Silver-White (The Great North Woods Pack #1) (9 page)

All but one, the greatest, took part in
this play. All but one, the youngest at its center—the belle of the ball—understood
that such play was only the preliminary welcoming. The night was still young, the
prior singing had been simply calls of searching and gathering, and the short chase
had been only at partial speed—mere encouragement for the youngest, a precursor
to the actual race to come, the end of which would mark the beginning of the
true celebration.

Then all at once the noise dulled to a
low grumbling of many breaths; their talk ceased. The white wolf had stepped
forward, barking a loud command, and under his authority the pack had fallen
into relative, momentary order. Then to Evie he said with a voice deep and
clear, “Run, swift silver! Show us your speed. Your hour. Your night. Lead us,
she-wolf. To Moon Rock!”

In Evie’s mind there formed instantly a
vision of smooth stone under the night sky—the place of sunsets, the peak of Oak
Hill. Without pause, as the pack roared its approval and parted from her way,
she swung her sleek silver-white frame to the north, dug her paws into the cool
earth, and tore off full speed for Meeting Hill.

-6-

Late Sunday morning Evie woke on a couch
in the great room. Consciousness settled in slowly and heavily, like she was
coming back from a great distance away. Wrapped in her thick robe, she wore
nothing besides. Her hair was matted and wild. Her throat was scratchy dry.

“You’re up,” she heard her Papa Joe say,
and Evie followed his voice to the far corner of the great room. He had stepped
out of his study and stood now in the doorway.

“Good morning,” she said thickly.

Her grandfather laughed softly. “I was
just coming out to check on you. It’s after ten.”

“How’d I end up on the couch?”

“Easy. You walked to its edge and sort
of toppled over onto it.”

Evie sat up rubbing her eyes. Her body
felt strange, like something foreign and cumbersome. The room around her was
clear, but the night before, in both dreams and actuality, was coming back to
her in quick filmstrips. When she lowered her hands, she realized there was
dirt under her nails. “After the visits or … the other thing?”

“The run,” her grandfather said, nearer
the couch now. “Your first pack meeting.”

Memories of the night continued flashing
before her mind’s eye. The excitement of the change. The joy of the run. The
beauty of the clear night. And much later, the house all in darkness. Cold. Then
warmth. Comfort. Sleep. And now, stiffness, hunger, thirst. “So that all
actually happened,” she muttered.

“It sure did.”

After a moment Evie stood up stiffly.
She was firmly planted in the morning again, and desperately in need of cold
water. “Where’s Mom and Gram?” she asked.

“Church.
We decided to
let you rest. Your breakfast is wrapped in foil on the counter.”

Yet another wonderful thing about her
northern home—there was always an abundance of food readily available, usually
still warm.

Before she could eat she needed water.
She filled a tall glass from the kitchen tap and commenced to drink it down in
a matter of gulps. All the while she could feel her grandfather watching her. For
a man of great composure, his pride could not be convincingly masked. “Why
didn’t you go to church?” she asked.

“With all the excitement yesterday I had
to cancel a meeting. Pushed it back until today. The young man I’m waiting for
has just passed through the gate. I didn’t know whether to wake you before he
arrived or let you be.”

“A meeting … What for?” she asked
between gulps of her second glass of water.

“Nothing exciting. He began last winter
by helping me with my computers. Lately he’s been acting as an assistant of
sorts.”

Evie was unwrapping her breakfast now.
“I thought you hated computers,” she said, biting into a thick strip of bacon.

“I do.”

“Then why have them?”

“They’ve become a necessary evil these
days.”

“For business or for your history book
stuff?”

“Both.”

“You should let the cousins do that sort
of work, Papa. Shouldn’t you be retired by now?”

“Oh I’ll never fully retire,” he said
gladly.

“Why?” she asked with a full mouth. “And
why don’t we eat as wolves? I’m
starved
.”

“It’s cheaper this way,” he said, and just
as he spoke, the doorbell rang. “And better for those around us,” he whispered,
raising his finger to his lips. “No family talk.”

Evie nodded, chewing a bite of muffin
bread and watching as her grandfather let the computer guy in. Only after the
door had opened did it occur to her that she was quite dirty, recently
white-haired, wearing nothing but a robe, and presently eating like a hog. She
shrugged and kept on eating, smiling weakly and saying only “Hi” (Hah) when her
grandfather introduced him as Dale.

“Evie as in Evelyn?” he asked from the
entryway.

“Yup.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Evelyn.”

“Just Evie. And you too.”

“Evie,” Dale corrected himself. “Evie
from …”

“Alabama.”

“That explains the accent,” he said half
to Evie and half to her grandfather.

Joseph Ludlow cleared his throat. “Yeah,
I could listen to her talk for hours and never tire of her.” He placed his
strong hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Let’s get to work while the house is
quiet.”

“Of course,” Dale said, taking one last
glance in Evie’s direction. The two men entered the study and closed the door.

Not bad, Evie thought, for Geek Patrol
(or whatever they’re called). He’s sure no athlete though.

She finished her bread, bacon and
potatoes, and headed upstairs to get cleaned up.

The hot bath did wonders for her stiff
muscles. After drying off, in her bedroom she emptied the contents of her two
travel bags onto the bed to take inventory. Her mother had packed all the
essentials, jeans, sweats, underwear, sneakers, dressy shoes, her laptop, even
her cell phone—though she knew it wouldn’t work. Everyone up north used a
smaller carrier, and even that was sketchy at times. “You are the
awesomest
mom, Mom,” Evie thought aloud.

