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CHAPTER FOUR

Killing a wolf

It’s morning and I’m still up in the tree. I didn’t sleep all night. I’m hungry, tired, cold and angry. I’m going to climb down the tree and look for some food.

That’s better. I can’t think when I’m hungry.

When I remember how I ran away from those wolves, I feel angry and my face gets hot. Why did I run away? I wasn’t afraid!

I screamed and ran away to save Brother, of course. That’s why. I don’t want to go back to the deer family.

If I’m not living with deer, I don’t have to run away from anything. I can live alone for my Year of Sharing. I can find food, water, places to sleep and leaves to make clothes with. I don’t need the deer; life is more difficult with them.

I have decided not to follow the deer and I feel happier now. I won’t get lonely or bored; I’m better alone.

If a wolf comes, I’ll kill it. I can fight wolves if I have sticks and stones. When I find the dead body of an animal, I will cut it up and use it to make something for killing wolves - a catapult which will shoot stones.

I feel much better.

Things have changed again. I’m back with the deer.

I was sitting on the ground, cutting a stick with a stone, when I heard Mother calling. She was far away. I only heard her because it was very quiet all around.

She was calling, ‘Where are you? Where are you?’ and I knew she was calling me.

It was terrible. I began crying. She’s only a deer. I smell like a baby deer to her, but I’m not really.

I answered, ‘I’m here!’

Mother heard me and ran to me. She was calling all the time. She came through the trees with Baby behind her and I stood up, still crying, and I.

I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Sometimes I don’t understand myself. I never put my arms round my real mother like that, and Mother is only a deer.

What could I do? I walked with Mother and Baby through the forest for a long time until we found Father and Brother. Father stopped eating and hit Mother with his antlers. He was angry; he wanted her to be near him all the time.

When Father came up to me, I thought he would hit me too, but he didn’t. He smelt me carefully, then touched me softly with his head. To him, I’m just a baby.

Brother jumped straight up and down; he was so happy to see me again. I was surprised how happy I was to see him too.

In the last few days we have walked and walked. When the others want to stop and eat, Father keeps us moving. We have swum across rivers, pushed through trees, run across open ground and moved back into trees again. I know why - we all know.

There’s a wolf, or wolves, following us. It calls - a long, hungry howling, often at night. It’s following our smell. That’s why Father tries to go through water as often as possible - smells are lost in water.

I’m busy with my special answer to this danger - I’m making weapons. I break up stones into little pieces. Some pieces of stone are really sharp and will cut like a knife. I’ve put them on long sticks to make spears.

I found a dead animal and cut off its skin, then I cut the skin into long, thin pieces. Now I have a good catapult; I can kill wolves.

Brother’s teaching Baby to jump as high as she can. That’s his job. Mother teaches Baby about eating and smelling things and cleaning herself. Father doesn’t have time to teach Baby.

He’s always walking round. He’s smelling, listening, watching the trees, waiting for something bad to happen. He always knows the best place to go next, because he never stops thinking about it.

Brother, Baby and I often jump together, moving in sudden, high jumps across the ground. I’m beginning to understand why deer jump so much.

A jump catches the eye of a wolf. When a wolf runs after a deer, another deer will jump and the wolf will turn to look at it.

Then a third deer will jump. The wolf turns again. Each jump takes the deer away from the wolf and the wolf can’t decide which deer to follow. It’s clever.

Yesterday something bad happened. Baby did a good, high jump but when she came down, she gave a little scream.

She tried to walk and screamed again, a little, high scream. Mother ran to her and Father stood not far away and watched.

I couldn’t see what was wrong at first; Mother didn’t want anyone to come near. In the end I lay down next to Baby and saw what it was - a stick from a tree was deep inside Baby’s leg and Mother’s teeth couldn’t pull it out. Mother didn’t let me touch it.

Baby could only walk on three legs and she got tired very quickly. Father tried to move on again, away from the wolf, but Mother wanted to stay with Baby. Father pushed Mother and she followed him.

but then went back to Baby. Father went back and pushed Mother again.

In the end Father took Baby to a dark place where she could hide under leaves. It was near a river and the ground was wet. That would hide Baby’s smell from the wolf.”

Then Father pushed us all away. But when we left, we could hear Baby calling after us. She didn’t understand. Her calls said, ‘I’m here! I’m here!’

Father didn’t let Mother go back. We walked on. The howl of a wolf came through the trees from far away. I thought of a wolf finding Baby.

I just couldn’t leave her.

I stopped. Mother called me but Father was pushing her to go on. I stayed still and they went into the trees and I couldn’t see them anymore. There are no goodbyes with deer.

I ran back to Baby and she stopped calling. She was happy.

I put my weapons on the ground - my catapult and spears. When I touched Baby’s leg, she didn’t like it; it hurt a lot. She didn’t let me touch it again.

So I lay down heavily on top of her. I held the stick in her leg and moved it slowly and carefully. I pulled and turned it until it came out, all of it.

Then I went and carried water in my hand from the river to wash the place on her leg. That was all I could do.

I brought leaves for Baby to eat, and water for her to drink. When it got dark, I lay down with her and we slept, keeping warm together.

I’ve just looked at her leg and I think it’s getting better. But she can’t walk on it yet. We have to stay here for a few days.

Then we will follow the deer family. I think I can find them. I can smell where they have been, I can see where they have walked and I understand how Father thinks.

With luck I can find them.

The wolves found us two days later. It was evening, just before dark. Two wolves walked out of the trees and saw me carrying food to Baby.

They were thin and hungry wolves. I don’t think they have eaten for a long time.

My weapons were under the leaves with Baby.

I dropped the food and ran and quickly got a catapult and a few stones. Of course, the wolves thought I was running away and they came to get me.

I turned, holding the catapult, and looked at them, and they stopped in surprise. Why wasn’t I running away?

I felt cold inside, but not afraid. ‘Which one of you shall I kill?’ I asked them. ‘Which one of you will die first?’

The wolves heard my cold voice. They knew I was dangerous, but they were hungry.

They came slowly and they didn’t make a sound. I shot a stone from the catapult and it hit one wolf on the eye.

The wolf screamed. I followed that with more stones until a very big one cut its head open. The wolf fell over on its side and didn’t move.

The other wolf jumped, turned and ran back into the trees. I looked at the dead wolf on the ground and felt sorry.

From the trees came a long, lonely howl.

I waited until it was dark and then Baby and I began walking. Baby walked for a while and then rested.

I couldn’t follow the deer family in the dark because I couldn’t see anything and the smells were cold. But I thought I knew where Father would go.

There was a moon. I decided we had to walk all night because the other wolf was still out there somewhere.

Baby’s leg was doing well; I was happy about that. An hour later, we were far from the dark hiding place under the leaves. The wolf wouldn’t find us now.

There was a howl in the night. Then another howl, and another. Three, four, five, six howls - from different sides.

The wolves were far, away, but there were lots of them. Too many.

And so I learnt something new. Wolves have families too - big families. If you kill one wolf, the family wants to find the killer. We were in trouble.