Fox Run (36 page)

"Few can."

"True."

Kaylee found her target, barking once, and ran back. I sent her after one more target.

"Can you call the alpha back without howling" I asked Janice.

"No, but you can. Start yipping, she'll come."

So I did, as loudly as I could, five quick yips. Lara didn't answer, but soon I heard a wolf running at top speed for the compound.

Kaylee couldn't find her target.

"Twelve minutes," said Janice. Lara came racing into the clearing.

"Alpha, please shift." She immediately shifted, still running to me.

"What's wrong?"

"Lara, will you help me get Kaylee the biggest score we can?"

She smiled. "You are too sweet."

"Someone is hiding in my last spot. Help Kaylee get the credit then find me four hundred yards north."

Still wrapped in the blanket, I ran for the wolf Kaylee couldn't find. "Kaylee to me!" I yelled. Lara shifted back to wolf and raced ahead. Kaylee ran to me and I pointed where the hiding wolf was. Kaylee ran forward, tagged and barked.

"Kaylee, stay with the alpha now." She chuffed, and Lara ran off at a pup's pace, Kaylee racing madly after her. I moved another three hundred yards north and began listening.

It was harder now. The wolves were hunkered down, but they weren't used to being as quiet as they needed to hide from me. I found four more. I moved towards the nearest one.

In the distance, I head Kaylee bark. When I could hear Lara heading towards me, I yipped twice to help her find me, then twice more when she got closer.

"Kaylee," I said, pointing her. "Twenty yards."

She ran forward and got the point.

"Lara," I said, pointing. "Fifty yards."

Lara chuffed and took off with Kaylee following her, panting like crazy.

I kept moving forward, pointing out targets, but finally told Lara, "I can't find anymore, they're too far. I'll head west if you head north, I'll tag whoever I find."

She chuffed, and she and Kaylee headed north.

While searching west, I found a pond. I eyed it and smiled, then kept looking. I found a wolf, tagged, and barked, then there was another bark from Lara and Janice howled. Game over. I ran back to the compound, collecting the blanket and shifting so I could carry it wrapped around me.

We had caught everyone. Janice hadn't heard my bark, so the one Lara caught would have won. It was Elisabeth. Lara barked for Kaylee, as Kaylee's voice wouldn't have traveled far enough.

Final score for that game: Kaylee got fourteen, half the available points. She was prancing all over the yard, tickled pink. Lara gave Kaylee the point for finding Elisabeth but Elisabeth the win.

"Who was caught first?" Janice asked. She already knew the answer.

"I was," Lara said. "But I've already been it."

"Second?" Janice asked. Jason stepped forward. "Who wants to partner with Jason?" Elisabeth joined him.

"Two enforcers starting us out," Janice said. "We need a referee. I'll shift."

Emanuel stepped forward to referee. Lara thanked him, glanced at Janice, who was still shifting, and started the clock. "Go!"

I immediately took off south then cut to the ditch along the road. There was a culvert that I ran through, allowing me to run to the north without exposing myself to Elisabeth and Jason. I didn't bother hiding my trail but ran straight to the pond I had seen, cutting across the west corner. I set a false trail away from it then a real one north. I used the fallen tree trick, then used my back trail back to the pond, slipping back into the water and began swimming.

The beauty of the pond: there was a fallen tree with one end in the pond, the other end on shore. There were rushes growing all around it near shore, but a gap between it and the water. I swam to it and slipped underneath it, finally finding a place where I could rest with just my eyes, ears and nose out of the water.

Scent track me, will they?

Emanuel howled, but it was several minutes before I heard the first bark. It was from Jason. I didn't hear Elisabeth right away.

Barks came slowly at first. I heard one from Elisabeth, and I realized she had gone south. Then I heard her racing at full speed along my trail. She got to the pond and began sniffing all around the pond, going the wrong way first, and passing within five yards of where I was hiding in the water. She found both of my trails and took the strongest one. She disappeared to the north. Five minutes later, she was back and immediately took my other trail. After that she began circling my back trails, but she kept coming back to the pond, sniffing like crazy.

Finally she took off to the north, and several minutes later I heard her.

