by Akart, Bobby
Chapter 54
Northwest Ontario, Canada
Levi wasn’t in his right state of mind that evening. When his surge of adrenaline finally subsided, he opted to sleep under the stars, as he put it, and ripped apart the lean-to shelter he’d so meticulously built. Rather than using the sleeping bag for protection from the nighttime cold, he slept on top of it, curled up in a fetal position. He’d convinced himself that it would make sense to be one with nature.
At dawn the next morning, he was awakened by the curious wolf pups, who were sniffing his face and hands. Levi lay perfectly still, not wanting to frighten them and actually enjoying the feel of their fur on his skin.
He slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the mother wolf, who had becoming increasingly annoyed that her youngsters would be so bold as to sniff a human. Levi began to consider how weak she’d become despite the nourishment and that soon she would die.
The wolf let out a squeaky yelp, and her pups scampered back to curl up under her belly. Levi sat up, moving slowly so as not to appear threatening. “I wish I could get you to trust me. Then I could loosen those clamps.”
He stood up, stretched his sore back, and then modestly relieved himself behind a tree several feet away from the campsite. The mother wolf’s head snapped up as a slight breeze carried the odor of his urine to her nostrils. She sneered slightly, a natural reaction to the human scent.
“Hey, sorry about that,” said Levi with a laugh. “I’ll pee downwind next time. How ’bout some breakfast?”
Levi added some dried leaves and pine needles to the still-smoldering coals and brought the fire back to life. Then he hustled back to the Dead Hog Market to gather breakfast for himself and his new friend.
Over the next few hours, he divided his time between talking softly with the wolf, playing with her pups, and feeding her more hog meat. Little by little, he was trying to gain her trust. Each time he interacted with her, he’d edge a little closer, being careful, however, not to get within her reach limited by the chain.
By early afternoon, the group was growing more comfortable around each other. Levi sat cross-legged in full view of the wolf, periodically feeding her hog meat and trickling creek water down into a swale near where she lay. She would lap it up, and her pups would roll around in it. It became a playful routine of nourishing, comforting, and convincing her he wasn’t a threat.
All of them fell asleep as the warm midday sun peeked through an opening in the trees.
After a short rest, Levi was awakened by the pups sloppily nursing. He thought for a moment, and then something compelled him to take a chance.
He sat cross-legged, as he had all morning, but he slowly inched forward, the closest he’d been to the wolf yet. He tossed her a few more pieces of meat, which she ate heartily. She’d begun to regain her appetite and her strength.
A potentially good news, bad news story based upon what was about to happen next.
Two of the pups broke loose from her teats and moseyed toward Levi. The mother lifted her head and glared at him. The puppies slowly walked into his lap and curled up to sleep.
That was when it happened.
It was fast. Imperceptible. But Levi noticed it nonetheless.
The mother wolf wagged her tail.
A breakthrough.
Levi smiled from ear to ear, careful not to show his teeth to her. He petted the pups for a while, speaking in hushed tones and even singing a lullaby.
“Hush, little baby, don’t say a word. Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird don’t sing, Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.”
Those were the only words he could recall, but he repeated them because they appeared to have a relaxing effect on the wolf. He gently lifted the pups out of his lap, and they staggered sleepily toward their mother before flopping on the ground against her belly.
Levi inched closer and the wolf didn’t move. She noticed. She just didn’t care.
He scooched on his butt even closer, well within the length of a chain. This was almost the moment of truth. Either she was going to let him touch her, or he was going to die trying.
He studied the mechanics of the trap. It was made like most, with two springs flanking a set of sharp-toothed jaws. He looked at how it had clamped on her leg. The wounds were deep, but not so much so that she’d lose the leg. She might be gimpy, but she could still be somewhat mobile.
Under the watchful eye of the wolf, who continued to lie on her side, but turned her head to follow Levi’s movements, he gently ran his fingers through her fur several times. The two had locked eyes, but the more he snuggled her, the more her steely eyes softened.
