Girl in Falling Snow

by F. M. Parker

  Alice saw two grayish black animals racing over the snow not far ahead. They had obviously come out of the forest on the left shore of the lake and were heading for the forest on the opposite shore. The larger and darker colored wolf led, with the smaller wolf following it’s path. The lead wolf gave Alice and Will a short glance over it’s shoulder, and then looked back to the front.

  Alice marveled at the effortless way the wolves moved, leaping with great bounds, seeming almost to float as if they weighed nothing at all. Only the geysers of snow that erupted and glistened in the sunlight as they leapt told that their feet did truly touch the ground. The two wolves vanished into the forest like phantoms.

  “They act as if they’re afraid of us.”

  “Wolves usually stay away from people.”

  “I hope these two stay away from us.”

  *

  Black Face lay in the snow under the low hanging limbs of a giant pine and watched the two humans make their way over the last half mile of the frozen lake and enter the forest. Beside him and was the young female with the black and gray fur and white throat patch that he had stolen from the Rainy River pack.

  Black Face had laid claim to the land around Head Lake as his domain and the need to know the identity of the two humans was strong within him. He had spied upon the humans that cut down the big trees and knew each by sight and by his scent. Were these two from that group? He would find out. He rose and trotted off among the trees bordering the lake.

  As Black Face moved away from his mate, she barked once to question his intention. He ignored her query and continued on. She hesitated but a moment and then sprang forward and followed close behind.

  Black Face found the two sets of human footprints in the snow and lowered his nose to catch the scents that were on them and rising into the air from them. The moist, olfactory nerve endings within his nose could detect and identify one tiny bit of a particular scent from a myriad of other smells that floated upon the air.

  He possessed an uncountable number of odors stored in his memory; from the simple pine needle to the white butterfly of summer, from the lowly earthworm to the eagle that soared in the high sky. He knew the loggers scent, and those of the hunters who prowled the woods with their guns, and the fishermen who walked the shores of the lake.

  Black Face compared the odors of these two humans with all the scores of other human smells that he knew and found they were strange to him. More than that, the scent of one of the humans possessed a unique quality, one he could not match with a known one. Yet at the same time there was something about it that seemed somehow familiar.

  Close beside him his mate was also sniffing at the tracks and that drew Black Face’s attention to her. As her smell registered anew, the riddle of the unique human scent was answered. This particular human carried the scent of a female, the first Black Face had ever come upon.

  He breathed in a lung full of the air and allowed it to stream out slowly through his nose. He sorted out the female smell from that of the usual human smell, and it was tantalizing in its strange newness. The smell was irresistible to Black Face, and though there would be danger, he must go close to this female human.

  He struck off at a trot along the pair of tracks. His mate followed, whining worriedly. Black Face gave her a look over his shoulder and she fell silent.

  *

  When the sun passed over its zenith and began its short wintertime fall to the horizon, Alice and Will halted in the forest near a fallen pine tree with many limbs. They scraped the snow away from the ground as best they could with their burlap wrapped feet, and built a fire with the dead wood of the pine. They sat upon the trunk of the tree near the fire and ate ham sandwiches from the supply of food Two Doves and Jack had insisted they take.

  The worry came again to Alice, as it had so many times during the days of travel, what would she find in Canada, what kind of life could she make for herself there? She wanted to believe that she would find work to earn money for food and a place to sleep. She wanted to meet kind people like Sister Marie, or Eduardo Sandoval the old shoe cobbler.

  She peered at Will and saw he must be having thoughts similar to Alice’s for his face held a worried, haggard expression. What had he left behind? He had volunteered nothing about his past life. Alice had asked no questions.

  Alice finished her sandwich and spoke to Will. “I have to go off a little ways by myself. “

  “I wouldn’t go far.”

  “I won’t. Just beyond those trees.” She pointed.

  *

  From a patch of bushes among the trees and down wind, Black Face stealthily observed the two humans at the fire and eating. His mate lay beside him and also viewing the two. He had quickly identified the odors coming from the humans. The female human scent, strong now that he was close, came from the smaller of the two. As he observed her, she made the sounds one human made to another and left the fire and walked off among the trees.

  Black Face signaled his mate to remain hidden. Then he rose and stole among the trees and ever closer to the human female. He stopped instantly when she halted and looked back in the direction of the fire, now hidden from her view by the trunks of several trees. She began to unbuckle the belt to her pants.

  Without a sound, Black Face crept closer to Alice.

  Alice looked about one last time before dropping her pants. She flinched sharply for a huge male wolf was but a dozen steps away and creeping through the snow toward her. Her pulse was suddenly pounding. She hastily buckled the belt.

  The moment her eyes had fallen upon the wolf, he stopped and stood with his muzzle pointed directly at her. He was motionless except for the movement of his chest as he breathed in her scent. His face and back were black, his sides gray, and that graded to reddish tan below. His brush of a tail was curved slightly upward. His eyes were yellow with brown centers, and those eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon her.

  Alice started to whirl around and run. She caught herself up short, if she turned her back and ran, might that provoke the wolf to spring upon her. She must remain very, very still and look the wolf in the eyes. If she showed no fear, might that keep it from attacking her? She was awfully scared and wished for her walking staff, that she had left behind at the fire, to use as a club.

