Shell began to move next to Keith, waking up slowly. Keith gently put his hand on her hips and whispered close to her ear, “Don’t move, we have a visitor. Not sure what he will do.”
Snuggled on her side with her back deep into Keith’s chest, Shell sucked in a breath when she focused in on the wolf only ten yards away!
Keeping his eyes on the wolf, Keith slowly sat up to a crouching position. The wolf’s eyes seem to want to talk to Keith. He recognized the look from somewhere before, but just could not place it. The wolf proceeded to walk closer.
Keith had no plan in his head of what to do should the wolf attack. His main goal was to be passive and yet protect Shell from any harm. Despite his inexperience in such matters, he found himself checking for his knife.
The wolf was panting heavy, then came to a halt about 12 feet away and barked. She looked at both Shell and Keith and barked again. Then doing circles, trotted back from the direction she came only to stop and turn around to watch Shell and Keith once more.
“Shell, do you think this beautiful animal wants us to follow her?” Keith still found himself whispering.
“Maybe”
Shell slowly stood all the way up. It wasn’t but a minute and Keith unfolded his legs and stood straight, next to Shell.
The wolf came closer again and once more stopped and danced her circle with her barks and retreated from where she came.
“Let’s go, Keith.” Shell began to slowly walk towards the wolf
“No, wait!”
Keith grabbed his stick and stood next to Shell, “Okay, let’s go.”
Slowly they followed the wolf keeping a fair distance.
“Shell, she seems to be taking us back down the stream to where the trap is.”
Shell was full of wonder at the creature, that she did not care where it lead them, just so she could follow. This was part of the adventurous side of Shell and her willingness to dive into the unknown and explore. She was fearless.
A few more paces and the wolf stopped right at the edge of the trap.
Keith and Shell hung back and kept still for a bit. Then they could hear it. The sound came from the hole. Sounds like little animals crying. Slowly they both walked closer to the hole, meanwhile the wolf never left her spot at the edge of the hole.
When Keith and Shell peered into the hole they were surprised to see wolf cubs, seven of them! “Oh my!”, cried out Shell, “We must help them out of there!”
As Keith and Shell where peering into the hole the wolf moved next to Keith and put her muzzle into his hand. Keith was startled at first, but then had a flashback of where he had seen this creature before. This is the wolf from his vision!
Quickly Keith jumped into the hole after giving his stick to Shell. All the puppies came to his feet immediately. Gently picking up one puppy at a time he handed them to Shell, who was now on her stomach, reaching into the hole for them.
After the last puppy was out of the hole, Keith asked Shell for his stick. Finding a corner of the hole, Keith stuck one end of the stick into the dirt wall then jammed in the other end to the adjacent wall. This created a step out with Shell’s help. Once out of the hole, Keith reach down and unjammed his stick.
Shell and Keith looked at each other and smiled. All they both could say was, “Wow”. Then the wolf barked again. They looked her way and saw all seven of the cubs searching for a swollen tit. They were very hungry.
Keith began to lose his smile. “You know what, Shell? I am going to have to bury this hole. This is not the best way to eat.”
“I agree. So far you have caught me and seven helpless little puppies. In each case we could have been injured. I think we can explore other options in hunting and gathering.” Shell smiled and took Keith by his hand.
“Come on Sweetie, let’s go back to our camp and see what we need to do.”
“Okay, but I will bury this hole with my new shovel first, then we will talk.”
“Fair enough, my love.”
Shell remained at the camp site as Keith returned back to the hole with his shovel. Sitting by the fire Shell quietly reflected upon the wolf and her pups. The puppies knew where their food was and the wolf wanted them to feed and to live.
She was recognizing some of the Creators great works. Gently she rubbed her belly, knowing she too needed to feed for more than one.
There was a rustle in the bushes near by that startled Shell from her reflection. The wolf appeared, trotting close to the edge of camp with a rabbit hanging from her mouth. Shell sat still and watched as the wolf sat the rabbit down.
With eye contact, Shell and the wolf connected for a brief moment. And in that moment, Shell realized the wolf knew she was pregnant and was returning a favor.
The wolf turned away and went to find her cubs. It was then that Shell grabbed the rabbit and began to work the animal the way she was taught when young. Rabbits multiplied rapidly on the Solar Star Base, so they where also a part of the diet and learning tool for skinning animals to young students.
Remembering all the old techniques that were practiced by the grandmothers of long ago, Shell quickly had the rabbit bled, skinned and now roasting over a stoked up fire when Keith returned to their camp.