Fox Run (12 page)

"Does it bother you?" she asked me.

"Does what?"

"The reason I tipped you over."

I laughed. "No. It bothers me I have to reign in the paybacks."

"Paybacks? Like what?"

"Hmm," I said. I glanced over at her and frowned.

"What?"

"Something is wrong with your paddle. Let me see it, please."

Without even thinking about it, she handed me her paddle. I grinned and immediately paddled away from her. It took her a few seconds to realize I'd left her stranded, out in the lake without a paddle, and she began laughing.

"Who wants to race Lara now?" I asked, loud enough for the other wolves to hear. Four wolves and one fox grinned at the alpha as she bobbed alone in the big lake.

"Rory," she said in a clear voice. "Give me your paddle." She used her alpha voice, and Rory immediately paddled over to her, relinquishing his paddle to her. Lara grinned at me.

"Point to the fox," Elisabeth said in a clear voice. "Half a point to the alpha. The fox is up two to one and a half."

"How do you figure that, Elisabeth?" asked Lara.

"Point for winning the race. I am tempted to add a half point for how she won, but that finish was a little dangerous. You got a half point for tipping her over and another half point making her ask for help."

"Another point to the fox for taking us kayaking," June yelled out.

"I thought about that," Elisabeth yelled back. "But she lost that point for practically making me airsick on the way here."

After that, the bantering went back and forth, with Lara and I gaining and losing points as fast as the wolves could come up with reasons for them. Finally I broke my own silence. "All I can say is, I'm glad the points started this morning and not last night."

There was gentle laughter at that. "Why not last night?"

"Ten points to the fox for making Elisabeth submit to her," Lara immediately declared.

That earned a round of laughter amidst Elisabeth's declarations she hadn't submitted to me, she'd submitted to Lara. Then Elisabeth asked, "But why not last night's points, little fox? Seems like you're way ahead."

"How many points is a deer kill?" I asked.

"Not as much as first kill for the pack," Lara declared immediately.

"Oh yeah," David said. "First kill is always a big deal. And you didn't even share in it. Did you go off and find four more for yourself?"

"It wasn't my first kill," I said.

"First kill for pack," David said.

"I'm not pack," I said.

"That's not what Lara says," Elisabeth said.

"Shut up, Elisabeth," Lara said immediately.

The two of them glared at each other, and I interjected. "I'm not pack. But how about friend of the pack?"

Lara looked at me for a moment, then smiled. "For now, I'll accept that."

Rory hadn't been involved in the banter. Instead, he'd been paddling rapidly around the group of kayaks. I had kept track of him with my ears. I heard him coast, then I heard the sound of a life vest being taken off and a wet suit zipper sliding down.

"Rory," I said. "Freeze right now!"

"I'm hot," he complained.

"I said freeze, Rory!"

He ignored me.

I turned my boat to face him. "Zip that back up and put that life jacket back on," I ordered.

He ignored me and unzipped his wet suit until it hung open. I sighed and looked at Lara.

"If he has to bail out, it just went from no big deal to potentially life threatening."

"I can swim," he said.

I paddled over to him. "You're hot?" I asked him. He nodded.

So I tipped him into the cold lake and paddled away from him so he couldn't tip me over when he came up. He paddle went one direction, his life vest in another, and he didn't appear.

I sat back and waited. An arm came up, and he rapped the bottom of his kayak.

"Leave off, Elisabeth," I said quietly. I'd heard her begin to paddle to assist.

I waited, and he rapped again. Elisabeth started forward, but I heard Lara tell her, "Let the fox handle this."

He rapped again, and David began paddling forward. "No," said the alpha.

Finally Rory did what he should have done as soon as his first request for help went unanswered. He exited his boat and came up next to it, sputtering. He looked over at me, glaring. He treaded water, not smart enough to use his overturned kayak for flotation.

"You are wondering why I didn't help you," I told him quietly. "I didn't help you because I didn't know you wouldn't come up swinging at me."

"You didn't have to tip me over," he said. He began panting, and his lips were beginning to turn blue.

"Still hot?"

