SlenderWolf

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things done, creating focus, purpose, and peace, even where there is none.

“Think about it,” says CandiCrush, “we have no diplomatic accords with the Pennites, and we both have a southern border with Worringfolk. We’ve been waiting for just the right opportunity, work on trade relations first, and then on wider cooperation.”

“And think about it,” says MaxChaos, “a trade agreement where we buy from them, is a lot more attractive than one where we’re selling. I do learn things you know! You get to hear a lot when you’re a docker.”

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Addressing HayWire, KristalClear says, “float the idea at work now, prime them about a later trip.”

“I’ll try,” he says, “see what my GuildMaster says! I definitely want easier access to wolf bone. Hard, resilient, and with just a touch of flexibility. Like carbon fibre, but nobody can make carbon fibre anymore.”

“We have lots of carbon,” says NutJob, “why can’t we make carbon fibre?”

“Polyacrylonitrile,” says HayWire.

“Dare I ask? What’s polly acrillo night rile?”

“It’s derived from oil. And we have no oil.”

“Nuff said,” responds NutJob, “you’re definitely a bigger geek than me!”

“If you’re coming with us,” says KristalClear, “can we use Garrison horses?”

“We’ll have full Garrison support. And we’ll be staying at the eastern outpost in Newsholme for two nights. It’s been ages since I last went there.”

Somewhat surprised NutJob wants to know why the Garrison would get involved in a business venture.

“Could you explain why?”

“The lab wants wolf bone, and the ElderWolf wants to explore building more alliances. The Pennites have been on the radar for some time.”

Before anybody changes their minds, CandiCrush states, “Kristal, NutJob, Max, you are to be up early tomorrow, meet at the Garrison at 08:00. We’ll be leaving at 09:00.”

“That’s a bit sudden?” says HayWire.

“When would now be a good time?” asks CandiCrush, “military ethos, get things done. I have the authority to requisition resources, and the ElderWolf will be happy to learn about this later. I’ll have a memo on her desk tomorrow, after we leave, and a full detailed report one day after we return.”

The youngsters all know that the Garrison means business, not commercial business, but business in the sense of getting

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EarlyBird also knows that the lady is in charge of her own dominion. HopAlong will fall into line, no matter what he says right now.

“Put all the livestock in one compound,” says EarlyBird, “and put SnapDragon in the other.”

—o—

            “A wolf farm? What a crazy idea,” says MaxChaos, “if it works, great, and if it doesn’t work, so what? They’ll still have one valuable wolf!”

HayWire seems to be even more enthusiastic about the idea of a wolf farm than anybody else. To be more precise, enthusiastic about wolf bone rather than a wolf farm.

“And you’re suggesting we should help them get two more wolves?” asks MaxChaos.

“Crazy!” says NutJob, “but, yes!”

“It means going to visit the Pennites,” says KristalClear, “the nearest ones are in Skipton.”

“When was the last time you did something for the first time?” asks HayWire.

“Well I know how to ride a horse, but I don’t often have the chance” says MaxChaos, “and it’ll be my first ever trip to Skipton.”

“Me too … if I could go,” says HayWire, “ but I can’t just have time off at the drop of a hat. Harrisons is a big business and there are rules to follow. It’ll take a week or two to even get some leave agreed.”

“It’s a three day trip,” says CandiCrush, “but you know we don’t have any diplomatic accords with the Pennites. That means I’m coming with you.”

“You are?” asks KristalClear.

“I wish I could!” says HayWire.

“There’ll be a second trip,” says CandiCrush, “because I’m sure we’ll have to go back again, to collect.”

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will be minor compared to the value of a fully grown, mature wolf.”

“Anyway, one wolf?” HopAlong retorts. “Kill it, sell it, one wolf is not going to get us very far. We need something long term!”

Burgess chips in, “you’ll need two wolves then! A wolf farm.”

Stunned, HopAlong exclaims, “you want me to get another one?”

“No,” says KristalClear, “not another one, another two!”

“Yes, farm them,” says NutJob, “we rarely see wolf products in Lancaster. The Innovation Lab is always keen to get more wolf bone. And beyond Wolfland, there are territories that simply can’t afford wolfskin. They’ve never even seen it. If you can farm wolves, you can undercut the Kielders.”

“Who are the Kielders?” asks CrankyHandle.

“They’re Pennites,” says NutJob, “right up at the top of the Pennines in the Kielder Forest. They’re the best trappers around and they have plenty of wolves. Your regular Pennite is a sheep farmer.”

