Night Creature Page 6

  “There! I heard something over there!” a Leg-walker yelled.

  They must be hunting the hideous werewolves who prowled around their dens and peered in their windows and had stolen a cub. But I was safe. I looked like them now and not like the night creatures. Maybe the Legwalkers knew where to find the werewolves. If they did, I could help track them down.

  Moving soundlessly, I slipped through the trees toward the Legwalkers. Something told me not to let them see me first, even though I was eager to help. Jumping over a narrow stream, I circled a boggy area, keeping to dry ground.

  The Legwalkers didn’t know the swamp very well and it was easy to creep up on them.

  There were a bunch of them and they didn’t look happy. These were big Legwalkers with harsh voices. They were mud-spattered and scratched up. One of them had a sniffing animal with him. The animal was tied to the Leg-walker and was straining to pull the Legwalker along faster.

  Each of the Legwalkers carried a long, stick-like thing. But it was no stick that ever came off a tree, I could see that.

  A hidden squirrel chittered angrily from a branch just above me.

  “Over there, Roy!”

  Startled, one of the Legwalkers swung his stick toward the noise.

  BOOM!

  I dropped flat to the ground and covered my throbbing ears. Pieces of leaves rained down on me.

  I raised my head an inch. The one with the dog turned on the one who’d used his stick.

  “No more shooting, Roy,” said another Leg-walker. “Not until we can see what we’re shooting at. Now put your gun down,” he said, scowling angrily.

  Gun. I sounded the word in my head. Such a short word for such a big, nasty weapon.

  The other one scowled, too, but lowered his gun. “Okay, but I hope you don’t let those mangy wolves get away, Mike!”

  Wolves! I understood that. And I heard the murderous threat in their voices.

  My heart turned to stone. I felt like something heavy had wrapped itself around my neck and squeezed. How could they mistake the ghastly night creatures for wolves, beautiful wolves?

  Maybe it was because I was the one they’d seen. I knew I was right when I told myself I was no hideous monster. I must have looked like a wolf to the Legwalkers.

  My first instinct was to rush out and tell these Legwalkers what a big mistake they’d made. I was the one they wanted! They had to leave my family alone!

  But I didn’t know how to make the sounds they did. Even though I could understand a lot of it, I had no idea how they did it.

  But I had to try. I had to make them believe me.

  I took a deep breath and pushed aside the branch that hid me.

  All I saw was a blur as Roy raised his gun.

  CRACK!

  Chapter 35

  I fell flat to the ground, my face in the dirt.

  “Dang it, Roy, you got to stop that,” shouted Mike, the man with the sniffing dog. The animal was barking wildly.

  Was I hit? My knee was throbbing. I didn’t dare move. Somehow the Legwalkers hadn’t seen me yet.

  Mike took a step toward Roy. “I know little Benjy is your nephew and you’re upset,” he said, “but we all love the boy, too, and we want to make sure nothing like that happens again.”

  Benjy? That must be the cub’s name. Was it all right? I tensed, waiting to hear.

  “Wolves are smart animals,” said Mike through clenched teeth. “And a wolf that can sneak up and snatch a two-year-old child from his crib like that is vicious. If it weren’t for the dogs we might have lost Benjy. Benjy was lucky, but the next child might not be. No more shooting at trees, Roy. Save your bullets for the wolves. I want to get those wolves.”

  I remembered the night creatures cackling when they said they knew who’d be blamed. I’d thought they meant me, but it was my wolf family that was being blamed, just as the night creatures planned all along!

  “Burn down this whole miserable swamp!” Roy burst out. “That’s what I said we ought to do last night and that’s what I still say. Who needs it!”

  “That wouldn’t get the wolves,” Mike insisted. “They’d only run off. Like they’re going to do if you keep shooting that gun. Follow my plan and I promise you that we’ll get those wolves.”

  His eyes narrowed to mean slits and he smacked his animal—who was straining in my direction—to quiet him.

  I wriggled back into the underbrush, getting myself hidden again. They would never listen to me. They had revenge in mind and couldn’t think of anything else.

