Black Wolf

Chapter 13 – Not All Who Wander are Lost

 

 

 

Black stood very still as he and the five male wolves he had happened upon stared at each other.

 

He had been Following a narrow trail near the foothills of the mountains that looped down west of the plains.  He had not seen any sign of coyotes or bears and was not expecting to meet wolves this far from the hunting grounds.  That, and the confidence that came from being one of the largest wolves around, had made him complacent, and he had neglected to check before entering the narrow defile that twisted and dipped enough to conceal an ambush.

 

After a dozen breaths the five wolves looked around at one another and finally settled on a tawny male who shrugged and turned to face Black.

 

“Well met, black wolf.  I’m called Fisher, for reasons that will become clear if we ever come close to a river.  I have just been elected leader of our ragged pack of misfits it seems.”  He gestured to the other four.  “The one missing half an ear is Slider, the smaller wolf hiding behind him is Slink.  Snarl is the one with ... with the snarl actually, and the big brown one is Muddy.”

 

Muddy held up a hand in greeting but the other three just gazed suspiciously at the big black wolf.

 

“Well met.”  Black said to indicate that he was not an enemy, but he did not put his weapons aside, not while he was outnumbered.

 

“And what do they call you?”  Fisher prompted.

 

“They don’t call me anything, except the black wolf.  My home pack was uprooted before I could be properly named and it seems that one thing or another has interfered with my taking one ever since.”

 

“The black wolf, eh?  I heard tell of a black wolf that came and took over the Druid pack.  Then when the pack from the southern mountains invaded he went away to raise an army and came back and killed them all.”

 

Ten eyes watched Black intently.

 

“Not all of them.”  He said with a shrug.  “Just the males they left behind and one traitor.”

 

Fisher looked impressed.  “So why is the famous black wolf of the Druid pack, father to many but mate to none, wandering so far from his den all alone?”

 

The question sounded like a challenge to Black.  He slipped the coal holder from the end of his spear and set it aside as he tucked the shaft under one arm and gripped his ax-club with the other.

 

“Whoa, whoa! Don’t misunderstand me.”  The tawny male said holding out empty hands.  “This is a meeting place for wanderers from the plains, is all.  We didn’t expect to see an Alpha hunting down his enemies here.”

 

The others quickly put their weapons aside and stepped away from them, displaying their open hands.  It was obvious that they wanted no trouble from one with such a terrible reputation.  Looking down on them made Black realize how much larger he was.  Living with Bruiser and his own large sons had made him forget that he had matched or even surpassed Menace for sheer size and bulk.

 

Black slid his club into the loop on his loincloth and turned his spear back to rest on his shoulder.  It was a peaceful gesture even though either could still be brought to bear quickly.

 

“I’m no Alpha.”  He told them.  “I’m just a wanderer that stopped for a time before moving on again.  My Brother was the Alpha, in name at least, but the Druid pack has a new leader by now I’ll wager.”

 

“A very young wolf has been going around talking to the packs on the plains.”  Snarl said.  He described the wolf in question, apparently having seen him before leaving his pack. 

 

“That sounds like my son, Stoic.  I had advised him to seek an accord between the packs.  Do you know if he was successful?”

 

“No.  I was forced to leave shortly after he came because I fought with the others in the pack.”

 

Black’s eyes narrowed.  Such behaviour indicated a bully like Bruiser or a trouble maker and he wondered which.

 

But Snarl read his expression and hastened to explain.  “No, it’s not what you think.  Muddy here is my litter mate, but he got his name from his muddled thoughts, not his fur colour.”  He put a protective arm around the bigger brown wolf.  “He’s big and strong but still a cub at heart.  Wouldn’t hurt a fly, which makes him rather useless on the hunt.  When the others picked on him for it I ... I got upset.”

 

“He bit the nose off of Snapper.”  Muddy elaborated, then looked scared for telling too much to a stranger.

 

“It’s okay, Muddy.  I admire a wolf who sticks up for his family.  What about you Fisher, did you leave because of conflict?”

 

Fisher laughed.  “Not conflict so much as a matter of taste.  The taste of Bison specifically - I hate it.  I much prefer the taste of fish, and there was plenary of them in the stream that ran on the edge of my pack’s territory, but my father, the Alpha, felt that I was not contributing to the welfare of the pack by bringing back the rainbow fish or their spotted cousins.  Both are fine eating, but father did not think that a wolf could live on them.  It was either learn to love Bison or leave.”  He shrugged.  “And here I am.”

 

Black told him of his own adventures fishing in the mountain lakes and described the hooks he made from bits of bone and fur.  Fisher’s were similar but he used thorns, which were more abundant on the plains and easier to work with than the bulky Bison bones.

 

After a good laugh and a promise of a fishing competition Black turned to the two others, who had been strangely silent until now.  Slider seemed protective of Slink as Snarl was of his brother, but they did not have any familial resemblance.  “Are you two related?”

 

“We are from different packs.”  Slider said, tilting his chin up defiantly.

