Wolf Knight

Chapter 3

Caleb reached Red and she removed her boots to hold them out to the boy. "Here, wear these, you need them."

"I've got my shoes."

"They're wet and need to dry."

"But, you're barefoot. I can't do that."

"Nonsense, my feet are tough; I run barefooted."

Caleb put them on.

The Raven spread the boy's clothes over the back of the pack horse to dry. He told Red, "It's time to teach him to ride a horse for real."

Red held Easy Rider's reins while Caleb mounted up. The boy almost went over the other side of the horse, and panicked, squeezing his legs hard while trying to keep from falling. The horse reared, and Red dodged its hoofs as she tried to regain control. He desperately held on to the saddle horn to keep from falling. The Raven stood back and watched, as Red subdued her horse. The boy quickly dismounted, shaking.

Caleb, wild eyed and angry, sputtered at Red, "You're trying to kill me!"

Red calmly asked, "Are you ready to get back on?"

"What!"

"Are you afraid? Are you ready to get back on the horse? He spooked because you did something wrong. I'm going to teach you to ride."

Caleb blurted, "I'm not afraid," his voice betrayed him and he meekly asked, "OK, what do I do?"

Red made him remount Easy Rider, and she mounted up behind him, holding on to the horse's reins. She reached around the boy and showed him the basics of riding. In fifteen minutes, he gained enough skill to follow the other horses on his own. Red remounted Mary and directed the boy go ahead of her and follow the pack horse.

They rode four more hours, and crossed several streams, being careful to water and tend the horses. At one break Caleb asked the Raven about using the bathroom. The man handed the boy a small folding shovel and quietly instructed him on the proper way to do his business in the woods.

Caleb walked down a ravine until he found a suitable location and dug a shallow hole to do his business in. As he finished he heard a whimpering noise from further down the ravine and the hair stood on the back of his neck.

The plaintive noise compelled him so he carefully walked further down the ravine to investigate it. He rounded a tree to confront a very large dog with its leg caught in a trap. Light headed he faced the very wolf that had been in his dream, the wolf he had seen chasing the deer.

Caleb's wanted to turn and run, but his legs wouldn't move. The wolf growled very quietly, its head low, as if to spring at him. It jumped, but awkwardly fell, dragged down by the chained trap. It yelped in pain then immediately sat still; visibly shivering and whimpering from the injury. The boy stared at the wolf for a long time, and the wolf did the same to him. At last the wolf lowered its eyes and the growling stopped. It licked at its bleeding leg a couple of times and whined. Caleb shivered; the wolf would die. He furrowed his eyebrows in determination; he would try and help it.

Caleb slowly advanced towards the wolf and knelt down in front of it, with his arms tight at his sides. The wolf, clearly larger than him, stared intensely, but didn't move. Very slowly the boy reached out, and carefully put his hands on the springs of the trap, trying to not hurt the wolf any further. The wolf again whimpered in pain, but didn't move.

The boy closed his eyes and said a quick prayer. He quickly pressed down on the springs with all his strength, allowing the trap jaws to fall open.

The wolf instantly jumped, ran up the slope out of the ravine, and disappeared into the trees. The boy released the springs, letting the trap snap close.

After his heart calmed down, Caleb walked back up to the horses, not sure how the Raven would react if he told him about wolf. He had the feeling that the man would be angry with him. So he said nothing about the incident, but packed the shovel away and mounted Easy Rider.

At one stream the Raven said "It's a steep trail ahead, make sure everything is secure."

Red dismounted and indicated for Caleb to do the same. She showed him how to check the saddle and tack on the horses. They checked the pack horse's gear and pulled out two large water skins which they filled from the stream and hung from Mary's saddle.

They remounted and started up the slope, at angles. It seemed like they would never stop climbing and the temperature rapidly dropped to freezing. The boy started to appreciate the warm coat the deputy had given him, it blocked out the biting wind. Finally they reached a flat on the slope where they could rest and water the horses. They were well above the big trees and had a clear view of the whole valley. Caleb could see forests and open quickly crossed the gap, and started to descend into a smaller valley. This one much higher than the one they had just left. It took only a short while to reach the floor of the valley, and they stopped at the first stream to fill their water skins again.

After about fifteen minutes, they reached the edge of a clearing, and the Raven ordered camp. As soon as the sun fell below the next ridge. It started to get bitterly cold and twilight set in. They dismounted and Caleb almost fell down, his rear end sore and his legs wobbly.

Red chuckled and said, "I told you, you're soft."

The Raven removed the saddle and gear from his horse, and unloaded his pack horse. Red and Caleb worked together on Easy Rider and Mary. They finally hobbled, and turned the horses loose.

Red laid out her bedroll and then went about collecting twigs and sticks, which she piled into a small mound. Caleb, without asking, helped her. She took out her knife and with the back edge started to scrape one of the sticks until she had a palm full of hair like shavings. She put these under one edge of the mound, and then walked over to the pile of supplies, and pulled out a bow and a quiver of arrows taking a small coil of string from a pocket inside her coat. She used it to string her bow. It looked like the bows seen on ancient Greek pottery.

She took two arrows from her quiver, which were very long compared to any arrows the boy had seen before. The head of the arrows were the real thing, small flint, and finely made with wicked looking barbs.

Red looked at Caleb with a grin, "Let's go hunt dinner." Cautioning the boy to be quiet and stay behind her, they walked out of the clearing. At a small meadow she stopped, placed one arrow on the bow, brought it up, drew it to full extension, and stood still, like a statute. Caleb held his breath; he just couldn't see what the girl saw.

Suddenly the arrow let loose with a sharp twap, and an animal exploded up into the air. falling back down, dead before it hit the ground. Before Caleb could react in surprise, the second arrow let loose from her bow, and a second animal jumped. This one didn't die, but hopped away.

Red dropped her bow, bounded, and dove at the animal. She landed with her arms outstretched, her knife nailing the animal to the ground. She stood up, holding the b****y animal by the knife, and gave the boy a wicked grin, "Rabbit."