It was early in the morning. The sun was just up enough to see it shining through the trees. The ground and grass were still wet with dew.
Lucky was silently padding along the forest path, just like she'd done many times before. The dappled morning sun shone off her black fur and a light wind was ruffling through her head-fur. Her ears and amber eyes were alert, her nose twitching, drinking in every scent. She was enjoying the smells and sounds of the pine forest and the various small creatures that lived there.
There! She turned her head to the right as she heard the faint squeak of a mouse rustling through the leaf cover. No. Too far away to have a chance to catch. Over there! She caught the tantalizing scent of a rabbit hiding in a brushy area to her left. She knew not to go into the bushes after it, since it would be long gone before she even reached the area.
She was starting to get hungry, so she kept walking as quietly as she could, all her senses on the alert for possible prey.
She was so intent on small prey that she almost didn't feel the pounding of the ground from the deer that suddenly came bounding up the path in terror, right toward her! "Aaaahhhh!" Lucky screamed. She cowered in the path, her amber eyes huge with fear! It was a full-grown mule deer doe. Much too large for her to tackle on her own, even if she wasn't an Omega and therefore not a hunter of large prey. At the last possible second, she broke through her fear and dove to the side of the path. She whirled around to see the deer bolting past, panting, with an Alpha (John, the eldest member of the pack) and two Betas (Shawn and Marsha) from her pack hot on its trail.
"Well," she thought, watching from her safe spot as they streaked up the path and her racing heart started to settle down, "even if they manage to get it, it's not big enough for the entire pack to eat from, so I'm not likely to get any of it."
And so, after they'd passed, Lucky continued her walk, although she knew the pickings would probably be pretty slim what with the commotion caused by the hunters from her pack chasing the deer.
She decided to start running, since she wanted to get to a quieter area where she'd have at least some chance of finding something to eat, and she simply felt the need to run, to burn off the adrenaline that still coursed through her body. She got up to speed, laying her ears back and loving the feel of the wind on her face, ruffling her black head-fur, her tail straight out behind her.
Soon, she was more than a mile away from where she had been. She came to a fork in the path. She took the left fork at speed, even though her mother had told her never to go into that area. That was when she was a little puppy. She had the urge to explore today, and she'd never been in this section of the forest before. Besides, she was old enough to take care of herself now . . .
"This should be far enough," she thought. She slowed to a silent walk again, her senses on the alert once again for her prey.
As Lucky crested the top of a small hill, a young, inexperienced rabbit ran across the path directly in front of her, intent on who knows what, but certainly not paying any attention to its surroundings. She quickly snapped down and caught it, breaking its back with one shake of her head. It gave a squeal, kicked twice, then went limp in her jaws. She looked around to make sure there was no one else there to challenge her for her kill, and seeing no one, she took her prize to the side of the path, lay down, and began to eat.
"That's why I'm 'Lucky'," she thought as she ate, "I almost always manage to get something fairly good to eat. It's just too bad that most of the time it's not something big enough for me to be able to share with 'Clumsy'. I guess my luck is mainly for me. He's most certainly no hunter. Hmmph!" she snorted, "He can't even catch small prey. The poor guy usually has to eat bitter berries." She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought. "Ecccchhh!"
After Lucky finished her snack, she was still hungry, as Omegas usually are. She decided to see if she could find anything more and she also wanted to try to bring something back to the den to share with her brother. Their mother Joan was pack-leader, and so would get a share of the deer if the hunting party was successful, but Joan's share probably wouldn't be big enough for her to be able to give any to Lucky or "Clumsy."
As Lucky padded along the path leading down the other side of the hill, a delighted grin spread across her face as she caught the scent of raw meat! And not just any raw meat. Raw meat that had been sitting out for a while. Raw meat that was at the perfect ripeness! This was a delicacy! Meat didn't usually lay around at all around her hungry pack, let alone long enough to reach this stage. If she could find any more, she'd bring some home to her brother. But this? This was hers! She followed her nose, her ears back and her eyes mere slits to go with the grin on her face. She was almost dancing in anticipation.
As she got closer to the source of the meat scent, there was also a strange under-scent. She hesitated slightly, her grin fading a little. Her eyes opened and her ears went up.
Then, in plain sight, just off the path, she saw a fair-sized chunk of meat, just lying there! It smelled wonderful, although there was still that lingering strange scent. Something about that scent made her nervous. Her grin faded completely, replaced with a frown. Her eyes narrowed.
