by StacyPlays
Stacy lunged toward the dart and pulled it from Noah’s shoulder blade. She quickly ran her hands through his fur, feeling his sides, and then exhaled in relief. He was breathing. It must have been a tranquilizer dart, Stacy thought. Noah was unconscious, not dead.
But who shot him with that dart?
“Basil, set up a perimeter!” Stacy said in an urgent, hushed voice. Basil hurried away and disappeared into the trees, off to make sure no one was closing in on their location. Everest returned from the cave with an old ripped tarp they’d found discarded at the campground.
“Good,” Stacy said, taking the tarp and spreading it out on the ground. Everest, Tucker, and Addison rolled Noah, who was fast asleep, onto the tarp and each took a corner of it in their mouths. Stacy grabbed tight to the last corner. Together they pulled Noah into the cave while Wink covered up their tracks behind them. Once inside, they positioned Noah in front of the hearth. Wink attempted in vain to rouse him with his nose while Tucker checked Noah for more darts. Everest was at the cave’s entrance, waiting for Basil to return. Stacy looked up to see Addison already at the bookcase, nosing through some medical texts.
“I assume he’ll come to in a few hours, Addi,” Stacy said, placing the dart down on her desk. She began to thumb through the books, looking for anything about sedation. “We’ll keep his mouth open and get some fresh water for when he wakes up, but that’s about all we can do.”
Suddenly Everest was beside Stacy, his massive body leaning over her, pressing his nose to her lips to stop her from talking. Stacy quieted and then she heard it. Human voices. Coming from outside the cave.
“No sign of the male, Dr. Berg,” a young woman’s voice called out.
Stacy froze. The voices were very close. She had pulled the branch trapdoor across the cave entrance, but would it disguise the opening well enough? What if the humans had shot Noah with a tracking dart?
Page’s ears pricked up in interest at the voices. Silently, Stacy slid a hand over her muzzle, hoping the little dog would stay quiet. Holding her breath, Stacy looked around at her pack. They were all still and silent, their attention fixed on the voices outside the cave.
“He could have run into a cave or behind some boulders,” a deeper voice said. “Look carefully for white fur.” Stacy stiffened. What would she and the wolves do if the cave was found?
The noise from the footsteps grew louder outside as the humans searched. Finally, the young woman said, “I think he ran farther. He was heading northwest.”
The male voice said sharply, “Did you see that?” Pounding footsteps began, as if the humans had broken into a run. In a few moments, the sounds of their footsteps had faded.
Stacy let out a shaky breath, relieved. The researchers were probably being led away by Basil. As much as Basil’s newfound speed confused Stacy, she was thankful for it in this moment. A dozen wolf researchers could try to land a shot on Basil and they’d all miss, she thought.
The wolves took turns lying near Noah all evening, including Basil who had successfully eluded the researchers and returned to the cave. Stacy never left Noah’s side. She wondered how it was possible that just this morning she had been angry with these magnificent creatures she was lucky enough to call family. She ran a hand over the messy tuft of fur between Noah’s ears. What if I’d lost him?
The wolves hadn’t told her the truth. But they had protected her and loved her since her first rescue day. She understood they hadn’t wanted to hurt her by showing her something so horrible, something she had forgotten.
The helicopter crash was tragic, but it is in the past, Stacy thought. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. It still hurt: her human family was dead, and she had forgotten them. Someday I’ll learn more about them, she promised herself. But right now, the only family she knew was right here in the cave with her. And they needed protecting.
Ordinarily, Stacy would have been thrilled to see conservationists in the taiga. It was definitely the type of work she’d want to be doing if she didn’t already have a job rescuing animals. The fact that the research team was searching the forest could mean they were one step closer to getting the forest designated as protected land. But having them tranquilize one of her wolves was a step too far.
How can I protect them from an entire team of researchers who are out here looking for glimpses of white fur?
“Snow,” Stacy said quietly under her breath.
Addison’s ears perked up and she lifted her head to look at Stacy.
