The Shadow of the Wolf Read Free

pay you and I will double it.”
    “There is no company” Papa said. “I have come north to survey land for the Ottawa and to help them buy back as much land as they need.”
    All the folds on Mr. Blanker’s face puffed out like the cheeks of a frog. “You will never get rich working for Indians.”
    “It was never my plan to get rich; Mr. Blanker. I only wanted to help the Indians, who are my friends. Now I have another purpose. It is to see that you do not get the land. Good day, sir.”
    The door slammed as Mr. Blanker stamped out of the house.
    “Who was that man?” I asked.
    “He is what is called a timber cruiser,” Papa said. “Such men go about scouting large sections of land for logging companies.”
    Mama sighed. “We have been here less than a day and already we have an enemy.”
    “We have right on our side, Vinnie. That is all the protection we need.”
    I told myself Mama had been right to give back the doll. Still, my arms felt empty. I knew I would never see such a doll again. It was wrong, but I would have given up many trees to keep her. The loneliness of this strange, new place made me long for something of my own to hold on to.
    We were all too tired from our travels to let Mr. Blanker’s rudeness keep us awake. For the first time in his life William slept through the night. Papa said the sound of the waves soothed him. Indeed, the washing of the waves against the shore is the most restful sound you can imagine. Somewhere between one wave and another I fell asleep.

Papa worked on the roof all the next day. When he finally came in to supper, he had a present for me. “It’s not a fancy doll, Libby but it will be company for you.” He handed me his handkerchief, which he had knotted into a kind of little bag. I nearly dropped the handkerchief—it was moving! Papa told me to untie the knots.
    As soon as the first knot was undone, I saw big brown eyes staring out at me. Hastily, I untied the other knots.
    “It’s a flying squirrel, Libby. There was a nest of them in the chimney. The other squirrelsgot away, but this one seemed tame.”
    The squirrel was so tiny he fit into the palm of my hand. His fur was brown on top and white underneath. On either side was a fold of skin reaching from his front to his back leg. Papa said the folds stretched out like wings so the squirrel could glide from tree to tree. His feathery tail curved over his body like a plume. He had enormous brown eyes, shiny as acorns. “That’s so the squirrel can see at night,” Papa said.
    “Can I keep it?” I asked. I was afraid that, like the doll, he might be snatched from me.
    “Yes, Libby,” Papa said, “as long as you take good care of the creature.”
    “Can he stay in my room at night?”
    “He can,” Papa laughed, “but you may be sorry.” He wouldn’t tell me why.
    When it was time for bed, I closed the door so the squirrel couldn’t get away. I placed him carefully on my dresser in a little nest made from my hankies. In the blink of an eye, he glided from the dresser to therafter. From the rafter he dropped down to the bedstead. From the bedstead he swooped to the chair. He wouldn’t stay still. All night long I heard him gliding about the room, so that I hardly slept. In the morning I found him curled up asleep in my shoe.

    Papa explained that flying squirrels only go about at night. “They rest during the day. I think if you want any sleep at night, I had better build a cage for the squirrel. What will you call him?”
    “Icarus,” I said. Mama had taught me the story of the boy who tried to escape from the Greek island of Crete by fashioning wings of feathers and wax. He could fly at night, but when daylight came, he flew too close to the sun. His wings melted and he fell into the sea.
    Early the next morning Fawn walked through the front door without a sound. Papa says if she had a mind to, Fawn could walk up to a deer without scaring it away. Over a year had passed since Fawn and I had