Read Fox Run Online

Authors: Robin Roseau

Fox Run (3 page)

"Yes, ma'am," he said. I glanced at the alpha; she shrugged.

While the griddle was heating, I pulled out a pan for the bacon, two more for the sausages, and then considered my choices. I had six eggs left. I sighed and pulled out my last skillet.

"Rory," I said. "Do you know how to make pancakes?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said again. So I handed him the bowl of mix, a spatula, and a plate to put them on. "Something to pour with?" he asked. I gave him a small measuring cup.

David had finished defrosting the sausage and had found a cutting board and knife. The sausages were all sliced and ready for the pan. "Can I trust you to cook the sausages without eating them all?" I asked.

"He better not eat them," Lara said.

I turned to her. "Who is going to fix my window?"

"Eric," she said.

"I'll need tools," he said. "And a trip to the hardware store for a fresh pane."

"Tools are in the garage, large red rolling chest to the left. Do you need directions to the hardware store?"

"No." But he looked at the stove where David was starting to cook the sausages.

"Measure the window," the alpha said. "We'll eat, then you can fix it while we're talking."

"Yes, Alpha," he said. He stepped out the back door, and I watched him cross the yard to the garage. After that, I ignored him.

I turned to the stove and busied myself with the bacon, then cracked the remaining eggs into the pan and began to fry them as well. The eggs finished first, so I set them on a plate with a paper towel over them and set the plate on the table.

"Alpha," I said. "Plates are there." I pointed. "Silverware there."

I didn't watch to see whether she would set the table. From beside me at the stove, David chuckled under his breath. "Ordering the alpha around now?"

"I heard that," Lara said. But then I heard her rise and begin to set the table.

"Will this be enough food?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah," David said. "We'll be fine. Eric eats a lot, but the alpha won't let him fill a plate until everyone else has gotten something."

I fiddled with the bacon for a while, glancing over to see Rory was doing fine with the pancakes.

"I can smell your fear," David said quietly. "We aren't here to hurt you."

"Could have fooled me."

"You didn't have to run," he said. "Or struggle. You bit the alpha!"

"She's not my alpha. Five super-sized tigers show up on your door step, waking you from a sound sleep. What would you do?"

"Fair enough," he said. "But we aren't here to hurt you. Just talk."

"Ever heard of the phone?"

"We actually were trying to show you respect by seeing you in person."

"Two wolves on my front step, two on my back, and the fifth waiting in case I snuck out a window, and that's respect?"

"You did sneak out a window," he said.

"I did not!" I replied hotly. "I snuck out the upstairs patio door!"

"I rest my case," he said with another chuckle.

"My neck hurts. My front door is broken. My house stinks of wolf, a disgusting smell that will linger for weeks. And now I'm feeding all of you a week's supply of groceries. And you think it's funny." I was getting myself worked up again. It was probably better than being frightened out of my gourd.

David glanced at me with a disarming smile. "I like you, Ms. Redfur. You're feisty."

"Well, for the record, I don't like any of you. You're a bunch of bullies. Don't you know that's not acceptable anymore?"

He didn't respond, and we finished preparing breakfast in silence, depositing plates on the table. I kept possession of the bacon until I was seated at the foot of the table and had taken two pieces. I wasn't sure the wolves would leave me any.

Eric sauntered into the kitchen as I was sitting down, taking a place at the table and reaching for the plate of sausage links. The alpha cleared her throat, and the men all froze. From her place at the head of my table she looked pointedly at me.

"Sausage?" David asked me.

"Half of one patty is enough," I said.

"There is plenty here, little fox," he said.

"Yes," I said. "Little fox." I stressed the little. "A half a patty, please, and two of the smallest pancakes."

David, sitting to my right, speared one of the sausage patties, cut it in half, and transferred it to my plate. I slid my second piece of bacon onto his. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Very little fox."

Rory carried the plate of pancakes to me, and I took the two smallest.

"You weren't kidding about the week's worth of food, were you?" Lara asked.

"No," I said. "But to be fair, I supplement."

