1) Miss Adventure
Daddy called her "smart as a whip", and Tru Kirk tried to live up to his expectations. She was top of her second grade class, and at home when she was not out riding her pony Shiloh, she sometimes spent hours sketching birds and horses and the wildlife she saw in the mountains. Daddy said her artwork was getting almost as good as Mama's, who was a famous painter, but he said it with a twinkle in his eyes.
Tru had decided to draw everyone a bird for Christmas. They were her favorite subjects and she thought she drew them best. Soon each picture was neatly rolled and wrapped and tied with a ribbon. Happily she set them atop the other presents under the tall Christmas tree that glittered over by the staircase. A cozy fire burned on the hearth. The house smelled of ginger cookies and the enchiladas that Mama had readied for dinner before she drove to town.
Smiling, Tru closed her eyes and hugged herself, trying to capture the beautiful moment and never let it go. The front door burst open, letting in a draft of cold air. She looked over and found Lame Wolf striding toward her.
"True Friend," he said, "hurry and bundle up. Uncle said you can go ice fishing with me."
Ice fishing! With a thrill of excitement, Tru ran upstairs and put on her warmest clothes. By the time she was ready, Lame Wolf had Shiloh and Warrior saddled. She mounted her pony and they rode off together. The day was clear and bitingly cold, but nothing like last winter—the winter of the big snows. Frozen pine needles crunched under the horses' hooves and every breath hung in the air as they moved along the forest trail.
They arrived at Little Kirk Lake, which was really just a big pond. A thick layer of ice coated its surface, but Tru felt warmer here out in the open, with the sun shining on her. She got down from Shiloh and watched Lame Wolf start a campfire on shore. Then finding a suitable spot on the frozen pond, he swung an axe, punching a jagged hole in the ice. He was fifteen, almost as tall as Daddy, strong and dark and handsome.
Finished, Lame Wolf attached a lure to the fishing line and handed her the pole. "Move it slowly up and down," he reminded her.
It was like him to give her the first turn, and before long the pole jerked. Laughing, Tru reeled in a bluegill. Then it was Lame Wolf's turn. As he worked the line, she began to skid over the pond with her boots. A pair of ducks flew overhead. She tried to skid and look up at the same time. Her feet moved onto gray ice and cracks began to form, but she never saw them.
Suddenly the brittle surface gave way. A cry escaped her as she plunged feet-first into frigid water.
"Tru!" Lame Wolf's shout pierced the wintry air.
Pain gripped Tru's body. Panicking, she made a grab for the jagged rim of the ice. It broke. The weight of the water in her clothing dragged her deeper, and her head went below the surface. Her eyes focused on the light streaming into the hole. It looked like a gateway…a gateway to another world.
Her body no longer hurt. She felt numb now, and it was harder to move. Though her lungs were bursting for air, her mind began to quiet. She saw the gifts under the Christmas tree with her name on them, the presents she would never open. She saw her own little sketches, each line drawn with love, and was glad she had finished them.
A very peaceful feeling was coming over her when something pulled her hair. Suddenly she was rising toward the light. Her head broke the surface. She gulped air and began to cough. Lame Wolf lay flat on the cracking ice, a rope in his strong hands. He looped the rope under her limp arms, then scooted away.
"No!" she gasped. "Come back! Help!"
The rope tightened around her chest and tugged at her. Up she rose from the water, onto the splintering patch of thin ice. Shaking uncontrollably, she felt herself slide over a slick surface toward shore, where Lame Wolf had attached the end of the rope to his horse's saddle. Leaving Warrior, he ran over and carried her to the campfire.
Her teeth chattered as she begged, "T-take me home! I w-want to go home!"
He slipped his warm rabbit-skin cap on her head and began to strip off her clothes, but she fought him.
"No! Stop! I'm c-cold! T-take me home!"
His brown face grew stern. "There's no time for that! Trust me, Tru! I'm going to wrap you in the blanket I keep on my saddle. We'll dry your clothes by the fire."
