Jackal and Wolf

by Shen Shixi

  A few seconds later, when Medalwolf’s eyes had adjusted to the dim light inside the cave, he saw Flame with her drooping tail. Immediately, the wolf’s tail went flat, his fur stood up on end, he bared his teeth and began to howl, and positioned himself ready to leap in attack. He made it quite clear there was no room for a jackal in his home.

  Sweetie moved and blocked his way, letting out a stream of howls. She ran to Medalwolf, then back to Flame. Her intention was clear, she wanted him to accept Flame as a member of their family, and for them all to live together in Buddha Belly Cave.

  Flame curled up on the stones, drawing her legs up to her chest, holding her tail between her teeth, in a gesture of surrender. It was the body language of jackals, but as wolves and jackals are both canines, Flame thought Medalwolf would be able to read her body movements and understand what was on her mind. But he howled away furiously as though he had come face to face with his enemy. Gnashing his teeth and scratching his paws on the ground, he prepared to launch an attack, to go for the kill.

  Adult wolves are so proud and aloof, there is no way they could consider sharing the lair with a jackal.

  Sweetie blocked his way. She was slightly smaller than him, and didn’t quite have his strength. What’s more, the pups were due any day now, and her big belly made her movements slow and stiff. She had the willpower, but not the physical strength. There was no way she could stop Medalwolf from attacking. Very soon, he would move in on Flame, dig his claws into her body, and send jackal fur flying everywhere.

  Flame put up no resistance. She did not glare at him with her jackal eyes, or bare her teeth, or screech. She could not fight back. She would not answer back. She knew that resistance was futile, that harsh words would be ineffective. They would just provoke Medalwolf to attack. But her hatred was still there.

  Medalwolf swept across the ground. Sweetie moved to the left to block him. He turned to the left, jumped to the right, made a noise here, attacked there. She was surprised to see these diversionary tactics. Then he attacked from the right, leapt on to Flame, and brought his criss-crossing wolf’s teeth down on to her neck. Flame’s eyes were closed, waiting for the kill.

  With Flame’s life hanging in the balance, Sweetie thrust forward with all the power she could muster and pushed him off. Then suddenly she made a mournful howl – perhaps because she had distressed the pups, perhaps she had accidentally knocked her belly – and lay down, trembling with her mouth contorted in pain.

  Medalwolf adored Sweetie. He leapt to her side, and lovingly licked her bulging belly. But he still wanted to drive Flame out of Buddha Belly Cave: as he licked, he kept looking up and shooting murderous glances at Flame, making coarse growling sounds deep in his throat. His vicious intentions were clear, his ambitions could not be concealed. He would launch another attack when the time was right, and he would make sure it was fatal.

  Flame sighed, struggled to find her feet, and walked out of the cave. Medalwolf was not going to let her stay in Buddha Belly Cave. Fire and water do not mix. One of them had to go. If she stayed, she’d be ripped to shreds. Better to leave quietly. What’s more, Sweetie had already taken a knock to the belly on her account, and Flame did not want to cause her any more harm. Sweetie was caught in the middle, between Medalwolf and herself – she was in a difficult position. Flame couldn’t bear the thought of making it any worse. She didn’t want to be a burden, and get in the way of Sweetie’s life.

  When humans talk about ‘letting a wolf into the house’, they mean ‘inviting trouble’. This was exactly what was happening here. There would be no pretty ending.

  Flame stepped outside Buddha Belly Cave. Medalwolf’s mad howling gradually subsided. His intention was to occupy this space, to call it his own. Well, the thief should be satisfied now.

  Flame wandered about in the mountains, aimless and all alone, not knowing where she would go. Buddha Belly Cave had been her home for so many years, but Medalwolf had walked in and taken it. How much worse could her luck get? For wild animals, there is a very close link between their living quarters and their hunting ground. Losing her home meant losing her hunting ground too. Medalwolf had driven her out. He would never allow her to carry on living here. She would have to walk at least thirty kilometres to escape his monstrous claws. A healthy jackal with four strong legs could cover that distance in an hour, but it was a painful journey for Flame. Limping along on the rocky road, rising and dipping with her uneven gait, she was not much faster than a tortoise. After two or three kilometres she came to a stony ridge, lost her footing and came crashing down. She had fallen from a height of about two metres, and had knocked herself black and blue. She sat on the stones and cried out in desolation.

