Fox Run (32 page)

"So I though of Spot," I said, turning to Elisabeth.

"So there I was. The alpha had just told me I was supposed to follow orders from a fox, this little tiny fox, and practically the first thing she asks me is, 'can you catch a deer?' Of course I can catch a deer! But then she said, 'Please don't hurt her, she's my friend.'"

There was laughter at that. I spoke up. "I know it's strange to a wolf to call a deer a friend, but she was, to me. I understand she wouldn't be to you. I know; that makes me strange. But it's not like I could eat an entire deer! I can't even eat an entire rabbit by myself and have to share it with the pack."

"We tracked the deer using the computer," Elisabeth said. "And when we get out of the car, the fox tells me to shift, but she'll stay on two feet so she can tell me where to go and so she can remove the tracking collar once I catch the deer. And I'm following the fox, and she tells me how far to the deer, a deer I can't smell or hear. We get closer, and again, she tells me exactly where the deer is. We get closer, and closer, and finally I can smell the deer. Then she says, Go get her, but remember, don't hurt her."

There was more laughter.

"But I am wolf, and I will not be outdone by a stupid deer. I catch her, and I wrestle her to the ground, and she's kicking and trying to get away, and it's like I'm on a wild bucking bronco, and all I can think is, Little Fox, I caught it, now hurry up!

"So that is how me, sister to the alpha, ended up wrestling a deer to the ground but didn't share her with the pack afterwards."

They liked the story. One of the kids asked when I was going to see Spot next.

"I probably won't," I said. "She isn't wearing a tracking collar anymore, and she has a big range, so finding her would be tricky. I told her goodbye when Elisabeth let her up."

We sat down, receiving our applause. Lara kissed my cheek and asked for another story. We heard a few more stories before she stood up again.

"We had some real fun today, didn't we?" They all agreed with her. "Our little fox was pretty amazing, wasn't she?" They all thought I was. "Did you all enjoy watching me chasing after her futilely, crashing into the some of you, the cars, and even the steps once?" They did.

"Well, remember to thank her then. Enjoy the bonfire."

After that, I stared into the fire. Elisabeth wandered away and came back with a beer. I stole it from her and drank it. She gave me a hard time but then fetched another beer. I got sleepy and told her I was going to bed.

* * * *

By morning, I had mostly shaken off my doldrums. I was fox, after all, and most of the time, I was okay with that. But I decided I needed to return to Bayfield and my old life. The excitement was over, and now things could be normal again.

Convincing Lara of that was to be a trick.

For one thing, she left early in the morning. She had business in Madison. Elisabeth was gone, too, and I didn't think it was fair to talk about it to anyone else. I found myself with nothing to do. I wasn't used to that.

Lara's business, it turned out, was backed up badly. She didn't get home until late. She came to bed and cuddled me, moaning a little. "Long day," she complained. "And I have more tomorrow." She didn't ask me about my day.

We held each other for a while. She started to drift off when I asked her, "Who do I talk to for a ride home? Or do you want me to get a bus?"

She opened her eyes and looked at me, puzzled. "Are you in a hurry to leave?"

"I am fully recovered and I have a job to get back to."

"It'll wait a few more days. We can talk about it this weekend."

"Don't worry about it I guess, Alpha."

She fell asleep moments later, and I lay there awake.

She left early again on Thursday, taking Elisabeth with her. I was very frustrated. I had given Gia her phone back, I hadn't had a chance to replace my own. I didn't have a car, either, and didn't know what I could afford. I needed to get home and start getting everything handled.

No one was in the house. When I stepped outside, I didn't find anyone, either. I didn't know where anyone lived, and I was becoming frustrated. I remembered the other building was referred to the barracks. I headed over there and stepped inside. I didn't see anyone, but I said, "Hello? Anyone here?"

Jason appeared. "Hey. I need a ride to the bus depot in Madison. Who do I have to talk to?"

"The alpha."

"She doesn't seem to want to talk about it. Is there anyone else?"

"The alpha."