She relented, and soon her wet clothing lay in a heap. Swathed in Lame Wolf's blanket and coat, she watched him feed the fire. With the help of his knife, he quickly created a drying rack for her things. Then he held her on his lap until the good heat drove the last of the chill from her body. Only then did she notice that Lame Wolf was shivering.
"You need your coat," she said.
"I'm not cold," he told her.
Then why was he shaking? Turning her head, she looked up into his face. The sight of his tears startled her. She had never before seen him cry, and her heart went out to him.
"It's alright," she said. "I'm okay now."
His arms tightened around her, and it made her feel happy and safe. When the fire burned to embers, he got up to check her clothes. Her pants and shirt and socks were dry, so she pulled them on. Lame Wolf loaded her damp coat and boots on Shiloh, along with her bluegill and the axe and the fishing gear. For warmth, they rode double atop Warrior.
"I should have worn a wrist phone," Lame Wolf said. "Your parents will be very worried. I should have done many things differently."
Tru knew how he hated wearing a phone. She did, too. "It's alright," she said again, but she knew there would be trouble.
By the time they reached home, twilight was settling over the ranch. Mama and Daddy were watching at a front window and came out on the porch, their faces tense with worry.
"It's late," Daddy said, using his sharp starship captain's voice. "Where have you two been?"
Lame Wolf dismounted and since Tru was not wearing shoes, he carried her inside. The ride home had made her feet numb again.
"I asked you a question," Daddy said ominously.
Lame Wolf settled her on the sofa. The look of guilt on his face was more than Tru could bear. Abruptly she said, "I wasn't paying attention. I fell through the ice, but Lame Wolf knew exactly what to do."
Mama gasped. Her hand went to her mouth.
"He had a fire already going," Tru explained. "He got me warm and dry. I'm fine now."
Mama sat down beside her and hugged her tight. "Ice fishing!" she said as if they were bad words.
Tru held her breath and waited for the argument to begin, the same old argument about Daddy letting her do things that were too dangerous. Then she saw her father's pained expression, and somehow she knew that they had already been fighting.
Mama gripped her by the shoulders and scolded, "Look here, Miss Adventure! If you ever go off without getting my permission again, you'll regret it!"
Tru held her breath and looked over at her father. How would Daddy deal with such a challenge to his authority?
His face was white to the lips. Tersely he said, "Your mother's right. I should never have let you go, and without even a phone."
Tru stared at him in disbelief. She felt betrayed. Daddy almost always took her side. If it was up to Mama, she would never have any fun.
"You could have died," he told her. "It's time you stop running loose around the countryside."
"But I wasn't running loose," Tru reminded him. "Lame Wolf was with me the whole time."
Lame Wolf shifted uncomfortably. After two years among the Kirks, he knew that there was one thing guaranteed to upset the peace of their home: the question of Tru's safety.
Now Lame Wolf said, "The accident was my fault. If I had been watching her more closely, she never would have fallen through the ice. I'm not hungry. I'm going to bed down the horses and chop wood."
Tru gave him back his coat and rabbit-fur hat. As he went into the night, her eyes blurred with tears. Chopping wood. Daddy hated the chore and called it "punishment duty".
The house grew silent. In the fireplace, a log sizzled and popped as it radiated heat. After a moment, Daddy put on his work coat and his wood-chopping gloves, and went outside. Soon, Tru heard the thumping of two axes.
Mama stood up, stared at the fire and said, "Well, I guess dinner can wait a bit..."
Without a word, Tru went upstairs and found some dry shoes and a hooded jacket. She expected her mother to object, but when she came back down, Mama was already out by the chopping blocks, gathering the wood split by Lame Wolf and Daddy. Tru stepped to her mother's side and held out her mitten-covered hands.
"Oh, Tru…" Mama said, but she gave her the smaller pieces, and together they carried them to the stack on the porch.
If felt good to be out working together, and everyone began to relax. Up in the winter sky, a million stars twinkled like Christmas lights. Daddy winked at her, and Tru knew that her adventures were not quite at an end, after all. As she smiled back at him, her heart warmed with the special love they shared. Then closing her eyes, she hugged herself tightly and captured the moment forever.