by Jane H Wood
It was evening and a light rain was falling by the time he arrived at the river, trotting quickly, his mind in turmoil. Behind him were the sounds of hooves charging through the forest, fading with every heartbeat.
Stopping, he lifted his head and listened. The wind told him safety was nearby and he moved to the water’s edge, studying the current. It was moving rapidly, so he dismissed any thoughts of swimming across. Instead, he hurried downstream, observing small areas where eddies swirled contrary to the main flow of the river. Here, the current had increased significantly, and now rippling waves broke the surface, buffeting around the rocks that protruded up from the riverbed.
Around the next bend the situation worsened as the ground dropped abruptly and the river careered downwards in a cascade of water, plummeting onto the rocks beneath before continuing downstream. The noise was deafening. A mist of water droplets hung like a cloud, distorting the actual distance to the rocks below.
Kegg looked nervously back the way he’d come and listened, but only the sound of the surging waters filled his ears. He was alone, and shaking, scared the humans might be following him.
A voice whispered in his ears, intermittent, half words, garbled and annoying. Kegg shook his head, hoping to rid himself of the nuisance. But unintentionally he was obeying the voice, for it made good sense. He repositioned his paws and made his way down the rocky staircase, until eventually he disappeared into the rising mist. It was frightening and he paused to look back up to the top of the waterfall, then down again, focusing on a half-submerged rock he could barely see under his paws. He could feel the water tugging at him, trying to pull him off balance.
He felt his paws slipping as he teetered on the edge, preparing for the next difficult part: the jump. Taking a steadying breath, he launched himself through the cascading waterfall and landed with a skid on the wet passageway floor on the other side.
It was practically dark inside, even though the dimming light wavered through the moving water. He was safe now, but cold, and his fur was soaked to the skin. Kegg shuddered, shaking the icy water from his fur, knowing he couldn’t go back.
His eyes gradually grew accustomed to the gloom, and he peered into the wet tunnel. He began to walk, following the path in front of him. The ground was wet, and puddles pooled here and there.
Overhead, the rumbling of the waters grew louder, the sounds vibrating down the walls. Unperturbed, he continued along the silt-strewn tunnel. Instinct beckoned him onwards into the blackness and, without a glimmer of light to show the way, he padded.
Then strangely Kegg could see. It baffled him, but a faint glow was emanating from the fine golden hairs on the tips of his ears. The wet walls and ceiling acted like a mirror, reflecting the light, like a thousand tiny stars. He was utterly amazed, for even though the light was relatively weak, he could glimpse the trail ahead.
After a long while, another opening forked to his left. He stood there, hesitating, undecided which course to choose, when suddenly from the new direction a gentle breeze touched his face, bringing with it the damp earthy scents of the forest. He padded along the trail, confident it would lead him outside into the fresh air.
Within a matter of minutes, he was climbing, negotiating rocks and clumps of earth and, encouragingly, the ground was becoming drier with each step, until finally he pulled himself clear of the narrow tunnel and emerged into the open. He stood there panting, assessing where he was. Without realising, he’d successfully crossed the width of the river and was now standing on the west bank, with the water between himself and the humans. It was a calming thought, and he relaxed in the knowledge that he was safe.
It was the middle of the night and, too exhausted to continue, Kegg crept amid a group of bushes and fell into a deep slumber.
***
Further north along the same stretch of riverbank, Borrin was also spending the night huddled within the security of a group of bushes growing near the water’s edge.
Earlier, he’d witnessed the cowardly attack on Thorn’s pack by the humans, watched the deaths of men and wolves unfold before his eyes. Then moments later he’d seen Kegg dash from the scene before he’d even realised he was there.
He’d been slow to react, dithering beside the river, watching the frightened group of wolves careering downhill on a collision course towards him. With barely a pause the pack had launched themselves into the river, inadvertently taking him with them. The pack swam strongly, their youngsters’ heads held clear of the waters.
With tired muscles Borrin had hauled himself up the opposite bank and immediately flopped onto the damp ground, panting hard and soaked to the bone. He surveyed the pack as they fled in to the wilderness, a young female struggling in their wake.
