Chapter Nine

    I walked back to the carcass in the evening, hoping to refuel my body before some good sleep. When I got to the kill site, I was surprised that the carcass was mainly intact. It didn't even look touched except for the leg I cut off. I silently thanked the wolves for giving me dinner and cut off another leg to chop, cut, and cook with some wild berries and herbs.

    The woods were peaceful as I walked through the tall trees, looking at the owls flying by. It had become a sort of hobby. Every time I walked through the woods to hunt, collect meat, cut wood for fires or repairs, or anything else, I saw myself looking up and up more often, trying to spot those yellow eyes and listening for every hoot. Of course, it was nothing compared to the howl I had heard resounding off the mountain that fateful night.

    I also thought about Robyn and Mebh as I trekked back to my home. A few days ago, my biggest thoughts were about hunting and repairing the house. Now they were about the wolves patrolling the forest and Robyn and Mebh's battle with the Lord Protector. How had they won against the ruler of two countries, a cannon, and guns? It astounded me. The girls must have had to have extreme amounts of courage and bravery to stand up to such a foe.

    Robyn's dad was another thing. Bill was a hunter before he turned into a wolfwalker. I could imagine him going up to the pack and greeting the members. "Oh, hey!" he would say, "I remember you! I almost got you stuck in one of my bear traps! How are you?" I chuckled at the thought.

    As I was thinking about this, my foot snagged a tree root, and I fell onto the snowy floor. Cursing, I got up and brushed off my coat and pants. Just as I was resuming walking, I spotted a myriad of tracks. They were larger than Robyn or Mebh, I was sure, and if it was Bill or Moll, they would have to make a lot of trips to go there and back to make that many footprints and the tracks were all heading in the same direction, so it wasn't possible. I also swore I heard grunting and panting in the woods as if the people had run all this way. Maybe they saw one of the wolves or were scared of something else. Great. One more thing on my mind to think about. Just what I needed.

    As I approached my cabin, I wondered about the tracks. Who was making them? Were they friends or foes? Why were they here? Were they trying to live here? Were they trying to get resources? Millions of questions bombarded my head as I lay down on my bed. I felt like my brain was going to explode with what I had heard and seen today. From the news about the Lord Protector dying to the strange tracks in the woods when I was coming back from my meat-gathering. I was overloaded with details, and I couldn't smush it all into comprehensible thought. I struggled to sleep, tortured with unanswered questions and the endless 'what ifs'. In my dreams, I imagined wolves in my sleep. I was overloaded with wolves. I needed a break.