Chapter 9: Capture and Rescue
Cattail followed Owl with increasingly hesitant steps. At first it had seemed like just a funny joke, like Owl had said. But Cattail had started to realize what the true result of her adventuring would be. The moment she crossed the Stone Pack border, she knew she should turn back. But before she could voice this, three, huge, male wolves leapt on her from behind. Her startled cry was stifled as one brought his heavy paw down on her head. A dull thump sounded as her unconscious body hit the ground. Bone, who was one of the three, picked her up by the scruff, and carried her off to the Stone Pack camp. Owl melted into the undergrowth, heading toward a remote section of Stone Pack territory. A small shadow rose from the brush and followed the three on silent paws.
* * * * *
“Pond?” Star was startled. Why would Pond leave?
Pine nodded. “She didn’t answer, and no one can remember seeing her after Owl left with Cattail.”
Star thought for a moment, then spoke, “I think Pond knew that Owl was up to no good, so she followed them. I suppose she’s in Stone territory now, either captured or hiding in the brush.” She turned to Thunder. “Brother, I think the smartest course of action would be just to stay put. I don’t think the pups will come to any harm, and search parties, especially small ones, are out of the question.”
River, who had just entered, didn’t agree. “Why couldn’t we just invade Stone Pack territory, storm the camp, and rescue my daughters? We beat them once, we can do it again.”
Thunder gritted his teeth, but managed to stay patient. “Yes, we did beat them; however, we lost Lightning, Holly, and Rain, plus lots of injuries and we only won because of the timely interruption of the Strangers. Our Pack is still too small to face the Stone Pack in battle.”
River grumbled a bit, but since Thunder was the Alpha, she gave in to the logic of Star’s plan and announced to the Pack that no one was to leave Camp at all. Thunder posted sentries all around the Camp.
* * * * *
“Blaze, come here,” Bone commanded. Vale followed the two males at a distance with her ears pricked. She heard every word they said.
“Yes, Bone?” Blaze said in a submissive voice.
“Listen, I have a job for you. See, this little pup from Forest Pack wondered into our territory. A patrol wolf knocked her out, and we need someone to guard her, while the rest of the Pack goes hunting.”
“But, Bone, I’m the Beta. Shouldn’t you leave someone else so that I can go on the hunt?”
There was a hint of a growl in Bone’s voice. “Are you questioning my orders, Blaze?”
“No, sir, I’m just asking why—“
“Do as your told, little Blaze!” Bone practically shouted at him. “Or you may find that bad things reward disobedience!” Blaze’s eyes were wide with shock as Bone stalked away. The shock turned to anger, and the anger mixed with fear as he wondered what Bone had in store for him.
Vale walked up to Blaze after Bone was gone.
“You heard all that, didn’t you, Vale?”
“Yes, I did. It sounds a lot like what Stone did to me.”
Vale had already told Blaze her tragic story about how Stone had framed her. “Well, he does want to ‘remove me’, remember? I don’t know what his plans are, but they can’t be good.”
“I agree. What should we do?”
Blaze smiled at Vale. “You do nothing. It’s me he’s after, right? You pose no threat in his mind, and we don’t want that to change, now do we?”
Vale snorted. “Well, I’d rather suffer the same fate as you than sit around here while Bone tries to ‘woo me in’.”
“But there is no need for you to risk your life—“
Vale cut him off. “Shh, here comes Bone!” She melted into the shadows and hid under a bush so she could hear the exchange.
Bone swaggered up to Blaze, a big male wolf following him. The big wolf, whose name was Falcon, was carrying a small brown pup.
“If she comes to, just give her another whack,” Bone said haughtily.
Falcon spoke up, “Alpha, I’d like permission to stay and watch the little pup with Blaze.” Falcon’s brother, Hawk, stalked up and shot his bulky brother a scathing glance. The two were nearly identical, except for the fact that Hawk had a permanent sneer, while Falcon was much friendlier. The brothers were actually Blaze’s cousins.
“You idiot, Falcon,” Hawk sneered. “Why would you want to miss a great hunt to look after some Forest-brat with Blaze.” Hawk accented Blaze’s name with contempt. He did not like Blaze at all, while Falcon was friendlier with him.
Falcon bristled, but before he could say anything, Bone interrupted.
“Falcon, I was going to forbid you anyway, so there’s no point in arguing. We need you to smell the prey out.”
“But Blaze is much better at sniffing than I am,” Falcon protested.
Hawk exploded on his brother, “You bumbling numskull! You idiotic moose-brain! You doodle-tailed frog-eater! You don’t talk back to an Alpha that pays you a compliment!”