 

Black wondered what it was that he was so sensitive about.  Then he noticed that Slink was clutching Slider’s hand from behind.  Black let his gaze settle on the smaller wolf until Slink had to look away, even as he spoke to fill the uncomfortable silence.

 

“Neighbouring packs.”  Slink contributed.

 

His posture and tone spoke volumes.  Black remembered Trapper’s story of her brother Shadow and the male he mated with. 

 

He addressed the five.  “It seems that you all had good reason to leave, but what do you propose to do now?  Are you going to travel together or go your separate ways come morning?”

 

“We haven’t thought about that.”  Fisher admitted.  “Usually wanderers come here just to exchange news of the packs, who is accepting new members, which leaders are on their last legs and such.  Occasionally lone wolves will pair up for safety while crossing the plains to the mountains where packs are more accepting, but five wolves together?  What pack would accept five males all at once?”

 

“None.”  Black said as inspiration filled his head with ideas.  “But five wolves, or better yet, six, could wander almost unopposed anywhere they wanted.  They could hunt, or fish, where they wanted, eat what they wanted, sleep where they wanted ...”  He glanced at Slider and Slink.  “… mate with whoever they wanted ... if both were willing of course.”  He added as he looked back at the others.  “I’m not talking abut raiding dens and stealing their food or females, but about the freedom to go where we want and hunt where we will without worrying about pack boundaries and territories.  And if some lonely female howls for a mate in the night ... well that is something I know a bit about, but it would be nice to have a few good companions about so that we would not have to cut and run at a delicate time.”

 

They talked for the rest of the day, sharing their meat and water as they discussed the possibilities.  Fisher thought that it would be a great adventure and looked forward to visiting the mountain streams that Black boasted teemed with fish.  Snarl, who had a deformed lip, not a bad attitude to thank for his name, was willing to go anywhere with anyone who would help protect his brother.  Slider, who had gotten his name from a habit of sliding down the grassy slopes to surprise the deer grazing below, was encouraged by the lack of judgement from the others toward him and Slink, and Slink would go anywhere that Slider did.  He just wished that he could have a new name someday, as his had been given to him by those in his pack who he tried to avoid.

 

“They looked down on me for my attraction to Slider.”  He confessed late that night.  “But that did not stop them from forcing me to ... anyway, they named me Slink because of the way I tried to keep my back against the wall when avoiding them in the den.”

 

“I’m sure you and I will both earn good names one day.”  Black assured him.

 

There was no vote, just a silent consensus.  When they rose the next day they looked to Black to decide which direction to set out in.

 

“Let’s go find a good stream.”  Black told them.  “I’m in the mood for fish.”

 

* * * * * *

 

Meili watched wolf 302 and his new mobile pack with fascination.  Leave it to him to do something totally new and unexpected, she thought, as she formed the outline of her next research paper in her head. 

 

Wolves had packs and territories.  Some had open mating and others had only the alpha and his mate producing cubs.  They were family oriented, with older males dispersing only when there was no hope of mating or becoming Alpha in their home pack.  On the rare occasion a disperser would eschew the company of others of their kind and become a lone wolf, dangerously unpredictable creatures akin to the Grizzlies that wandered up and down the slopes each year without a care, taking what they wanted and raiding dens when they became desperate.

 

But never in all the research past or present had there been a case of a small group of males banding together and ignoring the conventions of wolf boundaries.  The strangest thing was that they did not do it to take over any pack’s territory or to make it easier to steal from an unprotected den.  They did it so that they could lay around fishing for days on end or chase a deer across pack borders.  Or in the case of 302, so he could visit lonely females without fear of an angry Alpha chasing him off.

 

They were more like a band of merry adventurers than a pack, with the black wolf as their unacknowledged leader.  Less serious researchers were already referring to him as D’Artagnan or Robin Hood by the time he turned thirty.  His exploits reminded Meili more of the adventures of Song Jiang and his 108 bandits, despite 302 having only five companions. 

 

A good example of his audacity came early in their association, when a delegation of seven males from a pack came to ask what they were doing camping beside a stream in their territory.

 

“Fishing.”  302 had replied without any change of expression or intonation.  The confused warriors had taken a good half hour discussing the possible meaning of his answer before coming back and telling the black wolf that he and his companions would have to leave.

 

Black had started slapping his palm with the blunt end of his ax-club as the others arranged themselves in defensive positions around him.

 

“Make us.”  Was all he said.

 

After evaluating his impressive bulk and the almost giddy fearlessness in the others their Alpha decided that fishing was not the same as hunting and left with as many wolves as he had come with.  Others were not so wise, or so lucky.

 

302 and his gang seemed blessed.  They fought as a team in three pairs arranged in a triangular formation that the ancient Roman Generals would have admired.  Whether it was the black wolf’s strength and skill, the survivals instincts of Slink and Snarl, or the stalwart support of Fisher, Slider and Muddy, they always won the day, whether outnumbered or not.  By the end of the second year no one on the plains or the foothills even bothered to challenge them - no pack could afford the losses.

 

Following them became a fad among the academics even remotely associated with social, animal or psychological study.  So much so that money to support drones and other forms of surveillance came pouring in, much to the chagrin of Meili’s nemesis, Roscoe Binks.

