CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
When George saw the still water of Boulder Lake glistening in the late afternoon sun, relief poured over him. His feet and legs ached from two days of walking and running, but he was more than halfway home.
Crooked Ear had been travelling with the boy for several hours and eagerly loped forward to quench his thirst, his front feet submerged, his long pink tongue lapping noisily. The boy threw himself face down on the warm granite and scooped water into his mouth, then unpacked his bag and looked at the small piece of bread and cheese that remained. He divided it, rewrapped half, and nibbled on the remainder.
The wolf sat on his haunches watching, head cocked, one ear pricked, strings of drool dangling from the corners of his mouth.
The boy unwrapped the cheese again and gave the wolf a sliver. “This is all I have,” he said, his voice tinged with regret. “Go and catch something to eat.”
The October sun, which had lazily made its way across the sky, suddenly fell into the shining lake. The boy called out to Crooked Ear, but the wolf had wandered away in search of food, and he was alone. Hoping a fire would protect and comfort him, he quickly gathered kindling in the gloom. Squatting low to the ground, he struck a match and fed the tiny blaze with twigs, listening to the pops and hisses.
One of the sticks was green and flexible and, as he held it in his hands, he envisioned it as a dream catcher. He remembered the one that had hung over his head in the wiigwam so he would have only good dreams. Bad dreams had plagued him at school, and now that he was alone in the wilderness he feared his dreams would be even worse. He hunched close to the firelight and twisted the stick into a circle. Without sinew, he used grass and plant stems to create the mesh that would trap the bad dreams. He looked critically at the finished object. It was flimsy, an oval, not a circle, and the hole that allowed the good dreams to pass through was off-centre. Hoping it would be better than nothing, he hung it from a branch not far from the dying embers and curled up underneath. But he couldn’t sleep. The noises of the night became sinister in his solitude: the rustling of a roosting bird; a twig spiralling to the ground; a bat flitting through the branches.
Then, close by, he heard an animal snuffling in the undergrowth. His body went rigid with fear and he held his breath. Sure that it was the agent’s dog, he willed himself to remain motionless. The snuffling got closer still. His heart hammered furiously in his throat. Finally, when he could hold his breath no longer, he gasped. A family of frightened raccoons scampered away. The tears he had been holding in for so long started to fall, pricking the corners of his eyes like hot needles.
“I’m trying to be brave,” he said to the darkness. “I’m trying to be strong, but I’m all alone and I’m scared.” He fingered the wolf’s head pendant that hung around his neck. “Keep me safe,” he prayed.
Suddenly he got an idea. He needed something sacred to make smoke. He didn’t have tobacco or sage or sweetgrass, but he could smell cedar close by. Following his nose, he groped through the darkness and plucked some fresh fronds. Heading back to the glimmer of firelight, he carefully placed them on the dying embers and waited. At first he feared he had snuffed out the fire, but then smoke started to rise. He stretched his cupped hands into the rising plume and reverently washed the smoke over his head and shoulders as he had seen his people do so many times before. He couldn’t remember the Anishnaabemowin words his parents and grandparents had used, so he made up his own prayer, hoping that Creator understood English. “Great Spirit, watch over me and keep me safe.”
Knowing that sacred smoke carried prayers to Creator, he crouched low to the ground and gently blew under the embers. The smoke rose in little billows and he flapped at it with his hands, sending it swirling upward. He spoke to the rising smoke. “Don’t let that bad man catch me. Slow him down, turn him around. Confuse him.”
He paused, knowing he was supposed to give thanks, but he couldn’t find much in his situation to be thankful for. But then he remembered the old man who had helped him escape, the gifts of food that had sustained him, the matches that had lit his fire, and the rabbit-skin jacket that kept him warm. Then he gave thanks for the rabbits that had sacrificed their lives and given their furs, and for Crooked Ear, who wasn’t with him right now but who he hoped was close by and would soon return.