Vale’s eyes widened, as did those of Blaze. Bone broke out into hearty laughter, while Hawk sneered at his brother. Falcon had embarrassment and anger pasted all over his face. Hawk joined Bone in laughter, and it took them a considerable while to get over their mirth.
“He’s right you know, Falcon,” Bone laughed. He suddenly turned aggressive, pushing himself into Falcon’s face. “You can come with us and be a good little Pack-member, or you can stay here. Permanently.” Falcon backed down. No one argued with Bone when he was in a killing mood.
“Yes, Alpha,” Falcon murmured quietly.
Bone smiled meanly. “Now that we have that settled, we can leave immediately.” He looked at Falcon. “Carry that pup over to the main den and drop her in.” His next words were directed at Blaze. “Like I said, if she wakes just send her back to sleep. Don’t talk to her, and most importantly, don’t let her get away. I’ll send a patrol to return her later, but we have to go hunting right now.” His stare challenged anyone in the clearing to contradict his words. No one did.
Hawk looked up. “Why give her back at all? We could use her for bargaining powers or we could just raise her as a Stone.”
Bone flashed a twisted smile at Hawk. “I like the way you think, Hawk. Now let’s go hunt!”
Vale was thinking hard trying to come up with a scheme that would allow her to be with Blaze. Then, suddenly, it hit her. She got up and rounded the bushes. She approached Bone and the others from the direction of the camp, trying hard to look innocent.
“Why is there a little pup here?” Vale sniffed her. “She doesn’t smell like Stone Pack.”
Bone tried to plant a coy, innocent look on his face, but it only succeeded in making himself look completely out of character. “She just wandered into our territory. She’s from the Forest Pack. We’re going hunting soon. Won’t you join us, Vale?”
Vale smiled and shook her head. “I already ate a few rabbits while I was patrolling.” She nudged Cattail’s limp form. “Maybe I could stay here and watch her for you, or go patrolling to make sure no other pups wander in? A Forest Pack patrol could be following her scent trail right now.” She smiled, crookedly because of the Mark of the Loner running across her face. “I could hold the patrol off, while, say this big wolf here, ran off to get you,” she said, nodding to Falcon.
Bone looked annoyed, but Falcon looked happy at the chance to get away from his brother and Bone. “She’s probably right, we do need someone to guard the border,” Falcon spoke up hastily.
Bone gave him a withering glance, and replied, “Oh, they probably won’t even notice that she is gone.”
“But how do you know?” Vale asked.
Bone grumbled a bit, then smiled at Vale again. He said, “Of course, Vale, do what you feel is best. But do you really want to take Falcon with you? Hawk is a better fighter.”
Vale shook her head and smiled sweetly. “No, I’ll go with Falcon, he looks capable enough. You’ll probably need Hawk on the hunt anyway.”
Blaze had stayed quiet the whole time. He didn’t want unneeded attention. Bone turned to him and commanded, “Now, you stay in that cave with the pup, and I don’t want to catch your scent anywhere outside the cave.” Blaze nodded, and picked the pup up and carried her to the cave. Vale and Falcon set off in the direction of the border, while Hawk and Bone followed Blaze back to the cave. The small shadow again rose from the brush, not 5 yards away from where Vale had been hiding, and trailed the three males to their camp.
* * * * *
The moment the Bone was out of ear-shot, Vale asked Falcon abruptly, “Can I trust you?”
Falcon looked slightly confused. “What about, Vale?”
She sighed, then whispered impatiently, “Listen, I’ve got plans, and I need you to help me carry them out. I know for a fact that Bone is a traitor who purposely got Owl to lure that little pup into this territory so that he could pick the Forest Pack off search party by search party. I need you to help me return the pup and save Blaze.”
Falcon nodded. He was still a bit bewildered, and he didn’t like the idea of working against his Alpha, but he knew that Bone was a bad leader and was up to no good. “What do I need to do?”
“Well, here’s how the plan goes…”
* * * * *
Cattail groaned. She slowly, painstakingly opened her eyes. The smell of Stone Pack assaulted her nostrils, and she sat up. Blaze was staring curiously at her.
“Uhh, where am I?” Cattail asked groggily.
“You are in the main cave of the Stone Pack camp,” Blaze replied. “What are you called, pup?”
“I’m Cattail.”
Blaze nodded courteously. “I am called Blaze, the Beta of the Stone Pack.”
Cattail nodded in reply. Her head was pounding, and she wanted to go home. She would never leave camp again, if only she could return to it.
“Who brought you here, Cattail?”
“Thunder grounded me, so Owl helped me escape.” She frowned. “I think. I don’t know if this is escaping or what. Did the big wolves hurt him too?”