  My only chance was to hear their plan and find a way to stop them.

  “The wolves haven’t been hunted around here,” said Mike. “They won’t be expecting us to come after them. They’ll think we’re after deer. I’ll bet they’re holed up in their den right this minute, sleeping off a long night’s mischief and waiting for us to go away.”

  “You think so?”

  “Sure. They know we could never find their den on our own. But what they haven’t reckoned on is Lady.” Mike leaned down and patted the panting dog. “Lady can track a wolf like nobody’s business. She’ll lead us straight to their den.”

  Mike looked around at the other Legwalkers, his eyes cold. “That’s when we use our guns. They’ll be like sitting ducks. We’ll kill every one of the beasts, down to the last mewling cub.”

  Chapter 36

  “Yeah, come on, boys, let’s get ’em!”

  “We’ll shoot those wolves to pieces!”

  “They’ll wish they never heard of Fox Hollow!”

  “Think they can attack our kids—we’ll show ’em!”

  Killing words ringing in my ears. I fled back through the swamp, running for the den as fast as I could go.

  My legs seemed to get tangled up in every root, tripped by every mud hole. I could hear the Legwalkers behind me. They were slow, but the sniffing dog was leading them straight for the den.

  My breath whistled in my lungs. I ran faster.

  Finally the clearing was in sight. I crouched in the bushes outside the clearing and looked back.

  The Legwalkers were stumbling through the underbrush, grunting with effort and annoyance. They were close but they weren’t in sight yet.

  I dashed across the clearing and dove into the den.

  They were all there, huddled deep inside. The wolf family that had raised me, protected me, given me a home when no one wanted me. I was gasping for breath so hard I couldn’t make a sound. Wolfmother made a welcoming noise in her throat and put a reassuring paw on my head. Sharpfang made room for me to squeeze in beside him.

  They thought the hunters had frightened me! I barked, shaking my head vigorously, trying to warn them of the danger. But wolves didn’t have the sounds for everything I needed to explain. I barked for danger and flight and ran at the entrance again and again until Thornclaw began to get annoyed.

  The rest of them looked at me with sad, uncomprehending eyes. All they saw was poor dumb Gruff who didn’t know when to stay silent and lay low.

  Time was running out.

  The Legwalker hunters were getting closer and closer.

  “Grrraaaw,” I growled harder, making the sounds for terrible danger.

  Wolfmother put her paw on my head again, pressing down like she did when she wanted the cubs to lie still.

  I was frantic. In minutes the Legwalkers would be here with their guns and the wolves would be trapped.

  I pointed over my shoulder. “Woof,” I said, trying to imitate the dog. “Woof.”

  Sharpfang bared his teeth to me, a warning to be silent.

  There was only one thing left to do. The Leg-walkers were almost at the clearing.

  I grabbed the cubs and snatched them out from behind Wolfmother. I lunged for the opening of the den. Now Wolfmother would have to follow.

  But Thornclaw leaped across the floor. Before I could push the cubs out, he silently grasped my neck in his mouth.

  This was going to hurt, I thought, closing my e
yes. He might even rip my throat out, though he wouldn’t mean to, of course.

  But there was no more time to reason with them. I braced myself.

  Chapter 37

  “YELP!”

  That wasn’t me!

  The wolves jumped to attention, ears quivering.

  Thornclaw let go of my neck. The cubs squirmed free and scrambled behind Wolf-mother.

  “Hang it, Roy, you stepped right on Lady’s tail,” I heard Mike say furiously, only yards away. “That’s torn it for sure. Now they know we’re here.”

  “I say we rush ’em now, guns blazing,” said a third voice.

  “Yeah!”

  A gray blur swept past me. Sharpfang burst out of the den, growling ferociously.

  CRACK!

  “There he goes! Get him!”

  Sharpfang bounded across the clearing and disappeared into the swamp.

  Thornclaw dashed to the door of the den. He stood there, growling and showing his teeth, making himself a target.

  CRACK!

  Thornclaw sprang for the trees, heading in the opposite direction Sharpfang had taken.

  “I see him!”