  It was almost dark now. Summer was a short season in the snowy mountains, and after high summer the temperature fell sharply. Each day was colder than the last. A cool breeze was blowing, and dark clouds were gathering on all sides. Lightning shot through the cloud. A storm was brewing.

  The world is a vast place. Jackals are used to living on a small scale, in a limited area. If there’s competition from another jackal, or another wild animal invades its territory, or if there is no food to be had on barren land, then a strong and vigorous jackal will move on to a new hunting ground, find some new land rich in resources and without competition. But that was easier said than done. Flame had an injured leg, she found it difficult to move, and she was afraid that hunger and pain might snatch away her life while she was on the road, before she could find a new place to call home. Better to be struck by lightning, she thought. Put an end to all this pain and suffering once and for all.

  Then, in the depths of despair, she heard the sound of Sweetie howling in the wilderness. She was calling for her, looking for her. Flame called back, and in no time, Sweetie came bounding along with her big belly, and slipped up to her side without a sound, a little subdued. They felt two or three drops of rain in the wind; the downpour was on its way. Sweetie gave a few soft howls in the direction of Buddha Belly Cave; she was asking her to go home. Flame knew she wanted her to go back. She was so pleased. Halfway home, the rain started bucketing down, and by the time they reached Buddha Belly Cave, Flame and Sweetie were like two bedraggled chickens.

  All was quiet in the cave. Medalwolf was nowhere to be seen. Flame could imagine how, after she had gone, Sweetie and Medalwolf had argued. When the thunder rolled and the winter wind blew, and the sky was full of rainclouds, Sweetie had thought of her safety and had come running out to find her. Medalwolf had not been able to understand her actions, and had chosen to leave.

  In the middle of the night, amid the sound of wind and rain, Flame heard a wolf howling in the next mountain. It was Medalwolf giving Sweetie an ultimatum: ‘Wolf or jackal. I’ll come back to you if you get rid of that jackal.’ Sweetie was caught in a dilemma but she did not reply. Medalwolf’s howls grew more and more distant, drowned by the rumbling thunder of the night.

  In the dawn hours, Sweetie became a mother, producing three little pups. The wind and rain were raging outside, and it was fortunate they were in Buddha Belly Cave. If they had been out in the wilderness, the pups might not have survived. Flame helped Sweetie to lick their soft fur clean. Two girls, one boy. The firstborn was a girl they named Coldwind. Her sister was called Sleet. The little boy was called Raven, because his fur was the colour of the raven-black clouds in the sky that night.

  At noon the next day, when the wind and the rain had stopped, Sweetie went out of Buddha Belly Cave to look for food. It was tough and dangerous. Flame felt so bad. If it hadn’t been for her, Medalwolf would not have left the cave. It was normal for wolves on the snowy mountains to pair up – one male, one female – and stay together for a very long time. Male wolves are one of the few animals in the natural world which have a strong sense of what it means to be a father. Under normal circumstances, when the mother wolf is giving birth, the male will stay loyally by her side, and when she has safely delivered the pups, he will assume responsi
bility for the family. The new father is exceptionally brave: he goes out hunting alone, determined to catch his prey and provide his wife and children with fresh and filling food. The mother would not go out hunting until she had fully regained her strength. If Medalwolf were here right now, Sweetie would not have to drag her body out to look for food. She was still weak from the birth. The only way Flame could help Sweetie was to keep the three pups close to her chest, warm them with her body heat, and protect them from the wintry weather of late summer and early autumn, drive away any winter breath.

  Flame prayed that Sweetie would have good luck. She hoped that as soon as Sweetie left the cave she would come across a small goral that had lost its way, and bring home some rich and nutritious food.

