dreams, and its reappearance in the morning.

"The wolf saves your life."

The boy's eyes opened up wide, "Ma'am?"

"He will save your life."

"I dreamed it; how did you know?"

She ignored his question. "First you have to save his life."

The boy tried to make sense of what she had said. It didn't sound quite right. "But, I did."

She said, "Not yet." Then as if nothing had been said, she responded, "Let's get this wood back to the cabin."

They gathered the dried firewood from a pile into the canvas carriers she had brought, and they returned to the cabin in silence.

When they returned to the cabin, the Raven and Red had finished repairing the roof, putting the ladder and tools away, and were inside the cabin unpacking supplies, which included seeds, sugar, and tea. With everything put away, they all sat down for some tea and large fresh hot cookies.

While Red whispered to Caleb a story about hunting rabbits, the Raven brought the woman up on the latest news of the world. When he got to the part about the troubles in the sss, the woman took in a deep breath, "The world needs young knights. People free to fight evil. You have two in your charge right now, see well to their education."

The boy and girl stopped what they were talking about and looked at the woman with questioning eyes.

The Raven promised, "I'll give them all that I have."