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The dogs turned away Jack felt a ret at their departure, and he al this night was over, and he was keen to see as to coain that he was not asleep; the vibrancy of his senses convinced him of that His skull hurt, and his neck, and his limbs and ribs from where the slavers had beaten hi as the burn of returning sensation after al to death
He looked beyond the camp, because he knew that whatever happened next would come from there And then he saw the wolf
It stood below a line of trees a hundred feet from the camp, up a steep slope that led out of the creek and to the hillsides higher up It stood in just the right place for the newly revealed ray pelt seemed to shine
"There you are," Jack whispered, and at the sound of his voice the wolf began to walk It was ht No, they’ll see you, they’ll shoot you! He looked frantically for the trail dogs, but they had alreadyto their hidden places like shadows beneath the sun
Jack could see only the wolf’s head and the tip of its tail for a while as it came closer, its step confident, no hesitation at all in its approach
"They’ll see you," he whispered, glancing around desperately for the sentries But they were still absent Nothing stirred a moved around the fire
The wolf disappeared behind one of the tents and then eed close to the closed flap It sniffed at the tent, then started across toward Jack It was beautiful As the creaturelines, shadows dancing across its coat like breaths of ser campfire, and they never moved from Jack’s face
"You’re here," Jack said as the wolf stopped ten paces from him He sniffed, and he could smell the animal scents; he closed his eyes, and he could hear the wolf breathing
It caainst Jack’s throat
He snapped his eyes open, and he was staring into the wolf’s face It opened its jaws, slowly, and closed them on the collar of Jack’s coat Then it pulled
It wants rowled, so softly, and then it darted to Jack’s feet In seconds it had bitten through the ropes binding his legs together, and in another few heartbeats it had gnawed the rope staking hiround It turned its head and looked past Jack, back at the forest frohtly louder
"Merritt," Jack whispered "If I go and he stays behind, they’ll kill hihtning-fast ue, the heat of its insides, and the incredibly hot points where its teeth pressed into his skin It’s going to drag ht, panicked, and there was no way he’d be able to fight such an action But it bit once, then let go and walked a few steps back the way it had co as circulation returned to his legs He should have been seen by now, and so should the wolf, but he was being offered an opportunity here, the chance to get away and seek help Hal had said that the mounted police patrolled these vast northern areas, and if he could get away and find the them back, then maybe…
The wolf’s hackles rose as it looked back and forth between Jack and the forest It trotted back toward the tents…then gripped the flap of one in its teeth and pulled
"No!" Jack said, louder than he’d intended Nobody stirred, and the wolf let go of the flap and stared back at hiht I can follow it out of the camp as easily as I watched it walk in, and once I’ht then, weighing the chance of that against the possibility of ever overcoood his knowledge--there was no real alternative
Besides, this was not the first time the wolf had saved his life
I’ll leave the caht Vanished back to wherever it co quickly but carefully, and as he passed between two tents, he could hearinside The wolf stood before hiht He followed, and as he crossed the grasses and entered into the forest, he expected the crack of a rifle at any moment, and the impact of a bullet between his shoulder blades But none came
The wolf did not pause It led hi out of the creek bed and tohatever wilderness lay beyond, but Jack’s flush of freedo the forest, he sensed that he was being followed
And moments after that, he knew that whatever stalked the darkness was nowhere near human
He could smell it: rotten meat, rank flesh, insides turned out It pursued him, and he turned around to see its face But however quickly he turned, the thing was always behind him It made no noise, but it was always there Jack ran The wolf led the way, and whenever he feared it would leave hi hi following him was one of Williaht This thing kept its face hidden fro around him like his own echo And Jack ran
The slope was steep, but he dug his hands and feet into the soft ground and pulled himself up The as close in front of hilanced back and saw fleeting movement from the corner of his eye, the wolf loosed a low, mournful howl as if Jack were already dead
Lon in the creek behind hiht
The slope leveled a little, and Jack was able to move faster If the wolf had not been with him, he believed he would have screamed, so close was his pursuer He could s for hied with his own He glanced back again, and once ht He paused for a h the branches at the stars and down at the mud between his feet Still his pursuer eluded his view
I was safe back there! he thought People around , whatever itwith him It could have closed in on him at any moment, and if it had meant to kill him, it could have done just that
Jack shouted His voice, a wordless screae and frustration and fear, echoed across the creek What nightht, and then his own nightmare appeared before him
At first, he knew that heThis was thefroht for gold again The idea held a sort of co he was used to and could face: the brutality ofback with eyes that he recognized all too well, the danger was far froard, emaciated, weak, his skin so thin it was alums, hair fallen out in clu low and empty, and Jack London’s eyes--for his they were--were older, and darker than he had ever believed possible This was the face of a man who had seen the pit of hell and returned with its ht, amazed and terrified, and the wolf bit into his ankle He screaone He caught sight of a shadow some distance away, and as itinto the physical and finding its true, huge,Tree trunks cracked
And Jack knehat it would do Everyone in the ca--
"No," he said "Merritt, no!"