“Where have you been?” the old man said. “I’ve been waiting for your report.”
“Sorry, Boss, I was delayed,” Wolf said.
On the way to the Island, he and the man-pup had stopped by a stream to rest, and Wolf drank from the stream. He wasn’t really thirsty, but man-pup urged him to drink anyway, telling him it was important that he take at least a small drink from this particular stream.
“It’s the Boundary,” man-pup had said. “You may want to sleep for a while after you drink, but don’t worry. I’ll be here. You’re home now.”
The Stream of Consciousness,
or the River of Remembrance.
As soon as his muzzle touched the cold stream, the shock of memory returning sent him stumbling into the middle of the stream. It was too much. Too many memories too quickly. He needed sleep. And sleep he did, for a full day, after shaking off the water and finding a grassy place in the sun.
Now it was time for a full report to the Boss, in the forest grove near the cave where the Boss lived.
The Boss was not surprised. He knew Wolf and the man-pup were coming. Now it was time to rebuild, and hope that Man had learned something ... this time. "He never has before," the Boss muttered. "Why should this time be different? Still, we have to try."
# # #
"Thank you, Wolf. You did well. Now it's time to go back."
"But Boss, I just got here," Wolf howled.
"Not to worry, my friend, this time you won't be alone, and you won't have to travel as far. I want you to stay in the Woodlands," the Boss said.
"You mean I'll have a partner this time?"
"Not just a partner," the Boss said. "A mate, maybe." He signaled to the edge of the clearing, and another wolf trotted toward them. Wolf's hackles started to rise, but a sharp look from the Boss meant Wolf could relax.
"This is Betty," the Boss said. "She'll be your partner on your next assignment. And, if she agrees, it might be more than a partnership."
With tails wagging cautiously, Wolf and Betty met nose to nose, the nose to flank, and then nose to tail. Hackles started to rise again, to the danger level, but the Boss intervened.
"Betty, I expect he'll be in charge, but only in the sense of being leader, and only if you agree he deserves it." The she-wolf turned her head and raised a paw to indicate she accepted the Boss’s terms. But she was not about to lie down and roll over, exposing her belly to show her complete submission. He would have to earn that show of respect. And as for turning around and lifting her tail for him to ... Well, it wasn’t the season, anyway. When the time came, she would consider her options.
"So, what's the new job, Boss?"
This from Betty, and brought a low rumble from Wolf, a reminder that he was to be in charge. But Betty would have none of it. A quick snarl and snap was enough to remind him that they were to be partners.
"That's enough, you two," said the Boss. "Wolf, you're to be leader, but only because you've been there before. And that does not mean that you're totally in charge. This is to be Betty's first journey, so there's to be no fighting. You have already noticed, I'm sure, that Betty hasn't developed her own scent yet, because she has not been off the Island and into the Landworld. And you seem to have forgotten how to turn yours off after you cross the Boundary Stream. Right now, you stink. Go clean up and take the rest of the day off to rest. You leave tomorrow."
"But Boss, what will we be looking for when we go back? I saw no sign of any Two-Foots for weeks on my way in," Wolf said.
"They're out there somewhere," the Boss said. "Your job is to find them, and be friendly to them. They're going to need your help."
"Be friendly to Two-Foots?" Wolf yelped in surprise. "But they hate us. You told me yourself that they're responsible for chasing us out of the Woodlands."
His lip curled in anger as he snapped, "Why don't I just offer to eat one of their fire-sticks, and make it easy for them. You really want me to go looking for them?"
"Calm down," the Boss said. "They're not all like that. Remember I told you long ago that there are many kinds of Two-Foots. You are cousin to Coyote as well to Dog, and they are very different. And don't forget that cats are Four-Foots, too."
"Calm down," the Boss said. "They're not all like that. Remember I told you long ago that there are many kinds of Two-Foots. You are cousin to Coyote as well to Dog, and they are very different. And don't forget that cats are Four-Foots, too."
This stopped Wolf for a moment. He didn't know cats very well, certainly not the kind that lived with the Two-Foots. He had seen Cougar, of course, and respected his hunting ability. He had even helped himself to leftovers from Cougar's dinner. But socializing with the kind of cats that lived with Man was something he had never considered.
"You should consider working together with Cougar," the Boss said. "He's coming back to the Woodlands also. And I'm sending word ahead to all the Four-Foots and Wingers in the Woodlands that you're on the way."