Then he thought of Jesus, the school god, with long brown hair that flowed over his shoulders in the way of The People. George didn’t have much confidence in Jesus. After all, the white men had killed him. If he was so powerful, why did he let them do that? However, the boy had found something likeable in the face of Jesus, who looked down at him from the walls of the chapel, the refectory, the classrooms, and the dormitory. George saw that Jesus had kindness in his eyes, even though those who said they loved him had hardness and cruelty in theirs.
So on this night, alone in the wilderness, George decided to pray to Jesus, too.
He cupped his hands again and respectfully offered the smoke into the air. Then he panicked.
Does smoke carry prayers to Jesus? At chapel they burn candles … they are not so smoky.
He waited for the smoke to die down to what he thought was just the perfect amount then started the school ritual, kneeling at the fireside, steepling his fingers and bowing his head.
“Jesus —” Deviating from the rote prayers, he spoke from his heart, spurred on by fear and desperation. “Help me. I know I am a just a filthy Indian, a good-for-nothing savage, but you are the Saviour, so save me from the bad man. And don’t let the animals eat me.”
He opened his eyes. The aurora borealis was swirling in the night sky, illuminating the lake in white light. He lay on his back and stared through the dream catcher to the sky. “And let the dream catcher work good so I don’t get bad dreams.”
The heavens shimmered and moved and he could not take his eyes from their hypnotic effect. His breath hovered briefly in front of his face then spiralled upward until it was swept away with the Northern Lights. Then, in the swirling eddies, wolves appeared. They loped across the sky, swooping down like birds, before rising up again. Once again the boy prayed, but this time to the wolves. “Keep me safe,” he whispered.
The wolves came down to earth, encircling him, sitting on their haunches, forming a ring of protection. Their leader spoke, but not in words. His message entered the boy’s consciousness as if by telepathy.
Close your eyes, Red Wolf. Sleep well. Know that we are guarding you. You are safe within our circle, little brother.
The boy slept peacefully.
In his dream, he looked into his father’s eyes and he felt love cover him like a warm bearskin. Then HeWhoWhistles was gone, replaced by an image that George had seen every day at school: Jesus hanging on the cross. The God-man wore nothing but a breechcloth and a crown of sharp, twisted twigs tangled in his long brown hair. His eyes looked directly into George’s. It was as if the dying God-man was seeing the real Red Wolf. Not 366. Not George. The God-man was seeing the soul of Mishqua Ma’een’gun.
He wanted to bask in the feeling forever, but he was whisked away and sent tumbling through the air until he found himself looking deep into the amber eyes of a wolf. The wolf wore Jesus’s crown of twisted twigs, which even in the dream struck Red Wolf as more than a little strange. Without words, the thoughts of the wolf flowed into the boy’s soul.
When the strange ones came here, thinking they had discovered a new land, they did not see that wolves and true people had been here forever. There were no scratchy lines to say the land belonged to us and to the other creatures that fly, swim, crawl, or walk on four legs. We had no fences to keep us in, or them out. But you and I both know that from ocean to ocean, from mountaintop to river bottom, it was ours, together. Creator gave it to us, forever.
The strange ones took land that was not theirs to take, but no matter how much land they stole, they always wanted more. They were greedy and never satisfied.
They cut the trees that held life together for
all of Creation.
They killed our prey, taking the furs but leaving the flesh to rot.
They put fences around the weak and stupid creatures they brought with them. Then, when we killed these stupid ones because our children were hungry, they called us ferocious savages and killed us with guns and poison.
They made reservations where the soil was weak and worthless, where there were no herds for hunting. And that was where they made your people live. And the laws made you stay there, a disinherited people forever.
In the name of God they stole you from your home and locked you behind walls where bad things happened. But they used the name of God falsely.
They say that their God is the true God, and that our Great Spirit is a deceiver. But it is they who are the deceivers. They made promises and treaties that they never intended to keep. Of all the promises they ever made, they kept only one; they promised to take our land and they did.