 

Meili had achieved the status of Professor-at-Large, thanks to the success of her scientific papers and the educational work she kept up with grade and high school students.  She was the equivalent to a Department Head on the Science Council, and as such she attended meetings via tachyon transmitter, an expense that was covered by the various universities and institutions that were following her wolves so closely these days.

 

With so many researchers following every move of the wolves, especially those of 302, Meili found herself becoming more of a guiding hand.  She spent much of her time defending the project and advocating for a sanctuary for the intelligent wolves and the other sentient species.  She wanted to expand the study to include the coyotes, who were showing the first signs of socialization, and the Grizzlies, but she most wanted to have the elusive mountain lions included in the scope of the project.

 

“I’m not saying that they did it on purpose,” Alice, a bit of an EOS-1 historian said one day when they were discussing the other sentient species, “but in the early days whenever there was a crash in the mountains the site was striped by the time the weather cleared enough for a search party to get up there.”

 

“You’re saying that the big cats were curious?”  Meili said with a grin.

 

Alice did not see the humour in the statement.  “Curious?  Yes.  Sneaky?  That too.  They are spotted on one mountain top one night then show up raid the camp on another the next.”

 

“Mitch used to say that the mountain lions hunted the techs and researchers that went out to place and repair the environmental monitors and other equipment.”

 

“Naw, that’s bullshit.  They recovered all the bodies and there was nary a tooth or claw mark on them.  They died of exposure or trauma when their rides crashed.  Helicopters have a hard time cutting the thin air up there and a freak gust is all it takes to bring one down.  That’s why the pilots prefer to be on standby for your collaring program, much safer at the lower altitudes, and much closer to walk to EOS-1 if you crash in the foothills.  You won’t get the same cooperation if you want to go up to where the cats live.”

 

Alice was proved to be correct.  Although the extension of the program to include mountain lions was approved in principle it was passed with a rider added by Binks at the last minute - that it be done as a resource-available, volunteer basis.  Even the boldest helicopter pilots were reluctant to go as high in the mountains as was required, and when word trickled down that anyone who helped the crazy wolf lady would be flying a taxi in New-New York for their next assignment they all refused to take the risk.

 

“It’s the work of that bastard Binks.”  Meili complained on one of the rare occasions that Rhiannon called to check in with her old mentor.

 

“That’s politics, I’m afraid.”  Her friend said wearily.  Meili thought that working for the Pan-Galactic party was wearing her young friend down more than staying on Earth was doing to her.  She was not quite sure what the girl was doing for the party.  Well hardly a girl anymore, she thought.  She would be in her late thirties now, just as Meili was entering her late fifties.

 

Time passes so fast, she thought.  We’ve accomplished so much, my colleagues and I, and yet there is still so much to do.  Would she have time to do what still needed to be done?

 

“Do you think we’ll ever get the restriction on a replacement for me lifted?”  She asked Rhiannon.

 

Her friend frowned.  “Neither of the classic parties can get a majority without C-F support, and until that changes neither will dare to cross them.  And as important as your work is, Mary, there is nothing of equal or less value that the Science Council has to trade for it.  You understand, don’t you?”

 

Meili sighed.  Lately she was feeling worn down without the day-to-day research she was used to conducting.  Senior colleagues kept urging her to catch the next shuttle back to Neu Geneva, the home of the Science Council, and take a chair at the Council table, but to do so meant that her beloved wolves would be monitored remotely, by strangers.  And if the fad passed and interest dropped off ... no, she could not do it.  She would die here on EOS-1 if that was what it took.

 

As long as she outlived Binks, she thought, it would all be worth it.

 

* * * * *

 

Black and his gang wandered back and forth across the plains and foothills for five years, going where they would, but always avoiding the Druid territory.  Despite his freewheeling attitude there were some things that Black preferred not to face. 

 

At the age of thirty five Black decided that it was time to take his little group up into the mountains proper, partially because he had promised Fisher that he would show him where the really big fish lurked, but also because the plains were becoming to crowded for him.

 

Try as he might to avoid hearing news of the Druid pack it became obvious that his sons had expanded their influence cross the plain, either by treaty or by infiltration, as he had done to Menace’s pack all those years ago.  That, along with the cubs he planted among the packs on lonely moonlit nights, made it difficult to avoid a wolf that resembled him in some manner or other.  He supposed that he should be glad that his plan to bring peace and prosperity to the plain was working, but it took the fun out of life to have to avoid conflict with relatives all the time.  In order to keep things fresh he led his friends up to the higher elevations where he was sure all of his kin were long gone.

 

They tired to continue this old lifestyle but found that their notoriety had preceded them.  Not only would the packs in the mountains not challenge them, they actively sought them out for advice on battle and survival.  Black discovered that his little group had accumulated the best of the tool making, hunting, fishing and survival methods over the years.  They had become experts, and their expertise was sought after by the packs that lived on the margins, where any advantage could mean the difference between life and death, between the survival of the pack and extinction of their line.

