Saving the Wolf (On Hold)

Chapter 2

The weather was brisk and sunny as Shadow stepped out into the morning.  He walked through what was the garden during the lively seasons and made his way to the back of the house.  As he stepped onto a small trail leading into the woods he started clearing his mind.  There was nothing like being outside, it was so free of worries.

After a couple of minutes of walking Shadow came out onto a clearing and worked his way to the edge of the trees on the right.  He had found a downed tree the other week and knew that would be the best place to start gathering wood.

 He started yanking dead branches off of the tree and throwing them in a pile to carry back to the house.  As he worked, he heard someone come up behind him.

"Oy, Shadow! Long time no see!"

"Hey Moxy", Shadow replied as he stood up straight and turned to look at his best friend.  "Where have you been?  You weren't at the winter fair the other day and I was worried that I'd have to start searching for you in the ditches."

Moxy gave a smirk.  "I may not get along with everyone, but you know as well as I do they wouldn't mess with me if they know what's good for them."

Shadow laughed and threw a stick and Moxy caught it.  He had known Moxy for years and knew that Moxy, though he was a bear, acted more like a teddy instead.  

He had messy brown hair and big brown eyes and all of the girls adored him.  Too bad he was a total goof off.  He and Shadow had gotten into a lot of trouble when they were younger.  They were the town pranksters and now worked in secret since they had been caught by Moxy's dad a couple of years ago.

"So a new storyteller came in town this morning."

"You're kidding me," Shadow said as he bound up the last of  the wood and started carrying it back to the house.  "We haven't had a new storyteller since last fall."

"Well we don't know where she's from, but she promised us countless stories if we'd keep her for the winter until the snows melt."

"AND it's a woman?  This already sounds promising."

Moxy just laughed at his sarcasm and continued, "She'll be starting this evening, wanna come with me over to The Hearth to listen?"

He thought for a moment then replied, "I won't have anything else to do for the evening so why not?"

"Good, how about we meet after supper, then we'll head up and get a good spot by the fire."

"Sounds like a plan, I'll see you then."  At that point they had arrived back at the house, so Moxy headed off through the front gate and Shadow brought the wood inside and placed it on the holder by the fireplace.  As he brushed himself off, his mom came in and handed him a wet rag to wipe off his hands.

"What took you so long?"

"I ran into Moxy and we talked for a while.  I'm heading up to the Hearth with him after supper to listen to the new storyteller."

"I wanna listen to the new storyteller!"  Liz came shrieking around the corner and stopped in front of Shadow. 

"You're not old enough to go yet with the rest of the adults," her mom scolded her as she went to start up lunch, "You know that.  You'll have to wait until she tells the rest of the children." 

Liz pouted and sat at the table waiting for her food and Shadow starting laughing.  Their mom quickly turned around, "As for you young man, if you keep teasing your sister, I'll give you all your chores back and some of Liz's in addition."

The smile was wiped off of Shadow's face as Liz started laughing and almost fell out of her chair.  This was one of those times when he wished he was the only child.