The Wolves of Hurricane Ridge

This is a tale, from a yet unpublished novel, The Wolves of Hurricane Ridge.
By T Yamamoto

Some Definitions:
The Beautiful ones- Prey (To a wolf , sheep , to a sheepdog.)
The Helpless- Humanity to a wolf
The Called- dogs to a wolf

A dog spotted movement along the fence line and stared for a moment then laid his head back down. He was old and stiff and cold and lost.

His red brown coat was long and rough, he had white legs and paws and a big white collar of fur, his ears flopped down at the tips.

The dog had been with the ranch for years, moving sheep from ranch to range and helping his people with all the care involved with livestock. But now, somehow the truck was gone. His people were gone. The sheep were gone and he had given up trying to find them.

The only thing in sight was what the dog thought was a small strange black dog trotting along the fence line.

At first he thought it was a coyote because of the way it moved. But it was black. His nose and eyes were not as sharp as they had been. He had never scented a wolf but he could detect something strange about the dog’s smell.

Hole in the Ground, the young wolf, spotted the dog and froze.

She had caught his scent and her first thought was it might be a food source for her as she was hungry. She slowly, carefully, came up to the dog and stared nervously at him.

Hole could smell that he was old and infirm or possibly ill. He shivered occasionally. He raised his head and peered at her.

"Have you scented them?" The old dog asked her.

Hole glanced around herself. There had been nothing on her trail for days except the mysterious fenceline.

"Scented who?" She finally replied softly.

"The partners of myself and the four legged soft creatures we protect. Have you not seen them, the Beautiful?"

Hole cocked her head at him. "I have seen no beautiful ones for days now. I am looking for my family we were chased off by Flat Water pack, in the mountains west of here."

"Chased off? Not killed? No…you must never be chased off! Do you not know the rules? Did not your partner have help? And the beautiful were they ravaged by the wild beasts?"

Hole confused explained to the dog, "The beautiful were not there. Although the Helpless have chased them off the range."

" I see." The dog said. "They were stolen then by thieves. I do not know who the Helpless are. But I can tell that you are this years pup and new at this work. I shall tell you the rules, perhaps I can get up and we can find shelter." The dog staggered to his feet. And strangely Hole felt some kinship with him. She was alone and to have company was a wonderful thing to her lonely heart.

The dog felt that the pup surely must know the way back to her people. So they walked towards a clump of trees growing in a narrow ravine the only real shelter in the vastness of the open range and the dog told her the rules.

"The first Rule is Believe.

Believe in the Partnership.

The second one is sacrifice

You must be willing to give everything in order that the partnership will exist.

Third, the beautiful are sacred.

Fourth, keep order.

Did your dam not tell you these things?"

Hole was puzzled, "My dam….? I do not understand…" But then something came into view which brought both of them to silence.

It was an old ewe. She was lying on her back in a snow drift unable to rise. The dog instantly went to her side, Hole thought to attack and kill. But as she ran to join him and bared her young white teeth he found new strength at the thought of the ‘young dog’ injuring a sheep and he shoulder punched Hole out of the way. The dog began digging the ewe out of the snow finally dragging her by the fleece to a standing position. She flopped over and only managed to roll to her chest and stare at them.

The dog turned to Hole and said fiercely, "Never do that again. You might have hurt her. She is nearly dead."

To Hole this was more and more mysterious. She could not believe that here was a Beautiful one, obviously ready to make the circle journey round and yet the Dog did not attack?

The ewe was white and medium sized with two small horns and a short stubby tail.

She spoke and Hole was mesmerized by her soft voice.

"It is good to be upright, pilgrim, I thank you." She shook herself and snow flew off her back.

"I fell into this drift and told this years lamb to go on. It is my time."

"No it is not." The dog told her, "We must go on now and find the flock."

The ewe looked at him sagely. "They are gone, Pilgrim do you not know? The sacrifice has been offered and they have gone."

Hole was puzzled by this and asked the ewe, "Beautiful one what do you mean? Are you giving us your life as you have reached the end?"

The ewe turned her full attention to the young Wolf, and then said to the dog. "Aha! Pilgrim you meet your fate. Do you not see it? The Brother of Life liked your people," The ewe then told the wolf, "But my own kind feared you above all else. You kept us from our true work."

Hole perplexed asked politely, "What was that? Your true work?"

The ewe lifted her head and pointed her ears towards the wolf.

"We are the Mothers and Fathers of the Helpless."

The dog sat down, "Old one, I think sitting in the snow has addled your wits. And by my own dam’s nose, we must move on." He stood and with a delicate hunting posture pushed the ewe with just body language a few feet ahead of him. Hole took this to mean that the ewe was now to be killed and rushed in to grab the flank.

But the dog was there first and shoved the wolf out of the way.