"Thank you for being so helpful, Jason. I guess I'll hitchhike back to Bayfield."

I turned my back on him and stormed out of the barracks.

It took him a few seconds to think about it, but then he exited the barracks behind me and ran to catch up to me. He grabbed my arm and tried to turn me to face him.

"Michaela, you can't hitch to Bayfield."

"Sure I can. I just stand alongside the road, flash some leg, and stick out my thumb. No worries."

I turned around and began walking. He grabbed my arm again, tugging on it.

"You can't, Michaela!"

"What is this word 'can't' that people try to use around me?" I asked. "Watch me."

"What I mean is, if the alpha gets back, and you are not here, anyone who helped you leave is going to be in serious trouble."

"Well, as I am walking, then I'm the one in trouble. I don't think it will bother me."

"If the alpha asks where you are, then I will have to say, She hitchhiked home. And then the alpha will ask me why I didn't stop you. And after that she will fry my liver for dinner."

"Where is the part where you ask her how well it's gone for her trying to stop me from doing what I intend to do?"

"You know how angry she'll be, Michaela. Do you think she'll listen to reason?"

"All right, Jason. You're right. You talked me out of it. Go back inside."

He sighed and pulled his phone from his pocket. He typed in a text to Lara, showing it to me. "Fox threatening to hitchhike Bayfield. Orders?"

"Tattle-tale," I complained childishly.

"Will you at least wait for a reply?" he asked me.

I sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm in a pissy mood. I'm ready for my life to be my own again and not have to 'ask alpha' if I can breathe."

Jason's phone buzzed. He read the text and showed it to me. "Tell her we'll discuss it this weekend."

"May I have the phone, Jason?"

"If you promise to take responsibility for what you send back."

"Of course." He handed me the phone, and I replied, "Fox typing now. See previous question." I hit send then showed it to him.

We waited for another reply, which didn't improve my mood. I was about ready to hand Jason's phone back to him and begin walking when the phone rang. I handed it to him.

"Yes, Alpha," he said answering it.

"Put her on please, Jason," she told him. He handed me the phone.

"Lara," I said in greeting.

She took a breath. "I don't have time for this right now, Michaela. Can we please talk this weekend?"

"Alpha," I replied. "I know your job is important, and that mine is not, and that your life is important, and mine is not. I understand how unreasonable it is for me to ask you to spend fifteen seconds asking Jason to drive me to the bus station and loaning me enough cash to get home. I am perfectly fine hitchhiking. I'm sorry to have taken your valuable time."

Jason took a deep breath of air listening to the way I was addressing the alpha, but she rolled with it. "Michaela, the pack owes you a car. I wanted to take you out to buy one on Saturday."

"The pack doesn't owe me a car, but even if it did, why couldn't we talk about it last night?"

"I don't have time to convince you right now. Which is why I want to talk about it this weekend. I didn't talk about it last night because yesterday I told Elisabeth I'd give you David's old car, but she pointed out you may not appreciate it. Then I said I'd have someone buy you a new car and deliver it today, and she started to tell me what a bad idea that was, but then we got interrupted and couldn't finish the conversation. We finished it today. I am out of time. Give the phone back to Jason, please."

Silently I held it to him then listened to the conversation. "Ask her to stay. If she won't, offer to drive her or loan her a car. Make sure she has enough cash to last a few days." And then she hung up.

He turned to me and opened his mouth. "I heard her. What am I supposed to do for two days?"

"Before the kids were kidnapped, weren't you nearby doing your job? And when they stole your car, you lost everything?"

I smiled, then frowned. "I need supplies I don't have."

"For taking water samples?" I nodded. "We have a school here. It's small, but they teach biology and chemistry. And maybe you should talk to Francesca. This sounds like an amazing field trip, if you think teaching a bunch of wolves about your job would be fun."

"It's a boring job, Jason. I love it only because it offers an amazing amount of freedom and the opportunity to be outside most of the time."

"I think we should go to the school and see."