  Chapter 16

  Flame did as much as she could to help Sweetie raise the three pups. When Sweetie went out hunting, she stayed by their side, keeping them safe. When the rain came or the wind blew, she drew the pups close to her chest. When it was warm and sunny, she lay at the mouth of the cave and stopped the flies from buzzing in and causing trouble. When Sweetie came back from the hunt, it did not matter whether she returned with rich pickings or nothing, the moment Flame heard her familiar footsteps she would hurry to welcome her home, lick her clean after her foray, and create a warm and homely atmosphere. As Sweetie suckled the pups, Flame would busy herself by taking their waste to the ravine. The pups were too young to go out to relieve themselves, so they did it inside the cave. If it wasn’t cleaned away in time, then the pungent smell might catch the attention of passing predators, and there was potential for crisis. This tiring, dirty job was usually done by the father wolf, but as this family did not have a father, it fell to Flame to do it. Sometimes, if Sweetie’s hunting had gone smoothly, she would come back early, then Flame would go out and try her luck too, maybe find some old meat, or wait by a mouse hole. If she caught anything, she took it back for the family. Even a little contribution eased the pressure on Sweetie. Flame was dependent on Sweetie, and tried to think of ways to do something in return.

  For wolves and jackals and other medium-sized hunting animals, autumn is the season when food gets scarcer and danger increases daily. The herbivores that migrate begin to head south for the winter. Those that hibernate begin to disappear mysteriously from the face of the earth. Voles, groundhogs and other rodents that have stocked up food in their burrows now take themselves underground. Snow rabbits and long-eared hares appear less frequently as they adopt a semi-secluded life in their warm burrows. Hungry carnivores feel the pressure of survival. They become rapacious and daring. Ferrets, red foxes, leopard cats and palm civets will usually back off the moment they smell a wolf, but in the autumn they will wait for wolves to leave the lair to look for food, then sneak in and kill their defenceless little pups.

  Today, Sweetie had gone hunting in the Gamar grasslands. She had not been gone long, when a leopard cat peered through the entrance of Buddha Belly Cave. Leopard cats are about the size of domestic cats, and they have the same gold-coin patterning as leopards, hence the name leopard cat. With their patterned coats and long ears, they are very striking in appearance. They can climb trees to catch birds, and burrow underground to catch rodents. At other times of the year when there are birds and rodents to eat, they will not touch wolf pups, but when the birds have flown south and the rodents have gone underground, they will go for whatever is there, whatever they can kill and eat. Flame crouched by the entrance to the cave, gave an authoritative roar, a warning to the passing leopard cat that she was on guard, and there were no easy pickings here. The leopard cat roared for a while, then lost interest and moved off. If Flame hadn’t been guarding the cave that day, the leopard cat would have had three little pups for lunch.

  At one week, the pups had opened their eyes and seen moving things. At two weeks they were tumbling all over Buddha Belly Cave. At four weeks they were steady on their feet and running around. The pups were full of life and noise, and when they had eaten their fill and had a good sleep, they rolled about and clambered over one another. With this constant hustle and bustle going on there was not a moment’s peace. Such playfighting seems like fun and games, but it was essential training for the future, when the pups would need to summon their courage and fighting techniques in order to live independent lives.

  Flame did not want to interfere with their games, but she knew that trouble was brewing. As the pups grew bolder, they were not content to fight inside Buddha Belly Cave. They wanted to go out to play. They were only five weeks old now, they had no sense of danger, and once outside the cave they stuck their noses into everything: nests in the grass, bushes, holes in stones, earth mounds. How would Flame be able to look after them outside? The only thing she could do was block the entrance to the cave, and stop them going out. But the pups were naughty. They crawled about in front of her and tried to squeeze past. Every time she took her eye off the ball, dozed off or went to the toilet, the pups seized their chance to slip out of the cave. She couldn’t stop them.

  As the autumn wind and rain came, Flame felt the huge responsibility growing. At noon that day the clouds parted and the sun came out. The sky was bright after three days of rain, and the sun was high in the sky. The heavy rain had kept the pups in Buddha Belly Cave for three days. They were so excited to see the sun, they clamoured and hollered, desperate to run outside to play. Sweetie was not back from hunting yet, and Flame did not dare let them go out on their own. She tried to deter them with scary stories:

  ‘There’s a big white snake outside, and when I call it, it will gobble you all up!’

  ‘There’s a big scary cat out there, with claws as sharp as knives, and it will shred you to pieces.’ But this didn’t work.