24
The sun had graced the treetops when a group of wolves silently weaved through the forest.
‘We’ll walk downriver, see if we can cross,’ growled Gower, moving along the riverbank. He glanced at Dupeena trotting at his shoulder, while the rest of his pack ambled slowly behind them.
The mood was solemn. Gower was aware of their feelings and wondered if another reprimand was necessary. Lantern glanced at Brack. The beta wolf sensed her concerns, for an unsettling feeling had entered his mind too, wondering what Gower’s intentions were after bringing them eastwards.
In silence the pack travelled south, following the course of the river until they came to a rise. Gower stopped.
He had an unimpeded view across the river and into the forest from where he stood. Beside his paws was a steep slope void of any grasses; instead, wet slippery mud covered the ground right to the water’s edge.
‘We’ll stop here,’ he growled, lying down, his voice deep with contempt as he surveyed his pack.
He turned to see Silver slink towards him. She stopped just short of touching his hindquarters and flopped onto the grass. Dupeena growled and snapped savagely at her rump. Alarmed, Silver darted sideways and lay down near Mace. The old male looked at her with disgust, acknowledging her sly attempts to gain favour with Gower by ousting Dupeena from her position of alpha female.
Gower stood up, scenting the air. Death, blood and rotting carcasses; the air was ripe with it. He snorted with disgust.
‘Come!’ he ordered, already moving downstream. He wasn’t prepared to stay in an area so rank with fear.
A mile downriver something stirred in the bushes: a black shape scratched his chin and yawned sleepily. With casual ease he wandered out into the open, stopped beside the bush and began shaking the dried leaves from his fur.
‘You!’ growled a familiar hateful voice.
Borrin spun round. ‘Oh, Gower! I’m so pleased to see you! But why, why are you here?’ he spluttered, feeling his legs quake under him.
‘I said if I ever saw your snivelling face again, I’d kill you!’ scowled Gower, enjoying the fear etched on Borrin’s face. Gower sneered with disdain, taking in the scrawny body, the bedraggled unkempt fur. He took a menacing step forward. ‘Yes, I know you haven’t done what I asked! You’re a coward; can’t even kill two tiny pups,’ he spat. ‘The freaks still live! I know this, for the herds have not returned to our lands.’
‘But, but,’ blustered Borrin, ‘one pup is dead, my leader. It’s true because I’ve seen only Kegg. And Joel has friends, other wolves protecting him – I couldn’t get close. Though the deformed one is here somewhere, for I saw him myself just yesterday,’ he said, nodding frantically.
Gower’s patience was exhausted, and he lunged forward to seize Borrin by the throat. Insightful to Gower’s insane mood swings, Borrin was already poised to flee, recognising when things were about to change for the worse.
In a flash of black fur he was off and running. Gower skidded on the ground, just missing contact with the snivelling coward. He snorted in annoyance and set off in pursuit.
Fearful for his life, Borrin fled along the r
iverbank as fast as he could. But Gower was faster and brought him down in a squeal of pain, his paws skidding on the wet grass as he crashed into the bushes.
Kegg was brought rudely awake and sat up, poking his head clear of the stems.
‘Here! Here, my leader, is the wolf with golden hairs! I’ve found him!’ Borrin gasped in wide-eyed jubilation, staring rapturously at the weird-looking wolf. ‘You can kill him yourself, my leader! He is here,’ nodded Borrin, sidling out of the way, relieved the attention was removed from himself.
‘You will die, freak! I will rip out your heart as your parents should have done at your birth. I will do the job they didn’t have the guts to do. This ends now!’ Gower sneered, slinking closer, his head lowered, looking for the hold on his neck that would end his life.
‘No! You will not harm Kegg,’ growled Brack, moving closer.
‘He is a part of our pack!’ interjected Lantern fiercely, joining Brack.
‘Kill him now, my leader!’ yelped Dupeena savagely, spittle forming in the corners of her mouth in mounting excitement.