I pulled the phone out of his hand. "Offering Francesca kid field trip re: Fish and Wildlife. Fox." Ten minutes later while we were talking to Francesca, Jason showed me the reply. "Thank you."

Jason led me into the school building then we roamed until we found Francesca with a small collection of students in one of the classrooms. We stood outside the door and watched; she was teaching a math class. The kids in front were paying attention to the class; the kids in back were working on some assignment. She saw us and interrupted the lecture to stop outside.

"Problem?"

Jason explained what was going on. Francesca smiled. "Oh wow. Yes, that would be great. Let's see what the kids think. If not, I'll have the older kids help the younger kids while we find supplies for you from the biology supply room."

We stepped back into the classroom. "Kids, you all know Ms. Redfur. What you don't know is that she works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department. Ms. Redfur was about to go out into the field for her job, and she thought perhaps you might like to join her. What do you think?"

Stupid question. Sit in class or go out into the field? The response was overwhelming.

Francesca let them buzz with each other for a minute before she told them all to calm down, and the discipline was amazing. They immediately settled back down with no fuss. "Now, this isn't just a picnic. This is part of your education. You will need to listen to Ms. Redfur while she teaches you what she does, and then we'll all help her with her job. Ms. Redfur, would you explain what we're doing today?"

I wasn't a teacher. But I explained about the types of samples. Francesca then said, "If you can explain to them what you do with these samples, I can collect equipment. Jason, you can arrange transportation and food for lunch and afternoon snack."

She left me with the kids. I stared at them, and they waited expectantly. There were only eight kids, and I already knew Angel, Derek, Alan and Jeremy. There was one more teenager, then there was an age gap with the last three kids being between seven and ten. "All right. Before we talk about that, I think I want to know who all of you are. I already know some of you."

The other teenager was a girl named Scarlett. One of the little boys, Thomas, was her little brother. Jeremy and Alan had a little sister named Kaylee. The last boy, the youngest in the room, was Luke.

After that I told them what we were doing and tried to explain why.

Kaylee raised her hand. "Yes, Kaylee?"

"Do you carry a gun? Cops have guns."

"I have a dart gun," I said. I explained about tranquilizing animals so we could check how healthy they were.

The kids wanted to see the dart gun. I had to disappoint them. Derek asked if I wished I had a dart gun to shoot the alpha on Tuesday.

That filled the room with laughter. "It never occurred to me, Derek, but you can bet it will in the future."

They peppered me with questions for quite some time, and I didn't realize that Francesca had returned until she said, "All right, everyone run home and get proper shoes and clothing for a day in the field, then we'll all meet in the courtyard. Don't dilly dally. Go."

"You're good with them," she said once the room had emptied. "Here, this is what we have." She opened a cardboard box filled with stoppered vials and other supplies.

"Perfect," I said. "Do we have labels for marking them?"

"Yes, and pens, paper, clip boards." She showed me. She knew what she was doing.

"You are good at this."

"I should be. My college degree was in biology."

Twenty minutes later we had collected one more adult and were all piled into three SUVs.

It all took a lot longer than if I had gone alone. But the kids were sponges for the information I would give them, and I had no end of assistants begging to help take samples. The afternoon flew.

As we were climbing back into the cars for the ride back to the compound, Francesca said, "You have more to do. Were you going to do it tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Will you let us come? They're learning a lot about fieldwork. We have professionals in the pack who help teach classes in their fields, but we don't have anyone with a job like yours."

"I'd love to have company tomorrow," I told her.

She smiled. "I took extra samples at the polluted pond."

"I saw. Why?"

"Maybe in the morning you could come to the school and show us what you do. We have basic equipment. Is that enough?"

"Trying to turn me into a teacher?"

"I'm trying to take advantage of a unique opportunity."

"I'd love to show you. Francesca, thank you."

Wolf Games

Lara arrived home late on Thursday. She climbed into bed with me and asked, "Are we okay?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"No."

I rolled over in her arms and kissed me. "There's something we haven't done."

"There are a lot of things we haven't done."

"There is something we haven't done that we could do right now without leaving this bed. If you aren't too tired."