164 The Mystery Of The Mother Wolf Read online

  ran into each other again two summers ago when I was

  visiting Grandma. We started seeing each other, and

  the rest is history.”

  “So when Paul told me that he wanted to make a

  wolf sanctuary and education center for his Ph.D.

  project, I suggested that he do it here,” Jenny said. “My

  family is crazy about wolves, you know.”

  “So what's the wolf sanctuary going to be like?”

  Dexter asked, glancing up from the backgammon

  board. “You say it's for injured wolves?”

  “Yes,” Paul said. “It's going to be fifty acres of

  fenced-in land where they can roam as if they were

  free. But because these wolves will all have been in-

  jured, they would have a hard time surviving in the

  wild.”

  “So the public will come here to see them?” Nancy

  asked.

  “One day a week,” Paul said. “Alice and John

  wouldn't want people around all the time. Visitors will

  be able to observe the wolves from behind a fence, and

  then they can visit the education center and learn even

  more about them.”

  “Speaking of wolves,” Jenny said, “would you guys

  be interested in meeting some of our animals? I'm sure

  my mom told you about Rainbow.”

  Nancy brightened. “She did, and I'd love to meet

  Rainbow.”

  “The last time I checked, she and the puppies were

  asleep,” Jenny said. “So let's start with some of our

  other animals, like Beatrice and the huskies. They live

  in the barn with the horses. The cattle have the other

  barn in back.”

  Soon Jenny and Paul were showing Bess, George,

  and Nancy the husky team in the heated horse barn.

  Seven thick-furred gray-and-white dogs wiggled and

  whined in one squirming pack as they vied for each

  girl's attention. Jenny said, “Grover is part of the pack,

  too. He and Icicle there”—she pointed to a husky with

  black-tipped ears—“are the sled team leaders, but

  Grover lives in the house with us. Or with Rainbow,

  that is.”

  “I'm glad that Rainbow and Grover can be together

  if they like each other so much,” Bess said. “It figures

  they're with each other, anyway, since they're the par-

  ents of the puppies—kind of like they're married.”

  “In many animal species,” Paul said, “the males and

  females don't care about staying together for very long,

  but male and female wolves often bond for life, just as

  if they're married. Their children sometimes stay with

  them, too, and that's how a wolf pack is formed. The

  parents are called the alpha male and the alpha female.

  They're the dominant wolves in the pack—no one

  messes with them.”

  “Except sometimes if a lower wolf is especially

  feisty, he or she will challenge the alpha wolf to a

  fight,” Jenny explained. “Usually, the alpha wolf will

  put him in his place and he'll cry uncle by rolling over

  and exposing his belly. But sometimes the challenger

  refuses to give up, and then they'll fight to the death.”

  “Sounds rough being an alpha—land of like being a

  king or queen and not being able to trust the un-

  derlings,” Bess said.

  “It's a lot like that,” Paul said. “I mean, wolf society

  definitely isn't a democracy. But wolves take care of

  every animal in the pack. They're incredibly social.

  Lone wolves miss having a companion so much that

  they've been known to travel thousands of miles

  searching for a mate.”

  “So is howling a way for them to talk to one an-

  other?” Nancy asked.

  “They howl for a lot of reasons,” Paul replied. “No

  one knows for sure, but scientists think wolves howl to

  get the pack together or to call one another from afar

  or to announce the beginning of a hunt. They howl less

  in May and June because they don't want to draw

  predators' attention to their newborn pups. They also

  howl when they grieve for a dead friend or mate.”

  “Why did Rainbow have her puppies now—instead

  of in May or June?” Bess wanted to know.

  “Because she's mostly domesticated, and her pup-

  pies don't need the summer months to mature,” Paul

  answered.

  “Does a wolf have a sense of smell as good as a

  dog's?” George asked.

  “It's awesome. Wolves can pick up smells several

  miles away if the wind is right,” Paul said. “Wolves also

  have great hearing but not such great eyesight. Their

  senses are a lot like dogs'. In fact, wolves are ancestors

  of domestic dogs.”

  Jenny led the girls through the barn, which was

  filled with the sound of horses crunching grain in

  buckets for their evening meal. At the end of the barn

  was a room with several birdcages and plants inside.

  Moisture covered the glass walls, and the humid air

  reminded Nancy of a tropical rain forest. After showing

  the girls Beatrice the hawk and a brilliantly colored

  parrot named Sapphire, Jenny suggested that Rainbow

  and her pups might be ready to meet them.

  “It's almost dinnertime for Rainbow,” Jenny ex-

  plained. “I'm sure they're all awake.”

  “Great. Let's go, then,” Bess said excitedly. “I've

  never met a real live wolf before.”

  The girls followed Jenny and Paul out of the barn

  and across a large fenced-in yard that separated the

  barns from the house on one side. The sky was sud-

  denly cloudy, Nancy observed. Maybe it would snow

  after all.