In the distance, I heard a bark from Lara. I wasn't listening for any other barks, so I had no clue how things were going.

Another wolf came backwards along my trail from the north. I couldn't tell who it was. That wolf spent time trying to find me before running off for easier prey.

Then I heard Elisabeth chuffing and Lara answering. They came closer, and the two of them set about trying to find me.

They both kept checking both my trails and all my false leads. At one point Lara ran back down the ditch and checked inside the culvert. I suppose it would have been fair if I'd been just inside the culvert within touching range. She could tell I had run through but should have known I wasn't there. She came back.

When she got back to the pond, Lara jumped up onto the tree I was hiding underneath, causing it to dip precipitously. I stood in the water with my fur against the tree trunk and my nose barely out of the water. She was sniffing like crazy, but she still didn't find me.

The two of them ran north and I heard them circling around my trail, casting a wider and wider net.

Again they returned to the pond. Lara shifted and sat down on the tree. "She is just so damned sneaky," she said to Elisabeth. "I can still smell her here, but it's really faint."

Elisabeth chuffed.

Then Emanuel howled. Game over.

"Let's wait here a minute," Lara said. "We'll see where she comes from, if she's still anywhere near here. I can't believe it, but we should have found her trail again."

The two waited several minutes. I wasn't ready to give up my hiding place, so I waited right there. Emanuel howled again and Lara sighed. She shifted, and the two of them ran off.

I swam out from under the log and exited via my north trail. I ran a short ways away, shaking the water out, shifted, and wrung out my hair, then shifted back to fox. Then I ran south, crossing the pond, passing through the culvert, then coming out the other side and immediately turning into the courtyard. Lara was in skin by the time I arrived.

"The fox won. Again." Said Emmanuel. "Where were you, little fox?"

"I am particularly interested in that answer as well," Lara said. I shifted, and wrapped a blanket around me immediately, trying to hide that I was wet.

"Referee," I said. "Am I obligated to answer that?"

He laughed. "It's not in the rules."

"Little fox," said Lara. "Were you somewhere you shouldn't have been?"

"I did not break any rules I have heard about, except I ran through the culvert. Twice. Without pausing. I only did it so that Jason and Elisabeth wouldn't realize I was north. I saw how Elisabeth looked at me. I am taken to believe I can't hide somewhere small, but I can run through somewhere small."

"Yes, that's fair," Lara said. "It hasn't been an issue in the past. Where were you, little fox?"

"Lara, I will admit this. You passed with ten yards of me."

The entire pack began howling. When they finished I said, "Please tell me what that means, Alpha."

She laughed. "They are congratulating you on your cunning."

We had time for two more games. By now, I imagined it was getting harder and harder for the wolves, as tracks lead across more tracks, confusing all of the tracks. That didn't matter for me, but it might for them. Angel was it and Serena partnered with her. Gia offered to referee, but Lara asked one of the other adults to do it. Gia had already been it after all.

I decided if it had worked once, it would work twice. I took off north, immediately used my tricks, then splashed downstream to my own trail from the last game. I followed my old path to the pond and slipped into the water, barely making it to my hiding place before I realized that Lara and Elisabeth had followed me.

Oh, bad form, alpha, very bad form.

Lara shifted at the edge of the pond. "Damn it, we lost her again. Hell, go hide, we're almost out of time." Elisabeth ran off to the west and hid in the road ditch. Lara looked over the pond and said, "I know you're somewhere, little fox. I'll find you this time." Then she shifted and found a poor hiding place not far from the pond.

A certain pair of wolves were poor losers.

Lara was about the fifth wolf found, only because Angel and Serena went in other directions. It was Jason who found Lara. She immediately shifted and said, "The fox is around here somewhere."

He chuffed and followed my path to the culvert. I don't think he made a serious effort looking for me. It was a losing proposition. Lara shifted and found Elisabeth, and the two began combing the area for me again.

They searched the area intently. At one point, Lara ducked under the tree near shore, but she didn't step out into the water. That was the closest she came to finding me. When Rory howled, Lara shifted and said, "Damn it," to Elisabeth. "Little fox, come out!"

