The Shadow of the Wolf Read Free Page B

strict?”
    Fawn sighed. “If a snowshoe breaks miles from our village, someone may freeze to death. If a heavy snow comes and we have not gathered enough wood, the tribe may die of the cold. We cannot be careless in anything we do.”
    Papa spent many days meeting with Chief Ke che oh caw. They were making plans to buy a piece of woodland near the Indians’ village. The land had the maple trees needed to make syrup. It was also good hunting land for grouse and pigeon. There was a small lakethat would provide fish and ducks and a meadow where corn could be grown. It was the same land that Mr. Blanker wanted to buy.
    Papa said Fawn and I might go with him on the day he was to begin surveying the woodland. He left us at the small lake and went off to mark the boundaries of the property. I’ll be back in an hour or two,” he told us. “Stay by the lake and don’t go wandering off.”
    Mama had given us bread and smoked ham, and Menisikwe had sent along a basket of dried blueberries. That morning there had been a frost. The grass had stood stiff and white. Now a warm sun was making the frost disappear. We settled under a maple tree. Its leaves were so red that in the sun it looked as if it was on fire. One by one the leaves fell slowly into our laps. We were choosing the showiest ones when we heard a strange noise overhead. It was a high-pitched
whooo, whooo
. The next minute there was a noisy flutter,and a dozen great white birds alighted on the lake. They were swans.
    Fawn and I held our breath as the swans moved over the water, making soft whistling sounds. All at once they took off in a great commotion. Something had startled them. A minute later we heard voices. At first I thought it might be Papa coming back sooner than he had planned. Fawn shook her head. In a moment she was scrambling up into the branches of the maple tree. She motioned me to follow. The branches were low and close to one another, like steps. In no time we were high up off the ground.
    A wagon made its way around the shore of the lake. Two men climbed down from the wagon. One of the men was Mr. Blanker. His companion was a big man with broad shoulders and arms like tree trunks. “You can be sure this is a grove of bird’s-eye maple,” Mr. Blanker said. “I cut down just such a tree here last summer. That man, Mitchell, will be surveying here for the Indians any day now. Ifwe want these trees; we’ll have to hurry.”
    The other man shook his head. “There’s a risk. This land don’t belong to you. I’ll be needing a little extra money to calm my nerves.”
    “You do your job and you’ll get your money.”
    The two men dragged a great crosscut saw from their wagon. They walked toward our tree. We heard the rasp of the saw as it was drawn across the tree. Fawn grabbed my arm. “Do what I do,” she whispered. She let out a bloodcurdling howl. I did the same.

    “Indians!” the men shouted. “The trees are full of them!” They dropped their saw and ran toward their wagon. In seconds they were gone.
    We had to wait up in the tree for nearly an hour before Papa came back. All the while we were afraid that the men would return for their saw. When we told him what had happened; Papa looked worried. “I should never have left you girls here alone.”
    The worry changed to a smile as we described how our howls had frightened the two men into running off and leaving their saw behind. “Well, Libby,” he said. “You and Fawn were very brave. And Sanatua was saying only yesterday it would be a great help to the Indians if they had a crosscut saw! It would make it easier to get firewood. We can tell him that you and Fawn arranged for Mr. Blanker to lend him one.”
    I would have sat up in the tree for another hour to hear such praise from Papa.

That same week Fawn and I had our first argument. We were in the woods gathering acorns. I wanted them for Icarus. Fawn was gathering them for her mother, who would pound them into flour. Fawn and I