Lizard's Leap: Chapter Seventeen: He's Dying

‘What is it?’ Kerry shrieked, clinging to Emma.

‘I dunno, Kez,’ Vicki said. ‘But whatever it is, it’s big and it’s mean.’

The creature growled again. The sound was a low, deep, vibrating rumble that rattled in the animal’s throat. It was, without a doubt, a threat. One wrong move and the beast would leap out at them.

All around them grass and leaves rustled as the rest of the animals closed in. Soon, several pairs of eyes could be seen watching coldly through the trees. The yellow eyes stared at them in silent hatred. They were large with pupils as black as oil in a well of amber; alert, intelligent eyes that didn’t welcome visitors to their clearing. These animals had received no mercy in their lives and offered none in return.

The beast nearest Vicki and Mark was on the move again. The grass parted to make way for its hard grey chest to push through. The huge wolf came all the way out of the protective undergrowth. He stood five feet away from them.

They could smell the musky scent of his rough coat. He was bigger than a German shepherd dog and leaner. His chest bulged with muscle and his legs were firm and strong, braced and parted. He held his ground and made himself look as large as possible in front of them. The hair had risen from the centre of his back, a bristled ridge that extended over his shoulders and onto the base of his gigantic head.

They couldn’t break away from the animal’s iron gaze. Although he saw Vicki as the leader of this pack, his eyes bored into all four of them, keeping them rooted to the spot as he assessed his power and strength against theirs.

‘Stand still and don’t move. And, whatever you do, don’t look away,’ Vicki said softly, under her breath.

‘Couldn’t look away if I wanted to,’ Emma whispered back. ‘But I think I’m about to wet my pants.’

The wolf moved a step closer and Emma had to grab Kerry hard to stop her running. He hadn’t stopped his low rumble of a growl since he emerged from the trees. When Vicki didn’t retreat as he moved that step closer his lips pulled back in a snarl and then his mouth dropped open. The vivid red colouring of slaver-covered gums showed his white teeth.

They looked like crystal icicles on a red velvet cushion and had been kept healthy by gnawing on the bones of its prey. Unlike lazy domestic dogs whose teeth were yellowed by eating prepared meal and canned meat, the wolf’s teeth had no yellowing or taint on them. His snarl was more savage; spittle flew from his mouth. Several drops landed on Vicki but she didn’t flinch. She knew that no matter how scared they were they couldn’t show the wolf any weakness.

Other wolves emerged from the cover of the trees, none as large as the big grey who had challenged them but big enough and mean enough and hungry-looking enough to be menacing.

‘They probably just want the food,’ said Vicki. ‘I’m going to try and work my way round to the hamper and throw the scraps for them. Maybe we’ll be able to grab the basket and leap while they’re distracted.’

‘Don’t, Vicki,’ Mark said. ‘It’s too dangerous.’

‘I have to. If we just stand here, sooner or later they’re going to get fed up with just snarling at us.’

‘Aren’t you scared?’

‘Terrified. But I don’t think they want to harm us. They just want to get to the food that they can smell.’

Vicki inched one step sideways and the wolf snarled louder. He took a breath and rasped harder still, warning this challenger that the food was his and he wasn’t going to give it up without a fight.

Kerry did what Kerry always did in times of stress; she retreated into her brain and rummaged round in her memory for anything she could remember reading about wolves.

‘They’re Timber Wolves,’ she said. ‘That means that we’re probably in Canada. That’s where most of the wolves are, although they’re also found in smaller numbers around the world so I suppose we could be anywhere. They won’t attack us as long as we stay together. Not unless they feel threatened or we back them into a corner.’

‘Kez, I think it’s us who’re backed into a corner,’ Mark said. ‘Maybe you could point this out to them and they’ll go away like nice little doggies.’

Vicki took another step to the side. It confused the wolf. His eyes shifted for the first time and moved among Vicki, the food hamper, and the other three enemies who were near the rest of his pack. He was the alpha male, the lead wolf and it was his job to protect the rest of the pack. If they hadn’t been so scared it would have been almost funny watching the wolf trying to make a decision.

Should he protect his pack from the intruders, or his lunch from the other pack leader? Deciding that his pack could look after themselves and that food was more important he snarled and moved another step towards Vicki. She moved one away. He moved two steps closer. She moved one out. This was too much for the wolf; he put his head back and howled.

The sound, so sudden in the stillness of the forest, sent icy shivers through them. It seemed as though the wolf was calling on the God of Wolves to come from the sky and aid him. While his head was up, Vicki used the opportunity to take another step. She was completely separated from the other three, standing alone and at her most vulnerable. The wolf came out of his howl and growled gnashing his jaws in answer to the challenge.

Vicki had an idea. She began to sing in her softest, sweetest voice: ‘Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah…’

She motioned for the others to join in. They sang, taking up the harmony and singing one octave higher, but just as softly as Vicki, so as not to startle the wolves: ‘Ha-le-lu-u-jah.’