  As Alice faced the wolf, a strange thought came to her. She sensed no menace from the wolf. Or was it that she did not recognize it? The wolf’s eyes opened wide to a full circle of concentration upon her. Was the animal trying to read her intentions as she was trying to read its? Wolves did not think that way. Or did they?

  The wolf lifted its nose and drew in a deep breath of her scent. At that he wagged his brush of a tail twice. Alice knew what that meant, if he had been a dog. Wasn’t a wolf the cousin of a dog? Was this wolf telling her that he intended no harm to her? Could it be that her special way with dogs could protect her from this wolf? She held her green eyes locked upon the yellow eyes of the wolf and willed the animal to understand that she was friendly and for it not to hurt her. To show her desire to be a friend, she slowly offered her hand to the wolf. The wolf broke eye contact and looked at the offered hand.

  At that instant, thunder exploded among the trees not far off on Alice’s right. A powerful blow struck the wolf on the left side and knocked him rolling, his tumbling body flinging snow into the air. He came to rest on his side and lay motionless. Then after a short moment, he turned weakly to his stomach and slowly raised the front half of himself up on two trembling legs. Blood streamed from his side and made crimson splashes upon the pristine snow. His eyes, questioning what had happened to him, looked searchingly to Alice for the answer. Then the pain came and he knew that he had been injured and his eyes filled with accusation. That gave way to hate and he growled raw and savagely at Alice. His growl quickly dwindled to silence, and with the accusatory expression rapidly fading, he sank into the snow. His legs worked and churned the snow a bit as if he was trying to run and escape from this hazardous place. He let out
his breath, and shuddered, and died.

  From her hiding place in the bushes, the young female Black Face had chosen for his mate, had observed the killing. She barked out in fear and bolted away through the forest, running with all her strength and swiftness.

  Alice was stunned at the crash of the rifle shot and the violent death of the wolf. The expression with which the wolf had stared at her, blaming her for his wound as he died, was hurtful and her heart cramped.

  There was movement among the trees to her right and Alice saw Paul Bouccard and his dog run into sight. Paul carried a rifle and Alice knew he was responsible for shooting the wolf.

  “Are you all right?” Paul shouted out.

  “Yes. Yes. I’m all right.” Alice replied. He had killed the wolf to protect her. “Did you have to shoot the wolf?”

  “I was afraid he was going to jump on you.” Paul answered and much surprised at Alice’s reply.

  “I don’t believe he was going to hurt me at all. I think he was just curious about me.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “I know because it was in his eyes. And his tail wagged.”

  “His tail wagged? Well you could be right for wolves have a great amount of curiosity. I surely didn’t want to shoot him for I saw he had a mate. But when I saw him trailing you, I figured I’d better follow and make sure you weren’t attacked.” Paul continued on in a sad tone that told his regret at having killed the wolf. “It’s done now and nothing can change that.”

  “You did what you thought was needed.”

  “If I was wrong about him, then it was a bad thing.”

  “We can never know the answer to that.”

  “No, we can’t.”

  Paul, with Brutus beside him, went to Black Face and knelt in the snow. “I’m truly sorry, Black Face,” Paul whispered. “I wish this hadn’t happened.” Days earlier, he had ceased hunting the wolf when he saw him with the female and knew he had broken away from the pack and would start his own in the spring breeding season soon to come. A pack of Black Face’s offspring would now never come to be and the loss to the forest was large and Paul was the cause of that. For the first and last time, he ran his hand over the wolf’s black face, over his pointed ears and along his back. He avoided touching the gaping bullet wound and the blood that had ceased to flow. Black Face looked smaller in death than he had running wild and free through the woods. “I’m sorry,” Paul whispered again.

  Will ran from the trees and stopped near Alice. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

  “I’m all right. He shot a wolf that was close to me,” Alice said and nodding toward Paul.

  “He’s the trapper fellow we saw at the logging camp,” Will said and looking at Paul who was rising from beside the wolf. “Are you going to skin the wolf?”

  “No. I couldn’t bring myself to skin Black Face. This is his land and I’ll let him lie here and become part of it.”

  “You had a name for him?” Alice asked.

  “Yes, I’ve seen him in the woods these last three years. He had this distinctive coloring about his head and so I gave him the name. He came to seem like an old friend.”

  “I can see why you wouldn’t want to skin him,” Alice said.

  Paul came a few steps closer to Alice and Will. “We didn’t have time to get introduced at the lumber camp,” Paul said. “My name is Paul.”

  “Mine is Alice.”

  “I’m Will. Do you know how far it is to the border with Canada?”

  “Sure. About four miles. You’ll want to find the bridge. It’s in that direction.” Paul pointed off through the pine trees. “If you come to the river first, then turn left toward the bridge. If you see the road first, then turn right and follow it to the bridge.” That they were runaways showed plainly. But why did they choose January, the worst possible time to do it?

  “Thanks,” Will said.

  “Do you know anybody in Canada?” Paul wondered what relationship existed between the two.

  “No,” Alice replied.