  ‘Listen, keep the noise down, and wait like good little pups inside the cave, until your mother gets home, and then you can go out to play.’ She blocked their exit with her body, and gave a menacing roar to show she meant it. But a few frightening words were not enough to put them off. They were persistent and darted about beside her, looking for a chance to break through. Coldwind was the oldest, a bit stronger than the other two, and quicker off the mark. When she saw Flame pushing at Sleet and Raven, she quietly slipped behind the jackal’s back, and dashed out under her tail.

  She knew that Flame would come chasing after her, so she sped off towards the green bushes. Flame leapt to her feet, and ran after her. The entrance to the cave was wide open. Sleet and Raven decided to run out too. Now all three pups were in the bushes, playing hide-and-seek with Flame. Flame’s movements weren’t so smooth, and she kept bumping into branches and tripping on creepers. It was very difficult for her to manage this on three legs.

  The pups were having fun and playing games with her. They darted about in front of her. She chased them. They dodged. She huffed and puffed, and got out of breath. Then, just when she thought she could catch them, they would dive deep into the bushes. It was such a tangle in there that Flame could only wait at the edges, looking on helplessly.

  The three mischievous pups stayed deep in the undergrowth. Their every shriek of excitement seemed to mock her inadequacy. Flame was cross and worried. She would have to get tough with them. Using her tail as bait, she made the tip of her tail quiver non-stop as though it was an active little bird. Coldwind fell for it, and came running out of the bushes to catch it. ‘Got you!’ Flame picked up her by the scruff of her neck.

  Coldwind was already five weeks old by now. She was small and weighed about three kilograms. It was very uncomfortable to be swung in mid-air from the back of her neck. She whined and thrashed her thin little legs about in vain. Flame shook her hard, and growled sternly from the corner of her mouth, telling her to keep still, then bobbed and rocked her all the way back to Buddha Belly Cave. Sleet and Raven watched in awe, and like good little pups, they crept out of the bushes and followed Flame back to Buddha Belly Cave.

  Flame tossed Coldwind on to the stones at the back of the cave, and screeched at her: ‘Sta
y there, and don’t give me any trouble. I’ll bite the ear off the next one of you who dares to be naughty!’ The three pups huddled together, shivering and shaking. Flame lay down across the entrance to the cave, like a prison guard watching over three little prisoners.

  But after half an hour, the pups started to get restless again. They slid off the stones at the back of the cave, and started crawling around the cave, howling at their confinement. They didn’t dare go too close to Flame, but looked at her with an expression of complaint and supplication, as though waiting for her mercy and permission to go out to play.

  Flame closed her eyes and pretended not to notice. The three pups began to howl and howl:

  ‘Why do you lock us up like prisoners in the cave!’ their cries seemed to say.

  ‘You’re driving us mad, you’re the cruellest grandmother a wolf could have!’

  ‘Please let us go out to play, we won’t go far!’

  Their protests went on and on. They would not stop. It was driving Flame mad. She knew their request to go out to play was not an excessive demand, the little things wanted to play and have fun. They had a right to play. For the last few days there had been non-stop autumn rain. They had been cooped up in Buddha Belly Cave, and hadn’t been out. Now the weather had cleared and the sun had come out, they longed to go and run about on the grass and soak up the sun. It made sense. All living things depend on the sun. Spending a lot of time in a dark, damp cave makes one all musty, it is definitely not good for one’s health. They should be enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. They should be having a happy childhood, full of life.

  These days when Sweetie went hunting, she left early and came back late. There was every chance she would not be back until after dark. If Flame waited until Sweetie were home to let the pups out to play, it would be late, the sun would have set behind the mountains, and the bitter winds would be blowing. That was no time to be out playing. It was mean to rob the pups of their fun, and she felt mean and cruel. Yes, there was danger outside, but it wasn’t as though every hour, every minute and every second were life-threatening. In fact, Buddha Belly Cave was located in a sheltered part of the mountains, protected by rocks and surrounded by bushes and other cover. Wild animals rarely ventured this way. If she let the pups go out and play for a while, what were the chances of disaster striking? The risk was small. She had an injured leg, and her ability as a bodyguard was limited, but her eyes and ears were sharp, her nose was keen, and she could be an excellent lookout.