 

They accepted their new role reluctantly at first, but with increasing enthusiasm and dedication as time went by.  They would send a few cycles living with a pack that was suffering, helping to provide food and defence while the pack learned the new ways, like how to make and use snow feet, fishing hooks and meat paste.  They learned from those isolated packs too.  One pack that lived in the woods where sight lines were short and the prey could be approached quite closely before startling them had developed a device that could throw a short, light spear with great force a short distance.  Another had discovered that fire could be made by striking rocks of certain types together, producing sparks like tiny bolts of lightning. 

 

Black and his gang spread this knowledge and urged wanderers that they came across to either join them or spread the word of their discoveries.

 

At the age of thirty-nine, ten years after leaving the Druid den, Black climbed a cliff that looked familiar somehow and unexpectedly found himself looking at Sunrise Plateau, his second home and the den of his mother, Dawn and her second mate, Sunset.

 

It was not long before a wolf out scouting for game saw him and cautiously approached.  He stopped a respectful distance away and studied the large, dark male for a time before introducing himself.

 

“Well met, black wolf.  I am Scout, youngest son of Chaser and Clover.  Are you the black wolf that the wanderers have told us about?”

 

“It depends what they said.”  Black replied with a smile.  “But I would guess yes.  Well met, Scout.  Tell me. Does your mother or her sister Stalker still live?”

 

“You know them?  Have you been this way before?  I am sad to inform you that they have both gone up the mountain, almost at the same time in the bad winter some ten year’s ago.  They died because they refused to eat until the cubs of their cubs had fed.  Their sacrifice ensured the survival of the Sunrise Plateau pack.”  He said proudly. 

 

“That sounds like them.”  Black said, wiping a tear before the younger wolf could see it on his cheek. “Tell me, how does your pack fare these days?”

 

Black spent the rest of the day and most of the night listening to stories of his family, laughing at their triumphs and shaking his head at their tribulations.  When Scout had to leave, least his own family think he had been hurt and come looking for him, Black declined his invitation to stay at their den.  Instead he returned to where the rest of his band were camped and asked them to go visit the next day, to pass on the knowledge they had acquired.

 

“You don’t want to join us?”  Slink asked, concerned for his leader.

 

“No.  I have a mind to explore the territory around here.  I’ll meet up with the rest of you later.”

 

Black hefted his backpack, an improvement on the shoulder sack that they had picked up in the last den they had spent some cycles in.  It had adjustable straps that were padded with deer hair and a flap that could be tied shut by threading a cord through a number of well-placed loops.  It was easier to carry for long distances and didn’t get in the way in an unexpected fight.  Then he looked around.  He had been uphill of Sunrise Plateau a number of times when he was young and had explored downhill of it recently so he set out to the north-west.

 

He found the plateaus and alpine valleys in that direction well populated with wolf packs.  They assumed that he was a lone wander and did not associate him with the band of wolves that had been spreading knowledge and helping packs in need these last few years.  Black did nothing to dissuade them.  He was growing tired of being welcomed as a saviour everywhere he went; it was a position as hard to live up to as being an Alpha.  Of the two, he thought, he would rather be Alpha in a pack of his own creation than have strangers reliant on him.

 

He received several invitations to join packs that had unattached females; a wolf his size with his own weapons would be an asset to any pack.  He turned them all down politely, claiming that he had just started wandering and liked life on the road, but he would keep their offer in mind.

 

After two cycles he decided that the mountains in this direction were too crowded for his tastes, and he returned to the meeting place on the edge off Sunrise Plateau to see if the others were ready to move on.

 

He built a fire to signal his arrival and the next day his five companions arrived early.  Black noted that of the five only Slider and Slink had their packs and weapons with them.  Fisher, Snarl and Muddy were empty handed.  That, and Muddy’s pensive expression told Black all he needed to know.

 

“You three have decided to stay, I take it?”

 

“Yes.”  Fisher answered for the three.  “I like the fishing here, and the fact that the wolves here appreciates the skill it takes to catch enough to feed a pack.  They even fish in the winter here!  Though holes they cut in the ice.”

 

Black cocked an eyebrow and squinted to show humorous speculation.  “You’re staying just for the fish?”

 

“Well, there is a female here who likes to fish also.”

 

“And one that likes my brother, Snarl.”  Muddy injected.

 

“Ah, I see.”

 

“We’re sorry to leave you.”  Snarl said.  “You’ve been a good leader and it’s been fun, but ...”

 

“But?”

 

“But none of us are getting any younger.  You’ve given us a lot, but now you’ve led us to a place where a wolf can mate and contribute to a pack without competing for the leadership and that’s made us realize that we can have more.  We can have families, cubs of our own.”

 

Black glanced at the wolf’s large but simple brother.  The look was not lost on Snarl.

 

“A wolf his size is useful, even one as gentle as him.  He has been rebuilding the defensive walls while you were gone and doing other heavy lifting.  And even if he can’t bring himself to kill an animal he would protect the cubs in den to the death.”