A line was formed as Mace advanced and sidled next to Brack and Lantern.
‘Kegg has done no harm! If you try to hurt him, we will attack!’ growled Mace, standing tall.
Gower’s eyes swivelled to Silver, a mid-ranking female. She’d hung back, appearing undecided.
‘And whose side are you on… life or death?’ coaxed Gower, his voice deceptively gentle.
The female moved to join Dupeena and stood silently beside her.
‘It is clear then… three against three. An even fight,’ growled Gower, beginning to circle Kegg menacingly.
‘Aren’t you forgetting me?’ growled Kegg, stepping clear of the bushes. He stood tall, his gentle face set firm in anger. ‘I haven’t forgotten you murdered Frez! You’ll pay for that, Gower!’
To Kegg’s surprise Gower’s expression changed to that of amused satisfaction.
‘I’ve been waiting for this… Freak!’ he spat, licking his mouth slowly as if savouring the moment, and in doing so appeared to lose interest. It was a deceptive move, for Kegg lowered his guard and relaxed in that split second.
It was enough for Gower, and he bounded forward, seizing Kegg by the throat before anyone realised he’d moved.
Kegg squealed in pain as Gower’s jaws closed around his throat, the impetus throwing them both off-balance. A savage skirmish ensued as the pair fought, each trying to gain a death grip on the other. With an athletic twist of his body, Kegg broke free, and in cold fury turned on Gower, sinking his teeth into the big wolf’s shoulder, biting clean to the bone. There was a howl of pain as Gower tottered sideways, his eyes bulging in disbelief.
But before Kegg could continue his attack, Dupeena charged, striking his chest with a resounding thud. Stunned, Kegg tumbled sideways, skidding on the grass until he came to a halt among a tangle of wild plants… winded. He watched her advance.
Brack and Lantern repositioned themselves, ready to defend the young wolf. The pair stood squarely, blocking Dupeena, challenging her to fight them.
Meanwhile, Gower had regained his paws; though his shoulder hurt deeply, the injury wasn’t enough to deter him from his moment of triumph. Silently, he padded to Dupeena’s aid, with Silver slinking beside him.
Battle lines were drawn as Mace stepped forward, and the sound of snarling escalated in the air. In a flash of teeth and fur Brack engaged Gower, as Lantern charged at the lithe body of Dupeena, while Mace did his best to hinder Silver’s attempts to bypass him and hurt Kegg. The noise of the fight echoed through the forest.
Borrin hadn’t moved, but instead stared mutely into Kegg’s eyes, at a total loss as to what to do. He felt a pang of remorse, studying the young wolf lying there, wounded and seemingly helpless. Then all too quickly the jealousy resurfaced, souring his mind, and anger overruled his leniency.
Mace had been loath to fight, his age against him. Though he fought valiantly, Silver was punishing and brutal in her attacks. Mace was spent, and fell to the ground, blood seeping from his neck.
Edmund was running towards the awful sounds, with Josh chasing after him.
‘Stop, Edmund! Wait!’ he yelled, harassed, making a grab for his arm.
The pair skidded to a halt at the edge of the river, the momentum almost taking Edmund into the water. He’d never witnessed wolves fighting each other, and the brutality of it shocked him. Josh gave him a slight shake.
‘Stay here!’ he ordered, fearing Edmund might jump into the water and swim across.
‘We must do something, Josh! Look! It’s GoldenEars!’ Edmund yelled frantically, pointing to the pack of wolves on the opposite bank.
The sound of breaking twigs and the thud of boots drew closer.
‘Josh!’ shouted Gus, finally arriving beside them. ‘Fire your rifle! Quick!’ he puffed, trying to catch his breath.
Josh complied, releasing a round harmlessly into the sky.
‘And another,’ Gus commanded.
Josh sent another ear-piercing round skywards, the sound echoing around the forest and hillsides. In a scurry of movement, the wolves darted in different directions.
Gower bounded towards Kegg… although he could see the useless Borrin already beside him, the black wolf was making no move to attack the deformed wolf. Gower sneered, his voice deep and guttural.