  Steam puffed up from behind a picket fence off a

  patio in back of the house. “That's the heated pool,”

  Jenny told them. “You guys are welcome to swim in it

  anytime. It feels especially great after a day of skiing.”

  “And what's that building?” Nancy asked, pointing to

  a low wooden structure behind the cow barn, on the

  edge of a thick pine forest.

  “That's going to be the wolf education center,”

  Jenny said. “The wolf sanctuary will go in behind the

  center and extend into the forest.”

  Jenny had barely finished speaking when a red

  pickup truck peeled into sight at the front of the house.

  “Whoa!” she cried as the truck tried desperately to

  stay on the driveway loop.

  Everyone watched in horror as the truck wobbled,

  then bounced off the driveway, skidding through the

  snow toward the post-and-rail fence surrounding the

  yard.

  Nancy stared as the truck sped up. It's not stopping!

  she thought.

  “Hold it!” Paul yelled as it crashed through the fence

  and into the yard, scattering chickens and raising

  plumes of snow.

  Paul and the four girls stood frozen in shock as the

  truck accelerated. It was zooming right at them!

  4. A Scream in the Night

  Nancy jolted into action. “Get out of the way, every-

  one!” she cried.

  Nancy and Paul bolted toward the nearest barn
/>   while the others ran for the lodge. The truck swerved

  toward Nancy and Paul as if they were magnets.

  “This way!” Nancy said, grabbing Paul by his coat

  sleeve and dragging him to the right. The truck

  whizzed by, missing them by inches. With the barn

  looming in front of it, the truck screeched to a stop

  only a few yards from the nearest stall.

  The driver's door flew open. Nancy stared, curious

  to see who'd been driving. Some crazy cowboy? she

  wondered.

  A dainty-looking cowboy boot emerged, worn by a

  diminutive white-haired lady in chaps and a brown felt

  hat.

  Paul scowled as the woman jumped out of the truck.

  “Grandma!” he cried.

  Jenny jogged over to Nancy and Paul, followed by

  Bess and George. “Your grandmother ought to have

  her eyes checked,” she told Paul angrily. “She almost

  killed us.”

  Striding confidently toward the group, Paul's grand-

  mother moved as if she were forty. But as she came

  closer, Nancy could tell from her wrinkled weather-

  worn skin that she was definitely pushing eighty.

  “Grandma, are you all right?” Paul asked.

  “I'm not dead yet,” his grandmother said fiercely.

  Turning to Jenny, she added, “I'm sorry about your

  fence, dear. Obviously, I'll pay for it. Do let your par-

  ents know, won't you?”

  Jenny nodded while the woman introduced herself

  to Nancy, Bess, and George as Stella Stevenson. “I

  don't know what got into me,” Mrs. Stevenson went on.

  “It must be my arthritis. It's been bothering me lately,

  and it felt like my knee locked.”

  “Grandma,” Paul said, “you really ought to hire a

  driver. You can easily afford one, and you're putting

  yourself and others in danger if your arthritis makes

  you drive like that.”

  “Nonsense!” Mrs. Stevenson proclaimed, glaring at

  her grandson as if he were nuts. “I'll do nothing of the

  sort. I'm an independent woman, and that means doing

  my own driving, thank you. I've just got to get better at

  taking my arthritis medicine, that's all.”

  “The hood of your truck is bashed in,” Jenny ob-

  served, walking toward it. “Oh no!” she said. “Is there

  someone in the passenger seat?”

  “Just Bill Ehret,” Mrs. Stevenson said, marching

  toward the passenger side of the truck. “Don't worry—

  he's alive. It's just taking him a minute to gather his

  wits.”

  Mrs. Stevenson opened the door and dragged out a

  terrified-looking man with coffee-colored skin, gray

  hair, and a gray beard. He rubbed his knee and

  grimaced.

  “You'll be okay, Bill,” Mrs. Stevenson said. “At least

  we're alive. There's no need to shiver and shake.”

  “I hurt my knee, Stella,” the man said through

  clenched teeth. “I hope I'll be able to ski again.”

  “Of course you will,” Mrs. Stevenson declared. “At

  your age it should be a snap. I'm fifteen years your

  senior, and I still ride horses.”

  The man looked as if he were about to explode with

  irritation, when his gaze focused on the others. Forcing

  a smile, he extended his hand to Nancy and said,

  “Hello, there. I'm Bill Ehret, of Thunderbird Ranch.

  Pleased to meet you.”

  After Nancy had introduced herself, Bess, and

  George to Mr. Ehret, Jenny explained to the girls that

  Thunderbird Ranch was on the other side of Mrs.

  Stevenson's place, Coyote Corners. Turning to Mrs.

  Stevenson and Mr. Ehret, she asked, “So what brings

  you two over to Elk River? Are you coming for dinner

  tonight?”

  “Unfortunately not, Jenny dear,” Mr. Ehret said in a

  patronizing manner, as if Jenny were still a little girl.

  “Though I would love to eat one of your father's

  delicious meals one of these evenings. No, Stella and I

  are here to see Paul, actually.”