 

Black nodded and looked down, not because he was disappointed but because the younger wolf had struck a cord in him, one that he had been picking at but had yet to acknowledge - the urge to raise cubs of his own again.

 

He looked at the three wolves before him.  They were approaching twenty years of age, not young but not past their prime either.  They could expect another ten years of mating, more if they stayed healthy and uninjured.  They would certainly live to see their children mate and then they could help raise those cubs too.  They still had a good slice of life ahead of them. 

 

But what do you have to offer, you old black wolf?  He asked himself.  You’re nearly forty now, even if you don’t feel it yet time will catch up to you one day.

 

Rather than dwell on the subject Black turned to his other two companions.  “You’re coming with me then?”

 

“Sure.”  Slider answered.  “All these male-female mating scents were making me ill anyway.”

 

Black and the others laughed at that and made their goodbyes.  The three staying behind wished them luck on the road and Black wished them a good life and a den full of cubs.  Then he signalled Slider and Slink to follow him and headed down off the plateau, never to see his friends again.

 

Having explored in every other direction Black decided to head south-east, following the curve of the mountains as they encircled the great plain.  Based on his experience in exile further south he had expected the game to be scarce but was surprised to find the game abundant.  With no packs in this area the prey species were free to breed and multiply as the coyotes were little more than scavengers and the bears were only a transitory threat.

 

They hunted well when they needed to, stopping only to treat the meat then travelling until they needed to hunt again.

 

In late Summer they came upon a plateau that was very similar to Black’s old home in that it was sheltered between two spurs of mountain but situated so that it received the full force of the sun most of the day.  There was a stream that was teeming with fish and still running strong even this late in the year, indicating a source high in the mountains, and that meant drinking water all year round.  The slopes were full of mountain goat and sheep, while the meadows showed recent sign of deer and elk.  They were probably hiding in the woods that lined the valley, Black supposed, because they had not passed any on the way up.  With the grass still thick and the air still warm they would want to fill up before heading south onto the plain where the competition for food would be fierce, and the wolves hunting them fiercer.

 

“What a lovely spot to settle down in!”  Slink said, looking around.

 

“That’s what the wolves here thought too I’ll wager.”  Black commented.

 

“Wolves?  What wolves?”

 

Black pointed up to the top of the valley where it narrowed to a point.  There were cliffs there, but their base was hidden from view behind a thick stand of pines.  Rising from behind the pines was a thin trickle of white smoke.

 

“Could be a natural fire.”  Slider supposed.  “There was some lightning up on the slopes last night.”

 

“Natural fire would give black smoke,” Black reminded him, “from all the wet leaves and old pine needles on the ground after a storm.  White smoke means someone picked good dry wood for their fire, and as small one at that.  I haven’t seen any other sign of wolves so it’s probably just a wanderer or two just passing through.  Shall we go introduce ourselves?”

 

They went up through the trees cautiously but with no attempt at concealing their approach.  They were not afraid of two or three wanderers as the sight of Black was enough to take the fight out of most wolves and both Slider and Slink had become considerably good fighters under the black wolf’s tutorage.  So they were surprised when a deep voice ordered them to halt and turn around.

 

“There is no food for you here,” The hidden speaker informed them, “so move on!”

 

The three had faced worse threats and were more intrigued than disturbed.

 

“Does that voice sound strange to you?”  Slider asked.

 

“It sounds like me when I pretend to be a regular male.”  Slink said.  “Forced.”

 

“Let’s not let that fire go to waste.”  Black said stepping into the clearing where the smoke still rose off the embers.  He strode to the log someone had obviously placed there to tend the fire and took a chunk of meat wrapped in broad leaves out of his pack.  He stuck it on the end of his spear and wedged the shaft on a rock so that the meat hung over the hottest part of the fire.

 

“We have enough for six.”  He called over his shoulder as Slider and Slink sat down on a pair of stumps that showed signs of recent occupation.

 

The artificially deep voice came again.  “We don’t want your food.” 

 

“But Black Tail, I’m hungry.”  A young female voice whined.

 

“Me too!”  A third voice added.

 

“Shush!  Mother left me in charge.”  It was the same voice as the first, but considerably higher in pitch.

 

Black sat with his back to the voices and grinned at his companions as they took roots and herbs wrapped in leaves from their packs and placed them beside the glowing coals.  Soon the clearing was filled with the sweet scent of cooking meat and vegetables.

 

“Black Tail!”  The two young female voices chimed at once.

 

“By the gods, if they attack you don’t blame me.”

 

There was a rustle of leaves and Black looked over his shoulder to see an adult female of perhaps ten years emerge from under cover.  She was tall and well formed, very well formed, he noted.  She was clutching a spear as if she was about to fend off a herd of maddened bison.

 

“We are not going to attack you.”  Black said as he turned to face the fire again.  “I doubt if you have anything of value we need and I’m not the type to force myself on a female.”

 

“What about your two companions?”

 

Black was impressed that she had noted his omission to mention them.  “They are the least of your worries.”

 

Black tail came around to where she could see the faces of the three interlopers.  Along with her came two more females, younger than her by a couple of years and barely come of age, Black guessed.

