The Sleeping Army Awakes

Part 10 Wolves

Samuel opened the cans for the wolves and spread their contents out on stainless steel dog bowls that he had found in another store room. It was rather a random selection of food because he still couldn't understand the stock numbers on the tins, but he hoped that the wolves would find it acceptable, when they were starving.

There was already light seeping in through the clouds, but it was just after mid-summer so this happened early. Samuel had no idea what time it was, perhaps sometime after four in the morning but for some reason he seemed wide awake. He stood at the entrance, wrapped in a grey navy blanket that he had found, and called out a wolf howl to the wolves. At first, he thought that the wolves must be out of earshot, and so he called again. After several seconds a long low cry came back in reply.

The seven original wolves arrived complete with three young cubs and a female, who was obviously their mother. Samuel watched in fascination as the alpha male fed the cubs before feeding himself and snarling at any creeping subordinates who dared approach too close to the food, the cubs ate some of the spaghetti and then began a rough and tumble game. When the alpha was satisfied that the cubs had been fed sufficiently, and that he and the mother had had their fill, he finally withdrew from the food and allowed the rest of the cowering subordinate wolves to devour the remnants of the corned beef, beans and spaghetti bolognese mixture as quickly as they could get it down their gullets.

When all the food had gone, down to the last minute morsel, they looked quizzically at Samuel as if asking if there was any more. Samuel heard their thoughts but they were not as clearly defined as those of the Alpha male.

Samuel had only been expecting seven wolves not eleven. So he asked the wolves to wait and returned with more food. The wolves kept a respectful distance from him while he opened the tins and distributed the contents, with the Alpha male snarling at any of the younger wolves creeping towards him. They were still full of fear.

"You are a strong leader!" Samuel remarked. "I was also a leader once!"

"Yes I am!" Came the reply in his head. It was not idle bragging, it was a simple statement of fact, "but a leader is only as strong as his last hunt. Challenges can come at any time when the hunt fails! I chased my own father away because of his weakness."

"How is it that I can talk to you?" Samuel asked, though in truth he expected no answer.

"Do not ask me." The Alpha male replied. "Ask the Sleeping Army!" He turned to go.

"Before you go, I give you the name Adolphus which means Noble wolf!" Samuel announced, "And the mother of your pack we will call Eva. This shows great respect because these are illustrious names in our culture."

"We also have a description for you."Adolphus responded. "Wuhuku! It means old one who is brave enough to stand his ground against the whole pack and not wet himself like a whelp... yet... This is also a great honour. Bear it with pride." There was a pause and then the old wolf added. "The Sleeping Army must like you."

"You too!" Samuel said, perceiving the menace behind the last statement.

"I like you!" Adolphus said. "I hope that I do not have to kill you soon!"

"I was thinking the same when I confronted you on that hard place!" Samuel said and his sincerity won the day.

The old wolf realised that he was speaking through hubris. They had already established their relationship and his duty was to regain the attention of his pack, who had got bored and had started petty squabbling. Adolphus recognised that this human was not a foe to be defeated. The Sleeping Army told him so sternly. Adolphus did not like being told what to do and he took out his anger by snarling at the whelps to hurry them up and finish the food. Adolphus needed to think about this conundrum... it went against all his instincts.

When the wolves had licked every bowl clean, Samuel thought loudly that there would be more food for them tomorrow. Samuel also brought them some rock salt that he had chipped from the inside of the tunnel.

Once sated on the meat and having licked sufficient salt to make them thirsty, the wolves drank deeply from a muddy puddle outside. The pack took one final look at the strange human figure wrapped in the old navy blanket and left. Samuel believed that he heard the thought that the debt had almost been repaid though it was not directed to him, it was ill defined and had a post note that please could they have more meat next time rather than the spaghetti that he had provided.

Samuel watched them go and felt a profound and surprising sense of loss at their leaving. For the brief time that they had taken to wolf down the meal, he had enjoyed their company, especially the antics of the cubs, but now he was on his own. It was the first time that he had felt alone for a long time because sometimes you can only truly experience something by its recent absence.

It was raining hard again. Samuel took the opportunity to set some clean containers out in the rain to collect some really fresh water, and clutched the blanket around him. He watched as the sun's rays begin to infiltrate the heavens, and tint the clouds with a soft glow preceding the sunrise. The birds were already filling the air with their calls. He understood now that they weren't the celebration of life that he had always imagined them to be but an angry proclamation of territorial rights.

As Samuel grew sleepier, he speculated that if he had found the mine and the food source earlier, then perhaps he could have saved so many people who had perished?

"Regret is a most useless feeling," he mused in a typically Mík fashion. "It accomplishes nothing!"

Still seated cross legged he fell into a deep sleep, wasting what was left of the precious fuel cubes, and burning one of the pans dry in the process.