‘Grab him!’ he shouted, and seizing Kegg’s left ear in his teeth, proceeded to yank him to his paws, forcing him forwards.
Alarmed, the black wolf came out of his reverie and nipped viciously at Kegg’s hindquarters, causing him to take several involuntary steps. Gower tightened his grip on Kegg’s ear, while Borrin grasped his other ear between his teeth, giving Kegg no choice but to run with them.
Brack came to a halt in the safety of the trees and looked back. The pair had taken Joel’s son… Why? There was no possible reason, but he knew insanity when he saw it.
Josh had been watching, spellbound, the weird intricate lives of wolves.
‘Oh man! Did you see that, Gus?’
‘Yeah! That was the strangest fight I’ve ever seen!’ commented Gus, standing beside him. He turned round, expecting to see Edmund.
But he’d moved away, quickly clambering to the top of a large boulder, anxious to see which direction GoldenEars was being taken. Holding the binoculars steady, he scoured the landscape to the west, hoping to catch a glimpse, but they’d gone.
‘We must follow them, Gus! Please, GoldenEars is in danger!’ Edmund pleaded.
‘Come down from there or you’ll fall and break your neck!’ Gus replied gruffly.
The sight of the three wolves running away stayed in Edmund’s mind. Two wolves seemed to be pulling his friend along. ‘Why would they do that?’ he mumbled to himself.
Gus was really worried; something bad had been set in motion… Those men yesterday… Why attack the wolves like that? It was a vicious, senseless act, each man obviously out for blood, though he was sure they hadn’t bargained on that level of resistance, or any of them getting killed… and today, this strange behaviour.
‘We need to report in, tell Max what’s going on,’ said Gus, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. ‘Come on, you two, back to the clearing; the signal is better there.’
‘What should we do?’ Gus asked his chief ranger, and waited.
Edmund was hopping about, desperate to get going, his face pale with worry for GoldenEars. The speaker crackled as Max replied.
‘You’ve already had one night in the forest. Follow the wolves, see where they’re heading… Do you have enough supplies?’
Gus glanced at Josh and Edmund. ‘Check the supplies, see what we’ve got.’
The pair knelt down and rummaged deep inside the one bag they’d kept.
‘We are okay for a few days,’ said Josh confidently.
Gus turned back to the radio.
‘We can manage for a few days, but I fear we won’t catch them on foot. There are tens of miles of wilderness before we reach the mountains, and that’s the direction they’re heading in.’ He waited, knowing that Max was thinking it over.
‘Okay,’ replied the chief ranger slowly. ‘Look, under the circumstances I think it may be a good idea to find the wolves. They may need your protection the way things are developing at this end. I’ll send Keith in the Land Rover with some extra supplies. He’ll wait for you by the bridge at the southern point of the reserve. Get yourselves there as quickly as possible. I would come myself but I’m up to my neck dealing with the police and identifying the dead men… plus trying to cool the situation here; the farmers and the residents of Bitterbougher Creek are demanding the annihilation of the wolf population.’
Gus closed his eyes and shook his head. ‘I understand, Max, sorry to hear it. Good luck!’
The signal went dead and Gus returned the radio to his bag, and sighed. He wasn’t going to enlighten his two rangers of the content of that conversation just yet; he would wait to see what transpired.
‘Right, we’ll walk to the southern bridge,’ Gus announced. ‘Keith will meet us there in the Land Rover and then we’ll proceed towards the mountains and try to locate the wolves.’
The men walked in silence, following the river downstream, the only sounds coming from their breathing and their boots crunching on the stones and dirt underfoot.
Edmund was deep in thought, remembering the awful sight of yesterday, the broken bodies of men and wolves dead together. The image had imprinted onto the back of his eyes like a horrific photograph, gruesome in its evilness of the deeds done that day. And today, what was happening? The sequence of events… It just didn’t make sense!
His troubled mind flew immediately to GoldenEars, and he suppressed the urge to call out to him. He kept his head down, concentrating where he placed his feet as the day drew to an end.
