Red Wolf

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There was a time long ago, when wolf and man lived wild and free,
When the white-skins lived far away, across the Salt Water.
The woods were big then and the forests thick.
Elk and moose were plentiful, the rivers clear and full of fish.
Counselled by the wisdom of the old ones and guided by the spirit
We lived in harmony with Mother Earth,
Wolf and man together, yet apart.
There was a time before the loggers cut the great pines and floated them down the rivers,
Before the traders used our furs and skins to clothe the white ones across the Big Water,
Before they made us believe that our ways were evil and our wisdom was foolishness,
Before they controlled us, contained us, tamed us, restrained us,
Before the diseases, the guns, the metal traps, the poison bait.
There was a time before we were savages,
Wolf and man together, both.
There was a time long ago …

Tall-Legs turned to flee.
The bullet caught him in the ribcage, the impact arcing him into the air. He yelped and thudded to the ground, legs twitching.

However, hunger gnawed at his stomach and the meat that lay on the trestle table was tempting. He crouched low, his sensitive nose taking in every detail.

and then, in the manner of wolves, she ate it.

Red Wolf tugged at his father’s hand. “Can we feed him?”

He had picked up the scent of Upright miles away, not the frightening odour of lumberjacks and their exploding sticks, but the gentler smell of those who had lived at Clear Lake where he had been born.

Crooked Ear was afraid to approach the pack of The People uninvited, yet he could not move on.

Fate, it seemed, had brought Crooked Ear to the summer territory of The People.

Now, face-to-face with the child, the young wolf bowed down on his front legs, haunches pointed skyward, lowered ears and waving tail gesturing submission and friendship.