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Leotie carried the headdress in her mouth and walked along, moving west. No longer would she be able to hunt with her father. She dreaded her mother’s reaction, knowing it would tear her apart, and hated not being able to comfort her.
The clouds moved off to the east. The sun warmed the afternoon and helped dry her fur. In a few hours, it was hot again. A hollow log lay just a few feet off the trail. She hesitated at tucking the headdress in it, but she was tired of having feathers in her mouth. I’ll come back and get this someday.
She gave in to leaving the headdress behind. Even though she couldn’t even cry, she whimpered ever so often. Keme had been right about everything, and even she hadn’t taken him seriously. Her desire to be a warrior made her feel all the more foolish. The tribe needed someone as wise as Keme, and she needed him even more.
Instead, perhaps, she had got what she deserved for being so stubborn. Where can I even find a way to reverse this wolf curse? Over and over again, she choked down a fear of forever being trapped in the body of a wolf.
She thought back, trying to dredge up every memory of being shot and waking up again. A memory of a strange man in a red tunic and shiny vest came back to her. He had asked her if she wanted to live. She recalled saying yes.
A howl somewhere up ahead caused her to pause. An odd smell lingered in the air. Leotie realized it was a human smell and not too fresh either. How can I be smelling that?
Leotie paused. Not only did she look like a wolf, she had their abilities. No! The more she acted like a wolf, the longer she would be stuck in this hairy body. She vowed to act like a human, regardless of what she looked like and shook her head, trying to ignore the smells.
She pressed on, ignoring the growing craving for meat. The sound of voices reached her ears, along with whimpering noises that sounded like her own wolf voice. Perhaps she would find the stranger ahead.
Leotie crept through the brush, staying low, and spied a camp of three outlanders sitting around a fire with a pot of food cooking. Two young men spooned out the stew and ate, while an older one poked at the fire. They wore white shirts and straw hats. Her heart sank at not finding the man in the red tunic. She guessed them to be farmers looking for more land to steal.
Something moved at the back of the wagon. It was a wolf tied there, whimpering and trying to pace despite the short rope.
The old man stirred the pot as they talked together in their tongue, sounding frustrated. Oddly enough, she understood a few words.
Look, we haven’t eaten all day. Go over there and kill that wolf.
Leotie wondered how she could know what they’re saying. One of them motioned to the three muskets leaning up against the tree. All three looked at the wolf. Leotie found it disgusting that they would actually kill a wolf and eat it. Why didn’t they just go hunt for a deer? Her people only killed wolves if they became dangerous, otherwise they were believed to be sacred.
She found the whimpering wolf to be strange. Any other wolf would be growling and snapping at the humans.
What is going on? What am I?
Leotie flinched at a voice that sounded like it was right above her head. She looked around and saw no one near her. She slunk back into the brush and looked again.
Great, they’re going to kill me for food. What am I going to do?
Leotie bolted into the woods for fear an evil spirit was talking to her. She ducked down into a depression deep under a bush. As the voices stopped, her heart slowed down. It occurred to her that perhaps wolves could hear each other’s thoughts.
But this only meant she was becoming more and more wolf-like. She put her paws over her head and eyes. Loud talking from the men caught her attention. It wasn’t right to hide and let that poor wolf be eaten. Another idea came to mind. What if that wolf knew something that could help her change back to normal?
Leotie stood up, slunk back to her hiding spot under the bush at the camp and focused her thoughts. Can you hear me?
The wolf flinched and looked around. Who’s there?
Look behind you.
The wolf slowly turned around and looked into the forest, pulling on the rope. I can’t see you.
Look down into the brush.
Her gaze dropped down and their eyes met.
We can hear each other’s thoughts, somehow. My name is Leotie.
Leotie! Don’t you know me? I’m Izrah.
Leotie paused, and wondered how she too was a wolf, especially since she had been at the camp. If anyone, Izrah would know if there was a medicine to break the wolf curse, but there was no time to talk.
I have to get you out of here. Bite the rope.
What?
Try biting the rope. Our teeth are very strong.
Izrah let the rope go slack and grabbed it by her mouth, breaking it in half. A short piece of it dangled from around her neck.
I did it!
Quick, jump into the woods before they notice.