“Okay, please don’t bite me. This won’t take long.”
Levi used plenty of force to press down on the two springs, and fortunately, the jaws flew open and didn’t cause her further pain. This was the moment when he became the most vulnerable.
If he lost control of the trap and it snapped shut, she’d feel threatened. If she chose to attack him now, he’d only have his fists and his knife to defend himself. He held his breath and quickly pushed himself away from her with the heels of his feet.
She stood and tried to put weight on her injured leg, but it was unable to sustain her, so she landed hard on her left hip. She tried again. Whimpering, she stood favoring the injured leg. She loped about as her pups ran around her, emitting joyous yelps. They nipped playfully at their mother’s neck and front legs as she tried to maintain her balance.
For some reason, Levi felt safe. He no longer tried to back away, nor did he pull his knife. He enjoyed the moment, hoping the mother wolf would gather her pups and vanish into the wilderness.
Instead, she lowered her head and slowly hobbled toward him. He remained completely still. She sniffed his hands and arms. The pups crawled in Levi’s lap, and he softly petted them, as he’d done before. She raised her head and pushed her snout directly toward Levi’s face. His eyes grew wide, but he remained still.
Then she licked him. Gently, over and over again.
Tears poured out of Levi’s eyes, which only encouraged the mother wolf to lap up the salty moisture. This went on for a minute until Levi finally exhaled and the tears subsided.
With one final sniff of his perspiration and tears, she raised her head slightly as if to say goodbye, and wandered into the woods, with her pups running as fast as their little legs could to keep up.
Levi sat there for hours, never once getting up from that cross-legged position until darkness came. When the first chorus of wolf calls could be heard, he began to laugh. It was comforting, reassuring, and natural.
He tilted his head back and considered howling at the moon himself, and instead his mouth fell open as an incredible aurora grew in the sky, silently painting the horizon in hues of green, purple, and blue.
Levi never wanted to leave this spot as he took in the wonder of the sky and the serenity of the wilderness. He’d forgotten about plane crashes and wolf attacks. He’d put out of his mind his sadness over missing his family.
And he didn’t even know that the town of Hearst, Ontario, population five thousand, was barely two miles down the other side of the ridge from where he sat.
In that moment, Levi Boone wouldn’t have cared. He was home.
Chapter 55
Riverfront Farms
Southeast Indiana
It was late afternoon and Sarah sent Squire to fetch Carly and the grandkids for supper. That morning, the three adults had gotten together to discuss their game plan for when the power would be shut down. Squire had volunteered to focus on the news for so long as it was available to watch. Their DirecTV satellite feed had been experiencing difficulties as a result of the recent solar activity, not to mention the fact that many news networks were operating with skeleton crews as the nation hunkered down for the upcoming blackout.
Sarah and Carly developed a rigid meal plan that, if followed, would sustain their immediate family plus Chapman’s unknown friend
for almost six months before they’d have to dig into their canned vegetables and bulk dry goods.
Squire pulled some of the farmhands off their regular duties to gather firewood for the main house, as well as the tenant houses that dotted Riverfront Farms. January, the coldest month for Southeast Indiana, generally had daily high temperatures around forty-two degrees, with lows averaging in the mid-twenties. In recent years, there had been a warming trend, but Squire wanted to make sure there was plenty of seasoned firewood on hand to be used as a heating source and fuel for cooking.
He’d embraced the whole concept of preparing for a long-term power outage. He’d also learned a lesson from their interaction with Sheriff Clark and his deputies that night. The Clarks believed they were above the law. With the three siblings acting as sheriff, judge, and banker, they controlled most aspects of the county’s government and finances. He’d been wrong to challenge the sheriff under the circumstances, and especially with Sarah involved. He’d learned from the experience, and it would serve him well later.