“They have some trappers in other places too, scattered from Otterburn to Skipton, but there aren’t many. The whole territory’s inhospitable, which is why it’s sparsely populated. The farmers expect to lose some sheep to wolves. And when a trapper does bag a wolf it’s sent to the markets in York or Scarborough, they rarely trade with us.”

The conversation has set EarlyBird’s mind racing. She now wants two adolescent females. If the wolf packs are currently shedding the older adolescents, then now is the time to trap them without waiting one more year. Intuitively she feels that the numbers will work out, and some quick mental arithmetic tells her that the financial rewards will follow, and then they’ll snowball.

“Who else around here has the right facilities,” she says, “and the urge to start farming wolves? Who else has a captive wolf?”

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Chapter 33
Business is Business

“A wolf? Keep it here? Are you out of your mind? It’s a vicious wild animal! Do you want it to eat all the chickens? And if it doesn’t eat all the chickens, it’ll kill both the goats! What on earth made you bring it here?”

HopAlong has never actually been this close to a real, live wolf before, but he’s been a farmer long enough to know that there are two ways to look at everything.

What he needs right now is a new income stream to make up for years of losses from llama farming. And a wolf is a valuable asset. When it’s dead. Not when it’s alive!

He’s really not too sure about the merits of nursing an injured wolf back to health. And he’s absolutely certain that he can’t dispatch it right now, not after the efforts that Burgess and CrankyHandle have had to go through to help the two lunatic teenagers with their madcap plan.

“He’s injured,” says EarlyBird, “in both hind legs. You were injured in only one leg and I looked after you.”

She looks at SnapDragon with a sympathetic smile. The wolf can already sense that the man is agitated, but that the lady of the house has a more caring nature. “And besides,” she says, “we have the space, and we have secure compounds. If the wolves can’t get in, then a captive wolf can’t get out, even after his leg has healed. Put the chickens and goats in one, and keep SnapDragon in the other.”

HopAlong protests, “what about horses? Kristal and Dave originally came here to discuss horses didn’t they?”

“Darling, you don’t actually like horses! What we need is a viable trade. A wolf is valuable.”

Like KristalClear, EarlyBird finds it easy to build an emotional bond with animals, especially animals with a gammy leg. Or two gammy legs. “We might need to feed him a chicken or two,” she says, “but we can get them cheaply enough. And we can also get rabbit and stuff. The cost of feed

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than a Eurasian grey wolf, with a gentle fur coat more suited to a warmer climate.

Between them, they are able to lift the fifty kilo wolf into the sling and then onto the trap, the operation surprisingly fluid, and the snapping being a manageable, frustrated minimum. All along KristalClear is continually reassuring SnapDragon that everything is under control, and he keeps wondering if this is real or just some kind of weird dream!

Burgess wipes the sweat from his forehead, and looks at KristalClear, “what happens next Einstein?”

“We’re going to visit HopAlong and EarlyBird. They have space.”

“Do they know about this?”

“They soon will!”

 

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“And if we can get this ruddy wolf loaded onto the trap,” says CrankyHandle, “then the three of you are manhandling it down the hill all the way back to Penny Bridge. I’m gonna be leading Primrose, staying well ahead of you and your wolf!”

“At least it’s downhill,” says NutJob.

By the time NutJob and his team reach the top of the hill, KristalClear has been sitting chatting to SnapDragon for two hours. Plenty of time to share their life stories, and whilst it’s a bit like talking with a German Shepherd Dog, the wolf wavelength is definitely a little different.

As far as KristalClear can make out, SnapDragon is a young male. He explained that like all juvenile wolves, they live in a pack of about ten until they reach late adolescence at about four years old. The pack has only one breeding pair, and works like a close knit family. There is no alpha male, that’s a myth, and there is no fighting over leadership. Once a year the older siblings leave home. It’s time for SnapDragon to find a mate, build his own territory, and start his own family. That’s not going to be easy with a broken leg or two. Both hind legs hurt, but one is a little less tender than the other.

For her part, KristalClear explained that humans have a similar pattern. She wasn’t quite ready to leave her pack yet, but in the near future she’ll be looking to settle down with a partner and start her own family. SnapDragon took that to infer the nervous young man who was with you? She was non committal, explaining that NutJob is sweet, but that neither of them is fully mature yet. Ask me again in a year’s time was how she closed down that conversation.

Primrose is tethered at the high point where the forest ends, 200 metres before the lone Scots Pine. After wheeling the trap as far as the pine tree, questioning their sanity again, and fearing that they might fall from the narrow path, Burgess and CrankyHandle do their best to help the two teenagers.

Fortunately, the SlenderWolf, as its name suggests is sleek and lightweight. Much nearer to the build of an Iberian wolf

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“Dave, get a grip,” she says, “if we do nothing SnapDragon is going to die, he can’t hunt, right now he needs love and care more than we do.”

