could not be trusted. He had to regain his respect.

"Agali watched the men for two months. He marked down when they slept, ate, worked and rested. The he made his move.

"Agali rolled in some water, then some sand. His pale creme. He tied some leaves to his head, this made it look as if he had hair. Then one night he slipped into the garden of the men's home, and dug a hole. He hid in the hole all day, and at night he poisened the hens' feed with bad snow. The hens became ill. The men ate the hens. The men became ill.

"The female man called for someone to cure the men. Agali looked like a man, and so went inside to cure them.

"'Ah, the terrible inimongo disease. It is spreading fast through the area. The chickens in your garden is the problem. They have picked up the disease from other chickens. Then you have eaten them. The best thing to do is to re-inhabit yourselves somewhere far away from here. Kill the chickens and do as you please with them. The disease dies with the carrier.'

"So the men threw the hens into the woods and left the area. All the foxes and wolves ate together one last time, but they never lived with each other after that. But Agali regained his position and he was respected by all the animals once more."

The fox finished his story. Ilena evaluated what she'd learnt.

"We are the same. Use your gifts." The foxes nodded and the wind dropped. Ilena wished them well and set off on her way. She left the foxes in high spirits, but by the end of the afternoon it was snowing heavily again. She found a large cave and went inside.

There was no other animal there. Ilena went to sleep and woke up in the middle of the night. A bear was standing over her.

"Why have you intruded on my cave?" it roared. Ilena was about to run away when she remembered the trickery of Agali.

"I am a messager, I have come from the land of Beanera, the home of the many bears."

"I've never heard of Beanera." the bear puzzled and scratched it's chin.

"Not many people have," Ilena continued "But the bears there live without a king. I entered your cave to find you, but when you were not there I was forced to wait."

"Looking for a king, eh?" the bear grinned, showing many sharp teeth. Ilena knew that if her trick didn't work that she'd be chewed up by those teeth.

"Yes! Yes! A mighty king, a brave, noble king, like you, so I came to you and you only, your majesty."

"In which direction is this 'Beanera'?"

"Many, many miles away, into the sky, across the world." Ilena hoped that the bear wouldn't click that she was fooling him. But the bear set off out of the cave shouting, I'm coming Beanera! I'm coming to be your king!

Ilena stayed in the cave for a week. Then, in the twilight of the eighth day, the bear stood over her again.

"There is no Beanera, you tricked me!"  the bear roared with such fury, that the ground shook. Ilena explained everything, and the bear calmed down.

"Well why didn't you say so? I like a bit of company, but I like to be told when someone wants to be in my home."

"Sorry. The foxes told me,"

"Foxes! No wonder. They're sly things aren't they? No. You can stay here as long as you like."

"Thankyou."

"Here's a story of a fox-cross-wolf called,"

"Agali, I know."

"Humph, well a story of Agali and the Great Bear.

"Agali was traveling far and wide. He found men and then found a way to clear them out. But one summer, the men got on the side of the great bear. The great bear had defeated many soldiers, many warriors and many hunters. A wolf would be no match for it. The numbers of predatory animals declined in huge numbers, and so Agali held a meeting in his den.

"' We have to stop that bear. Anything will do, even if we injure him a few times every so often. Just something for an idea!' None of the animals had any suggestions. All they could do was to stay on watchand to stay in a group.

"On an evening of a snowy day, for the bear had been around over five months and it was now winter, the bear caught Agali alone. 'Agali, I have heard about you. You steal and trick the men of this land. But you will no longer.' The bear opened it's mouth and Agali jumped right in. Agali clawed and ripped at the inside of the bear's mouth. The bear screamed and spat him out. The same week, it happened again, but this time the bear tried to crush Agali by sitting on him. Agali slid under the bear on his own accord. When the bear sat on him he bit the bear on the behind. The bear cried out and ran off.

"Thing like this happened over and over again, week after week, until the bear could take it no longer. It asked the men to follow him into the forest and capture Agali. But the men refused. The bear gathered deer and buffalo, who were killed by Agali and his friends, and they went to fight. But the foxes had dug a huge hole and when the buffalo came they fell down the hole.

"The deer just jumped over the hole, though, and the great bear stepped over it. Then all the wolves attacked the deer and killed a few. The other deer saw this and fled. But the great bear just threw the wolves aside.