"Freezing," he said.

"Enjoying treading water?"

"Not particularly."

"You've never been swimming in Lake Superior before," I said. "How's the water?"

"Fucking freezing. Are you going to help me?" He looked to Lara. "Alpha?"

"The fox is in charge, Rory," Lara said quietly.

"Let me know when you get tired, Rory,"

"I'm already tired," he said.

"There is a very large flotation device three feet from you. Why don't you use it?"

He looked around, looking for his lifejacket, ignoring the boat. "Where?"

"The boat, Rory. Do you notice it is floating?"

I heard June snicker and Lara shushed her. Rory paddled over to his boat and draped across it.

"How deep is it out here?" he asked me.

"About a hundred and fifty feet. Anything over ten and it doesn't matter, does it?"

"Are you going to help me or do I have to swim for shore?"

I looked to the west. "I don't think you'll get that far, but if you do, I don't think you can climb that cliff." It was a sheer drop to the water. "Your teeth are chattering, what are you going to do about it?"

"Michaela," he said through chattering teeth. "Please help me or let the alpha do it."

"You'll stay warmer if you zip your wetsuit back up, Rory."

He struggled with it, but he managed to zip it all the way back up. His teeth were still chattering, and I knew it would be a while before he was warm. I also knew he wouldn't last in the water much longer.

"Rory, we're past the point of screwing around. Do I have to worry you'll do something to me if I help?"

"No, Michaela. I should have listened to you. I'm sorry."

"Elisabeth, I need you," I said. "David, can you collect the errant paddle and life vest?"

"I've got the vest," June said.

It took Elisabeth and I working together, but we got Rory's kayak flipped over and him back safely inside his boat. He sat there, panting and shivering for a while. He put the life jacket back on and accepted his paddle from David. Once the drama was over, Lara paddled closely to me. I turned to her and mouthed a "thank you". She nodded.

"Do I need to worry about revenge?" I asked her.

"No. He can be thick headed, but he forgives quickly."

I nodded to her, then paddled away and slipped between Rory and the rest of the crowd. I peeled him away from the pack and asked him, once we were far enough no one else would hear, "Are we okay?"

"Yes, little fox," he said. "But I wouldn't have hit you."

"I needed you to understand how cold the lake is, and how fast you can get tired, even a strong wolf like you."

"What should I have done?"

In response, I opened my wetsuit zipper a few inches then used the hand pump to pump some cold water into the wet suit. It felt nice. David saw me do it, and soon everyone was filling their suit with some lake water.

Except Rory. He was still cold.

* * * *

We arrived at my favorite fishing spot. Elisabeth and I passed out fishing gear, and soon three wolves were casting their lines. Then we passed out the food we'd brought. I even found someone had made fox sized snacks. I appreciated that. With a little food inside me, I wet my own line.

We caught some fish. "Those are lunch," I said. "We can grill them back at my house later. If we don't catch enough, someone can run to the store for steaks."

"And beer," Elisabeth suggested.

We fished for an hour, Lara staying near my side the entire time. We talked quietly and watched the other wolves tease each other.

"This was a great idea, Michaela," Lara told me. "This is the most fun I've had in a long time."

"Will they be tired out by the time we get back, or do I need to give them some more exercise."

"This snack isn't going to hold them very long. We'll need lunch. But a little more exercise would be good."

I nodded. "Okay, guys. As much fun as this is, I think we should pack it up. Who is ready for one long race?"

We stowed the gear. I looked between all the boats, then attached the stringer of fish to the back of Lara's boat. Elisabeth grinned at me. I'd just given the alpha a handicap. Lara didn't realize it right away. I led everyone further away from shore and pointed.

"Everyone see that rock? About two more miles? The race is to that rock. That's where we turn around. Do not go past it. Call the start, alpha."

"Ready, go!" she yelled and was the first to dig her paddle in.

I didn't even try to race but instead set a comfortable pace. I was just letting the wolves wear themselves out again. They all pulled away from me, Lara falling behind them. Ten pounds of fish dangling off the back of a kayak is almost as good as an anchor.