Once more, the thoughts are running wild in his head, “there she goes again, calling me Dave again, and quite forcefully this time! And the wolf is called SnapDragon? I don’t believe this is happening to me! Anyway, I have to do as she says. Remember what Chaucer said, if you don’t let the lady be in charge of her own dominion then it’s going to get ugly!”

—o—

            Scarcely believing the story at first, Constable Burgess relents and takes NutJob to see CrankyHandle. He’s more accustomed to moving canal boats than moving wildlife, but at least he has a pony and trap!

“She’s sitting up there with an injured wolf, apparently,” says Burgess, “we obviously can’t leave her stranded!”

Bringing his hand to his forehead for a third time now, CrankyHandle says, “I don’t know what to make of young people these days, in my day you just went to school, then you went to work, and you stayed away from wolves!”

“So, NutJob,” says Burgess, “any bright ideas about what we need?”

KristalClear was right. She might not have suggested a pony and trap, but a large blanket or a tarpaulin, plenty of rope, and two long poles were the main tools. Loaded onto the trap with a collection of lockkeeper’s tools, pulleys and assorted junk, the unwitting saviours set off along the River Crake to the path up Colton Hill.

“When we get to the top,” says CrankyHandle, “we’ll tether Primrose, I’m not having her anywhere near a wolf.”

“OK,” says NutJob, “we can manhandle the trap the last bit, as far as the start of the escarpment, but it won’t fit down the narrow pathway.”

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The wolf snaps. Once.

« Don’t invade my personal space! »

« I can help. Where does it hurt? »

He was told to stop thinking, but NutJob cannot stop thinking. Even though he tried, it’s impossible to shut out all thoughts from his mind.

Lots of thoughts, “this is a wild animal. You leave it alone. Everybody learns in school not to interfere with the natural order of things. For better or for worse, mother nature plays her hand. Sure, pick up a fledgling bird which may have fallen from the nest, and place it to one side out of harm’s way, but nothing more. Don’t get involved. But there was nothing in that lesson about helping a wolf that’s fallen off a cliff! Or handling a situation where your demi-psychic girlfriend is actually chatting with the wolf!”

« Show me what’s wrong. I’ll send my man to go and fetch more help. »

KristalClear shuffles forward some more, now sitting five metres away from the wolf. NutJob can’t cope, and he moves forward, wanting to protect her.

The wolf snaps. Twice.

« It’s OK. You’re safe with us. »

She brings NutJob to her side, puts one arm around him, and they both edge forward a tiny bit more. It looks like three people sitting around a table in a tea shop. But there’s no table. And there’s no tea. And there’s no shop. They’re all sitting on the narrow ledge of an escarpment in the middle of nowhere, and one of them is a wolf!

“You’re the brainy one,” she says, “you figure out how we’re going to move an injured wolf, a large blanket, some ropes, a long pole, whatever you need. You design it as you walk back to the village. I’m staying here. Fetch Constable Burgess. Come back here as soon as you can.”

“I can’t leave you here alone,” protests NutJob, “not with a snappy wolf”.

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before. Not only is this a chance of a lifetime, this one seems to be less of a threat, and if she understands things correctly, this one said that it can’t move.

The wolf moves.

Rising onto its forelegs, it tries to edge forward, moves a mere ten centimetres, whelps, and lies down again.

KristalClear sits on the ground. The wolf is about ten metres in front of her. NutJob is about two metres behind her. He decides to sit down too. The threat model has eased. All three of them can sense an uneasy truce.

« What happened? »

« I was up there. Now I’m down here. »

« Uh huh? Tell me more. »

« My hind legs hurt. I can’t move … I can move, but that just makes it worse. I want to go home.  »

« Where’s home? »

« I don’t know. I’m looking for a new home. »

« Looking for a new home? »

« A new home. I’m at that age where you leave the pack, and strike out on your own. I can’t go back. »

KristalClear shuffles forward one metre. NutJob is horrified. He’s not on the wavelength and he has no idea what’s going on. All he can see is his girlfriend moving towards a ferocious wild animal. He’s not able to speak at all, but she detects a new thought pattern … NutJob’s thought pattern!

This is a new experience! The second new experience in the space of two minutes! An added complication just when she doesn’t need it.

Without taking her eyes off the wolf she quietly says, “Dave, stop thinking! I can’t handle two inputs right now! We’re all safe. Nothing bad is going to happen. I’m going to help.”

The wolf is in tune with that as well. He’s never communicated with a human before, but he likes the idea of “help” without knowing how they could possibly help! KristalClear shuffles forward one more metre.

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