 

Black slid to the far end of the log.  “Come have a seat Black Tail.”

 

To her credit she did not ask how he knew her name.  She’s a sharp one, he thought, sharper than her sisters in any event, and a fine looking female.  He was a little surprised at himself for thinking those thoughts.  I’ve been away from female company for too long, he told himself.

 

She came and sat down but did not put up her spear.

 

“Well met, Black Tail.”  it was easy to see how she had come by her name; her fur had a light silvery tint except for her tail, which was as black as a moonless night from the roots to the tip.  “My friends are Slider and Slink.  I am ... well I am just a black wolf.  We have been exploring this part of the mountains and were admiring this plateau.  Is it yours?”

 

“You know it is not, black wolf.  We have just lately come her and have not decided whether to stay or not.  As you have guessed I am called Black Tail, and these are my younger sisters, Starlight and Moon Glow.”  The two young females stood awkwardly and gestured respectfully. 

 

“Drag up a log.”  Black insisted.

 

The conversation was slow to start but soon became animated.  Starlight and Moon Glow found Slink easy to talk to and Slider contributed corrections to his partners wilder exaggerations about their adventures.  At first Black Tail listened to their conversation but when she realized how long the three had been travelling about the mountains and how many packs they had helped she started asking Black questions of her own.  Black answered without reservation, building trust as he turned the meat over the fire so it would cook evenly.  There was a pause in the talk while they ate and drank from the males’ water bladders.  When they had all eaten their fill Black turned to Black Tail.

 

“Now it is your turn to tell us about your situation.  How did three young females come to be in such a remote valley with no elders, no food and no supplies?”

 

Black Tail hung her head between her knees as she began her story.

 

“We came from a pack on the edge of the plains that had fallen on hard times.  The expansion of the Druids and the neighbours who had formed a pact with them meant that less game was getting across to our territory.  The Alpha, our father, considered raiding the other packs but our scouts reported that we would be wildly outnumbered, so he refrained and we continued to scrape by.”

 

“One day a quiet-spoken wolf with intense grey eyes came with a guard as large as our whole pack and spoke with my father.  He proposed an exchange, females in need of mates from his pack for ones from ours who could chose the mate of their choice in their dens.  Yes, dens.  They had three in their territory, he said.  There was just one condition, one that father could not accept - he could not be the only one to mate with their females that stayed in our den.  It would narrow the bloodlines, the quiet wolf said, and a healthy pack was a diverse pack.”

 

“Father couldn’t agree to their terms.  He would not even allow the wolves in our pack that were unrelated to us mate with his daughters.  He sent the delegation away, but suspected that they might return some night thereafter and take what he refused to give.  He ordered that all the females in the pack be moved to the foothills while he and his sons waited in ambush for a raiding party.”

 

“The Druid’s argument had been very compelling though, and the males entrusted with guarding us were fixated on the idea that they should have the right to mate with anyone they wanted.  They either missed or ignored the part about willing females making their choice of mates.  Within a quarter cycle they were complaining about having been denied their rights and insisting that we lay with them.”

 

“Mother made a feast with the last of the food and when they fell asleep from eating too much she took us up into the mountains.  ‘We’ll find a place to hide there’ she told us ‘and them I’ll go find your father and he’ll come and get us’.  She left us in the next valley over,”  Black Tail gestured the direction Black and his companions had been heading, “but it was waterless and barren of game.  She headed back down to the plain a half cycle ago.  We moved here when we became too hungry to stand it any longer.  We left trail markers for her and father to follow … when they come for us.

 

“Black Tail, I think that if she were coming back with your father that they would have come by now.”

 

The tall female sighed.  “Yes, I’ve been putting off telling my sisters but I’m afraid that we are on our own.”

 

“I know some packs north west of here that would welcome new blood, and you all would have a wide choice of males.”

 

She turned on him with bared teeth.  “Is that all you males think we’re good for?“

 

“No, actually not.”  Black preceded to tell her the story of his mother and the other females he had known that were strong of body or will or both.

 

“I’m sorry.”  She apologized.  “It just sounded like you were sending us off to mate with friends of yours.  My whole life has been males deciding who should mate with who and when, without ever consulting us.  I want to make my own choices now.”

 

“Well then, make some.”

 

She thought for a bit before answering.  “I want to stay here.  There is more than enough game and plenary of berries and nuts grow here too.  There are caves in the cliff and a spring as well as the river that comes down from the mountain.  It could be quite comfortable.”

 

“Do you and your sisters know enough about hunting to survive?”

 

“No, but if what your friends said is true you can help us.  Stay with us and teach us how to be expert hunters and fishers.  We can add a way of preserving meat with salt that was a secret of our pack to your knowledge.  Just don’t expect to be rewarded in any other fashion.”  She poked his thigh for emphasis.

 

Black roared with laughter at her bravery and audacity.  As tall as she was, and well shaped, he reminded himself, he was still twice her size and could take what he wanted, if he wanted too.  But he never took anything by force, save for retaking the Druid den, that was, and he was not about to start now.

