The White Wolf (2 page)

“That is so awesome,” Ruth Rose said. “How old are you, Abbi?”

“Almost thirteen,” Abbi said. “How about you?”

“We’re all almost nine,” Dink put in.

Josh shook Abbi’s hand. “Why are you in a wheelchair?” he asked.

“I have spina bifida,” said Abbi.

“What’s that?” Josh asked.

“Before I was born, when I was still inside my birth mother, my spine didn’t develop right,” Abbi explained to the
kids. “So my legs don’t work. I have to use a wheelchair most of the time.”

“Well, now that you’ve all met, let’s get home,” Wallis said. “If I know these three kids, they’re hungry!” She started walking toward the parking lot.

“Josh sure is,” Dink teased. “His stomach was growling so loud, Walker thought there was a wolf in the plane!”

“There are wolves on this island!” Abbi said. “I’ve seen them through my telescope!”

“Wolves?” Josh gulped. “Really?”

Wallis stopped next to a red van. She clicked a remote, which opened a door and lowered a ramp. Abbi wheeled her chair up the ramp and into the van.

“That’s so cool!” Ruth Rose said.

Wallis unlocked the other doors, and the kids piled in. Ruth Rose and Josh sat in the rear with Abbi, and Dink sat up front with Wallis.

They drove along a road lined with
tall pine trees. Through the branches, Dink caught glimpses of sky and water.

After a few minutes, Wallis pulled off the road onto a bumpy driveway. “There it is,” Wallis said, pointing to a long, shady cabin. She parked next to a flagpole flying an American flag.

The low building nestled beneath sweet-smelling pine trees. Wooden steps led up to a roofed deck that circled the entire cabin. Beside the steps was a ramp that sloped up to the deck.

“I love your house!” Ruth Rose said as they got out of the van. “It’s so cool and quiet here.”

“I usually wheel myself up the ramp,” Abbi said. “But it’s more fun to have someone push me.”

“I’ll do it!” Josh said. He guided the wheelchair up the wooden ramp with the others following.

“Do you want to see the wolves?” Abbi asked.

“Where are they?” Josh asked. He
looked around the deck nervously.

“Over here,” Abbi said. She guided her wheelchair across the deck to a telescope. “Take a look, but don’t jiggle it. I have it set right on the wolf’s lair.”

Josh walked over to the telescope, squinted one eye, and peered into the lens. “All I see are rocks and bushes.”

“Keep looking,” Abbi said. “I saw the wolf just before Mom and I went to meet you guys.”

Josh kept his eye on the telescope lens. Suddenly he jumped back. “Holy moly!” he shouted.

“What?” Dink said. He and Ruth Rose hurried to join Josh and Abbi at the telescope.

“I just saw a gigantic white wolf!” Josh said.

Dink and Ruth Rose looked into the distant trees, trying to see the wolf.

“All I can see are some rocks,” Dink said.

“The wolf is white, so she blends in,” Abbi said. “You need the telescope.”

Josh backed away, and Ruth Rose took his place at the telescope. “Oh my gosh,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful!”

“Can I look?” Dink asked.

Ruth Rose stepped back, and Dink peered into the telescope. “I see it!” he said.

Suddenly they heard a wolf howling. Everyone jumped, and Abbi started to laugh.

“I recorded the wolf’s voice,” she said. She pointed to a small tape recorder on a table. Next to it was a box of labeled cassettes.

Dink read a few of the labels:
RACCOONS, FROGS, CRICKETS, SQUIRRELS, BIRDS, CHIPMUNKS
.

“You recorded all these animal sounds?” Dink asked.

Abbi nodded. “It’s my hobby,” she said. “I’ve been trying to record seals, but they never seem to make noise when I’m around!”

“You have seals here?” Josh asked.

Abbi nodded. “A bunch of them live on a rocky island out there,” she said, pointing toward the front of the cabin. “That’s why this is called Seal Harbor.”

Abbi replayed the wolf’s howl.

“It sounds lonely,” Ruth Rose said.

Abbi nodded. ”She could be lonely,” she said. “She might miss the rest of her pack.”

“How do you know the wolf is a girl?” asked Dink.

Abbi grinned. “Because she has three babies!” she said.

“Let me see!” Josh said. He put his eye to the telescope again. “I don’t see any babies.”

“I’ve only seen them a couple of times,” Abbi said.

Josh let Abbi have another look. “The cubs are there,” she said. “They’re lying right next to the mother. Their white fur blends in with hers.”

Josh looked again. “Guys, I see them!” he said.

Ruth Rose, then Wallis, peered into the telescope. They grinned and said, “Ooh, aren’t they cute!”

When it was Dink’s turn, he laughed out loud. The plump baby wolves were
cuddled next to their mom, playing with each other’s tails.

“Who wants lunch?” Wallis asked.

“I do!” said Josh.

Abbi leaned over to a panel near the door and pushed a button. Immediately the door opened inward. “Cool, huh?” she said.