"Who'd you send, Swan?" Wolf said. This brought a snorfle of amusement from Betty, satisfying Wolf's plan to impress the she-wolf with his wit.
But he was mistaken. "Don't be sarcastic," she snapped. "You know Swan doesn't talk."
"Actually, I sent Hawk," the Boss said, ignoring her. "I sent him years ago, and he's been watching the Machine Trails ever since. I even told him not to hide, to let himself be seen, on the chance that the Two-Foots would take his presence as a signal to be more careful."
"Be more careful about what?" Betty asked.
"About what they're doing to where they live," the Boss said. "They have not learned that you can't use your den for a dump. The Four-Foots know that, and some of the Two-Foots know that, but most of the Two-Foots have forgotten, and won't listen to the few who do know."
"You mean there are still some Two-Foots living in the Woodlands? How come I didn't see any on my way here? Wolf said.
"They're still in their shelters," the Boss said, "waiting for a signal that it's safe to come out."
Wolf was puzzled. "Why do they need a signal? Bear goes into a shelter every year, and always knows when to come out. She doesn't need someone else to tell her. Even though she's mostly asleep, she still knows by the light of the days when it's time."
The Boss nodded. “That’s because Bear, like the other Four-Foots, hasn’t forgotten that Light and Time are related. The Two-Foots, especially those who came to the Woodlands from across the Big Water, began to think their machines were more important than anything. You’ve seen their Machine Trails, Wolf. Roads, they called them. They couldn’t go anywhere without their machines, and they had to make those trails so they could use their machines to go anyplace. They didn’t walk or run; they had to take their machines. They even had machines to tell them when to wake up, and when to go to sleep. Clocks, they called them. Such foolishness!”
“But I’m still puzzled,” Wolf said. “What kind of signal can they get now, if all the machines are gone? And who’s going to give them a signal?”
“You are,” the Boss said.
“Me? How?” Wolf yelped. “Where are the Two-Foots? How will I find them? What will I tell them? How will they listen? They don’t understand Wolf-speak, and they’re afraid of us to begin with.” Wolf growled out the questions like he was warning a coyote away from a fresh dinner.
“Easy, easy,” the Boss said, laughing. “You always were full of questions. And that’s why I picked you for this job.”
“You’ll find some Two-Foots in caves in the mountains,” the Boss said. “Some will still be in their dens, but these will be far away from the Machine Trails. Look for the ones in the mountains first; they’ll be the easiest to contact and talk to. Then go near the old dens, but don’t get too close too soon. Let them know you’re coming, and that you mean them no harm. Remember, Two-Foots are pack creatures, just as wolves are. Think of them as wolves who forgot how to work together as a pack, and how much joy there is in singing. Your most important job, and the hardest one, is to teach them how to be wolves again, how important it is to know you are part of the Earth, that you don’t own it. The Two-Foots came to believe they owned the world, and could do whatever they want with it and to it. Mother Earth tolerated that for a long time, as all mothers do, but eventually she smacked them down.”
Betty spoke for the first time. “What happed to them? Did Earth Mother send them away?”
Wolf growled at what he thought was a silly questions. “Send them away? Where? There were so many of them there was no place to send them.”
“Don’t snap at me,” Betty warned. “I’ve never been to the Woodlands, and I’ve never seen any Two-Foots besides the Boss and the Sentinel, so you can’t expect me to know much about the Woodland Two-Foots.”
“Who’s the Sentinel?” Wolf interrupted.
“See, you’re not so smart after all, are you?” Betty snarled. “The Sentinel is right there next to you. He’s the Two-Foot who brought you here after you got lost.”
“I wasn’t lost,” Wolf snapped. “I was exploring new territory.”
“I wasn’t lost,” Wolf snapped. “I was exploring new territory.”
“Yeah, right,” Betty said. “And I suppose you ...”
“That’s enough, both of you,” the Boss ordered. “You’re to work together on this job, not fight.”
“But you said I’m in charge,” Wolf objected.
“Only because you’ve been to the Woodlands before,” the Boss reminded him, “and not because you have any better tracking or hunting skills or anything else. Betty has talents and skills that you don’t have and don’t even know about, so don’t start thinking too highly of yourself or I’ll smack you down. And the same goes for you, Betty, so wipe that smirk off your muzzle.”
The two wolves whimpered, turned their heads and raised a paw to show their submission to the Boss.
“All right them. No more quarreling while you’re on the Island. Go find some dinner and talk over some routes and strategies. You leave tomorrow.”
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