Part 4
Only when she stood alone in the alley
did Red allow her face to display the grimace of pain that had
remained just below the surface. Her shoulder screamed at her, while
her back threatened to seize up, with the strain she put on the
still-fresh wounds. She limped over to her discarded cloak and picked
it up to grab the jar secreted within. She applied a small daub of
Mrs. Garrity's ointment to the wound, and tore a small strip of her
own tunic to bind it. She would need to return to her cave right away
to bind it better, but at least this would hold long enough for her
to get there.
A familiar scent tickled her nose. Red
forgot her shoulder and lifted her head, sniffing harder as a breeze
blew past her. It smelled of flowers, and oatmeal--the girl! The one
missing a doll! Red tilted her head curiously. The scent came from
somewhere beyond the town. Maybe the girl had dropped it higher in
the crags without realizing it. No doubt Red could pick it up and
place it somewhere obvious for the girl to find, along with a couple
crimson hoods so she would know whom to credit. Red returned the jar
to its pocket and fastened her cloak again. She turned her head a
couple times to gain the direction of the scent, and followed it.
Up in the cliffs above the Town Square,
she sniffed again, and another scent pervaded that made her lip curl.
Wolf; but not just any wolf. It was the
same wolf she had taken down this morning. The same wolf that had
worried the flock a half-dozen times before. It would always
disappear too quickly for her to get after it, so Red would merely
chase it until she felt confident that it would not try attacking
them anytime soon--but just a few weeks later, there he would be
again, spotted in the crags over Queston or crossing the paths of a
hunting party.
"No more,"
Red muttered to herself, shifting into a wolf.
It hurt a lot more
than usual, with the wounds she still carried--but once the white
wolf had been taken care of, Red planned on doing a lot of resting
and recovery. She lifted her snout and caught the pungent scent,
following its clear trail into the forest. As much as her animal
instincts prompted her to turn away when she smelled another animal's
scent, Red's human sensibilities knew that though the white wolf had
left his scent everywhere, it by no means meant that he owned the
mountain. If anything, he infringed on her
territory, therefore he must be
eradicated.
She followed the smell getting stronger
and stronger... At last, a flash of white and the crackle of pine
needles and twigs, and Red had caught up with her quarry. The
insolent pup carried something colorful in his mouth as he trotted on
his merry way through the trees. Red crouched low and stepped
carefully as she tracked the wolf. He pranced and dawdled, trotting
over roots and down pathways, until a slight breeze caught Red's fur
and carried her scent forward. She ducked into the undergrowth and
attempted to use the shadows to her advantage--but it was too late.
The white wolf's ears perked up, and he
stopped and stiffened. The colored bundle dropped from his mouth, and
he twisted his head around, sniffing the air until he located her.
Red raised her hackles and marched into the open on full assault
mode. She bared her fangs and let loose a low growl, letting the
interloper know that he was most definitely not welcome in these
parts.
The saucy creature
yipped and sauntered, clearly not presenting himself in any kind of
submission, but waving his tail at her like he was definitely
interested in... Fire erupted in Red's thoughts; was the white wolf
trying to seduce her
into letting him go? She elevated her growl and darted forward,
showing him that his efforts were producing the opposite effect.
The white wolf
turned around to face her, frustrated at her rebuttal. He began
growling back, almost like a child who dares to talk back to their
parent. And like a child, Red decided this cub needed to be put in
his place. She tucked her back legs and flattened her tail, pulling
her ears back in a clearly-telegraphed message: Leave
now or suffer the consequences.
The white wolf
matched her posture, sending a reply: Bring
it on.
So Red brought it. Furiously, she
launched herself through the air, teeth bared and claws outstretched.
The white wolf met her, and the two beasts collided. She clipped his
snout with her fang, but he managed to twist his head in such a way
to catch her shoulder in his jaws--the same shoulder that already
bore a knife wound. Red twisted and lunged to plant her forepaws as
she stretched forward with a back leg, scoring deep on his flank. The
white wolf yelped and twisted away, leaving most of his body
vulnerable--and Red took full advantage. With a roaring snarl she
leaped upon him, so eager to sink her teeth into his back that when
he suddenly pivoted to present his teeth, she overcommitted in the
air and wobbled when her paws hit the ground again, throwing her
wildly off-balance.
The white wolf took off like a shot,
speeding in the opposite direction, and Red could only follow just
behind him, intent on gaining control once more. They were no longer
climbing, but descending a bit and heading across the mountainside.
Red was close enough to nip at his tail
when her nose caught a scent that stopped her in her tracks.
The bakery! The white wolf, in his
frantic attempt to escape her, was headed right back into Queston!
Red redoubled her efforts, taking
alternate paths and roundabout ways to try and head him off, but the
white wolf evaded her every time--desperation, more than likely. She
took one more sliding turn, but by then she could already see some of
the dwellings on the cliffside, and the white wolf slipped through
the cleft leading right down to the Town Square without stopping.
Red reached an overlook, frantically
searching for any sign of the wolf from above.
Then the screams began.
"WOOOLF!"
"Get away!"
"Protect the children!"
"Get them inside!"
"Stop the animal!"
"Arm yourselves!"
"Not the tables!"
Red scurried down and slipped between
the buildings. This was her fault, her mistake, and she needed to fix
it.
She saw the men waving axes and
cleavers and various sharp implements like pitchforks and spades.
Some of the tables lay on their side, with shards of glass and cups
and bowls strewn in the dirt. The white wolf peeled out from under
the risers with a blue banner wrapped around his middle. He flailed
until it tore and he could escape, and that gave Red the chance to
catch up to him.
"Yaaaahhh!!"
Her instincts sent her into a sideways
scramble to avoid the spade headed for her side. She yelped at the
man holding the tool, meeting his gaze and tilting her head.
Recognition dawned
over his face, and he stood up straight and turned way to holler,
"Red Wolf, Halloo!! The Red Wolf is
on the move!"
Red slipped after the white wolf as it
charged through tangles of people, all of whom stared after him with
fierce determination. By the time they had their weapons at the
ready, Red had reached them and she saw them pull back, as if they
would rather let the white wolf run amok than risk striking her.
The miscreant zig-zagged around the
chairs, upsetting flower arrangements and ripping through more
banners until at last Red had steered him to the edge of town, and
she could chase him down without fear of him causing any more trouble
among the residents of Queston.
Back through the forest and across the
mountain they ran. Red felt her limbs stiffen as the adrenaline
slackened and her wounds took a greater hold on her body. She gamely
trudged on, until at last the white wolf stopped and turned back to
face her. Red stopped where she was and focused all her energy on
staying upright, while her opponent merely shifted from paw to paw,
panting furiously as his tongue lolled from his mouth. The longer she
waited, the more her wounds ached and constricted, begging her to lay
down and rest. She was so tired from the day's work that she couldn't
even growl--the attempt came out as a subtle moan. She ventured to
shift her weight from one paw to the other, and in the next moment
the stony, muddy ground rose to meet her as her whole body collapsed
into darkness.
>>>>>>>
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