Dressed and presentable, Evie made it
downstairs a little after noon. Papa Joe and Dale were still in the study. Her
mother and Gram hadn’t returned from church. So after eating some more bacon,
she took some carrots from the big industrial fridge and went out the front
door to the driveway, crunching on one of the carrots as she walked. From there
she went to the nearest barn, where the horses were kept. Only one horse was in
the barn at present. He was being groomed by her older cousin, Eli.

“Heck of a night, hey, Red?” he said
when Evie popped into the barn.

“Hey! I wish I could remember it all,”
Evie said. “It was intense, what I can remember.”

“Did you rest?”

“Till after ten.”

“Good,” he said with a nod. “While you’re
new, you’ll need your rest. It’s a bit of a shock to the system.”

“Just a bit?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “But don’t sweat it.
Once you get used to it, mind and body will be stronger than ever. Wolf or
girl, it won’t matter.”

“So it just becomes … normal?”

“Better than normal, if you ask me. I
have more energy on less sleep. The more time you spend as the wolf, the stronger
you get.”

Chappy the horse neighed low and blew
excitedly, butting in on the conversation; he could smell the carrots. Evie
took one from the bag and fed it to him, smiling as his wiggly-soft lips
tickled her palm.

“You know, I swear the animals mind me
better too,” Eli remarked. “As
me
, I
mean.”

“Really? They can tell you’re … more
than human?”

“They can tell
something
.”

“Maybe it’s because you practically live
out here with them,” Evie smiled.

Eli laughed to himself. “That’s true.”
Then he became serious again. “You’re still, what … sixteen?”

“Yeah.”

“
Man
.
I was twenty before I first changed; almost twenty one before I had full
control.” He shook his head. “It’s remarkable, Evie. No one since Grandpa Joe
has had his coloring. And yes, females do mature quicker, but I’m pressed to
remember anyone changing at only sixteen. I don’t think
anyone
has.”

“Was I his exact color last night?” Evie
asked, sidestepping the prodigy aspect.

“You couldn’t tell?”

“Even if I could, I can’t remember now.
Everything’s all jumbled in my head.”

“Well, you’re not as white as Grandpa,
but you’re damn close. You’ve got silver in your scruff and along the top of
your back. The rest is pure white.”

“You were gray, I think,” Evie said
thoughtfully. “Your saddle was dark, and your eyes were amber brown, weren’t
they?”

“Sounds right,” Eli said. “It sounds
like it’s all in there; you just need to get it sorted out.”

“So talking helps with memories?”

“It can’t hurt. In the early stages, it’s
all about focus. If talking gets you to focus, then yeah, it’s a help.”

“Keep going,” Evie said.

Eli laughed. “Well, let’s see … I look
just like my old man (Paul); thick and dark gray. But you … you’re built for
speed, just like you are now. You never even stumbled last night. Never
hesitated. You just made the change and
boom,
you were gone.
Fast
.”

Evie was quiet. Eli’s words had stirred
memories to life. Standing there in broad daylight she could see the prior
night playing out in blurred images. White forelegs and wide white feet flashed
within her view as she ran. The sounds of the pack surrounded her on three
sides. Ahead was the shadowed trail, worn smooth by many feet. Passing the fork
to the place of the old cabins, she raced northeast until the trail opened up
to the smooth stone cap of Oak Hill. There the race ended. Wolves caught up
with her. Crowded her. Their sounds grew. A song began …

“Don’t obsess over it,” Eli finally said,
and once more Evie was back in the barn in the light of day, watching her
cousin brushing Chappy the horse.

“I see those wheels spinning in your
head,” he said.

“What does Snow mean?” she asked.

“You’ve been talking to Grandpa, hey?”

“A little.”

“Grandpa’s a Snow. It means white wolf.
You’re a Snow.”

“Does it mean anything else? I mean, as far
as expectations.”

“You mean because everyone’s making such
a fuss?”

“Yeah ...”

“Eventually it could mean something. Hell,
I suppose you could run the whole show someday. But mostly it’s a point of
pride for the old family.”

Evie said nothing. There was a lot to
process.

“Hey, it’s nothing to worry about now,”
he assured her. “You’re sixteen, Red. Grandpa will be in charge for years to
come.”

“I hope so,” Evie said, and handed
Chappy another carrot. “While we’re at it … do you think there’s a chance I’ll
be allowed to go home anytime soon?”

Eli shook his head. “I don’t know about
that. Not unless Aunt Jane convinces Grandpa it’s a good idea. Living away
turned out okay for her, I guess. But that was different.”

Evie was quiet again. Her face hardened
with thought.

“Don’t blame her,” Eli said. “No one knew
what would happen. Not even Grandpa. The wolf does as he pleases; he goes where
he pleases, when he pleases.”

“Still, a little warning from the family
would’ve been nice.”

“I see your angle,” he conceded.

“It doesn’t matter now, does it?”

“Not after last night,” he smiled. “Can
I ask
you
something, Red?”

Evie shrugged. “I’ve asked my fair share
of questions.”

“Where did you meet Ruach?”

“
Who?
”

“The spirit wolf.”

“Is that his name?”

“It’s what we refer to him as.”

“I dreamed of the old cabins,” Evie
answered. “He was there waiting for me. It felt like … I
had
to go there. So I went. And there he was.”

Eli grinned, muttering, “Grandpa’s cabin.”
After a pause he asked, “Did he speak to you?”

“You know Grandpa asked me the same
thing. No, I don’t think so. I can’t remember if he did.”

“I met him in my dad’s barn,” Eli said
sheepishly. “He didn’t speak. I wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not. I stepped
around a corner; he was there one second, gone the next.
Scared
the
hell
out of me.”