Besides, Squire surmised, he’d be getting the last laugh on the Clarks and their greedy banking ways. As far as Squire was concerned, once the power grid was taken down, all bets were off and all debts were cancelled. After all, how can a man be expected to pay his mortgage when there’s no online bill payment methods or any way to deposit his check, right? With this little nugget of a last laugh tucked away in the back of his mind, Squire began to relish the prospect of living in a powerless world, like his namesake from the eighteenth century.
“Squire!” Sarah shouted from the kitchen. “Unless there’s somethin’ you need to watch, why don’t you come in and fix your plate before it gets cold? I’d like us to sit together to eat since it might be a little different from here on out.”
“Okay, on my way,” replied Squire. He walked away from the television as a news report came on the screen from Chicago, where gang violence had overrun the city and the Brookfield Zoo incident made headlines. Squire stopped in his tracks and spun back toward the television. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one came out of the kitchen.
He barely turned up the volume and blocked the monitor from the others’ view. They reported on the anarchists’ activity at Brookfield and that several zoo personnel had been killed. Then a helicopter filmed Chicago from above. High-rise buildings were burning out of control, and an image of stampeding elephants was shown running along Lake Shore Drive. The chyron on the screen read Chicago Descends into the Abyss.
“Dammit. Kristi, where are you?”
Squire had tried a dozen times an hour to call all of his children. His futile attempts required him to keep the cell phone plugged into a power source at all times. Despite his vigilance, he’d had no luck, and now he’d confirmed Chicago’s power grid was shut down.
“Squire!”
Sarah called for him again. This time, he changed the channel to a local Indianapolis station and then turned off the television.
The five of them joined hands while Squire said the blessing. They chatted about what it would be like without power. Sarah and Carly spoke at length about how their ordinary, daily tasks could be performed without electricity with a little change in lifestyle. The kids were embracing the change, although they grumbled considerably about the lack of video games. When Squire promised Jesse and Rachel that he’d take them fishing for walleye and bass along the banks of the Ohio River, they quickly forgot about video games.
Just as they finished dinner, Sarah stood and reached across the table to clear the empty plates when the lights suddenly grew bright, flickered, and then turned off. The grandkids shrieked and Carly immediately reacted to calm them down.
“Well, there it is,” said Squire matter-of-factly. “Just as the sun went down, the lights went out. Back to the good old days, I guess.”
Sarah was ready for this eventuality. She rummaged through her apron pockets and found a Bic lighter. She ignited it and a soft, orange glow filled the room. Carly slid two candlesticks in her direction and the room got brighter.
“That’s not so bad, is it, kids?” asked Sarah as she mussed Jesse’s hair.
“Yeah, who needs power, anyway, right, Grandpa?” asked Jesse.
He fist-bumped with Squire, who was doing his best to keep up a positive demeanor in light of what he’d just seen on the news.
“You’re right, young man. We’re Boones, and just like Squire and Daniel of the old days, we’ll make it without power in these new days. Trust me, we’ve got it way better than they did. We don’t have to hide from wild Indians all day and night.”
Carly raised her hand. “Do y’all hear that?”
The noise grew louder. “Is that a tractor?” asked Sarah.
“No. A motorcycle. Sarah, grab your rifle. Carly, take the kids to the back bedroom and stay out of sight.”
Everyone scrambled around and took their positions as Squire had instructed. He readied his shotgun and cracked the front door, ready to stick the barrel through it and fire if necessary.
The motorcycle arrived and the driver shut it off. Squire could make out two riders unloading themselves from the seat. They started toward the front door.
“Don’t move!” he shouted.
“Dad? It’s me. Chapman.”
Sarah screamed from the kitchen and raced through the darkened house to the front door. “Chapman! Oh my. Thank you, Lord. Thank you!”
“Hey, Mom,” said Chapman as she forced her way past Squire and crashed into her son with a hug of a lifetime.
Tears were flowing down her face. “Oh, son. My god, we’ve been so worried about you.” Squire joined in the hug, unable to find the words to speak, but not trying to hide his emotions as he sobbed out of joy and relief.