She silently crept up to where the meat was, focused on it but still ready to leap away at a moment's notice. She was within three feet of the meat when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. A Pine Marten came streaking up, seemingly out of nowhere, its golden-brown body moving with a weasel's undulating motion. It evidently was finishing its night's hunting a little late, and it wanted the meat. It squealed its defiance, almost in Lucky's face, causing her to take a couple of steps back. Then, "SNAP!" there was a sudden explosion of forest-floor litter. Pine-needles, dirt and small rocks were flung all around, where, just a split-second ago there had seemed to be nothing out the ordinary. Except for that strange scent. The Marten was caught fast by its slender hindquarters in the jagged steel jaws of a trap, just three steps in front of her. Fortunately, its struggle was brief. Lucky saw all of this in seeming slow-motion. "W-w-w-what was THAT?!" she barked out, cowering down in horror.
After the dust settled, Lucky realized that had she taken but one step more before the Marten startled her that it would have been her right front leg, not the Marten's hindquarters, in those terrible steel jaws. "That would have been ME!", she yelped out loud, her eyes wide with terror. She wouldn't have been as lucky as the Marten. She would still be alive, in agony, and held fast by the thing. She wanted nothing more than to vomit and run away in absolute fear. But she was made of sterner stuff than that. She rose from her cower. There was still the matter of that meat. She still needed to bring something home to her brother "Clumsy," who was still recovering from the "bee accident" he'd had yesterday.
Stepping carefully around the Marten's body, Lucky slowly and cautiously picked up the meat. Her every sense was on the alert. Somehow, though, she knew that the danger was past. Although the meat still smelled good, she'd lost her appetite. The Marten didn't smell like it would taste very good, especially compared to the meat, so she left it alone. Besides, she wanted nothing to do with the thing holding it.
Then Lucky suddenly remembered having seen a very dim glint of light where the thing had been. She'd been distracted by the meat, then by the Marten's sudden appearance, so the glint hadn't registered in her mind at the time. The realization sunk in that what she'd seen was the very tip of one of the steel teeth of the horrible thing. But how did this get here? It didn't belong here. The thing obviously didn't eat, despite its fearsome teeth. Why kill or injure when you don't need to eat? And what was that strange scent? She needed to get home and tell her mother what had happened. NOW!
She wheeled around and ran, careful to stay on the path, since the trap had been off the path. As she ran, the strange scent became fainter and fainter, which was fine by her! That scent meant pain and death! She would never forget that scent.
As Lucky ran home, she thought about the lesson she'd just learned. Only her luck had saved her, but she also knew that she couldn't rely on that forever. Sooner or later, everyone's luck runs out. The Marten's certainly had.
She arrived at the den just as Joan was getting ready to leave. The hunting party had caught the deer, and howled the message to her so she could come and get her share. Lucky put the meat down and told her mother what had happened.
"What were you doing in that area of the forest?!" Joan's ears, lips, and gray hackles instantly raised as she growled and snapped in Lucky's face, her emerald eyes flashing with hot anger and something else: fear. Lucky dropped to the floor of the den and cowered in fear - she'd never seen her mother so angry before!
"I... I... I'm sorry, Mom!", she whined and stammered, not daring to look her mother in the eyes.
"You and your brother have both been warned to stay away from there!" Her voice breaking, she added "Lucky, we almost LOST you!" Joan lay down in front of Lucky and hugged her, sobbing. Lucky was sobbing by then, too. Then, with both paws on Lucky's shoulders, Joan, tears still streaming down her own face, looked Lucky directly in the face, shaking her by the shoulders as she said, her voice shaking, "Look at me! LOOK AT ME!" Lucky reluctantly opened her amber eyes, still very much afraid. "Now, promise me . . . You'll never go there again."
"I promise, Mom. I promise," Lucky said in a small, quiet voice, blinking the tears from her eyes. She sniffled twice.
"Good! Good." Joan sighed. "That's my good girl." Joan got up, letting go of Lucky's shoulders, and sat down in front of her, wiping her own eyes with a paw and sniffling as well. She finished, and reached down to do the same for Lucky. Then Joan swallowed, and in a much calmer voice said "I'm sorry I scared you like that, sweetheart, but you scared me, too." She took a deep breath and began "Now, let me explain to you about 'traps' and 'humans' . . . "
"Clumsy" had been napping, but had awoken with a start when Joan had growled and snapped at Lucky. He had seen the whole exchange between them and was as frightened as Lucky. He, too, had cowered down, too afraid to move. He, too, was crying. Joan heard him sniffle. "It's all right, Swift, dear," she called to him over her shoulder, "You need to know this, too. Please come over here and sit by your sister."
