“She's so funny,” Susie said.
“Yeah, silly like you,” Brian quipped.
“I am not.”
Jean gave Brian “the look,” and he quickly turned his attention to scraping the last morsels of pie off his plate.
When the show ended, Mattie asked, “Where is Celeste? I thought she was going to be here?”
“She was, but she's not feeling well,” Ray said.
“Anything serious?” Adam asked.
“No. Just the sniffles.”
Jean refilled cups.
“Ray, can you tell us one of your hunting stories?” Brian asked.
“You've heard them all.”
“I haven't,” Laurel said.
“I don't think I've heard any.” Mattie squeezed Luke's hand. “Neither has Luke.”
He made no comment.
“I'd like to hear one,” Adam said.
Ray lit his pipe, took a puff, and leaned back in his chair. “Well, did I ever tell you about my run-in with the wolves when I was down on the Copper River?”
“Nope,” Brian said, leaning forward and resting his arms on folded legs.
He thought a moment. “That musta been nearly twenty-five years ago. Back when I was a young man.” He looked at Luke. “I was probably about your age.”
Luke remained stone-faced.
Ray continued. “It was about this time of year, and I was out checking a trapline. Late February and early March wolves tend to get cantankerous, what with mating season and hunger driving them.”
“I thought wolves didn't attack people,” Adam said.
Ray took two quick puffs of his pipe. “Generally you don't have to worry about them, but you never can tell for sure. I've heard a lot of stories about people being chased up a tree or into a cabin. And of course some folks never come out the woods, and no one knows what became of 'em. I s'pect wolves could be the culprit in some cases.”
“They're dangerous all right,” Luke said. “Mattie had a run-in just a couple of nights ago.”
Laurel pressed a hand to her throat. “You did? What happened?”
“I went for a late walk. They were talking to each other, but I didn't think I had anything to worry about. Never had any trouble before. I don't know if they would have hurt me or not.”
“They were lickin' their chops,” Luke cut in. “I had to run 'em off. They were all around her, looking mean and hungry.”
“Oh, Mattie,” Jean said, worry in her voice.
“I hope I never run into any,” Brian said. “What happened to you, Ray?”
“Well, like I said, I'd been following a trapline and was heading back to camp when I spotted a couple of wolves. They were tailing me. I didn't think much about it, figuring they weren't any real threat. Not long after that I caught sight of three more, and they seemed real interested in me. It was then that I thought they might give me trouble.” He sucked on the pipe and let smoke escape from the side of his mouth. “I figured a few shots from my rifle would scare 'em off. So, I lifted my rifle and…” he paused for dramatic effect. “When I went to fire it, nothing happened. It was jammed.”
Susie's eyes were big and round. “Oh no! What did you do?”
“I tried again. Still nothin'. So I kept moving. Things stayed peaceful for a while. They just dogged me. I'd nearly made it back to camp when one of them critters ran at me. I hollered, but he kept coming.”
Ray leaned back in his chair and let his eyes trail the faces. Clearly he was enjoying telling the tale. “Before I knew it, he was on me, so I did the only thing I could.”
“What?” Susie asked.
“I used that rifle like a club and hit him over the head hard. He went right down. Out cold.” He chuckled.
“What about the rest of the pack?” Brian asked.
“Oh, they kept their distance…for a while anyway. I knew they'd come after me, so I started looking for a tree to climb. Before I could find one, another of those brutes took after me. I used my gun again, but this time it cracked when it hit. Got him over the head, though, which pushed him back. Almost right away another one was on me. Only weapon I had was my skinning knife.”
“Were you scared?” Susie asked breathlessly.
“You bet. I was in a real fix. I still had at least four of those devils to take care of.”
“Ray,” Jean said softly, “maybe it would be better if the children didn't hear any more.”
“They have to know what's out there. One day they'll be facing this world on their own.”