“It’s not safe for you here until it snows,” Stacy continued, looking around the cave at the others. “You stand out too much. That’s why they were able to shoot Noah. Wolves like Droplet and Splat—their markings are suited to the dark foliage of a taiga forest. Addison’s got a tinge of brown in her coat that helps a bit, but for the most part, you’re all as white as . . . snow.”
Stacy stood up to address the group. They were all looking at her now, their ears pricked in interest.
“If today has taught me anything, it’s that I need to do whatever it takes to not lose any more of my family. I’m sorry I reacted badly. And I’m sorry for the lies I’ve told these last few weeks. No more lies. No more leaving without telling you where I’m going. And no more close calls.”
Stacy took a deep breath and steadied herself for the reaction she knew would come from her next sentence.
“I think we should leave the taiga and return only after the first snowfall.”
The wolves sat in stunned silence. Stacy took this as a good sign. At least they seemed open to the idea. She knew the stress of the wolf bounty and Wink’s photo in the paper had been weighing on them. She continued.
“We’d only be gone a few months,” Stacy said. “Think of it like a vacation. We can bring Milo, too, and do rescues wherever we go. A proper rescue expedition! By the time we’re back, there will be plenty of snow to camouflage all of you and we won’t have to worry so much about being seen until it thaws in the spring. It’s perfect.”
Stacy looked at each of her wolves. Everest, Wink, Addison, Tucker, and Basil stared back at her, all with similar, unsure expressions. Suddenly, an enthusiastic bark rang out from behind Stacy. She spun around to see Noah, awake and standing.
Everyone ran to Noah—Tucker and Basil nuzzling him while Page rubbed her head against one of his legs, looking up at him adoringly.
“That settles it, then,” Stacy said with a smile. “We’ll leave tomorrow.”
Ten
MORNING CAME AND Stacy hadn’t slept a wink. Wink, on the other hand, was still sleeping, curled up by the fire next to Page and Noah. Everest was out checking on Droplet and Splat one last time before they left. The young wolves should be old enough now to fend for themselves for a few months.
Tucker had just returned from patrol duty. It had been Noah’s turn, but everyone agreed he should get a good night’s rest after his brush with the tranquilizer dart. Obviously, Noah didn’t need the extra rest. As soon as he saw Stacy was awake he leapt up and greeted her.
“Hiya, boy,” Stacy said, taking his head into her hands and scratching behind his ears.
Next Stacy walked over to where Basil and Addison were nestled and bent down to wake them.
“Wake up, sleepyheads,” Stacy cooed. “We’ve still got to winterize the cave and pack some snacks for the trip.”
Winterizing the cave was Stacy’s fancy way of saying they needed to collect enough dry firewood to keep her warm during the coldest months of the year. If they weren’t coming back until after it snowed in the taiga, they’d have to gather the wood now.
“I stayed up all night making some stuff for the journey,” Stacy continued as she grabbed a large item from her rocking chair. “May I present to you all . . . the very first prototype of my Wolf Pack Hip Pack!”
Stacy held it up for the wolves to see. She’d taken a pair of khaki cargo pants she’d long outgrown and cut and sewn them into a crude saddlebag with a large pocket on each side. She
’d made a very basic pack for the wolves to wear several years ago, but it was completely worn out from years of carrying kindling, apples, and whatever else they found in the forest back to the cave. This new pack had a much more durable design, Stacy was sure of it.
“Noah, I think you should have the honor of wearing it first,” Stacy said, draping it over Noah’s withers and fastening the button under his belly. Noah puffed up with pride.
“I can’t carry everything we need in my satchel,” Stacy explained. “This will hold our water canteens, any fish Noah catches, and . . .”
Stacy walked back over to her rocking chair and grabbed another object that was hanging on its back.
“This!” Stacy exclaimed, holding out a large coil of vines from the Forest of Perpetual Darkness. She had knotted and braided them together to form a sturdy rope about thirty feet in length.