 

“This could be the most interesting winter of my life.”  He told her when he could breath again.

 

Summer turned to Fall and Fall turned to Winter and Black continued to be impressed with her.  She knew more than she had let on and learned the techniques he showed her quickly.  Even her sisters did well, despite their inexperience with hard living.  Already well versed in their packs method of storing meat and fish in salt they quickly mastered tool making and the art of catching the fish to preserve them.

 

“That is amazing.”  Black told them when they showed him the technique.  “We used salt to lure game close to the killing field and sprinkled a bit on the meat while it cooked to add flavour.  I never thought that it could be used to preserve it.”

 

“It takes a lot of salt, and a lot of water to cleanse the meat again before cooking, but this plateau has plenary of both.”  Moon Glow informed him.

 

“Have you thought of a name for your home?”

 

“We had a vote, like you told us about.”  Starlight blurted out.  “Our sister wanted to call it ‘the land of Lightning’, after our mother, but we outvoted her.”

 

“It is Black Tail Plateau now.”  He sister added.  “Because Black Tail found it and decided to settle here.”

 

“We outvoted her.”  Starlight repeated, with some satisfaction.

 

“Are you going to vote on everything from now on?”

 

“Oh, no!  Just for the little things.  Black Tail decides on what to do about important matters.”

 

“Like mating.”  Moon Glow giggled.  Black raised an eyebrow in question but they refused to speak on the subject, although having just come of age the possibilities must have been on their minds. 

 

Black reminded himself never to tell these two anything he wanted kept secret and went to see Black Tail.

 

He found her tending the fire outside the cave that the three sisters had set up for themselves.  It was large enough to accommodate three or four families.  Black and his friends shared another smaller one a short distance away.  Since they planned on leaving by Spring at the latest they had put all the effort into preparing the larger cave for Black Tail and her sisters.

 

“I hear that the plateau has a name.”  He said as he sat beside her on the same log they shared the first day.  “Congratulations.”

 

“It’s a silly name, but my sisters insisted.”

 

“It may seem insignificant now, but future generations will remember the story of how the founder of their pack led her sisters here and forced a gang of wandering males to build their new home for them and fill it with food before sending them on their way.”

 

He was laughing as he finished but her expression was serious.  “What is it, Black Tail?  Have your sisters been on to you about their mating prospects?  I know that you are not your father but someday wanders will come along looking for mates and ...”

 

“It’s not that.”  She interrupted.  “Well, it is partly that, but it is more about what you said.”

 

“That future generations would remember you?”

 

“No, that we sent you away after the work of building the den and filling it with food was done.  It makes me sound cruel and heartless.”

 

“Now, now.  We both know that is not true.  You are tough and firm, as a leader needs to be, but you love your sisters and would do anything for them.  When you meet the right wolf and start having cubs I’m sure that you will be just as good a mother to them as mine was to me, better even.”

 

“I think that I may have found the right wolf.”

 

Black was taken aback for a few breaths until he realized that she was talking about him.  Then he was shocked for a new reason.

 

“Black Tail, you know my story, or most of it.  I have spent half my adult life wandering.  I have mated with many, many females, but I’ve never had a mate.”

 

“Yes, you have, black wolf.  You have had many mates.  I hear you call their names in the night, along with those of the cubs you lost.”

 

Black looked at his feet.  “I did not know that I was still doing that.  Slider and Slink have not mentioned it lately.”

 

“They are concerned for you, but say that you have made your resistance to anyone’s help clear.  You mind is troubled, and all these years on the road have not brought you peace.  Why not try a different approach?  Why not settle down and start a new pack with me?”

 

“I will only bring you trouble.  Trouble follows me like a vulture that has caught the smell of blood on fur.”

 

She stood before him and lifted his head so he was forced to look her in the eyes.  “Trouble found us long before you, and our fortunes changed for the better when you did.  Trouble may come by again, but with your help we can make it through the bad times, just like your mother did when she escaped to Sunrise Plateau.  Just like you did when you were exiled to the barren land.  Do your offspring not dominate the plains?  Have you and your friends not brought prosperity to the mountain packs?  Stop feeling sorry for yourself and be thankful for what you have.”  She stood back so that the fire silhouetted her fine form.  “What you could have.”

 

It was Black’s turn to think.  What she had said was true, but the pain still ran deep.  Still, one could suffer the troubling dreams in the night with companions that were afraid to touch him least he lash out unconsciously, or with someone like Black Tail, who was brave enough to reach out and hold someone who was troubled.

 

He looked at her again.  She had the inner strength of his mother combined with the iron will of a true leader.  She had all the best attributes of the Druid females, and none of the faults.  She probably didn’t fart either, he mused.  At least she never had as long as he had known her, and a good fart after eating was almost a universal tradition among wolves.  It could be a deal breaker though when you had to share a bison hide with someone who did it excessively through the long winter nights.

 

“I’m going to be forty years old come spring.”  He argued weakly.

 

“Oh, well.  If you’re not up to it ...”

 

“No, I mean, yes ... I mean that’s not what I meant.  You are the most aggravating female I know.”

