Page 66 of Blacktail

Quickfoot and Gray-Ear,

Belly-Scar and Little One

come together at the den.

We are delivered.

vi

“Fang has spoken to me of your plight,” Blacktail said when they were all together. “I am not unsympathetic. In these times all wolves must come together as a single pack. I will help you if I can.”

Quickfoot smiled her thin plotter’s smile.

“Much nonsense has been said of me by the cats and by others. Usually I do nothing to discourage it, for my journey is a long one and such talk helps clear my path. But if we are to hunt together all of you must understand something”—here he looked pointedly at Little One—“most of those words are as dung.”

The five wolves murmured among themselves.

“They say that I am large for my kind, and it is true. They say I have hunted men and survived their vengeance. That is true as well. But—hear me on this—I am no prophet, no fury. All I know of the old age is what I hear from the cats. If claws gore me, I will bleed. If jaws crunch my bones, they will break. If my throat is torn, I will die and seek the Forest God no more. Is the scent of this crisp to you?”

There was silence for a moment. Little One looked up doubtfully. When all the rest wagged their tails in agreement, he joined in as well, but the madness never left his eyes.

“Fang has told me the tale of your last hunt on Fatberry. The scheme of it was clever. I think it might have worked. But I have always hunted alone, and I have no head for such plots. If I am to lead, the plan will be simple. The pack will walk in together, in plain sight. I will distract her for a moment. The rest of you will surround her. At my lead we will all attack and kill her. Then we will feast on her body until we can eat no more. Yes?”

Fang’s pack looked at one another for a moment, then barked in agreement.

“Very well, then,” he said. Blacktail slipped away into the bush. One by one the pack followed.

—

Sometime later, the six of them came on Fatberry fishing in the east stream. The water was shallow but clean. Every now and then a brook trout jumped. Blacktail padded toward her across the rocks. The rest of them spread out behind him like an eagle’s tail.

“What is this that I see fishing in the stream of Lord Fang?” Blacktail asked.

She looked up and her eyes narrowed. “I am called Fatberry,” she said, “and I am queen of this land.”

“You are a usurper, and a pretender to the throne,” Blacktail said. “Fang, son of Swift Fang, is lord.”

“And who might you be?”

“My name is of no consequence. I am the tooth and claw of Lord Fang.”

“Tooth and claw, hmm?” Fatberry pawed at the earth. “You do realize that I’m a bear, don’t you? You’re not unfortunately blind or something like that?”

“No. I am not blind. What you are doesn’t matter,” Blacktail said. He stopped directly in front of her. Fang circled around to his right, within range of a quick lunge. Quickfoot flanked Fatberry to the left at a safe distance. Gray-Ear and Belly-Scar fanned out to either side, looking away from Fatberry as if interested in a rock. Little One was nowhere to be seen.

“Hmm.” Fatberry looked Blacktail up and down, seeing the size of him, and sniffed the air for his scent. “Perhaps a compromise is possible. I tell you what. I will ransom a peace. I will give Fang, son of Swift Fang, dominion over the east and west streams, the ones that stink of piss and poison, and over every dung pile and rotting carcass that lies between. He may do with them as he chooses. The rest of the lands will remain mine. Will that work for you?”

“There will be no peace so long as you remain on these lands. Leave now and I will let you live. Otherwise you die this day.”

Fatberry spat out the blade of grass she was chewing. She rose up on her hind legs, spread her forepaws, and roared, “Oh, enough of your nonsense! Let’s get this over with.”

Blacktail made the killing sound. He leapt at her.

Fang, who had fought bears before, cringed at the sight. I hope he knows what he’s doing, he thought.

Fatberry did not flinch or try to dodge. She only stared at Blacktail as he sailed through the air, timing her strike. She slapped him down with her right paw. Her claws gored his side. Blacktail’s head struck a rock when he hit the earth. He lay where he fell. He did not move.

Oh dung, Fang thought. This is bad. “Attack her!” he roared as he rushed in. “Fall on her now!”