Chapter 28

The breeze picked up and high clouds were stacking up to the northwest.

I heard more wolf howls behind us, and they were getting closer. We pushed the pace as hard as we dared, considering the heavily laden sleds. We were all puffing and beginning to sweat by the time we reached the snow house. Sweating in freezing temperatures is dangerous, but so is being caught out in the open by a pack of wolves!

“We’ll offload half the meat and hides here and leave them in the snow house,” I gasped out, “cave in the entrance afterward and cover the vent with snow. The meat’s frozen so it doesn’t have much smell, and whatever scent there is won’t have had time to escape through the snow.

“If the wolves do smell it, they might stop following us, at least for a while. While they’re eating those frozen quarters, we might get enough of a head start to make it back to the cabin. We’ll make better time pulling lighter loads anyway.”

Lee asked, “Matt, wouldn’t it be better to just take cover in the snow house and defend it if they try to get in?”

“I thought of that, but hiding while the wolf is literally sniffing at your door and when that door is made of snow...”

“Point taken! Is there a plan, fearless leader?” Lee had to be as frightened as the rest of us, but he retained his sense of humor. A good sign, I thought; he wouldn’t panic.

“Sure,” I grinned. “If all else fails, we throw you to the wolves! I heard a story once that featured that solution, throw the baby out while everyone else escapes.”

“I never heard that story and I don’t think I’d like being the tossee! How about we throw Laz? I’m probably pretty bony and tough, you know.”

“Serious plan,” I said. “Find a spot we can defend and put arrows into as many wolves as you can until they decide to leave or we kill them all. Climb a tree if you have to, but be careful. The limbs are icy and you won’t like what happens if you lose your grip!”

“We’ll probably lose everything on the sleds, and maybe even the sleds themselves because we used leather laces. If the wolves are hungry enough, they’ll chew the leather. If the wolves settle for the meat and leave, I’m willing to let them. But it depends on how many there are, and anyway it’s not typical wolf behavior. We’ll have to fight if they catch up.”

“How about we start looking for trees to climb?” Lee asked. “Always keep one in sight, and if the wolves catch up we put the women up the tree right away and see if the rest of us can keep the wolves at bay. Matt, you and I have faced cats and bears, killed them too. We’ve got bows and a good supply of arrows, so I see no reason why we can’t kill a lot of wolves. If they still keep coming we’ve got our spears, but I’d rather shoot a wolf at forty paces than spear him while he’s gnawing on my leg!”

“I shoot better from the ground,” Lilia argued, “and Sandra can use a spear to stick anything that gets through the arrows. Besides, there probably won’t be many wolves. That small herd of bison was moving south, and the only other thing we saw on the open grassland was the llamas. I don’t think there’s enough food to feed a large pack. In fact, I doubt there’s more than maybe three or four of them unless they’re hunting mammoths, and I think those have probably gone south by now. Same as the big bison herds, they need a lot of graze, and they can’t forage through heavy snow.”

“It’s a thought, Lilia,” I admitted. “We’ll just have to wait and see. But we know what we have to do, so we’ll just keep going as long as we can. If they get close, we can decide what to do then. The snow house is just ahead. Lee watches, the rest of us unload the big sled. Top skin goes in, two hindquarters from the bison, two hindquarters from the llamas, and get it done fast! As soon as you’re out, last one collapses the entrance tunnel. Laz, you cover the vent hole; try to make a tight seal but don’t waste time.”

We left the snow house a scant ten minutes later, and pushed ahead through the trees. I regretted leaving the meat and skins, which threatened our long-term survival, but the wolfpack was the immediate threat, and the next howls came from only a few hundred yards behind us.

No choice, now; we would have to fight.

“Those two trees just ahead,” I pointed, “the ones that are close together. They’ll protect our back. Put the small sleds between them to fill in the gap and put the big sled in front, close to the trees. Leave enough room inside the barriers for us, but no more than that. No snow fort, not enough time, but we can keep the wolves out or at least slow them down.

“Laz, grab the shovel and dig a three foot wide ditch across our front. Pile the snow on the side closest to us. They’ll have to jump or drop down into the ditch, and they’ll still have to jump over the snow wall. More time for us to shoot and they’ll be easier to hit. Another advantage, they’ll have to jump instead of attacking from high and low at the same time. Get out the axe too, and keep the shovel handy. Both make good close-in weapons, just don’t hit one of us by mistake. Stick the handles into the snow where you can grab one if you need it. Same for the spears, butt ends into the snow and blades angled forward. A wolf or two might even stick himself if he jumps the wall! Not to mention that if they get that close, spears are better for close-in fighting.

“If you have to climb a tree, hop up on a sled and go from there. It will be faster. Let’s get the snowshoes off now, and Lilia, get me a forequarter from the small sled. Lee would whine if we tossed him out, Laz too, so I’ll give the wolves a forequarter instead. We’ll save Lee for bait next time!”

The banter helped us relax. The others weren’t exactly whistling while they worked, but they weren’t tense either.

We had a clear line of fire out to perhaps forty yards in the direction the wolves would be coming from, so I hauled the quarter in that direction, my feet barely sinking into the wind-packed snow, and dumped it about twenty yards past where Laz was digging the trench. I then tied a rope securely to the forequarter’s shank and ran the other end to a small tree, tying it just as firmly. The rope would keep the wolves from dragging the forequarter away, possibly out of range for our bows.

I barely got back inside our improvised ‘fort’ before the wolves came into view. There were five of them, all dark-colored, heavily built brutes. A huge male led, a slightly-smaller female followed close behind. The other three trailed and were smaller than the female. They might be from this year’s litter, not that it made much difference, because even the smallest was larger than the gray wolves of my home timeline. The big male was roughly as large as a six-months-old calf, and he had a head the same width, but unlike the calf this head had a long muzzle filled with sharp teeth!

I glanced around but there was no need to say anything; we were as ready as we were going to get. There was no time to talk and nothing more to say anyway. I pulled half a dozen arrows from my quiver and stuck them into the snow wall ahead of me. Lee was on my right, Lilia on my left, Sandra and Laz behind us. Lee saw what I was doing and also stuck arrows into the snow wall.

The lead wolf stopped to tear at the forequarter I’d tethered as bait. The other, probably the alpha female, moved in, despite a warning growl from the leader, and grabbed at the shank end of the forequarter. The other three paused, then decided we were a safer option than trying to steal meat from the adults. They came on, bounding toward us.

Adult wolves might have been more wary; the three young wolves saw only food ahead. They had probably never seen humans before. Run straight at the prey, grab for the throat and the heels, and if there was a problem killing it one of the adults would be there to help.