And it was because she was bored that Shiny Straw wanted to see something new. She wanted to see what human beings looked like close up. One night she finally got her chance. The same band of hunters was still hot on the family’s trail. They had pitched camp in a grassy basin three hours away from the lair. Shiny Straw could smell the smoke from their fires. She could even hear the dry wood crackling.
That’s it, I’m off, she said to herself. I’ll be back before dawn. I’ll get to see what they look like at last. I’ll have a story to tell to make life more interesting for everyone. I’m the one they’re looking for, after all…
She seemed to have plenty of good reasons. And off she went.
She had already been gone an hour when Blue Wolf woke up in the night, sensing that something was wrong. He guessed straight away. She was crafty enough to dupe Grey Cousin, who was on watch, and she would have headed off towards the men.
I’ve got to catch up with her, he thought.
But Blue Wolf didn’t manage to catch up with her.
When he reached the hunters’ camp, he saw the men dancing in the firelight around a net tied with a thick rope to a sort of wooden gallows. Shiny Straw was caught in the net and was furiously gnashing her teeth. Flashes of gold glanced off her fur in the darkness. Dogs jumped up and down in a frenzy of excitement below the net. They were yapping and yelping. The men let out great cries as they danced. They were clad in wolfskins.
Black Flame was right, thought Blue Wolf. He paused. If I bite the rope, the net will land in the middle of those dogs. She’s too fast for them, and we’ll make our getaway.
He had to jump over the fires, which is something wolves don’t like doing. But it was the only way, and it had to be done quickly. There was no time to be scared. He had to catch them by surprise.
He was already high in the burning air, above the flames, above the men (whose faces looked very red in the firelight) and above the net. He ripped the rope with one tug of his teeth and shouted, “Run, Shiny Straw!”
The men and their dogs were still looking up in the night air, confused.
Shiny Straw hesitated. “I’m sorry, Blue Wolf, I—”
And then it was pandemonium. Blue Wolf drove two dogs into the flames. “Run, and look after the family!”
Blue Wolf saw Shiny Straw take an enormous leap. Then he heard those thunderclaps. The snow around her was splattered with little craters. Missed! She disappeared into the night.
Blue Wolf didn’t have a second to celebrate. A bear-sized man was standing in front of him waving a flaming branch. The blow came as a shock. Blue Wolf felt his head was exploding. Then there was darkness. It was a darkness filled with stars, and he was falling, falling, falling and spinning round.