Timber Wolf

by Caroline Pignat

  “Oh, Jack,” her eyes fill with tears, too. “You think—”

  “He’s dead, Kit.” I blurt. “And ’tis all my fault. And he loved you, Kit. He told me so himself. I swore I’d never tell you but—”

  “But you never could keep a secret.” The deep voice behind me catches me by surprise and I spin around to see Mick coming out onto the front step with an armload of firewood.

  “Mick?” I whisper, afraid my voice would make the vision disappear, for he’s surely a ghost.

  “The very man himself,” he says, his wide smile cutting cheek to cheek.

  “You’re alive!” I rush at him, knocking the wood from his grip. It tumbles and clatters around the front step. “You’re alive!”

  “I had a good nurse,” he says, looking at Kit. “Never mind me ... you’re alive! Benoît told us you’d gone missing after the log drive started. We thought you’d died.”

  “You had us so worried about you, Jack,” she puts her hand on her hip, her tone like Mam’s. But it warms my heart, so it does. “Where have you been all this time? Just look at the state of you. What in God’s name happened to you?”

  I look at them both, my big sister and my best friend, as they stare at me in wide-eyed wonder, brows raised in anticipation. They’re hanging on my every word, so they are.

  I smile. “Have I got a story for you.”

  GLOSSARY

  Anishnaabe - plural is Anishnaabeg. Anishnaabe is the most

  common term used for group self-identification among

  Aboriginal people (including the Algonquin.)

  Begob/Bedad - Irish-ism for “I swear to God I will”

  Ininigoban - poor excuse for a man

  Jaysus - Irish-ism for “Jesus”

  Kitchi Miigwech - Thanks so much!

  Kopadizi - slow witted/stupid

  Mahingan - wolf

  Mishibeshi - a serpent/lynx underwater monster hidden

  beneath the ice that pulls boaters and swimmers to their

  deaths.

  Mishomis - grandfather

  Pigiwizigan - taffy

  Pikogan - tipi

  Pwanawito - helpless

  Shognosh - Anishnaabe slang for white man

  Wawatie - Northern Lights

  Windigo - a malevolent, cannibalistic spirit that grows as it

  consumes humans in winter

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Thanks so much to:

  Peter Carver for being the editor who affirms where I am, the teacher who nudges me to go further, and the friend who celebrates with me along the way.

  Richard Dionne, Cheryl Chen, Tracey Dettman, Jim Chalmers, and the Red Deer Press family for your continuing support.

  Marie Campbell for your encouragement and guidance.

  Alan Cranny for, once again, capturing the spirit of the novel in your cover art.

  All Saints Catholic High School staff and students for your inspiration and support. A special thanks to Amy Talarico and Graham Mastersmith for sharing your passion for Native Studies, and to Monique Cyr, my go-to girl for all things français.

  My draft readers Elizabeth Tevlin, Tony Pignat, Alan and Peggy Cranny, and Kerri Chartrand. Thanks for venturing with me in the wilds of writing and helping me find my way. Without your wise feedback and insight, I’d still be lost. You are my gps in so many ways.

  Kitchi Miigwech to experts:

  Suzanne Keeptwo, Editor, Author, and Native Studies Consultant, and Professor Jill St. Germain, History Department of Carleton University. Thank you for being such faithful stewards of story and culture, for teaching with historical integrity and passion, and for helping this story ring true.

  Stephen Augustine, Curator at the Museum of Civilization, Stephen McGregor, Kirby Whiteduck, and Web sites www.thealgonquinway.ca and www.anishnabenation.ca for your detailed resources on the Anishnaabeg.

  A heartfelt thanks to Tony, Liam, and Marion for all you do during my work-in-progress and everything you are in my life-in-progress. I love you guys.

  INTERVIEW WITH CAROLINE PIGNAT

  The previous two novels in this sequence have a girl, Kit, as the main character. This one focuses on Jack, her younger brother. Did you have a particular model in mind for the boy, as you developed his character?

  Jack has always been a “right scallywag,” as my mom would say. I loved writing his antics in Greener Grass, as seen by his aggravated older sister. Timber Wolf gave me the chance to climb into Jack’s personality and see the world through his eyes. Jack is impulsive, competitive, adventurous beyond his abilities, and yet unsure of himself. He’s not based on any one person in particular, but having taught kids this age for a few years, I’ve known a Jack or two.

  You’ve chosen to have Jack meet an aboriginal family as he tries to discover who he is. How much research did you have to do to make sure that you represented this family with the right degree of historical accuracy?

  Though I grew up in Ottawa, I am ashamed to admit I knew little of First Nations’ culture. To portray Mahingan’s family life as realistically as I could, I did research. A lot of research. It sounds like work, but it was fascinating. I read everything I could get my hands on about First Nations, both fiction and non-fiction, by aboriginal authors; I contacted reserves; I spent many hours at the Museum of Civilization in Quebec, spoke with Native Studies teachers, and met with History Professor Jill St. Germain from Carleton University. Each experience helped deepen my understanding of the Algonquin people of 1847. I also worked with Suzanne Keeptwo. Well connected to her local Aboriginal community, Suzanne is an editor who focuses on authentic portrayals of Aboriginal people. Her feedback helped me capture the voice, culture, and world view of Mahingan’s family.

  You seem to know a lot about boys of this age. Jack is full of bluster, but he also has a conscience that tells him the bluster often leads him into trouble. Do you think this is especially true of boys of this age?

  I’m sure we all know boys, or even some girls, who have the impulsive nature Jack shows. Some people learn by thinking things through and then acting. Others, like Jack, learn “the hard way” by acting first and then looking back at what worked and what didn’t. The “hard way” works, I suppose, as long as they don’t drown, freeze, starve, or get eaten by a bear first.

  The wolf is an important figure in this story—and ultimately one of the most important guides for Jack. Why did you decide to use this animal in this way?

  Because the story is about Jack finally getting his adventure in the woods, I pictured him as a lone wolf. I must have been watching a nature special or something at the time, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it’s a perfect parallel. They are impulsive and playful. Both go off on their own and eventually realize how much they need their pack. Jack, like the wolf, is loyal at heart. As I was researching, I learned the Algonquin honor their animal guides, and the wolf is a popular one. Mahingan is named after the wolf. He, too, is a guide for Jack.

  You have enjoyed telling stories about Ireland and Canada in the mid-19th century. Yet there’s a common assumption that young people have little interest in history, in what happened the day before yesterday. As you’ve met with young readers and heard from them, do you think that assumption is accurate or not?

  I get great feedback during school visits and by e-mail and I’m amazed at how readers of all ages are enjoying the series. People that don’t normally like history are loving historical fiction. I know exactly what they mean. When I was a student, I hated history class. It felt like all we did was memorize timelines and treaty dates for tests. Boring! But as an adult, I started to read historical fiction and all of a sudden I was hooked. Because I got to know and care about the people in the stories, I became curious about the facts. It doesn’t matter if the character is in a fantasy world, in outer space, or in the past—as long as he or she is someone that readers can relate to in some way. Our problems might be different, but our emotions are the same.

  Is this
the last book in this series about the Byrne family? Or are there more stories about these characters that could emerge in the future?

  Kit, Mick, Annie, and Jack are real to me. I really enjoyed getting to know them. In my mind, their stories—their lives—don’t end when the novel closes. Who knows? I may find Annie’s voice or Mick’s or Billy’s and tune in to what tale they want to tell.