They all smiled. We all supplemented. For me, it was small rodents; I'd caught a squirrel last night. I had devoured it while sitting on a cliff overlooking the lake. Num! The wolves would go for larger prey, of course.

The wolves, of course, ate voraciously. I kept my head down, ignoring them as best I could, but it was hard to ignore Lara, the alpha. She spent most of the meal watching me.

"What?" I asked finally.

"You have my apologies, Michaela. We got off on the wrong foot this morning, and it was entirely my fault. I am deeply sorry. This was meant to be a friendly visit."

I stared at her for a moment before dropping my gaze to my food. I wasn't quite ready to accept any apologies, but I nodded once to let her know I had heard her. I believed it was an honest apology.

We finished eating in silence. The wolves devoured everything on the table, but no one asked for more. That was good; I didn't have anything else. I got up to clear the table, but Lara spoke. "Please sit, Michaela. We can talk. Jason and Rory will clean up, and Eric can mend your front door."

I sat back down and stared into my empty teacup. Rory, Jason and Eric rose to attend to their tasks, and David busied himself making another pot of tea.

"Michaela," said the alpha. "Have you noticed any strange wolves about in recent weeks?"

"Yes," I told her immediately. "I have."

Her gaze sharpened, and I suddenly had the attention of everyone in the room.

"Would you tell me when and where?"

"Of course. Right here. This morning. Five of them invaded my home."

Her lip quivered for a moment, and David chuffed gently. Lara smiled and said, "Perhaps I should rephrase my question. Have you noticed any wolves about who are not part of the Madison pack?"

I thought about what she was asking and why she might be asking. "I work a large territory," I told her finally. "Did you care to narrow your question at all?"

"I know your territory, Michaela," she said.

"Bayfield is a tourist destination," I said. "And a frequent site of sailing regattas. I am not personally familiar with every member of your pack, Alpha."

"I am not so much concerned with anyone who may have been here openly," she said. "But I would be keenly interested in knowing of anyone who may have been skulking."

"Skulking?"

"Skulking."

"Do wolves skulk?"

She smiled. "Not normally. When they do, it's not a good sign."

"Alpha," I told her. "I have not seen any wolves skulking in recent memory." The key word was seen. I avoid the wolves, after all.

Lara considered me. "You phrased that in an intriguing fashion. Do you think perhaps you could be a little more forthcoming?"

"If you told me what was going on," I replied. "I might be able to better phrase my answers to be of more help."

She smiled. "There are packs that do not feel it is right for a female to be alpha."

"I imagine there are," I said. "I avoid politics."

"There are packs that may not be kindly disposed to a female were fox living in their territory," she said, the smile leaving her eyes.

I looked at her coldly. "I have made my home as far as I can find from any wolves. I believe I would need to move into Canada to be more isolated. And still you claim my home and offer me nowhere I can feel safe? Get out of my house. Or kill me, I guess."

I began to quiver, on the verge of shifting right there, my flight mechanism taking hold.

"Jason and Rory, the doors," the alpha said. They immediately sprang to the exits from the kitchen, blocking any escape. I glanced at them, my gaze filled with fear.

"Michaela," the alpha said softly. "I am not threatening you. I am trying to explain why it is in your best interest to help me. My wolves leave you alone, and they make sure any visiting wolves do the same. Everyone from my pack treats you with polite respect. Is that is not true, tell me now."

I glanced wildly around the room, searching for escape, my hands grasping the edges of my chair.

"You didn't," I told her, my voice cracking. "And now you're holding me prisoner."

"Jason, Rory," the alpha said. "Go help Eric with the door. If Ms. Redfur chooses to leave, let her."

As soon as the path to the back door was clear, I made a dash for it. The alpha beat me to it. Then she opened the door for me and said, "Go calm down. We'll wait."

I shifted on my way out the door, my clothes falling to the floor of the kitchen as I raced away from my house.

 

Running Free

I ran.

No one chased me. I disappeared into the woods that back up against my property and worked my way deep into the woods, using every trick in my foxy bag of tricks to elude any pursuers. Then I doubled back to watch.

