Henry settled into bed by the fi re What’s got me thinking is why didn’t the dogs pitch a fi t when that other one ate a fi sh of theirs Don’t make sense Bill was already asleep They slept side by side As the fi re died down the circle of eyes drew closer When they got too close for the dogs they started an uproar Bill got up and added more wood to the fi re which kept the circles at bay Henry said Bill getting under the covers there are seven again Just counted In the morning Bill awoke fi rst and made some coffee Say Henry how many dogs we got Six Wrong Henry Seven again Henry asked Wrong again We got fi ve One’s gone It’s Fatty They ate him alive He looked at the tracks Just dragged him off and ate him alive I bet 10
2 The She-Wolf Night after night a dog went missing It was Kiche who was part dog and part wolf who led them to their death She knew the way of the man-animals Because she looked so much like a husky Kiche was barely noticed standing among the others She was a daring beast She would slink into camp and eat their food But what little food they had wasn’t enough for her or the pack she ran with So each evening she would enter the camp and lure a dog out into an open fi eld She would trot up to them touch noses and play When they trusted her she led them away from camp Once they were alone in a fi eld the pack would appear and pounce Kiche did this until there were no dogs left 11
Bill and Henry felt hopeless We can’t just sit here waiting to be eaten said Bill He grabbed his rifl e I got three bullets left and I plan to make good use of them Those wolves are hungry Their bellies need to be full and I’m guessin we’re their next meal The men continued on their journey About a mile away they saw Kiche before them Looks like a dog to me said Bill I wouldn’t be surprised if she started to wag her tail Henry agreed It does look like a dog I ain’t never seen a red wolf before She’s the color of cinnamon Hello husky cried Bill Kiche inched toward them She ain’t a bit afraid of us said Bill He pulled a rifl e from the sled When he held it up Kiche ran off Look at that he said She’s seen a rifl e before Smart wolf Too smart to let me shoot her out here in the open When the time is right I’m going to kill her 12
Bill had his chance the next day I see her tracks I’m going to hunt her down Henry couldn’t talk Bill out of it Bill was determined to kill Kiche It wasn’t long before Henry heard a commotion of yelps three shots an even larger commotion and then silence The land was calm once more Henry found Bill or what remained of him hours later That night Henry knew he had little chance of surviving The fi re was low and the wolves were bolder than ever As he rested his eyes he shouted Come and get me cause I’m tired You’re going to win anyway The last thing he saw was the red she-wolf circling his body When he woke up hours later he sensed something had changed He sat up and couldn’t see the wolves He didn’t hear the wolves The fi re was still burning Morning came a voice If we didn’t arrive when we did you would have been the wolves next meal 13