“Hurt Owl? I doubt it. He is in league with them.”
Cattail’s voice went shrill with surprise. “You mean Owl is a traitor?”
“Him and Bone, and who knows who else is in on their little scheme. Probably Hawk, maybe Shard or Burn. More than likely there’s nobody else from the Forest Pack though.”
“Bone the Alpha?”
“Yes.”
“What’s going on? Why am I here? When can I go home?” Tears started to form in Cattail’s brownish eyes.
Blaze looked at her kindly. “I’m not sure exactly what Bone is up to, but I do know that he plans to attack your Pack as they send out search parties for you. I will do the best I can to get you home as soon as possible.” Blaze frowned. “It won’t be easy though.”
A few moments after Blaze finished speaking, a little black nose poked it’s way into the cave, soon followed by the rest of Pond. Cattail jumped up and raced over to her sister.
“Pond, what are you doing here?” Cattail asked anxiously. “They didn’t catch you too, did they?”
Pond shook her head, saying, “No, I followed you here. Are you all right?” She nodded shyly to Blaze. “Hello, and thank you for offering to help my sister.”
Blaze’s eyes widened. “You followed your sister all the way from Forest Pack territory without Bone noticing you?”
Pond blushed beneath her fur and shuffled her paws, nodding.
“Well, well, well, what have we here?” Blaze’s hackles went up at the familiar, expressionless voice. Owl and two other males, Hawk and an evil-looking wolf named Burn, blocked the entrance to the cave. “Two runaway pups and a traitorous Beta who supposed to be guarding them!”
“You are the traitors!” Blaze growled.
“Temper, temper, little Blaze,” Hawk growled teasingly.
Pond began to whimper in fear.
“Now, now, there’s no need for that, Miss Pond.” Owl’s voice was deceptively soothing. “We’re not here to hurt you.”
Cattail stood boldly before the three wolves, drawing back her black lips to expose tiny baby teeth. Her brown puppy fuzz puffed up. She let loose a small, high-pitched growl, followed by several loud yips.
The three males thought that this was the funniest thing they had ever seen. Hawk and Burn were almost rolling on the ground. Owl’s dry laughter filled the small cave. Hawk and Burn slowly trailed off, but Owl just kept laughing. His two companions shuffled their feet. Blaze shivered. Owl’s laughter was like a piece of rough granite being scraped across slate. Expressionless. Humorless. Grating.
Owl stopped laughing abruptly, then started yowling. Cattail, furious at being laughed at, had bitten Owl’s leg, and refused to let go. Her baby teeth were sharp like needles and her jaws were strong. Owl tried in vain to fling her off his paw, but she just bit harder. Blaze stood stunned for a moment, then joined the attack.
“Don’t just stand there, you idiots!” Owl yelled furiously. “Help me!”
Owl finally succeeded in flinging Cattail off his paw. She landed outside the cave by pure luck, and she started running toward Forest Pack territory as fast as she could. Pond slipped between Hawk’s legs and ran after her sister.
Hawk ran after the two pups, leaving Burn and Owl to take care of Blaze. Blaze fought furiously, but he was outnumbered two-to-one. They backed him against the back of the cave, snapping as if he were the deer, and they, the hunters.
* * * * *
Cattail ran, her heart pounding, her breath coming in short gasps. She could hear her sister’s labored breathing behind her, and the pounding of a larger wolf, far away but gaining on the sisters, getting closer, and closer.
Cattail’s ears went up. Was that voices she could hear ahead? A familiar smell entered her nostrils, a scent of shadows slipping between trees, a smell of pine, oak, birch, and ash. The mustiness of raw meat and the fragrance of battles won. The rotting smell of the hot spring. Her home, and her family. She picked out one smell in particular, one that was familiar and was adored by her entire Pack. Thunder was coming to rescue her.
Cattail did a small leap in the middle of a step and tripped. She ploughed into the undergrowth and settled to a stop just barely before she slid into a pile of fresh moose droppings. Pond grabbed the scruff of her sister’s neck and pulled her upright.
“Get up, Cattail!” Pond whispered fiercely. “Owl will take us back to the Stone Pack camp and we’ll never see our home again!”
“Pond, take a sniff! Thunder isn’t far ahead. He’ll save us!”
“Not if that Stone Pack wolf gets to us first,” Pond said grimly.
Cattail started to run, but when she heard a growl she looked over her shoulder to see Hawk catapulting himself at her, eyes wild, mouth open, teeth bared in a horrifying grimace. Cattail scrambled out of the way. He landed heavily, and suddenly, there was a loud crack, and he collapsed. Pond suddenly recognized their surroundings. They were by the