Chapter 3
Wolves frighten the family.
Pa and Mr Edwards built the stable for Pet and Patty in one day. By the time they put the roof on, it was dark. 'Now!' said Pa. 'Let those wolves howl! I'll sleep tonight.'
In the morning when Laura went into the stable, she found a surprise waiting for her. A little colt with long ears stood beside Pet! When Laura ran toward it, gentle Pet put back her ears and showed her teeth.
'Stay back, Laura!' Pa shouted. 'She could bite you.' Then he said to Pet, 'You know we won't hurt your baby, Pet.' Pet let Pa touch the baby, but she didn't let Laura or Mary go near her.
Early that afternoon, Pa rode Patty across the prairie to see what he could see. There was plenty of meat in the house, so he did not take his gun.
By late afternoon, he still had not come home. Ma and Laura began to get supper ready outside by the fire. Mary was in the house, taking care of the baby, and Laura asked Ma, 'What's the matter with Jack?'
Jack was walking up and down and around the house, looking worried. His hair stood up on his neck. Then Pet started running around in circles.
Ma looked around at the wide prairie and the sky but didn't see anything unusual. 'It's probably nothing at all, Laura,' Ma said. She made the coffee. The prairie chicken that was cooking on the fire began to smell good. But all the time Ma went on looking around.
Suddenly Patty came running fast across the prairie. Pa was almost flat, holding onto her neck. Patty ran past the stable before Pa could stop her. She was trembling, and her black coat was hot and wet. Pa was hot and tired, too. 'What's the matter, Charles?' Ma asked him.
Pa's eyes were looking toward the creek, so Ma and Laura looked at it, too. But they only saw grass and trees.
'What is it?' Ma asked again. 'Why were you riding Patty so fast?'
'I was afraid the wolves had come here.'
'Wolves!' Ma cried. 'What wolves?'
'Everything's fine now, Caroline,' said Pa. 'Let me rest a minute.'
Then he said, 'We saw fifty of them, Caroline. They were the biggest wolves I've ever seen. It was terrible.'
Supper was ready. Mary and Laura stayed close to the fire and kept Baby Carrie with them. They could feel the darkness everywhere, and they didn't stop looking around. Shadows moved on the prairie. Jack did not growl, but his ears were lifted, listening to the darkness. The girls ate their chicken as they listened to Pa telling Ma about the wolves.
He had found some more neighbours. Settlers were coming in and building houses along both sides of the creek. Not far away, a man and his wife were building a house. Their name was Scott, and Pa said they were nice people. As he was riding home across the prairie, a pack of wolves came out of nowhere. They were all around Pa in a moment.
'It was a big pack,' Pa said. 'There were fifty wolves, and the biggest wolves I ever saw in my life. Their leader was a meter tall. I tell you, my hair stood straight up.'
'And you didn't have your gun,' said Ma.
'I know. But to be honest, I didn't miss it. You can't fight fifty wolves with one gun.' 'What did you do?' Ma asked.
'Nothing,' said Pa. 'Patty tried to run, but I pulled the reins hard and made her walk. Wolves will chase and hurt a running horse.'
'How awful, Charles!' Ma said quietly.
'Yes, it was,' said Pa. 'Those wolves just walked along with us, like a pack of dogs going along with a horse. They were all around us, jumping and playing with each other, just like dogs. We were lucky they weren't hungry.'
Laura's mouth and eyes were wide open. Her heart was beating fast.
'Patty was trembling all over,' Pa said. 'She was so scared. I was, too. But I made her walk. When we got near the creek, the leader turned down toward the creek, and the rest of the pack followed him. That's when I let Patty go. I was scared the whole way home. I thought the wolves might come this way. I knew you could keep the wolves out of the house with the gun. But Pet and her colt were outside.'
'I guess I could save our horses, Charles,' Ma said.
'I know,' said Pa. 'I wasn't thinking straight. But the wolves are far from here by now, and all's well that ends well.'
Jack was walking around the campfire. When he stopped to smell the air, the hair lifted on his neck.
'It's time for bed, girls!' Ma said.
She took them all into the house. But it took Laura a long time to fall asleep.
Suddenly she was sitting straight up in bed. She had been asleep. Light from the moon was coming through the window and the cracks in the wall. Pa was standing there with his gun. Inside the thick walls of their new home they felt warm and safe. Pa put up a quilt over the door hole. As she fell asleep that night, Laura heard a wolf's cry from somewhere far away on the prairie. She did not feel so frightened.