  The Legwalkers split up, going after Sharp-fang and Thornclaw into the swamp.

  I looked over my shoulder into the depths of the den. Wolfmother was trying to drag Leaper and Snapjaw out, but the cubs were terrified and struggling. All their lives they’d been taught that the den was the world’s one safe place. And now when real danger came for the first time, Wolfmother was trying to make them leave. They scrabbled at the wall as if they could hide inside it.

  I reached out, grabbed the cubs, and hauled them after me, scrambling for the opening of the den.

  Footsteps pounded the ground close by. “Keep going,” shouted a voice. “I’ll shoot the ones trapped in the den.”

  I clutched the cubs to me. But I was too slow. The Legwalkers would catch me for sure.

  There was only one thing I could do.

  Wolfmother nudged my arm and I put the cubs down. She grasped Leaper in her teeth, holding her by the scruff of the neck.

  My stomach flip-flopped. Wolfmother could only take one cub at a time.

  Maybe once she’d gotten away, I could come back for Snapjaw. I swallowed hard and tried not to think.

  Frantically I started scooping up pebbles. Outside, I could hear the Legwalker creeping through the bushes, thinking he was being sneaky and quiet.

  It had to be now, ready or not.

  I sprang out of the den opening and threw a pebble over the Legwalker’s head. It landed behind him, rustling up some leaves. As I’d hoped, he whirled and fired his gun.

  CRACK!

  My ears ringing, I fired off another small rock. This one hit him in the head.

  But before he could turn again, I was up the tree that grew outside the den. I began pelting the Legwalker with rocks.

  He fell to his knees.

  “RRRuuff,” I barked. “RRRRRuuff.” That told Wolfmother to flee, now, fast.

  All that practicing with my throwing stick was proving good for something. I never missed.

  “Ow!” squeaked the Legwalker. “Hey! Ouch!”

  I grinned to myself as I glimpsed Wolfmother slink out of the den and slip soundlessly into the woods.

  The Legwalker couldn’t get up. He couldn’t even see what was hitting him. Now if I could only keep him down until Wolfmother could get back for Snapjaw.

  But it wasn’t to be.

  CRACK! CRACK!

  I heard the whine of the gun-arrow as it whistled past my ear.

  SMACK!

  Another one smashed into the tree trunk I was balanced against. It had missed me by a hair. The things that came out of the guns were tinier than my pebbles. But a lot more dangerous. CRACK! Another one hit the tree and buried itself instantly.

  The other Legwalkers had come back.

  “Kill it!” they all shouted.

  It. They meant me.

  Chapter 38

  I couldn’t let them get me here. Snapjaw was still inside the den!

  The poor cub must be frightened to death.

  I took my biggest rock and heaved it into a tree over the Legwalkers’ heads, outside the clearing. It made a big, satisfying noise in the leaves.

  “Whoa, where is it?” cried one of the Leg-walkers.

  “Wolves don’t climb trees,” yelled another.

  “Just shoot it—we’ll figure it out later.”

  Gunfire erupted, ripping leaves and sending squawking birds in every direction.

  The trees here were close together and I was able to swing myself into first one, then another, moving farther away from the den. There was so much commotion, none of the Legwalkers noticed.

  Then I saw a sight that made my heart leap with joy.

  Sharpfang! He dashed out of the woods, streaking for the den. He dove inside, and when he emerged he had Snapjaw between his teeth.

  I howled and growled, raining rocks down on the Legwalkers to distract them, and when I looked back, Sharpfang was gone.

  And I was out of pebbles.

  I hunched in my tree as bullets whizzed over my head, feeling very much alone.

  Then I started to wonder—could I go after my wolf family? Not now, but maybe after dark when the Legwalkers had given up and gone back to their dens.

  I needed my family. I ached for them. Where would I be without Wolfmother and Thornclaw and Sharpfang and Snapjaw and Leaper?

  But then, as the Legwalkers crashed around below me, I realized it could never be. The Legwalkers wouldn’t give up so easily and my family needed to be on the run. I was too slow. I’d just hold them back.