“Hey!” shouted the older man. “She’s loose!”
The men went for their guns by the tree. Leotie was closer to the weapons and darted full speed into the muskets, knocking them to the ground. One went off with bang.
“Ahh!” the youngest one shouted and dropped to the ground, clutching his leg. “Help!”
The men shouted and gathered around the wounded young man as he writhed in pain. Izrah reached Leotie.
“Let’s get out of here,” Leotie thought, and took one last glance behind her. At least the young one had been hit in the leg and not the chest. If only the gun would’ve struck the old foolish one instead. Any man of his age thinking of eating a wolf needed to be shot.
Leotie and Izrah ran off into the woods. Here she used her improved speed, thanks to being a wolf. The very thing she didn’t want to do. Leotie led Izrah into the middle of a group of narrow trees.
“Thanks for getting me out of there,” Izrah thought in a kind tone that reminded Leotie of Izrah’s gentle voice.
“You’re welcome,” Leotie said, and pulled the remaining rope off Izrah’s neck.
“It’s so strange, but when I woke up as a wolf my mind was in some sort of fog. I couldn’t even remember the last two days, but it all came back when you talked to me.”
“Good, because I was hoping you knew of some medicine to reverse this wolf curse?”
Izrah paused. “I’m sorry, but I’ve never even seen this happen before. Although I’ve heard stories, as I’m sure you did too. Stories about humans who became wolves. They call them skin walkers.”
Leotie remembered the stories and cringed. Skin walkers were believed to be evil creatures.
“Could we really be skin walkers?”
“If the stories are true, I suppose, but I have no idea about medicine for it.”
Leotie’s head dropped almost to the ground. “I don’t suppose you know anything about Keme?”
“Yes, he came back to the camp and warned us to leave. Several made it out because of him.”
“He’s alive!” Leotie jumped.
“He was, last I saw of him.” Izrah continued, “Paytah said Wayna and Jolan were dead, so we couldn’t leave without them. Then the soldiers came and I started yelling at them, so they shot me. Next thing I remember is pain in my back and falling.”
“What about Anti? Where is he?”
“I thought he was shot too, but when I woke up as a wolf, I couldn’t find him.” She paused. “But I do remember, right before everything went black, I saw a man with light hair wearing the most unusual clothes. He asked me if I wanted to live. I laughed sarcastically at him and said who would want to live with such an old body? Er...he laughed too and said he liked me.”
“Was the man wearing a red tunic?” Leotie asked.
“So you saw him too?”
“Yes! We have to find this man. Perhaps if we went back to the camp?” Leotie suggested.
“Maybe, but do you think there’s any chance of my grandsons being alive?” Izrah asked.
Leotie’s muscles tensed up. She feared Anti was dead, and didn’t want to add to Izrah’s grief, so rested a forepaw on top of one of Izrah’s. “I don’t know.”
An awkward silence lingered between them.
“I notice you didn’t ask about your father,” Izrah said.
“He was...killed,” she said.
“I’m so sorry.” Izrah put her head down.
“We’ve all had terrible loses, but we must press on.” Leotie stood up on her hind legs and tried to walk.
“What are you doing?” Izrah asked.
“I’m trying to walk upright like I’m supposed to do.”
Izrah chuckled in her thoughts. “That looks silly.”
Leotie came back to all fours. “Don’t you see. The more we try to act human, the better the chances we have to be human again.”
“There is always one truth in the world. The Great Spirit does things for a reason. He must want us to be wolves. Maybe the man in the red tunic was the Great Spirit.”
Leotie wished she could be so faithful. “I find it horrific the Great Spirit would want me to be a wolf.”
Izrah chuckled. Leotie wondered how she could laugh under the circumstances.
“My stomach is killing me,” Izrah said. “We have to go hunting for a deer. We’re fast, so we should be able to...”
“No!” Leotie screamed in her mind. “We won’t be able to cook it with these paws.”
“So what are we going to do?” Izrah thought. “If we get weak, we won’t be able to do anything, let alone find out what happened to us.”
Leotie pounded her paws on the ground, angry at not having a choice. “How are we going to be good at hunting like a wolf?”
“We need to figure it out,” Izrah thought, leading the way deeper into the woods.