That confused him. The wolf flattened his ears and cocked his head to the side to listen. His snarl subsided to a whimper, a soft rumble deep in his throat.

They sang louder as Vicki edged closer to the basket, very, very slowly. Once there, she knelt down and, without taking her eyes off the wolf, opened it. She took out the remains of a sausage roll and threw it to the big grey wolf.

He jumped backwards with a yelp that he had the grace to look suitably ashamed of and then he moved forward to sniff the quarter of sausage roll. The other wolves came closer and Vicki threw what was left of all the food into the clearing. While the wolves fought with each other over the scraps, she skirted round the edge of the clearing to get back to the others.

The largest female chased off one of the young males who had stepped out of line in the pack hierarchy and tried to feed before his mother. She nipped him harshly on the flank to teach him some table manners and he ran off squealing. The clever cub ran wide, going into the forest and circling round to come back on the other side of the pack.

He was only a few feet inside the tree line when a loud snap echoed through the forest, reverberating eerily off the trees. There was a moment of total silence. All the wolves stopped eating, raised their heads and pricked up their ears. Wolves and children listened, the birds listened and even the trees themselves seemed to still and wait.

A glass-shattering howl echoed around the clearing. Something had happened to the running wolf. The sound was pitiful.

‘Quick,’ Kerry hissed. ‘Let’s leap.’

‘Kerry,’ Mark was shocked. ‘We can’t. The poor animal’s hurt. We have to try and help him.’

‘Are you crazy? What can we do? It’s not as if he’ll just let us go up and help, is it?’

‘We have to try,’ Vicki said.

‘We can’t just leave him screaming like that,’ Emma agreed.

The other wolves were confused by the screaming pack-mate. They huddled together not knowing what to do or where to go. Even the big alpha male looked uncertain. He howled in confusion.

They made their way towards the sound of the hurt wolf. Vicki handed the stick to Emma. ‘Here,’ she ordered, ‘try and keep them back with this. They might attack if they think we’re hurting the injured one.’

Emma looked at the stick as though it was a marshmallow in a gun battle. ‘Gee, thanks, Vicki. I’m sure I’ll do a great job with this,’ she said.
They pushed through some bushes and saw the young wolf lying to the side of the path. He lay on his side panting and at the same time howling in pain. As they watched, his head came up and he bit savagely at his hind leg, trying to free himself from the steel jaws of a trapper’s snare.

‘Oh, the poor thing,’ Vicki said, moving towards him. Mark pulled her back.

‘Wait, we need to think about what to do. If you go near him, he’s going to bite.’

They looked down at the distressed animal, not knowing what to do to help him. The wolf was tiring, his screams lessening and subsiding into whimpers with the odd yelp. He lay back down, his body heaving with fear and pain as he panted hard. His eyes were filled with agony and terror as he turned to look at them gathered round him. Vicki couldn’t believe that human beings had done this to him.

‘What are we going to do?’ she wailed. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

‘Kerry, pass me the tablecloth,’ Mark said. ‘I’ve got an idea.’

Mark took the cloth and threw it over the wolf. The terrified animal grabbed the material and began shaking it savagely. He raged at the cloth in fury, snarling and spitting and punishing it for the pain he was suffering.

Mark flung himself down on top of the wolf and wrapped the loose end of the cloth twice round his snout. The rest of the cloth was over his head. ‘It’ll help to calm him when he stops fighting.’ He explained.

Kerry screamed. The wolf was only young but he was strong despite being weakened and in shock. He fought and wrestled with Mark.

‘Be careful, Mark.’ Emma yelled.

‘Hurry, Vicki. Open the snare. I can’t hold him for long, he’s too strong.’ Mark had the weight of his body holding the wolf as steady as he could. The terrified wolf bucked, fighting against the snare and the boy who had attacked him.

‘Easy boy, take it easy, now. I’m not going to hurt you. We’re going to try and help if we can. Easy lad. Easy.’ Mark spoke softly to the enraged animal and gradually the fight went out of the wolf. He stopped struggling so hard.

The other wolves had come to find out what was happening. They stood at some distance from the injured animal and looked on. None of them were growling and they didn’t look as though they were going to attack, but they needed to be kept at bay.

Kerry moved towards them and waved her hands. She said things like ‘Shoo,’ and ‘Go away wolves,’ and, ‘please don’t hurt us. We’re only trying to help your friend.’ The wolves didn’t come any closer but watched, ready to attack at any moment. Vicki tried to pry open the jaws of the snare but it was no good. She wasn’t strong enough. The snare held fast.

‘Get the stick, Vicki, and try using that to get it open,’ Mark said.

Vicki prised the end of the branch between the snare’s teeth and tried to force it open. The branch was rotten on the end and snapped. She tried again and again it snapped. Every time she applied any pressure to the snare the wolf whimpered and when the wolf wined, Vicki sobbed. He now lay completely still, not even trying to fight.

He was dying.