by Shen Shixi
Flame realised just how much she loved Sweetie. Yes, she was a jackal and Sweetie was a wolf, but their relationship was that of mother and daughter. She loved Sweetie, and she loved her three pups. She could not watch while Sweetie put her life on the line. There was only one way to resolve this matter, and that was to help her escape the dogs. She knew that with only three good legs she wouldn’t stand a chance against them all, but she had to try.
In that moment Flame worried about how Sweetie would cope with the pups on her own but, of course, without a jackal in Buddha Belly Cave, Sweetie could welcome Medalwolf back.
As long as she was there, Medalwolf would stay away and even if Sweetie could escape the big-eared dog they might not survive the winter. Sacrifice one or sacrifice them all. It was not a difficult decision.
As Flame sat on the rock, Sweetie hurried straight past her, dragging the piglet behind her. She didn’t see Flame. The big-eared dog was close on her tail. He was hurrying too, and didn’t see the shadow of Flame looming above.
Using all the strength in her hind legs, Flame leapt on to the big-eared dog, like a jockey on a horse. She didn’t wait for his reaction, but sank her teeth into his neck and clamped her jaw shut. The dog howled in pain and tried to jump away, but Flame kept him down, tearing into him viciously. Flame had a lot of experience, and although her leg was injured, there was nothing wrong with her bite. It was exceptional. She targeted the most crucial part of the neck, with the arteries and veins, sinking her fangs into the dog’s neck like steel pins. She was determined not to let go, not under any circumstance. The dog’s blood trickled into her mouth, and she felt the power behind its struggle beginning to wane.
Within moments the other dogs were upon Flame and she felt herself being dismembered, even as the big-eared dog struggled under her grip. Her fur was plucked out, her skin was torn to shreds, her bloods vessels emptied like rivers in the dry season. But her head was crystal clear. She was resolutely determined to stay on the dog’s back. She focused her mind on biting hard, harder, and harder still as, in the distance, she could just make out the figure of Sweetie as she escaped back to Buddha Belly Cave. Back to her family.
Biography
Shen Shixi was born in Shanghai in 1952. In 1969, when lots of young people from Chinese cities were sent to remote rural areas, the sixteen-year-old Shen was asked to choose from nine different regions. He asked to go to Xishuangbanna, a tropical region in southwest China, mainly because he had heard of all the different animals there, and because he hoped to have a hunting dog. When he arrived there, he not only got a dog, but went to live in the house of a hunter, who treated him like a son, and took him hunting all over Xishuangbanna. In this way, he learnt a great deal about animals and how they behave.
Shen spent a total of eighteen years in Xishuangbanna. He learnt how to fish, build houses, plough fields and work in the paddy fields. He worked at a hydrological power station and as a school teacher in a small village.
In 1975 Shen joined the army and moved away. Gradually he started to write stories. He has written over 20 prize-winning books for children, most of them stories about animals. In China he is known as the King of Animal Novels.
EGMONT PRESS: ETHICAL PUBLISHING
Egmont Press is about turning writers into successful authors and children into passionate readers – producing books that enrich and entertain. As a responsible children’s publisher, we go even further, considering the world in which our consumers are growing up.
Safety First
Naturally, all of our books meet legal safety requirements. But we go further than this; every book with play value is tested to the highest standards – if it fails, it’s back to the drawing-board.
Made Fairly
We are working to ensure that the workers involved in our supply chain – the people that make our books – are treated with fairness and respect.
Responsible Forestry
We are committed to ensuring all our papers come from environmentally and socially responsible forest sources.
For more information, please visit our website at www.egmont.co.uk/ethical
Egmont is passionate about helping to preserve the world’s remaining ancient forests. We only use paper from legal and sustainable forest sources, so we know where every single tree comes from that goes into every paper that makes up every book.
This book is made from paper certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC®), an organisation dedicated to promoting responsible management of forest resources. For more information on the FSC, please visit www.fsc.org. To learn more about Egmont’s sustainable paper policy, please visit www.egmont.co.uk/ethical.