"Are you insane, you young devil? You could hurt this old one by gripping. And you must never grip unless there is no other way. In fact I hear there are dogs in paradise so powerful that they have never gripped a beauty in their whole lives!"

Hole gasped, "I am not insane! I do not understand you. Here is a beauty ready to give us her life and we are to stand here and wait for her to fall over? This makes no sense to me! And…" Hole told the ewe, "How can you possibly be the Mother of the Helpless! They have no Mothers and fathers! They live to create disorder."

The Ewe turned her head and eyed the young wolf peacefully.

"The problem with predators is you are so focused that you see only what you wish, what is right in front of you, moving. The still things you do not see. We of the flocks know better. If you like I will tell you the story of my own life and that of the great flocks that hold the world together."

"Fine." The sheepdog told her but we will move on now to shelter in that thicket while you do."

Hole was almost about ready to run off but the ewe gave her a glance that was old and sad and at the same time gently tenderly happy. So Hole followed them at a slight distance and the ewe began.

"My flock leader told this story to my generation when we were 6 months old. I remember it very well. We lay down in the grass of the summer pastures, far from here and she told us that we had a sacred trust with the Helpless.

The Helpless are very weak, and also being apes very fearful creatures. Much more so than we of the flock.

A time long ago, soon after your kind, Pilgrim joined the Helpless to keep them company in the long dance that is life. There came a time when the Helpless ran out of beautiful ones to catch and eat. And your kind lay panting at their feet, hungry and tired.

The Flocks lived, in those days, in the high mountains, in a far desert country. We were bigger then and wild as grasshoppers. We were numerous, springing up everywhere. But we were not food to your kind. You could not come into those mountains to catch us. It was impossible.

But we watched you starving on the plains. And one by one your kind died till there were only two left. A mother and her young daughter and her brother’s son. We watched and felt sadness that your kind would die out.

Then Old Mother of All appeared to the flocks and asked us for a gift."

Hole interrupted suspiciously, "What did the Mother of All look like?"

The old ewe turned sweet sad eyes on the young wolf and said, "She looked like a spring lamb only brown with patches of sunlight on her warm back."

Then the ewe continued her story, "The Mother of All told us that humanity had a purpose in the world."

The Chief of the great flocks tossed his horned head and said to her, "Madam, the helpless! They are no account creatures!"

But the Mother of All told us that she had created the Helpless to remember all things and witness the unfolding of the Universe."

Hole asked, "Universe…what is that?"

The Ewe answered, "Look up into the night sky and see the flocks that graze the heavens. That and all around us is the universe."

The ewe continued her story, "There was one ewe who felt true sorrow for the helpless and she whispered to the Mother of All that she would give the first sacrifice."

Old Mother then told her, "Your children will live forever and ultimately will come back to the mountains after their work with the helpless is finished."

So The young ewe crept down the steep mountain sides and offered herself. And by her side was her daughter, this years lamb.

The Helpless were so hungry they ate everything of that wild ewe and even drank the milk dripping from her teats so hungry they were. But then turning to the lamb they could not take her life but left her as a gift back to the Ewe who had saved them. As they made camp that night their bellies stretched tight, the lamb walked up to the flickering firelight and they wondered at her bravery. She had decided to live with them. But that next fall wandered up the mountainsides to be bred by the strongest ram. She then returned to the Helpless to have her lamb.

You see we decided that in order for Mother’s creation to work, we would have to sacrifice so that the Helpless would live. We did this, Pilgrim and the Helpless nursed from our kind and our wool kept them warm. Truly we are their mothers and fathers. But they have left the flock and now turn from us, forgetting.

We are now thought of as dumb and witless creatures without feelings. We are numerous but The Helpless do not respect us or the ages of sacrifice we made for them. They only take now and few give back.

So Pilgrim that is my story."

The ewe carefully bent her knees and lay down.

Hole then asked, "What will happen now?" The ewe looked deep at the young wolf.

"We think," She answered, "That we will forsake the Helpless and all will die. Except the very strongest who will go back into the mountains to live. Until the Helpless decide to take a different path to pasture."

"No lady," the old dog told the ewe gravely, "You must not lay down. We will go on and find the camp of the young dog." He then turned to Hole.

Hole had listened carefully to the ewe’s story and found both the dog and ewe mysteriously fascinating. But she felt both were confused about her position.

"I cannot take you to my people. As they are scattered by Flatwater pack." Hole declared. "And if I could you would not wish to meet them. They are hungrier and not as understanding as I."

The dog panted a breathy smile and stared hard at the ewe so she would get up. Then the dog and ewe moved slowly down the fenceline till they turned off into the vastness of prairie reaching up towards mountains.

The dog and the ewe were very slow.

Hole, the Wolf, watched them go and trotted on in the other direction.

Copyright 2008 - 2011
T Yamamoto. All rights reserved