“I just thought we should be prepared for anything,” she said. “We definitely could have used a rope like this a long time ago, but my knot-tying skills weren’t cutting it back then.” Tucker sniffed the rope and wagged his tail in approval.
Stacy took the Wolf Pack Hip Pack off of Noah and crammed the rope into one of the side pockets. Next, she emptied the contents of their small, makeshift pantry into the other. It wasn’t much, just some apples, dried berries, and a few small loaves of homemade bread.
They spent the rest of the morning gathering firewood, filling their canteens at the river, and helping Stacy practice her archery with the bow and arrows Tucker had given her on her rescue day. Stacy was getting pretty good with them, hitting the target (a fallen spruce tree) an average of four times out of six. Each time Stacy had shot all six of the arrows, the wolves and Page would run over to retrieve them.
Once they had dragged all the firewood back to the cave and stacked it neatly beside the fireplace, Stacy packed her satchel with a few essentials: a pair of binoculars, her hunting knife, a compass, and all the paper money she’d ever found in the forest, which added up to fifty-two dollars. She wanted to be prepared in case she needed to buy something for the wolves or Page while they were traveling.
Sadly, Stacy realized Journey to the Center of the Earth was far too heavy a book to bring with her and she’d have to finish it when they returned. Instead she reached for one of the first books she’d ever read, a thin paperback copy of The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. This will do nicely, she thought. And it’s quite appropriate considering where I’m leading everyone.
The charm bracelet glittered at her from the bookcase shelf. She picked it up and held it in her hand, looking at the charms—the horse, the helicopter. Did Everest find this in the helicopter? she wondered. Is this something my parents gave me?
Deep inside, she was sure of it. Each of the charms looked even more special to her now. They were tiny links to the parents she couldn’t remember. The bracelet was too small to wear on her wrist now, so Stacy rooted around in her box of trinkets until she found a thin strand of leather cording. She carefully slipped the charms off the bracelet and slid them onto the cording, securing it around her neck with slip knots and tucking it into her shirt. I’ll keep them with me, she promised herself. Someday, I’ll find out about my human family.
For now, though, she needed to save the family she still had. She looked around at her wolf pack. Tucker was standing guard at the cave entrance. Noah was sprawled by the hearth, warming his belly. Wink and Page were chasing each other playfully around the rocking chair, yipping with excitement. Addison was examining a newspaper in the corner. Everest was still out with the wolf pups, giving them one last hunting lesson. But someone was missing.
“Where’s Basil?” Stacy said sharply. Tucker turned his head toward her, then quickly looked away. It was clear to Stacy that he knew where Basil had slipped off to when Stacy wasn’t looking.
Stacy frowned in concern. It was important that none of them wandered away, not while the researchers were still searching the forest for the wolves. Before she could ask Tucker again, though, Basil slipped through the cave entrance, her tail high with excitement.
“Where have you been?” Stacy asked. “We’re going to leave soon.”
Basil came over and pushed her muzzle against Stacy’s hand. Stacy turned her hand palm up and Basil dropped something into it. It was a flint and steel from the mines at the edge of the taiga, just like the ones Basil used to build fires in the hearth.
“Is this for me?” Stacy asked, surprised. She had always wanted to learn to build fires like the sleek yellow-eyed wolf did. Basil nodded and pressed her face against Stacy’s side.
This is a belated rescue day present, Stacy realized. Basil had still been too injured on rescue day to give Stacy a present, but now she was showing Stacy how glad she was that they were each other’s family.
Stacy dropped to her knees, threw her arms around Basil’s neck, and hugged her. “You didn’t need to get me a present,” she told Basil. “But I love it.” Basil wagged her tail as Stacy carefully tucked the flint and steel into her satchel.
Getting to her feet, Stacy was looking around the cave one last time for anything she might have forgotten to pack when Everest came in, back from checking up on Droplet and Splat. At the same time, Milo flew into the cave and hung upside down from the ceiling in his favorite spot.
