“Oh great and august He-Wolf, most esteemed Lord Silver Paw,” Fang began, “this is Lucie, a young human, what they call a girl. I have been living with her family these past months. She has shown me great kindness and hospitality. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that we are friends.”
“Friends!” said the old wolf, and he looked at Lucie with great attention. Lucie blushed. Then Silver Paw turned back to Fang. “Then what is it that troubles you?” he asked. “For something does.”
Fang sighed. “Recently I saved a human child. Otherwise it would have been squashed to a pulp under the wheels of one of their infernal machines—one of those foul-smelling “cars” they like so much. But doing this deed attracted attention. And hostility. Now it seems that I must leave.”
Silver Paw wrinkled his nose. “Praise might be expected for saving a child. Not hostility. Were it not discourteous to our guest, I might observe that the ways of humans are strange — even ungrateful.”
“Yes,” said Lucie shyly. “You’re right. But I don’t think people mean to be ungrateful. Really I don’t.”
“Then what do they mean?”
“I think they’re frightened. And it makes them stupid.”
Silver Paw considered. “It may be so. Often your kind — humankind — acts stupidly towards ours. Yet maybe fear is the reason.” Silver Paw turned back to Fang. “Still, I do not see what I can do. You must seek out another refuge, that is all.”
At this, tears sprung into Lucie’s eyes. “Oh please, great august Silver Paw — I’m so sorry, I can’t remember all of your names! Please help us! I never had a friend like Fang before. I’ll do anything!”
Silver Paw fixed his eyes on Lucie. It was hard for the small girl not to look away from his deep wolf-stare, but somehow she did not. She kept her chin raised, and her eyes wide open, and she hoped and hoped.
“Will you then become a True Friend to the Wolves?” asked Silver Paw. “It is no small thing.”
“Yes! Oh, yes!”
“Then step aside one moment. I must speak with Fang alone.”
Lucie followed one of the guard-wolves. She sat down on the grass, and crossed her fingers and hugged her knees.
Meanwhile Silver Paw beckoned to Fang. The two wolves rubbed noses, then sat down facing each other.
“Is it wise,” asked Silver Paw at last, “to take this child into your heart? Certainly, she is appealing — for a human. Intelligent even. But think, Fang, she will grow. And the grown ones of her species are almost always stupid, it seems to me.”
“Lucie is a special child,” said Fang. “Not every child can hear when we speak. Or not so as to understand. Lucie does. I think she will always be special.”
“All the same, would it not be simpler to leave her and find another home?”
Fang shook her head.
Silver Paw said, “Bring the child back to me.”
Fang fetched Lucie. Together the wolf and the girl stood facing Silver Paw.
“So, child,” said Silver Paw. “It is not our custom to bring humans among us, nor to give them help. But I am told that you are a friend to Fang.”
“Oh yes. I will never let her down, I promise!”
“It is a serious matter, such a promise. But the truth is I do not know if I can help you. For the cause of your trouble lies among humans. So the solution must be found there too. If I am to help you then you yourself must point the way.”
“Oh,” cried Lucie, tears of disappointment in her eyes.
“Perhaps it would be better if Fang left for the present. Then the other humans might forget their fears. She could come back later to find out. If so…good. If not…” Silver Paw shrugged.
“No!” cried Lucie. “She mustn’t go away!”
“Then is there anything you can tell me that might help?”
The old wolf’s eyes bored into Lucie. He was expecting something. But what?
“I don’t know what to tell you,” said Lucie desperately. “Except — except that I know that Fang must never leave Acorn Avenue!”
There was a long pause after those words. Lucie felt close to tears. But at her words something changed in the old wolf’s face. Something flickered in his milky eyes.
“Acorn Avenue, you say?”
“Yes. It’s where I live.”
“I see. Yes. That might be important.”
“Really?” asked Lucie, astonished.
Silver Paw was staring into the distance. Lucie had the feeling he was listening hard to something, even though there was nothing to hear except the wind. But then, maybe a wolf could hear things in the wind that a human could not.
At last he said, “Maybe I can help you. Or rather, I can help you to help yourself. But you alone must find the answer. For the solution lies not with us wolves, but in the human world.”
“What am I to do?”
“Listen.” And the old wolf began to speak in a sing-song voice.
“The task begins at your own front door
For answer follow your own right paw
Human knowledge is what you need
Written in form that humans read.”
“Is that it? But what does it mean?” cried Lucie hopelessly.
“You must work it out for yourself. Thus proving that you at least, of all your kind, are not stupid. If you succeed then you will have shown yourself a true friend to Fang and to wolves. You will become a Cub of our Pack — the first human ever to be so chosen. Come here.”
Then Fang nudged Lucie forward with her nose, until she stood between the paws of the old wolf.
Silver Paw breathed softly on Lucie. Very gently he licked Lucie’s forehead.
“Good luck, Little Cub,” he said. “May you complete your task.”
The snow was swirling again. The wolves were still milling around their clearing but now it was as if they were performing a beautiful dance. They wove in and out in intricate patterns, their tails flowing behind them. Lucie’s head spun, and even the stars seemed to be dancing…the wind was rushing past her ears…
Suddenly Lucie sat up with a start. It was still dark. The church clock was striking six.