She turned around and gave me a dirty look, then let me catch up to her.

"Not fair," she told me.

"I thought we'd paddle together," I replied.

I didn't see who won. I figured Elisabeth would keep an eye on them, and they were way too far away from me to see how it ended. But when Lara and I pulled to within a few hundred yards of the finish, I saw that David and Rory had set themselves another race.

"Damn it!" I said. "Alpha, call them back, right now."

She didn't even ask why, trusting my judgment. She immediately offered a wolf howl. They either didn't hear it or chose to ignore it, because they kept paddling furiously.

"Fuck," I said.

The wind was out of the west. It wasn't much of a wind, and we were well sheltered by the shoreline. But they were about to be far more exposed, and the swells from the greater part of the lake curve around the headlands. We were going from basically calm water into water far too rough for a little kayak.

I dug my paddle in. When we reached Elisabeth and June, I told them, "Keep up, let me lead." Soon the four of us were chasing after the men. Lara offered another wolf call, but neither of them faltered.

They were a half a mile ahead of us when I saw Rory raise his paddle, perhaps having won whatever race they had set. But I could tell they were starting to encounter the heavier chop.

Rory got into trouble first. He started to turn his kayak around and was broadside to the waves when he flipped.

"David will be next," I said. We were still too far away for him to hear my yells.

I watched David try to help Rory. Instead, he went over. I saw one head appear, bobbing in the water, then another.

"Lara, I need you to listen to me," I told her.

"Those are my people, little fox," she said, panting.

"And I don't want to rescue five of you," I told her. "That's too many for me."

I glanced over and she nodded.

"You'll stop short, where it's calm. You and June. Elisabeth and I will do the rescue." I turned to Elisabeth. "Are you good enough?"

"No."

"All right. I'll drag them to you. Stop where you'll be safe." She nodded.

Lara and June stopped where I told them to. Elisabeth followed me another two hundred yards, and the chop started. "Michaela," she said.

"I know. Wait here. It'll be fine."

I paddled ahead, coming to a stop thirty yards from the overturned kayaks. The men had tried valiantly to right them and climb in, but they kept flipping them over.

"Conserve your strength," I hollered at them.

"Stay back, little fox," David yelled back.

I paddled slightly closer. "How are you two doing?"

"C-c-cold," said Rory.

"David," I said. "Flip one boat over and pump it out. Rory, hang onto the other boat. Neither of you come near me."

While David pumped a boat out, I dug through my fishing supplies. Once David had finish pumping, I said, "It's too rough here to get you back in. I'm going to tow a boat to Elisabeth, then I'll come back for Rory. Then David, then the last boat. All right?" I gave David a piece of rope. "Tie the front of that boat to the back of mine, I told him. Then hang out with Rory. Be across the boat from each other and hang onto each other. If you can, pump that boat out."

He nodded, and a minute later, I was paddling for Elisabeth as fast as I could.

"How are they doing?" she asked.

"Rory is in trouble. David will be soon, too."

"I could come help."

"Stay here."

She untied the boat I'd brought her, and I went back for Rory. They had drifted further out into the lake, and the chop was getting worse. But David had gotten the boat pumped out. I stopped twenty yards away. "How are you doing, Rory?"

He didn't answer.

"David, can you pull him across that boat?"

"Yes."

I paddled to the front and steadied the boat. "Do it."

David, using brute wolf strength, got Rory pulled across the boat. "Come tie it," I told him. He moved to the front of the boat. I maneuvered, and he managed to tie the two boats together.

"All right. Move to the back of that boat. Keep it from tipping over, but hang on and make yourself as small of a drag as you can."

"Little fox, you'll never be able to pull us that way."

"Don't argue with me, David."

He nodded, and I watched over my shoulder as he moved to the back of his boat and grabbed onto the stern, his hands wrapping around from either side. He went under water in the swells, but he hung on. I began to paddle for Elisabeth.

It was hard. Very hard. I was paddling my boat, David's boat, one very large wolf across the boat, and one equally large wolf acting like a large anchor. But I made progress. "Talk to me, David," I yelled.