Addison was standing over by the map they’d drawn with chalk on one of the cave walls. Everyone gathered around her.
“Here.” Stacy pointed. She placed her finger at the very bottom of the map, the southernmost part of the taiga they’d ever explored. “There’s something down here that is going to help us get away from here faster than we can ever manage by foot, er, I mean . . . paw. That’s where I want to go.”
Stacy and the wolves exited the cave and carefully covered the entrance with branches and stones so it wouldn’t be discovered. Stacy hoisted the heavy pack onto Noah and they all headed out, running at a steady pace. They’d traveled about ten miles south before Stacy and Page got tired and needed to hop onto Wink’s back. She snuggled into the wolf’s fur as they walked for what Stacy figured must have been another twelve miles or so until they reached them . . . train tracks.
“We’re here!” Stacy said, hopping off Wink. A look of terror flashed across Everest’s face. He knew what Stacy was planning.
“Come on, Everest,” Stacy said. “Where’s your sense of adventure? Don’t you want to get out of the taiga quickly? It will take us days to get to the next biome otherwise.”
After several more minutes of convincing, Everest at last nodded reluctantly, and everyone sat down beside the track to wait for a train. Stacy passed the time by pouring water for everyone in a little wooden bowl she’d brought and then reading her book while the wolves napped.
The sun had just gone down when Page sprang to her feet and began running in circles while Milo fluttered above her. A train was coming. The wolves got up and stretched while Stacy pulled her binoculars out of her bag and looked up and down the tracks.
“It’s a northbound!” Stacy said excitedly as the tracks began to rattle. “That’s what we want!”
She grabbed her bow and the quiver full of arrows and slung them around her back. The wolves lined up, ready to jump.
“Wait!” Stacy yelled. The train was closer now and Stacy could just make out the rows and rows of windows with human faces pressed against the glass, taking in the taiga’s scenery.
“Observation cars!” Stacy shouted at the top of her lungs. “HIDE!”
Stacy and the wolves (and Page and Milo) dove into the bushes behind them and watched as the train rumbled by. Suddenly, the noise intensified. Stacy lowered her head to the ground and looked at the tracks. Behind the first train she could now see the shadow of a second train passing in the opposite direction.
“Another train!” Stacy shouted. “Southbound!”
Stacy sat up and peered through the bushes just in time to see the last of the passenger train cars go by, revealing the slo
w-moving southbound train behind it. The train was almost past them, though. Stacy could only count ten remaining cars.
“It’s a freight train!” Stacy exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She looked to the wolves. “I know it’s not the direction we wanted, but these trains probably only go by once a day. I think we should take it!”
There was no time to think it over. Wink took off running after the train and hopped into an open cargo car. Page, Tucker, Noah, Addison, and Everest followed behind him. Stacy grabbed Milo and stuffed him into her satchel and took off running. She pumped her arms as hard as she could, but her fastest wasn’t fast enough. She looked up to see Everest leaning out of the car and reaching for her, but she couldn’t get close enough to him. His silver eyes were wide with panic. Oh no! she thought, panting with effort. What if I get left behind?
Suddenly, Basil appeared beside her. Stacy hopped on her back and Basil accelerated, running faster and faster until she was pacing the car that Everest and the others were in. Stacy reached for Everest and he pulled her into the train. Basil hopped in behind them.
The stars were just beginning to show up in the twilight sky as Stacy, the wolves, and Page wriggled up between the cars to the flat roof of the train. Everyone spread out and lay down to sleep, except for Everest, who positioned himself at the head of the train car to keep watch.
The steady motion of the train car was soothing. Stacy reached her hand in her satchel to pet Milo. There was no turning back now. They were headed south and Stacy had no idea what biome she would wake up to. She leaned back against Wink and fell asleep.
Eleven
STACY OPENED HER eyes and then quickly closed them. That can’t be right. Everything was orange. She opened them again and looked around in disbelief. It was as if the train they were on had transformed into a space shuttle during the night and flown them to another planet.