The boy was startled from sleep. A great blue heron soared over his head, her immense wings folding and twisting to carry her safely through the canopy. He looked at the mist hovering over the surface of the lake, heard the water lapping lazily against the rocks, and didn’t know where he was. Then everything rushed into his mind. He looked for the circle of wolves. It wasn’t there. He got up and searched the ground for tracks. There were plenty, unmistakably wolf: large pads, four toes, and non-retractable claws. They could have belonged to Crooked Ear, but faith told him they belonged to the heavenly wolves. He felt braver now. He felt protected, although he wished that Crooked Ear were with him.
Packing the dream catcher in his bag, he started down the trail and soon came to the shallow creek where he remembered resting with his father. Recalling what the old man had told him, he took off his boots and waded upstream, hoping to throw the dog off his scent. It was slow and painful progress on the humped and rounded stones. The dense spruces and cedars along the water’s edge prevented the sun from filtering through, and soon he was chilled to the bone.
He climbed out on the far bank, and from that slightly elevated position he could see a beaver pond. Tree stumps stood around the shoreline, their tops nibbled into sharpened points like the pencils the boys used at school. A beaver lay on its back in the sunlit water, chewing on a small branch, but it rolled and dived as the boy lumbered clumsily toward it. He sat on a log in the sun, warming his ice-cold feet. He unwrapped his food, planning to eke out the meagre remains, but hunger got the better of him and he swallowed the bread and cheese in a single gulp.
A bittern walked furtively through the marsh grass, stalking its next meal. The bird plunged its head into the mud and when it came back up, the hind legs of a frog flailed from its beak. Tossing it in the air, the bird caught and swallowed it in one deft manoeuvre. The boy empathized with the frog.
Ravens cawing from a perch high above the landscape interrupted his thoughts. The raucous cries spoke to him, reminding him of his childhood, of his father and the ways of The People. The ravens said that an animal was dying, and that they were first in line. The final pieces of bread and cheese had left him feeling even hungrier than before, and he wondered if he could beat the ravens to the rabbit or bird whose life was coming to an end. He put his boots back onto his tingling feet and jogged off to investigate.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The ravens looked down at the four-legged trapped in the snare. They bobbed their heads, watching keenly for signs of life, balancing hunger against the fear of approaching a living predator. One made a brief sortie, but when the trapped animal flailed its head and snarled, the bird quickly retreated to the treetop, landing clumsily alongside its companions, pitching them back and forth.
Suddenly their attention was diverted to the small Upright who had scrambled to the top of the rise, and with arms held out like wings was flying toward them, weaving in and out of the trees, all the while emitting a high-pitched, bird-like call. When he headed toward the dying animal, they attacked him. Red Wolf covered his head with his hands and ran.
A ferocious snarl stopped him dead in his tracks. Ahead, a wolf drew back his lips in a vicious grimace. The wolf looked so different from the animal he knew well that for a fleeting second the boy didn’t recognize Crooked Ear.
“I’ll get you out,” he murmured, not knowing quite how and squatting a safe distance away to think. The wolf whimpered then licked and nibbled at the noose of snare wire that had all but disappeared into the swollen flesh of his front paw.
The boy traced the snare wire back to where it was secured to a metal peg embedded in the ground. He tugged, but it was anchored firmly and refused to give under his weight.
Crooked Ear was calm now, and the boy moved closer to get a better view. He stroked the big wolf’s head and spoke gently. “I have to get that wire off. If I can loosen it, you’ll be able to slip your paw out. Then you’ll be free.” Although he spoke the words with confidence, he was scared that pain would make the wolf attack him.
“It’s going to hurt,” he said, lightly touching the wolf’s leg and slowly moving his fingers down to the injured paw. The animal flinched but didn’t pull away. The boy spoke softly as he loosened the snare. Crooked Ear growled and flung his head toward the child, his fangs barely concealed behind grimacing lips. Red Wolf leapt out of the way.