  The only way my wolf family could survive was without me.

  CRACK! I ducked as a bullet ripped through the leaves over my head. One thing I had to do, I had to get out of this tree. But with no pebbles left, how could I distract the Legwalkers long enough?

  Then off in the distance, I heard Sharpfang howl. Howl as if he wanted to be heard. As if he wanted the hunters to know where he was. What was going on?

  “Over there!” Roy shouted. “Get it!”

  It was getting the Legwalkers all excited, that was for sure. They crashed off in that direction as fast as they could go. I almost laughed, easing myself down from the tree.

  By the time the Legwalkers got there, Sharp-fang would be miles away.

  Down on the ground, I sighed. Which way should I go? What did it matter? I was part Leg-walker, part monster, and deep inside I was part wolf, too. But nobody wanted me.

  I stiffened at a small sound in the bushes nearby. Again my pulse began to race.

  Chapter 39

  It was Wolfmother.

  Cautiously, the wolf crept out from the underbrush. She held Leaper in her mouth.

  I whined in surprise and fear and barked to send her away. The hunters could be back any minute.

  Wolfmother growled softly in her throat and crouched on the ground, folding all four legs. It was what she used to do when I was little. I would climb on her back and ride like the wind.

  But now I was too big.

  She growled again and fixed me with an impatient eye. Maybe it would work. I longed for it to work.

  Biting my lip I straddled her back. Wolf-mother stood and I held on, shakily. She took a step, then another.

  But suddenly the Legwalker’s dog, Lady, began to bark in the distance. It was a strangled yelp, like she was struggling with all her might against the tie that held her back.

  I knew what had happened. The dog had scented Wolfmother. Wolfmother knew it, too. She began to run. But with me on her back she was slow and her feet sank too deeply into the soft ground.

  Excited, the Legwalkers freed the dog to give chase. The yelping of the dog and the harsh shouts of the Legwalkers chilled my blood. They were coming our way, fast.

  Already Wolfmother was tiring.

  I loved Wolfmother more than life itself, so I did the only thing I could. I let go. Ro
lling onto the ground, I urged her to run without me, to leave me behind. She whined and tossed her head, rolling her eyes. I barked roughly, begging her to run.

  Leaper gave a pained little cry and that decided it. Wolfmother gave me one last, mournful look and then disappeared into the swamp with a flash of her bushy tail.

  I brushed the tears from my eyes, filled my fists with rocks again, and scrambled into the nearest tree.

  Soon the hunters came tramping back, complaining because they hadn’t killed any wolves. I was so mad and upset that I didn’t care if they saw me. I reared back and threw as hard as I could. POW! The rock hit Roy right in the nose.

  “Look, up in the tree!”

  CRACK! CRACK! The bullets came whizzing by. If I stayed in the tree they’d get me for sure.

  So I leaped down to the ground, ready to run for my life.

  “Look!” somebody cried. “Is that thing human?”

  I turned, but the hunters blocked my way. They were going to kill me, no doubt about it. But if I had to die I was going to die like a wolf, brave and true.

  I dropped down on all fours and gave my attack howl. “AROOOOOOH!” Then I ran right at them, snapping and snarling, feeling the wildness in my heart.

  They had me in their sights now. They couldn’t miss. It was all over.

  I threw back my head and let out a long “farewell” howl to my family.

  The Legwalker called Mike was staring at me. His eyes were terrible. Slowly he brought up his rifle.

  Chapter 40

  I was about to die, and I felt so lonesome and miserable I didn’t even care.

  Mike’s finger squeezed on the trigger.

  “No!” Roy shouted grabbing Mike’s rifle. “Are you guys blind? That’s not a wolf, that’s a boy!”

  “He ain’t like no boy I’ve ever seen. He’s a wild thing.”

  Mike and Roy started arguing. Paying attention to each other and not to me. Now was my chance to get away.

  I started backing up slowly, not making a sound. Let these stupid Legwalkers argue all they wanted. Meanwhile I’d escape. It didn’t matter that I had nowhere to go, no place to call home. At least I’d be free. Until the next full moon.