“We will be fine,” Gunther said, swinging his gun in the direction of the howling.
“Maybe,” Colly said. “But how are we going to get across the river?”
Jaz peered into the night, her heart thudding. The trees were thicker here and taller, blocking out much of the moonlight reflecting off the snow. She knew from the map that this must be the Little Keele River and that there was a shelter around here somewhere. That is, unless Colly had taken them off track.
Woooo! Woooo!
The wolves were joining in a chorus. What if they came after them? Her head said that wasn’t likely. Wolves didn’t chase people. But then again, they might smell Gunther’s blood, and wolves did go after injured animals, no matter what kind they were.
“Colly, do you see the shelter anywhere?” she asked. “We could go there.”
“No!” Gunther said. He spat over the side of the sled. “I cannot take the chance that someone is coming after you. We must go on. It is not much farther.”
“What about the open water?” Colly asked.
“We will try upstream.”
Scooby growled, low and soft, as the wolves howled again. Jaz shivered, but not from cold.
“Hike! Gee!” Colly called to the dogs.
Slowly, they traveled along the river’s edge. Finally Colly stopped the team. “I think we can cross here,” he announced.
“Good,” Gunther said, not looking.
“You should both get out of the sled, just in case.”
“No,” Gunther said, still not looking.
“But we don’t know the condition of the ice. What if it isn’t safe?”
“None of this is safe. We are not getting out, and you will get us across. Now!”
“Fine,” Colly mumbled. He moved back to the side of the sled, holding the handle, but not climbing on. “Hike!”
Jaz held her breath as they started to cross. Before long they were jammed in soft snow. At least it wasn’t water.
“It would be easier if you got out,” Colly grumbled.
“No,” Gunther said.
“Fine,” Colly said again as he rocked the sled back and forth, with the dogs straining to help. Before long they were free.
Woooo!
That was close—much closer than before! The dogs stopped. They were all growling now, sniffing the air.
“I don’t like this, Colly!” “I don’t like this either, Jaz. Hike! Hike!” He jumped back on the sled, and the dogs leapt forward.
Sploosh! They were in the water and through it again before Jaz had time to think about it. One hard bump of the sled against snow threw them forward. Gunther grunted—Jaz couldn’t tell if it was from pain or surprise—and the sled steadied and carried on. With one final bump, they were across the river.
Wooooo! Woooo!
“Get back to the trail,” Gunther gasped.
“Gee! Gee! Hike!” Colly shouted.
Jaz strained to see into the shadows. She was comforted by the dogs. They were running hard, pushed faster by Colly’s calls and by her kissy sounds of encouragement. Surely if the wolves were too close, the dogs would freak.
Beyond the Little Keele River the trail smoothed and became hard and flat. The trees thinned as they climbed, and, thankfully, there were no running wolf shapes among them.
“Canol Lake is just ahead!” Colly announced. “There’s a shelter there.”
“Not that one,” Gunther said. “Take the side trail to the left.”
“What about the wolves?” Jaz cried. “We need shelter!”
“No, I know another place.”
Jaz felt like crying, but Colly eased left as he was told.
The trail dipped lower here, and brush thickened on either side. Once again, cloud moved across the sky, making it even more difficult to see. Jaz gripped the sides of the sled while turning her head this way and that, watching for shapes, listening for anything that might be giving chase.
Again the sled jammed in snow, and Jaz was thrown forward. She noticed that Gunther moved the gun before it could jab into her.
Jaz breathed a small sigh of relief. Gunther had moved the gun. That meant he really didn’t want to hurt her. Whatever had brought him to this, somewhere inside there was still a good man.
The dogs started growling, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand at attention.
“Hike!” Colly cried, urging the dogs forward. “How much farther, Gunther?”
“We should be there,” Gunther mumbled.
“What?”
“He said we should be there,” Jaz said, louder.
It was tough going in the soft snow. Colly couldn’t get out and help the dogs, because if he did he would sink and fall behind. The dogs were able to travel lightly, but the sled didn’t always cooperate.
“There!” Jaz shouted, pointing.
They’d reached a clearing. On the far side there was a small shack. As they drew closer, Jaz’s heart sank. One wall of the shack was smashed in and half collapsed.
“It’ll have to do,” Colly said as Gunther dragged himself from the sled, clutching his pack tightly, and moved toward what was left of the shelter. He didn’t seem to care if they were coming or not. From the darkness there came a low woofing sound—almost a bark, but not quite. It was followed by another. Again the dogs growled.
This time she could see shadowy wolf shapes moving from the brush into the clearing.
“They’ve found us!” Jaz cried.