1 The Trail of the Meat The dark spruce forest frowned on both sides of the frozen waterway The trees had been stripped of their snow by a biting wind They now leaned toward each other in a black mass The land itself was deserted and lifeless There was no movement If you listened closely there was a laughter that could be heard Not a laughter of happiness Rather the evil laughter of the Wild But there was life in the land Defi ant life in the wolfi sh dogs near the waterway Their fur was covered with frost Their breath froze in the air as it left their mouths A leather harness was on the dogs and leather traces attached to a sled that was 4
dragged behind them The sled was without runners On the sled was a long narrow box Also found on top was an ax blankets a coffee pot and a frying pan But occupying most of the space was the box In front of the dogs as well as in the back was a man On the sled in the box lay a third man A man whom the Wild had conquered He was beaten down until he would never struggle or move again The Wild does not like movement The Wild aims to destroy movement and life It freezes the water to prevent its way to the sea It drives the sap out of trees till they are frozen And man It destroys man to the core But at the front and back of the sled worked two men who were not yet dead Their bodies were covered in fur and soft-tanned leather Their eyelashes cheeks and lips were so coated with crystals from their frozen breath that you could not tell who was who They looked like ghosts But underneath their white masks two 5
adventurers were pitting themselves against the Wild determined to win They traveled on without speaking Silence surrounded them on all sides When the sun started to fade a faint cry arose in the air The front man turned his head until he locked eyes with the second Then across the narrow box the two men nodded at each other A second cry pierced the silence Both men turned to face the area they had just come from A third answering cry arose in the same spot They’re after us said Bill to the man in the front His voice was hoarse Meat is scarce answered his friend Henry I ain’t seen a rabbit for days Although they didn’t speak again each time they heard the cry they gave a nodding look to each other At the fall of darkness the men swung their dogs into a cluster of spruce trees and made camp The coffi n served as chair and table The wolf dogs stayed on the other side of the 6
