Flesh And Fur: A Dance With Darkness

7- The stranger

Elise had been allowed to sleep through the entire night, the first full night of sleep without abuse in such a long time that she woke quite refreshed.
In the darkness of the early morning, she crept past the den room of the masters where they last, still sleeping, with their pups snuggled between and atop them; a rare sight, as the the pups were rarely allowed to sleep anywhere but their own den room.
Elise paused for a moment to take in the beauty of the sight. If observed by a spectator outside the home, this sight would seem normal, touching; a loving family of Lupians snuggling together in the early morning. If she had not lived there or felt the sting of their cruelty, Elise would have thought the same.

As she prepared an easy meal of venison and oatmeal for the family, her thoughts once again returned to the black wolf.

She had to make the cave a sanctuary for his recovery, and that meant finding something to keep the flies and other scavengers at bay. She knew of a certain plant that had a strong smell, one that would cover the scent of blood and keep the flies from laying eggs in his wounds.
Once the family had eaten and gone off to their respective dealings in the village, she would have the ability to collect the herb and check on her new friend.

The morning progressed as most often did; the pups woke to the sound and smell of Elise chopping meat, followed by them running amok through the house, waking their parents. They speedily ate the raw meat and cooked oats, the pups heading to their lessons and the adults heading to the council. Elise was allowed to finish the scant amount of oatmeal in the pot before cleaning it out and tidying the rest of the den. Those tasks accomplished, she set out to the forest, eager to check the wolf.

Along the way, she took a short detour and stopped where she had seen the lemon thyme, citronella, and mint patch nestled between neighboring burdock and thistles.
Gathering an armful of the pungent stalks, she made her way back to the cave, plucking a few more plantain leaves on her way, her stomach chiming in to annoy her as she worked.

Her heart was racing as she approached the cave entrance, not knowing what she would find inside. Would he be alive? Would he be gone? Would he have recovered but turned on her while she was away? Was he rabid? The fear was palpable, but it was mixed with a strange anticipation.

Elise pushed aside the heavy branches that she had placed in front of the cave mouth, the smell of damp earth and moss growing stronger as she moved into the darkness. She stepped carefully over the jagged stones, her bare feet feeling the chill of the ground beneath her.

"Hello?" she called softly into the gloom, not expecting an answer. The only sound was the dripping of water from the cave's ceiling.

Her eyes scanned the interior, searching for any signs of movement or change. The travois remained where she had left it, the rope still taut around the wolf's chest. She took a tentative step forward, her heart in her throat.

The wolf's chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, a sign that he was still alive. She let out a sigh of relief, the tension in her body easing slightly. Now it was time to tend to his wounds properly. She knelt beside him, her knees pressing into the cold, hard earth. The light from the cave's entrance cast eerie shadows over his fur, making him appear almost ghostly.

Her trembling hands began to work, cleaning more thoroughly the blood and dirt from his injuries with a soft cloth soaked in water she had brought from the stream. Each cut was meticulously cleaned, the water turning pink as it washed away the evidence of his battle. The wolf didn't stir, his eyes remained closed, and she took it as a sign of his trust in her, despite the strange situation.

I wonder what happened to him. She thought.

With a gentle touch, she applied the crushed plantain leaves to the gashes, pressing them into the open wounds to reduce the risk of infection. Calendula blossoms she had picked with the other herbs were next, their petals crushed and spread over the injuries to promote healing. Finally, she wrapped the wounds with the freshly tanned deer hide strips, tying them tight with the precision of a seasoned healer. Today, she had traveled to the meadow and found two wonderful bonus medicinal herbs; Poppy and wild lettuce. Wild lettuce, despite its name, was not a salad vegetable, but a tall stalky plant with a sticky milkey-white, bitter fluid inside that had effects similar to aspirin. Poppy flowers, steeped in a tea release small amounts of opium, helping with pain relief and sleep. The seed pods would have been better, as they also excreted a thick, milky fluid full of opium, but she didn't find many that were ready and didn't have the time to look for long.
The wild lettuce and poppy she added to a small stone pot with river water. She built a fire just big enough to heat the pot right outside the cave, under the overhang. The water heated as she continued to clean and dress the wolf's wounds, working her way from his flank toward his head.