Cold Spell
Chapter 10
Another low growl coming from behind him drew Joe's attention from Pup. He turned his head and froze as four wolves slipped out of the gloom, quiet as death. They were less than twenty feet away…and closing!
The rest of the pack, the boy assumed as his mind froze with fear, paralyzing him, although all his instincts were screaming at him to move!
But where? The wolves would cut him down within seconds, as Pup got close enough for Joe to see his own reflection in the aggressing carnivore's yellow eyes!
Need to get my knife, he thought, trying to force his hands towards his pocket, gotta make them work for their dinner…or breakfast!
And then the silvery white wolf effortlessly pounced over the prone boy, landing on the other side and effectively putting himself between Joe and the new wolves.
Breaking free of his paralysis, Joe scooted backwards, any ideas he had about Pup being part of this new group instantly dissipating. This was not how wolves greeted friends!
Pup was snarling, with his ears laid back against his skull and his tail held high. His stiff-legged walk ended as he came within feet of the new wolves.
Joe had no trouble picking out the alpha wolf in this pack as three of the wolves held back, a little.
The alpha was out of his league though, was the boy's first thought as, mesmerized, he stopped backing away, although he did get his knife out and extracted the blade…just in case.
The reddish-grey male was outweighed but bold; nevertheless, his position was bolstered by the fact that Pup was a newcomer. Although, if Joe remembered correctly from a program Vanessa, an avid wolf enthusiast, had made him sit through once, the rest of the pack would not interfere in a dominance challenge.
The two males continued their display, assessing each other for weakness…and then, as quickly as they came, three of the newcomers turned and left.
The alpha gave one final low bark at Pup, glanced down at Joe, and then followed his 'family'.
What the hell just happened? The boy wondered, realizing that he had missed something subtle. But then again, seeing that they were a completely different species and Joe didn't know that much about wolves, he wasn't really surprised.
Pup stayed exactly where he had been standing when the alpha left and continued looking into the fog for a few more moments before he started to relax, and his ears pricked forward again.
Without giving Joe another glance, the large wolf slowly loped away, and within moments he was out of sight.
"Uh, Pup?" the boy called after his lupus companion, his voice tinged with anxiety, "Where you going boy?" He found the thought of being completely alone, without even the animal, very unsettling.
But, of course, the wolf never answered, and the fog became suffocating….
Joe looked down at the small first aid kit – it was the only item from the Survival kit that he hadn't looked through, but he no longer had the desire.
Every few seconds he'd glance up and expect to see the wolf there, but it wasn't.
"Face it, Hardy," he muttered, shoving the stuff back into the orange knapsack, leaving out one protein bar, "the wolf dumped you!"
Picking up the small white box with the cross on it, he sighed and slipped it in last. "I think I'll let Frank do the honors with this one, I can't be having all the fun myself."
Around him the eerie silence was starting to really get to him – he hated to be alone.
When he was alone he thought of too many things…many of which he really didn't want to think about at the best of times, let alone now!
"Think happy thoughts…think happy thoughts," he said aloud as he put the knapsack back on the 'sled' with his and Frank's duffel bags, and then used a section of nylon rope, that he'd already cut, to tie them together.
Now when he started to tow the plane door, if one fell off, they'd all fall off, and he'd spend a lot less time backtracking!
He thought about his girlfriend Vanessa, closing his eyes as he did so. Until he met her, he had thought he'd never fall in love again….
Not after Iola….That's not a happy thought! Joe scolded himself and focused on Vanessa again. He could almost smell her perfume and feel the softness of her ash blond hair as it brushed his face and tickled his nose….
God, he missed her.
"Oh babe, do you have to go? I really was looking forward to spending the whole summer with you…and you alone," the beautiful seventeen-year-old had pouted.
Although Vanessa knew it would never work, as the brothers got to spend so little downtime with their Dad that they'd never turn down this opportunity…but she didn't want Joe to think she'd just give him up without even a little fight!
But when Joe had looked deeply into her gray eyes with a torn look on his face, as he struggled between wanting to go and not wanting to leave her, Vanessa had kissed his cheek gently and smiled.
Her heartstrings tugged. He tried so hard to be everyone's everything….She looked into his vibrant blue eyes and sighed, thinking herself the luckiest girl in the world – she was Joe Hardy's girl.
Putting her hand against his warm cheek, she whispered, "It's okay Joe….I'd never try to hold you back from something like this…" and then she grinned mischievously, "but you had better bring me something extra special!"
Joe blinked hard for a few moments, as his eyes had teared up just thinking about her….
"Oh angel," he said, sighing heavily and looking at his duffle bag. It had been hard for him to find something special enough for Vanessa, and he just hoped that she'd like the delicate whale bone earrings he'd finally settled on. "I hope they're special enough…and I hope even more that I'll get the chance to give them to you…."
"Happy thoughts, Hardy," he chastised, wiping the one tear that sneaked past his defense, "You will see Vanessa again…and Mom and Dad…and all your friends. You just gotta keep remembering that."
Sighing, he peered into the gloom and shivered. The temperature had definitely started to drop again, and his clothes, dampened from the mist, didn't offer him as much warmth as he would have liked.
He thought about changing into something else from his duffle bag but decided against it. No matter what he put on he was going to get damp. He would just wait until the weather changed and then so would he!
"I suppose I could fish out one of those rain ponchos," Joe said as he crouched down next to the 'sled' again and looked at the Survival kit, "But it's not really raining. And the silly thing is only made of plastic….I might need it more later."
Standing up, he looked at the time again – tried chewing up his unease like he knew Frank would – and stared in the direction that he had come from when he first found the tail section.
The frown on his face intensified as he realized that was the same direction the wolves – all of them – had disappeared in….
Now it was true that the wolves might still be only a few feet away, shrouded by the gloom, but every instinct in his body told him no, that he was alone. Completely and utterly alone.
And then he felt a growing feeling that started as unease and rapidly ballooned into something much more intense. It was a burning need to get back to the camp, now!
The feeling was so strong it made Joe lightheaded and he actually staggered a step before he regained his balance.
"Frank," he whispered. He couldn't explain it any further than that. All he knew was that he needed to get back!
"Hold on, big brother," he said, ripping open and quickly devouring the protein bar he'd kept out. He knew he should be eating it a lot more slowly, as it would hit his stomach like a ton of lead. But the determined youth decided he'd cross that bridge when he got to it!
Right now he had other more important things to worry about than a stomach ache.
Shoving the now empty wrapper into his coat pocket, Joe took one more look around the wreckage and saw nothing else of interest.
Stepping into the makeshift harness at the front of the 'sled,' the teen took a few tentative steps forward – the plane door made a horrific scraping noise as it was dragged, but Joe nodded in approval.
It was heavy but nothing he couldn't handle….It was just going to be slow going….
Slow and noisy!
Oh well, that should definitely keep the animals away. Joe couldn't help but grinning, as he slowly started off into the fog, in the direction he knew he'd come from.
The starting off wouldn't' be bad. But keeping on track would be. He could only hope that Frank held up his threat of blowing the whistle for him, as once he got closer to the burrow, he'd need it as a homing beacon, even if the fog lifted.
"Frank would kill me if he knew I was even attempting this," he chuckled and then added, "but what he doesn't know won't hurt him!"
Forcing himself to keep his pace slow and steady over the ornery terrain, Joe tried to ignore the little voice screaming in the back of his head for urgency.
His brother needed him, Joe knew that as certainly as he knew his own name….So, slowly, one foot in front of the other, he dragged his noisy burden into the mist….
"Hold on, Frank," he whispered. "I'm coming."