“All the doors operate that way,” Wallis said. “I bought this cabin because the previous owner was also in a wheelchair.”

The kids followed Wallis and Abbi inside. The living room had a braided rug on the floor. All the chairs and sofas looked soft and comfortable. A stone fireplace took up nearly one wall. Shelves on both sides of the fireplace held books, board games, and seashells.

To the left of the fireplace were wide glass doors with a view of the sky, ocean, and islands.

“This place is awesome,” Josh said.

“Thank you! Come on, I’ll show you where you’re sleeping, then we’ll eat,” Wallis told them.

“Ruth Rose, would you like to share my room?” Abbi asked. “You can have the top bunk.”

“Great! I’ll follow you,” Ruth Rose said.

“You two have a treat,” Wallis said to Dink and Josh. “Come on.”

She led the boys out through the
glass doors. They followed her around to a different side of the deck.

“Oh my gosh!” Josh said.

A tent had been set up right on the deck, under the roof. Inside the tent were twin beds, a small table with a lamp, and a rug on the floor.

“It was Abbi’s idea. She thought you’d enjoy falling asleep listening to the waves,” Wallis said. “You might even hear the seals.”

“It’s excellent!” Dink said. “Thanks for going to so much trouble.”

“No trouble at all,” Wallis said. “Get settled, then come back to the kitchen when you’re ready.”

The boys entered the tent and chose beds. “Isn’t this cool?” Dink said.

“I guess,” Josh said.

“What’s wrong?” Dink asked, emptying his pack onto his cot.

“What if the wolves come up here?”
Josh asked. “Or even bears?”

“Wolves and bears don’t eat people, Josh,” Dink said.

“Yeah, what do they eat?” Josh asked.

Just then, they heard Abbi yell from the deck. “MOM!” she shouted.

Dink and Josh pounded out of the tent and tore around the corner. They saw Abbi sitting with one eye pressed up against the telescope.

Ruth Rose and Wallis came running from the other direction.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Wallis asked.

“Somebody took the baby wolves!” Abbi cried.

“Took them? What do you mean?” Wallis asked. “How could anyone take them?”

“I saw it through the telescope!” Abbi insisted. “A man and a woman grabbed the puppies!”

Ruth Rose bent over and peered through the telescope. She shook her head. “I don’t see any wolves at all,” she said. “Not even the mother.”

“The mother wasn’t there,” Abbi said. “She might have gone to look for food.”

Wallis looked at Abbi. “What exactly did you see, honey?”

Abbi had tears in her eyes. “A man and a woman stuck the puppies into a cage!”

Wallis gave Abbi a hug. “Let’s go inside and call the police,” she said.

The four kids followed Wallis into
the kitchen. The table was set with bread, sliced meats, cheese, and a big green salad.

Wallis walked to the wall phone, where she had taped a list of emergency numbers. She dialed and waited.

“Hello, police department?” she said. “This is Wallis Wallace, on Seal Harbor. My daughter, Abbi, just witnessed three baby wolves being stolen! No, she saw it through her telescope from our cabin.”

Wallis paused, said, “Thank you,” then hung up. “The police are sending a game warden out to talk to you,” she told Abbi.

“When?” Abbi asked. “They have to catch them fast! Those babies need their mother to feed them!”

“The officer I spoke with said the game warden would come right away,” Wallis said. “So let’s all have some lunch while we wait.”

They were halfway through their
sandwiches when they heard a jeep pull up next to Wallis’s van. A woman wearing a brown uniform stepped out. She had a badge that said
GAME WARDEN
over her shirt pocket.

The woman was holding a small tape recorder.

“Please come in,” Wallis said. When they were all seated, the woman smiled at the kids. “I’m Nadine Banks. Which one of you is Abbi?” she asked.

“I am,” Abbi said.

“Do you mind if I tape this interview?” Nadine asked. “Please tell me exactly what you saw through your telescope.”

Abbi told Nadine how she had been watching the wolves ever since she discovered them a couple of weeks ago.

“It was just the mom at first,” Abbi said. “Then one day, I saw the babies come out of the lair. It was so exciting!”

“I’ll bet it was,” Nadine said. “I knew
about the white wolf, but I didn’t know she’d had puppies. Go on, Abbi.”

“Then today, I was watching while my mom made lunch,” Abbi said. “The mother wolf was gone for a while, and the babies were sleeping in the sun. Suddenly a man and woman grabbed the babies and stuck them in a cage!”

“Can you describe the man and woman?” Nadine asked.

“They were only there a couple of minutes,” Abbi said. “They both wore T-shirts and shorts and baseball caps. But she had a long blond ponytail. It stuck out the back of her cap.”

“Good. Did you notice anything else?” Nadine asked.

“No. After they put the puppies in the cage, the people left,” Abbi said. “My telescope was trained just on the lair, so I couldn’t see where they came from or where they went.”