I was up three to at best, two, if someone else was also still hiding. I could volunteer to referee the last game. I chuffed.

"Oh that little shit," Lara said. "Elisabeth, did you hear that?"

She certainly had.

"She's here, somewhere."

I chuffed once more then grew still.

"Arrogant little fox!" Lara said, laughing. She shifted and began searching for me.

They used their noses. I let them search for a while. Then I began slowly easing out of my spot, swimming slowly towards the far shore.  When I climbed out of the water, two wolves met me. They both chuffed, and Lara gave me a serious shoulder bump. I shook off, causing them to jump away from me. Lara growled and leapt at me, but I ducked under her and ran for the compound, two wolves in pursuit, nipping at my heels. They could easily have caught me, but they simply chased me into the compound.

Rory said, "You two found the fox?"

I shook off more water and stood in the winner's spot. Rory laughed. "I take it that's a no."

But I was wet and cold, and I didn't want to go back in the pond. I shifted and grabbed a blanket.

"I would like to either referee or be it for the last game," I said. "I've been it once, but I don't howl very well."

Lara shifted and grabbed her own blanket. "No problem. We already thought of that." She passed into the house and came back a few seconds later carrying an aerosol air horn. I saw what she had and laughed.

"Rory, start shifting," I said. Then I asked who had been caught first. It was Scarlett. Janice immediately offered to be it with her.

Rory was a slow shifter. Lara, a blanket around her shoulders, said, "My enforcers should shift faster than this. Referee, please start the timer."

"Ready, set, go!"

Lara whispered into Elisabeth's ear, "Come with me, Sister." She shifted and ran. I tracked their progress and laughed when I heard two wolf sized splashes into my pond.

"Janice," I said. "I suppose the referee shouldn't tell you where the alpha and her sister are."

She huffed at me. Scarlett walked over to me and offered me a pretty good beg. I laughed and checked the clock.

"I suppose even hinting wouldn't be fair," I said. "But I wonder if it's fair to steal my own hiding space from me, the one time I can't go pull them out."

Janice cocked her head and sniffed at me. I smelled like pond water.

"Janice, they were within twenty yards of me after the howl. I chuffed. Twice. And they still couldn't find me. However, it's not as good a spot for a wolf to hide as a fox, and they are two large wolves. I don't know how well they fit. It's up to you whether you want to try to find them."

Rory finally finished his shift. "One minute, Rory. Run fast," I said to his retreating back.

I looked at the air horn. I looked at the clock. "Scarlett, I don't want to blow this when there are sensitive wolf ears this close." In reality, I didn't want to blow it when there were sensitive fox ears, either. "Please howl for me in ten... five... Howl, Scarlett."

Her howl was fabulous, and the two of them took off. Janice made a bee line for the pond. Scarlett ran after Rory and forty seconds later was the first bark. I marked the paper to keep track.

Janice didn't find Elisabeth and Lara and gave up after several minutes. I heard her move off and was disappointed. My only consolation was knowing they were in the foul water, and it was probably more foul to their noses than mine. On the other hand, I wasn't sure I wanted to share a bed with the smelly wolf tonight.

I followed the progress. Hearing the barks was easy. When about twenty wolves were found and there was five minutes left, I heard Janice move back to the pond. There was a splash then I heard two barks from her.

The clock ran down. I stepped into the house, closing the door most of the way with my arm sticking out and hit the air horn.

It was still loud, and my hearing was shot for the next several minutes. I didn't think I could hear much better than a wolf. The wolves all collected and we discovered Angel, Jason and Serena had all remained well-hidden. Final score: fox three, several wolves one each. Kaylee didn't have the most finds, but she had the most of the little kids.

Lara and Elisabeth glared at me, but I said, "Hey, I didn't tell her where you were. Not exactly. In fact, I think I suggested your hiding spot was so good that it wasn't worth much effort."

With both wolves still in fur, I got dragged off the porch, laughing, and then Lara pinned me to the ground. Elisabeth sat on me until I offered Lara my throat. The faster shifters all started shifting. Lara and I sat on the porch steps together.