  “You’ll find it hard to find work this time of year.”

  “We’ll make out,” Alice said.

  Will nodded his head in agreement with Alice.

  Paul considered the brave answers. The two would find it very difficult in Canada.

  “Where were you going before all of this happened?” Alice asked.

  “I had finished running my trap line and was heading home. My mother and I have a farm there along the Rainy River.” Paul pointed as if he could see through forest to the farm. “And I’d best get moving for I got chores to do before it gets dark.”

  “We had better go too,” Alice said. She turned to Will. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good luck to both of you,” Paul said and looking directly at Alice.

  “The same to you,” Alice said. “I’m sorry about your wolf.”

  “I wish he was still alive,” Paul replied. “And, of course, you not hurt.” Paul turned about, and with Brutus at his side, walked away among the big pines and was lost from view.

  “Let’s hurry,” Will said.

  “Yes,” said Alice.

  Alice followed Will back to the fire where they gathered up their belongings and hastened away through the snowy forest.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Darkness Under The Ice

  “I see the bridge, Will, I see the bridge!” Alice cried out joyfully and pointing along the road. “We’ve made it to Canada where we’ll be safe.”

  “Not until we cross the river to the far side,” Will replied.

  Alice and Will had come out from among the big trees of the woods and onto the road but a moment before. The bridge, a few score steps ahead, was an ancient iron structure with much rust showing through its peeling brown paint. Its builders had selected a site for the bridge where the Rainy River was pinched down to but a couple hundred feet wide between two bluffs. The bridge was narrow and provided space for only one vehicle at a time to cross. A low metal railing ran along each side of the bridge. The ends of the bridge rested on stone abutments. Its center section was supported by two equally spaced stone pillars rearing up through the ice from the river bottom.

  Alice shivered from the severe cold. She had no feeling in her feet and feared they were frozen. She had walked through the burlap that had provided insulation from the snow. The burlap now hung in tatters from the cords that had bound it to her legs. Strips of the burlap flopped about on the snow with each of her steps.

  “Will, I’m so cold I can hardly walk. I’ve got to have a fire to keep from freezing to death.”

  “I’m darn cold myself. The snow is too deep to get a fire burning in the woods. Let’s build one on the bridge where the snow has been mostly blown away.”

  “Build it on the Canada end of the bridge,” Alice said. “Then if we see somebody coming we can run into the woods and hide.”

  Will led the way onward along the road toward the bridge. He halted where a narrow road came in from the right and joined the main road. He pointed and spoke to Alice. “A horse pulling a sleigh went down the lane and then came back out and went north over the bridge.”

  “Let’s hurry on and get the fire started,” Alice said shaking with the cold.

  With both of them walking in the same sleigh track, Will led to the bridge. As they stepped upon its end, he gestured ahead with his gloved hand. “There’s the sign we’ve been looking for, Alice, Canadian Border.”

  “A very fine sight,” Alice said. Her heart lifted as she read the much weathered and faded lettering on the metal sign fastened to the bridge railing at the river’s mid-point.

  Beyond the sign, Will dropped his pack on the bridge and spoke to Alice. “You sit down and rest while I go get wood for the fire.”

  “Thanks, Will.” Alice was glad to rest for she was so terribly cold and weary.

  As Will hastened off into the thick woods on the Canadian shore, Alice sat down on the pack and shoved her h
ands deeply into the pockets of her coat. She leaned against the bridge railing and looked down at the river that marked the place upon the earth that Will and she had journeyed so desperately to reach. One of the bridge’s pillars was directly below her and the swift current of water swirled and gurgled as it argued with the stone that interfered with its passage. She noted that due to the turbulence of the water near the pillar, the frigid temperature had been unable to freeze it into a sheet of ice, and instead had created an area of slush ice several inches thick, some three feet wide and extending several feet downstream from the bridge. The thousands of ice crystal of the slush ice whispered with a low rasping sound as they were constantly being churned by the movement of the river current.

  She looked downstream along the ice imprisoned river to where it curved away to her right and out of sight between heavily forested banks. She looked more broadly about and saw no animal of the earth, nor bird of the sky, only snow and ice, and the dark trees of the forest and they were frozen to their heartwood. She had enough of gloomy forests and snow. She tried to picture how the land might look in springtime with new greenness and flowers and song birds, and the river free of its ice mask and its waters running free and sparkling in warm sunlight. She failed to create the picture because the desolate view lying before her dominated her mind and she shivered ever more.

  She must do something to generate some warmth in her body. She stood and hugged herself and began to stomp around on one foot and then the other, with the torn strips of burlap swinging about her feet. Then as she made to lift a foot, she could not for a length of the burlap attached to it was caught beneath the other foot. The inability to lift the foot threw her off balance and she tripped and stumbled into the pack and that knocked her feet from under her and she fell backwards upon the iron railing of the bridge. She tumbled over the railing and into space.

  Alice rotated half a turn as she fell and struck the slush ice of the river head first and vanished beneath the water. The momentum of her fall drove her down deeply and the swift current seized her in its frigid embrace and swept her downstream. Don’t breathe! Don’t breathe! Alice warned herself for then you will die.