"'Oh, you-hoo! Big fella.' Agali called the bear over to the cliff. The bear roared at him. Agali slipped between it's legs and stood behind it. The bear turned around, and Agali jumped up at it. The bear stepped back, off the edge of the cliff.

"I've told you this story, not because we bears are evil, but because Agali was patient and waited for the right time. If you are patient, then you will succeed. And, at night, you can see Agali and the great bear fighting, up in the stars, where no-one can stop their shining."

The bear finished his story. Ilena stayed in the cave for two more days before leaving again, on to her long journey, that she would need lots of patience to complete.

The snow was deep and Ilena found it difficult to keep moving. All at once the trees disapeared, and there was a flat area of snow. Long lines stretched across the ground and the smell of dogs made Ilena hopeful.

"Sled tracks!" she cried. Ilena ran out onto the open snow. Suddenly a tremendous racket of yowling and yapping came from over the bank. A team of dogs raced past her. Without thinking what she was soing, Ilena ran with them. It felt good to be doing what she loved best again. But then the musher produced a gun. Ilena only realised this seconds before he shot. She ran into the trees again and hid.

How come a musher was trying to kill her? She knew she was three quarters wolf, but she wasn't doing any harm. Sad and deflated, she dragged her paws along the ground, following the tracks.

Then she looked over the hill. A large field of many tents lay below. A stack of guns lay in one corner, and a wooden box on the other side. The dogs lived in the wooden box, and men lived in the huts of material. A hunt? Ilena knew that men hunted other animals. She crept closer. A sign stood outside of the camp. It read, 'Wolf Hunt'. Men were killing animals for no reason. But if they were here hunting wolves, didn't that mean that a pack was nearby.

Suddenly a twig snapped. Ilena spun round to see a hunter pointing a two barreled gun right at her! Ilena fled, but the man still fired. The pellet chipped the bone in her tail. She yelped with pain and the men persued. Her only chance was to get into the trees. The men ran behind her, following the blood that dripped from her tail.

Once hidden in the forest, Ilena made her way back along the tracks of the sled. A buzzing noise hummed in the distance. Ilena followed it. A few minutes later she was at a fence. The fence went as far as she could see into the forest and disapeared when it met the track. She popped her head around the corner. The fence continued  forever down the side of the clearing. If she was going to move on without being hunted, than she would have to jump the fence.

Ilena took a few paces back. Then she ran up to the fence and leaped so high into the air that she banged her head on a branch. Before she knew it the fence had been cleared. Ilena looked around her. The forest just continued, and so did she.

By nightfall, smoke was in the area. Ilena followed it until she saw three men, sitting around a fire. They were cooking a meat. The smell tortured Ilena from her very gut. She hadn't eaten in a long time. The man nearest to her suddenly turned around and grabbed his gun.

"Right, I'll watch first." he said. He took a burning white stick out of his mouth and breathed in the crisp, winter air. Soon they were asleep. Ilena crept around the camp. The one with the burning white stick was still awake. Going right in there was suicide, so she just kept moving. The man held up his gun. A bird stirred after being disturbed, and Ilena slunk away into the darkness.

When daylight fell, she woke out of a pleasent dream, then, remembering where she was, started hunting. She saw a rabbit or two grazing, or in their particular language, 'were up at silflay'. They didn't notice her hiding in the bushes. After a while she sprang out and grabbed one that was nibling at some corse grass. The meat was so delicious to her, especialy as she hadn't eaten in a few days. After finishing off her meal, Ilena walked on between the trees. It seemed like a year to her. Ever walking on the snow covered, dirty ground was boring. She needed some excitement. Meanwhile, a shadowed figure crouched in a nut bush.

Ilena smelt the funny smell again. The one the white stick gave off. Only men had these sticks, and there was one nearby. A click of a loader echied and the gun fired. Ilena shot into the trees and the man gave chase. She ran in a fairly straight line, trying to shorten the length of her run. Looking behind her, she noticed the man had given up on her and searched for a new wolf to torment. She padded through the dead leaves and snow until she heard the buzzing noise again. The fence stood tall and strong. A leaf fluttered down from a tree. The leaf bounced off the wire and it