He quietly said "Okay, Mom." He got up and did as he was told.
Lucky, meanwhile had gotten up to a sitting position since her mother had calmed down.
"Thank you, dear. Well," Joan began, wiping the tears from Clumsy's eyes, "this is sort of awkward . . . " She sighed, shaking her gray head back and forth, her head-fur echoing the movement. She continued "It seems I should have had this talk with you both long before now. You've both grown up so fast! Time just got away from me, I guess . . . I've never explained exactly why you're never to go into that part of the forest, because I didn't want to frighten you. I wanted to wait until you were old enough to understand that everywhere else in our forest is safe for us. I didn't want you to be afraid to go anywhere we normally go, for fear of being hunted or trapped. I see now that I waited too long. Your urge to explore almost cost you your life today, Lucky. That urge isn't wrong, though. Oh, no! Far from it. It lets us find new food sources, and maybe even new territory to hunt in. But we never go into that part of the forest because a VERY, VERY dangerous kind of animal called 'humans' are allowed to hunt there. That's what that strange under-scent was. They're usually much more careful about covering their scent up. You were lucky to have even caught that scent. They often set what are called 'traps' in that part of the forest to catch us and whoever else of the forest people they can. That's what you almost stepped into, Lucky.
"Most of the time, we don't see anyone again who's been caught in a trap. The only reason we even know about them at all is that, very rarely, someone does come back. Sometimes they're only missing a toe or two, and are fine after they heal up. Usually, though, they're missing part of a front or back leg. Most of the time, they crawl off somewhere away from the pack to die shortly after they return, if they even make it back to the pack. Sometimes they live, but if they were Alphas or Betas, they're no use as hunters anymore. They become Omegas and stay behind while the others hunt. You know what being an Omega means, since both of you are."
Joan looked at Lucky, a deep sadness in her green eyes. "Oh, honey! I'm sorry I never told you or Swift about traps before now, but I thought my having told you to stay away from that part of the forest would be enough to keep you safe. Now I know I was wrong." She sighed. "I need to go now. The others are waiting. You stay here with Swift. I see you brought the meat the humans had put out as 'bait', as they call it." She sniffed at the meat. "Sometimes, they put what they call 'poison' on pieces of meat and scatter them around. Poison will make you VERY sick, if it doesn't kill you. If you smell a sour tang around the area where there's meat lying around, stay away from it. DO NOT pick it up, whatever you do! This meat doesn't smell like there's anything wrong with it, though. Your luck served you well today. If you don't need the meat, give it to your brother. He hasn't had anything to eat yet this morning, since he hasn't been out for berries. I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll try to bring you both back some deer meat." Joan gave Lucky a hug and a nuzzle to the face and did the same for "Clumsy," then left to join the others at the deer kill.
After Joan had left, Lucky gave "Clumsy" the meat, which he gulped down in five bites, hungrily licking his lips afterward, saying "Not that I don't appreciate your sharing with me, but I just wish there were more. That was really good!" He smiled at her wistfully, his ears flattened back against his head, his brownish-green eyes pleading.
"Whoa! Did you even taste that? Hmmm, hmmm," Lucky chuckled, then backed up and brought up some pieces of the rabbit she'd eaten. "Clumsy" gratefully bolted those down, too, and was feeling a little less hungry. "Thanks, sis! I know you and Mom do the best you can to look after me, since I can't hunt worth anything."
"Oh 'Clumsy'," Lucky said, shaking her head back and forth and smiling at him, "you'll get the hang of it sooner or later. Then you won't have to eat those bitter berries just to fill your stomach. And I'll stop calling you 'Clumsy'."
"Well, thanks, just the same." He grinned, ears back and tail wagging, his eyes sparkling. He gave her a quick lick on the face. Lucky had shared with him. She always tried her best to have something to share with him. He didn't even care that Lucky hadn't called him by his real name: "Swift." He knew that she didn't really mean anything bad by calling him "Clumsy." That was, after all, what everyone else except their Mom called him. It was what he was, at least for now. Maybe he'd earn his real name back someday.