Yelping in pain, the wolf pulled back his lips and delicately grasped the wire with his front teeth, teasing and loosening it until it lay harmless on the ground. Red Wolf, who had been watching so intently that he had barely drawn a breath, let out a gasp of relief. He wanted to throw his arms around the wolf and hug him, but he kept his distance, watching Crooked Ear gently lick the wound. Finally, with a heavy sigh, the wolf stretched out on his side, exhausted.
Red Wolf thought about the flat slabs of granite that sloped gently into Black Lake and wondered if Crooked Ear could get there and stand in the water to soothe his paw and drink. The boy remembered that it was not too far away, close to the stream that he had recently walked through.
He looked for the trail, but there was nothing but forest and bush. Panic rose in his throat. He ran back and forth, looking for any small sign from Mother Earth that he had passed that way. He collapsed at Crooked Ear’s side and rested his head on the wolf’s shoulder.
“We’re lost,” he said. “And I don’t know how to help you. I’m sorry. I should have picked up Father’s trail on the far side of the creek, but I walked upstream. I should have known that was wrong, especially when I reached the beaver pond, because when I made the trip with father we didn’t pass a beaver pond! And then I followed the ravens, and I flew down the hill like a bird, forgetting to look around.”
Scorn tainted his voice. “I was playing … like a child!”
A voice spoke to his understanding. If you had not done those things, you would not have found me, and I would have stayed in the trap until I died.
The boy buried his face in the warmth of the wolf.
Crooked Ear struggled onto three legs and slowly limped into the bush. The boy followed, ducking under low boughs and using his hands to keep twigs and branches out of his face. The wolf’s slow three-legged gait allowed him to keep up, and as long as they were together the boy felt calm. But after a while Crooked Ear broke into a hopping lope and vanished.
“Wait for me,” Red Wolf pleaded in panic. He forced himself to calm down and do what HeWhoWhistles would do: he searched for paw tracks, snapped twigs, bruised leaves. Slowly he followed the wolf’s trail through the dense forest. Suddenly blue sky greeted him and great slabs of granite sloped toward Black Lake. Crooked Ear was standing in the water, drinking. The boy felt a wave of relief.
Even when he raised his head, Crooked Ear remained in the water. Meanwhile, Red Wolf searched for a strong stick and sharpened it to a point. In quick succession he speared three fish. He tossed two to Crooked Ear, who swallowed them whole, but he cooked his fish over a fire.
Red Wolf didn’t notice in the disappearing light that grey clouds
had gathered. He curled up close to the fire, the rabbit skin jacket covering him from head to toe. Crooked Ear limped in three tight circles and flopped down beside him. He licked his paw a few more times then tucked his nose into his chest, wrapped his thick bushy tail around his body, and went to sleep.
Not long after dawn, Red Wolf was awakened by the complaint of a chickadee that plumped up its feathers against the brisk air. Red Wolf sat up, surprised when a light dusting of snow slid from him. He looked for Crooked Ear, but the wolf was gone. He called out urgently, and a black-tipped nose poked out from under the snow. Crooked Ear heaved himself up and made a half-hearted attempt to shake before flopping down and lethargically licking his wounded leg.
Red Wolf was dismayed. The leg was swollen to twice its normal size. Anxiety tensed his stomach into a knot. He looked at the sky. Light snow swirled through the treetops and he shivered. I must get home … the weather is getting bad … I have no food. But Crooked Ear can’t walk! If I go without him, what will become of him? I can’t leave him.
He rebuilt the fire and sat by it until his shivering stopped. He speared more fish and held one under Crooked Ear’s nose, but the wolf wouldn’t eat. He tried to build a shelter, but cutting through the spruce boughs was too difficult. He crawled under the low-lying branches of a dense stand of cedars. The thick foliage kept most of the snow from the ground, and it smelled good. Crooked Ear limped after the boy. The child gently stroked the wolf’s head. His nose was hot. The boy knew that fever often killed children. He presumed it killed wolves, too.
He fingered his pendant and prayed to the spirit wolves he hoped were still guarding him. “Help us, please.”
He didn’t know what else to do.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Red Wolf Page 11