  “Me?” Paul said in surprise. “What for?”

  Mr. Ehret chuckled unpleasantly. “No need to get so

  defensive, my boy—nothing too bad, I assure you. But

  remember you mentioned at the recent town meeting

  that you're building a wolf sanctuary here at Elk River?

  Well, as neighboring ranchers, Stella and I are

  concerned about wolves escaping and killing our

  livestock. We'd just like some reassurance that it would

  never happen.”

  “The sanctuary will be properly fenced in, Mr.

  Ehret,” Paul said. “You don't need to worry about

  wolves escaping. We haven't put the fence up yet be-

  cause the ground is too frozen to dig, but you're wel-

  come to come back after the spring thaw to make sure

  the fence is secure. In the meantime, I can show you

  the education center. It's almost finished, except for a

  few exhibits.”

  “It would be my pleasure,” Mr. Ehret said.

  Mrs. Stevenson gazed fondly at her grandson. “Paul,

  don't get me wrong. I'm very proud of your work, but I

  need to balance your accomplishments with my

  livestock. I hope you understand.”

  “Of course I understand that you and Mr. Ehret

  don't want your livestock hurt,” Paul said. “But I think

  when you see the wolf sanctuary, you'll understand that

  the wolves won't pose any danger. The fence will be

  very secure. Anyway, let me take you to the center.

  Learning a little more about wolves might ease your

  fears. Jenny, I'll see you all in a few minutes.”

  Paul beckoned to his grandmother and Mr. Ehret to

  follow him across the snowy yard, while Jenny turned

  to Nancy, George, and Bess. “Never a dull moment at

  Elk River,” she declared, rolling her eyes. “Let's go

  meet Rainbow.”

  As Jenny led them toward a door to the wing of the

  lodge, she explained, “Rainbow has totally bonded with

  Mom and Dad and me, and even Paul, but she's scared

  of other people. Mom and Dad use this wing as their

  own private quarters, and they keep Rainbow and her

  puppies here with them. We've got so many visitors at

  Elk River that we have to keep Rainbow off-limits to

  most people.”

  “Do wolves make good pets?” George wondered.

  “No,” Jenny said, “because they don't care about

  pleasing people the way dogs do. Wolves are skittish

  with people, but taming Rainbow was necessary be-

  cause she would have died in the wild without her

  mother or her pack.”

  Jenny stepped onto a small side porch and opened

  the door, which led directly into a large sitting room. A

  pen made from boards about a foot high rested against

  the far wall. After stamping the snow off their boots,

  the girls followed Jenny inside.

  As Jenny held her finger to her lips, her mother

  entered the room from an open hallway door that had a

  safety gate fitted snugly across it. Alice stepped

  gracefully over the gate, then knelt by the pen, mo-

  tioning for the girl
s to join her.

  Nancy marveled at the sight inside the pen: five

  adorable wolfdog puppies nuzzling their mother.

  Rainbow's piercing yellow eyes looked warily at the

  girls while Alice held her collar and murmured to her

  soothingly.

  Rainbow was gorgeous, Nancy thought. Her lush fur

  was mostly gray except for a white patch on her chest,

  and black paws, tail, and forehead. Of all dog breeds,

  she resembled a husky, but her legs were longer and

  thinner. But it was her eyes that really told Nancy she

  wasn't a dog. Instead of a dog's soft, friendly, curious

  gaze, Rainbow's was both wild and terrified. Unlike a

  dog, she obviously had no desire to bond with the girls

  simply because they were human. Nancy could sense

  Rainbow's protective instincts toward her puppies, and

  she was careful to keep a respectful distance away.

  The puppies were tiny white, gray, and black

  bundles of fur, and at two and a half weeks, their eyes

  had only just begun to see. It was impossible for Nancy

  to tell whether the puppies looked more like dogs or

  wolves.

  “I don't think you should touch them,” Alice warned.

  “Rainbow is especially skittish today because we had an

  intruder last night.”

  “What?” Jenny exclaimed, clearly surprised.

  “I didn't want to scare anyone, so I kept it to my-

  self,” Alice said. “But it was really weird.” Pointing to a

  closed door on the opposite side of the sitting room

  from the hallway door, she explained to the guests,

  “John and I sleep with our bedroom door open so we

  can hear Rainbow or the puppies if they need anything.

  Last night, Rainbow and Grover started barking like

  crazy and woke me up. I could swear I saw a shadow

  lurking in the hallway on the other side of the gate, but

  whoever it was left immediately—I guess because of all

  the barking.”

  “Could the shadow have been Dody or Dexter?”

  Jenny asked. “Maybe one of them needed something.”

  “I meant to ask them, but I've been so busy today,”

  Alice said. “Really, I forgot about the whole thing till

  now that I'm noticing Rainbow isn't her usual self.”

  “But if the person was a guest who needed some-

  thing—like Dody or Dexter—would he have run away

  when the animals barked?” Nancy asked. “Your

  description makes me think it was someone who was

  trying to sneak around, not a guest who needed you.”