The Mystery of the Mother Wolf Page 3
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
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.”