 

“You only know three at the moment, and I’m not nearly as irritating as my sisters.”

 

Black laughed again; that was certainly true.  Then he smiled up at her.  Could it be, he asked himself, that you have finally found a worthy mate?

 

He took her hand and rubbed the pad of flesh at the base of her thumb, indicating his desire to be her mate.

 

“What are we going to do about your sisters?”

 

“They like your two friends well enough.  There are three of us and three of you, it works out well.”

 

Black looked over to the cave entrance where Slink was helping Moon Glow comb out her sister’s fur While Slider sat apart frowning to see his partner paying more attention to some female than him, even if it was innocent enough.

 

“Yes, about that ...”

 

* * * * * *

 

Meili saw the logo of the Science Council Chair on the screen and, thinking that it was the current Chairperson calling for their scheduled update she hit the button to start the transmission automatically.

 

“Chairwoman.”  She said as she turned to save what she had been working on.  “You won’t believe it!  I think that 302 has agreed to take Black Tail as a mate to start a new pack!”

 

“Well good for him.  At least someone is happy on that dreary shithole of a planet.”

 

“Binks!”  She whirled as if under attack to see his smiling face filling the screen.  “What are you doing calling here?  You’re not allowed to interfere with Project business anymore.”

 

She knew he was up to no good by the way his smile curled up the corners of his mouth, just like the green villain in that Christmas cartoon Alice and her girlfriend made her watch every year. 

 

“Oh, I just called to wish you a happy birthday, Doctor Cheng.”

 

Meili glanced at the date displayed in the top corner of the screen.  It was her birthday, she realized.  She had forgotten because it was years since her parents or any other relative had sent her birthday greetings.  The penalty of being single and, and what?  Sixty-five?  Yes, sixty-five years old.  She had failed to carry on the family bloodline, something that was not exactly a crime on New Beijing but the closest thing to one as far as her family was concerned.  Even Rhiannon had forgotten to send her an e-card these last few years.  Too busy with whatever she was doing for her political party, she supposed.

 

No one she knew, including herself, really cared about such things anymore.   Alice would insist that she join her for a drink after her shift, but that was about it.  And there would just be the two of them because Alice’s girlfriend was off repairing antennae in the mountains and ...

 

Meili suddenly realized just how few contacts she had now that she had been away from the Colonies for thirty-five years.  But she shrugged it off, because wishing her a happy birthday was the last reason on Earth, or any other planet, that Binks would call her for.

 

“What do you really want ‘Chairman’ Binks?”

 

“Now that you mention it, your birthday coincides with a much happier event, for me at least.  Do you remember how I arranged for Doctor Dupuis’ departure?”

 

“Yessss ...”

 

“When I passed the bill that established a mandatory retirement age for the Science Council Chair I had to bury it among a number of more reasonable amendments.  Reasonable and boring enough so that most people would stop reading the bill before coming to the part about the Science Chair.  One of those ‘reasonable measures’ was a mandatory retirement age for scientists conducting research outside of the colonies. As a liability issue, you understand.  We can’t have geologists breaking a hip on some remote asteroid where they can’t get proper medical assistance.  As a gentlemanly gesture we allow them to finish off the fiscal year that they reach the limit in.”

 

“Let me guess, the age limit is sixty-five.”

 

“Clever girl.” 

 

“I’m not a girl, and you, sir are no gentleman.”  Meili thought fast.  “Earth is not ‘some remote asteroid’.  There are adequate facilities here at EOS-1 to handle any medical emergency.  The other stations even send their difficult cases here for treatment.”

 

“It doesn’t matter.”  He chuckled.  “You could apply for an exception from the law but in order to do that you would have to appear before a tribunal in Neu Geneva, in person.  And we both know that your ticket off Earth is a one-way ticket.”  His smile was gone now, replaced by a satisfied sneer.

 

“Well in that case, fuck you very much ‘Mister’ Binks.  “I’ll raise a glass in hopes that you get hit in the ass by a meteorite real soon.”

 

“Ah, that’s my girl.  You’ve been an almost enjoyable opponent, ‘Doctor’.  But I have to sign off now.  Important decisions to make about how to dispose of the Wolf Project’s assets once there is no one to look after them and such.  Toodles.”

 

The screen went black, leaving Meili fuming in the dark.

 

“Too old.”  She spat.  “At sixty-five?  Why, I’m just hitting my stride.  Just like 302.”  She fumed in silence for a few minutes.  “Damn it!  And damn Binks.  There must be some way around that clown.”

 

Meili looked at the sub-tachyon transmitter, which was busy sending off the latest research data to the universities and institutes … research data that she didn’t need to look at so much anymore.  But the system could be used to download data too, and every law, every regulation, every guideline that governed the lives of everyone in the colonies and beyond was contained in an open database at the Interplanetary Parliament on Neu Geneva.

 

“Six months to go before the end of the fiscal year.”  She reminded herself aloud.  “And you’ve got nothing but time on your hands girl.”

 

 

 

Based on The Rise of Black Wolf

Produced by National Geographic Television, © 2010 NGHT LLC