Wolf Stalker by Gloria Skurzynski Page B

place!”
    â€œBut now…I’m telling myself.” Head high, she walked off, leaving Jack muttering.
    The forest was damp, but Ashley knew what to do. She felt along the base of a tree where pine needles had piled up around the trunk; in spite of the thin layer of snow, the ones underneath were still dry.
    â€œBring me the light, OK?” she called to Jack. While Jack used brush to clear a patch of ground, Ashley hunted for a fallen tree. When she found one, she shone the light inside the hollow, dried-out trunk to make sure no sharp-toothed rodents or unfriendly snakes were in residence. All was clear, so she reached in to pull out loose bits of splintered dry wood.
    While Jack lit the pine needles and wood bits, Ashley pulled bark and twigs from the dry underside of the fallen tree, then picked up larger branches that had broken off when the tree fell, probably years before. Within ten minutes they had a small, bright fire. Once it was going, Jack and Ashley fed larger branches into it, before dragging rocks into a circle around the blaze.
    â€œLeave that end open,” Jack instructed Ashley. “I want the heat to reach out toward the wolf.”
    â€œBossy,” Ashley said under her breath, but she did what Jack told her.
    Although Troy hung over the wolf and mostly just kept staring at it, from time to time he shot sideways glances at Jack and Ashley, listening to their verbal sparring and watching them work on the fire.
    Now, silence hung over them, except for the crackling of the fire. The quietness pressed down like the few lazy flakes of snow that had just about stopped falling. Ashley felt it too, because she got over being mad and started to chatter the way she always did when conversation stopped too long to suit her.
    â€œYou built an Indian fire, Jack, not a white-man’s fire. An Indian cooks his food, but a white man cooks himself.” She’d heard their parents say that on almost every camping trip.
    â€œFood!” Jack said. “I forgot I have half a box of those Ritz peanut-butter crackers in my backpack. I’m starving!”
    â€œMe, too,” Ashley agreed. When Jack produced the box she reached inside it, pulled out a cracker, and munched greedily.
    Walking over to where Troy crouched, Jack said, “You want some?”
    â€œSure. OK.” Troy held out his hand, and Jack put a few crackers into his upraised palm. As their hands touched, Jack realized how cold Troy’s felt.
    â€œAre your shoes still wet?” he asked.
    â€œYeah. It doesn’t matter,” Troy answered with his mouth full.
    â€œSure it does! Take them off, and your socks, too, and dry them by the fire. I mean, if you want to. I have an extra pair of socks in my backpack.”
    â€œYou’re a regular Boy Scout, right?” Troy said. “Like, be prepared—you know?”
    That was halfway between a compliment and a put-down, but Jack didn’t care. “Yeah, actually, I am,” he answered. He tossed the socks to Troy, who caught them with one hand.
    â€œJack’s working on Eagle Scout,” Ashley bragged. “But the reason he has the socks is because Mom always makes us carry an extra pair in our camping packs.” Suddenly, Ashley’s voice wavered and her shoulders slumped. “I wonder where Mom is. Shouldn’t they be coming down off the mountain by now? I wish they’d find us, Jack. It’s kind of scary up here.”
    Jack put his arm around her and said, “It’ll be OK. Nothing bad’s going to happen to us.” Awkwardly, he patted her shoulder through the padding of her down-filled parka.
    Troy watched, no longer stealing glances but staring straight at them. He seemed puzzled by the way they acted with one another. Jack guessed that for an only kid like Troy, it must be confusing to hear a brother and sister argue half the time and then see them hug like they cared about each other. Which they