Sarah looked past Chapman and saw Isabella standing shyly several paces behind him. “I’m so sorry, are you Chapman’s, um, friend?”
“Girlfriend, Mom,” Chapman replied for her. He broke the group hug and reached for Isabella’s hand. She hesitated, but then took it, somewhat overwhelmed by meeting the love of her life’s parents for the first time. “I’d like you to meet Isabella Dubois. We met in Paris.”
Squire found his voice. “You’re French?”
“Oui, Monsieur Boone,” she replied quietly.
“Holy smokes! Did you hear that, Sarah?” he asked without caring to hear an answer. He was giddy. “Isabella, is it?”
She nodded.
“Um, can you say that again?”
“What, Dad?” asked Chapman.
“You know, the wee thing.”
Isabella blushed, but played along. “Oui, Monsieur Boone.” Then she wrapped her arm through Chapman’s and added, “J’adore Chapman.” I love Chapman.
Sarah stepped in to protect Isabella. “Don’t you pay this old coot any mind. Come on in, dear, and let’s get you something to eat.”
Sarah tried to lead her toward the door, but Isabella held back. “Madame Boone, I am so, um, grimy.”
Sarah burst out laughing as she gave Isabella a hug. She whispered in her ear, “Please, call me Sarah, and don’t you worry about any of that, honey. You’re with family now. Let’s get you inside and I’ll draw you a hot bath. Well, maybe lukewarm. We just lost power, but you can have the rest of the hot water.”
Suddenly, Carly and the kids emerged from inside. “Uncle Chapman!”
They raced across the porch and arrived at Chapman simultaneously, nearly knocking him off his feet. The three hugged for a long time, and they peppered him with a thousand questions.
“Hey, guys, why don’t y’all let Chapman get in the door first, okay?” asked Carly as she waved to her brother-in-law. A tear rolled down her cheek, as she was happy to see Chapman, but truthfully she would’ve loved to see her husband at the front door instead.
“Carly!” shouted Squire, who could hardly contain his excitement. “Come meet Chapman’s girlfriend. She’s from Paris.”
Carly joined the reunion, and the three
women moseyed inside arm in arm. Isabella turned to smile at Chapman. It was dark and he couldn’t see her face completely, but he sensed she was happy and relieved.
Sarah gave the guys their marching orders. “Jesse, gather up Isabella’s things and put them in the guest bedroom at the top of the stairs. Rachel, I want you to go around and light up all the candles we set out earlier. Carly and I are going to draw Isabella a warm bath and let her relax.”
“What about me and Chapman?” asked Squire.
“Stay out of trouble!” Sarah shouted back over her shoulder as the women disappeared into the house. Then she added, “Thank God you’re home, Chapman.”
Chapman gave his father another hug. “Dad, you have no idea what we’re in for. Heck, what I’ve been through in the last week could make enough stories for a lifetime.”
Squire wandered off and shoved his hands into his pockets. He stared up at the nearly full moon and began to sniffle as his emotions got the better of him. Chapman walked to his side and put his arm around his father’s shoulders.
“Dad, I’m sorry to bring all of this up now. Let’s celebrate and—” Chapman stopped midsentence. He turned and looked toward the house, and then he gathered the courage to ask, “Hey, where are Kristi and Levi?”
Squire, with tears streaming down his face, tried to find the words. “Son, we haven’t heard from Levi since he left for Canada for huntin’ days ago. All I know was that there was a freak blizzard around the time he was supposed to arrive at the camp. I’ve called and called, but I can’t get through.”
“What about Kristi?”
There’s always a special bond between a father and his daughter. Squire’s mind raced as he recalled the times he’d lovingly swept her hair behind her ears as a child, or when he’d picked her up and twirled her around, promising that he’d always be there for her. All of the times he was proud of her when she won ribbons at the county fair, or when she became a vet, or when she was on television being interviewed for all of her accomplishments at the zoo. He was simply overwhelmed to the point where he couldn’t speak.