No one followed.

I watched for a long time, my belly against the ground underneath a bush far too tight and small for a wolf. No one followed.

Eventually, cautiously, I worked my way back home, approaching from a different direction. I approached cautiously, my ears working madly, my eyes alert to any movement. From well into the brush on the edge of my property, I crouched down and watched.

Lara was sitting alone on my back steps, looking out into the woods. I didn't see or hear any sign of the males, but I was sure they were about somewhere.

I crept closer, and Lara's eyes turned to face me. But still she sat, and in her human form, I was much faster than she was. But if she directed furry male wolves towards me, they would catch me if I weren't very careful.

"There is no trap," she said, loudly enough for me to hear.

I crept closer.

"I sent them into town, Michaela," she said. "It is just you and I here."

I stepped onto my lawn, looking all around me, then stepped closely towards Lara, ready to flee if given half a reason.

"Please," she said quietly.

I crossed the remaining distance and sat down about five feet from her, my muscles tensed and ready to flee if she made the slightest move towards me.

"I am being challenged," she said calmly.

I turned towards the west, towards Duluth.

"I don't think so," she said. "At least not directly. Please, may we go inside and talk?"

I crept marginally closer.

"I give my word," she said. "I am not here to hurt you. You are way too fine a fox for that."

Flattery will get her everywhere. Without taking my eyes from her, I walked up the steps where she sat, her hands in her lap. As I passed her, she reached out and stroked my fur. I almost ran at that, jumping away from her, then turning around to look at her. She hadn't moved beyond reaching to touch me. I eyed her, then walked back up the steps, brushing my body along hers as I passed.

I stopped like that, and she stroked my fur, once, twice.

"Does your neck still hurt?"

I bumped her with a shoulder. It's not like I could talk.

She moved her hand to my scruff, and I tensed, but it was too late. If she meant to pick me up that way again, she had me. Instead, her fingers worked through my thick fur to the muscles underneath. It felt nice. I let her massage my neck for a moment, but then she was too firm, and I yelped.

"I'm sorry," she said. "You are so delicate, Michaela." Her touch lightened, and that felt nice.

She massaged for several minutes, and it helped. When I felt I had enough, I moved the rest of the way up the steps and stood with my nose facing the door.

Lara climbed to her feet gracefully and opened the back kitchen door for me. I slipped inside.

"Go shift," she said, closing the door behind herself. "Your clothes are upstairs on your bed. I'll wait."

I checked the room quickly first. No other wolves. None in the living room either, and none upstairs. I went to my bedroom, nudged the door closed, and shifted back into a woman. I dressed quickly, then stepped into the bathroom and tamed my hair.

When I got downstairs, Lara was sitting in the kitchen with two fresh cups of tea.

"It still smells like wolf in here," I told her.

"I'm sorry."

"Whoever is challenging you is coming through Duluth," I told her.

"Are you sure?"

"No." I sat down and took my tea. "You understand, I run from wolves." She nodded. "I haven't seen any."

"But you've seen signs."

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Late winter," I said. "Lara, they're big. Very big."

"Big I can handle," she said. "Can you show me where?"

I nodded. "I'll get a map."

I use the second bedroom upstairs as an office most of the time, clearing my things out only when I expect guests, which was basically never. I retrieved several maps and a set of colored pencils and brought them back, spreading them out on the table and facing them towards Lara. I sat down and began pointing. "Here, in March," I said. "Then here and here in April." I paused, then drew an outline on the map from Bayfield around the shore to 20 miles east of Superior, then down to just east of Hayward, then a curved line to just west of Madison. From there up to Ashland and Bayfield. "This is where I've been in the last six months," I said. "Not everywhere, of course, but the range.

She nodded. "That's larger than your assigned area for Fish and Wildlife."

"Yes. I like to run."

She smiled. So did wolves.

"I'm the only fox in this range," I told her.

"I know. You're the only fox in my territory, male or female."

"Greedy wolves," I said under my breath.

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